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CNN Live Saturday
John McLaughlin Announces Retirement; Ingurent Pockets Continue To Fall In Falluja
Aired November 13, 2004 - 12:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is 12:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 p.m. in Iraq. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour:
(EXPLOSION)
WHITFIELD: The fight to retake Falluja: Several remaining pockets of insurgents fall to coalition forces. Could the U.S.-led mission soon be complete?
Plus, the last hours of the Great War and one of the most unbelievable stories of any war.
And we'll hear from one of the dismissed jurors in the Scott Peterson case. Would her opinion have changed the outcome? First, these stories now in the news.
A top official in Iraq reports the most important insurgent leader in the country has escaped the attack on Falluja. Terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is among those who escaped. Officials say 1,000 insurgents have been killed in the fighting and dozens more captured.
For the second day, mourners are paying respects at the grave site of Yasser Arafat in the West bank. He was buried in a highly emotional funeral yesterday. Meantime, Palestinians are asking the international community, including the U.S., for help in organizing a presidential election within 60 days.
And in North Korea, officials say it's quite possible to resolve the standoff over its nuclear program, but they say the U.S. must first drop its goal of overthrowing the regime. The U.S. and five other nations had been working to find a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. It's the first comment from North Korea since the U.S. presidential election.
Fighting continues in Falluja, today. U.S. and Iraqi forces control most of the city and are targeting remaing pockets of insurgents. The rest of the city is virtually empty after a week of fighting, but a relief convoy entered Falluja today and bringing aid to the civilians there. Jane Arraf is embedded with the troops fighting in Falluja and joins us by phone -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're in the towns east of the city where an Army task force making its way through what they say is the last remaining pockets of organized resistance. Now that doesn't mean that there are not insurgents still there and other places, they are. One of the things that the Army has discovered as they've rolled through here is how well they planned their defenses. They have been finding fortified bunkers, tunnels, spider holes, hiding places where snipers have popped up and almost everywhere rigged with explosives. Today they dropped 500 pound of laser guided bombs, as well as overnight J-downs (PH) on some of those fortified bunkers, and we are going in -- we're in an armed -- armored convoy that is going in, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as they continue to try to tackle that last remaing sector in Falluja -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Jane, how grand is the risk for these NGOs who want to come in and help many of the injured civilians?
ARRAF: It would be hugely risky. This is a war going on. It is still a city that is still under considerable -- there's a lot of fire flying around. There's also no electricity, there's no water. It's unclear, Fredricka, how many civilians there are, indeed injured. We spoke to a Marine colonel today who told us that people were just starting to come out of their houses and approach Iraqi security forces, asking for help. But -- an assessment still has to be made how many people need medical help or how many people need food and water -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jane, what about this vital hospital that, at first, coalition forces had taken over? Is that hospital in some capacity up and running for the injured civilians?
ARRAF: The hospital when we saw it was not up and running, but there are other hospitals that are. Now, they could conceivably be used (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and likely will be. The Marines tell us they have taken several injured that have been evacuated for treatment. In most cases...
WHITFIELD: OK. Jane Arraf, thanks very much for joing us on the telephone there from Falluja, embedded with the U.S. Army troops.
Well, Iraq's leader pointed to the progress being made in the battle of Falluja today. Iraq interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi said U.S. and Iraqi troops were making progress against the rebels in Falluja, but also he said that he doesn't expect the fight against insurgents to end there. Allawi was in Falluja to mark the anniversary of an attack on Italian troops there.
In his weekly radio address, President Bush said the Falluja offensive is making significant progress and U.S. and Iraqi forces are taking back the city, but he warns the insurgent violence could increase as Iraq's planned January elections approach. Elaine Quijano has more from our Washington bureau -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka. As the battle in Falluja continues, President Bush, this week, drew support from a key U.S. ally, Britain. The president, today, echoed comments that he made yesterday while appearing with British prime minister, Tony Blair, in the east room of the White House. The two leaders met to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Iraq. And in his radio address today, as you mentioned, Mr. Bush said the current Falluja operation is making progress, that U.S. and Iraqi troops are on the offensive against insurgents in Falluja which he says has been used as a base for terrorist operations. Now, at the same time, the president warned of escalating violence in the run up Iraqi elections slated for January, but he also expressed confidence that U.S. and Iraqi forces would prevail.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorist have shown once again the stakes of this struggle. They seek to spread fear and violence throughout Iraq, throughout the broader Middle East, throughout the world, and they will fail. The terrorists will be defeated. Iraq will be free, and the world will be more secure. Our commitment to the success of democracy in Iraq is unshakeable and we will prevail.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So, the president again today, reiterating his determination to see democracy take hold in Iraq.
Now, another development to tell you about here in Washington, the deputy director at the CIA, John McLaughlin, is retiring. Now, word of his departure, which is scheduled to happen in December, comes amid some published reports of internal strife at the CIA. Specifically, a report in the "Washington Post" linking that strife to McLaughlin's announcement, but he denies that, and in a written statement issued by McLaughlin, himself yesterday, he says, quote, "I have come to the personal -- purely personal decision that it is time to move on to other endeavors after serving as deputy director of Central Intelligence for more than four years and briefly, in recent months, as acting director."
Now, McLaughlin is a 32-year veteran of the agency. He had always said he had planned to leave around now, so this announcement not a surprise, but some people raising questions about the circumstances -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Elaine, now what about the resignation of the education secretary, Ron (SIC) Paige? How much surprise has that come to the administration?
QUIJANO: Not necessarily a surprise. There had been some word that, obviously, there were some critics who said that particularly with "No Child Left Behind" that there was some need for some new leadership there with regard to the Education Department. So, really, still, what they are looking at are the higher positions, so to speak, the higher profile positions. Condoleezza Rice, still unsure what may happen in her future, also, Secretary of State Colin Powell. So, the speculation continues -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much. Elaine Quijano in Washington. Well, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he has been in contact with the new Palestinian leadership in recent days. In a Friday interview with Arabic language network, al-Arabiyah. Powell says he hopes to meet with them soon pay his respects in the wake of Yasser Arafat's death. And beyond that, Powell says he hopes the new leadership would be willing to recommit to a Middle East peace process.
Palestinians aren't ready to think about renewed peace talks just yet. They are still coming to grips with the loss of the only leader many of them are ever known. Michael Holmes looks at life after Arafat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dignified and somber start of the day after Yasser Arafat's burial. Palestinian officials, including the new number one man at the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, preying at dawn near the tomb of the former leader.
The prayers mark the start of Eid ul-Fitr, the feast that marks the beginning of the end of the month-long observance of Ramadan. Stark contrast of the chaos of Arafat's burial, Friday, a compound that was meant to be off limits to the public, the screen of an emotional melee as former president was brought back to be interred.
Saturday visitors, ordinary Palestinians visiting the tomb throughout the day. Eid is also a time to remember the dead.
"I came here today to show my children that we have a leader," this man says, "One who sacrificed his life for our cause."
Elections in two months, concerns about who is next, the question, "what will happen now?" all put aside this day for remembrance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yasser Arafat, I don't think of anyone, but Yasser Arafat, because he was a great man.
HOLMES: Despite his failures, and there were many, Arafat was always forgiven by his people. Even his closest aides say he was, in many ways, one of a kind.
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It is going to be very difficult to replace Yasser Arafat. Charismatic leaders like this are not found every now and then. They are really difficult to come by, and they are unique in their own. And so, we're not really positing all our developments on finding a leader that replicates Yasser Arafat and that's why we divided the responsibilities of Yasser Arafat.
HOLMES: Yasser Arafat's resting place, say Palestinians, won't be the final one. Their dream of an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital is still alive, a timetable distant at this point and far from certain, but alive. (on camera): But until then, this place, the screen of Yasser Arafat's virtual incarceration for the last three years, is, say Palestinians, a fitting symbol of resistance.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Demonstrators in the nation's capital protest over what they see as mistreatment in Saudi Arabia. Protesters gathered at the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. They're upset women are not being allowed to run for office or vote in the up coming Saudi municipal elections. They are also protesting what they call the Saudi royal family's severe and unrelenting repression of women.
When we come back, a juror in the Scott Peterson trial talks, details straight ahead.
Oregonians define marriage as one man, one woman, so what's the fate for scores of same-sex couples who tied the knot there?
And a desperate attempt to cross the border. The story when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.
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WHITFIELD: A California jury will return to the courtroom a week from Monday to decide Scott Peterson's fate: Life in prison without parole or death. CNN"s Kimberly Osias is in Redwood City today, and she has the fallout from the guilty verdict -- Kimberly.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Scott Peterson is spending in the day in the jail behind me. Of course, he will be spending many, many more days like that, and as you say, at the minimum, he'll face life behind bars without parole. The maximum is death by lethal injection at San Quinton. This trial, of course, has been long time in the making, almost two years, in fact, and five months of testimony from about 188 witnesses. And then yesterday, a newly reconstituted jury came down with a verdict in just about seven hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNINTELLIGIBLE)
(APPLAUSE)
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OSIAS: Outside the courtroom, an absolutely spontaneous eruption of cheers as the verdict came down when it was determined that Scott Peterson was found guilty of first degree murder for killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and guilty of second degree murder for the death of the couple's unborn son that they planned to name Conner.
There are flowers that have been delivered all around the couple's Covina Avenue home in Modesto. They have just been -- there's a tremendous outpouring. You know, a lot of people in this area obviously very, very closely tied to this case, and it has riveted and captured the attention of people all over that have been sending flowers to the home.
You know, this has been a very interesting trial with a number of twists and turns, most notably, the change in jurors, because in less than 24 hours, these jurors -- two were ousted. And of course, there has been a gag order in place, but juror No. 7 actually spoke to our affiliate KTVU just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRAN GORMAN, DISMISSED JUROR: This is the verdict I would have wanted. This is where I was headed. So, I'm glad it came to that. The little bit of information that I found, which I think is pretty miniscule in the overall scheme of things, would not have changed it and I'm glad.
QUESTION: Can you tell us what that information was and how you got it?
GORMAN: I can't. I believe I'm still gagged. My understanding from the judge is that I'm gagged until the jurors are released, which I believe is after the final penalty phase and after they are released. That's about all I can say. I could tell you, if I was the 13th juror, I'd be in there saying "go get him."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Again, this jury pool is under a gag order. You know, a lot of speculation about the fact that there was quite a bit of unanimity. No. 5, the former foreperson was ousted and then immediately -- well, not immediately, but in that seven-hour period then, unanimity came down. So, I tell you, Fredricka, it's been a very, very interesting case, and of course, we're expecting to see a lot more when the penalty phase begins November 22.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kimberly Osias in Redwood City, California. Thanks so much.
And coming up in about 15 minutes, more on the Peterson verdict with legal expert and CNN analyst, Kendall Coffee.
Other news now from across America, accusations that older members of a New Jersey high school soccer team sexual humiliated two younger players. Four 17-year-olds were released to their parents after a family court hearing. They face another hearing next month. A fifth team member, who is 18, has been charged as an adult.
A starting discovery for inspectors along the U.S./Mexican border, a little girl inside a pinata. That pinata. It was found in a car and even though it was sealed, the girl was able to breathe. Her mother and 9-year-old brother were also found hiding in various parts of the car. The family was voluntarily deported back to Mexico. And a big gift for the Special Olympics from American workers risking their lives in Iraq. Eric Whiting extended the world's largest truck convoy fundraiser into Iraq and along with his fellow truck drivers raised $10,000. Whiting had worked with the Special Olympics for years and wanted to continue his involvement despite being in Iraq.
On Election Day, voters across the country spoke out clearly against same-sex marriages, voting to ban it in all eleven states where it was on the ballot. So, what's next for gay couples who already have a state marriage certificate? CNN's Jonathan Freed reports from Portland, Oregon.
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JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Li and Becky Kennedy are married, bug they're not sure it's going to last. It's not their relationship. That's rock solid.
MARY LI, SAME-SEX SPOUSE: Until someone tells us otherwise, we believe we have a legal marriage.
FREED: The trouble, their marriage certificate may have been printed with disappearing ink. Mary and Becky were the same of thousands of same-sex couples to be married here in the Portland, Oregon area last spring when Multnomah County they decided to allow gay weddings.
But on Election Day, voters approved Measure 36, amending the state's constitution, defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. For gays, it's one whole lot of frustration with those who voted yes.
BECKY KENNEDY, SAME-SEX PARTNER: The one piece of paper that guarantees them their right to practice whatever religion they want and gives them all their freedoms, they're using to take away rights from us.
FREED: Constitutional experts say it won't be clear which rights, if any, have been taken away until Oregon Supreme Court rules on the validity of the marriage licenses. Rulings could range from voiding the licenses to up holding them, based on the federal guarantee of equal protection under the law. Some believe Measure 36 will cause the court to declare marriage dead in name, but call on state law makers to extend the rights and privileges by other means such as civil union.
Kelly Burke might reluctantly accept civil union status if it means financial stability for her family. Only since her wedding in March has she been able to use her spouse, Dolores' health insurance, saving thousands of dollars. Burke believes the vote enshrined discrimination.
KELLY BURKE, SAME-SEX SPOUSE: I don't understand how people can feel that way and wish other people harm and then actually use their vote to inflict that harm. I don't -- it's not something I can really comprehend.
FREED (on camera): You feel attacked?
BURKE: I do.
FREED (voice-over): GEORGENE RICE, DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE COALITION: You know, there's a lot of talk going on about how this election ended up the way it did.
Georgene Rice hosts a Christian radio talk show and was a voice in the anti-gay marrage campaign. Her stance is that any move toward civil unions would meet strong resistance and she's convinced the court can only see this one way.
RICE: We believe because people have spoken on their view of and amended Oregon's constitution, that it clearly states that marriage will be between one man and one woman in this state.
FREED: Legal scholars suggest the Oregon battle could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mary and Becky say that even if the courts take away their marriage, they'll always rember how empowered they felt when they said "I do."
Jonathan Freed, CNN, Portland, Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: An apparent abduction caught on video. People were around, but nobody stopped to help. Right or wrong? Our ethics guy weighs in when we come back.
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WHITFIELD: A New York lawyer says a recent episode of "Law and Order" makes him look like the bad guy. Ravi Batra is suing the producers of that show for $15 million for portraying him as a crooked attorney. The episode featured an Indian-American attorney in Brooklyn named Robby Patel in a story about courthouse corruption. Well, Ravi Batra says that's too close for comfort and he's suing for defamation.
A film about the life and work of pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey premieres this weekend. His studies on sex rocked the sensibilities of 1950s America, opening some minds and infuriating others, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen found that Kinsey remains controversial long after his death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the 1950s, Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds. In the 1960s Rob and Laura slept in separate beds. But now, it's sex, sex, sex, on a bed, in the water, on a swing, boy and girl, man and man. It seems nothing is out of bounds and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey can take some credit for that. The new movie about Kinsey's life tells the story of this Indiana University researcher who helped get prudish America to start talking about sex.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: re was no Dr. Phil, no Dr. Ruth. No one had ever talked about these things before.
COHEN: Kinsey's worked shocked 1950s America. He reported that half of all women had premarital sex. He tallied up how many people masturbated, how many engaged in gay sex, acts people dared not even mention, let alone catalog at that time. Groups like the Family Research Council Kinsey's book laid the groundwork for decades of social problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: have him to thank or rather to blame, in large part, for the explosion of premarital sex, extra marital sex, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmit transmitted diseases, a whole range of pathologies.
COHEN: Others say his work was liberating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a sense that maybe I'm not so odd or maybe I'm not so different. Maybe, you know, I'm OK.
COHEN: Kinsey died in 1956 but his institute remains today. And those who run it say even though much has changed in the past half century, much has stayed the same.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's ironic we're all bombarded with sexually images daily and yet still can't have serious conversations about sex.
COHEN: Researchers call for more sex education in schools and they say it wasn't Kinsey who created these sexual behaviors, he just made public what people were already doing in private and that, by itself, is somewhat of a sexual revolution.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
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WHITFIELD: But police in Corona, California are trying to unravel a mysterious apparent abduction at a local mall. The whole thing was caught on surveillance video. Two men seen chasing a woman through a parking area there, they then grab her and stuff her into the trunk of a car. Nearby shoppers appear to notice the chase, but apparently no one tried to stop it. And that brings us to today's questions of ethics. Here to help us sort it all out is our ethics guy, Bruce Weinstein.
Good to see you, Bruce.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, "ETHICS GUY": Good to see you too, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, is this an example of a point that we have gotten in this society, that perhaps people think it is potentially too dangerous to step in and help or they don't really suspect that what is really unfolding before their eyes is real?
WEINSTEIN: Fredricka, I suspect that the real reason is much more cynical than that. People are so absorbed in their thoughts that they consider the possibility that someone else might have been in harm's way.
You know, in this sort of situation we have two distinct moral obligations, to protect our self and the other is to protect someone else if we're in a position to do so. It doesn't have to mean going up to the person and putting yourself in harm's way. A simple phone call to 911 would have helped, but no one even did that. So, this is a terrible miscarriage of justice. People should have done something. We should have learned from the Kitty Genovese case 50 years ago it's wrong not to get involved.
WHITFIELD: And we still don't really know the outcome of this case. It is still, indeed, a mystery, but have folks really felt kind of jaded because there are so many scams out there nowadays. People have been taken for, you know -- taken for money, et cetera, because they've -- you know, been asked for help and they do and then they feel like, you know what? I'm not sure if I want to believe anything anymore.
WEINSTEIN: But, a simple phone call to 911 on the cell phone would have fulfilled both responsibilities to protect our self and to protect this victim of injustice. So, it's really -- it boggles the mind to conceive of why someone wouldn't even get involved in the most minimal way. It takes very little, really, to make a big difference in the lives of other people and here, people just failed in their moral responsibility. It's that simple.
WHITFIELD: All right, well we had a e-mail now from a viewer who asks this about a very different kind of dilemma.
"I use many independent business companies for projects to update my 1950s era home, painters, roofers, landscapers, plumbers, et cetera. Frequently, a workman doing the job will hand me their personal phone number and offer to do 'the same work, only cheaper' if I bypass their employer. I understand that if I were to do so, I would forgo guarantees, insurance coverage, licensing, and so forth. Despite these factors, would it be unethical to employ them behind the contractor's back?"
WEINSTEIN: Yes, it would be unethical, because you would not have come across these subcontractors had it not been for their contractor to begin with. Now the...
WHITFIELD: But who's really being unethical, the service person for making the offering or you for saying, you know what I could actually save some money?
WEINSTEIN: Both people. It's wrong to make the offer to go behind one's employer's back. And also wrong to take them up on it.
I mean, even the questioner sort of tips her hand by saying, would it be wrong to go behind the contractor's back? That wording itself suggests it's ethicly problematic.
Now, even if the benefits that the subcontractor could offer, even if the subcontractor could guarantee insurance, it would still be wrong, because it's unfair to the contractor. This is one of those black and white ethical dilemmas, I'm afraid.
WHITFIELD: All right, Bruce Weinstein, thanks so much.
WEINSTEIN: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And if you have a question for our ethics guy, e-mail your dilemma to ethics@cnn.com.
Now, bottom of the hour, we have our top stories for you now in the news.
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WHITFIELD: Jurors in the Scott Peterson trial now must decide whether he lives out the rest of his life in prison or dies for his crime. Prosecutors never proved how, where or when his wife was killed. It was a largely circumstantial murder case, but apparently enough for the jury to reach the standard beyond a reasonable doubt.
Let's talk to Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney and frequent CNN contributor on legal matters and he joins us from Miami. Good to see you, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good afternoon, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Was this conviction associated with a very strange signal or conflicting signal being sent by the jurors that they have a conviction of both first and second degree murder charges?
COFFEY: Well, it was an extraordinary week of deliberation wasn't it, chaos, chaos and more chaos. Two jurors gone during the course of deliberations. Clearly, the foreperson, once he was out of the way, must have been some kind of obstacle, at least in some of the minds of some of the jurors, because they moved really fast once he was gone.
And in terms of what might seem like a split decision, second degree for Conner, I think what the jury thought Scott Peterson was trying to do was murder his wife and in a ironic and very sad way, Conner, the unborn son, was an innocent by stander.
WHITFIELD: How can you have premeditated murder on Laci Peterson and not consequencely on Conner?
COFFEY: Well, I think it's certainly something that's got some heads scratching. I think from the jury's perspective, and we're all speculating here, they must have just assumed premeditation and real design and intent of Scott Peterson was to kill his wife. And Conner just happened to be, again, an innocent and perhaps to some extent victim that wasn't really being focused on.
WHITFIELD: The removal of the jurors, particularly the last one, juror number five, the foreman that you mentioned. Does that sort of set the stage for the inevitably of the defense attorney Mark Geragos trying to appeal, saying perhaps the judge was removing a potentially defense sympathetic juror?
COFFEY: Well, certainly it will be talked on appeal, and we don't know the details, Fredricka. But one thing I think is going to be the focus, it's not so much the disruption, it's whether in some fashion the extraordinary event of removing two jurors during course of deliberations created some element of coercion or something that is going to be seen as having compelled other members of the jury to go ahead and reach a verdict quickly, get this thing over with, because jurors were dropping like flies at that point. It was turning into a game of juror survivor.
WHITFIELD: And the judge's decision is in sealed documents. At what point is it unsealed? Does that come after the sentencing?
COFFEY: That comes after the sentencing. The sentencing phase in a death penalty case is itself a very serious, almost like its own trial. There's going to be very dramatic testimony. I think, we can expect to hear from the parents of Scott Peterson essentially all but begging the jury to save the life of their son. Meanwhile, you can expect the parents of Laci Peterson discussing the impact that his has had on their lives. There is not going to be a dry pair of eyes in that courtroom during the sentencing phase.
WHITFIELD: Can we expect to see Scott Peterson actually to take the stand?
COFFEY: It's unlikely, Fredricka, because the one thing he's not going to evidence is remorse. He's going to continue to insist that he's innocent. They're going to appeal this thing. What they are going to rely on is especially family members to talk about the good son he has been, the blameless life he had, apart from this tragedy. And it is going to be very emotional, as they say -- I say, all but beg the jury to spare the life of their son.
WHITFIELD: In hindsight, was it the right decision for the defense to discourage him from ever taking the stand?
COFFEY: I think the defense made the right call. Whatever he had to say in the way of I didn't do it, I had nothing to do with the involvement, the jury actually heard those words through the audiotapes that were played over and over again. The one thing he couldn't have gotten away with is explaining all the lies. This guy has so many conniving cold blood lies, in connection with Amber Frey and other things, that I think the jury would have concluded that he had to be lying when he said, he didn't kill his wife and unborn son.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kendall Coffey, thanks so much for joining us from a very beautiful sunny Miami it looks like today.
COFFEY: Thanks for inviting me, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right thanks a lot.
Well, while has the Scott Peterson murder case has held the nation's attention for close to two years now.
Reliable sources host, Howard Kurtz, takes a somewhat skeptical look at the viewer interest and media motives.
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HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When bad things happen to famous people, the media can be counted on to go wild. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart. Then there were tragedies involving ordinary people that somehow get transformed into media melodramas. From the murders of Sandra Levy, who had a relationship with Gary Condit. And Jon-Benet Ramsey to the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, the common thread is young, white and attractive.
The latest and one of the longest running media obsessions involves Laci Peterson.
(on camera): When the pregnant California woman disappeared just before Christmas 2002, no one had ever heard of her. But by the time Scott Peterson was accused of killing his wife, the case was inescapable.
(voice-over): It was big on the network morning show like "Today" and go "Good Morning America," where Diane Sawyer interviewed Scott Peterson. Big on LARRY KING LIVE. Big on Dan Abram's MSNBC show. Big on Greta van Susteren's Fox program, even during last week's presidential election.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have some new picture of Scott Peterson, from the courtroom itself.
KURTZ: The seemingly endless media coverage, as in the O.J. marathon, has played up the soap opera aspect, such as the other woman, Amber Frey. It has become a reality show with its own cast of characters, including celebrity lawyers like Mark Geragos and Gloria Allred. Television has turns these cases into morality pleas, with a simple pilot line and natural climax and people rooting for or against the defendant. Ad you don't need that many people rooting, just a extra million or half million makes cable executives very happy. There's nothing wrong with covering the Peterson Case, the question is whether major portions of the media are over covering it, overdosing on it to exploit the tragedy.
(on camera): It's been nearly two years now, Saddam Hussein was toppled, President Bush was reelected, Ronald Reagan died, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series and still the media are talking about Scott and Laci Peterson. It almost makes you wonder if all of this is about the murder of a pregnant women or about goosing circulation and ratings.
Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Howard Kurtz is back on CNN tomorrow morning for "RELIABLE SOURCES." His guest is NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw, who will discusses his retirement from "Nightly News." Tune in for "RELIABLE SOURCES" Sunday morning at 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 a.m. on the West Coast.
When we come back, looking for some unusual ways to spend your Thanksgiving perhaps?
Some suggestions coming up.
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WHITFIELD: Well, the Christmas decorations at some of your favorite shopping spots are up, indicters the holiday season is almost here. And if your considering a getaway to an unusual spot, some where exotic or a little different, some idea's from the experts at "Travel + Leisure."
Hillary Geronemus, is an associate editor and she joins us from the Time Warner Center in New York.
Good to see you, Hillary.
HILLARY GERONEMUS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR "TRAVEL + MEASURE": Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sometimes folks just want to try something different for the holidays, how do they get started?
GERONEMUS: Well, there's so many different places to go and we just picked a few of them that we find traditional and exotic.
WHITFIELD: All right, Cooperstown, New York, why would I want to go there?
GERONEMUS: This is the traditional one. It's a slice of Americana. It's an old federal air style village where every December they host candle light evening which takes place in a living history museum, called the Farmers Museum. And people visiting can ride horse-drawn carriages and sip Wassail (ph) from a camp fire kettle, and also shop for gifts in a traditional old-fashioned general store. So, it's really like spending the holidays back in time. It's been literally untouched.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fun. All right, perhaps Europe is your cup of tea, Dublin, why?
GERONEMUS: Dublin's great and Dubliners know how to have a good time. And that's especially true during the holidays. The pubs come alive where, everyone sips these steaming hot ports (ph) and whisky that are spiced up with a lemon slice of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and boiling water and sugar. But also there's these great Gothic cathedral that hold candle light concerts, especially the St. Patrick's cathedrals. Also the luxury hotels really do it up nicely for the holidays like the Marion Hotel.
WHITFIELD: And skiing always seems like a great thing to do around the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, you name it. You say head out to Schweitzer, Idaho. Is this a private destination?
GERONEMUS: Well, it's more of an isolated. We picked because, what's great about Schweitzer is it's this tiny ski village where you can avoid the crowds, and also get the challenging slopes and beautiful scenery at a much affordable price. It's about 60 miles south of the Canadian border, so it's in the northern panhandle of Idaho, but it's absolutely beautiful. There's tons to do between downhill skiing and exploring the back country on a snow cap tour (ph). It's a wonderful destination.
WHITFIELD: Kind of a best-kept secret until now?
GERONEMUS: Exactly. Don't tell anyone.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then maybe you want to head way down south, get a little sun. Bocas Del Toro, Panama.
GERONEMUS: This is for the eco-adventurer, and it's a little fun in the sun. It's part of Archipelago of the coast of Panama. And there is this great lodge called the Punta Caracol Aqua Lodge which has six stilted bungalows, that are all solar powered, where you have private excess to the water, that's teaming with, you know, 200 species of tropical fish. And there's so different traditional activities that happened down there.
WHITFIELD: Now, all of these places, do you craft them as you get your airfare separate from your accommodations or do you still try to encourage folks to get some packages?
GERONEMUS: Well, I think it all depends on what you're looking for. There are great package deals out there. But a lot of places are kind of a la carte deals. If you find a travel agent that can arrange a package deal, that's always a good way to go.
WHITFIELD: How early do you need to get starting. Is it too late for Thanksgiving?
GERONEMUS: Thanksgiving might be tough, but there's -- you know a lot of these places are great through New Year's and even beyond New Years. A lot of places like in Panama, they celebrate their festival January 6th.
So, there's plenty of time to go to a lot of these place, I think just give it a try.
WHITFIELD: So, what are you're plans. Are you heading off to one of these fine destinations?
GERONEMUS: No. I'm probably going to do more traditional family type holiday season.
WHITFIELD: OK, maybe next year, right?
GERONEMUS: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: All right. Hillary Geronemus, associate editor with "Travel + Leisure" magazine, thanks so much.
GERONEMUS: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: Well, before you plan your next vacation or you just want a vacation of the mind, check out our Web site, cnn.com/travel.
Next, a war story you won't find in many history books.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens during those six hours, senseless killing.
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WHITFIELD: The great war and what it can teach us about Iraq.
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WHITFIELD: We have heard a lot this week about World War II and lessons learned from the sacrifices of an entire generation. But November 11, Veteran's Day was once known as Armistice day, the end of the war to end all wars. CNN's Beth Nissen reports on the final horrors of World War I.
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BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): November 11, 1918, Armistice Day. Cheering crowds on five continents celebrated the end of the great war, four years of fighting so bloody, few words in the human vocabulary can describe it.
JOSEPH PERSICO, "11TH MONTH, 11TH DAY, 11TH HOUR: The casualties are stupefying, we just can't grasp them in human terms. Seven million of the wounded are permanently blinded, disfigure, lose limbs, 9 million are killed.
NISSEN: Nine million. The story of the last few thousand of those lost is one of the most appalling of this or any war. Historian Joseph Persico has written a detailed account of the Great War's last day.
PERSICO: The Armistice is signed 5:00 on the morning of November 11, it is agreed that it will take force 11:00 that morning. And what happens during those six hours, senseless killing.
NISSEN: Some allied officers determined to take every last shot at the enemy deliberately withheld news of the Armistice from their men. Those officers included this young American artillery captain.
PERSICO: Harry S. Truman does not tell his men for that reason. He's afraid they will just unwind and they've still have a job to do until 11:00.
NISSEN: Other ambitious generals eager for a last shot at personal glory, ordered their troops to fight their way into territory they could have walked into peacefully just hours later. At dawn on the 11th, American General Charles Summerall, ordered the 5th Army Corps to cross the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) river under heavy German fire. The cost, 1,000 Dough Boys wounded, 120 killed on the last morning of the war. At 10:00 am, only an hour before the war's end, the all black, 92nd infantry division was ordered to leave a wooded area they held and make a full frontal assault on the Germans.
PERSICO: They were going to attack into machine gun fire and the reaction among these men was absolute horror.
NISSEN: The cost, 190 casualties. All along the western front, allied troops were ordered today, keep fighting a war they already won.
PERSICO: The loss of life on this last day was inexplicable and indefensible. There were 10,900 casualties, 2,700 men died on the last day of the war.
NISSEN: A number of deaths greater than those recorded on D-Day. In the fields of crosses from the great war, historians find lessons, the need to plan for a war's end an especially complex challenge in modern wars.
PERSICO: The first (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is that there have not been clear cut decisive ends to them. They seem to either peter out. They're ragged. They leave resentful and embittered remnants and this is what we're seeing in Iraq today.
NISSEN: Another lesson, know exactly why you're fighting.
PERSICO: The Tommies, the British soldiers, they would sing to the melody of Auld Lang Syne. You're hear because we're here because we're here because we're here. And throughout four years, there never seemed to be a better reason.
NISSEN: And the overriding issues constantly calculate cost. Can the losses of a platoon, a division, a generation bring real and long-term gains? They didn't in World War I, just 20 years later, the world was fighting again.
PERSICO: One can reach a rather grim conclusion, what do wars teach us, what are the lessons of war? The major lesson appears to be that no lesson is ever learned.
NISSEN: Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And still much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY.
In a few moments, "IN THE MONEY."
At 2:00 Eastern, it's CNN LIVE SATURDAY. We will hear more from one of the dismissed jurors in the Scott Peterson case.
And at 3:00, "NEXT AT CNN" has a look at video games starting that are starting to rival top grossing movies in their take of consumer dollars.
but first, Jack Cafferty of a preview of "IN THE MONEY."
JACK CAFFERTY, HOST "IN THE MONEY": Thanks.
Come up on in the "IN THE MONEY," delayed reaction. Our troops are doing the job in Falluja, but did politicians fail to do theirs?
We'll look at whether the election played a role in the timing of the Falluja offensive.
Plus, who's in, who's out and who cares. We'll talk with attorney Allan Dershowitz about the future of Supreme Court and whether new justices will make any radical changes.
And family sized profits once again. The biggest box office hits this year are animated movies. We'll talk about what pushed Hollywood into making cartoons that adults can enjoy with or without the kids. All that and more coming up right after the check of the headlines.
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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 November 13, 2004 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is 12:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 p.m. in Iraq. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour:
(EXPLOSION)
WHITFIELD: The fight to retake Falluja: Several remaining pockets of insurgents fall to coalition forces. Could the U.S.-led mission soon be complete?
Plus, the last hours of the Great War and one of the most unbelievable stories of any war.
And we'll hear from one of the dismissed jurors in the Scott Peterson case. Would her opinion have changed the outcome? First, these stories now in the news.
A top official in Iraq reports the most important insurgent leader in the country has escaped the attack on Falluja. Terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is among those who escaped. Officials say 1,000 insurgents have been killed in the fighting and dozens more captured.
For the second day, mourners are paying respects at the grave site of Yasser Arafat in the West bank. He was buried in a highly emotional funeral yesterday. Meantime, Palestinians are asking the international community, including the U.S., for help in organizing a presidential election within 60 days.
And in North Korea, officials say it's quite possible to resolve the standoff over its nuclear program, but they say the U.S. must first drop its goal of overthrowing the regime. The U.S. and five other nations had been working to find a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. It's the first comment from North Korea since the U.S. presidential election.
Fighting continues in Falluja, today. U.S. and Iraqi forces control most of the city and are targeting remaing pockets of insurgents. The rest of the city is virtually empty after a week of fighting, but a relief convoy entered Falluja today and bringing aid to the civilians there. Jane Arraf is embedded with the troops fighting in Falluja and joins us by phone -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're in the towns east of the city where an Army task force making its way through what they say is the last remaining pockets of organized resistance. Now that doesn't mean that there are not insurgents still there and other places, they are. One of the things that the Army has discovered as they've rolled through here is how well they planned their defenses. They have been finding fortified bunkers, tunnels, spider holes, hiding places where snipers have popped up and almost everywhere rigged with explosives. Today they dropped 500 pound of laser guided bombs, as well as overnight J-downs (PH) on some of those fortified bunkers, and we are going in -- we're in an armed -- armored convoy that is going in, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as they continue to try to tackle that last remaing sector in Falluja -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Jane, how grand is the risk for these NGOs who want to come in and help many of the injured civilians?
ARRAF: It would be hugely risky. This is a war going on. It is still a city that is still under considerable -- there's a lot of fire flying around. There's also no electricity, there's no water. It's unclear, Fredricka, how many civilians there are, indeed injured. We spoke to a Marine colonel today who told us that people were just starting to come out of their houses and approach Iraqi security forces, asking for help. But -- an assessment still has to be made how many people need medical help or how many people need food and water -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jane, what about this vital hospital that, at first, coalition forces had taken over? Is that hospital in some capacity up and running for the injured civilians?
ARRAF: The hospital when we saw it was not up and running, but there are other hospitals that are. Now, they could conceivably be used (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and likely will be. The Marines tell us they have taken several injured that have been evacuated for treatment. In most cases...
WHITFIELD: OK. Jane Arraf, thanks very much for joing us on the telephone there from Falluja, embedded with the U.S. Army troops.
Well, Iraq's leader pointed to the progress being made in the battle of Falluja today. Iraq interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi said U.S. and Iraqi troops were making progress against the rebels in Falluja, but also he said that he doesn't expect the fight against insurgents to end there. Allawi was in Falluja to mark the anniversary of an attack on Italian troops there.
In his weekly radio address, President Bush said the Falluja offensive is making significant progress and U.S. and Iraqi forces are taking back the city, but he warns the insurgent violence could increase as Iraq's planned January elections approach. Elaine Quijano has more from our Washington bureau -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka. As the battle in Falluja continues, President Bush, this week, drew support from a key U.S. ally, Britain. The president, today, echoed comments that he made yesterday while appearing with British prime minister, Tony Blair, in the east room of the White House. The two leaders met to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Iraq. And in his radio address today, as you mentioned, Mr. Bush said the current Falluja operation is making progress, that U.S. and Iraqi troops are on the offensive against insurgents in Falluja which he says has been used as a base for terrorist operations. Now, at the same time, the president warned of escalating violence in the run up Iraqi elections slated for January, but he also expressed confidence that U.S. and Iraqi forces would prevail.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorist have shown once again the stakes of this struggle. They seek to spread fear and violence throughout Iraq, throughout the broader Middle East, throughout the world, and they will fail. The terrorists will be defeated. Iraq will be free, and the world will be more secure. Our commitment to the success of democracy in Iraq is unshakeable and we will prevail.
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QUIJANO: So, the president again today, reiterating his determination to see democracy take hold in Iraq.
Now, another development to tell you about here in Washington, the deputy director at the CIA, John McLaughlin, is retiring. Now, word of his departure, which is scheduled to happen in December, comes amid some published reports of internal strife at the CIA. Specifically, a report in the "Washington Post" linking that strife to McLaughlin's announcement, but he denies that, and in a written statement issued by McLaughlin, himself yesterday, he says, quote, "I have come to the personal -- purely personal decision that it is time to move on to other endeavors after serving as deputy director of Central Intelligence for more than four years and briefly, in recent months, as acting director."
Now, McLaughlin is a 32-year veteran of the agency. He had always said he had planned to leave around now, so this announcement not a surprise, but some people raising questions about the circumstances -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Elaine, now what about the resignation of the education secretary, Ron (SIC) Paige? How much surprise has that come to the administration?
QUIJANO: Not necessarily a surprise. There had been some word that, obviously, there were some critics who said that particularly with "No Child Left Behind" that there was some need for some new leadership there with regard to the Education Department. So, really, still, what they are looking at are the higher positions, so to speak, the higher profile positions. Condoleezza Rice, still unsure what may happen in her future, also, Secretary of State Colin Powell. So, the speculation continues -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much. Elaine Quijano in Washington. Well, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he has been in contact with the new Palestinian leadership in recent days. In a Friday interview with Arabic language network, al-Arabiyah. Powell says he hopes to meet with them soon pay his respects in the wake of Yasser Arafat's death. And beyond that, Powell says he hopes the new leadership would be willing to recommit to a Middle East peace process.
Palestinians aren't ready to think about renewed peace talks just yet. They are still coming to grips with the loss of the only leader many of them are ever known. Michael Holmes looks at life after Arafat.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dignified and somber start of the day after Yasser Arafat's burial. Palestinian officials, including the new number one man at the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, preying at dawn near the tomb of the former leader.
The prayers mark the start of Eid ul-Fitr, the feast that marks the beginning of the end of the month-long observance of Ramadan. Stark contrast of the chaos of Arafat's burial, Friday, a compound that was meant to be off limits to the public, the screen of an emotional melee as former president was brought back to be interred.
Saturday visitors, ordinary Palestinians visiting the tomb throughout the day. Eid is also a time to remember the dead.
"I came here today to show my children that we have a leader," this man says, "One who sacrificed his life for our cause."
Elections in two months, concerns about who is next, the question, "what will happen now?" all put aside this day for remembrance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yasser Arafat, I don't think of anyone, but Yasser Arafat, because he was a great man.
HOLMES: Despite his failures, and there were many, Arafat was always forgiven by his people. Even his closest aides say he was, in many ways, one of a kind.
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It is going to be very difficult to replace Yasser Arafat. Charismatic leaders like this are not found every now and then. They are really difficult to come by, and they are unique in their own. And so, we're not really positing all our developments on finding a leader that replicates Yasser Arafat and that's why we divided the responsibilities of Yasser Arafat.
HOLMES: Yasser Arafat's resting place, say Palestinians, won't be the final one. Their dream of an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital is still alive, a timetable distant at this point and far from certain, but alive. (on camera): But until then, this place, the screen of Yasser Arafat's virtual incarceration for the last three years, is, say Palestinians, a fitting symbol of resistance.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Demonstrators in the nation's capital protest over what they see as mistreatment in Saudi Arabia. Protesters gathered at the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. They're upset women are not being allowed to run for office or vote in the up coming Saudi municipal elections. They are also protesting what they call the Saudi royal family's severe and unrelenting repression of women.
When we come back, a juror in the Scott Peterson trial talks, details straight ahead.
Oregonians define marriage as one man, one woman, so what's the fate for scores of same-sex couples who tied the knot there?
And a desperate attempt to cross the border. The story when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.
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WHITFIELD: A California jury will return to the courtroom a week from Monday to decide Scott Peterson's fate: Life in prison without parole or death. CNN"s Kimberly Osias is in Redwood City today, and she has the fallout from the guilty verdict -- Kimberly.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Scott Peterson is spending in the day in the jail behind me. Of course, he will be spending many, many more days like that, and as you say, at the minimum, he'll face life behind bars without parole. The maximum is death by lethal injection at San Quinton. This trial, of course, has been long time in the making, almost two years, in fact, and five months of testimony from about 188 witnesses. And then yesterday, a newly reconstituted jury came down with a verdict in just about seven hours.
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(UNINTELLIGIBLE)
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OSIAS: Outside the courtroom, an absolutely spontaneous eruption of cheers as the verdict came down when it was determined that Scott Peterson was found guilty of first degree murder for killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and guilty of second degree murder for the death of the couple's unborn son that they planned to name Conner.
There are flowers that have been delivered all around the couple's Covina Avenue home in Modesto. They have just been -- there's a tremendous outpouring. You know, a lot of people in this area obviously very, very closely tied to this case, and it has riveted and captured the attention of people all over that have been sending flowers to the home.
You know, this has been a very interesting trial with a number of twists and turns, most notably, the change in jurors, because in less than 24 hours, these jurors -- two were ousted. And of course, there has been a gag order in place, but juror No. 7 actually spoke to our affiliate KTVU just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRAN GORMAN, DISMISSED JUROR: This is the verdict I would have wanted. This is where I was headed. So, I'm glad it came to that. The little bit of information that I found, which I think is pretty miniscule in the overall scheme of things, would not have changed it and I'm glad.
QUESTION: Can you tell us what that information was and how you got it?
GORMAN: I can't. I believe I'm still gagged. My understanding from the judge is that I'm gagged until the jurors are released, which I believe is after the final penalty phase and after they are released. That's about all I can say. I could tell you, if I was the 13th juror, I'd be in there saying "go get him."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Again, this jury pool is under a gag order. You know, a lot of speculation about the fact that there was quite a bit of unanimity. No. 5, the former foreperson was ousted and then immediately -- well, not immediately, but in that seven-hour period then, unanimity came down. So, I tell you, Fredricka, it's been a very, very interesting case, and of course, we're expecting to see a lot more when the penalty phase begins November 22.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kimberly Osias in Redwood City, California. Thanks so much.
And coming up in about 15 minutes, more on the Peterson verdict with legal expert and CNN analyst, Kendall Coffee.
Other news now from across America, accusations that older members of a New Jersey high school soccer team sexual humiliated two younger players. Four 17-year-olds were released to their parents after a family court hearing. They face another hearing next month. A fifth team member, who is 18, has been charged as an adult.
A starting discovery for inspectors along the U.S./Mexican border, a little girl inside a pinata. That pinata. It was found in a car and even though it was sealed, the girl was able to breathe. Her mother and 9-year-old brother were also found hiding in various parts of the car. The family was voluntarily deported back to Mexico. And a big gift for the Special Olympics from American workers risking their lives in Iraq. Eric Whiting extended the world's largest truck convoy fundraiser into Iraq and along with his fellow truck drivers raised $10,000. Whiting had worked with the Special Olympics for years and wanted to continue his involvement despite being in Iraq.
On Election Day, voters across the country spoke out clearly against same-sex marriages, voting to ban it in all eleven states where it was on the ballot. So, what's next for gay couples who already have a state marriage certificate? CNN's Jonathan Freed reports from Portland, Oregon.
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JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Li and Becky Kennedy are married, bug they're not sure it's going to last. It's not their relationship. That's rock solid.
MARY LI, SAME-SEX SPOUSE: Until someone tells us otherwise, we believe we have a legal marriage.
FREED: The trouble, their marriage certificate may have been printed with disappearing ink. Mary and Becky were the same of thousands of same-sex couples to be married here in the Portland, Oregon area last spring when Multnomah County they decided to allow gay weddings.
But on Election Day, voters approved Measure 36, amending the state's constitution, defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. For gays, it's one whole lot of frustration with those who voted yes.
BECKY KENNEDY, SAME-SEX PARTNER: The one piece of paper that guarantees them their right to practice whatever religion they want and gives them all their freedoms, they're using to take away rights from us.
FREED: Constitutional experts say it won't be clear which rights, if any, have been taken away until Oregon Supreme Court rules on the validity of the marriage licenses. Rulings could range from voiding the licenses to up holding them, based on the federal guarantee of equal protection under the law. Some believe Measure 36 will cause the court to declare marriage dead in name, but call on state law makers to extend the rights and privileges by other means such as civil union.
Kelly Burke might reluctantly accept civil union status if it means financial stability for her family. Only since her wedding in March has she been able to use her spouse, Dolores' health insurance, saving thousands of dollars. Burke believes the vote enshrined discrimination.
KELLY BURKE, SAME-SEX SPOUSE: I don't understand how people can feel that way and wish other people harm and then actually use their vote to inflict that harm. I don't -- it's not something I can really comprehend.
FREED (on camera): You feel attacked?
BURKE: I do.
FREED (voice-over): GEORGENE RICE, DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE COALITION: You know, there's a lot of talk going on about how this election ended up the way it did.
Georgene Rice hosts a Christian radio talk show and was a voice in the anti-gay marrage campaign. Her stance is that any move toward civil unions would meet strong resistance and she's convinced the court can only see this one way.
RICE: We believe because people have spoken on their view of and amended Oregon's constitution, that it clearly states that marriage will be between one man and one woman in this state.
FREED: Legal scholars suggest the Oregon battle could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mary and Becky say that even if the courts take away their marriage, they'll always rember how empowered they felt when they said "I do."
Jonathan Freed, CNN, Portland, Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: An apparent abduction caught on video. People were around, but nobody stopped to help. Right or wrong? Our ethics guy weighs in when we come back.
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WHITFIELD: A New York lawyer says a recent episode of "Law and Order" makes him look like the bad guy. Ravi Batra is suing the producers of that show for $15 million for portraying him as a crooked attorney. The episode featured an Indian-American attorney in Brooklyn named Robby Patel in a story about courthouse corruption. Well, Ravi Batra says that's too close for comfort and he's suing for defamation.
A film about the life and work of pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey premieres this weekend. His studies on sex rocked the sensibilities of 1950s America, opening some minds and infuriating others, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen found that Kinsey remains controversial long after his death.
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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the 1950s, Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds. In the 1960s Rob and Laura slept in separate beds. But now, it's sex, sex, sex, on a bed, in the water, on a swing, boy and girl, man and man. It seems nothing is out of bounds and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey can take some credit for that. The new movie about Kinsey's life tells the story of this Indiana University researcher who helped get prudish America to start talking about sex.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: re was no Dr. Phil, no Dr. Ruth. No one had ever talked about these things before.
COHEN: Kinsey's worked shocked 1950s America. He reported that half of all women had premarital sex. He tallied up how many people masturbated, how many engaged in gay sex, acts people dared not even mention, let alone catalog at that time. Groups like the Family Research Council Kinsey's book laid the groundwork for decades of social problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: have him to thank or rather to blame, in large part, for the explosion of premarital sex, extra marital sex, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmit transmitted diseases, a whole range of pathologies.
COHEN: Others say his work was liberating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a sense that maybe I'm not so odd or maybe I'm not so different. Maybe, you know, I'm OK.
COHEN: Kinsey died in 1956 but his institute remains today. And those who run it say even though much has changed in the past half century, much has stayed the same.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's ironic we're all bombarded with sexually images daily and yet still can't have serious conversations about sex.
COHEN: Researchers call for more sex education in schools and they say it wasn't Kinsey who created these sexual behaviors, he just made public what people were already doing in private and that, by itself, is somewhat of a sexual revolution.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: But police in Corona, California are trying to unravel a mysterious apparent abduction at a local mall. The whole thing was caught on surveillance video. Two men seen chasing a woman through a parking area there, they then grab her and stuff her into the trunk of a car. Nearby shoppers appear to notice the chase, but apparently no one tried to stop it. And that brings us to today's questions of ethics. Here to help us sort it all out is our ethics guy, Bruce Weinstein.
Good to see you, Bruce.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, "ETHICS GUY": Good to see you too, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, is this an example of a point that we have gotten in this society, that perhaps people think it is potentially too dangerous to step in and help or they don't really suspect that what is really unfolding before their eyes is real?
WEINSTEIN: Fredricka, I suspect that the real reason is much more cynical than that. People are so absorbed in their thoughts that they consider the possibility that someone else might have been in harm's way.
You know, in this sort of situation we have two distinct moral obligations, to protect our self and the other is to protect someone else if we're in a position to do so. It doesn't have to mean going up to the person and putting yourself in harm's way. A simple phone call to 911 would have helped, but no one even did that. So, this is a terrible miscarriage of justice. People should have done something. We should have learned from the Kitty Genovese case 50 years ago it's wrong not to get involved.
WHITFIELD: And we still don't really know the outcome of this case. It is still, indeed, a mystery, but have folks really felt kind of jaded because there are so many scams out there nowadays. People have been taken for, you know -- taken for money, et cetera, because they've -- you know, been asked for help and they do and then they feel like, you know what? I'm not sure if I want to believe anything anymore.
WEINSTEIN: But, a simple phone call to 911 on the cell phone would have fulfilled both responsibilities to protect our self and to protect this victim of injustice. So, it's really -- it boggles the mind to conceive of why someone wouldn't even get involved in the most minimal way. It takes very little, really, to make a big difference in the lives of other people and here, people just failed in their moral responsibility. It's that simple.
WHITFIELD: All right, well we had a e-mail now from a viewer who asks this about a very different kind of dilemma.
"I use many independent business companies for projects to update my 1950s era home, painters, roofers, landscapers, plumbers, et cetera. Frequently, a workman doing the job will hand me their personal phone number and offer to do 'the same work, only cheaper' if I bypass their employer. I understand that if I were to do so, I would forgo guarantees, insurance coverage, licensing, and so forth. Despite these factors, would it be unethical to employ them behind the contractor's back?"
WEINSTEIN: Yes, it would be unethical, because you would not have come across these subcontractors had it not been for their contractor to begin with. Now the...
WHITFIELD: But who's really being unethical, the service person for making the offering or you for saying, you know what I could actually save some money?
WEINSTEIN: Both people. It's wrong to make the offer to go behind one's employer's back. And also wrong to take them up on it.
I mean, even the questioner sort of tips her hand by saying, would it be wrong to go behind the contractor's back? That wording itself suggests it's ethicly problematic.
Now, even if the benefits that the subcontractor could offer, even if the subcontractor could guarantee insurance, it would still be wrong, because it's unfair to the contractor. This is one of those black and white ethical dilemmas, I'm afraid.
WHITFIELD: All right, Bruce Weinstein, thanks so much.
WEINSTEIN: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And if you have a question for our ethics guy, e-mail your dilemma to ethics@cnn.com.
Now, bottom of the hour, we have our top stories for you now in the news.
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WHITFIELD: Jurors in the Scott Peterson trial now must decide whether he lives out the rest of his life in prison or dies for his crime. Prosecutors never proved how, where or when his wife was killed. It was a largely circumstantial murder case, but apparently enough for the jury to reach the standard beyond a reasonable doubt.
Let's talk to Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney and frequent CNN contributor on legal matters and he joins us from Miami. Good to see you, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good afternoon, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Was this conviction associated with a very strange signal or conflicting signal being sent by the jurors that they have a conviction of both first and second degree murder charges?
COFFEY: Well, it was an extraordinary week of deliberation wasn't it, chaos, chaos and more chaos. Two jurors gone during the course of deliberations. Clearly, the foreperson, once he was out of the way, must have been some kind of obstacle, at least in some of the minds of some of the jurors, because they moved really fast once he was gone.
And in terms of what might seem like a split decision, second degree for Conner, I think what the jury thought Scott Peterson was trying to do was murder his wife and in a ironic and very sad way, Conner, the unborn son, was an innocent by stander.
WHITFIELD: How can you have premeditated murder on Laci Peterson and not consequencely on Conner?
COFFEY: Well, I think it's certainly something that's got some heads scratching. I think from the jury's perspective, and we're all speculating here, they must have just assumed premeditation and real design and intent of Scott Peterson was to kill his wife. And Conner just happened to be, again, an innocent and perhaps to some extent victim that wasn't really being focused on.
WHITFIELD: The removal of the jurors, particularly the last one, juror number five, the foreman that you mentioned. Does that sort of set the stage for the inevitably of the defense attorney Mark Geragos trying to appeal, saying perhaps the judge was removing a potentially defense sympathetic juror?
COFFEY: Well, certainly it will be talked on appeal, and we don't know the details, Fredricka. But one thing I think is going to be the focus, it's not so much the disruption, it's whether in some fashion the extraordinary event of removing two jurors during course of deliberations created some element of coercion or something that is going to be seen as having compelled other members of the jury to go ahead and reach a verdict quickly, get this thing over with, because jurors were dropping like flies at that point. It was turning into a game of juror survivor.
WHITFIELD: And the judge's decision is in sealed documents. At what point is it unsealed? Does that come after the sentencing?
COFFEY: That comes after the sentencing. The sentencing phase in a death penalty case is itself a very serious, almost like its own trial. There's going to be very dramatic testimony. I think, we can expect to hear from the parents of Scott Peterson essentially all but begging the jury to save the life of their son. Meanwhile, you can expect the parents of Laci Peterson discussing the impact that his has had on their lives. There is not going to be a dry pair of eyes in that courtroom during the sentencing phase.
WHITFIELD: Can we expect to see Scott Peterson actually to take the stand?
COFFEY: It's unlikely, Fredricka, because the one thing he's not going to evidence is remorse. He's going to continue to insist that he's innocent. They're going to appeal this thing. What they are going to rely on is especially family members to talk about the good son he has been, the blameless life he had, apart from this tragedy. And it is going to be very emotional, as they say -- I say, all but beg the jury to spare the life of their son.
WHITFIELD: In hindsight, was it the right decision for the defense to discourage him from ever taking the stand?
COFFEY: I think the defense made the right call. Whatever he had to say in the way of I didn't do it, I had nothing to do with the involvement, the jury actually heard those words through the audiotapes that were played over and over again. The one thing he couldn't have gotten away with is explaining all the lies. This guy has so many conniving cold blood lies, in connection with Amber Frey and other things, that I think the jury would have concluded that he had to be lying when he said, he didn't kill his wife and unborn son.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kendall Coffey, thanks so much for joining us from a very beautiful sunny Miami it looks like today.
COFFEY: Thanks for inviting me, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right thanks a lot.
Well, while has the Scott Peterson murder case has held the nation's attention for close to two years now.
Reliable sources host, Howard Kurtz, takes a somewhat skeptical look at the viewer interest and media motives.
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HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When bad things happen to famous people, the media can be counted on to go wild. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart. Then there were tragedies involving ordinary people that somehow get transformed into media melodramas. From the murders of Sandra Levy, who had a relationship with Gary Condit. And Jon-Benet Ramsey to the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, the common thread is young, white and attractive.
The latest and one of the longest running media obsessions involves Laci Peterson.
(on camera): When the pregnant California woman disappeared just before Christmas 2002, no one had ever heard of her. But by the time Scott Peterson was accused of killing his wife, the case was inescapable.
(voice-over): It was big on the network morning show like "Today" and go "Good Morning America," where Diane Sawyer interviewed Scott Peterson. Big on LARRY KING LIVE. Big on Dan Abram's MSNBC show. Big on Greta van Susteren's Fox program, even during last week's presidential election.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have some new picture of Scott Peterson, from the courtroom itself.
KURTZ: The seemingly endless media coverage, as in the O.J. marathon, has played up the soap opera aspect, such as the other woman, Amber Frey. It has become a reality show with its own cast of characters, including celebrity lawyers like Mark Geragos and Gloria Allred. Television has turns these cases into morality pleas, with a simple pilot line and natural climax and people rooting for or against the defendant. Ad you don't need that many people rooting, just a extra million or half million makes cable executives very happy. There's nothing wrong with covering the Peterson Case, the question is whether major portions of the media are over covering it, overdosing on it to exploit the tragedy.
(on camera): It's been nearly two years now, Saddam Hussein was toppled, President Bush was reelected, Ronald Reagan died, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series and still the media are talking about Scott and Laci Peterson. It almost makes you wonder if all of this is about the murder of a pregnant women or about goosing circulation and ratings.
Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.
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WHITFIELD: And Howard Kurtz is back on CNN tomorrow morning for "RELIABLE SOURCES." His guest is NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw, who will discusses his retirement from "Nightly News." Tune in for "RELIABLE SOURCES" Sunday morning at 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 a.m. on the West Coast.
When we come back, looking for some unusual ways to spend your Thanksgiving perhaps?
Some suggestions coming up.
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WHITFIELD: Well, the Christmas decorations at some of your favorite shopping spots are up, indicters the holiday season is almost here. And if your considering a getaway to an unusual spot, some where exotic or a little different, some idea's from the experts at "Travel + Leisure."
Hillary Geronemus, is an associate editor and she joins us from the Time Warner Center in New York.
Good to see you, Hillary.
HILLARY GERONEMUS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR "TRAVEL + MEASURE": Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sometimes folks just want to try something different for the holidays, how do they get started?
GERONEMUS: Well, there's so many different places to go and we just picked a few of them that we find traditional and exotic.
WHITFIELD: All right, Cooperstown, New York, why would I want to go there?
GERONEMUS: This is the traditional one. It's a slice of Americana. It's an old federal air style village where every December they host candle light evening which takes place in a living history museum, called the Farmers Museum. And people visiting can ride horse-drawn carriages and sip Wassail (ph) from a camp fire kettle, and also shop for gifts in a traditional old-fashioned general store. So, it's really like spending the holidays back in time. It's been literally untouched.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fun. All right, perhaps Europe is your cup of tea, Dublin, why?
GERONEMUS: Dublin's great and Dubliners know how to have a good time. And that's especially true during the holidays. The pubs come alive where, everyone sips these steaming hot ports (ph) and whisky that are spiced up with a lemon slice of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and boiling water and sugar. But also there's these great Gothic cathedral that hold candle light concerts, especially the St. Patrick's cathedrals. Also the luxury hotels really do it up nicely for the holidays like the Marion Hotel.
WHITFIELD: And skiing always seems like a great thing to do around the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, you name it. You say head out to Schweitzer, Idaho. Is this a private destination?
GERONEMUS: Well, it's more of an isolated. We picked because, what's great about Schweitzer is it's this tiny ski village where you can avoid the crowds, and also get the challenging slopes and beautiful scenery at a much affordable price. It's about 60 miles south of the Canadian border, so it's in the northern panhandle of Idaho, but it's absolutely beautiful. There's tons to do between downhill skiing and exploring the back country on a snow cap tour (ph). It's a wonderful destination.
WHITFIELD: Kind of a best-kept secret until now?
GERONEMUS: Exactly. Don't tell anyone.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then maybe you want to head way down south, get a little sun. Bocas Del Toro, Panama.
GERONEMUS: This is for the eco-adventurer, and it's a little fun in the sun. It's part of Archipelago of the coast of Panama. And there is this great lodge called the Punta Caracol Aqua Lodge which has six stilted bungalows, that are all solar powered, where you have private excess to the water, that's teaming with, you know, 200 species of tropical fish. And there's so different traditional activities that happened down there.
WHITFIELD: Now, all of these places, do you craft them as you get your airfare separate from your accommodations or do you still try to encourage folks to get some packages?
GERONEMUS: Well, I think it all depends on what you're looking for. There are great package deals out there. But a lot of places are kind of a la carte deals. If you find a travel agent that can arrange a package deal, that's always a good way to go.
WHITFIELD: How early do you need to get starting. Is it too late for Thanksgiving?
GERONEMUS: Thanksgiving might be tough, but there's -- you know a lot of these places are great through New Year's and even beyond New Years. A lot of places like in Panama, they celebrate their festival January 6th.
So, there's plenty of time to go to a lot of these place, I think just give it a try.
WHITFIELD: So, what are you're plans. Are you heading off to one of these fine destinations?
GERONEMUS: No. I'm probably going to do more traditional family type holiday season.
WHITFIELD: OK, maybe next year, right?
GERONEMUS: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: All right. Hillary Geronemus, associate editor with "Travel + Leisure" magazine, thanks so much.
GERONEMUS: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: Well, before you plan your next vacation or you just want a vacation of the mind, check out our Web site, cnn.com/travel.
Next, a war story you won't find in many history books.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens during those six hours, senseless killing.
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WHITFIELD: The great war and what it can teach us about Iraq.
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WHITFIELD: We have heard a lot this week about World War II and lessons learned from the sacrifices of an entire generation. But November 11, Veteran's Day was once known as Armistice day, the end of the war to end all wars. CNN's Beth Nissen reports on the final horrors of World War I.
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BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): November 11, 1918, Armistice Day. Cheering crowds on five continents celebrated the end of the great war, four years of fighting so bloody, few words in the human vocabulary can describe it.
JOSEPH PERSICO, "11TH MONTH, 11TH DAY, 11TH HOUR: The casualties are stupefying, we just can't grasp them in human terms. Seven million of the wounded are permanently blinded, disfigure, lose limbs, 9 million are killed.
NISSEN: Nine million. The story of the last few thousand of those lost is one of the most appalling of this or any war. Historian Joseph Persico has written a detailed account of the Great War's last day.
PERSICO: The Armistice is signed 5:00 on the morning of November 11, it is agreed that it will take force 11:00 that morning. And what happens during those six hours, senseless killing.
NISSEN: Some allied officers determined to take every last shot at the enemy deliberately withheld news of the Armistice from their men. Those officers included this young American artillery captain.
PERSICO: Harry S. Truman does not tell his men for that reason. He's afraid they will just unwind and they've still have a job to do until 11:00.
NISSEN: Other ambitious generals eager for a last shot at personal glory, ordered their troops to fight their way into territory they could have walked into peacefully just hours later. At dawn on the 11th, American General Charles Summerall, ordered the 5th Army Corps to cross the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) river under heavy German fire. The cost, 1,000 Dough Boys wounded, 120 killed on the last morning of the war. At 10:00 am, only an hour before the war's end, the all black, 92nd infantry division was ordered to leave a wooded area they held and make a full frontal assault on the Germans.
PERSICO: They were going to attack into machine gun fire and the reaction among these men was absolute horror.
NISSEN: The cost, 190 casualties. All along the western front, allied troops were ordered today, keep fighting a war they already won.
PERSICO: The loss of life on this last day was inexplicable and indefensible. There were 10,900 casualties, 2,700 men died on the last day of the war.
NISSEN: A number of deaths greater than those recorded on D-Day. In the fields of crosses from the great war, historians find lessons, the need to plan for a war's end an especially complex challenge in modern wars.
PERSICO: The first (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is that there have not been clear cut decisive ends to them. They seem to either peter out. They're ragged. They leave resentful and embittered remnants and this is what we're seeing in Iraq today.
NISSEN: Another lesson, know exactly why you're fighting.
PERSICO: The Tommies, the British soldiers, they would sing to the melody of Auld Lang Syne. You're hear because we're here because we're here because we're here. And throughout four years, there never seemed to be a better reason.
NISSEN: And the overriding issues constantly calculate cost. Can the losses of a platoon, a division, a generation bring real and long-term gains? They didn't in World War I, just 20 years later, the world was fighting again.
PERSICO: One can reach a rather grim conclusion, what do wars teach us, what are the lessons of war? The major lesson appears to be that no lesson is ever learned.
NISSEN: Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.
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WHITFIELD: And still much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY.
In a few moments, "IN THE MONEY."
At 2:00 Eastern, it's CNN LIVE SATURDAY. We will hear more from one of the dismissed jurors in the Scott Peterson case.
And at 3:00, "NEXT AT CNN" has a look at video games starting that are starting to rival top grossing movies in their take of consumer dollars.
but first, Jack Cafferty of a preview of "IN THE MONEY."
JACK CAFFERTY, HOST "IN THE MONEY": Thanks.
Come up on in the "IN THE MONEY," delayed reaction. Our troops are doing the job in Falluja, but did politicians fail to do theirs?
We'll look at whether the election played a role in the timing of the Falluja offensive.
Plus, who's in, who's out and who cares. We'll talk with attorney Allan Dershowitz about the future of Supreme Court and whether new justices will make any radical changes.
And family sized profits once again. The biggest box office hits this year are animated movies. We'll talk about what pushed Hollywood into making cartoons that adults can enjoy with or without the kids. All that and more coming up right after the check of the headlines.
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