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Iraqi PM: Worst May be Yet to Come After Explosions, Ambushes, Fighting Across Five Major Cities
Aired June 24, 2004 - 14:30 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: Welcome back from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM... I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour. Show of force. A police chase ends in a capture. but the cameras capture an officer hitting a suspect several times. Did he go too far? We're going to talk about it. An investigation is under way.
WHITFIELD: And an investigation of Olympic proportions in to whether one of America's top track stars used banned drugs. A live report on some new developments in that story coming up this half hour.
Back now to our top story, that deadly wave of attacks across Iraq. Iraq's incoming prime minister warns the worst may be yet to come after explosions, ambushes and fighting across five major cities in that country.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated himself at a checkpoint killing several people. The attacks all occurred almost simultaneously. But it's not clear if they were coordinated.
Huge explosions rocked Mosul which had the highest number of casualties there; 65 people in that town alone were killed after explosions rocked several police stations and a curfew has been imposed.
Some of the heaviest fighting was in Baqubah where attackers went after police and government buildings. Two American troops were among the dead. In all, involving all of those cities, three U.S. forces were killed today and 89 Iraqis.
Police and the government were again targeted in Ramada. The city is considered an insurgent stronghold and a hotbed of anti- American activity.
Elsewhere in the Sunni Triangle U.S. forces ordered an air strike around factional after clashes between insurgents and Marines. A U.S. Cobra helicopter gunship was forced down during the fighting, but no one was reported hurt. On an Islamic Web site followers of militant Abu Mubarak al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for most of those attacks.
Zarqawi's wife is reportedly saying her husband is innocent. Omm Mohammed says there no way her husband could be a terrorist. Her words from an interview in a Jordanian newspaper. She says her husband would not kill women and children and is a friendly and good man. Zarqawi's wife said she has not heard from her husband since he left Jordan for Afghanistan back in 1999.
PHILLIPS: Yet another investigation involving the Los Angeles Police Department. An LAPD officer is caught on camera repeatedly striking an unarmed man with a flashlight. This man allegedly -- there were reports that he had stolen a car. Well the Los Angeles mayor is now expressing his outrage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JAMES HAHN, LOS ANGELES: I saw what you saw on that videotape. And it upset me. Made me angry.
We had thought we had worked very hard after the Rodney King incident, after the Christopher Commission, after we worked to worked to work out a consent decree with the Department of Justice that we were on the road to reform, a department that would respect the community that it's charged with protecting.
What I saw jeopardizes the work that we have done to try to build that bond of trust between the department and the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Federal and state authorities are investigating the latest incident. CNN's Mike Brooks is a criminal justice veteran. Also serves as a law enforcement analyst for network right now.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the video. And from your background as law enforcement officer, tell us what happened.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well the use of force, whether it's justified or not justified, is not pretty. Here we see the officer -- he seemed to be complying. The officer told him to get on the ground. Looks to be getting on the ground, he gets one arm behind.
Then you see another officer come up and what appears to kick him in the head and then pull out what appears to be a flashlight and we see him striking the subject a number of times.
Most departments have policies and procedures in place for use of force, arrest procedures. But these has to be consistent. They're taught in the academy. And from what I'm hearing is these were veteran officers, there were no rookies here that were on this scene.
But it has to be taught consistently in the academy and the also they get out, in service training. And officers have to be remind of arrest procedures, what the proper procedures are. And most departments will have a use of force continuum. The use of force consistent with the threat that's presented.
Now was there a threat presented here? We don't know. We're also not hearing exactly what the officers told this man when he was stopped. He got out and he ran after a chase. And we don't know if he was compliant. It appeared that he was compliant. But again, Kyra, we weren't there on the scene, we don't know. That's why there's an investigation going on right now.
And we see afterwards them bringing the man to his feet. And we see him walking back to where the police cruisers are.
PHILLIPS: All right, so two quick questions. As the chase was going down, he appeared to be compliant, hands were up, he went down. So in this type of situation, how are police going to analyze this tape? Is it frame by frame to indeed see if he was not being compliant and therefore the officer took the flashlight and...
BROOKS: We started off -- he wasn't compliant. If he had been compliant he would have pulled over when the turned on his lights and siren.
So there we have going from non-compliant into the stop. He got out and he ran. I'm sure the officer, every officer tells him to stop. Get on the ground. He kept running. It looks like the subject got tired, ran out of gas. And then the officer caught up to him.
And then it appeared to be that he was compliant. But again, we don't know exactly what the officer was saying. But then we see the tape again. And when the person is on the ground, we see the officer in question come up and what appears to -- kick him in the head and then also to use the flashlight as a weapon.
Now, flashlights are allowed to be used in Los Angeles. There are uses of force probably every day in every major city here in the United States where reports are made. This, you know, was seen from a helicopter shortly after 5:00 a.m. And whether it's found to be justified or not, it's not a pretty sight at all.
PHILLIPS: And you have an individual who allegedly stole a car, he's fleeing from police. Talk about the adrenaline that the police are going through. I mean you saw how many were going after him. You've really got to get that in check and sort of get a grip and then proceed with the arrest.
BROOKS: Oh, you know, you listen to a police chase on the radio. People have scanners and hear chases. You know they show chases all the time. And the cops are hopped up. I mean your adrenaline gets going. But you've got to keep that in check. I mean you're in the car, then you get out and you're running on foot. And even if you are in good shape the adrenaline is still flowing.
But as professionals, law enforcement officers have to keep that in check. And there are policies and procedures that officers have to follow once they get someone in custody or on the ground.
You have to use enough force to maintain your arrest. Whether this was enough or whether it was too much, that is going to be up to the investigators. PHILLIPS: And we saw by the later video, he's up, he's walking, the police have him in custody. We'll follow the investigation as it continues. Mike, thanks.
BROOKS: Absolutely. Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Reports of the world's fastest man using steroids are making headlines all across the sports pages. The elite athlete is Tim Montgomery. We're live in Colorado Springs with that story.
And hoping for a raise this year? Well a new survey says don't count on a big salary boost. Details in biz headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A muscle bound German boy is creating quite a buzz in the world of science. The 5-year-old's upper legs and arms are twice the size of other kids his age. Doctors say that's because his body does not produce the protein myostatin which limits muscle development.
Now the boy, whose mother is a professional athlete in Germany, has a number of unusually strong relatives. And his genetic make up could help doctors find treatments now for muscle robbing disorders such as muscular dystrophy.
WHITFIELD: Maybe even makings of another great athlete.
Well publicly, track supper star Tim Montgomery denies using performance enhancing drugs. But according to a report in today's "San Francisco Chronicle," Montgomery admitted to using banned substances when he testified before a grand jury last year. CNN's Josie Burke has more on this and what it could mean for Montgomery and the upcoming games.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it was very interesting. "The San Francisco Chronicle" has been very aggressively pursuing this story. And they reported in their edition today that they got a hold of that grand jury testimony when Tim Montgomery testified last November.
And they say that he said in that testimony that he used human growth hormone, which is banned, you're not allowed to use that, it's a performance enhancing substance. And that he also used something that he called "the clear" that he did not believe was an illegal steroid, but it is something that has been identified now as THG.
And he said he got it from Victor Conti. And Conti, you might recall, has been charged with federal drug charges. He was indicted back in February -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: But the investigation is now taking a turn. And, Josie, can that testimony from that grand jury appearance be used against him? BURKE: Well, this will be very interesting, Fredricka because the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the agency that has said it's looking to ban Tim Montgomery for drug violations, has not had access to this grand jury testimony. USADA has gotten some of the evidence that was used in the investigation.
But again, they haven't had this exact testimony. So it will be interesting to see how this transpires over the next couple of weeks because Montgomery has gotten a letter that says he is going to be banned or suspended possibly for life. He has now a couple of options. One of them is to appeal to a United States arbitration panel. Another is to go to a world sport arbitration panel.
That's something we'll be looking for in the coming days, his decision, what he's going to do.
WHITFIELD: And apparently he has to respond by Monday in fact. And is there any chance that perhaps whether his testimony is used or perhaps whatever new choice words he may have that perhaps he may be implicating anyone else? Any other high-profile athletes?
BURKE: Well, again, that grand jury testimony that was obtained by "The San Francisco Chronicle," they say that in that he said that he heard that Barry Bonds, the baseball super star, had gotten steroids from Victor Conti.
Now, again, this is secondhand. He didn't say that he knew himself that this had happened. But he said that he had heard that Bonds, who also testified before the grand jury, had gotten steroids. Barry Bonds has for years now denied that he has ever used performance enhancing drugs.
WHITFIELD: He's a boyfriend of another star athlete who is suddenly in the spotlight, Marion Jones. What might this mean for her?
BURKE: Who knows at this point. The grand jury testimony that was obtained and that "The Chronicle" was reporting on, it said that Montgomery was not asked directly whether Marion Jones had used performance enhancing drugs.
But it did say in that he testimony according to "The Chronicle" that Montgomery at one point warned Jones about her track coach because Montgomery said that he had worked with this track coach. He knew the that track coach had given steroids to other athletes. And he wanted to make sure that she knew that.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josie Burke from Colorado Springs. Thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: The NBA's next big stars could be tapped in just a few hours from now. Who will be the next Kevin Garnett or LeBron James? We'll have that next.
WHITFIELD: And is your boss watching CNN right now? We've got a story about salaries and getting a raise. Maybe it will offer some tips or ideas. Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well in sports the NBA Draft is tonight. The full court press is on for the No. 1 pick which might be Atlanta Prep star Dwight Howard. And that's reviving the debate over high schoolers entering the NBA draft. CNN's Matt Morrison with more on going from varsity to pro.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT MORRISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are some of the biggest stars the NBA has to offer. And they all came into the league straight out of high school. It's their success which led a record nine high schoolers to declare themselves eligible for Thursday's draft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never under estimate us. I mean they underestimated Kobe. Now he's one of the greatest players in the NBA. And hopefully that's what I can do.
J.R. SMITH, ST, BENEDICT'S PREP: The people who went to the NBA out of high school have persevered. And they had the drive to go on. So if I just have that drive and that will to want to be the greatest, then I think I'll succeed.
MORRISON: But not all high school players do succeed. For every Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant there is a Corleone Young or Lenny Cooke, players who didn't make a team or were never even drafted. So should the NBA like the NFL have an age limit? The debate rages.
BILLY HUNTER, PRES., NATL. BASKETBALL PLAYERS ASSOC.: I can't think of any other sport other than basketball where you hear all this uproar about age.
You know, I'm looking at -- what is the little girl's name, Michelle Wie? She's 14 years of age. Everybody's encouraging her to turn pro as a golfer. I don't hear any great outcry about her. So why should I stop a kid like LeBron James or these other kids who are coming in?
DOC RIVERS, CELTICS HEAD COACH: Most of these high school kids who come out turn out to be excellent players. I just wish they would go to college for two years and mature as people. I think that's more important.
MORRISON: Of the nine high schoolers entered in this year's draft, eight are expected to be picked in the first round which comes with a guaranteed three-year contract worth millions. But signing that contract is just the beginning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I talked to a lot of people. I also talked to Michael Jordan. He said one thing that's going to happen is everybody's going to try to beat me up. And everybody wants a piece of the young me.
So it's going to be some tough times but I will press through.
MORRISON: The road to NBA stardom has only just begun.
Matt Morrison, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: What's the future of boldly going where no man or woman has gone before?
WHITFIELD: A recent private flight into space raises some questions about American interstellar exploration. Our own Miles O'Brien sat down with NASA's administrator to talk about the future of the space race and NASA's role in all of it.
PHILLIPS: Speaking of rolls, this guy is definitely on a roll. Find out what all the tossing and turning is about as CNN rolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: From the barrio to Hollywood, gang members in Los Angeles who live the street life are turning their lives around through acting. CNN's Aaron Brown has a story now of Suspect Entertainment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is one of the grittiest and most dangerous parts of Los Angeles, where barbed wire and graffiti are the norm, not the exception, a perfect place for trouble and perfect, too, it turns out for Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, suck it in.
BROWN: You're looking at the latest bunch of wanna-bes in Hollywood, each of them former gang members from East L.A., with their tattoos, many with criminal records and so far enjoying a good deal of success in their new chosen profession.
EDWARD MEZA, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: This is a big light, a big opening on the other end, to be honest with you. A lot of guys don't make it out of the neighborhood. A lot of guys are still caught up. A lot of guys don't ever leave, you know what I mean? And for me, this is a complete door open that I can provide for my family now. I can let something occur better and positive in my life now.
BROWN: From big-time Hollywood movies such as "Training Day" to dozens of television episodes in shows like "The Shield," these men and women have found a niche in today's entertainment industry.
They are all actors and extras working for a new company called Suspect Entertainment, a company that was started three years ago by another former gang member, Manuel Jimenez. MANUEL JIMENEZ, PRESIDENT, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: There have been small parts, but on big movies, you know what I mean, and then bigger parts in independent movies, which is cool because they're learning.
BROWN: Learning, he says, to shun gang life, just as he did a half dozen years ago.
SHIRLEY MACDONALD, ATTORNEY: He's very intelligent and at one point in his life he made the decision to steer that intelligence to something other than crime.
BROWN: Shirley McDonald represented Manny Jimenez when he was accused of a brutal home invasion. She established that police had arrested the wrong man.
MACDONALD: Just prior to going into that preliminary hearing, I had said to Manuel, if you get out of this, it is going to be a miracle. And that's why he thinks of it as a miracle, just because of that statement I made.
JIMENEZ: That was kind of like, man, this is real. You know what I mean? This ain't no joke. You know what I mean? I'm involved in something really deep.
BROWN: So he and a few friends got out, he says, into a line of work where acting tough means a lot more than actually being tough.
JESSE ACOSTA, CO-FOUNDER, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: It was kind of unexpected. So we continued that. And knowing that there is a legitimate way to make money out of doing it and to provide something that Hollywood needs and wants and something that we can supply, and not only that, but give these ex-criminals or ex-gangsters, reformed gang members a chance to legitimize what they're doing.
BROWN: Nobody at Suspect Entertainment is rich yet, though, of course, they all want to be. But they say the gang life is behind them now, behind them for good.
FRANK ALVAREZ, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: We love, you know, playing bad guys on TV and, you know, still having that rush of shooting guns and all that stuff. And I feel that we know we're doing it for fun, we're getting paid and we go home.
BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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Aired June 24, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM... I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour. Show of force. A police chase ends in a capture. but the cameras capture an officer hitting a suspect several times. Did he go too far? We're going to talk about it. An investigation is under way.
WHITFIELD: And an investigation of Olympic proportions in to whether one of America's top track stars used banned drugs. A live report on some new developments in that story coming up this half hour.
Back now to our top story, that deadly wave of attacks across Iraq. Iraq's incoming prime minister warns the worst may be yet to come after explosions, ambushes and fighting across five major cities in that country.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated himself at a checkpoint killing several people. The attacks all occurred almost simultaneously. But it's not clear if they were coordinated.
Huge explosions rocked Mosul which had the highest number of casualties there; 65 people in that town alone were killed after explosions rocked several police stations and a curfew has been imposed.
Some of the heaviest fighting was in Baqubah where attackers went after police and government buildings. Two American troops were among the dead. In all, involving all of those cities, three U.S. forces were killed today and 89 Iraqis.
Police and the government were again targeted in Ramada. The city is considered an insurgent stronghold and a hotbed of anti- American activity.
Elsewhere in the Sunni Triangle U.S. forces ordered an air strike around factional after clashes between insurgents and Marines. A U.S. Cobra helicopter gunship was forced down during the fighting, but no one was reported hurt. On an Islamic Web site followers of militant Abu Mubarak al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for most of those attacks.
Zarqawi's wife is reportedly saying her husband is innocent. Omm Mohammed says there no way her husband could be a terrorist. Her words from an interview in a Jordanian newspaper. She says her husband would not kill women and children and is a friendly and good man. Zarqawi's wife said she has not heard from her husband since he left Jordan for Afghanistan back in 1999.
PHILLIPS: Yet another investigation involving the Los Angeles Police Department. An LAPD officer is caught on camera repeatedly striking an unarmed man with a flashlight. This man allegedly -- there were reports that he had stolen a car. Well the Los Angeles mayor is now expressing his outrage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JAMES HAHN, LOS ANGELES: I saw what you saw on that videotape. And it upset me. Made me angry.
We had thought we had worked very hard after the Rodney King incident, after the Christopher Commission, after we worked to worked to work out a consent decree with the Department of Justice that we were on the road to reform, a department that would respect the community that it's charged with protecting.
What I saw jeopardizes the work that we have done to try to build that bond of trust between the department and the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Federal and state authorities are investigating the latest incident. CNN's Mike Brooks is a criminal justice veteran. Also serves as a law enforcement analyst for network right now.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the video. And from your background as law enforcement officer, tell us what happened.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well the use of force, whether it's justified or not justified, is not pretty. Here we see the officer -- he seemed to be complying. The officer told him to get on the ground. Looks to be getting on the ground, he gets one arm behind.
Then you see another officer come up and what appears to kick him in the head and then pull out what appears to be a flashlight and we see him striking the subject a number of times.
Most departments have policies and procedures in place for use of force, arrest procedures. But these has to be consistent. They're taught in the academy. And from what I'm hearing is these were veteran officers, there were no rookies here that were on this scene.
But it has to be taught consistently in the academy and the also they get out, in service training. And officers have to be remind of arrest procedures, what the proper procedures are. And most departments will have a use of force continuum. The use of force consistent with the threat that's presented.
Now was there a threat presented here? We don't know. We're also not hearing exactly what the officers told this man when he was stopped. He got out and he ran after a chase. And we don't know if he was compliant. It appeared that he was compliant. But again, Kyra, we weren't there on the scene, we don't know. That's why there's an investigation going on right now.
And we see afterwards them bringing the man to his feet. And we see him walking back to where the police cruisers are.
PHILLIPS: All right, so two quick questions. As the chase was going down, he appeared to be compliant, hands were up, he went down. So in this type of situation, how are police going to analyze this tape? Is it frame by frame to indeed see if he was not being compliant and therefore the officer took the flashlight and...
BROOKS: We started off -- he wasn't compliant. If he had been compliant he would have pulled over when the turned on his lights and siren.
So there we have going from non-compliant into the stop. He got out and he ran. I'm sure the officer, every officer tells him to stop. Get on the ground. He kept running. It looks like the subject got tired, ran out of gas. And then the officer caught up to him.
And then it appeared to be that he was compliant. But again, we don't know exactly what the officer was saying. But then we see the tape again. And when the person is on the ground, we see the officer in question come up and what appears to -- kick him in the head and then also to use the flashlight as a weapon.
Now, flashlights are allowed to be used in Los Angeles. There are uses of force probably every day in every major city here in the United States where reports are made. This, you know, was seen from a helicopter shortly after 5:00 a.m. And whether it's found to be justified or not, it's not a pretty sight at all.
PHILLIPS: And you have an individual who allegedly stole a car, he's fleeing from police. Talk about the adrenaline that the police are going through. I mean you saw how many were going after him. You've really got to get that in check and sort of get a grip and then proceed with the arrest.
BROOKS: Oh, you know, you listen to a police chase on the radio. People have scanners and hear chases. You know they show chases all the time. And the cops are hopped up. I mean your adrenaline gets going. But you've got to keep that in check. I mean you're in the car, then you get out and you're running on foot. And even if you are in good shape the adrenaline is still flowing.
But as professionals, law enforcement officers have to keep that in check. And there are policies and procedures that officers have to follow once they get someone in custody or on the ground.
You have to use enough force to maintain your arrest. Whether this was enough or whether it was too much, that is going to be up to the investigators. PHILLIPS: And we saw by the later video, he's up, he's walking, the police have him in custody. We'll follow the investigation as it continues. Mike, thanks.
BROOKS: Absolutely. Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Reports of the world's fastest man using steroids are making headlines all across the sports pages. The elite athlete is Tim Montgomery. We're live in Colorado Springs with that story.
And hoping for a raise this year? Well a new survey says don't count on a big salary boost. Details in biz headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A muscle bound German boy is creating quite a buzz in the world of science. The 5-year-old's upper legs and arms are twice the size of other kids his age. Doctors say that's because his body does not produce the protein myostatin which limits muscle development.
Now the boy, whose mother is a professional athlete in Germany, has a number of unusually strong relatives. And his genetic make up could help doctors find treatments now for muscle robbing disorders such as muscular dystrophy.
WHITFIELD: Maybe even makings of another great athlete.
Well publicly, track supper star Tim Montgomery denies using performance enhancing drugs. But according to a report in today's "San Francisco Chronicle," Montgomery admitted to using banned substances when he testified before a grand jury last year. CNN's Josie Burke has more on this and what it could mean for Montgomery and the upcoming games.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it was very interesting. "The San Francisco Chronicle" has been very aggressively pursuing this story. And they reported in their edition today that they got a hold of that grand jury testimony when Tim Montgomery testified last November.
And they say that he said in that testimony that he used human growth hormone, which is banned, you're not allowed to use that, it's a performance enhancing substance. And that he also used something that he called "the clear" that he did not believe was an illegal steroid, but it is something that has been identified now as THG.
And he said he got it from Victor Conti. And Conti, you might recall, has been charged with federal drug charges. He was indicted back in February -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: But the investigation is now taking a turn. And, Josie, can that testimony from that grand jury appearance be used against him? BURKE: Well, this will be very interesting, Fredricka because the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the agency that has said it's looking to ban Tim Montgomery for drug violations, has not had access to this grand jury testimony. USADA has gotten some of the evidence that was used in the investigation.
But again, they haven't had this exact testimony. So it will be interesting to see how this transpires over the next couple of weeks because Montgomery has gotten a letter that says he is going to be banned or suspended possibly for life. He has now a couple of options. One of them is to appeal to a United States arbitration panel. Another is to go to a world sport arbitration panel.
That's something we'll be looking for in the coming days, his decision, what he's going to do.
WHITFIELD: And apparently he has to respond by Monday in fact. And is there any chance that perhaps whether his testimony is used or perhaps whatever new choice words he may have that perhaps he may be implicating anyone else? Any other high-profile athletes?
BURKE: Well, again, that grand jury testimony that was obtained by "The San Francisco Chronicle," they say that in that he said that he heard that Barry Bonds, the baseball super star, had gotten steroids from Victor Conti.
Now, again, this is secondhand. He didn't say that he knew himself that this had happened. But he said that he had heard that Bonds, who also testified before the grand jury, had gotten steroids. Barry Bonds has for years now denied that he has ever used performance enhancing drugs.
WHITFIELD: He's a boyfriend of another star athlete who is suddenly in the spotlight, Marion Jones. What might this mean for her?
BURKE: Who knows at this point. The grand jury testimony that was obtained and that "The Chronicle" was reporting on, it said that Montgomery was not asked directly whether Marion Jones had used performance enhancing drugs.
But it did say in that he testimony according to "The Chronicle" that Montgomery at one point warned Jones about her track coach because Montgomery said that he had worked with this track coach. He knew the that track coach had given steroids to other athletes. And he wanted to make sure that she knew that.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josie Burke from Colorado Springs. Thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: The NBA's next big stars could be tapped in just a few hours from now. Who will be the next Kevin Garnett or LeBron James? We'll have that next.
WHITFIELD: And is your boss watching CNN right now? We've got a story about salaries and getting a raise. Maybe it will offer some tips or ideas. Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well in sports the NBA Draft is tonight. The full court press is on for the No. 1 pick which might be Atlanta Prep star Dwight Howard. And that's reviving the debate over high schoolers entering the NBA draft. CNN's Matt Morrison with more on going from varsity to pro.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT MORRISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are some of the biggest stars the NBA has to offer. And they all came into the league straight out of high school. It's their success which led a record nine high schoolers to declare themselves eligible for Thursday's draft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never under estimate us. I mean they underestimated Kobe. Now he's one of the greatest players in the NBA. And hopefully that's what I can do.
J.R. SMITH, ST, BENEDICT'S PREP: The people who went to the NBA out of high school have persevered. And they had the drive to go on. So if I just have that drive and that will to want to be the greatest, then I think I'll succeed.
MORRISON: But not all high school players do succeed. For every Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant there is a Corleone Young or Lenny Cooke, players who didn't make a team or were never even drafted. So should the NBA like the NFL have an age limit? The debate rages.
BILLY HUNTER, PRES., NATL. BASKETBALL PLAYERS ASSOC.: I can't think of any other sport other than basketball where you hear all this uproar about age.
You know, I'm looking at -- what is the little girl's name, Michelle Wie? She's 14 years of age. Everybody's encouraging her to turn pro as a golfer. I don't hear any great outcry about her. So why should I stop a kid like LeBron James or these other kids who are coming in?
DOC RIVERS, CELTICS HEAD COACH: Most of these high school kids who come out turn out to be excellent players. I just wish they would go to college for two years and mature as people. I think that's more important.
MORRISON: Of the nine high schoolers entered in this year's draft, eight are expected to be picked in the first round which comes with a guaranteed three-year contract worth millions. But signing that contract is just the beginning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I talked to a lot of people. I also talked to Michael Jordan. He said one thing that's going to happen is everybody's going to try to beat me up. And everybody wants a piece of the young me.
So it's going to be some tough times but I will press through.
MORRISON: The road to NBA stardom has only just begun.
Matt Morrison, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: What's the future of boldly going where no man or woman has gone before?
WHITFIELD: A recent private flight into space raises some questions about American interstellar exploration. Our own Miles O'Brien sat down with NASA's administrator to talk about the future of the space race and NASA's role in all of it.
PHILLIPS: Speaking of rolls, this guy is definitely on a roll. Find out what all the tossing and turning is about as CNN rolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: From the barrio to Hollywood, gang members in Los Angeles who live the street life are turning their lives around through acting. CNN's Aaron Brown has a story now of Suspect Entertainment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is one of the grittiest and most dangerous parts of Los Angeles, where barbed wire and graffiti are the norm, not the exception, a perfect place for trouble and perfect, too, it turns out for Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, suck it in.
BROWN: You're looking at the latest bunch of wanna-bes in Hollywood, each of them former gang members from East L.A., with their tattoos, many with criminal records and so far enjoying a good deal of success in their new chosen profession.
EDWARD MEZA, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: This is a big light, a big opening on the other end, to be honest with you. A lot of guys don't make it out of the neighborhood. A lot of guys are still caught up. A lot of guys don't ever leave, you know what I mean? And for me, this is a complete door open that I can provide for my family now. I can let something occur better and positive in my life now.
BROWN: From big-time Hollywood movies such as "Training Day" to dozens of television episodes in shows like "The Shield," these men and women have found a niche in today's entertainment industry.
They are all actors and extras working for a new company called Suspect Entertainment, a company that was started three years ago by another former gang member, Manuel Jimenez. MANUEL JIMENEZ, PRESIDENT, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: There have been small parts, but on big movies, you know what I mean, and then bigger parts in independent movies, which is cool because they're learning.
BROWN: Learning, he says, to shun gang life, just as he did a half dozen years ago.
SHIRLEY MACDONALD, ATTORNEY: He's very intelligent and at one point in his life he made the decision to steer that intelligence to something other than crime.
BROWN: Shirley McDonald represented Manny Jimenez when he was accused of a brutal home invasion. She established that police had arrested the wrong man.
MACDONALD: Just prior to going into that preliminary hearing, I had said to Manuel, if you get out of this, it is going to be a miracle. And that's why he thinks of it as a miracle, just because of that statement I made.
JIMENEZ: That was kind of like, man, this is real. You know what I mean? This ain't no joke. You know what I mean? I'm involved in something really deep.
BROWN: So he and a few friends got out, he says, into a line of work where acting tough means a lot more than actually being tough.
JESSE ACOSTA, CO-FOUNDER, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: It was kind of unexpected. So we continued that. And knowing that there is a legitimate way to make money out of doing it and to provide something that Hollywood needs and wants and something that we can supply, and not only that, but give these ex-criminals or ex-gangsters, reformed gang members a chance to legitimize what they're doing.
BROWN: Nobody at Suspect Entertainment is rich yet, though, of course, they all want to be. But they say the gang life is behind them now, behind them for good.
FRANK ALVAREZ, SUSPECT ENTERTAINMENT: We love, you know, playing bad guys on TV and, you know, still having that rush of shooting guns and all that stuff. And I feel that we know we're doing it for fun, we're getting paid and we go home.
BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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