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CNN Live Saturday
Condoleezza Rice's Tour Continues; Free Speech Debate at Hamilton College
Aired February 05, 2005 - 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.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. in Atlanta, 7:00 p.m. in Ankara, Turkey where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has just landed. Good afternoon. I'm Christine Romans in for Fredricka Whitfield. Ahead this hour:
Bishops gather to pray for the pope. He's still in the hospital. We'll go live to Rome.
Also:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have very sweet faces, but when you look at their bodies, I mean, it looks like Auschwitz.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Is this couple responsible tore torturing five of their seven foster children? Find out what police say.
And later:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lived on coconuts for days then met some jungle tribal who showed us how to make a fire and to hunt wild boar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Stranded by the tsunami for more than a month, you'll hear nine survivors tell their incredible story. But first, a look at the top stories in the news now.
We're getting a new look at President Bush's budget priorities. He says a stronger U.S. economy is a top goal of his new budget proposal to Congress, tomorrow. In a radio address, two hours ago, Mr. Bush calls for fixing social security, cutting wasteful government programs all while reducing the deficit and making tax relief's permanent.
The wreckage of a missing Afghan jetliner has been found about 20 miles south of the capitol, Kabul. Officials say there's no sign of survivors among the 104 people onboard, including three Americans. The Boeing 737 went down during a snowstorm on approach to the capitol which is ringed by mountain peaks. Pope John Paul is expected to give a traditional blessing from his hospital bed, in Rome, tomorrow, but an aide is to read the pope's weekly address. A bishop who visited him says the pope is feeling better and is eager to return to work at the Vatican. A live report from Rome is just ahead.
We begin with latest stop on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's tour to the Europe and the Middle East. After a visit to Poland earlier today, Rice is now in Turkey. Both countries allies in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. CNN's Andrea Koppel is traveling with the secretary of state and she's with us now on the phone from Ankara -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Christine. That's right, Secretary Rice spent about four hours, earlier today, in the capitol of Poland, thanking Polish leaders for being such a close ally in Iraq.
As you know, Poland was one of the four original countries, including United States, Australia, and Great Britain who were part of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Iraq. Poland has about 24, 2500 troops in that country and although they will be bringing home about 800, between 700 and 800 by the end of the year, essentially Poland is viewed by the United States as standing shoulder to shoulder in example of the kind of virgining democracy that the United States would like to see elsewhere around the world.
Now, here in Turkey, also a democracy, Secretary Rice is going to be meeting with -- in fact, she just wrapped up a very brief meeting with Turk -- with the Turkish prime minister. Although Turkey did not help out as much in the beginning of the war in Iraq, certainly Turkey's cooperation is essential. Turkey is a neighbor of Iraq, it has a lot of concerns. In fact, they were badly thrown, according to one senior administrator official traveling with Secretary Rice, by the recent elections in Iraq in that country. They are worried that perhaps there could be more movement by the Kurds in Iraq to have some sort of independent state. And so, Secretary Rice is here, both to introduce herself, but also to reassure (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the United States is committed to a unified Iraq.
Now, earlier in the day, when she was in Poland, she was asked about a meeting she was going to have later this evening here in Turkey, a lot of jumping around. But she'll be meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and she was asked about what is a continuing theme now in the second Bush administration, and that is the importance of spreading democracy throughout the Middle East, throughout the world. And she was asked in particular about whether she was satisfied with what the Russians have done in recent months on that front.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have had concerns about some of the developments in Russia. We will continue to talk to the Russians about it, because we really do believe that a more democratic foundation in Russia, as Russia makes a transition from a totalitarian state to a democratic state that a firmer foundation for that will, indeed strengthen and underscore and put real further substance into a deepened relationship with the democracies of Europe and, indeed, with the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Although Secretary Rice didn't want to explicitly criticize the Russian government clearly, that is going to be a subject discussed behind closed doors, the Bush administration concerned, but not ready to call Russia on the mat, if you will, on the various steps, various areas of concern that they've noted in Russia on the democratic front.
So, she's just arrived here in Turkey, Christine, but she's a full day of meetings. Tomorrow, she'll be meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, this morning, before she heads off towards the Middle East leg of this whirlwind trip through Europe and the Middle East.
ROMANS: And that means a whirlwind trip for you too. Andrea Koppel in Turkey. Thanks, Andrea.
And this programming note, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is one of the guests on CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer. Find out what he has to say about the situation in Iraq tomorrow at Noon Eastern right here on CNN.
An arrest on the Florida child torture case. Detectives in Utah have arrested the couple who authorities say tortured and starved five of their seven children. CNN's Jason Bellini has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police in Utah, Friday evening arrested Linda and John Dollar. Both are wanted in Florida on charges of aggravated child abuse and torture five of their seven foster children.
CAPT. JIM CERNICH, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: They combed the area. And we were just about ready to shut down operations when they spotted the vehicle, stopped the Dollars on the roadway, and then arrested them and took them to the county jail.
BELLINI: Friday morning, the sheriff's deputy in Beverly hills, Florida, revealed the grew some details of what the children say went on inside their home. The Dollars allegedly used electric shock on the children, forced them to sleep in a closet, chained them to walls, pulled their toe nails out with pliers and left them severely malnourished.
GAIL TIERNEY, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I have seen pictures of the children that have been -- you know, been taken in connection with this case. And, you know, I mean, they have very sweet faces, but when you look at their bodies, I mean, it looks like Auschwitz.
BELLINI: The investigation began January 21. Paramedics responded to a 911 call. They discovered a 16-year-old boy bruised, bleeding, and weighing only 59 pounds. It wasn't until six days later that Florida's Department of Children and Families recovered the other six children, including twin 14-year-old boys weighing 36 and 38 pounds. Child advocates are questioning why it took so long.
KAREN GIEVERS, CHILD ADVOCATE: There's no excuse for leaving children in danger, under the circumstances that we're hearing about.
BELLINI: Governor Jeb bush says the children were not on record with Florida's foster care system and the agency acted swiftly to remove the children.
GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: It's just tragic that parents in this case, adoptive parents, these were parents that received these kids under adoption in the early 1990s, would do what they did.
BELLINI: The Dollars and adopted children had lived for a couple years in Knoxville, Tennessee and then moved back to Florida. The woman who leased the house to them said the children never played outside.
JEAN UNDERWOOD, REAL ESTATE AGENT: There were seven children and they told me they were from homes in Florida, that they were mistreated and they were -- it was a foster care deal of some kind.
BELLINI (on camera): Jean Underwood also told us that on her visits to the Dollar household, something seemed very strange there. The children were virtually silent, they never played outside, she was looking for a reason to call child protective services, but she never found one.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Knoxville, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Super Sunday means super sizing the security force for the big game tomorrow in Jacksonville, Florida. Dozens of law enforcement agencies are fielding thousands of security personnel as the hours tick down to the game, the security is ratcheting up. CNN's Susan Candiotti has the latest on that from Jacksonville.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As fans enjoy pre-game activities, law enforcers are turning up security an extra notch.
(voice-over): For example, pilots with a customs and border protection agency provided us an overview of Alltel Stadium located right on the waterfront. These are some of the same pilots that will be flying over that airspace before, during, and after the game.
Inside the stadium, dozens of cameras are set up that allow authorities to zero in on a single seat. There's a no fly zone encompassing a 30-mile radius around the stadium. Now, on the water, before, during, and after the game, local state and federal law enforcement agencies are patrolling the St. Johns River, a 14-mile stretch. One tool that's being used by the federal authorities is called a FLIR, it stands for "forward looking infrared" it provides a reverse image in darkness and light and allows authorities a better look at what's going on on the water, and on the ground as well. Here is a look at the technology.
MIKE GRAY, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL: Trying to focus in on this guy. Really having a hard time doing it because of the night and daytime camera. Switching over to FLIR, I can see I got, right now, two POBs, two persons on board, one with a flashlight, just closed the cooler and is putting the cooler down, laying the flashlight down and is now transiting right in front of us.
CANDIOTTI: Among law enforcement agencies here, the people in charge of security for next year's Super Bowl in Detroit, including the assistant police chief.
ASST. CHIEF WALTER MARTIN, DETROIT POLICE DEPT.: The area involved, this is -- this is -- this is huge, this is huge. I didn't realize how huge it was until I got down here and seeing all the pieces to Jacksonville, the key components they have to take care of. It's a lot. It's a lot. But, we're ready for the challenge.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Detroit, like Jacksonville, is on the waterfront, adding an extra layer of concern. Jacksonville sheriff in charge of this year's Super Bowl security says if his team does its job right, the teams on the field and the fans watching the game will feel secure and not worry about it.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: For an exclusive, behind the scenes, all access look at the security in place for the Super Bowl game, watch CNN's "American Morning" Monday at 7:00 a.m. Eastern. And a reminder, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. We'll have much more ahead on tomorrow's big game, including the latest buzz from Jacksonville and a preview of this year's G-rated Super Bowl ads.
Also ahead, a job opening like no other. We'll look at the complicated succession process that follows should the pope pass away.
And later on, we'll hear from a college professor whose words about September 11 have stirred up a firestorm of controversy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Roman Catholic bishops gathered at the Vatican today for a prayer service for the pope. John Paul is hospitalized for the fourth day recovering from the flu. The Vatican says the pope will give his traditional Sunday blessing from his hospital suite tomorrow. Plans are being made to it teleadvise it. However, he won't read the weekly player.
The pope's illness is raising talk of succession in the Roman Church. Let's talk to John Allen in Rome, he's our CNN Vatican analyst and a correspondent for the "National Catholic Reporter."
John, first of all, his condition is improving. Anxiety, this week, among Catholics in Rome and all over the world about his health, but he is getting better, here?
JOHN ALLEN, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": That is certainly what the Vatican is telling us, Christine. The word is that he is making steady progress, although not quite out of the woods yet. Of course, with a almost 85-year-old man in his frail health, his respiratory problems are always a subject of concern, but it does seem like he's beginning to pull through.
ROMANS: Now, most people don't think this pope would retire, do they?
ALLEN: No. And I think that's probably because the pope has said at least on five public occasions he has no intention of retiring., so I think the answer on that is pretty clear. It's not going to happen.
ROMANS: Is he almost 85, he has Parkinson's disease and other ailments, as well. We've seen this week, you know, just how badly he was felled by influenza, if, indeed, that's what it was. So, what happens next? What happens if he becomes incapacitated? What is -- what does the Vatican do?
ALLEN: Well, that's a great question, to which, unfortunately, there's no equally great answer. The truth is, there is no provision in church law for covering a situation in which the pope is still alive, but unable to communicate his wishes. There are experts in these kinds of things that have dreamed up various scenarios, but there are problems with all of them. The truth is, we just don't know.
ROMANS: And so many people say that they hope the Holy Spirit will work through the pope and that this problem would never be -- would never come to bear. What about this idea he has maybe he has written his own sort of letter, his wishes for what would want to be done if he were incapacitated?
ALLEN: Yeah, it's possible. We know that a previous pope, Pope Paul XI did that. He wrote a letter in 1965 which he gave to his private secretary that would, in effect, have been a resignation letter in the event he ever became incapacitated. Now, he was lucid up to the end in 1978, so it was never invoked. Vatican officials have told us the present pope has not written any such a letter, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened, it could be that he's written such a letter and only a tight circle of very intimate aides know about it. Once again, however, there might be problems with that, because some people might wonder if that letter was authentic and, if so, if it really covered the set of circumstances we found ourselves in. So once again, it's a problematic situation.
ROMANS: John, let me ask you about the legacy of this pope. He has been in place here now here for many young Catholics in this country for their, almost their entire lifetime. What will his legacy be known as, do you think?
ALLEN: Well, I think, you know, this is a man who has been in office for almost 27 years and counting. And obviously, he has dealt with every one of the most complex religious, social, political, cultural problems of that time. So, it's a complex legacy. But, I suppose, from the outside world he will be thought of as a great unifier. This is a man who, in some ways, healed a very traditionally strained relationship between Catholicism and Judaism, reached out to Islam, reached out to other religions and also he was instrumental in putting divided Eastern and Western Europe back together.
Inside the Catholic Church, it's a more complicated situation. I think the conservative wing of the church would see him as a great evangelist and a great apostle, a man who energized the church. The more liberal wing of the church may see him as a man who disappointed some of the dreams of reform and liberalization that came out of the second Vatican council.
ROMANS: And for now hundreds of millions of Catholics relieved that his condition appears to be improving. John Allen, in Rome. Thank you so much, John.
He compared some of the 9/11 victims to an infamous Nazi and now University of Colorado professor is defending himself. We'll see what he has to say a look at the scope of the controversy he's caused.
Also ahead, a glimpse of home in a place where most thought it was lost. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Dose heightened security now mean there are limits to dissent in free speech? Controversy on the campus of Hamilton College. The school invited then disinvited a speaker critical of the victims of 9/11 to address the student body. CNN's Maria Hinojosa has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even at picturesque Hamilton College, five hours north of New York City, the events of September 11 were never far away from Matthew Coppo. His father died in the twin towers.
MATTHEW COPPO, SON OF 9/11 VICTIM: It's a little remembrance and it's been three years, but it doesn't seem like three years.
HINOJOSA: So, he was angry when he read in the campus newspaper that Ward Churchill had been invited to speak at his college, the Colorado professor that once wrote that the people who died September 11, like his father, were not victims.
COPPO: For him to stand up an preach that all the September 11 victims deserved it and then to reference them to Nazis, I mean, I don't understand why the school would want to give him that. HINOJOSA: Coppo wanted him disinvited and a debate broke out on campus over Churchill's right to free speech. The national media was not far behind and soon, there were depth threats against the school president and the conversational speaker.
JOAN STEWART, PRESIDENT, HAMILTON COLLEGE: At this point the question of security outweighed the right of any particular individual to speak and I had, reluctantly, to cancel the event.
HINOJOSA: Churchill's speech was cancelled, but the night he was supposed to speak, student's continued the debate around campus in forums closed to the media and the public, who student's felt had hijacked their debate. They signed a free speech banner and donned t- shirts saying "The mark of an educated mind is that it can entertain an idea without accepting it."
Thomas Acampora also lost friends and co-workers on September 11, he says he's disgusted by Churchill's writings, but wanted an opportunity to challenge him.
THOMAS ACAMPORA, HAMILTON COLLEGE STUDENT: It's at the very heart of this academic community that we engage views that we don't find -- that hurt us, that, you know, that we -- that upset us, that make us angry.
HINOJOSA: Nancy Rabinowitz was one of the professors who invited Churchill to the campus.
NANCY RABINOWITZ, HAMILTON COLLEGE PROFESSOR: The irony is that this was a conversation that was to be held about the limits of decent. And now we see the limits enforced by the terrorist threat of violence.
HINOJOSA: The debate also continued on the pages of the campus newspaper, which questioned whether a college should let violence silence speech.
BRITTEN CHASE, COLUMNIST, THE "SPECTATOR": People can threaten violence now and they can have an impact on what will be said on a college campus.
HINOJOSA: Even Matthew Coppo is unhappy with the outcome.
COPPO: It's the worse possible (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ending to this whole thing. I mean, if he had come it almost would have been better just -- or he would have his free speech and we would have our -- we would have probably had a silent vigil just honoring everyone who died and no violence, whatsoever was -- no one wanted any violence and for this -- for it to end this way, it was pretty terrible.
HINOJOSA: Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Clinton, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Well last night on CNN Professor Churchill defended his stance on 9/11 and his right to free speech while appearing on "Paula Zahn Now"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARD CHURCHILL, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: I can understand the sense of outrage and that's what I was attempting to engender. I wanted to engender a response comparable to that experienced and manifested by peoples elsewhere when they are treated in a similar fashion as a matter of course in the U.S.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: How can you possibly equate...
CHURCHILL: And I had a number of holocaust -- I'm sorry...
ZAHN: Professor, how can you possibly equate the activities going on in the World Trade Center, people waiting on tables at the Windows on the World restaurant; police officers on duty that day; stockbrokers with the actions of Adolf (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
CHURCHILL: You are, I believe, mixing apples and oranges there. I don't believe...
ZAHN: I'm just reading what you wrote.
CHURCHILL: That there is any -- any reasonable definition, by which you consider a food service worker or a janitor or even a fireman or a random passerby as being a member of a technicotti (PH) core. How do you define pushing a broom as being a technical operation? It was rather clearly stated who I was talking about. I think terrorism is a phenomenon to be quelled, but if you're going to deal with any phenomena you first must define, and more importantly understand it. And what I'm saying, this is a perfectly comprehensible response to the way the U.S. projects itself in the world.
ZAHN: I think you're more clearly laying out what you, in your judgment, constitutes victims on 9/11. Do you think you owe an apology to the families who read the same essay I read...
CHURCHILL: I don't think I owe an apology.
ZAHN: Who thought you were referring to their loved ones, the waiters in restaurants, the janitors in the building as somehow being responsible for kind of fueling the military industrial complex?
CHURCHILL: I don't believe I owe them an apology, because I don't believe I included their families, the people you're talking about, in. I think some other people have very conscientiously attempted to put those words in my mouth and I think it may be that a quite a number of people who have been impugning things to me that I didn't actually say could well and truly owe an apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That was Professor Ward Churchill appearing last night on "Paula Zhan Now." There may be some belt tightening inside the beltway next year. That is, if the president gets his way. We'll go to the White House for a preview of his proposed budget.
And later, a country famous for its cigars cracks down on smoking. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 5, 2005 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. in Atlanta, 7:00 p.m. in Ankara, Turkey where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has just landed. Good afternoon. I'm Christine Romans in for Fredricka Whitfield. Ahead this hour:
Bishops gather to pray for the pope. He's still in the hospital. We'll go live to Rome.
Also:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have very sweet faces, but when you look at their bodies, I mean, it looks like Auschwitz.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Is this couple responsible tore torturing five of their seven foster children? Find out what police say.
And later:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lived on coconuts for days then met some jungle tribal who showed us how to make a fire and to hunt wild boar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Stranded by the tsunami for more than a month, you'll hear nine survivors tell their incredible story. But first, a look at the top stories in the news now.
We're getting a new look at President Bush's budget priorities. He says a stronger U.S. economy is a top goal of his new budget proposal to Congress, tomorrow. In a radio address, two hours ago, Mr. Bush calls for fixing social security, cutting wasteful government programs all while reducing the deficit and making tax relief's permanent.
The wreckage of a missing Afghan jetliner has been found about 20 miles south of the capitol, Kabul. Officials say there's no sign of survivors among the 104 people onboard, including three Americans. The Boeing 737 went down during a snowstorm on approach to the capitol which is ringed by mountain peaks. Pope John Paul is expected to give a traditional blessing from his hospital bed, in Rome, tomorrow, but an aide is to read the pope's weekly address. A bishop who visited him says the pope is feeling better and is eager to return to work at the Vatican. A live report from Rome is just ahead.
We begin with latest stop on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's tour to the Europe and the Middle East. After a visit to Poland earlier today, Rice is now in Turkey. Both countries allies in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. CNN's Andrea Koppel is traveling with the secretary of state and she's with us now on the phone from Ankara -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Christine. That's right, Secretary Rice spent about four hours, earlier today, in the capitol of Poland, thanking Polish leaders for being such a close ally in Iraq.
As you know, Poland was one of the four original countries, including United States, Australia, and Great Britain who were part of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Iraq. Poland has about 24, 2500 troops in that country and although they will be bringing home about 800, between 700 and 800 by the end of the year, essentially Poland is viewed by the United States as standing shoulder to shoulder in example of the kind of virgining democracy that the United States would like to see elsewhere around the world.
Now, here in Turkey, also a democracy, Secretary Rice is going to be meeting with -- in fact, she just wrapped up a very brief meeting with Turk -- with the Turkish prime minister. Although Turkey did not help out as much in the beginning of the war in Iraq, certainly Turkey's cooperation is essential. Turkey is a neighbor of Iraq, it has a lot of concerns. In fact, they were badly thrown, according to one senior administrator official traveling with Secretary Rice, by the recent elections in Iraq in that country. They are worried that perhaps there could be more movement by the Kurds in Iraq to have some sort of independent state. And so, Secretary Rice is here, both to introduce herself, but also to reassure (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the United States is committed to a unified Iraq.
Now, earlier in the day, when she was in Poland, she was asked about a meeting she was going to have later this evening here in Turkey, a lot of jumping around. But she'll be meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and she was asked about what is a continuing theme now in the second Bush administration, and that is the importance of spreading democracy throughout the Middle East, throughout the world. And she was asked in particular about whether she was satisfied with what the Russians have done in recent months on that front.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have had concerns about some of the developments in Russia. We will continue to talk to the Russians about it, because we really do believe that a more democratic foundation in Russia, as Russia makes a transition from a totalitarian state to a democratic state that a firmer foundation for that will, indeed strengthen and underscore and put real further substance into a deepened relationship with the democracies of Europe and, indeed, with the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Although Secretary Rice didn't want to explicitly criticize the Russian government clearly, that is going to be a subject discussed behind closed doors, the Bush administration concerned, but not ready to call Russia on the mat, if you will, on the various steps, various areas of concern that they've noted in Russia on the democratic front.
So, she's just arrived here in Turkey, Christine, but she's a full day of meetings. Tomorrow, she'll be meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, this morning, before she heads off towards the Middle East leg of this whirlwind trip through Europe and the Middle East.
ROMANS: And that means a whirlwind trip for you too. Andrea Koppel in Turkey. Thanks, Andrea.
And this programming note, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is one of the guests on CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer. Find out what he has to say about the situation in Iraq tomorrow at Noon Eastern right here on CNN.
An arrest on the Florida child torture case. Detectives in Utah have arrested the couple who authorities say tortured and starved five of their seven children. CNN's Jason Bellini has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police in Utah, Friday evening arrested Linda and John Dollar. Both are wanted in Florida on charges of aggravated child abuse and torture five of their seven foster children.
CAPT. JIM CERNICH, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: They combed the area. And we were just about ready to shut down operations when they spotted the vehicle, stopped the Dollars on the roadway, and then arrested them and took them to the county jail.
BELLINI: Friday morning, the sheriff's deputy in Beverly hills, Florida, revealed the grew some details of what the children say went on inside their home. The Dollars allegedly used electric shock on the children, forced them to sleep in a closet, chained them to walls, pulled their toe nails out with pliers and left them severely malnourished.
GAIL TIERNEY, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I have seen pictures of the children that have been -- you know, been taken in connection with this case. And, you know, I mean, they have very sweet faces, but when you look at their bodies, I mean, it looks like Auschwitz.
BELLINI: The investigation began January 21. Paramedics responded to a 911 call. They discovered a 16-year-old boy bruised, bleeding, and weighing only 59 pounds. It wasn't until six days later that Florida's Department of Children and Families recovered the other six children, including twin 14-year-old boys weighing 36 and 38 pounds. Child advocates are questioning why it took so long.
KAREN GIEVERS, CHILD ADVOCATE: There's no excuse for leaving children in danger, under the circumstances that we're hearing about.
BELLINI: Governor Jeb bush says the children were not on record with Florida's foster care system and the agency acted swiftly to remove the children.
GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: It's just tragic that parents in this case, adoptive parents, these were parents that received these kids under adoption in the early 1990s, would do what they did.
BELLINI: The Dollars and adopted children had lived for a couple years in Knoxville, Tennessee and then moved back to Florida. The woman who leased the house to them said the children never played outside.
JEAN UNDERWOOD, REAL ESTATE AGENT: There were seven children and they told me they were from homes in Florida, that they were mistreated and they were -- it was a foster care deal of some kind.
BELLINI (on camera): Jean Underwood also told us that on her visits to the Dollar household, something seemed very strange there. The children were virtually silent, they never played outside, she was looking for a reason to call child protective services, but she never found one.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Knoxville, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Super Sunday means super sizing the security force for the big game tomorrow in Jacksonville, Florida. Dozens of law enforcement agencies are fielding thousands of security personnel as the hours tick down to the game, the security is ratcheting up. CNN's Susan Candiotti has the latest on that from Jacksonville.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As fans enjoy pre-game activities, law enforcers are turning up security an extra notch.
(voice-over): For example, pilots with a customs and border protection agency provided us an overview of Alltel Stadium located right on the waterfront. These are some of the same pilots that will be flying over that airspace before, during, and after the game.
Inside the stadium, dozens of cameras are set up that allow authorities to zero in on a single seat. There's a no fly zone encompassing a 30-mile radius around the stadium. Now, on the water, before, during, and after the game, local state and federal law enforcement agencies are patrolling the St. Johns River, a 14-mile stretch. One tool that's being used by the federal authorities is called a FLIR, it stands for "forward looking infrared" it provides a reverse image in darkness and light and allows authorities a better look at what's going on on the water, and on the ground as well. Here is a look at the technology.
MIKE GRAY, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL: Trying to focus in on this guy. Really having a hard time doing it because of the night and daytime camera. Switching over to FLIR, I can see I got, right now, two POBs, two persons on board, one with a flashlight, just closed the cooler and is putting the cooler down, laying the flashlight down and is now transiting right in front of us.
CANDIOTTI: Among law enforcement agencies here, the people in charge of security for next year's Super Bowl in Detroit, including the assistant police chief.
ASST. CHIEF WALTER MARTIN, DETROIT POLICE DEPT.: The area involved, this is -- this is -- this is huge, this is huge. I didn't realize how huge it was until I got down here and seeing all the pieces to Jacksonville, the key components they have to take care of. It's a lot. It's a lot. But, we're ready for the challenge.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Detroit, like Jacksonville, is on the waterfront, adding an extra layer of concern. Jacksonville sheriff in charge of this year's Super Bowl security says if his team does its job right, the teams on the field and the fans watching the game will feel secure and not worry about it.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: For an exclusive, behind the scenes, all access look at the security in place for the Super Bowl game, watch CNN's "American Morning" Monday at 7:00 a.m. Eastern. And a reminder, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. We'll have much more ahead on tomorrow's big game, including the latest buzz from Jacksonville and a preview of this year's G-rated Super Bowl ads.
Also ahead, a job opening like no other. We'll look at the complicated succession process that follows should the pope pass away.
And later on, we'll hear from a college professor whose words about September 11 have stirred up a firestorm of controversy.
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ROMANS: Roman Catholic bishops gathered at the Vatican today for a prayer service for the pope. John Paul is hospitalized for the fourth day recovering from the flu. The Vatican says the pope will give his traditional Sunday blessing from his hospital suite tomorrow. Plans are being made to it teleadvise it. However, he won't read the weekly player.
The pope's illness is raising talk of succession in the Roman Church. Let's talk to John Allen in Rome, he's our CNN Vatican analyst and a correspondent for the "National Catholic Reporter."
John, first of all, his condition is improving. Anxiety, this week, among Catholics in Rome and all over the world about his health, but he is getting better, here?
JOHN ALLEN, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": That is certainly what the Vatican is telling us, Christine. The word is that he is making steady progress, although not quite out of the woods yet. Of course, with a almost 85-year-old man in his frail health, his respiratory problems are always a subject of concern, but it does seem like he's beginning to pull through.
ROMANS: Now, most people don't think this pope would retire, do they?
ALLEN: No. And I think that's probably because the pope has said at least on five public occasions he has no intention of retiring., so I think the answer on that is pretty clear. It's not going to happen.
ROMANS: Is he almost 85, he has Parkinson's disease and other ailments, as well. We've seen this week, you know, just how badly he was felled by influenza, if, indeed, that's what it was. So, what happens next? What happens if he becomes incapacitated? What is -- what does the Vatican do?
ALLEN: Well, that's a great question, to which, unfortunately, there's no equally great answer. The truth is, there is no provision in church law for covering a situation in which the pope is still alive, but unable to communicate his wishes. There are experts in these kinds of things that have dreamed up various scenarios, but there are problems with all of them. The truth is, we just don't know.
ROMANS: And so many people say that they hope the Holy Spirit will work through the pope and that this problem would never be -- would never come to bear. What about this idea he has maybe he has written his own sort of letter, his wishes for what would want to be done if he were incapacitated?
ALLEN: Yeah, it's possible. We know that a previous pope, Pope Paul XI did that. He wrote a letter in 1965 which he gave to his private secretary that would, in effect, have been a resignation letter in the event he ever became incapacitated. Now, he was lucid up to the end in 1978, so it was never invoked. Vatican officials have told us the present pope has not written any such a letter, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened, it could be that he's written such a letter and only a tight circle of very intimate aides know about it. Once again, however, there might be problems with that, because some people might wonder if that letter was authentic and, if so, if it really covered the set of circumstances we found ourselves in. So once again, it's a problematic situation.
ROMANS: John, let me ask you about the legacy of this pope. He has been in place here now here for many young Catholics in this country for their, almost their entire lifetime. What will his legacy be known as, do you think?
ALLEN: Well, I think, you know, this is a man who has been in office for almost 27 years and counting. And obviously, he has dealt with every one of the most complex religious, social, political, cultural problems of that time. So, it's a complex legacy. But, I suppose, from the outside world he will be thought of as a great unifier. This is a man who, in some ways, healed a very traditionally strained relationship between Catholicism and Judaism, reached out to Islam, reached out to other religions and also he was instrumental in putting divided Eastern and Western Europe back together.
Inside the Catholic Church, it's a more complicated situation. I think the conservative wing of the church would see him as a great evangelist and a great apostle, a man who energized the church. The more liberal wing of the church may see him as a man who disappointed some of the dreams of reform and liberalization that came out of the second Vatican council.
ROMANS: And for now hundreds of millions of Catholics relieved that his condition appears to be improving. John Allen, in Rome. Thank you so much, John.
He compared some of the 9/11 victims to an infamous Nazi and now University of Colorado professor is defending himself. We'll see what he has to say a look at the scope of the controversy he's caused.
Also ahead, a glimpse of home in a place where most thought it was lost. Stay with us.
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ROMANS: Dose heightened security now mean there are limits to dissent in free speech? Controversy on the campus of Hamilton College. The school invited then disinvited a speaker critical of the victims of 9/11 to address the student body. CNN's Maria Hinojosa has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even at picturesque Hamilton College, five hours north of New York City, the events of September 11 were never far away from Matthew Coppo. His father died in the twin towers.
MATTHEW COPPO, SON OF 9/11 VICTIM: It's a little remembrance and it's been three years, but it doesn't seem like three years.
HINOJOSA: So, he was angry when he read in the campus newspaper that Ward Churchill had been invited to speak at his college, the Colorado professor that once wrote that the people who died September 11, like his father, were not victims.
COPPO: For him to stand up an preach that all the September 11 victims deserved it and then to reference them to Nazis, I mean, I don't understand why the school would want to give him that. HINOJOSA: Coppo wanted him disinvited and a debate broke out on campus over Churchill's right to free speech. The national media was not far behind and soon, there were depth threats against the school president and the conversational speaker.
JOAN STEWART, PRESIDENT, HAMILTON COLLEGE: At this point the question of security outweighed the right of any particular individual to speak and I had, reluctantly, to cancel the event.
HINOJOSA: Churchill's speech was cancelled, but the night he was supposed to speak, student's continued the debate around campus in forums closed to the media and the public, who student's felt had hijacked their debate. They signed a free speech banner and donned t- shirts saying "The mark of an educated mind is that it can entertain an idea without accepting it."
Thomas Acampora also lost friends and co-workers on September 11, he says he's disgusted by Churchill's writings, but wanted an opportunity to challenge him.
THOMAS ACAMPORA, HAMILTON COLLEGE STUDENT: It's at the very heart of this academic community that we engage views that we don't find -- that hurt us, that, you know, that we -- that upset us, that make us angry.
HINOJOSA: Nancy Rabinowitz was one of the professors who invited Churchill to the campus.
NANCY RABINOWITZ, HAMILTON COLLEGE PROFESSOR: The irony is that this was a conversation that was to be held about the limits of decent. And now we see the limits enforced by the terrorist threat of violence.
HINOJOSA: The debate also continued on the pages of the campus newspaper, which questioned whether a college should let violence silence speech.
BRITTEN CHASE, COLUMNIST, THE "SPECTATOR": People can threaten violence now and they can have an impact on what will be said on a college campus.
HINOJOSA: Even Matthew Coppo is unhappy with the outcome.
COPPO: It's the worse possible (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ending to this whole thing. I mean, if he had come it almost would have been better just -- or he would have his free speech and we would have our -- we would have probably had a silent vigil just honoring everyone who died and no violence, whatsoever was -- no one wanted any violence and for this -- for it to end this way, it was pretty terrible.
HINOJOSA: Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Clinton, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Well last night on CNN Professor Churchill defended his stance on 9/11 and his right to free speech while appearing on "Paula Zahn Now"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARD CHURCHILL, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: I can understand the sense of outrage and that's what I was attempting to engender. I wanted to engender a response comparable to that experienced and manifested by peoples elsewhere when they are treated in a similar fashion as a matter of course in the U.S.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: How can you possibly equate...
CHURCHILL: And I had a number of holocaust -- I'm sorry...
ZAHN: Professor, how can you possibly equate the activities going on in the World Trade Center, people waiting on tables at the Windows on the World restaurant; police officers on duty that day; stockbrokers with the actions of Adolf (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
CHURCHILL: You are, I believe, mixing apples and oranges there. I don't believe...
ZAHN: I'm just reading what you wrote.
CHURCHILL: That there is any -- any reasonable definition, by which you consider a food service worker or a janitor or even a fireman or a random passerby as being a member of a technicotti (PH) core. How do you define pushing a broom as being a technical operation? It was rather clearly stated who I was talking about. I think terrorism is a phenomenon to be quelled, but if you're going to deal with any phenomena you first must define, and more importantly understand it. And what I'm saying, this is a perfectly comprehensible response to the way the U.S. projects itself in the world.
ZAHN: I think you're more clearly laying out what you, in your judgment, constitutes victims on 9/11. Do you think you owe an apology to the families who read the same essay I read...
CHURCHILL: I don't think I owe an apology.
ZAHN: Who thought you were referring to their loved ones, the waiters in restaurants, the janitors in the building as somehow being responsible for kind of fueling the military industrial complex?
CHURCHILL: I don't believe I owe them an apology, because I don't believe I included their families, the people you're talking about, in. I think some other people have very conscientiously attempted to put those words in my mouth and I think it may be that a quite a number of people who have been impugning things to me that I didn't actually say could well and truly owe an apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That was Professor Ward Churchill appearing last night on "Paula Zhan Now." There may be some belt tightening inside the beltway next year. That is, if the president gets his way. We'll go to the White House for a preview of his proposed budget.
And later, a country famous for its cigars cracks down on smoking. Stay with us.
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