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The White House: Body of Daniel Pearl May be Found; Mexican Police Find Cyanide Truck; Catholic Priest Hangs Self After Being Accused of Sexual Misconduct; 'Attack of the Clones' Opens
Aired May 16, 2002 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. "LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD: THE SUMMER MOVIE MADNESS" is coming up at half past the hour and "LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: THE SEPTEMBER 11 WARNING, TERROR CLUES MISSED" is just one minute away, but first, this brief news alert.
Police in Pakistan say they believe they may have found the body of slain "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Authorities say three men arrested today led them to the body, which has yet to be positively identified. Pearl was kidnapped and killed this year by suspected Islamic militants.
Mexican police say they have solved part of the puzzle of that hijacked truckload of cyanide. Officials found the truck near where it was stolen, but they say 76 of the 96 barrels of cyanide are still missing.
Police in McKinney, Texas are searching for the gunman who killed a nurse and seriously wounded another person outside a hospital. The victims were found near a vehicle in the parking lot of North Central Medical Center. Police say it appears they were shot when they returned from lunch.
In Maryland, a Catholic priest who was accused of sexual misconduct hanged himself today. Alfred Biederhoffer was being treated at a mental hospital. He was forced to resign from the Bridgeport, Connecticut dioceses and give us his priestly functions in April. The abuse allegations dated from the 1970s and 1980s.
Our other top story this hour, the controversy over the September 11 warnings. Terror clues missed? That's the focus of LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE WITH JOHN KING, which starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: What did President Bush know before September 11 and when did he learn it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president did not, not receive information about the use of airplanes as missiles by suicide bombers. This was a new type of attack that had not been foreseen. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Many question why the White House waited to reveal word of the warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The fact that they waited this long to get it out is troubling.
REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: We need to get all the information on the table again for the purpose of doing better in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: While some in Congress call for an investigation, others stand by the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is pure, pure politics by the Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Did the intelligence community fail to connect the dots?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This points out the lack of communication within the FBI and the lack of cooperation too often between the FBI and the CIA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: TERROR CLUES MISSED. Here's John King.
JOHN KING, HOST: Good evening, and thanks for joining us. To some, it is a startling new piece of information, to the White House, much ado about nothing. Flashback August 6 of last year, a month before the September 11 attacks. President Bush is told by the CIA it is possible Osama bin Laden's terrorist network might be planning a plot to hijack American airliners. That fact is raising new questions about what the government knew and when, and new questions about whether the government could have and should have done something to try to head off the attacks. It is also opening wounds perhaps just beginning to heal, as family members of those killed on that tragic day revisit, perhaps, this time wondering if things could have been different.
Members of Congress say there needs to be now a bipartisan Congressional inquiry to determine whether the government properly handled information in its hands prior to September 11. The White House says that is a legitimate question and that it will cooperate with any inquiries. But in very strong words tonight, the White House is also serving notice it believes many Democrats in the Congress are more interested in politics than information.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): The president was said to be angry, but gave no hint of that in public. In private, though, he told Senate Republicans - quote - "There's a sniff of politics in the air" and others in the White House forcefully took issue with any suggestion that Mr. Bush had advanced warning of the September 11 hijacking plot.
CONDOLEEZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Had this president known of something more specific or known that a plane was going to be used as a missile; he would have acted on it.
KING: But the disclosure that Mr. Bush was told last August even generally about the possibility of an al Qaeda hijacking raised new questions about whether the government ignored clues of a major strike being eminent.
SHELBY: I think I was a lost opportunity if you put it all in context, not just the briefing of the president, but the FBI is involved here, and I think they could have done a better job, but they didn't.
KING: The president was vacationing in Texas last August. On the sixth, in seclusion on his Crawford ranch, Mr. Bush read a one and a half page classified analysis.
For the first time, the CIA warned of possible al Qaeda hijackings of American carriers, but said it believed the greater threat was on U.S. military and other installations abroad. The administration says it quickly took appropriate action, not only in the wake of the August intelligence briefing, but throughout the spring and summer months as reports of increasing al Qaeda activity poured in. Overseas installations were ordered to improve security. The Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration were warned several times of a general hijacking threat here at home. And those agencies say that general information was passed onto the airlines.
FLEISCHER: It is important to note that this was a nonspecific threat that mentioned hijacking.
KING: One question now is why it took eight months for the White House to disclose the president had been told of a potential hijacking plot. Top Bush aides say the pre-September 11 briefing is public knowledge now because the White House is sharing information with Congressional investigators.
The administration says no one said anything in public about the alert before September 11 or in the eight months since because it was so vague.
RICE: There was nothing that said, "This is going to happen or this might happen." It said, "This is a method that these people might be considering." That was the nature of this. And it was very nonspecific.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, again, the White House tonight saying that Congressional inquiries are legitimate, any questions about what the government knew in advance of September 11 are appropriate and that it will cooperate with those inquiries. But the president, also, we are told by top aides is furious that a handful of Democrats today publicly suggesting that perhaps he knew in advance what was coming and should have done something to try to prevent it. The vice president, a short time ago, in New York, also saying also Democrats should stay away from incendiary remarks. We hope to bring you Mr. Cheney's comments a bit later.
But obviously, all this played out today on Capitol Hill. Democrats and Republicans debating the meaning of this briefing the president received. Some agreement on what it meant, some partisan disagreement. More on all that now from CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats pounced on the reports, not with accusations, but with questions, pointed questions.
GEPHARDT: I think what we have to do now is to find out what the president, what the White House knew about the events leading up to 9/11, when they knew it, and most importantly, what was done about it at that time.
KARL: Senator Hillary Clinton quoted Thursday's "New York Post" headlines.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Questions raised by one of our newspapers in New York with the headline, "Bush Knew." The president knew what? My constituents would like to know the answer to that and many other answers, not to blame the president or any other American, but just to know.
KARL: Echoing the White House, Republicans said Congressional intelligence committees received briefings similar to the president's and that there was no specific threat about anything remotely like the September 11 attacks.
SHELBY: There's no smoking gun there. These were general, older warnings.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MINORITY LEADER: For us to be talking like our enemy is George W. Bush instead of bin Laden, that's not right.
KARL: Republicans accuse Democrats of playing politics with September 11.
REP. DICK ARMEY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: I am disappointed in the deplorable, unconscionable way the Democrats are trying to make this a political issue. This was a national tragedy that was met by a courageous administration with conviction and action that was both expeditious and effective.
KARL: The Senate's top Democrat demanded to know why the White House waited so long before acknowledging the president had been briefed about the possibility of terrorist hijackings before September 11.
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Why did it take eight months for us to receive this information? And secondly, what specific actions were taken by the White House in response?
KARL: Daschle called on the White House to immediately release to Congress a transcript of the president's August briefing. He also called for the public release of the July 10 Phoenix FBI memo that warned al Qaeda operatives may be training at U.S. flight schools. But on that point, Daschle was contradicted by a key Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.
SEN. DIANE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, my concern is that the document names names, and there is an ongoing investigation. I think it would be a mistake to release that document at this time.
KARL (on-camera): The controversy has raised the stakes for the joint House-Senate Intelligence Committee investigation that is expected to hold its first hearings in June. But it has also increased calls for a broader national commission to look into what went wrong on September 11.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the White House made the remarkable gesture today of having National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice deliver a lengthy briefing to reporters, disclosing much of the formerly classified information the president back in the spring and summer of last year, an effort by the White House to rebut any allegation it had information in-house that could have helped prevent the September 11 attacks.
One development Miss Rice - Dr. Rice did report to us was that it was as early as May of last year when the president began receiving more and more briefings about intensifying al Qaeda activities overseas. It was back then, May of last year that the president asked his most trusted adviser, Vice President Dick Cheney, to lead an administration task force on counterterrorism.
I sat down with the vice president back then. Here is what he had to say, remember, months before the attacks, about his new mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The concern here is that one of our biggest threats as a nation is no longer sort of the conventional military attack against the United States, but rather that it might come from other quarters. It could be domestic terrorism, but it may also be a terrorist organization overseas or even another state using weapons of mass destruction against the U.S., a hand carried nuclear weapon or biological or chemical agents, the threat to the continental United States and our infrastructure is changing and evolving. And now, we need to look at this whole area that's oftentimes referred to as homeland defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: One of the key questions being raised now in Congress is whether this administration connected the dots, if you will, whether information available to the CIA and the FBI was shared among the agencies, whether it could have been connected to give the president some advance warning. For a closer look now at what the president knew and when, CNN correspondent David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1994, French authorities foiled an attempt by some Algerians who had hijacked a plane to use it to knock down the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In 1995, the Philippines authorities notified the U.S. a suspect had told them Ramzi Yousef, the man behind the first World Trade Center bombing, was plotting to hijack an aircraft and use it to hit CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
In February of last year, CIA director George Tenet warned Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda was the most immediate and serious threat to the United States.
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: As we have increased security around government and military facilities, terrorists are seeking out softer targets that provide opportunities for mass casualties.
ENSOR: Starting in last may, through the summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence officials say they warned the White House al Qaeda was planning a major attack against the U.S.
In late July, the Phoenix Office of the FBI sent a memo urging headquarters to investigate Middle Eastern men who were students in U.S. flight schools. The memo said Osama bin Laden's followers could be planning to use the training for some sort of terrorism.
Then, in the first week of August in Crawford, Texas at the president's ranch, the CIA briefer warned Mr. Bush that among other possibilities, al Qaeda might hijack aircraft. The CIA did not suggest a suicide plane attack, as it had no intelligence suggesting such a tactic.
RICE: There was no time. There was no place. There was no method of attack. It simply said these are people who train and seem to talk possibly about hijackings.
ENSOR: U.S. officials say in that intelligence briefing more than one hijacking plot was mentioned, including British information about a 1998 plot to hijack a plane and demand freedom for the blind Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman in jail for involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing and a failed plot to bomb other New York landmarks.
Finally, in mid-August, a Minnesota flight school told the FBI that Zacarias Moussaoui was seeking to fly but not to land a 747. Moussaoui was arrested. The Minneapolis FBI sought and was refused permission to search Moussaoui's laptop computer for clues.
In his own handwriting, the agent wrote a theory of his in the margin.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: In one of the notes, the agent in Minneapolis mentioned the possibility of Moussaoui being that type of person that could fly something into the World Trade Center.
ENSOR: Despite what we now know about the August Crawford briefing, back on September 11 aboard Air Force One when White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked, "Have there been any warnings the president knew of," Fleischer responded, "No warnings."
(on-camera): With the advantage of hindsight, it is now possible then to go in and select key signals from the huge mass of intelligence gathered by the U.S. in the months and years since September 11, signals, which might have helped the U.S. prevent the attacks. But U.S. officials strongly argue that it's not fair to blame them or the president for being unable to do so before September 11.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: In a moment, when LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE continues, we'll be joined live by both David Ensor and Jonathan Karl for more on the fallout of all this in the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill.
ANNOUNCER: Also ahead, losing faith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARMEN SHARDONE, VICTIM'S SISTER: I hate to say it, but I don't think the president's not doing the work the way he's supposed to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: We'll hear from some of those who lost family on September 11. We're back in a moment, but first, what do you think? If warnings before the September 11 attacks had been made public, would it have made a difference? To take the quick vote, head to CNN.com. The AOL keyword is CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: Welcome back to LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. I want to bring into our discussion now Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl, national security correspondent David Ensor for more on the fallout of today's announcement here from the White House, disclosure from the White House.
Jon, let's begin with you. This is a very popular president. Are Democrats at all nervous about launching this criticism that perhaps the president knew something and should have done something?
KARL: Absolutely, John. You know, you saw both Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt, the top Democrats here on the Hill, come out. They did not directly criticize the president. What they did is they raised those questions -- what did he know, when did he know it, what was going on, what could have been done. But they were very careful not to level straight head on attacks on the president on this.
And also, John, you may have noticed that the Democratic National Committee, the official response from the chairman of the party was "No comment."
KING: And Jon, some talk today about new inquiries, but obviously, there are already inquiries underway. Bring our viewers up to speed on what we know about this inquiries into what happened on 9/11 and what the government knew beforehand already.
KARL: Well, you may remember Vice President Cheney repeatedly asked Tom Daschle here not to have any investigation on this, and if there was to be an investigation, to limit it to the intelligence committees which hold many of their hearings private, in secret. Now what's happening, those hearings will probably happen in June, but there is increasing pressure to have a broader, public national commission to look into this, John.
KING: Jon Karl, thank you very much.
David Ensor, one of the White House lines today is that the president did not issue a public warning and did not take this information overly serious, if you will. It was a very general warning because nobody could conceptualize prior to September 11 that hijackers would hijack a plane and then use it as a weapon, as a flying bomb. Is that a fair assessment by the White House?
ENSOR: Well, not really, no. I mean as we all know now, there were FBI agents, clever guys -- following cases in Phoenix and in Minneapolis, both of whom could imagine it and raised questions about it. The problem is, their questions that were raised did not set off alarm bells in FBI headquarters in Washington. And that is one of the things that needs to be fixed now.
KING: And a dust up about what the president knew, but obviously with ramifications for what was known and how it was shared in the intelligence community. You follow the community as closely as anyone. What is the CIA's take and others in the intelligence community on this debate we're having today? ENSOR: Well, intelligence officials that I talked to are, frankly, kind of on the president's side on this one. They feel that they gave him the information they could. It was not enough for him to do anything that he didn't do, and they think he's, frankly, getting a bum wrap on this from Democrats and one or two journalists.
KING: David Ensor and Jonathan Karl will continue to follow this in the days and weeks ahead. Thank you both very much.
And LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE continues in just a moment. And when we do, a look outside the White House and how some of the family of the victims view this latest disclosure about what the president knew. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: Next, some are surprised, some are angry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART ZUCKER, VICTIM'S BROTHER: The blame has to go on the person in charge. It has to go in our direct administration, whether it's Bush himself or whether it's the people that work with him, that advise him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Those who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks speak out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back. Just moments ago, delivering a speech up in New York to a political gathering, the vice president, Dick Cheney, put Democrats on notice that this White House does not believe anyone should try to make politics or play politics with the disclosure that the president did receive a general briefing about the possibility of an Osama bin Laden-al Qaeda hijacking plot a month before the September 11 attacks. The vice president, let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: ... even what I want to say to my Democratic friends in Congress is that they need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions, as were made by some of them today that the White House had advance information that would have prevented the tragic attacks of 9-11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That speech delivered in New York City. Obviously, a great sense of sensitivity in that city because, of course, the site of the World Trade Center bombings. As this disclosure played out in Washington today, the debate about it, our Richard Roth also revisited some of the families of those who died on that tragic day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: "He Knew," screamed the headlines in the New York press, at least he had warnings. Perhaps not a plane crashing into buildings, but maybe of a possible hijack. That was enough for angry relatives of some September 11 victims.
ZUCKER: My brother was murdered because Bush and his administration decided to keep it quiet.
ROTH: It's unclear the information the government had could have stopped the attack, but now Stuart Zucker blames the Bush administration for the death of his brother, Andrew, who left behind a pregnant wife.
ZUCKER: There was information out there that could have saved my brother from dying, from being killed, from being murdered by these people. It should have been released.
ROTH: Carmine Shardone hadn't read the papers since scouring the September 12 editions looking for news of her brother, Jorge, but she did today.
SHARDONE: I don't think the president's not doing the work the way he's supposed to do it. OK, because if we can't trust in the president, who we going to trust? He's supposed to look out for us.
ROTH: Her brother, Jorge Valasquez (ph), a security guard with Morgan Stanley, left behind a wife and four children.
FLEISCHER: The president did not, not receive information about the use of airplanes as of missiles by suicide bombers. This was a new type of attack.
ROTH: The Bush administration said that the warnings weren't specific enough to have prevented the misery of September 11, and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg cautioned against a rush to judgment.
MIKE BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: To think that the president was told and did nothing is ridiculous.
ROTH: The mayor's liaison for victim's families, herself a widow, agreed.
CHRISTY FERER, FIREFIGHTER'S WIDOW: A lot of the victims and myself always feel could have, should have, would have, but the fact of the matter is you can't look back so much that you can't go forward.
ROTH: But Marian Fontana, who represents a large group of firefighters' widows, says they have no patience left.
MARIAN FONTANA, FIREFIGHTER'S WIDOW: I'm very disturbed. I think it's unconscionable that they would have information and not act on it.
ROTH: And families organizing at a Long Island church demanded fast answers. Steven Push lost his wife on the plane that hit the Pentagon.
STEVEN PUSH, TREASURER, FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11: I think it's shameful that they didn't warn the American people. It appears that the government has placed the financial interests of the airline industry above the survival of the citizens.
ROTH (on-camera): Adding to the pain of 9/11 family members, New York leaders announce the end of recovery efforts at the Ground Zero site with a ceremony on May 30, an empty flag-draped stretcher will be marched out of the pit area, but the warnings to the president will leave many observers whether this attack could have been prevented.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And as we leave you tonight, one more look at Ground Zero, where the cleanup work is almost done. This now calm picture and the intensifying debate here in Washington, both reminders of that tragic day eight months ago when nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.
And for all the debate here in Washington, all the questions to come in those Congressional inquiries, one line today from the White House worth repeating - "The ultimate blame for what happened on that tragic day rests with the terrorists."
I'm John King live at the White House. Good night.
ANNOUNCER: "LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD" is next. Are you ready for summer movie madness? Your choices appear to be unlimited - "Star Wars," Tom Cruise, Mel, "Men in Black II." We'll preview the potential blockbusters.
Also, will the summer movies equal the hype? We'll ask two Hollywood insiders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: The Clones are among us. The new "Star Wars" movie is now showing across the country, but the summer competition is fast and furious.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Hollywood thinking big this summer with potential blockbusters coming one after another.
ANNOUNCER: Many fans are calling "Episode II, Attack of the Clones" one of the best ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was definitely worth the wait. I'll say that. I can't even - this movie's incredible. That's all, just incredible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was awesome. We were so happy. This is the greatest movie.
ANNOUNCER: Making the movie is one thing, getting people to see it is a nerve-wracking cutthroat job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a giant game of playing chicken and being boys.
ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD, Summer Movie Madness, here's Arthel Neville.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Hollywood and one of its most famous landmarks. This is Grauman's Chinese Theater, which has undergone a $7 million restoration just in time to celebrate its 75th anniversary on Saturday.
Throughout the year, Hollywood's biggest stars have been putting their hand and footprints in cement and fans have been coming to see the impressions they made. Even the characters from "Star Wars" C-3PO and R2D2 made their mark and today the huge draw at this theater is the new "Star Wars" movie "Episode II, Attack of the Clones." But sit back and relax, it's just one of a whole slew of summer movies headed for the silver screen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEVILLE (voice over): Big stars, big laughs, big guns. Hollywood's (inaudible) this summer with potential blockbusters coming one after another.
"Star Wars, Episode II" could wind up the biggest of them all by season's end, but it will have plenty of competition from other franchise films.
The third installment of the "Austin Powers" series, opens in late July. July 4th belongs to Will Smith. He's back in "Men in Black 2." John Clancy's franchise character Jack Ryan returns in "The Sum of All Fears" with Ben Afleck taking over the sci-master role.
This summer, Hollywood's top four stars are all in place. Tom Cruise stars in the sci-fi thriller "Minority Report" directed by Steven Spielberg.
Tom Hanks leads a life of crime in "Road to Perdition." Mel Gibson finds supernatural signs in a Pennsylvania cornfield, and Julia Roberts unveils "Full Frontal."
The summer's top comedies have a "Saturday Night Live" connection besides Mike Myers. Look for Adam Sandler in "Mr. Deed." Dana Carvey assumes the master of disguise and (inaudible) Chris Rock stars in the action comedy "Bad Company."
For families, there is little, "Stewart Little II." The mouse roars again in July. "Spy Kids" also gets the sequel treatment. Dream Works gallops into theaters on a horse named Spirit. Disney goes the traditional animation route with "Lilo and Stitch" (ph).
If that sounds like a whole lot of movies, you're right, 22 percent more studio films than last summer. That pretty much guarantees a record-breaking season. But for Hollywood there's a hitch. With so much product, each film only has about a week to make a splash before the next big thing blows it out of the water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEVILLE (on camera): All right. All right. So in high school, my homeroom name was C-3PO. That's where that comes from.
But we're talking about "Star Wars" and we're talking about the fans, you're talking about people who are out of this world, at least they must be, because some of them had been here for weeks. Sam Rubin is in the middle of all these crazed fans, and Sam you know what? You need the force to handle all these people.
SAM RUBIN: They have got an extraordinarily good sense of humor, Arthel, this group here from a local college in southern California. They've been waiting a mere 24 hours. The people who have been waiting days already inside, the screening started around midnight.
But look how they've even decorated the sign, use the force. I was talking to these people here. By the way, this from the sign to spreading the "Star Wars" word, radio stations from around the world, come on over - your name is?
J.R. MARSHALL: J.R. Marshall.
RUBIN: All right, J.R., who's called you on this phone?
MARSHALL: Everybody. Manchester, England, two Canadian radio stations, all throughout the states.
RUBIN: All right, and you've waited 24 hours. You're going to see the 10:30 Pacific time show, so 29 hours waiting in line, is it worth it?
MARSHALL: Absolutely. It's fun to just hang out with these guys. I'm here more to hang out with them.
RUBIN: It's more the scene than the movie. Let me ask you. What about you? Are you a "Star Wars" fanatic? You got the shirt on from "Episode I."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still have pictures from last time.
RUBIN: How long did you wait last time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a day, a little bit more, so this is me in my sleeping bag. Yes, I'm the guy with the beard. I don't have a beard right now, so but that's still me.
RUBIN: What about, you know, the last movie was not well received.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was kind of a disappointment, you know, but I've been waiting 16 years, so even if it's - I actually saw it once while I was in line waiting to see it, so I mean I still see it with all of my friends and still waited in line even though I'd seen it. RUBIN: Wow. Let me ask you this. Thanks so much you guys. What does this movie have to do? What has to build, come, stand on up, to make this worth all the time in line?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just worth it anyway because of fun. It's something I've never done before. I don't know.
RUBIN: I guess we're sort of preaching to the converted already. When we come back in a little bit, Arthel, we'll find people who have already seen the movie, get their reviews too. We'll go back to the theater to you.
NEVILLE: Oh, absolutely. I thought it's really good. It's really good. Well you know, sequels is the word for the summer and movie studios are banking on twice being just as nice. Will audiences double dip? Let's find out from two Hollywood insiders. Jess Cagle of TIME Magazine and Kim Masters of Esquire Magazine, welcome to both of you. So how - what' it going to be? You've got "Spy Masters II." You have "Spy Kids II," "Stewart Little II." You guys tell me, what's going to be the big sequel, the hit this summer for the sequels?
JESS CAGLE, TIME MAGAZINE: Well I think that there's "Men in Black 2."
NEVILLE: Oh, yeah.
CAGLE: Opening July 4th weekend. Will Smith traditionally owns that weekend. I think that's - that may be the biggest sequel other than "Star Wars" this summer.
KIM MASTERS, ESQUIRE MAGAZINE: And then there will be "Stewart Little II" for the kids and I think they will definitely show up for that one.
NEVILLE: Oh, yeah. I'll show up for that too. I'm a big kid.
MASTERS: I will too.
NEVILLE: "Men in Black 2" absolutely. Let's talk about "Star Wars" right now. How forceful will "Star Wars" be? I mean are we talking about lasting throughout the summer months, or will it trickle off after two weekends? What do you think?
CAGLE: It's really tough to say. You know the movie has gotten incredibly mixed reviews. I happened to really enjoy it. I thought it was fun. But even though it's gotten mixed reviews, it has also got this romance in it, and that means it's going to appeal to women as well.
NEVILLE: And that little cutie pie in there, Kim have you seen it?
MASTERS: I haven't seen it yet and I have to say, I don't really have like the appetite. Obviously the core fan base is here.
NEVILLE: Right. MASTERS: But after the last one, which left a lot of people feeling burned, the question is really will it have the legs to go through summer? Will people really turn out to see it again and again? Will it have the same enthusiasm that the previous ones did, all that good will?
NEVILLE: Well, of course, they'll be comparing it to "Spider- Man." Is that a fair measuring stick of success, if you will? Because "Spider-Man" I mean you can kind of sum up the story in one word. A nerd gets bit by a radioactive spider and you know what's going on. "Star Wars" you have to know the entire soap opera to really get into it.
MASTERS: "Star Wars" is - they're both to some degree pre-sold, but "Star Wars" is a tried and true formula. On the other hand, you know, George Lucas has tried to make it really clear that this is not a contest for opening weekend crown, because he has lost. "Spider- Man" has won that contest and will probably win the overall box office numbers. That's my prediction. I don't know if Jess agrees.
NEVILLE: So you don't think that "Star Wars" can rake in the bucks this weekend?
CAGLE: I really think that if the last movie "Phantom Menace," I think if that can make a billion dollars around the world -
MASTERS: Right, it will rake in the bucks.
CAGLE: -- there's no reason that this one should not do, because it's twice as good. I don't think it will make twice as much money, but "Star Wars" is just unstoppable.
MASTERS: It will rake in the bucks this weekend, but I don't know that it will catch "Spider-Man."
NEVILLE: I enjoyed "Spider-Man" too. I like Spidey. Now let's talk about some of these other, like the counter programming, if you will. I mean like enough with Jaylo (ph) and Billy Campbell. That's going to be coming out and (inaudible) of the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood."
MASTERS: That's right.
CAGLE: Exactly.
MASTERS: One of those movies from Warner Brothers, and there's "The Road to Perdition" is probably the biggest gamble of the summer. It's Tom Hanks playing a hit man and not a cuddly hit man, in a period in the '30s in a period piece. It's the team that made "American Beauty." It's coming back with this one and Tom Hanks is a bad guy. I don't know if the public will go for that.
NEVILLE: So is that going to be a surprise, a sleeper, or no?
CAGLE: I think it could be a sleeper. They, Dream Works, is the same studio that put out "Saving Private Ryan" in the summer a few years ago. That movie went on to win Oscars and was a huge success at the box office. So I think that they're going to use the same sort of strategies in getting "Road to Perdition" out there. That's the ultimate counter-programming movie.
NEVILLE: Because marketing is amazing. You got to have the marketing right? We're going to talk about that later in the show as well.
MASTERS: Well Dream Works is the greatest marketing studio out there, I think. It's pretty much they seem to be able to sell ice to the Eskimos, so if anybody can sell it, they can.
CAGLE: You know what the secret weapon, though, in movies is? It's got to be Maggie Smith. "Harry Potter," "Gosford Park," and she's in "Secrets of the Sisterhood."
NEVILLE: Right.
CAGLE: So -
MASTERS: Let's see if she can do it again.
CAGLE: Yes, I think it will do well.
NEVILLE: Let's think about this for a second, this whole notion of, if you don't make $100 million the first weekend, the movie's a flop.
MASTERS: Well, last summer there were a lot of movies that opened very big and then died, and I think a lot of people in the industry were fearful that that's the pattern from now on. You open huge and then the audience just moves on to the next one. So there has been a strong feeling that you better get the money while the audience is out there and while, before the word of mouth gets out, if the movie isn't very good.
NEVILLE: Yes, well Kim Masters, Jess Cagle, thank you very much for being on the show.
CAGLE: Thank you.
MASTERS: Thank you for having us.
NEVILLE: All right. You may know him as one of the stars from "Once and Again," and you'll see him soon on the silver screen with Jaylo. Next up, I'll be joined by actor Billy Campbell, LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD, back in a moment.
JAN HOPKINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jan Hopkins with this MONEYLINE update. The NASDAQ made it four in a row, up nearly five points today. The Dow Industrials gained 45. Wal-Mart is seeking approval to buy a California bank, hoping to gain credit and debit card capabilities. Wal-Mart's stock was higher. Watch MONEYLINE weeknights at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD with Arthel Neville returns in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEVILLE: Welcome back everybody. I'm Arthel Neville LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD, home of the movies, and when it comes to films, fans just can't seem to get enough. Oh, how do you like that, Billy Campbell? Talk about a segue right into the name of your new movie, opening next Friday, what May 24th?
BILLY CAMPBELL, ACTOR: May 24th.
NEVILLE: Right smack dab in the middle of all this hype but it's counter programming, if you will. You're not nervous, are you?
CAMPBELL: No, I'm not nervous. I mean a lot of other people have a lot more at stake than I do, so no I'm the least of them.
NEVILLE: Tell us a little bit about this movie, because you get to play a bad guy.
CAMPBELL: Yes.
NEVILLE: And I would think playing a bad guy would be good and a lot of fun.
CAMPBELL: You know, it was a lot of fun. It was - I've often heard that playing a bad guy is more fun than playing a good guy and after three years of playing one of the nicest guys on TV, I think I agree. It was huge fun. It was great fun. I play a really, really bad guy.
NEVILLE: You know, I haven't seen your movie just yet. I'm hoping I still like you after this movie, but if I don't, that means you did a great job. Talk about for me, if you will though, a little bit about this movie, because you're playing a kind of a crazed husband.
CAMPBELL: Yes, I play an abusive husband, and a severely abusive husband and so I think it's kind of an exciting film, you know, just by its nature.
NEVILLE: Right.
CAMPBELL: There's a lot of stake.
NEVILLE: Starring with Jennifer Lopez.
CAMPBELL: Starting with Jaylo and I think it's also kind of - I guess people could find it inspiring as well.
NEVILLE: Because it's interesting, you know, the timing of it because this is in the middle of "Star Wars" and "Spider-Man" but this is a totally different type of movie. I mean I would like to go see it. I think that would be the idea behind putting a movie like this out at this particular time.
CAMPBELL: I have to guess so. I mean I think actually the movie was ready to go some time ago. They moved it to this time period because they thought it would do well. So, I think the people who have seen "Star Wars," the people who don't want to see "Star Wars," the people who can't get into "Star Wars," they're all going to go see Jaylo. I know I would.
NEVILLE: Are you a "Star Wars" fan?
CAMPBELL: I am a "Star Wars" fan. I saw the original "Star Wars" when it first came to the theater. You know it was in the theater forever. I saw it 14 times, while it was still in a theater.
NEVILLE: You know what, that's pathetic. That's a little over the top, OK.
CAMPBELL: I don't know if I'd call it pathetic. I just had a lot of time on my hands, that's all.
NEVILLE: Apparently. No, but yes you mentioned that a lot of people would come out to see Jaylo. Of course, a lot of people will come out to see you as well, and I'm sure that's what I'm sure you, the movie studios, your agent, everybody's banking on the fact that you can transition from the small screen into the - over to the big screen and bring your fans with you.
CAMPBELL: Yes you know. Everyone except me is banking on it. I don't bank on anything.
NEVILLE: Well, you know, they say everything works out for the best. In fact, in this particular role, you weren't the first choice but you ended up with this role, which I think is a good thing. You know what I mean, it all works out the way it should in the end.
CAMPBELL: Yes. Yes, well that's my, sort of my philosophy as long as yes, everything works out.
NEVILLE: Any more films in your future, Billy?
CAMPBELL: Not that I know of. Not just at this point, but I'm looking. I'm searching.
NEVILLE: Yes. That's good you got a real laid back attitude about it, and that's (inaudible) I think.
CAMPBELL: Well after almost a couple of decades here in town, you have to be kind of laid back or dead I guess, one or the other.
NEVILLE: I understand. Billy Campbell, thank you so much for joining us.
CAMPBELL: Yes, thank you. Thanks.
NEVILLE: All right, we'll see you again. And summer movies are hitting the silver screen faster than you can blink an eye. Getting you to get in line and buy a ticket is the business of some very, very tough characters. You'll meet one of them when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEVILLE: All right, behind every great movie there is marketing, a team of creative people who's job it is to get you to believe the hype. As CNN National Correspondent Frank Buckley tells us, marketing movies and moviemaking go hand-in-hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's one of the most successful film franchises ever, the James Bond series of films have spanned four decades, and the man responsible for getting us into the theater to see this one, the next Bond film coming out in November, is a guy who may be just as important to Bond success as the super spy himself.
BOB LEVIN: Levin, Bob Levin.
BUCKLEY: Levin is President of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing and Distribution for MGM, the company that distributes the James Bond films.
BUCKLEY (on camera): As you enter the summer season, as a marketer, is it a nervous time, an exciting time?
LEVIN: Being a marketer in the motion picture business is like a constant state of nervousness.
BUCKLEY (voice over): Because a film's success if often judged on a marketer's success in getting audiences into the theater, especially on its opening weekend.
LEVIN: This is a giant game of playing chicken and being bullies.
BUCKLEY: And Levin says the big films on the block with the big stars or the big hype try to pick the best opening weekends first.
LEVIN: And you can get out and declare a big date first, you sort of wait around and say, did I scare them off? They let me really have this date all by myself, and sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't.
BUCKLEY: Levin knows that as well as anyone in the business. His previous credits range from the "Lion King" to "Pretty Woman" to "Men in Black" to "Jerry McGuire." Studios spend a lot of money marketing films, $31 million on average, per feature.
LEVIN: We do engage in a lot of information gathering versus just, you know, three of us sitting in a smoky room going, oh that's pretty good. You know it's much beyond that.
BUCKLEY: In the case of the bond films, promotional tie-ins play a big role. Products that appear in the film help to promote it. In the last Bond film, BMW launched a new model.
BUCKLEY (on camera): But in the next Bond picture, James Bond will not be driving a BMW. This time MGM is putting him in the same kind of car driven by the Sean Connery version of James Bond. In "Die Another Day" James Bond will be driving an Aston Martin, but he'll still be the ageless action hero playing at a theater near you, and the marketing man behind Bond -
LEVIN: Levin, Bob Levin.
BUCKLEY: -- will do his best to get you to see him. Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEVILLE: Well guess what? The "Star Wars" fans need no prompting. They are out here in full force. I saw it this morning and this guy had already seen it just after midnight.
He said he had gone home, showered, and he was back already, and you see the lines here in Hollywood. They're long. It's all about "Star Wars" and that's coming up. It's about the fans when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: For the latest on the summer's hottest movies, TV and music, log onto cnn.com/coming attractions, and stay in the know with the interactive entertainment calendar. The AOL keyword is CNN.
NEVILLE: And welcome back to LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD. I'm Arthel Neville. Well guess what? Right now, the fans are the star of this show. That's right, it's all about "Star Wars" fans and Sam Rubin is right in the middle of all of them. Sam, who do you have down there?
RUBIN: Well, you know, Arthel what I wanted to point out to you, you talk about movie marketing and what really matters, will people go to the film not just once but again and again and again? It's the repeat box office that draws the long, long lines and really brings the hundreds of millions of dollars. That's probably what will happen to "Star Wars."
We have people here now who waited days and days and days. The original (inaudible). They got their little passes, camped in line, and they're going to see it again and again, 30th, 26th, how many times have you seen it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be my third time. It rocks. It was awesome. It exceeded my expectations.
RUBIN: What makes you go and see it again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to make sure that I catch all the points of the picture, make sure that there's nothing missing.
RUBIN: Critics have given sort of mixed reviews. What's your review?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was incredible. I thought it was everything that it should have been. I thought - I think Jonathan helps Lucas a lot and there's a lot of nuances in there that you have to see it over and over and over to get them all.
RUBIN: And that is what Lucas film is hoping and not just the "Star Wars" filmmakers, repeat business is what's going to help drive the summer box office. Arthel, we'll go back to you.
NEVILLE: Man, they're coming up behind me too, yes giving me thumbs-up, thumbs-up. That's a good deal, Sam. Apparently everybody's enjoying it, the big, you know, the hardcore fans are not let down so that's definitely a good sign for all of you folks out there who love to have the force with you. The force is with us.
It's all happening right here in Hollywood, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and this is where it all happens, right here, the moviemaking town, Tinsel Town, La-La Land they call it. And that's going to do it for us LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD. I'm Arthel Neville. Thank you everybody for watching. Up next, "LARRY KING LIVE."
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