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Live From...

Fighting Flares in Fallujah; Bryant Accuser's Past No-Go; Broadcast Teams Up to Fight Cable

Aired April 26, 2004 - 12:59   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The fighting is fierce in Fallujah, Marines versus Iraqi insurgents, heavy explosions and American casualties.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Much ado about medals, John Kerry under attack, while his party swings back at the Bush campaign.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kobe Bryant is back in court on rape charges. I'm Adrian Baschuk, live in Eagle, Colorado, where the judge has just sparked a new debate. I'll have the latest developments.

O'BRIEN: Old school hip-hop soars to new heights, why this rapper has a new reason for delights.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, what you hear is not a test, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: You're so hip, Miles. And I had the album. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Monday, April 26. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

Fighting like lions (ph) in Fallujah, high-test lipstick in Baghdad, U.S. troops took casualties today in both those Iraqi cities. In Fallujah, outnumbered Marines called in helicopters and fighter jets to battle insurgents who opened fire from a 60-foot tall minaret.

In Baghdad, U.S. soldiers scoffed at claims a suspected of chemical weapons shop they raided today was only producing cosmetics. That plant exploded with troops inside. We get the latest on all the day's events from CNN's Jim Clancy in the Iraqi capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Marines fired heavy machine guns in a major flare-up of hostilities in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Explosions battered hopes that coalition troops would be able to join Iraqi security forces in joint patrols starting Tuesday. Those patrols aimed to force gunmen off the streets and bring back a measure of security.

The battle in Fallujah raged for hours. More than once a coalition spokesman said mosques were used as staging grounds for attacks on U.S. troops.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: The coalition forces became pinned down by the enemy fire and requested support. A quick reaction force which included air and tank support arrived at the scene and directed suppressing fire on the mosques, killing eight enemy fighters and damaging the infrastructure of the mosque. As a result of the attack, one coalition soldier died of wounds with an additional eight soldiers wounded.

CLANCY: U.S. helicopters fired on the mosque with Hellfire laser-guided missiles, sending huge plums of thick black smoke into the skies, obscuring hopes for a peaceful settlement. Coalition officials say they would continue to pursue a negotiated agreement with religious and community leaders, but in the end, it was up to the fighters to choose how this standoff is going to be resolved.

Meantime, Baghdad itself rocked by a powerful blast, coalition troops were investigating a chemical store house in northwest Baghdad when a powerful explosion ripped through the building, killing two coalition soldiers and wounding five others. Eight Iraqi civilians, some of them in adjoining buildings, were injured by the force of the explosion.

KIMMITT: In location where the raid occurred was a chemical store which the owner and his associates were suspected of supplying chemical agents to terrorist criminals and insurgents. There was also information that suggests these individuals were involved in the production of chemical munitions.

CLANCY: School-aged children jumped on damaged U.S. military humvees after the blast. U.S. armor was brought in and warning shots were fired to disperse a crowd of several hundred people who had gathered at the site.

(on camera): It's doubtful the coalition will as easily dispel Iraqis' fears about insecurity in their country. A peaceful settlement in Fallujah would go a long way, but that, like so much else in the country, also depends on the insurgents.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: U.S. troops are due to start or at least attempt joint patrols with Iraqi forces in Fallujah some time tomorrow. CNN's Barbara Starr with more in that aspect of this story from the Pentagon.

Hello, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

Well, indeed, all eyes on Fallujah tomorrow, that is the deadline for the insurgents to turn in those heavy weapons. It is also the time at which it is expected that U.S. troops will begin joint patrols with Iraqi security forces. Earlier today in Baghdad a lot of concern being expressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KIMMITT: The amount of weapons that had been turned in come no where approximating the number of weapons that are inside of Fallujah and clearly do not demonstrate a good-faith effort on the part of the insurgents to meet us halfway, part of the way, any part of the way in terms of bringing a peaceful solution back into Fallujah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And if a peaceful solution for Fallujah cannot be found, it may become the urban warfare battle that the U.S. was worried about last year when it went to Baghdad, but didn't happen at that time. Civilians will be very difficult for U.S. troops to pick out, to differentiate from the insurgent forces.

The weapons of choice for the U.S. will also be very difficult because there aren't a lot of precision weapons that will work. If the U.S. military has to go house by house, street by street, they're using mortars, artillery pieces, 500-pound bombs, helicopter gunships, none of that in the category of precision weapons. All of this very likely to be a very difficult situation -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, in the next hour of LIVE FROM..., a chilling look inside a purported terror plot in Jordan. CNN has obtained video of alleged al Qaeda operatives confessing to Jordanian police about plans for a major chemical weapons attack in Amman. CNN's John Vause has a preview at the top of the hour, and with the full story, including the taped confessions, on CNN's "NEWSNIGHT," 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

PHILLIPS: The Kobe Bryant case is back in court today. At issue, what, if anything, the NBA superstar's lawyers can ask and argue about his alleged victim's sexual history at trial. CNN's Adrian Baschuk fills us in now from Eagle, Colorado -- Adrian.

BASCHUK: Kyra, good afternoon. The first two hours of today's hearing were just discussing usual court business matters. Just in the last half hour the judge began hearings and expert witness testimony on the accuser's sexual past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK (voice-over): Kobe Bryant is back in court just hours after his Lakers beat the Rockets in an overtime playoff victory. Since the last preliminary hearing, a loss for team Bryant, Judge Terry Ruckriegle ruled that the accuser's medical and mental health records will remain sealed and confidential.

CYNTHIA STONE, COLORADO COALTION AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT: We thought that it had swung the pendulum back to where it should be.

BASCHUK: The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault argues that Kobe Bryant's superstar status unfairly hurts the alleged victim.

STONE: This woman's life has been made hell, frankly.

BASCHUK: The accuser's mother has written the judge a letter pleading that hundreds of death threats have been made against her daughter's life. She spoke out at a National Victim's Rights Week rally in Denver last week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to thank my daughter for teaching me about courage. I am proud to be her mom.

BASCHUK: Closed-door pretrial hearings resume on what portions of the accuser's sexual past will be admitted into the trial as evidence, a defense challenge to the state's rape shield law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the prosecution loses the rape shield hearing, or the motion to suppress, expect an appeal which will further delay things in this case.

BASCHUK: Also, the judge is expected to address a possible trial date. Legal experts say if motions are still being argued in May, don't look for a trial to start until August.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now at the top of the show I told you about a new debate sparked here in Eagle. It's a debate that has been widely discussed in the media. The judge has issued an order saying that he will hold hearings on what to call the accuser in open court. The prosecution has routinely referred to her as "the victim." The defense initiated the debate, arguing that by law she should be called "alleged victim" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian, meanwhile, the defense trying to work in her suicide attempt. How will that happen?

BASCHUK: That is going to happen through witnesses who took the stand repeatedly, called by the defense in the last round of hearings. People who have intimate knowledge of the events of her life and can state by fact whether or not they know that she attempted suicide on two occasions, the defense argues. So they will be the only ones who will be able to reveal that evidence at trial -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian Baschuk, live from Eagle, Colorado, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Elsewhere across America at this hour. Marion Jones just saying no. The track and field multi-medalist says she never made a deal to score steroids from a San Francisco lab owner who is currently under federal indictment. The lab owner's alleged claims come out of "The San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper. But Jones' lawyers point out she has tested clean more than 150 times over six years.

Bail is set at $200,000 for an Ohio priest who is accused of murdering a nun in 1980. Gerald Robinson, who performed the nun's funeral, was a suspect from the start but not arrested until a woman came forward recently with claims of sexual abuse in the guise of bizarre Satanic rituals. Those claims were not substantiated. And seven Arkansas counties under states of emergency today, not to mention water. Spring storms overflowed rivers and creeks, and a two-year-old boy whose mother's pickup truck was washed off a road is still missing. The child's three-year-old sister died.

Did Michael Jackson fire his attorneys or did they just quit? The king of pop, self-proclaimed, has a new legal team. We'll look at how that will affect his defense against child molestation charges.

And inside the fight in Fallujah, we'll take you down to street with a former general to find out what Marines are facing there.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm Bill Schneider at the big NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama. Can that other race, the one for president, keep up? I'll tell you about NASCAR nation when CNN returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Headlines around the world now. Much-needed aid is on the way to North Korea from its neighbor to the south. Seoul is working out a conduit to get emergency supplies to that area devastated by last week's train explosions. More than 160 people were killed and North Korea hospitals have been overwhelmed by hundreds of burn victims.

Muslims clash with Christians in Indonesia. Mobs exchanged gunfire in the eastern city of Ambon. It's the latest round of sectarian violence that claimed 18 lives over the weekend. More than 100 people have been wounded and about 200 homes have been burned.

Scorching temperatures didn't keep voters away from the polls in the third phase of India's elections. Turnout was reportedly high in Kashmir and key heartland states. There are still two more rounds of voting before the results are announced May 13.

O'BRIEN: U.S. Marines are stuck between a military rock and a political hard place in Fallujah. Their desire to silence the insurgents with an overwhelming dose of force is tempered by some grim reality. That heavy force will undoubtedly mean large numbers of innocent victims caught in the cross fire. So where to strike a balance that does not lead to a short-term U.S. victory that amounts ultimately to a loss in the long run? We put that question to CNN's military analyst, Brigadier General David Grange in Chicago.

No easy questions or answers here, General Grange. Good to have you with us.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right. First of all, let's get the lay of the land in Fallujah for just a moment. This is a city about 100 miles west of Baghdad and for years has been a Sunni stronghold. As we go to our satellite imagery, we'll take you down to street level. And I'd like you to give us a sense of what the Marines encounter there when you talk about urban warfare there.

GRANGE: Well, the key thing about fighting in cities is that, no matter how hi-tech the technological advances that your force has, terrain neutralizes many of those advantages. And the terrain like in urban cities is perfect for guerilla fighters. They cannot only use the buildings for cover and to hide their movements, but they can also use civilians in the city as cover and also to blend in with. And so, it's just a very difficult fight, hard to get intelligence, hard to only kill the combatants and not the civilian bystanders.

O'BRIEN: All right. We have got a scene right here that shows some fairly large avenues which go -- kind of bisect the center part of town. Those would be ideal places to bring in heavy armor, correct?

GRANGE: Well, it would be better for armor in areas like this because of their advantages of the distance that they can fire, their range of operations, their situation awareness or what they can see, what they can engage and gives them some standoff. So in this case, yes, that's true.

O'BRIEN: Now but we look at this neighborhood here, what you see is just a complete warren of streets and back alleys that would be -- offer any number of locations for people to dig in, hide out and, using snipers or booby traps, whatever the case, really cause some havoc for an advancing force, right?

GRANGE: Well, it would. But this is foot soldier terrain. This is where the individual trooper, Marine or soldier really is dominant. And you can use armor in these areas but it has to be used in a combined force of heavy and light mixed together where they can support and take care of each other and take the advantages of the prowess of either one, depending on where they are being engaged, who they are going after, the fields of fire, those type of things. So they will probably be used in conjunction with each other.

O'BRIEN: Well, now, so as a commander though, the decision to send ground forces into a location like this is one that is fraught with great peril, isn't it?

GRANGE: Well, it is. But it depends on what type of option they're going to go with. In other words, if you're go in to hit a specific target, you may go in with surprise, speed, balance (ph) of action, hit a specific target, either hold it or then come out, or link up with a reinforcing element that comes in to link up with you. Or, you may do house-to-house, street by street, which I don't think that you'll see too much of that.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, I've got a spot right here which is worth pointing out to people. This is an important mosque that has been the focus of a lot of attention. The idea here is to avoid these locations for I guess obvious reasons. If it becomes obvious, though, that a mosque is essentially becoming an armory, what is a Marine to do and what's a commander to do in that situation?

GRANGE: Well, there are several choices there. Rules of engagement, the U.S. military, as well as other coalition forces, respect the culture -- cultural significance of, let's say, a mosque or a school house, those type of things. And normally they would not be engaged, but if the enemy uses them for his advantage, then legally the Marines in this case could engage that site. What they'll try to do, however, is isolate it, try to negate its effectiveness without destroying it. But if they must destroy it, they have all the right to do so.

O'BRIEN: Final thought here. I'm sure there is some temptation in the military mind just to use overwhelming force, let the chips fall where they may, but end the insurgent fighting for once and for all. That decision is a very grave one, isn't it?

GRANGE: Well, in guerilla warfare you never end the insurgency for all. There's an opportunity here where the coalition forces, since they have the town surrounded, may, in fact, reduce in numbers a great majority of the insurgents. But then you have to weigh the risk benefit of that to what kind of civilians will be harmed, as well, or collateral damage to the town itself. So there's some informational aspects in this that may get out that yes, the coalition forces went in there, they destroyed a good number of insurgents, but they destroyed the city as they did so, which would not be very favorable to the coalition efforts.

O'BRIEN: OK. So, you're in the position now where you have got to make the call. How do you strike that balance? Are patrols with some Iraqi forces the key or are they just going to be sitting ducks?

GRANGE: Well, the patrols with the Iraqi forces will not be in some of the harder areas I don't think. In other words, they may be in the fringes where they trying to relocate refugees or where they have some type of control of the city. But if they're going to go into known insurgent strongholds, I do not think you'll see combined U.S. and Iraqi patrols. I think those will be U.S. coalition-only and not combined patrols. But what's key here in this city fighting is getting Iraqi leadership involved, which we've seen very little of to date.

O'BRIEN: Easier said than done, isn't it? David Grange, retired general, United States Army, thanks very much, as always. Appreciate your insights.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, you could call it the muddle over the medals. The Bush and Kerry camps caught in a war of words over Vietnam and Iraq. We're covering the race for the White House later on LIVE FROM...

JEN ROGERS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, I will tell you about the battle heating up between the big broadcasters and cable. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Jockeying for position in the TV ad wars. The broadcast networks are uniting in an unprecedented alliance to keep advertisers from following viewers to cable TV. Up for grabs, billions in advertising dollars. Our Jen Rogers is in L.A. with all the details -- Jen.

ROGERS: That's right, Kyra, definitely billions are at stake. And these big broadcast networks, of course, they usually find themselves competing against each other. Well, this week, they're cooperating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're so sexy.

ROGERS (voice-over): On Thursday night, "Friends", "Survivor" and "CSI" battle it out for ratings supremacy. But this week the networks behind those top shows are working together, not against each other, as the major broadcasters take on their competitors in cable. Hitting newsstands on Monday, this ad, the first in a new campaign promoting broadcast over cable as the best place to reach viewers.

GARY BELIS, TELEVISION BUREAU OF ADVERTISING: A lot of the cable programs get critical acclaim, but the fact of the matter is they just don't deliver the numbers. So they do have buzz, but they don't have audience.

ROGERS: For broadcasters, though, audience is also an issue.

WAYNE FRIEDMAN, TELEVISION WEEK: The big problem is that you're losing audience share. You know, year in and year out, networks lose anywhere from 6 to 8 percent of their audience in the last 10 years.

ROGERS: But the six major networks say the cable audience is still minuscule compared with their own. The new ads tout these statistics: A top 10 show on a broadcast network averages a 9.3 rating; a top 10 show on cable, a 1.6.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: But this battle is not just about ratings, of course, it is also about money. And that is thanks to those largely lower ad rates that can be found on cable. Now, that certainly is attracting advertisers, but as you can see, it's definitely putting the networks on the offensive, defending their turf -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So is the cable industry going to fight back?

ROGERS: You know, right now talk to folks in the cable industry, they say they think they're getting their message through in their one-on-one meetings with advertisers and agencies. And they see this as the networks running scared. They are not planning on launching any campaign in response.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jen Rogers from L.A., thanks -- Miles. O'BRIEN: She put a new face on the cosmetics industry and built an empire, make-up maven Estee Lauder died over the weekend of a heart attack in her New York home. She was 97. And she looked marvelous, I might add. Lauder was one of the "TIME" magazines 20 most influential business geniuses of the century. Easy to see why, starting with a family recipe for skin cream in the 1930s, her products are available now all around the world.

(MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 26, 2004 - 12:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The fighting is fierce in Fallujah, Marines versus Iraqi insurgents, heavy explosions and American casualties.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Much ado about medals, John Kerry under attack, while his party swings back at the Bush campaign.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kobe Bryant is back in court on rape charges. I'm Adrian Baschuk, live in Eagle, Colorado, where the judge has just sparked a new debate. I'll have the latest developments.

O'BRIEN: Old school hip-hop soars to new heights, why this rapper has a new reason for delights.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, what you hear is not a test, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: You're so hip, Miles. And I had the album. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Monday, April 26. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

Fighting like lions (ph) in Fallujah, high-test lipstick in Baghdad, U.S. troops took casualties today in both those Iraqi cities. In Fallujah, outnumbered Marines called in helicopters and fighter jets to battle insurgents who opened fire from a 60-foot tall minaret.

In Baghdad, U.S. soldiers scoffed at claims a suspected of chemical weapons shop they raided today was only producing cosmetics. That plant exploded with troops inside. We get the latest on all the day's events from CNN's Jim Clancy in the Iraqi capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Marines fired heavy machine guns in a major flare-up of hostilities in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Explosions battered hopes that coalition troops would be able to join Iraqi security forces in joint patrols starting Tuesday. Those patrols aimed to force gunmen off the streets and bring back a measure of security.

The battle in Fallujah raged for hours. More than once a coalition spokesman said mosques were used as staging grounds for attacks on U.S. troops.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: The coalition forces became pinned down by the enemy fire and requested support. A quick reaction force which included air and tank support arrived at the scene and directed suppressing fire on the mosques, killing eight enemy fighters and damaging the infrastructure of the mosque. As a result of the attack, one coalition soldier died of wounds with an additional eight soldiers wounded.

CLANCY: U.S. helicopters fired on the mosque with Hellfire laser-guided missiles, sending huge plums of thick black smoke into the skies, obscuring hopes for a peaceful settlement. Coalition officials say they would continue to pursue a negotiated agreement with religious and community leaders, but in the end, it was up to the fighters to choose how this standoff is going to be resolved.

Meantime, Baghdad itself rocked by a powerful blast, coalition troops were investigating a chemical store house in northwest Baghdad when a powerful explosion ripped through the building, killing two coalition soldiers and wounding five others. Eight Iraqi civilians, some of them in adjoining buildings, were injured by the force of the explosion.

KIMMITT: In location where the raid occurred was a chemical store which the owner and his associates were suspected of supplying chemical agents to terrorist criminals and insurgents. There was also information that suggests these individuals were involved in the production of chemical munitions.

CLANCY: School-aged children jumped on damaged U.S. military humvees after the blast. U.S. armor was brought in and warning shots were fired to disperse a crowd of several hundred people who had gathered at the site.

(on camera): It's doubtful the coalition will as easily dispel Iraqis' fears about insecurity in their country. A peaceful settlement in Fallujah would go a long way, but that, like so much else in the country, also depends on the insurgents.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: U.S. troops are due to start or at least attempt joint patrols with Iraqi forces in Fallujah some time tomorrow. CNN's Barbara Starr with more in that aspect of this story from the Pentagon.

Hello, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

Well, indeed, all eyes on Fallujah tomorrow, that is the deadline for the insurgents to turn in those heavy weapons. It is also the time at which it is expected that U.S. troops will begin joint patrols with Iraqi security forces. Earlier today in Baghdad a lot of concern being expressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KIMMITT: The amount of weapons that had been turned in come no where approximating the number of weapons that are inside of Fallujah and clearly do not demonstrate a good-faith effort on the part of the insurgents to meet us halfway, part of the way, any part of the way in terms of bringing a peaceful solution back into Fallujah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And if a peaceful solution for Fallujah cannot be found, it may become the urban warfare battle that the U.S. was worried about last year when it went to Baghdad, but didn't happen at that time. Civilians will be very difficult for U.S. troops to pick out, to differentiate from the insurgent forces.

The weapons of choice for the U.S. will also be very difficult because there aren't a lot of precision weapons that will work. If the U.S. military has to go house by house, street by street, they're using mortars, artillery pieces, 500-pound bombs, helicopter gunships, none of that in the category of precision weapons. All of this very likely to be a very difficult situation -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, in the next hour of LIVE FROM..., a chilling look inside a purported terror plot in Jordan. CNN has obtained video of alleged al Qaeda operatives confessing to Jordanian police about plans for a major chemical weapons attack in Amman. CNN's John Vause has a preview at the top of the hour, and with the full story, including the taped confessions, on CNN's "NEWSNIGHT," 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

PHILLIPS: The Kobe Bryant case is back in court today. At issue, what, if anything, the NBA superstar's lawyers can ask and argue about his alleged victim's sexual history at trial. CNN's Adrian Baschuk fills us in now from Eagle, Colorado -- Adrian.

BASCHUK: Kyra, good afternoon. The first two hours of today's hearing were just discussing usual court business matters. Just in the last half hour the judge began hearings and expert witness testimony on the accuser's sexual past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK (voice-over): Kobe Bryant is back in court just hours after his Lakers beat the Rockets in an overtime playoff victory. Since the last preliminary hearing, a loss for team Bryant, Judge Terry Ruckriegle ruled that the accuser's medical and mental health records will remain sealed and confidential.

CYNTHIA STONE, COLORADO COALTION AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT: We thought that it had swung the pendulum back to where it should be.

BASCHUK: The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault argues that Kobe Bryant's superstar status unfairly hurts the alleged victim.

STONE: This woman's life has been made hell, frankly.

BASCHUK: The accuser's mother has written the judge a letter pleading that hundreds of death threats have been made against her daughter's life. She spoke out at a National Victim's Rights Week rally in Denver last week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to thank my daughter for teaching me about courage. I am proud to be her mom.

BASCHUK: Closed-door pretrial hearings resume on what portions of the accuser's sexual past will be admitted into the trial as evidence, a defense challenge to the state's rape shield law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the prosecution loses the rape shield hearing, or the motion to suppress, expect an appeal which will further delay things in this case.

BASCHUK: Also, the judge is expected to address a possible trial date. Legal experts say if motions are still being argued in May, don't look for a trial to start until August.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now at the top of the show I told you about a new debate sparked here in Eagle. It's a debate that has been widely discussed in the media. The judge has issued an order saying that he will hold hearings on what to call the accuser in open court. The prosecution has routinely referred to her as "the victim." The defense initiated the debate, arguing that by law she should be called "alleged victim" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian, meanwhile, the defense trying to work in her suicide attempt. How will that happen?

BASCHUK: That is going to happen through witnesses who took the stand repeatedly, called by the defense in the last round of hearings. People who have intimate knowledge of the events of her life and can state by fact whether or not they know that she attempted suicide on two occasions, the defense argues. So they will be the only ones who will be able to reveal that evidence at trial -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian Baschuk, live from Eagle, Colorado, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Elsewhere across America at this hour. Marion Jones just saying no. The track and field multi-medalist says she never made a deal to score steroids from a San Francisco lab owner who is currently under federal indictment. The lab owner's alleged claims come out of "The San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper. But Jones' lawyers point out she has tested clean more than 150 times over six years.

Bail is set at $200,000 for an Ohio priest who is accused of murdering a nun in 1980. Gerald Robinson, who performed the nun's funeral, was a suspect from the start but not arrested until a woman came forward recently with claims of sexual abuse in the guise of bizarre Satanic rituals. Those claims were not substantiated. And seven Arkansas counties under states of emergency today, not to mention water. Spring storms overflowed rivers and creeks, and a two-year-old boy whose mother's pickup truck was washed off a road is still missing. The child's three-year-old sister died.

Did Michael Jackson fire his attorneys or did they just quit? The king of pop, self-proclaimed, has a new legal team. We'll look at how that will affect his defense against child molestation charges.

And inside the fight in Fallujah, we'll take you down to street with a former general to find out what Marines are facing there.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm Bill Schneider at the big NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama. Can that other race, the one for president, keep up? I'll tell you about NASCAR nation when CNN returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Headlines around the world now. Much-needed aid is on the way to North Korea from its neighbor to the south. Seoul is working out a conduit to get emergency supplies to that area devastated by last week's train explosions. More than 160 people were killed and North Korea hospitals have been overwhelmed by hundreds of burn victims.

Muslims clash with Christians in Indonesia. Mobs exchanged gunfire in the eastern city of Ambon. It's the latest round of sectarian violence that claimed 18 lives over the weekend. More than 100 people have been wounded and about 200 homes have been burned.

Scorching temperatures didn't keep voters away from the polls in the third phase of India's elections. Turnout was reportedly high in Kashmir and key heartland states. There are still two more rounds of voting before the results are announced May 13.

O'BRIEN: U.S. Marines are stuck between a military rock and a political hard place in Fallujah. Their desire to silence the insurgents with an overwhelming dose of force is tempered by some grim reality. That heavy force will undoubtedly mean large numbers of innocent victims caught in the cross fire. So where to strike a balance that does not lead to a short-term U.S. victory that amounts ultimately to a loss in the long run? We put that question to CNN's military analyst, Brigadier General David Grange in Chicago.

No easy questions or answers here, General Grange. Good to have you with us.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right. First of all, let's get the lay of the land in Fallujah for just a moment. This is a city about 100 miles west of Baghdad and for years has been a Sunni stronghold. As we go to our satellite imagery, we'll take you down to street level. And I'd like you to give us a sense of what the Marines encounter there when you talk about urban warfare there.

GRANGE: Well, the key thing about fighting in cities is that, no matter how hi-tech the technological advances that your force has, terrain neutralizes many of those advantages. And the terrain like in urban cities is perfect for guerilla fighters. They cannot only use the buildings for cover and to hide their movements, but they can also use civilians in the city as cover and also to blend in with. And so, it's just a very difficult fight, hard to get intelligence, hard to only kill the combatants and not the civilian bystanders.

O'BRIEN: All right. We have got a scene right here that shows some fairly large avenues which go -- kind of bisect the center part of town. Those would be ideal places to bring in heavy armor, correct?

GRANGE: Well, it would be better for armor in areas like this because of their advantages of the distance that they can fire, their range of operations, their situation awareness or what they can see, what they can engage and gives them some standoff. So in this case, yes, that's true.

O'BRIEN: Now but we look at this neighborhood here, what you see is just a complete warren of streets and back alleys that would be -- offer any number of locations for people to dig in, hide out and, using snipers or booby traps, whatever the case, really cause some havoc for an advancing force, right?

GRANGE: Well, it would. But this is foot soldier terrain. This is where the individual trooper, Marine or soldier really is dominant. And you can use armor in these areas but it has to be used in a combined force of heavy and light mixed together where they can support and take care of each other and take the advantages of the prowess of either one, depending on where they are being engaged, who they are going after, the fields of fire, those type of things. So they will probably be used in conjunction with each other.

O'BRIEN: Well, now, so as a commander though, the decision to send ground forces into a location like this is one that is fraught with great peril, isn't it?

GRANGE: Well, it is. But it depends on what type of option they're going to go with. In other words, if you're go in to hit a specific target, you may go in with surprise, speed, balance (ph) of action, hit a specific target, either hold it or then come out, or link up with a reinforcing element that comes in to link up with you. Or, you may do house-to-house, street by street, which I don't think that you'll see too much of that.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, I've got a spot right here which is worth pointing out to people. This is an important mosque that has been the focus of a lot of attention. The idea here is to avoid these locations for I guess obvious reasons. If it becomes obvious, though, that a mosque is essentially becoming an armory, what is a Marine to do and what's a commander to do in that situation?

GRANGE: Well, there are several choices there. Rules of engagement, the U.S. military, as well as other coalition forces, respect the culture -- cultural significance of, let's say, a mosque or a school house, those type of things. And normally they would not be engaged, but if the enemy uses them for his advantage, then legally the Marines in this case could engage that site. What they'll try to do, however, is isolate it, try to negate its effectiveness without destroying it. But if they must destroy it, they have all the right to do so.

O'BRIEN: Final thought here. I'm sure there is some temptation in the military mind just to use overwhelming force, let the chips fall where they may, but end the insurgent fighting for once and for all. That decision is a very grave one, isn't it?

GRANGE: Well, in guerilla warfare you never end the insurgency for all. There's an opportunity here where the coalition forces, since they have the town surrounded, may, in fact, reduce in numbers a great majority of the insurgents. But then you have to weigh the risk benefit of that to what kind of civilians will be harmed, as well, or collateral damage to the town itself. So there's some informational aspects in this that may get out that yes, the coalition forces went in there, they destroyed a good number of insurgents, but they destroyed the city as they did so, which would not be very favorable to the coalition efforts.

O'BRIEN: OK. So, you're in the position now where you have got to make the call. How do you strike that balance? Are patrols with some Iraqi forces the key or are they just going to be sitting ducks?

GRANGE: Well, the patrols with the Iraqi forces will not be in some of the harder areas I don't think. In other words, they may be in the fringes where they trying to relocate refugees or where they have some type of control of the city. But if they're going to go into known insurgent strongholds, I do not think you'll see combined U.S. and Iraqi patrols. I think those will be U.S. coalition-only and not combined patrols. But what's key here in this city fighting is getting Iraqi leadership involved, which we've seen very little of to date.

O'BRIEN: Easier said than done, isn't it? David Grange, retired general, United States Army, thanks very much, as always. Appreciate your insights.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, you could call it the muddle over the medals. The Bush and Kerry camps caught in a war of words over Vietnam and Iraq. We're covering the race for the White House later on LIVE FROM...

JEN ROGERS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, I will tell you about the battle heating up between the big broadcasters and cable. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Jockeying for position in the TV ad wars. The broadcast networks are uniting in an unprecedented alliance to keep advertisers from following viewers to cable TV. Up for grabs, billions in advertising dollars. Our Jen Rogers is in L.A. with all the details -- Jen.

ROGERS: That's right, Kyra, definitely billions are at stake. And these big broadcast networks, of course, they usually find themselves competing against each other. Well, this week, they're cooperating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're so sexy.

ROGERS (voice-over): On Thursday night, "Friends", "Survivor" and "CSI" battle it out for ratings supremacy. But this week the networks behind those top shows are working together, not against each other, as the major broadcasters take on their competitors in cable. Hitting newsstands on Monday, this ad, the first in a new campaign promoting broadcast over cable as the best place to reach viewers.

GARY BELIS, TELEVISION BUREAU OF ADVERTISING: A lot of the cable programs get critical acclaim, but the fact of the matter is they just don't deliver the numbers. So they do have buzz, but they don't have audience.

ROGERS: For broadcasters, though, audience is also an issue.

WAYNE FRIEDMAN, TELEVISION WEEK: The big problem is that you're losing audience share. You know, year in and year out, networks lose anywhere from 6 to 8 percent of their audience in the last 10 years.

ROGERS: But the six major networks say the cable audience is still minuscule compared with their own. The new ads tout these statistics: A top 10 show on a broadcast network averages a 9.3 rating; a top 10 show on cable, a 1.6.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: But this battle is not just about ratings, of course, it is also about money. And that is thanks to those largely lower ad rates that can be found on cable. Now, that certainly is attracting advertisers, but as you can see, it's definitely putting the networks on the offensive, defending their turf -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So is the cable industry going to fight back?

ROGERS: You know, right now talk to folks in the cable industry, they say they think they're getting their message through in their one-on-one meetings with advertisers and agencies. And they see this as the networks running scared. They are not planning on launching any campaign in response.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jen Rogers from L.A., thanks -- Miles. O'BRIEN: She put a new face on the cosmetics industry and built an empire, make-up maven Estee Lauder died over the weekend of a heart attack in her New York home. She was 97. And she looked marvelous, I might add. Lauder was one of the "TIME" magazines 20 most influential business geniuses of the century. Easy to see why, starting with a family recipe for skin cream in the 1930s, her products are available now all around the world.

(MARKET REPORT)

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