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Interview With Attorney For Accused Soldier; Nick Berg Remembered

Aired May 14, 2004 - 15:00   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: You're watching LIVE FROM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Miles and Kyra are both off today.
Let's take a look at the headlines.

A family in mourning. A private memorial service is set to begin in Pennsylvania this hour for Nicholas Berg, the 26-year-old American who was kidnapped in Iraq and beheaded by militants. Berg was buried this morning. The CIA has concluded fugitive terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi likely wielded the knife.

Britain's "Daily Mirror" is admitting it was duped. The newspaper published photos appearing to show British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. Today, the newspaper acknowledged the photos were most likely faked. "The Daily Mirror" apologized to its readers and announced the paper's editor is stepping down.

Freeing Iraqi prisoners. Today, the U.S. military released 293 prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the prison near Baghdad that has been rocked by the abuse scandal. A military spokesman promised hundreds more will be released at the end of next week.

And the Pentagon is changing the ground rules for getting information from Iraqi detainees. CNN's Barbara Starr tells us military interrogators are losing at least one of their formerly approved techniques after a review by ground forces commander Ricardo Sanchez.

We begin this hour with fighting words from Abu Ghraib, their statements made to Pentagon investigators in January by one of the seven U.S. soldiers facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing and degrading inmates. Army Specialist Jeremy Sivits is expected to plead guilty to the military equivalent of misdemeanors and implicate some fellow defendants.

Those including Sergeant Javal Davis and Specialist Charles Graner, two of four G.I.s whose courts-martial are already on the docket. All but Sivits are being tried on felony charges. Sivits claims Graner -- and we quote -- "punched a detainee with a closed fist so hard in the temple that it knocked the detainee unconscious." Graner, Sivits says, "was joking, laughing, like he was enjoying it."

Graner's lawyer is surely not enjoying hearing those words coming from the fellow G.I., especially in public, but he wants listeners to consider the source and look carefully at the photos.

Guy Womack is to join us right now from Houston.

Good to see you, Mr. Womack.

GUY WOMACK, ATTORNEY FOR SPECIALIST CHARLES GRANER: Good day.

WHITFIELD: These are the statements coming from Specialist Sivits, statements made in January. Are you disputing these claims?

WOMACK: Absolutely.

If you look at those two statements, and there are actually two of them made under oath to CID agents, you'll notice that, in both of them, Sivits denies any culpability at all. Very importantly, he also denies that military intelligence personnel gave any orders to set up photographs or to soften up prisoners.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well, what if your client, Mr. Graner, saying? Is he saying that he got these orders from higher-ups?

WOMACK: Of course.

And you know that "The Washington Post" last week aired a photograph that shows military intelligence officers and a civilian intel contractor setting up just such an interrogation. Then later, yesterday, we submitted a photograph to many of the media that came from Specialist Graner. This was a second photograph of that same interrogation taken at a different time from a different angle, again showing a number of military and civilian intelligence officers present at and directing the interrogation.

WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Womack, let me ask you, how is your client, Specialist Graner, then justifying these acts that show him clearly involved and it doesn't look as though he is involved against his will?

WOMACK: Well, he's following orders, like a good soldier should. Keep in mind the environment that existed at Abu Ghraib. This was an interrogation center. He was being directed by military intelligence officers and others in the intel community. And he felt these were lawful orders. He had to obey those orders.

WHITFIELD: As you mentioned a "Washington Post" report last week, there's a "New York Times" article today which in fact says that other soldiers are saying that Graner -- quote -- "was a voice of strength and experience," having served as a Marine in Desert Storm, and that he was a corrections officer in Pennsylvania.

And apparently he has quite a history as a corrections officer which there are many allegations that say he abused prisoners under his watch as a corrections officer. So given this kind of history and given the kind of reputation that others are saying that he seemed to have, how is it that he would be held responsible at this corrections facility in Iraq the way in which he was? WOMACK: No experiences that Specialist Graner had as a U.S. Marine involved committing a war crime, but he certainly learned to obey orders that appeared to be lawful.

In his civilian career as a corrections officer, to my knowledge, he has done nothing illegal. Certainly you know or may know that prisoners in institutions, state and federal, very often allege that guards have abused them. And most of those, 90 percent of them, are unsubstantiated.

WHITFIELD: There are accusations coming from his ex-wife, however, that he abused her, that he even at one time slammed her head against the floor and that he showed a propensity of anger and that he was mean-spirited. And here we will have this individual with these established accusations who is now in a position of taking charge of detainees in Iraq.

How will you defend your client with this kind of history knowing that there is an establishment of his propensity for violence?

WOMACK: That doesn't establish that.

Keep in mind the allegation involving his ex-wife is that during a divorce proceeding that was hotly contested in which there were children involved and custody of children matters were to be litigated, that an estranged wife made wild accusations about my client. Also keep in mind that the court in Pennsylvania awarded him joint custody of those children. They deemed him to be an appropriate parent.

Also keep in mind that, in the state of Pennsylvania, as in my own state of Texas, if a man hits his wife, he can be prosecuted and if he's convicted of even a misdemeanor offense of assaulting his wife, domestic violence, under the application of the Brady Act, the federal gun control act, he could never again possess a firearm, which means he could not be in the Army, he could not be a prison guard. We know for a fact that he has no domestic violence convictions at all.

WHITFIELD: Well, what's your understanding as to why this former Marine who was part of Operation Desert Storm then signed up to be an Army Reserve to take on this responsibility in Iraq?

WOMACK: Why not? Both are very honorable professions. And I'm very proud of him. He served his country and he's there right now serving.

WHITFIELD: And I understand from other material that was quoting people who know him that he was having some financial problems just prior to signing up with the Army Reserve and going to Iraq and that perhaps he was a frustrated individual.

WOMACK: First of all, I know nothing about that, and that certainly has nothing to do with whether or not he was given apparently lawful orders from military intelligence officers and carried them out. And that's what he did.

WHITFIELD: Guy Womack, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

WOMACK: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: As you represent Specialist Charles Graner, who is facing court-martial.

Well, one day after the tour of Abu Ghraib by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, officials at the prison freed several hundred inmates today.

CNN's Ben Wedeman watched the scene unfold and has the story from Baghdad now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Out of prison and on their way home. Five buses left Abu Ghraib Friday morning, taking more than 300 former detainees away from a prison that under Saddam Hussein was spoken of only in whispers, and under U.S. control, has become, for many Iraqis, symbolic of an American occupation gone sour.

A moment of joy for some. Others saw no familiar faces smiling back. Samid Ahmed (ph) was hoping his brother in coalition custody for nearly a year would be released. He wasn't. My brother has six small kids, says Samid (ph). This is painful.

In Baghdad, Hussein Sami (ph) and his three brothers return home. Months of anxiety finally over, though one of Hussein's brothers is still a prisoner. And inevitably, there are claims are abuse.

They stripped me, says one prisoner who didn't give his name. They beat me and sprayed cold water on me. Such claims have yet to be confirmed, but following widespread broadcast of graphic photos of prisoner abuse, few Iraqis are likely to dispute them.

(on camera): The recent Red Cross report on Iraq estimates that anywhere between 70 and 90 percent of detainees were arrested by mistake. But there's no mistaking that among those who were released today, the coalition has created new enemies at a time when it hardly needs anymore.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Abu Ghraib prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also in Iraq, coalition forces are fighting the Shiite Mahdi militia. There were clashes in Karbala and also in Nasiriyah.

In the ongoing fights in Najaf, the U.S. says it killed 17 militia members. The general who is spearheading that campaign says he's trying to pressure the Mahdi, which is involved in negotiations, toward a political settlement in Najaf.

Family and friends of Nicholas Berg, killed by terrorists in Iraq, are gathering to pay tribute to him. A private memorial service is about to begin in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa joins from us there -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, a day filled with sorrow for the family and friends of Nick Berg.

Those who knew him, had seen him grow up, this is their time to say a final goodbye. Just about an hour ago, the parents and sister and brother of Nick Berg arrived. They came here. They hugged. This is a family that has been in seclusion essentially since they got the news of the death. They were able to finally see other people, their friends, a lot of hugging, kissing. This is a time finally for them to share.

Now, earlier in the morning, the family of Nick Berg made their way, we believe, to a very private small funeral service where only family was there, a family that would like to be doing this in pretty much peacefulness and quiet, but unfortunately there is tremendous attention here, international attention focused on the life and death of Nick Berg.

Now, right now, there are people coming into Kesher Israel Temple, where there will be a memorial that starts at 3:30. There are so many people arriving here that they have now put the cars parking on the lawn, again, people arriving and having a chance to finally come together as a community to say goodbye to Nick Berg.

Now, while this was all happening, just a few minutes ago, Attorney General John Ashcroft speaking about the case of Nick Berg, saying that the United States had warned him to get out of Iraq, and, in fact, had offered him safe passage to get out of the country and that Nick Berg had refused. This is what John Ashcroft had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Mr. Berg was released by the Iraqi police on the 6th day of April in this year. He refused government offers to advise his family and friends of his status.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: Now, this memorial begins at 3:30 here and will probably go on for about an hour. The family will most likely go back to their home, where we have heard and seen many chairs being unloaded into the home as they get ready to sit shivah in the Jewish tradition -- back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Maria Hinojosa.

Well, in Iraq, where Nicholas Berg was so brutally killed, his friends are also in mourning.

CNN's Aaron Brown reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SABAH TALEB MEHDI, GYM OWNER (through translator): He never appeared to care about the warnings or danger. He used to walk like he was in Washington or somewhere like that he knew.

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He connected with Sabah Taleb Mehdi, the owner of a gym in which he regularly worked out. He connected too with Hugo Infante, a journalist from Chile.

HUGO INFANTE, CHILEAN JOURNALIST: I think all the guests here, the people who knew him here, it was really, they were really friendly with him because he never spoke a bad word about Iraq, you know. He always say good things about Iraq. He loved these people. He loved the town.

BROWN: And, of course, he connected with fellow American Robert Andrew Duke, another businessman on his own in Iraq.

ANDREW ROBERT DUKE, INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OPERATOR IN IRAQ: In the evening we sat in my room. We talked about, you know, what a 26- year-old guy was going to do with the rest of his life, how he was in good shape, how he was looking forward to having a relationship.

BROWN: To his Chilean friend, Nick Berg made a good adventure yarn of what happened to him. He told the story this way.

INFANTE: Oh, you want to hear a funny story about me? I was in prison, man. Why? Because the Iraqi police catch me one night in Mosul and they saw my passport. My passport, in my passport I have my Jewish last name.

BROWN: What happened after that Nick Berg would not live to tell but the world has come to know anyway as has his friend Sabah Mehdi.

MEHDI (through translator): I saw a picture of five men standing with heads covered in black and making a declaration and I saw a man sitting on the ground with his hands tied. I dropped the cup I was holding and started shouting this is Nick. This is Nick. I began to cry. I was very saddened.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll check Wall Street for you coming up next. The low-carb wars are coming to the breakfast table.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It was 50 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling making school segregation unconstitutional, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. And this weekend, "CNN PRESENTS: THE GAP, FIFTY YEARS AFTER BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION." It airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And our in-depth look at the anniversary of that landmark Supreme Court ruling continues Monday with a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT." It airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking entertainment headlines this Friday, another Hollywood marriage bites dust. Ali Landry, the actress known for her Doritos commercials, is annulling her marriage to Mario Lopez, the actor known for "Saved By the Bell." Published reports say there was infidelity in the two-week-old marriage.

He didn't outwit, outlast or outplay, but "Survivor" contestant Rupert Boneham is walking away with the $1 million prize anyway. He won the consolation prize during a special edition of the show last night. CBS says 38 million people cast their vote to give the lovable Rupert the prize.

And talk about having a big head. Late-night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel looked like this by the end of his show on Wednesday. It turns out Kimmel had a bad reaction to Advil. The comedian says his head blew up like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He said that. And now he's doing much better.

Fears, we all have them. Whether you're afraid of heights or spiders, a new fear factor drug could help you conquer those phobias.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fears, television shows prey on them, and according to the surgeon general, 16 million Americans suffer from some kind of phobia. Most people learn their fear. But what if a little pill could help unlearn them?

For 30 years, Beth Cox has been terrified of heights.

BETH COX, HAS FEAR OF HEIGHTS: As long as I remember being an adult, I remember being afraid.

GUPTA: Tall bridges, mountains and elevators, anything high, they all stopped her cold.

COX: I am hyperventilating, I am crying, my hands are shaking, my legs are shaking -- I was scared to death.

GUPTA: Tired of it, Beth joined a medical trial in Atlanta. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go on up to the ninth floor.

GUPTA: Beth was part of a small story that focused on the fear of heights. It involved a virtual reality elevator, combined with a little pill called D-cycloserine. The drug, already approved to combat tuberculosis, seemed to also affect the brain's fear center. Dr. Michael Davis, a psychiatry professor at Emory University conducted the study and found patients who took the drug before therapy, actually unlearned their fears faster.

MICHAEL DAVIS, EMORY UNIVERSITY: What this medication seems to do is to speed up or improve your ability to get over your fear.

COX: I feel great.

GUPTA: Beth took one pill a few hours before her therapy, and after only two sessions, instead of the normal seven or eight, was able to unlearn her fear of heights, going all the way to the top floor on the simulated elevator.

And once you are done with therapy, you are also done with the pill.

Not everyone is sold on the idea of the medication, however. Some experts believe therapy alone is still the most effective. Researchers caution D-cycloserine only works when combined with exposure therapy.

For Beth Cox, it gave her the courage to go to great heights.

COX: OK, I don't love it, but I can do it. I don't have to like it, but I know I'm safe.

I can probably even stay on one of these floors.

GUPTA: Thanks to therapy, she is able to take long looks down.

(on camera): A commonly prescribed fear factor probably won't be prescribed for two to five years, but based on this small study, it does appear safe and holds promising for those with phobias, and for the psychologists trying to treat them.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

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


Aired May 14, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching LIVE FROM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Miles and Kyra are both off today.
Let's take a look at the headlines.

A family in mourning. A private memorial service is set to begin in Pennsylvania this hour for Nicholas Berg, the 26-year-old American who was kidnapped in Iraq and beheaded by militants. Berg was buried this morning. The CIA has concluded fugitive terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi likely wielded the knife.

Britain's "Daily Mirror" is admitting it was duped. The newspaper published photos appearing to show British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. Today, the newspaper acknowledged the photos were most likely faked. "The Daily Mirror" apologized to its readers and announced the paper's editor is stepping down.

Freeing Iraqi prisoners. Today, the U.S. military released 293 prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the prison near Baghdad that has been rocked by the abuse scandal. A military spokesman promised hundreds more will be released at the end of next week.

And the Pentagon is changing the ground rules for getting information from Iraqi detainees. CNN's Barbara Starr tells us military interrogators are losing at least one of their formerly approved techniques after a review by ground forces commander Ricardo Sanchez.

We begin this hour with fighting words from Abu Ghraib, their statements made to Pentagon investigators in January by one of the seven U.S. soldiers facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing and degrading inmates. Army Specialist Jeremy Sivits is expected to plead guilty to the military equivalent of misdemeanors and implicate some fellow defendants.

Those including Sergeant Javal Davis and Specialist Charles Graner, two of four G.I.s whose courts-martial are already on the docket. All but Sivits are being tried on felony charges. Sivits claims Graner -- and we quote -- "punched a detainee with a closed fist so hard in the temple that it knocked the detainee unconscious." Graner, Sivits says, "was joking, laughing, like he was enjoying it."

Graner's lawyer is surely not enjoying hearing those words coming from the fellow G.I., especially in public, but he wants listeners to consider the source and look carefully at the photos.

Guy Womack is to join us right now from Houston.

Good to see you, Mr. Womack.

GUY WOMACK, ATTORNEY FOR SPECIALIST CHARLES GRANER: Good day.

WHITFIELD: These are the statements coming from Specialist Sivits, statements made in January. Are you disputing these claims?

WOMACK: Absolutely.

If you look at those two statements, and there are actually two of them made under oath to CID agents, you'll notice that, in both of them, Sivits denies any culpability at all. Very importantly, he also denies that military intelligence personnel gave any orders to set up photographs or to soften up prisoners.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well, what if your client, Mr. Graner, saying? Is he saying that he got these orders from higher-ups?

WOMACK: Of course.

And you know that "The Washington Post" last week aired a photograph that shows military intelligence officers and a civilian intel contractor setting up just such an interrogation. Then later, yesterday, we submitted a photograph to many of the media that came from Specialist Graner. This was a second photograph of that same interrogation taken at a different time from a different angle, again showing a number of military and civilian intelligence officers present at and directing the interrogation.

WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Womack, let me ask you, how is your client, Specialist Graner, then justifying these acts that show him clearly involved and it doesn't look as though he is involved against his will?

WOMACK: Well, he's following orders, like a good soldier should. Keep in mind the environment that existed at Abu Ghraib. This was an interrogation center. He was being directed by military intelligence officers and others in the intel community. And he felt these were lawful orders. He had to obey those orders.

WHITFIELD: As you mentioned a "Washington Post" report last week, there's a "New York Times" article today which in fact says that other soldiers are saying that Graner -- quote -- "was a voice of strength and experience," having served as a Marine in Desert Storm, and that he was a corrections officer in Pennsylvania.

And apparently he has quite a history as a corrections officer which there are many allegations that say he abused prisoners under his watch as a corrections officer. So given this kind of history and given the kind of reputation that others are saying that he seemed to have, how is it that he would be held responsible at this corrections facility in Iraq the way in which he was? WOMACK: No experiences that Specialist Graner had as a U.S. Marine involved committing a war crime, but he certainly learned to obey orders that appeared to be lawful.

In his civilian career as a corrections officer, to my knowledge, he has done nothing illegal. Certainly you know or may know that prisoners in institutions, state and federal, very often allege that guards have abused them. And most of those, 90 percent of them, are unsubstantiated.

WHITFIELD: There are accusations coming from his ex-wife, however, that he abused her, that he even at one time slammed her head against the floor and that he showed a propensity of anger and that he was mean-spirited. And here we will have this individual with these established accusations who is now in a position of taking charge of detainees in Iraq.

How will you defend your client with this kind of history knowing that there is an establishment of his propensity for violence?

WOMACK: That doesn't establish that.

Keep in mind the allegation involving his ex-wife is that during a divorce proceeding that was hotly contested in which there were children involved and custody of children matters were to be litigated, that an estranged wife made wild accusations about my client. Also keep in mind that the court in Pennsylvania awarded him joint custody of those children. They deemed him to be an appropriate parent.

Also keep in mind that, in the state of Pennsylvania, as in my own state of Texas, if a man hits his wife, he can be prosecuted and if he's convicted of even a misdemeanor offense of assaulting his wife, domestic violence, under the application of the Brady Act, the federal gun control act, he could never again possess a firearm, which means he could not be in the Army, he could not be a prison guard. We know for a fact that he has no domestic violence convictions at all.

WHITFIELD: Well, what's your understanding as to why this former Marine who was part of Operation Desert Storm then signed up to be an Army Reserve to take on this responsibility in Iraq?

WOMACK: Why not? Both are very honorable professions. And I'm very proud of him. He served his country and he's there right now serving.

WHITFIELD: And I understand from other material that was quoting people who know him that he was having some financial problems just prior to signing up with the Army Reserve and going to Iraq and that perhaps he was a frustrated individual.

WOMACK: First of all, I know nothing about that, and that certainly has nothing to do with whether or not he was given apparently lawful orders from military intelligence officers and carried them out. And that's what he did.

WHITFIELD: Guy Womack, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

WOMACK: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: As you represent Specialist Charles Graner, who is facing court-martial.

Well, one day after the tour of Abu Ghraib by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, officials at the prison freed several hundred inmates today.

CNN's Ben Wedeman watched the scene unfold and has the story from Baghdad now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Out of prison and on their way home. Five buses left Abu Ghraib Friday morning, taking more than 300 former detainees away from a prison that under Saddam Hussein was spoken of only in whispers, and under U.S. control, has become, for many Iraqis, symbolic of an American occupation gone sour.

A moment of joy for some. Others saw no familiar faces smiling back. Samid Ahmed (ph) was hoping his brother in coalition custody for nearly a year would be released. He wasn't. My brother has six small kids, says Samid (ph). This is painful.

In Baghdad, Hussein Sami (ph) and his three brothers return home. Months of anxiety finally over, though one of Hussein's brothers is still a prisoner. And inevitably, there are claims are abuse.

They stripped me, says one prisoner who didn't give his name. They beat me and sprayed cold water on me. Such claims have yet to be confirmed, but following widespread broadcast of graphic photos of prisoner abuse, few Iraqis are likely to dispute them.

(on camera): The recent Red Cross report on Iraq estimates that anywhere between 70 and 90 percent of detainees were arrested by mistake. But there's no mistaking that among those who were released today, the coalition has created new enemies at a time when it hardly needs anymore.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Abu Ghraib prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also in Iraq, coalition forces are fighting the Shiite Mahdi militia. There were clashes in Karbala and also in Nasiriyah.

In the ongoing fights in Najaf, the U.S. says it killed 17 militia members. The general who is spearheading that campaign says he's trying to pressure the Mahdi, which is involved in negotiations, toward a political settlement in Najaf.

Family and friends of Nicholas Berg, killed by terrorists in Iraq, are gathering to pay tribute to him. A private memorial service is about to begin in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa joins from us there -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, a day filled with sorrow for the family and friends of Nick Berg.

Those who knew him, had seen him grow up, this is their time to say a final goodbye. Just about an hour ago, the parents and sister and brother of Nick Berg arrived. They came here. They hugged. This is a family that has been in seclusion essentially since they got the news of the death. They were able to finally see other people, their friends, a lot of hugging, kissing. This is a time finally for them to share.

Now, earlier in the morning, the family of Nick Berg made their way, we believe, to a very private small funeral service where only family was there, a family that would like to be doing this in pretty much peacefulness and quiet, but unfortunately there is tremendous attention here, international attention focused on the life and death of Nick Berg.

Now, right now, there are people coming into Kesher Israel Temple, where there will be a memorial that starts at 3:30. There are so many people arriving here that they have now put the cars parking on the lawn, again, people arriving and having a chance to finally come together as a community to say goodbye to Nick Berg.

Now, while this was all happening, just a few minutes ago, Attorney General John Ashcroft speaking about the case of Nick Berg, saying that the United States had warned him to get out of Iraq, and, in fact, had offered him safe passage to get out of the country and that Nick Berg had refused. This is what John Ashcroft had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Mr. Berg was released by the Iraqi police on the 6th day of April in this year. He refused government offers to advise his family and friends of his status.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: Now, this memorial begins at 3:30 here and will probably go on for about an hour. The family will most likely go back to their home, where we have heard and seen many chairs being unloaded into the home as they get ready to sit shivah in the Jewish tradition -- back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Maria Hinojosa.

Well, in Iraq, where Nicholas Berg was so brutally killed, his friends are also in mourning.

CNN's Aaron Brown reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SABAH TALEB MEHDI, GYM OWNER (through translator): He never appeared to care about the warnings or danger. He used to walk like he was in Washington or somewhere like that he knew.

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He connected with Sabah Taleb Mehdi, the owner of a gym in which he regularly worked out. He connected too with Hugo Infante, a journalist from Chile.

HUGO INFANTE, CHILEAN JOURNALIST: I think all the guests here, the people who knew him here, it was really, they were really friendly with him because he never spoke a bad word about Iraq, you know. He always say good things about Iraq. He loved these people. He loved the town.

BROWN: And, of course, he connected with fellow American Robert Andrew Duke, another businessman on his own in Iraq.

ANDREW ROBERT DUKE, INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OPERATOR IN IRAQ: In the evening we sat in my room. We talked about, you know, what a 26- year-old guy was going to do with the rest of his life, how he was in good shape, how he was looking forward to having a relationship.

BROWN: To his Chilean friend, Nick Berg made a good adventure yarn of what happened to him. He told the story this way.

INFANTE: Oh, you want to hear a funny story about me? I was in prison, man. Why? Because the Iraqi police catch me one night in Mosul and they saw my passport. My passport, in my passport I have my Jewish last name.

BROWN: What happened after that Nick Berg would not live to tell but the world has come to know anyway as has his friend Sabah Mehdi.

MEHDI (through translator): I saw a picture of five men standing with heads covered in black and making a declaration and I saw a man sitting on the ground with his hands tied. I dropped the cup I was holding and started shouting this is Nick. This is Nick. I began to cry. I was very saddened.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll check Wall Street for you coming up next. The low-carb wars are coming to the breakfast table.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It was 50 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling making school segregation unconstitutional, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. And this weekend, "CNN PRESENTS: THE GAP, FIFTY YEARS AFTER BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION." It airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And our in-depth look at the anniversary of that landmark Supreme Court ruling continues Monday with a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT." It airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking entertainment headlines this Friday, another Hollywood marriage bites dust. Ali Landry, the actress known for her Doritos commercials, is annulling her marriage to Mario Lopez, the actor known for "Saved By the Bell." Published reports say there was infidelity in the two-week-old marriage.

He didn't outwit, outlast or outplay, but "Survivor" contestant Rupert Boneham is walking away with the $1 million prize anyway. He won the consolation prize during a special edition of the show last night. CBS says 38 million people cast their vote to give the lovable Rupert the prize.

And talk about having a big head. Late-night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel looked like this by the end of his show on Wednesday. It turns out Kimmel had a bad reaction to Advil. The comedian says his head blew up like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He said that. And now he's doing much better.

Fears, we all have them. Whether you're afraid of heights or spiders, a new fear factor drug could help you conquer those phobias.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fears, television shows prey on them, and according to the surgeon general, 16 million Americans suffer from some kind of phobia. Most people learn their fear. But what if a little pill could help unlearn them?

For 30 years, Beth Cox has been terrified of heights.

BETH COX, HAS FEAR OF HEIGHTS: As long as I remember being an adult, I remember being afraid.

GUPTA: Tall bridges, mountains and elevators, anything high, they all stopped her cold.

COX: I am hyperventilating, I am crying, my hands are shaking, my legs are shaking -- I was scared to death.

GUPTA: Tired of it, Beth joined a medical trial in Atlanta. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go on up to the ninth floor.

GUPTA: Beth was part of a small story that focused on the fear of heights. It involved a virtual reality elevator, combined with a little pill called D-cycloserine. The drug, already approved to combat tuberculosis, seemed to also affect the brain's fear center. Dr. Michael Davis, a psychiatry professor at Emory University conducted the study and found patients who took the drug before therapy, actually unlearned their fears faster.

MICHAEL DAVIS, EMORY UNIVERSITY: What this medication seems to do is to speed up or improve your ability to get over your fear.

COX: I feel great.

GUPTA: Beth took one pill a few hours before her therapy, and after only two sessions, instead of the normal seven or eight, was able to unlearn her fear of heights, going all the way to the top floor on the simulated elevator.

And once you are done with therapy, you are also done with the pill.

Not everyone is sold on the idea of the medication, however. Some experts believe therapy alone is still the most effective. Researchers caution D-cycloserine only works when combined with exposure therapy.

For Beth Cox, it gave her the courage to go to great heights.

COX: OK, I don't love it, but I can do it. I don't have to like it, but I know I'm safe.

I can probably even stay on one of these floors.

GUPTA: Thanks to therapy, she is able to take long looks down.

(on camera): A commonly prescribed fear factor probably won't be prescribed for two to five years, but based on this small study, it does appear safe and holds promising for those with phobias, and for the psychologists trying to treat them.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

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