Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Protesters Rally against Immigration Bill; Bush Pushes for Guest Worker Plan; Pentagon Says Russians Tipped Saddam on U.S. War Plans; Pope Supports Afghan Christian Who Faces Death; The Amazon rainforest is Called the Lungs of the Earth for Good Reason. Teens Keen on Multi-Tasking

Aired March 25, 2006 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: Making news right now. Thousands are in the Los Angeles streets, taking aim at tough congressional proposals on immigration. Protests are being held in other cities today, as well. Some of the proposals: building a fence along the border with Mexico and a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Freed Iraqi hostage Norman Kember back home at last. The British Christian peace activist was held for nearly four months along with two colleagues. Kember was discovered by U.S. and British forces in a house west of Baghdad on Thursday.

An Afghan man facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity may be freed soon. A senior government official says authorities met today to reconsider the charges. The U.S. and other western governments have expressed outrage over the prosecution.

Milwaukee police believe at least one person knows something about two missing boys but for some reason isn't coming forward. Police think the two preteens have been missing since Sunday. Authorities are expecting to hold a news conference later on today.

In Seattle at least seven people were killed and three others injured in a shooting incident at a home party. Police say the gunman is among the dead. They say the shooter apparently was at the party, left and then returned armed.

Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Ahead this hour, Generation M. They're your kids and your grandkids, media multi-taskers, and they're way better at that than you, hands down. But don't get too excited. There's a downside.

And did author Dan Brown steal ideas for his blockbuster book "The Da Vinci Code"? We've got our legal experts on that one later on in the show.

First, our top story, immigration reform. Thousands take to the streets as Congress moves to tighten the border and crack down on illegal immigrants.

Our own Kareen Wynter is at a rally, a quite sizable one in Los Angeles -- Kareen.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's just so incredible, Fred, the energy that I'm feeling out here. They've been out here for hours now, and their energy hasn't waned. You can hear it in the background. They are holding signs, also armed with their message. Wanting to send a message not just to city leaders in their march today to city hall but also to Washington.

What's so crucial about what they're doing is next week the Senate is expected to begin talks on a bill, a similar version that's already been passed in the House, which really cracks down on illegal immigration. It would make it a felon for anyone here who's in the country illegally, tighten penalties for those who help or hire illegal immigrants. So people out here say this is their only chance, again, to signal that message that they're not OK with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that the people that are citizens wouldn't do the jobs that we do. We don't want to take other people's jobs. We just want to work. We just want to help our families that are suffering in our countries. And I think that's it, that we should all -- we all have the rights to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody here who gets affected by this law, this proposition who is going to send everybody back to where they came from, I think that's the most racist bill that has ever been made. And it sucks that our government is doing this to us. We had a lot to do to build this country and we deserve to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: We also heard a powerful message from students all across the Los Angeles school districts. Various regions coming out in support against this proposal that could happen next week when talks begin. Students took to the street, thousands of them. Police say the protests by and large were peaceful.

We've also seen similar displays in other cities, in Chicago, Milwaukee, for example, as well as Arizona.

Now we're still waiting for this march to officially begin, Fred. It was supposed to start about an hour ago. But perhaps because of the sheer number of people that are still out here, we haven't seen much movement on that. But, again, the point is to march to city hall today and voice their concerns -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so Kareen, once they get to city hall, is there a stage set up or are there a series of speakers expected? And if so, who are they?

WYNTER: Well, everyone is waiting to hear from the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. He'll be speaking just about the concerns involving this heavily debated topic. So he's someone -- that I've already heard from many members of the crowd. We want to hear what our mayor has to say, does he join us in this fight? And so we'll be looking forward to that.

WYNTER: All right. Kareen Wynter, thank you so much from Los Angeles.

Well, President Bush says he'll lay out his own vision for dealing with illegal immigrants on Monday during a naturalization ceremony. But he's been talking about it already today.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House with more on that -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it's a vision that pleases some and angers others. Business leaders, for example, like the president's temporary worker plan that would let undocumented non- citizens come into the U.S. for a limited period of time to basically do jobs that Americans won't do.

It's also popular with the Hispanic voting bloc in important states like Florida, New Mexico, Arizona.

But critics, many in the Republican Party, worry that it, instead, jeopardizes security and gives millions of illegal workers a shortcut to citizenship.

President Bush in his Saturday morning radio address insisted that will not happen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One thing the temporary worker program would not do is provide amnesty to those who are in our country illegally. I believe granting that amnesty would be unfair, because it would allow those who break the law to jump ahead of people who play by the rules and wait in the citizenship line.

Amnesty would also be unwise because it would encourage waves of illegal immigration, increase pressure on the border and make it more difficult for law enforcement to focus on those who mean us harm. For the sake of justice and for the sake of border security, I firmly oppose amnesty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: President Bush is working hard to get the Senate to incorporate his guest worker program into its legislation this week, but the president's poll numbers are the lowest of his presidency. Lawmakers are not reluctant to take him on.

So they're less likely to listen to Mr. Bush's argument that illegal immigrants add to the economic vitality of the country and instead more likely to be persuaded by their constituents' growing concerns that millions of undocumented workers put a strain on schools, hospitals and other scarce local resources -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thank you. In other news, bombings and shootings throughout Iraq killed at least nine people today. Among the victims, a Sunni cleric who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. In Baghdad, a bomb blast ripped through a mini bus, killing four Iraqi civilians. Southwest of the capital, mortar rounds slammed into a residential area, killing four people.

The American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is urging Iraqi politicians to hurry and form a unity government, warning that the country is at a defining moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I think it will be in the composition, the names. And that's where the rubber will sort of meet the road. Names with jobs, assignments. And that's what still is left. Prime minister, you need someone who is a unifier and is competent to do the job. And then key ministers, as well as the presidency and the speakership. I think it will still take some weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Two U.S. senators, Republican John McCain and Democrat Russell Feingold, are visiting Iraq. Both today warned Iraqi officials that U.S. patience is growing thin over the delay in forming that unity government.

Did the Russians tip off Saddam Hussein just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq? Apparently so, according to a just released Pentagon study.

CNN's Jamie McIntyre has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among the thousands of documents examined by military historians, one sent to Saddam Hussein on March 24, 2003, just days into the war contained intelligence on the U.S. war plans that the Russians claim came from their sources inside the U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar.

BRIG. GEN. ANTHONY CUCULO, U.S. ARMY: There is a document that exists that shows that the Russian ambassador to Iraq passed intelligence to the Iraqi high command.

MCINTYRE: The Iraqi document had details on the secret plans for U.S. troop movements during the initial phase of the invasion and cited the Russians as the source.

The document reads in part, "The United States is convinced that occupying Iraqi cities are impossible, and they have changed their tactic. Now they are planning to spread across the Euphrates River from Basra in the south to al Qa'im in the north, avoiding entering the cities." That's pretty much what happened. But Saddam Hussein didn't heed the intelligence because, the report concludes, he suspected the U.S. advance from Kuwait was merely a diversion.

CUCULO: This particular document we're talking about actually had no impact on a decision. We use it in the Iraqi perspective's project study as an example of how a piece of intelligence, plus a battlefield commander describing a situation were essentially I will go ignored, because it was different from what Saddam had said.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The Pentagon says it has no corroboration of the claim by the Russian ambassador that he had multiple sources inside CentCom, and the authors of the report say it was outside their purview to investigate that claim. They say the document will simply have to stand on its own.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Russia's foreign intelligence service denies the claims in that Pentagon report. A spokesman today dismissed the claims as, quote, "unfounded accusations."

Held hostage in Iraq for nearly four months, Briton Norman Kember returned home today to a reunion with his wife. U.S. and British forces rescued Kember and two fellow peace activists from a house on Thursday. Speaking to reporters in London, Kember paid tribute both to the Iraqi people and to the soldiers who freed him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN KEMBER, FREED HOSTAGE: It's the ordinary people of Iraq that you should be talking to. Those are the people that have suffered so much over so many years and still await the stable and just society that they deserve.

Another group that I hope you do not forget are the relatives of British soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq. Now, I do not believe that lasting peace is achieved through armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my release early on. When was it? Thursday morning.

I'm not ready at this time to talk about my months of captivity except to say, of course, that I'm delighted to be free and reunited with my family. In reality, it was my wife who was kidnapped last November. She suffered more than I, because while I knew that I was alive and well, she did not. And I thank all who supported Pat during that most agonizing and stressful time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A fourth member of the Christian Peacemakers team held hostage, American Tom Fox, was found shot to death on a Baghdad street earlier this month. The pope is adding his voice to the chorus of international appeals as an Afghan man awaits a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity. The Vatican says Pope Benedict today sent a letter to the prime minister of Afghanistan pleading for clemency for Abdul Rahman. We've been following his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): When we introduced you to Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan, he was facing a death sentence for holding this belief.

ABDUL RAHMAN, DEFENDANT (through translator): I believe in Christianity. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I am a Christian.

WHITFIELD: Rahman converted to Christianity 16 years ago. At his trial, an Afghan judge issued this alarming remark.

ANSARULLAH MOWLAWIZADA, JUDGE (through translator): If he does not repent you will all be witness to the sort of punishment he will face.

WHITFIELD: Local prosecutors want Rahman executed for apostasy. And at Friday prayers, top clerics agreed.

SYED ASIF MOHSNI, SHIITE CLERIC (through translator): Abdul Rahman was once a good man, but he turned his back on God and turned against humanity, so he must be executed.

WHITFIELD: But just a short while ago, an Afghan government official said Abdul Rahman should be released, quote, "in the coming days." This follows intense pressure from the Bush administration, from the president on down.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've made very clear in the strongest possible terms that this principle of religious freedom and the right to religious conscience is at the core of democratic development and at the core of democracy. We are working with the Afghans, and we look to a favorable resolution of this case. It needs to be favorably resolved.

WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Afghanistan is a young democracy but suggested it must act like a democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Rahman reportedly converted while working for an international aid organization. His family actually turned him in for converting. And stay with CNN as we bring you the latest on this story throughout the weekend.

IM's, cells, iPods, is your kid too connected? Get ready for Generation M, the media multi-taskers.

And she pleaded guilty to having sex with a student, but this schoolteacher is not going to jail. Is there a double standard? I'll ask our legal experts.

And we'll meet a bald guy who's turning heads. He's got a hair- brained scheme rolling around in that noggin.

But first, Richard Frankel is helping to make the Great White Way the place to be. Find out why in our "Tips from the Top."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): They say all the world's a stage. And Broadway producer Richard Frankel is proving that, with productions from New York to Australia. Frankel started his own production company in 1985. And his three partners joined soon after.

RICHARD FRANKEL, BROADWAY PRODUCER: We consider ourselves sort of a service job where our resources are best used to feed the artists and give them what they need in order to allow them to get their vision out to the public.

WHITFIELD: Over the past two decade, one production has grown to 12 shows running simultaneously in the U.S., London and Asia. "The Producers," "Stomp" and "Hairspray" are just a few of their successes on Broadway. Frankel says he's gotten this far by keeping an eye on what the public likes and having a good business plan.

FRANKEL: If it doesn't don't be afraid to shut it down and get up again and try again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You're looking at pictures just in now of thousands of people who have descended upon downtown Los Angeles in protest of possible immigration laws. And the plan is for these many protesters to march their way to city hall and then rally from there.

Meantime, in Seattle, a shooting rampage left seven people, including a suspected gunman, dead today. It happened in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood east of downtown. Police say the gunman shot at six young people, and then police turned the gun on him. A police spokeswoman describes what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DEANNA MOLLETTE, SEATTLE POLICE: Well, we received the reports of shots fired at about 7:03 this morning and arrived in the area. The first arriving officer actually saw a victim, who was staggering on the sidewalk in front of the house. As he went to the victim's aide, the suspect appeared around the corner or someone who he believed was the suspect, carrying a shotgun. The officer confronted the suspect, and at that point the suspect actually turned the gun on himself and shot himself. We searched the residence and we actually at this point have seven fatality victims and two additional victims at our local trauma center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police think the shooting happened at a party at a rental home. They don't believe the gunman lived in the area.

From Alabama, some new video of the Tennessee preacher's wife accused of killing her husband. Mary Winkler is expected to arrive back home in Selmer, Tennessee, just a few hours from now. She's being extradited from south Alabama.

Police say Winkler has confessed to shooting her husband, Matthew, in the couple's home on Wednesday before fleeing to Alabama with the couple's three daughters. Authorities in Tennessee say they know the motive for the killing, but they haven't disclosed it yet.

Coming up in our legal segment, did Debra LaFave, the Florida teacher who had sex with a student, get a break because of her looks?

And your kids are probably masters at it: multi-tasking. Can you catch up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: If your kids are watching this program, they may also be talking on the phone and sending e-mails to their friends, all at the same time. Heidi Collins has a report for you and them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's dinnertime at the Cox family home, but no one is rushing to the table.

Fourteen-year-old Bronte is busy at the computer, IM'ing, checking MySpace.com, listening to music, and talking on the phone, all at the same time.

Her twin brother, Piers, is doing his own juggling act. He's watching "South Park", playing a computer video game and IM'ing with friends.

GEORGINA COX, MOTHER OF BRONTE AND PIERS: They're in their own little worlds, and it's so hard to get through to them.

COLLINS: For Mom and Dad, dinner seems like a nightly battle.

STEPHEN COX, FATHER OF BRONTE AND PIERS: It is intensely hard to pry them away. You just get used to this same lack of real attention.

COLLINS: It's always been tough to get teens to turn off the TV or computer. But kids like Bronte and Piers present a new challenge. They are part of what some call Generation M, teens who like media multi-tasking.

DON ROBERTS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: More and more today, kids are spending more and more time using two and three and possibly even four media simultaneously. COLLINS: It's the art of juggling between video games, instant messaging and Google searches. And a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study says half of all 8- to 18-year-olds use more than one media tool most of the time.

(on camera) It's not that kids are spending more time using electronic media. That number actually stayed the same, at six hours and 20 minutes every day. But by playing with more gadgets at once, it's closer to taking in 8 1/2 hours of media time every day.

Piers prides himself on being a better multi-tasker than his dad.

PIERS COX, MEDIA MULTI-TASKER: He might have music playing and also e-mail and typing. That's all he can pretty much do. I can watch DVDs, IM, play games, do it all at the same time.

COLLINS: But experts warn that multi-tasking, even when you're young, has its liabilities.

DAVID MEYERS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Given what we know about the nature of human mental processes and the wiring in the brain, it's pretty clear that they, as well as adults and most everybody else, suffers in terms of efficiency of performance when they try to multi- task.

COLLINS: Stephen and Georgina worry that their kids' school work is suffering, too.

S. COX: There isn't enough passionate time or focused time spent on things. For example, if you're studying history and IM'ing and on the phone and doodling here you're not really immersing yourself in the whole story of a history story. You're just glancing over it.

ROBERTS: On one hand, the kids are processing more information. The question is, are they processing it at the same depth?

COLLINS: Right now there is no evidence that kids who spend a lot of time multi-tasking do worse in school or that it affects their comprehension. But research in this area has just begun.

For the Coxes, the first priority is to get everyone around the dinner table every night.

S. COX: There's too much time spent on some of these gadgets. And we're taking steps to limit that time.

COLLINS: Heidi Collins, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, speaking of someone who juggles a lot, in the Weather Center, Bonnie Schneider, a whole lot on tap.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was just -- I'll just do one thing at a time.

WHITFIELD: Unplug your iPod right now, concentrate.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: Fredricka, can't wait for that warm weather to get here.

WHITFIELD: I know. Can't wait for the shorts and all that stuff.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

Well, cracking "The Da Vinci Code", the real life legal fight over the fictional best seller. We'll ask our experts about a possible verdict in the international potboiler.

Plus, parasomnia. Know what that is? It's forcing thousands of people, maybe even you, from getting a good night's sleep. The explanation still ahead.

Bur first, we're going to check in with Bonnie Schneider.

SCHNEIDER: Fredricka, we're taking a look at the cold and flu report for today. And as we take a look at the map, we're almost done with the cold and flu season. It's kind of near the end.

Unfortunately, though, we have widespread outbreaks of the flu across much of the country including Texas, further to the north and the northern tier of the country and many states along the Eastern Seaboard. Sporadic outbreaks out west and it looks like every state in the country is reporting some activity for this busy flu season.

We'll stay tuned. We'll have another check of weather and a check of your headlines, coming up next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. Country music singer Buck Owens died today at his home in California. Owens helped shape the country music sound with songs like "Act Naturally." He also starred on the long-running television show "Hee Haw." Owens was 76.

Bombings and shootings killed at least nine people in Iraq today. Most of the victims were civilians, including a Sunni cleric who was killed in a drive by shooting.

And former Iraq hostage Norman Kember is back in England. The peace activist thanked the U.S. and British troops who rescued him and two Canadians. But in a statement at Heathrow Airport, Kember appeared to criticize the U.S. invasion in Iraq.

Thousands in the streets taking aim at tough Congressional proposals on immigration. You're looking at live pictures right now of downtown Los Angeles, where protests are underway, as well as in other cities across the country. Some legislative proposals include building a fence along part of the border with Mexico, and a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

An anxious wait, a massive search in the case of two missing boys in Milwaukee. A $25,000 reward is now being offered for their safe return.

CNN Jonathan Freed is following the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suburban Milwaukee is being turned upside down. Police are looking for any sign of two children, close friends, 11-year-old Purvis Virginia Parker, and 12-year-old Quadrevion Henning. They call him Dre. Both missing since Sunday afternoon, they disappeared without a trace.

GARRY HENNING, QUADREVION'S GRANDFATHER: I slept in his bed. I slept in his bed. That's my boy. I just want him home. Tearing his grandmother's heart out.

FREED: When children are reported missing, you often hear family and friends saying they're good kids who never get into trouble. In this case, Dre Henning's grandfather says he has got the documentation to prove it.

G. HENNING: This is a kid that had high academics, you know. This is a kid, homework ...

QUENTIN HENNING, QUADREVION'S FATHER: He's a yes, sir, no, sir -- he's got that southern hospitality. He's a real good kid.

FREED: Dre and Purvis were last seen around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday heading to a playground at a nearby school. The families called police when they weren't home after dark.

ANGELA VIRGINIA, PURVIS' MOTHER: I hold on to this because when I hold on to it, I know he's coming home.

FREED: Purvis Parker's mother says her son is a quiet boy who is dreaming of becoming an artist. She hopes Purvis can hear her now.

VIRGINIA: I want you to come home to me. I need you here. My family is not complete without him. He's my only son.

FREED: Police say they've mounted a massive search for the boys.

CHIEF NANNETTE HEGERTY, MILWAUKEE POLICE: Right now we have no substantial leads, nor have we had any evidence that there has been a crime committed.

FREED: Are you satisfied with the effort that's being made on the part of police and ...

G. HENNING: Between -- for -- speaking for my family, we are more than satisfied. FREED: Although police are not yet conducting a criminal investigation, Dre's grandfather still has a message for anyone who may have abducted the children.

G. HENNING: Don't make them suffer. That's all. Just please don't make them suffer.

FREED: The families say the more time passes without word, the harder it is for them to keep up hope.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we expect a police update on the search for those missing boys at about 4:00 Eastern this afternoon. We'll keep an eye on that.

In today's "Legal Briefs," did former Florida teacher Debra Lafave get a free pass? The one-time model will serve three years house arrest for having sex with a 14-year-old student. Prosecutors dropped charges that might have resulted in jail time so the boy would not be forced to testify. The case has raised questions about courtroom double standards and the power of beauty.

Also, did author Dan Brown steal ideas for his blockbuster novel "The Da Vinci Code"? A judge's decision is expected by mid-April. The authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" accuse Brown of copyright infringement. Both books explore the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and their bloodline still exists.

Here with some answers are Avery Friedman and Richard Herman. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, I wonder -- Richard, let's begin with you. Did the two authors make a good case against Dan Brown?

HERMAN: I don't think so, Fred. I think this case is absolutely ridiculous and I think the judge is going to throw it out. He said within two weeks he'll make a decision. You know, interesting, in England, there is no jury system there for a case like this. So there's no jury, solely by the judge.

The judge, I understand was very tough in his questions to plaintiff's counsel at the end during their summations. You can't copyright general ideas. It was a non-fiction book. Just think about how many movies are based on actual events in history.

WHITFIELD: But Brown does admit to having read the book or he did borrow some information from the book, but he didn't lift it word for word. When do you cross the line? HERMAN: And that's the key. He didn't lift it word for word. These are general ideas. These are non-fiction treatise that he relied upon. And there's nothing wrong with that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Well, and that's what he's saying, of course. Much of the research, by the way was done by Dan Brown's wife, Blythe. And interestingly enough, she never testified in the case. But the fact is, in a cut and paste world ...

WHITFIELD: And there's nothing wrong with that, in your view? I mean, since she did the research?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, I mean, the fact is that if either side wanted to show something, Blythe would have been a real important witness and nobody ever heard from her. But in a cut and paste world, as I started to say, the fact is that you're not going to be able to win a copyright infringement case on an idea. It's just not going to happen. The fact is, that in less than two weeks, I predict, Dan Brown's going to walk away free from this litigation.

WHITFIELD: But really, it's more than an idea. I mean, the "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" was actually a book. It wasn't just an idea, like some people just sitting around talking about it. But it's in print.

FRIEDMAN: Well, it was one of 38 books that Dan Brown looked at and read and took from both fiction and non-fiction to create this non-fiction work. And the fact is the burden on the plaintiff in a case like this is extraordinary, and it is a burden that the plaintiffs never even got close to here. Never happened.

HERMAN: And you know, Fred, I'll tell you something, this -- all this publicity is going to just bolster the movie sales when they come out soon.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, yes. That's right.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, because the drum is already being beat for the movie, you know, soon to be coming out. You're already seeing the trailers, et cetera. All right, let's move on to the other case. We're talking about the Florida -- what? OK.

FRIEDMAN: Well, wait. Let me just mention that both books involved Random House. And you really wonder was there something really behind this where Random House, who defended also published the plaintiff's book? What's going on here. Yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's interesting. Well, you know, even the plaintiff's attorneys are saying, well, wait a minute, someone should be looking a little deeper into the whole denials from Dan Brown altogether.

FRIEDMAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: That's what this is about? You think the commonplace of the publisher?

FRIEDMAN: Well, we'll see. Who knows.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, let's move on now to that Florida case, Debra Lafave. Well, she got quite the victory in the end. And so, Richard, what's the explanation for that? How did she get so lucky?

HERMAN: Well, it depends who you talk to. There are various explanations for it, but I'm going to give you the bottom line here, Fred, and I'll keep it clean.

WHITFIELD: Uh-oh.

HERMAN: Basically, what happened here was, the victim and his parents did not want to put him on the stand with television cameras in the courtroom and basically annihilate his life for the rest of his life. They didn't want to do that.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that a concern in so many cases and special conditions are made so that the case can carry on and people's identities still remain anonymous?

HERMAN: This case took -- too much press on this case, Fredericka. And the district attorney had enough guts -- enough guts to respect that and pull these charges, because the judge wouldn't go along with the deal that was agreed to by the victims and by the district attorney.

WHITFIELD: Avery, real quick?

FRIEDMAN: Very quickly, I think this is a prosecutor actually that did the right thing. He could have gotten the conviction by compelling attendance. But you know what a psychiatrist said, it's going to hurt this child. I think he absolutely did the right thing. Now the defendant, Miss Lafave, wants to be a broadcaster and she thinks all it takes is to be beautiful to be a female broadcaster? What do you think? I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Avery and Richard. We'll have more conversations on this and other matters next week. Thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Florida man is really using his head, no joke. For $50,000, he'll tattoo your ad on his scalp. Here's reporter Kyle Neenen (ph) from affiliate KTLV in Jacksonville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLE NEENAN, KTLV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's something different about Jack. His wife says it's his unique head.

RHONDA FROELICH, WIFE: It's shiny, it's tan, it's round. It's perfect. NEENAN: And there were all those wacky sales on eBay.

JEFF FROELICH, HEAD FOR SALE: $20,000 for a cheese sandwich.

NEENAN: So Jeff was curious when Rhonda said she had a winning idea to raise money to help with their son's autism.

J. FROELICH: OK, what's your great idea? Let's sell your head.

NEENAN: You got it. Advertise here for $50,000 with a tattoo for the next five years.

J. FROELICH: I've heard everything from Kojak to q-tip. Talk to me, here's something to read while you're talking.

NEENAN: If Jeff gets the 50 large to buy his truck, he knows it's a step toward financial security. But it's so much more.

J. FROELICH: My son, he benefits, because it benefits his disease. And whoever advertises on the back of my head gets advertising on the back of my head.

NEENAN: They've had some good responses and some bizarre requests.

R. FROELICH: They wanted to know if we could attach flashing lights to his head that would blink simultaneously.

NEENAN: His best friend's opinion?

J. FROELICH: He thinks I'm crazy as hell.

NEENAN: But this family has hope that someone somewhere will up the ante.

J. FROELICH: We want to do something for my son's disease.

NEENAN: And Jeff's final words to a global audience.

J. FROELICH: Buy, buy. Bid, bid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD:: Well, Froelich has competition in the bidding wars. A check of eBay shows two other heads for sale. Sorry, Mr. Froelich, but they're much cheaper.

For some people with sleeping disorders, going to bed is anything but restful. Sleep can be disrupted with sometimes violent results. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at good sleep gone bad. A twilight zone where the normal barrier between sleep and wakefulness is blurred. These people are actually asleep, but they suffer conditions called parasomnias, disorders that frequently interfere with sleep, like sleepwalking or night terror.

In extreme case, parasomniacs show all sorts of strange behavior -- eating, talking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no.

GUPTA: Throwing punches or worse.

Toronto Native Kenneth Parks drove a car 14 miles to his in-laws house where he stabbed and beat his mother-in-law to death. But he was acquitted of murder on the grounds that he was probably asleep at the time.

DR. CARLOS SCHENCK, MINNESOTA REGIONAL SLEEP DISORDERS CENTER: We're at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorder Center.

GUPTA: Dr. Carlos Schenck helped discover one of the most bizarre and sleep conditions. REM behavior disorder, or RBD.

SCHENCK: Men with REM behavior disorder usually either stay in bed and become violent or charge out of bed, run into the furniture or the wall and then awaken. Whereas, sleepwalkers actually leave their room, leave their home and may even drive a car.

GUPTA: The REM cycle is when we do our most active dreaming. In healthy REM sleep, the body is paralyzed even as the mind races. But with RBD, the safeguard of paralysis is gone. And patients act out their often violent dreams.

CAL POPE, SUFFERS FROM RBD: Well, kicking, fighting, cussing, whatever.

GUPTA: Cal Pope was one of Dr. Schenck's first patients, more than 15 years ago. By the time we caught up with him, he and his wife, Rowena, were getting ready to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

RAWINA POPE, HUSBAND SUFFERS FROM RBD: Oh, they said it would never last.

GUPTA: They came to the clinic after suffering nine years of Cal's violent nightmares. Rowena says she'll never forget the first one.

R. POPE: He was dreaming that he was trying to kick a neighbor out of the bed, and what he was doing was kicking me just with all of his power. He was just pummeling me with his feet, and literally kicked me out of bed.

GUPTA: In the sleep center, patients go to bed wired with more than 20 electrodes. The machinery of sleep and dreams plays out, as technicians watch from a separate room.

SCHENCK: Now we can enter our mission control.

GUPTA: Watching the patients, it's hard to believe they're really unconscious. But Schenck says sleep is impossible to fake.

SCHENCK: That indicates the deepest stage of sleep.

GUPTA: This is a sleep chart of another patient with RBD during a REM cycle, probably during a dream. The top two lines track the normal rapid eye movements. The black line here is a sensor on a chin muscle. That's a good marker since in healthy people it would be totally paralyzed, the line would be straight. On this chart, it does something else entirely. That indicates a parasomnia.

SCHENCK: Cal's was quite severe, as severe almost as the most severe case that we had seen.

R. POPE: You want to get some water to make coffee.

GUPTA: And yet Cal Pope's case was in some ways typical, in that the patient wasn't really aware what was happening.

C. POPE: Maybe once a week, but it wouldn't be that bad.

R. POPE: Well, this happened every time he went to sleep, and more than once a night.

GUPTA: Desperate, the loving couple was forced into separate beds.

R. POPE: It was a lonely thing to do. It's like a death. It's like a separation.

GUPTA: Fortunately, it turned out there is a very effective treatment. The National Sleep Foundation says a drug called clonazepam stifles symptoms in nine of 10 patients if taken in the proper dosage every night. Cal Pope showed us a hole he kicked in the wall on the night when he missed a single dose.

Ninety percent of patients are men, mostly older men. No one knows exactly what causes RBD. But Schenck has found one major clue. A disturbing discovery. That a majority of patients develop Parkinson's disease within 10 or 15 years. It may be that RBD is caused by the disintegration of neurons controlling movement, the same disintegration that's responsible for Parkinson's.

Pope is lucky. It's been 27 years since his first escapade, as he calls it. And he shows no signs of Parkinson's. He can enjoy his seven children, 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandkids. And at age 81, he can finally get a good night's sleep.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a reminder that Sanjay's primetime special on sleep is coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned for that. Stay up for it as well, Sunday night at 10:00 Eastern.

And bet you thought you knew generally where every iceberg in the world is. But see this? It's a new one. Can you figure out that picture? We'll help you when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We'll take a look at this amazing snapshot from space. You're looking at Antarctica, or at least a small corner of it. That large blob in the center that seems to be pointed out right there seems to be an island, but really, it's a giant iceberg.

It covers an area roughly the size of Martha's Vineyard. But it's by no means the largest. An iceberg the size of Connecticut floated away from Antarctica a few years ago.

Another out of this world view, right now. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider joins us with a look at the big picture -- Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Fred. This afternoon we're taking a view from space of an amazing area called the lungs of the planet. Take a closer look at the Amazon rainforest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Amazon is home to the largest rainforest and river basin on Earth. It spans over 40 percent of South America, 60 percent of Brazil and is almost as big as the United States. This 3.4 million square mile forest houses a greater diversity of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem. About a third of all the world's species are found here.

During rainy season, the Amazon River discharges up to 500 billion cubic feet of freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean every day. That's enough to supply New York City for nine years.

Amid all this chaos is actually a very balanced ecosystem, a result of millions of years of natural selection. However, more than one-fifth of the rainforest has already been destroyed, with most lost to deforestation or fire. And that's the big picture of the Amazon rainforest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Wow, that sure is beautiful, isn't it, Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a beautiful place. Definitely on my top list of places I want to go and visit.

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: I'll let you know when that happens, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Maybe I'll join you.

WHITFIELD: OK, sounds like a deal. SCHNEIDER: OK.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Well, in just a moment, a glimpse into the future. Six people, one room, and the sky is the limit. Welcome to the future with AMERICAN MORNING's Miles O'Brien straight ahead.

Also, if you like your food hot and spicy, we have got some great news. Find out how peppers could prevent a deadly disease. That's coming up in about an hour from now.

And from hot food to the hot topic across the country, immigration reform. Thousands rally in Southern California today. We'll take a closer look at that issue at 5:00 Eastern.

A check of the day's headlines is right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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