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CNN Live Saturday

How Will Weather Play In NFL Playoffs; Chinese Hostages Released In Iraq

Aired January 22, 2005 - 14:00   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 2:00 on the East Coast 11:00 a.m. out West. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, from the Midwest to the Northeast, hope you like snow. We'll have all the latest details on a winter storm hitting the nation's North.
Plus, defending America's public schools against terror attacks. We'll show you what one Northwest high school is doing to protect its students.

And showdown in Philly. How might the weather impact the Eagles- Falcons game on Sunday. Those stories in a moment.

But first, here are the headlines.

President Bush outlined his goals for the next four years in his weekly radio address today. His second term aims include keeping Americans safe from terrorism, promoting freedom and democracy around the world, and improving education, retirement and health care in the U.S.

An amazing story of survival after the South Asian tsunami. Indian officials brought a man to Port Blair, an island off the Indian coast. He said he spent 25 days alone on an island living off coconuts until he was rescued. He said the tsunami first sucked him into the sea and a larger wave dumped him back onshore.

Muslim pilgrims are rushing to finish the annual ritual known as the Hajj; a record 2.5 million pilgrims are taking part this year. Heavy rains fell on Mecca as tens of thousands of Muslims encircled the giant shrine at Mecca's Grand Mosque.

From the Midwest to New England, it's best to bundle up and stay indoors this weekend. Topping the hour, the blizzard that's having an impact on millions of Americans. The storm has already slammed much of the Midwest, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas. These are scenes from Chicago.

In Minnesota, not a please and rush hour yesterday for motorists in the Twin Cities. Roads and highways across the state were shut down by the storm, including a stretch of Interstate 94.

While the Midwest gets ready to start digging out from all the mess, the Northeast and New England are waiting for their turn. A blizzard warning has been in effect in New York City for a couple of hours now. And as snow begins to fall, preparations there are in full swing. The area's expecting between one and two feet of snow. Plus winds could top 50 miles an hour. CNN's Alina Cho is with us now from New York -- Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it is really incredible how the city has changed in just the past couple of hours. It started snowing at noon exactly today. And right now, there's already two to four inches on the ground. By the time this is all over, the city, as you mentioned, could get anywhere from a foot to two feet of snow. And that's in the city.

Now, city officials got an early warning about this, and said they are prepared. The Department of Sanitation has 1,800 pieces of equipment at the ready, including salt trucks, snow employs and snow melters. Some of those trucks are already out on the streets right now.

New York City, if you can believe it, has 6,300 miles of streets and highways, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he's hoping by Monday morning every street will have been plowed at least once. This is a major operation, and one the mayor does not take lightly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (R) NEW YORK CITY: We're going to take care of this city regardless of the cost. And then Monday morning I'll have to worry about how to pay for it. What does a storm like this cost? Last year, we spent roughly $40 million on snow removal and had 38 inches of snow. So the rule of thumb of $1 million an inch is probably a good one.

But, you know, the first thing you've got to do is provide the service, and then you worry about it. You wish you didn't have the expense. We wish we didn't have lots of expenses. But just like providing police protection, the first thing you do is make the city safe and then figure out how to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Back here live at the entrance of Central Park. You can see one tourist taking it all in, getting it all on tape. People do seem to be out and about in this. But everything, including the people and the traffic, seem to be moving a lot slower. And that's exactly the way it should be says the mayor.

In fact, the mayor says what you should be doing right now is stay inside and hunker down. He says there will be plenty of time for the kids to play in all of this snow once the snow stops falling, which should happen sometime around noon tomorrow.

That is the situation in New York City. We're going to head 200 miles south to Washington, D.C., and my colleague Gary Nurenberg -- Gary.

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alina.

What do you think of the great plan we had to stand on the National Mall and show you pretty pictures of the Washington Monument covered in snow.

It is snowing so hard we can't show you, but that's where it should be.

Washington is under a winter storm warning until 7:00 tomorrow morning. Predictions of up to as much as ten inches here, a foot in outlying areas.

Only 48 hours ago this is the exact spot where about 200,000 George W. Bush supporters were standing as the Inaugural Parade was getting under way. Inaugural organizers are glad this is happening now and not then.

In neighboring Maryland, there are 2,200 trucks on the road ready for the snow. In the Maryland county immediately adjacent to Washington, D.C., there are 300 pieces of equipment out, with 10,000 tons of salt. Just west of Washington, in Virginia, there were reports of thunder snow.

Officials are happy this is happening on a weekend so they'll be able to attack the roads when the snow stops tomorrow morning. And they hope to have it all cleared up in time for bureaucrats to return to their jobs on Monday.

But if you want to know about snow, there's one person to turn to. Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks. I see the snow accumulating on your head and face already, coming down so heavy in the Washington, D.C. area. So get in that truck and stay dry. At least try and do that.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

WHITFIELD: Turning to Iraq now and the run up to elections there. The end of the month, two separate developments now, reports that several Chinese hostages were released today, and extra security measures are going into effect because of the elections. The latest from CNN's Jeff Koinange in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For the good gesture from the Chinese government based on its decision to prohibit its citizens from entering Iraq, the Islamic resistance is releasing the eight Chinese workers.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And just like that, relief for eight captives for what must have been several agonizing days. The insurgent group insisted no ransom had been paid for the Chinese hostages' release. Iraq's interior minister again reiterated that the government expects an increase in attacks like this in the run up to the January 30 poll.

FALAH AL-NAKIB, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): There are many attempts to incite violence. But the Iraqi are committed to hold the elections.

KOINANGE: The government's response? Sealing the country's borders for three days, closing the Baghdad airport on the eve and day of elections, and extending the existing curfew.

(On camera): Whether the government's response is tough enough to hold back an insurgency bent on derailing the poll is not clear. What is perhaps more certain is that if the poll is not seen by Iraqis to be all inclusive, it could end up proving everyone's nightmare, namely, an all-out civil war. Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Iraqis living outside Iraq will have two more days to register for the country's January 30 election. The International Organization for Migration will continue registrations this coming Monday and Tuesday. There are an estimated 1.2 million eligible Iraqis in 14 countries. As of last Thursday, fewer than one in 10 had registered to vote.

Coming up in a few minutes, we'll take a look at what we can expect from the upcoming Iraqi elections with John Alterman, director of Middle East programs for the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

The Pentagon is making a special effort to keep highly trained personnel in the military. A special $168 million incentives package has been approved to try to keep Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALS and Army Green Berets from leaving the service.

The incentives apply to troops on the ground, conducting missions, offering anywhere from $8,000 to $150,000 on top of their regular salaries. The money is an effort to keep personnel from leaving for better paying jobs outside the military.

The door-to-door efforts to establish a secure Iraq. Still ahead, we'll take you on one U.S. patrol as troops search for insurgents in Baghdad.

Sickened at sea: A virus infects hundreds of passengers on a Caribbean cruise liner. We'll tell you what's being done now.

Plus, a little boy lost, is now found. Now a convicted child molester is on the run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: "News Across America" now: A Caribbean cruise liner is to dock in South Florida tomorrow after 250 people were sickened by a stomach virus. They're said to be responding to over-the-counter medication given at sea. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines owns the Mariner of the Seas. The company blames a passenger for unintentionally bringing the virus on board.

A Roman Catholic Church in Denver is burying the ashes of as many 3,000 aborted fetuses. The clinic that performed the operations is calling the event a morbid ritual. A doctor from the clinic says the church is exploiting private grief and misery for its own political purposes. The church denies that charge.

The man suspected of kidnapping and killing a 19-year-old Texas woman is being held on a bond of $1 million. Authorities accuse Johnny Lee Williams of abducting Megan Holden from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Tyler, Texas on Wednesday night. Her body was found yesterday in a ditch alongside a west Texas highway. Williams was arrested on the same day in Arizona.

Here in Georgia, dozens of authorities are hunting for a convicted sex offender who allegedly kidnapped an 11-year-old Florida boy from his home. The child was found safe last night in northwest Georgia near the site of the ongoing search for the suspect. We get the latest on this developing story now from Suzanne Marques of CNN affiliate WXIA.

SUZANNE MARQUES, REPORTER, WXIA: We are in Bartow County near Interstate 75, by Red Top Mountain Road. This morning, Bartow County Sheriff Clark Milsap held a news conference saying the search continues for 42-year-old Frederick Fretz.

Fretz is accused of abducting 11-year-old Adam Kerkirk (ph). Kerkirk (ph) was found last night, but the search continues for the convicted child molester, Fretz.

Sheriff Milsap says agents and canine units searched all night. They said they found some good tracks, but now the sheriff believes Fretz may be hiding in tunnels or drainage pipes underneath Interstate 75.

Georgia state patrol helicopters are flying over the area today. They have extended the perimeter they have been searching. It goes up and down Interstate 75, about a couple miles and across Highway 41. So the search does continue for 42-year-old Fretz. In Bartow County, Suzanne Marques, for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, Russia. Could it happen here? Fond out why some school districts are afraid it could, and find out what they're doing to prevent it.

Also, when Michael Jackson's trial begins who will be some of the key expert witnesses? The answer when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now our "Defending America" series. The massacre at a Russian school last summer has led many American schools to take a new look at their security measures. CNN's Jill Dougherty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Salem, Oregon. The state capital, a quiet town, one of the last places you'd think would attract the attention of terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The school safety to include --

DOUGHERTY: But last August the Salem School District sent its head psychologist to a conference. There, from and expert, he heard a shocking warning.

JOHN VAN DREAL, DISTRICT THREAT ASSESSMENT: He actually made the prediction that the next big event, he thought, would be at a school. And it was, I think, eight days later that the event in Russia took place.

DOUGHERTY: As she followed reports of the Beslan school attack, Salem public school Superintendent Kay Baker worried.

KAY BAKER, SALEM SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: Then you put yourself in the place of that administrator there, and those teachers that are there and the kids that are there. And how frightful that must be to them.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): The massacre in Beslan shocked parents, teachers and students around the world. Here in Salem, as in many towns across America, people ask themselves, could it happen here? Are my children potential targets for terrorists?

(Voice over): Then, Superintendent Baker got a disturbing call from the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. troops in Iraq had found a computer disk with information on U.S. schools, including her district.

BAKER: There was the Salem public schools were on that disk. And that's all we know.

DOUGHERTY: It turned out to be academic research, not an attack blueprint. But it was another wakeup call. The Salem School District already had a well-developed security plan in place. But after all of this, it revised and beefed up its planning.

JIM ADAMS, PRINCIPAL: This is part of our security system.

DOUGHERTY: At Salem's middle school, for example, Principal Jim Adams tell me outsiders cannot enter without being buzzed in.

ADAMS: A little click and you're open.

DOUGHERTY: Surveillance cameras outside, electronic scanners inside. If there's a threat...

ADAMS: What we have here is an emergency lockdown card, so if we needed to lock down the building, what I would do is take this card out, and as you can see, it says lockdown card, and we would use this in the case of an emergency. I would walk over to the door, open the door, find the scanner on the outside, scan it, and our entire building would be locked down.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Immediately? ADAMS: Immediately.

ROSS ZIESEMER, CAMPUS MONITOR: You have your hall passes with you? Can I see them? Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

(Voice over): The district schools also have campus monitors like Ross, who patrolled the corridors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you at?

ZIESEMER: I'm on the second floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

DOUGHERTY: And uniformed, armed police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that anybody can say that they're absolutely prepared for every situation. But we have a plan that is in place, and that we're prepared to work.

DOUGHERTY: Students in other school districts, however, may not be as lucky.

BAKER: Each school district makes it up as they go along. There is not a centralized clearinghouse, as you say, that we could all send our plans in to.

DOUGHERTY: Carl Garner is a teacher, as well as a parent of five children. He still finds it hard to fathom how terrorists could target kids. His family, he says, was stunned by news of Beslan, Russia.

CARL GARNER, TEACHER: I was at home with my kids. We were sitting there watching the coverage that came on the news. And it was like, wow!

And I have this sign right here.

DOUGHERTY: And yet Garner has no illusions that his town, his school, his family is immune.

GARNER: I have, very many times, said to my wife, I'm glad we're here instead of other places, because I know that there are systems in place to deal with crises that should occur, knowing full well that it's impossible to prevent everything from happening. It's just impossible in the world we live in.

DOUGHERTY: But there's a fine line between security and turning a school into a prison. Student council members at West Salem High School say they feel comfortable with that balance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing that there's an adult keeping an eye on that door all day makes me feel safe, knowing that the officers' office is right next to that door, I feel safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You come to school, you go to your classes, and focus on your homework, try to get into college. But really, it's something that if you have the knowledge that things are being taken care of, it lets you not have to worry about it.

DOUGHERTY: When Superintendent Kay Baker thinks about keeping her students out of harm's way, the balance is clear.

BAKER: If we're going to error in one way or the other, we want to error on the side of being safe.

DOUGHERTY: In Salem, Oregon, in Beslan, Russia, the challenge is the same -- keeping children safe. But giving them the freedom just to be kids -- Jill Dougherty, CNN, Salem, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Another special report in our series "Defending America", tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern on CNN. Teams of correspondents report at the nation's airports, seaports and rail stations. Are we safer now than on 9/11? Stay tuned for the most reliable news to CNN on your security.

Straight ahead, on patrol with U.S. troops in Iraq, searching for insurgents before they can attack. Christiane Amanpour, on how well the strategy is working.

And only one more week until the Iraqis hold their first national election. Will it be the success the Bush administration is hoping?

(COLD & FLU REPORT)

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now to the fight for Iraq, and the effort to safeguard the upcoming national elections. In what they see as a race again time, U.S forces are trying to track down insurgents and make sure dangerous weapons have not been stashed. CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports as the 1st Cavalry Division conducts house-to-house searches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With both expletives and kisses, a platoon from the First Cavalry Division checks a Baghdad neighborhood. Ahead of elections next week. Their masked Iraqi translator hands out election leaflets as Captain Varger explains.

CAPTAIN VARGER: We're trying to make Iraq safer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, sure. We hope so.

AMANPOUR: The goal -- to prevent any house around designated polling stations from being used by insurgents.

VARGER: Sorry to bother you this evening. Have you heard any -- have you heard of any bad people in the area? Have you seen any new people move? If no one's home, we search the house anyway.

AMANPOUR: Some owners try to protest. It's not right, says this man. There are women here. In this house, they do find one ak-47 machine gun, allowed for self-defense, but they've got more than the permitted number of bullets. The owner is scared of the insurgents, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you protect us?

VARGER: Yes. That's why we're here. That's why I'm making sure we go through all these homes and make sure not everybody has 120 rounds like you do. If somebody comes, they only got 30 rounds to address your family. You have thirty rounds to defend your family.

AMANPOUR: Problems with getting an Iraqi force to do this kind of work, to fight and not desert, are well known. This division commander, General Pete Chirarelli, says he's been trying something new as he looks to a future Iraqi army.

GENERAL PETE CHIRARELLI, 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION: The secret to the success we've had here in Baghdad has been the imbedding of U.S. advisers with our forces. We saw our Iraqi forces dissolve. And we made a commitment to last April that we would regenerate those forces, we would recruit new soldiers to join what was then the Iraqi National Guard, and we would embed American advisers. And those soldiers stayed and fought. Why? Because they were being trained by U.S. forces.

AMANPOUR: Chirarelli's forces remain with the Iraqis they are training. Building a relationship and trying to instill leadership.

CHIRARELLI: The training of an army is a difficult task, and it takes time. And the American people, and the world, and the Iraqis, have to have patience in the amount of time that it's going to take to do that.

AMANPOUR: Chirarelli says he hopes to turn over most of Baghdad to Iraqi forces within a year. And the U.S. exit strategy here depends on raising a proper army. U.S. army officers say training will undergo a major overhaul after the January elections. For now, though, U.S. forces lead the fight to secure the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your child runs out in the street playing cops and robbers and they aim this at the wrong person, someone like me or the coalition, your children are going to get hurt, we think this is a real weapon.

AMANPOUR: A country where even a child's toy gun is considered a threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It shouldn't happen. Somebody's going to get hurt.

AMANPOUR: Christiane Amanpour CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Well there are differing expectations for turnout in various parts of Iraq. And officials expect potential violence to be a problem throughout the country. Previewing the election is John Alterman, director of Middle East Programs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He joins us now from Washington. Good to see you John.

JOHN ALTERMAN, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMSN: Good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well already the legitacy of this election is being questioned and the polls haven't even opened and these are some of the reasons why. You've got mystery candidates, you have got in some cases people will have to walk a mile in order to get to a polling station because no cars are allowed. And then in other cases, there aren't enough polling stations period in order to accommodate the populous. So what are your expectations?

ALTERMAN: Well, they're going to be very different things happening in different parts of Iraq. There are some parts of Iraq which are well prepared, where the people are very excited to go vote. You're going to see turnout, I would guess, in the realm of about 80 percent.

WHITFIELD: Really?

ALTERMAN: There are other parts of Iraq where you're going to have 20 percent. There's going to be violence. There are going to be people who say the polls are illegitimate. What you see is going to depend very much on where you are and what people think is going to happen. If they think they're going to be in danger.

WHITFIELD: So what defines illegitimate then? If in some areas 20 percent voting turnout is the best that they can expect, why would that be acceptable to any Iraqi?

ALTERMAN: I think you have to separate what happens with the election with what happens to Iraq. What they're trying to do in the election is to get some sort of transitional assembly that will draft a constitution. But because there have been so many problems campaigning, much of what's important is going to go on behind closed doors, in smoke-filled rooms the way politicians do things. If it goes to the back rooms, you don't have to be in the assembly to make the deal. I would expect the Sunni politicians will enter in, not through the electoral process, but through the constitution drafting process in the coming months.

WHITFIELD: In fact, you mentioned Sunnis. There are a number of Sunnis who are imploring one another to boycott this election. If that were to take place, how much does this undermine the election that is supposed to be a free and fair election?

ALTERMAN: It's a hard thing for the transitional assembly, but if people move up from the transitional assembly, for instance, to take cabinet positions or to become the prime minister, that creates vacant seats. So you can partly fix the problem that way by pointing Sunnis to take vacant seats. But also as I said, what happens is not so much the assembly, but what the assembly produces and you don't have to be in the assembly to make that deal.

WHITFIELD: But isn't it true, or at least reportedly there were no Sunni candidates?

ALTERMAN: There are several Sunni candidates, and candidates on different lists. Let's not think this is all about sectarian divisions. There are secular lists and there are religious lists, people are running on different kinds of platforms and most of the major lists are coalitions of different parties that have lots of different parts.

WHITFIELD: Are you at all concerned about the porous borders. There are some rumors that there will be Iranians and Syrians voting, posing as Iraqis.

ALTERMAN: The Iranians want the election to go well, because the Iranians think everything is coming their way. They're friends with the Shia in Iraq are going to do well. I think the Syrians are not going to play very many games. They're feeling weak right now. The problems are already in Iraq right now.

WHITFIELD: John Alterman, director of Middle East Programs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thanks so much for joining us.

ALTERMAN: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well turning to other news around the world now, from the Palestinian territories, the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade says it would be willing to accept a cease-fire with Israel if Israel also agrees to stop its attacks. The group is linked to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ruling Fatah party.

In Vietnam, reports of two more people dying from bird flu. That brings the human toll to nine over the last three weeks. The World Health Organization is planning to talk about preparing for worldwide flu pandemic.

In Japan, countries taking part in a disaster conference agree to pursue a plan to reduce the risk posed by natural disasters. The United Nations meeting was held in the wake of last month's tsunami. Countries especially at risk agreed to make preparedness a more important part of their political agendas.

A number of western doctors are leaving their practices behind for a little while. To tend to the tsunami victims of south Asia. CNN's Becky Diamond takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This intensive care physician is a long way from his Oslo, Norway hospital. But Dr. Morten Rostrup knows an emergency when he sees one. DR MORTEN ROSTRUP: What is special, I think, in this case is all the psychological trauma. I'm a clinician, so I'm always used to be able to deal with the problems of the patients. But here, sometimes I feel a bit more helpless.

DIAMOND: Dr. Rostrup leaves his medical practice several times each year to work for doctors without borders. Recently he's treated patients in the Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

ROSTRUP: She was taken by the tsunami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in the water.

DIAMOND: Ida a local villager lost her mother and five other family members in the tsunami. She has a fever and a feeling of numbness.

ROSTRUP: And I had a feeling, because I had several patients with this numbness feeling. I think it's a way of expressing the psychological feeling. They feel numb.

DIAMOND: For some, Dr. Rostrup provides antibiotics. Others need something more. So he'll return with a psychologist tomorrow. Every day he visits local towns and villages, treating patients who can't get to city hospitals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a fever, huh?

DIAMOND: Hussein lost his daughter and his home during the tsunami. He's been waiting to see a doctor for two weeks.

ROSTRUP: Being a tsunami victim, he doesn't have much resources now, I think. And so I suggest that we bring him to the hospital.

DIAMOND: But Hussein doesn't go. He has three young sons to take care of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The night before he goes to sleep, he takes four more tablets, OK?

ROSTRUP: I'm a doctor. I have the ability to do something concretely. To be there. And it's not in any way kind of sacrifice for me. I feel -- opposite, I feel privileged.

DIAMOND: Many times all he can offer is a brief distraction from their pain. But to the Dr. Morten Rostrup that's enough. Becky Diamond, CNN, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well score one for the prosecution in the Michael Jackson case. Find out who the judge is letting to testify in the criminal case of the pop superstar.

And still to come, why the Philadelphia Eagles are hoping the fourth time is a charm. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two high profile cases headline today's legal roundup, the trial of Paul Shanley a defrost Catholic priest accused of abusing children while serving in the Boston area churches, and the Michael Jackson molestation case.

We begin with CNN's Miguel Marquez who is following the developments in the Jackson case from Santa Maria, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When the trial of Michael Jackson gets under way, the jury will hear testimony from experts on child sex abuse. Santa Barber deputy district attorney Ron Zonan (ph) argued it was necessary to dispel misperceptions about child sex abuse as it relates to the case he has built against the so- called king of pop.

Jackson has maintained he's innocent of the accusations. The questions prosecutors want the experts to answer, why did the reporting of Jackson's alleged sexual abuse come so late. Why did that reporting come in piecemeal fashion. Why didn't the alleged victim report the alleged abuse to close friends or family members first? And why even after the alleged abuse was reported did there still appear to be acts of love and friendship between Jackson and his accuser.

In an indication of how the accuser and his family will be portrayed in trial, Thomas Mezroe Jr. Michael Jackson's attorney argued the prosecutor left out one important point, what if the alleged accuser is lying. Messroe claimed that the boy had lied previously to help his mother get money through the judicial process.

Santa Barbara superior court Judge Melville finalized the seven page questionnaire that possibly jurors will fill out. The judge also laid out the process for who will fill the 12 chairs in the jury box. The jury of Jackson's peers will be selected from a group of about 750 residents of northern Santa Barbara County. There will also be eight alternate jurors selected in this process, there will be a pretrial hearing next week. And then on January 31 jury selection will begin, and so will the trial of Michael Jackson.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Santa Maria California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well here for the weekly "Legal Round Table" are from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, New York criminal defense Attorney Richard Herman, and in Cleveland, hello to you, civil rights attorney, and law professor Avery Friedman.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you. WHITFIELD: All right guys let's begin with the Paul Shanley case. And Avery you up first. The prosecutors have apparently dismissed three of the four original accusers. Is this a sign that this case is falling apart?

FRIEDMAN: A lot of people argue that, Fredricka. The fact is that there are allegedly hundreds of people. But when it gets right down to the trial, which starts next week, there is one victim. Now, that doesn't mean that that's all the prosecution's evidence. We're going to hear a lot of evidence from people who know about Paul Shandley.

Among other things, there's going to be evidence introduced that Mr. Shanley advocated sex between adults and children. While there's only one victim left, the fact is that there's going to be a great deal of evidence. The problem is that the prosecution's primary relying on repressed memory evidence. And there's a lot of skepticism about that kind of evidence.

WHITFIELD: And yes go ahead Richard.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes Fredricka your initial instinct is right. I think the prosecution's case is falling apart. And the only thing that the prosecution hopefully they have in their hip pocket are statements made by Shanley to the police officers, maybe partial admissions or something. Because if this case is going to rely on this one lone witness, I think there's very little likelihood they're going to get a conviction, even though the crime itself is, it's disgusting it's devastating and are jurors going to want to convict someone for this. They may not have it without the admissions.

WHITFIELD: And reportedly there were dozens of accusers, but the statute of limitations had run out on their allegations. Would the prosecutors still perhaps be able to pull testimony from any of those accusers? I mean, even those statutes of limitations had run out for them to actually press chargers?

FRIEDMAN: Sure.

HERMAN: Of course. The testimony could be used. They could be called as witnesses to show some sort of conduct on Shanley. But I don't know. It will definitely be helpful to the case, but from my readings, I don't think they even have these people lined up. One of them got nauseous during cross examination in the preliminary hearings. The prosecutors haven't heard from him since. They're afraid.

FRIEDMAN: There are other victims, Richard, that will show up for this trial. We're going to know that first day of trial coming up this week what kind of evidence the prosecution's going to present. So we've still got a long way to go in understanding the full -- what they're going to do in terms of the full prosecution.

WHITFIELD: And Avery, you have to wonder about the jurors, however. There have been a number of potential jurors who have already said they have a problem with this case because they can't even look at the archdiocese. Or anything related to the Catholic church without already feeling some prejudice. So isn't there going to be a problem seating a jury?

FRIEDMAN: I think it will. I think the Boston globe which won a Pulitzer for the coverage of this controversy has literally saturated the community. So the test here by Judge Stephen Neil and the lawyers will be to make sure that these jurors who hear this case are as impartial as reasonably possible.

WHITFIELD: OK, let's move on to the Michael Jackson case. Even though, Richard, I know you want to make a point. I'll let you make the first point on the Michael Jackson case. With the judge ruling the prosecution can call an expert witness to talk about the profile or the behavior of an alleged victim, was this expected? Is this something you think is fairly ordinary for a child molestation case to take place?

HERMAN: I think what is happening is that the prosecution's case is not as strong as perhaps the public may believe. I think the prosecution's case is a weak case. I look at the release of the grand jury testimony, which ultimately is the responsibility of the prosecutor. And now, to have to bring this alleged expert in to testify, I mean, we know all the problems that are fraught with bringing expert witnesses in to testify. Just look at the cases we've discussed in the last year.

WHITFIELD: And the judge is saying this is in all fairness to be able to include this kind of testimony.

HERMAN: Yes but you know, there is no empirical data to show how someone is going to re act when they've been traumatized. Some people eat, some people starve themselves.

FRIEDMAN: That's why they're experts.

HERMAN: But this expert, when the judge says to Melville -- or when Judge Melville tells Tom Mesereau, time for examination, Fred go get popcorn, white butter and raisinnettes because he's going to get destroyed on cross-examination.

WHITFIELD: Avery, why not?

FRIEDMAN: Well the reality is there is science to this. This is an expert. He's going to be qualified. Of course defense counsel is going to cross-examine the heck out of the guy. In fact Michael Jackson may very well try to counter that evidence with his own expert. But it's not unusual to have this kind of evidence. At least there was a great deal of thought we were going to have a parade of individuals. Actually, I agreed with Richard on this, you would have trials within trials. They're going to kick it off with an expert. I think it's a right thing to do and it is a plus for the prosecutors.

WHITFIELD: All right jury selection at the end of this month. The trial may not begin until March. We will all be watching on that. Richard Herman, Avery Friedman thanks so much gentlemen. Always good to see you.

HERMAN: Nice to see you.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

HERMAN: To all my friends in New York it is 75 and sunny in Florida.

WHITFIELD: Just rub it in. You're going to get nasty e-mails.

HERMAN: See you John.

WHITFIELD: Well it is the battle of the birds in Philly.

RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right I'm Ray D'Alessio In Philadelphia as the city digs out from a major snowstorm. The Eagles dig in for the Falcons. The preview of the NFC title game is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A couple of snow bowls are in the forecast tomorrow for football fans. The Pittsburgh Steelers host the New England Patriots for the AFC championship. And you'll have to be a die hard fan to endure snow showers and a high temperature of about 18 degrees at Heinz Field. The game is a rematch of one played on Halloween when Pittsburgh won 34-20. And ended the Patriots' 21-game winning streak.

And then there's Atlanta at Philadelphia for the NFC championship. Sports correspondent Ray D'Alessio is in chilly Philly where -- where is your hat? I understand, Ray, tomorrow, the wind chill might be minus seven? I hope you get a hat by then.

D'ALESSIO: Yes they're saying well below zero, Fredricka. As we say in the television business, I think the pictures pretty much tell the story. But the fans here in Philly they could care less about the weather. For three straight years, the champagne has been on ice, ready to be popped, signaling the Eagles' first trip to the Super Bowl since the 1981 season. But in each of the three years there has never been a pop, only a burst.

D'ALESSIO (voice over): Becoming a first team to host three straight conference championships, the Eagles once again find themselves knocking on destiny's door. The question is, will it finally open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unfortunate what happened to us the last three years. But it's just a different feeling this year. And we've had a special season. Things have really moved in a positive direction. Guys have been stepping up and making big plays for us. The confidence is definitely there, but most importantly, the energy level is there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to say which team should be feeling more pressure, I feel like it's them. Like Coach Moore said, we play with the house's money. This is their fourth trip. So everybody's looking at them and saying is this finally the year they're going to win it.

D'ALESSIO: To over-the-demons attack, the Eagles must first overcome the NFL's best rushing attack. Vick rolled over the Rams last week with Vick's 119 rushing yard breaking the post-season by a quarterback set by Donovan McNabb.

JEVON KEARSE, EAGLES DEFENSIVE END: He's the kind of player if you break down and try to do anything, like form against him, he'll make you look so silly.

JIM MORA, FALCONS HEAD COACH: Not a lot of teams have stopped Mike. We're playing in the NFC championship game and he's rushed well over 1,000 yards this year. So I haven't noticed teams doing a great job of stopping Mike Vick.

MICHAEL VICK, FALCONS QUARTERBACK: The last thing we want to do is leave the game, you know, leaving a lot of opportunities on the field. And we're going to get some opportunities in this game. I promise you. We've just got to take advantage of it.

D'ALESSIO (on camera): Fredricka, getting back to the Philly faithful, give them credit. They have not lost faith in their team. They believe this is the year the Eagles will finally get back to the Super Bowl. In fact, there's a local restaurant here selling a shirt that says may the fourth be with you."

WHITFIELD: Well their fingers are crossed. No kidding. All right well besides those who perhaps have tickets to the AFC or NFC games, everyone else needs to stay inside with this kind of nasty weather. This is good football day tomorrow. Thanks a lot.

D'ALESSIO Good advice.

WHITFIELD: All right take care.

Still much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. At the top of the hour, "Next@CNN" takes a look at the danger cyber terrorism poses to your computer.

And at 4:00, are you or your member a your family about to have surgery? We will talk with Dr. Bill Lloyd about what you should be doing in addition to choosing a good surgeon.

And at 5:00, "People in the News" profiles first lady Laura Bush.

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 January 22, 2005 - 14:00   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 2:00 on the East Coast 11:00 a.m. out West. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, from the Midwest to the Northeast, hope you like snow. We'll have all the latest details on a winter storm hitting the nation's North.
Plus, defending America's public schools against terror attacks. We'll show you what one Northwest high school is doing to protect its students.

And showdown in Philly. How might the weather impact the Eagles- Falcons game on Sunday. Those stories in a moment.

But first, here are the headlines.

President Bush outlined his goals for the next four years in his weekly radio address today. His second term aims include keeping Americans safe from terrorism, promoting freedom and democracy around the world, and improving education, retirement and health care in the U.S.

An amazing story of survival after the South Asian tsunami. Indian officials brought a man to Port Blair, an island off the Indian coast. He said he spent 25 days alone on an island living off coconuts until he was rescued. He said the tsunami first sucked him into the sea and a larger wave dumped him back onshore.

Muslim pilgrims are rushing to finish the annual ritual known as the Hajj; a record 2.5 million pilgrims are taking part this year. Heavy rains fell on Mecca as tens of thousands of Muslims encircled the giant shrine at Mecca's Grand Mosque.

From the Midwest to New England, it's best to bundle up and stay indoors this weekend. Topping the hour, the blizzard that's having an impact on millions of Americans. The storm has already slammed much of the Midwest, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas. These are scenes from Chicago.

In Minnesota, not a please and rush hour yesterday for motorists in the Twin Cities. Roads and highways across the state were shut down by the storm, including a stretch of Interstate 94.

While the Midwest gets ready to start digging out from all the mess, the Northeast and New England are waiting for their turn. A blizzard warning has been in effect in New York City for a couple of hours now. And as snow begins to fall, preparations there are in full swing. The area's expecting between one and two feet of snow. Plus winds could top 50 miles an hour. CNN's Alina Cho is with us now from New York -- Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it is really incredible how the city has changed in just the past couple of hours. It started snowing at noon exactly today. And right now, there's already two to four inches on the ground. By the time this is all over, the city, as you mentioned, could get anywhere from a foot to two feet of snow. And that's in the city.

Now, city officials got an early warning about this, and said they are prepared. The Department of Sanitation has 1,800 pieces of equipment at the ready, including salt trucks, snow employs and snow melters. Some of those trucks are already out on the streets right now.

New York City, if you can believe it, has 6,300 miles of streets and highways, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he's hoping by Monday morning every street will have been plowed at least once. This is a major operation, and one the mayor does not take lightly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (R) NEW YORK CITY: We're going to take care of this city regardless of the cost. And then Monday morning I'll have to worry about how to pay for it. What does a storm like this cost? Last year, we spent roughly $40 million on snow removal and had 38 inches of snow. So the rule of thumb of $1 million an inch is probably a good one.

But, you know, the first thing you've got to do is provide the service, and then you worry about it. You wish you didn't have the expense. We wish we didn't have lots of expenses. But just like providing police protection, the first thing you do is make the city safe and then figure out how to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Back here live at the entrance of Central Park. You can see one tourist taking it all in, getting it all on tape. People do seem to be out and about in this. But everything, including the people and the traffic, seem to be moving a lot slower. And that's exactly the way it should be says the mayor.

In fact, the mayor says what you should be doing right now is stay inside and hunker down. He says there will be plenty of time for the kids to play in all of this snow once the snow stops falling, which should happen sometime around noon tomorrow.

That is the situation in New York City. We're going to head 200 miles south to Washington, D.C., and my colleague Gary Nurenberg -- Gary.

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alina.

What do you think of the great plan we had to stand on the National Mall and show you pretty pictures of the Washington Monument covered in snow.

It is snowing so hard we can't show you, but that's where it should be.

Washington is under a winter storm warning until 7:00 tomorrow morning. Predictions of up to as much as ten inches here, a foot in outlying areas.

Only 48 hours ago this is the exact spot where about 200,000 George W. Bush supporters were standing as the Inaugural Parade was getting under way. Inaugural organizers are glad this is happening now and not then.

In neighboring Maryland, there are 2,200 trucks on the road ready for the snow. In the Maryland county immediately adjacent to Washington, D.C., there are 300 pieces of equipment out, with 10,000 tons of salt. Just west of Washington, in Virginia, there were reports of thunder snow.

Officials are happy this is happening on a weekend so they'll be able to attack the roads when the snow stops tomorrow morning. And they hope to have it all cleared up in time for bureaucrats to return to their jobs on Monday.

But if you want to know about snow, there's one person to turn to. Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks. I see the snow accumulating on your head and face already, coming down so heavy in the Washington, D.C. area. So get in that truck and stay dry. At least try and do that.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

WHITFIELD: Turning to Iraq now and the run up to elections there. The end of the month, two separate developments now, reports that several Chinese hostages were released today, and extra security measures are going into effect because of the elections. The latest from CNN's Jeff Koinange in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For the good gesture from the Chinese government based on its decision to prohibit its citizens from entering Iraq, the Islamic resistance is releasing the eight Chinese workers.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And just like that, relief for eight captives for what must have been several agonizing days. The insurgent group insisted no ransom had been paid for the Chinese hostages' release. Iraq's interior minister again reiterated that the government expects an increase in attacks like this in the run up to the January 30 poll.

FALAH AL-NAKIB, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): There are many attempts to incite violence. But the Iraqi are committed to hold the elections.

KOINANGE: The government's response? Sealing the country's borders for three days, closing the Baghdad airport on the eve and day of elections, and extending the existing curfew.

(On camera): Whether the government's response is tough enough to hold back an insurgency bent on derailing the poll is not clear. What is perhaps more certain is that if the poll is not seen by Iraqis to be all inclusive, it could end up proving everyone's nightmare, namely, an all-out civil war. Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Iraqis living outside Iraq will have two more days to register for the country's January 30 election. The International Organization for Migration will continue registrations this coming Monday and Tuesday. There are an estimated 1.2 million eligible Iraqis in 14 countries. As of last Thursday, fewer than one in 10 had registered to vote.

Coming up in a few minutes, we'll take a look at what we can expect from the upcoming Iraqi elections with John Alterman, director of Middle East programs for the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

The Pentagon is making a special effort to keep highly trained personnel in the military. A special $168 million incentives package has been approved to try to keep Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALS and Army Green Berets from leaving the service.

The incentives apply to troops on the ground, conducting missions, offering anywhere from $8,000 to $150,000 on top of their regular salaries. The money is an effort to keep personnel from leaving for better paying jobs outside the military.

The door-to-door efforts to establish a secure Iraq. Still ahead, we'll take you on one U.S. patrol as troops search for insurgents in Baghdad.

Sickened at sea: A virus infects hundreds of passengers on a Caribbean cruise liner. We'll tell you what's being done now.

Plus, a little boy lost, is now found. Now a convicted child molester is on the run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: "News Across America" now: A Caribbean cruise liner is to dock in South Florida tomorrow after 250 people were sickened by a stomach virus. They're said to be responding to over-the-counter medication given at sea. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines owns the Mariner of the Seas. The company blames a passenger for unintentionally bringing the virus on board.

A Roman Catholic Church in Denver is burying the ashes of as many 3,000 aborted fetuses. The clinic that performed the operations is calling the event a morbid ritual. A doctor from the clinic says the church is exploiting private grief and misery for its own political purposes. The church denies that charge.

The man suspected of kidnapping and killing a 19-year-old Texas woman is being held on a bond of $1 million. Authorities accuse Johnny Lee Williams of abducting Megan Holden from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Tyler, Texas on Wednesday night. Her body was found yesterday in a ditch alongside a west Texas highway. Williams was arrested on the same day in Arizona.

Here in Georgia, dozens of authorities are hunting for a convicted sex offender who allegedly kidnapped an 11-year-old Florida boy from his home. The child was found safe last night in northwest Georgia near the site of the ongoing search for the suspect. We get the latest on this developing story now from Suzanne Marques of CNN affiliate WXIA.

SUZANNE MARQUES, REPORTER, WXIA: We are in Bartow County near Interstate 75, by Red Top Mountain Road. This morning, Bartow County Sheriff Clark Milsap held a news conference saying the search continues for 42-year-old Frederick Fretz.

Fretz is accused of abducting 11-year-old Adam Kerkirk (ph). Kerkirk (ph) was found last night, but the search continues for the convicted child molester, Fretz.

Sheriff Milsap says agents and canine units searched all night. They said they found some good tracks, but now the sheriff believes Fretz may be hiding in tunnels or drainage pipes underneath Interstate 75.

Georgia state patrol helicopters are flying over the area today. They have extended the perimeter they have been searching. It goes up and down Interstate 75, about a couple miles and across Highway 41. So the search does continue for 42-year-old Fretz. In Bartow County, Suzanne Marques, for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, Russia. Could it happen here? Fond out why some school districts are afraid it could, and find out what they're doing to prevent it.

Also, when Michael Jackson's trial begins who will be some of the key expert witnesses? The answer when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now our "Defending America" series. The massacre at a Russian school last summer has led many American schools to take a new look at their security measures. CNN's Jill Dougherty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Salem, Oregon. The state capital, a quiet town, one of the last places you'd think would attract the attention of terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The school safety to include --

DOUGHERTY: But last August the Salem School District sent its head psychologist to a conference. There, from and expert, he heard a shocking warning.

JOHN VAN DREAL, DISTRICT THREAT ASSESSMENT: He actually made the prediction that the next big event, he thought, would be at a school. And it was, I think, eight days later that the event in Russia took place.

DOUGHERTY: As she followed reports of the Beslan school attack, Salem public school Superintendent Kay Baker worried.

KAY BAKER, SALEM SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: Then you put yourself in the place of that administrator there, and those teachers that are there and the kids that are there. And how frightful that must be to them.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): The massacre in Beslan shocked parents, teachers and students around the world. Here in Salem, as in many towns across America, people ask themselves, could it happen here? Are my children potential targets for terrorists?

(Voice over): Then, Superintendent Baker got a disturbing call from the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. troops in Iraq had found a computer disk with information on U.S. schools, including her district.

BAKER: There was the Salem public schools were on that disk. And that's all we know.

DOUGHERTY: It turned out to be academic research, not an attack blueprint. But it was another wakeup call. The Salem School District already had a well-developed security plan in place. But after all of this, it revised and beefed up its planning.

JIM ADAMS, PRINCIPAL: This is part of our security system.

DOUGHERTY: At Salem's middle school, for example, Principal Jim Adams tell me outsiders cannot enter without being buzzed in.

ADAMS: A little click and you're open.

DOUGHERTY: Surveillance cameras outside, electronic scanners inside. If there's a threat...

ADAMS: What we have here is an emergency lockdown card, so if we needed to lock down the building, what I would do is take this card out, and as you can see, it says lockdown card, and we would use this in the case of an emergency. I would walk over to the door, open the door, find the scanner on the outside, scan it, and our entire building would be locked down.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Immediately? ADAMS: Immediately.

ROSS ZIESEMER, CAMPUS MONITOR: You have your hall passes with you? Can I see them? Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

(Voice over): The district schools also have campus monitors like Ross, who patrolled the corridors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you at?

ZIESEMER: I'm on the second floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

DOUGHERTY: And uniformed, armed police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that anybody can say that they're absolutely prepared for every situation. But we have a plan that is in place, and that we're prepared to work.

DOUGHERTY: Students in other school districts, however, may not be as lucky.

BAKER: Each school district makes it up as they go along. There is not a centralized clearinghouse, as you say, that we could all send our plans in to.

DOUGHERTY: Carl Garner is a teacher, as well as a parent of five children. He still finds it hard to fathom how terrorists could target kids. His family, he says, was stunned by news of Beslan, Russia.

CARL GARNER, TEACHER: I was at home with my kids. We were sitting there watching the coverage that came on the news. And it was like, wow!

And I have this sign right here.

DOUGHERTY: And yet Garner has no illusions that his town, his school, his family is immune.

GARNER: I have, very many times, said to my wife, I'm glad we're here instead of other places, because I know that there are systems in place to deal with crises that should occur, knowing full well that it's impossible to prevent everything from happening. It's just impossible in the world we live in.

DOUGHERTY: But there's a fine line between security and turning a school into a prison. Student council members at West Salem High School say they feel comfortable with that balance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing that there's an adult keeping an eye on that door all day makes me feel safe, knowing that the officers' office is right next to that door, I feel safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You come to school, you go to your classes, and focus on your homework, try to get into college. But really, it's something that if you have the knowledge that things are being taken care of, it lets you not have to worry about it.

DOUGHERTY: When Superintendent Kay Baker thinks about keeping her students out of harm's way, the balance is clear.

BAKER: If we're going to error in one way or the other, we want to error on the side of being safe.

DOUGHERTY: In Salem, Oregon, in Beslan, Russia, the challenge is the same -- keeping children safe. But giving them the freedom just to be kids -- Jill Dougherty, CNN, Salem, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Another special report in our series "Defending America", tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern on CNN. Teams of correspondents report at the nation's airports, seaports and rail stations. Are we safer now than on 9/11? Stay tuned for the most reliable news to CNN on your security.

Straight ahead, on patrol with U.S. troops in Iraq, searching for insurgents before they can attack. Christiane Amanpour, on how well the strategy is working.

And only one more week until the Iraqis hold their first national election. Will it be the success the Bush administration is hoping?

(COLD & FLU REPORT)

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now to the fight for Iraq, and the effort to safeguard the upcoming national elections. In what they see as a race again time, U.S forces are trying to track down insurgents and make sure dangerous weapons have not been stashed. CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports as the 1st Cavalry Division conducts house-to-house searches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With both expletives and kisses, a platoon from the First Cavalry Division checks a Baghdad neighborhood. Ahead of elections next week. Their masked Iraqi translator hands out election leaflets as Captain Varger explains.

CAPTAIN VARGER: We're trying to make Iraq safer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, sure. We hope so.

AMANPOUR: The goal -- to prevent any house around designated polling stations from being used by insurgents.

VARGER: Sorry to bother you this evening. Have you heard any -- have you heard of any bad people in the area? Have you seen any new people move? If no one's home, we search the house anyway.

AMANPOUR: Some owners try to protest. It's not right, says this man. There are women here. In this house, they do find one ak-47 machine gun, allowed for self-defense, but they've got more than the permitted number of bullets. The owner is scared of the insurgents, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you protect us?

VARGER: Yes. That's why we're here. That's why I'm making sure we go through all these homes and make sure not everybody has 120 rounds like you do. If somebody comes, they only got 30 rounds to address your family. You have thirty rounds to defend your family.

AMANPOUR: Problems with getting an Iraqi force to do this kind of work, to fight and not desert, are well known. This division commander, General Pete Chirarelli, says he's been trying something new as he looks to a future Iraqi army.

GENERAL PETE CHIRARELLI, 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION: The secret to the success we've had here in Baghdad has been the imbedding of U.S. advisers with our forces. We saw our Iraqi forces dissolve. And we made a commitment to last April that we would regenerate those forces, we would recruit new soldiers to join what was then the Iraqi National Guard, and we would embed American advisers. And those soldiers stayed and fought. Why? Because they were being trained by U.S. forces.

AMANPOUR: Chirarelli's forces remain with the Iraqis they are training. Building a relationship and trying to instill leadership.

CHIRARELLI: The training of an army is a difficult task, and it takes time. And the American people, and the world, and the Iraqis, have to have patience in the amount of time that it's going to take to do that.

AMANPOUR: Chirarelli says he hopes to turn over most of Baghdad to Iraqi forces within a year. And the U.S. exit strategy here depends on raising a proper army. U.S. army officers say training will undergo a major overhaul after the January elections. For now, though, U.S. forces lead the fight to secure the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your child runs out in the street playing cops and robbers and they aim this at the wrong person, someone like me or the coalition, your children are going to get hurt, we think this is a real weapon.

AMANPOUR: A country where even a child's toy gun is considered a threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It shouldn't happen. Somebody's going to get hurt.

AMANPOUR: Christiane Amanpour CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Well there are differing expectations for turnout in various parts of Iraq. And officials expect potential violence to be a problem throughout the country. Previewing the election is John Alterman, director of Middle East Programs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He joins us now from Washington. Good to see you John.

JOHN ALTERMAN, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMSN: Good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well already the legitacy of this election is being questioned and the polls haven't even opened and these are some of the reasons why. You've got mystery candidates, you have got in some cases people will have to walk a mile in order to get to a polling station because no cars are allowed. And then in other cases, there aren't enough polling stations period in order to accommodate the populous. So what are your expectations?

ALTERMAN: Well, they're going to be very different things happening in different parts of Iraq. There are some parts of Iraq which are well prepared, where the people are very excited to go vote. You're going to see turnout, I would guess, in the realm of about 80 percent.

WHITFIELD: Really?

ALTERMAN: There are other parts of Iraq where you're going to have 20 percent. There's going to be violence. There are going to be people who say the polls are illegitimate. What you see is going to depend very much on where you are and what people think is going to happen. If they think they're going to be in danger.

WHITFIELD: So what defines illegitimate then? If in some areas 20 percent voting turnout is the best that they can expect, why would that be acceptable to any Iraqi?

ALTERMAN: I think you have to separate what happens with the election with what happens to Iraq. What they're trying to do in the election is to get some sort of transitional assembly that will draft a constitution. But because there have been so many problems campaigning, much of what's important is going to go on behind closed doors, in smoke-filled rooms the way politicians do things. If it goes to the back rooms, you don't have to be in the assembly to make the deal. I would expect the Sunni politicians will enter in, not through the electoral process, but through the constitution drafting process in the coming months.

WHITFIELD: In fact, you mentioned Sunnis. There are a number of Sunnis who are imploring one another to boycott this election. If that were to take place, how much does this undermine the election that is supposed to be a free and fair election?

ALTERMAN: It's a hard thing for the transitional assembly, but if people move up from the transitional assembly, for instance, to take cabinet positions or to become the prime minister, that creates vacant seats. So you can partly fix the problem that way by pointing Sunnis to take vacant seats. But also as I said, what happens is not so much the assembly, but what the assembly produces and you don't have to be in the assembly to make that deal.

WHITFIELD: But isn't it true, or at least reportedly there were no Sunni candidates?

ALTERMAN: There are several Sunni candidates, and candidates on different lists. Let's not think this is all about sectarian divisions. There are secular lists and there are religious lists, people are running on different kinds of platforms and most of the major lists are coalitions of different parties that have lots of different parts.

WHITFIELD: Are you at all concerned about the porous borders. There are some rumors that there will be Iranians and Syrians voting, posing as Iraqis.

ALTERMAN: The Iranians want the election to go well, because the Iranians think everything is coming their way. They're friends with the Shia in Iraq are going to do well. I think the Syrians are not going to play very many games. They're feeling weak right now. The problems are already in Iraq right now.

WHITFIELD: John Alterman, director of Middle East Programs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thanks so much for joining us.

ALTERMAN: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well turning to other news around the world now, from the Palestinian territories, the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade says it would be willing to accept a cease-fire with Israel if Israel also agrees to stop its attacks. The group is linked to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ruling Fatah party.

In Vietnam, reports of two more people dying from bird flu. That brings the human toll to nine over the last three weeks. The World Health Organization is planning to talk about preparing for worldwide flu pandemic.

In Japan, countries taking part in a disaster conference agree to pursue a plan to reduce the risk posed by natural disasters. The United Nations meeting was held in the wake of last month's tsunami. Countries especially at risk agreed to make preparedness a more important part of their political agendas.

A number of western doctors are leaving their practices behind for a little while. To tend to the tsunami victims of south Asia. CNN's Becky Diamond takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This intensive care physician is a long way from his Oslo, Norway hospital. But Dr. Morten Rostrup knows an emergency when he sees one. DR MORTEN ROSTRUP: What is special, I think, in this case is all the psychological trauma. I'm a clinician, so I'm always used to be able to deal with the problems of the patients. But here, sometimes I feel a bit more helpless.

DIAMOND: Dr. Rostrup leaves his medical practice several times each year to work for doctors without borders. Recently he's treated patients in the Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

ROSTRUP: She was taken by the tsunami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in the water.

DIAMOND: Ida a local villager lost her mother and five other family members in the tsunami. She has a fever and a feeling of numbness.

ROSTRUP: And I had a feeling, because I had several patients with this numbness feeling. I think it's a way of expressing the psychological feeling. They feel numb.

DIAMOND: For some, Dr. Rostrup provides antibiotics. Others need something more. So he'll return with a psychologist tomorrow. Every day he visits local towns and villages, treating patients who can't get to city hospitals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a fever, huh?

DIAMOND: Hussein lost his daughter and his home during the tsunami. He's been waiting to see a doctor for two weeks.

ROSTRUP: Being a tsunami victim, he doesn't have much resources now, I think. And so I suggest that we bring him to the hospital.

DIAMOND: But Hussein doesn't go. He has three young sons to take care of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The night before he goes to sleep, he takes four more tablets, OK?

ROSTRUP: I'm a doctor. I have the ability to do something concretely. To be there. And it's not in any way kind of sacrifice for me. I feel -- opposite, I feel privileged.

DIAMOND: Many times all he can offer is a brief distraction from their pain. But to the Dr. Morten Rostrup that's enough. Becky Diamond, CNN, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well score one for the prosecution in the Michael Jackson case. Find out who the judge is letting to testify in the criminal case of the pop superstar.

And still to come, why the Philadelphia Eagles are hoping the fourth time is a charm. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two high profile cases headline today's legal roundup, the trial of Paul Shanley a defrost Catholic priest accused of abusing children while serving in the Boston area churches, and the Michael Jackson molestation case.

We begin with CNN's Miguel Marquez who is following the developments in the Jackson case from Santa Maria, California.

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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When the trial of Michael Jackson gets under way, the jury will hear testimony from experts on child sex abuse. Santa Barber deputy district attorney Ron Zonan (ph) argued it was necessary to dispel misperceptions about child sex abuse as it relates to the case he has built against the so- called king of pop.

Jackson has maintained he's innocent of the accusations. The questions prosecutors want the experts to answer, why did the reporting of Jackson's alleged sexual abuse come so late. Why did that reporting come in piecemeal fashion. Why didn't the alleged victim report the alleged abuse to close friends or family members first? And why even after the alleged abuse was reported did there still appear to be acts of love and friendship between Jackson and his accuser.

In an indication of how the accuser and his family will be portrayed in trial, Thomas Mezroe Jr. Michael Jackson's attorney argued the prosecutor left out one important point, what if the alleged accuser is lying. Messroe claimed that the boy had lied previously to help his mother get money through the judicial process.

Santa Barbara superior court Judge Melville finalized the seven page questionnaire that possibly jurors will fill out. The judge also laid out the process for who will fill the 12 chairs in the jury box. The jury of Jackson's peers will be selected from a group of about 750 residents of northern Santa Barbara County. There will also be eight alternate jurors selected in this process, there will be a pretrial hearing next week. And then on January 31 jury selection will begin, and so will the trial of Michael Jackson.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Santa Maria California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well here for the weekly "Legal Round Table" are from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, New York criminal defense Attorney Richard Herman, and in Cleveland, hello to you, civil rights attorney, and law professor Avery Friedman.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you. WHITFIELD: All right guys let's begin with the Paul Shanley case. And Avery you up first. The prosecutors have apparently dismissed three of the four original accusers. Is this a sign that this case is falling apart?

FRIEDMAN: A lot of people argue that, Fredricka. The fact is that there are allegedly hundreds of people. But when it gets right down to the trial, which starts next week, there is one victim. Now, that doesn't mean that that's all the prosecution's evidence. We're going to hear a lot of evidence from people who know about Paul Shandley.

Among other things, there's going to be evidence introduced that Mr. Shanley advocated sex between adults and children. While there's only one victim left, the fact is that there's going to be a great deal of evidence. The problem is that the prosecution's primary relying on repressed memory evidence. And there's a lot of skepticism about that kind of evidence.

WHITFIELD: And yes go ahead Richard.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes Fredricka your initial instinct is right. I think the prosecution's case is falling apart. And the only thing that the prosecution hopefully they have in their hip pocket are statements made by Shanley to the police officers, maybe partial admissions or something. Because if this case is going to rely on this one lone witness, I think there's very little likelihood they're going to get a conviction, even though the crime itself is, it's disgusting it's devastating and are jurors going to want to convict someone for this. They may not have it without the admissions.

WHITFIELD: And reportedly there were dozens of accusers, but the statute of limitations had run out on their allegations. Would the prosecutors still perhaps be able to pull testimony from any of those accusers? I mean, even those statutes of limitations had run out for them to actually press chargers?

FRIEDMAN: Sure.

HERMAN: Of course. The testimony could be used. They could be called as witnesses to show some sort of conduct on Shanley. But I don't know. It will definitely be helpful to the case, but from my readings, I don't think they even have these people lined up. One of them got nauseous during cross examination in the preliminary hearings. The prosecutors haven't heard from him since. They're afraid.

FRIEDMAN: There are other victims, Richard, that will show up for this trial. We're going to know that first day of trial coming up this week what kind of evidence the prosecution's going to present. So we've still got a long way to go in understanding the full -- what they're going to do in terms of the full prosecution.

WHITFIELD: And Avery, you have to wonder about the jurors, however. There have been a number of potential jurors who have already said they have a problem with this case because they can't even look at the archdiocese. Or anything related to the Catholic church without already feeling some prejudice. So isn't there going to be a problem seating a jury?

FRIEDMAN: I think it will. I think the Boston globe which won a Pulitzer for the coverage of this controversy has literally saturated the community. So the test here by Judge Stephen Neil and the lawyers will be to make sure that these jurors who hear this case are as impartial as reasonably possible.

WHITFIELD: OK, let's move on to the Michael Jackson case. Even though, Richard, I know you want to make a point. I'll let you make the first point on the Michael Jackson case. With the judge ruling the prosecution can call an expert witness to talk about the profile or the behavior of an alleged victim, was this expected? Is this something you think is fairly ordinary for a child molestation case to take place?

HERMAN: I think what is happening is that the prosecution's case is not as strong as perhaps the public may believe. I think the prosecution's case is a weak case. I look at the release of the grand jury testimony, which ultimately is the responsibility of the prosecutor. And now, to have to bring this alleged expert in to testify, I mean, we know all the problems that are fraught with bringing expert witnesses in to testify. Just look at the cases we've discussed in the last year.

WHITFIELD: And the judge is saying this is in all fairness to be able to include this kind of testimony.

HERMAN: Yes but you know, there is no empirical data to show how someone is going to re act when they've been traumatized. Some people eat, some people starve themselves.

FRIEDMAN: That's why they're experts.

HERMAN: But this expert, when the judge says to Melville -- or when Judge Melville tells Tom Mesereau, time for examination, Fred go get popcorn, white butter and raisinnettes because he's going to get destroyed on cross-examination.

WHITFIELD: Avery, why not?

FRIEDMAN: Well the reality is there is science to this. This is an expert. He's going to be qualified. Of course defense counsel is going to cross-examine the heck out of the guy. In fact Michael Jackson may very well try to counter that evidence with his own expert. But it's not unusual to have this kind of evidence. At least there was a great deal of thought we were going to have a parade of individuals. Actually, I agreed with Richard on this, you would have trials within trials. They're going to kick it off with an expert. I think it's a right thing to do and it is a plus for the prosecutors.

WHITFIELD: All right jury selection at the end of this month. The trial may not begin until March. We will all be watching on that. Richard Herman, Avery Friedman thanks so much gentlemen. Always good to see you.

HERMAN: Nice to see you.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

HERMAN: To all my friends in New York it is 75 and sunny in Florida.

WHITFIELD: Just rub it in. You're going to get nasty e-mails.

HERMAN: See you John.

WHITFIELD: Well it is the battle of the birds in Philly.

RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right I'm Ray D'Alessio In Philadelphia as the city digs out from a major snowstorm. The Eagles dig in for the Falcons. The preview of the NFC title game is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A couple of snow bowls are in the forecast tomorrow for football fans. The Pittsburgh Steelers host the New England Patriots for the AFC championship. And you'll have to be a die hard fan to endure snow showers and a high temperature of about 18 degrees at Heinz Field. The game is a rematch of one played on Halloween when Pittsburgh won 34-20. And ended the Patriots' 21-game winning streak.

And then there's Atlanta at Philadelphia for the NFC championship. Sports correspondent Ray D'Alessio is in chilly Philly where -- where is your hat? I understand, Ray, tomorrow, the wind chill might be minus seven? I hope you get a hat by then.

D'ALESSIO: Yes they're saying well below zero, Fredricka. As we say in the television business, I think the pictures pretty much tell the story. But the fans here in Philly they could care less about the weather. For three straight years, the champagne has been on ice, ready to be popped, signaling the Eagles' first trip to the Super Bowl since the 1981 season. But in each of the three years there has never been a pop, only a burst.

D'ALESSIO (voice over): Becoming a first team to host three straight conference championships, the Eagles once again find themselves knocking on destiny's door. The question is, will it finally open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unfortunate what happened to us the last three years. But it's just a different feeling this year. And we've had a special season. Things have really moved in a positive direction. Guys have been stepping up and making big plays for us. The confidence is definitely there, but most importantly, the energy level is there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to say which team should be feeling more pressure, I feel like it's them. Like Coach Moore said, we play with the house's money. This is their fourth trip. So everybody's looking at them and saying is this finally the year they're going to win it.

D'ALESSIO: To over-the-demons attack, the Eagles must first overcome the NFL's best rushing attack. Vick rolled over the Rams last week with Vick's 119 rushing yard breaking the post-season by a quarterback set by Donovan McNabb.

JEVON KEARSE, EAGLES DEFENSIVE END: He's the kind of player if you break down and try to do anything, like form against him, he'll make you look so silly.

JIM MORA, FALCONS HEAD COACH: Not a lot of teams have stopped Mike. We're playing in the NFC championship game and he's rushed well over 1,000 yards this year. So I haven't noticed teams doing a great job of stopping Mike Vick.

MICHAEL VICK, FALCONS QUARTERBACK: The last thing we want to do is leave the game, you know, leaving a lot of opportunities on the field. And we're going to get some opportunities in this game. I promise you. We've just got to take advantage of it.

D'ALESSIO (on camera): Fredricka, getting back to the Philly faithful, give them credit. They have not lost faith in their team. They believe this is the year the Eagles will finally get back to the Super Bowl. In fact, there's a local restaurant here selling a shirt that says may the fourth be with you."

WHITFIELD: Well their fingers are crossed. No kidding. All right well besides those who perhaps have tickets to the AFC or NFC games, everyone else needs to stay inside with this kind of nasty weather. This is good football day tomorrow. Thanks a lot.

D'ALESSIO Good advice.

WHITFIELD: All right take care.

Still much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. At the top of the hour, "Next@CNN" takes a look at the danger cyber terrorism poses to your computer.

And at 4:00, are you or your member a your family about to have surgery? We will talk with Dr. Bill Lloyd about what you should be doing in addition to choosing a good surgeon.

And at 5:00, "People in the News" profiles first lady Laura Bush.

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