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Peterson Jury Deliberates; Catholic Church Cover-up?

Aired December 10, 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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All legal eyes on Redwood City, California.
Rusty Dornin joins us with the latest in the penalty phase deliberations in the Scott Peterson trial.

Do you think we will go home early or be here all night, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really hard to say, most here feeling that there will be a verdict today.

We've really been on pins and needles this morning for any sign of activity people get a little excited about. In fact, the judge came in to certify the record and there was a bit of a buzz, because that is what happened last time. He said he was only going to certify the record. And then he said, by the way, we have reached a verdict in this case. So did have a packed courtroom in there.

However, they just certified the record and he said they are hard at work. They hadn't heard a word from the juror. We just heard that they are at lunch. They're going to be there for about an hour before resuming deliberations. Meantime, here at the courthouse, a couple hundred journalists here milling around, a lot of court watchers.

I have noticed more and more people are coming to the courthouse to just see if the verdict is going to happen today or not. So, basically, Kyra, we're just watching and waiting.

PHILLIPS: All right, we're watching and waiting, too. We'll check in with you. Rusty Dornin, thanks so much -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It was just a week ago that CNN broke the news that the Diocese of Orange County, California, had agreed to pay $100 million to victims of sexual abuse by priests. It was the largest civil settlement paid so far by the Catholic Church to settle abuse cases. Several more lawsuits against the church are set to begin trial shortly in California, only a fraction of those pending.

Now, as CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin tell us, the head of the largest archdiocese in the U.S. finds himself defending the church against accusations it covered up child molestation by priests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His story has not been told for 23 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked and he's coming back.

GRIFFIN: He was just 16 at the time from the Philippines living in Stockton, California. He wanted to improve his English. His mother thought a Catholic priest would be a good tutor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So then Father O'Grady...

GRIFFIN: But Father Oliver O'Grady, it turns out, had more in mind than tutoring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's touching me and fondling me and he was touching my private area.

GRIFFIN: It is a story told again and again by those accusing clergy of sexual abuse. What makes this account different is that he says he has told the awful story before in 1981 right after he says he was molested by Father O'Grady. He says he told his mother, told a local Filipino priest and then went directly to the bishop of Stockton and told him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then we went to this office there to meet Father Mahony.

GRIFFIN: Father Roger Mahony, then Bishop of Stockton, the same Roger Mahony who is now cardinal of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father Mahony sat down on the chair, sat down and looked at me and he asked me directly if anybody else knows about this. He asked me, Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure nobody else know about this?

GRIFFIN: Thursday morning, Cardinal Roger Mahony sat down in his Los Angeles residence with CNN and said he does not believe the victim's story.

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, LOS ANGELES ARCHDIOCESE: As far as I know it didn't happen. I'd remember. I would have acted on it like I did act on another case that same year. So, to have someone tell me that with his mother present and not do anything about it is contradictory.

GRIFFIN: But this accuser says he remembers the meeting with Mahony in detail, including repeated questions about whether authorities were told.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you report it to the police or did you tell anyone or your teacher at school, all right? He didn't ask if I was OK. I thought he was going to take a type of action. When he told me that he will investigate it, I kind of feel kind of a sense of relief.

GRIFFIN: Father Oliver O'Grady remained a priest and, in 1985, was promoted by Mahony to pastor, continued to seek out young boys and even young girls, molest them and move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict? GRIFFIN: In 1993, Father Oliver O'Grady pled guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with other children. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After serving seven years, he was deported to Ireland.

O'Grady told CNN he does not recall the case of the young Filipino boy. Roger Mahony went on to become cardinal of the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States and investigators say continued to cover up and deny any involvement in a huge sex abuse scandal growing inside his church.

BILL HODGMAN, LOS ANGELES DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was staggering to me, to my investigators. Quite frankly we were overwhelmed in the initial months of pursuing this investigation.

GRIFFIN: Bill Hodgman heads the sex crimes division for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. For the past two and a half years he has investigated 100 allegations of priests abusing children and an archdiocese he says that has been trying to keep it a secret.

HODGMAN: There is a generalized sense that has been reflected back to me by many of a feeling that there has been concealment and cover-up here in the County of Los Angeles by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

GRIFFIN: Investigators say one of the most notorious examples of cover-up by the archdiocese involves another former priest Kevin Barmasse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that you molested them, is that true? Kevin, is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the church itself was down through there. That used to be like...

GRIFFIN: Michael Moylan moved with his family from the Midwest to Tucson, Arizona in 1986. He was a high school junior.

MICHAEL MOYLAN, ALLEGED ABUSE VICTIM: This was the rectory right. This is where the priests lived.

GRIFFIN: The family was Catholic. The children were in need of new friends. The solution was to find a church.

MOYLAN: And Father Kevin Barmasse was the associate pastor up there and he was in charge of the youth group.

GRIFFIN (on camera): At the time, Michael Moylan thought Barmasse was his new best friend. Looking back now do you feel like you were being reeled in by a real predator?

MOYLAN: Oh, definitely, definitely. Yes, he -- he knew enough about us as kids and our weaknesses, you know. He knew how Catholic I was, so yes, he was very skilled, you know. He -- he knew exactly what he was looking for and what he was doing, reeled us in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think strung along is a better term.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Their accounts are almost identical. He got you drunk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, he did.

MOYLAN: He sexually assaulted me, yes. That's difficult to talk about still.

GRIFFIN: The archdiocese itself has acknowledged that six other credible victims have come forward to also identify Kevin Barmasse as a pedophile and the church now admits it had a problem with this priest from day one.

In 1983, shortly after Barmasse's ordination, police in Los Angeles were brought in to investigate claims by a young boy that Barmasse had abused him. According to the Los Angeles and Tucson diocese the parents were told Father Barmasse would get treatment so he would not hurt other children.

(on camera): But that's not the way it turned out. While Barmasse did receive some treatment, the Los Angeles Archdiocese shipped its problem priest to Tucson, Arizona.

(voice-over): Roger Mahony was not in Los Angeles when the Barmasse deal was made but for years after being dispatched to Tucson, Barmasse would petition the cardinal asking he be allowed to return to Los Angeles. Each time the cardinal wouldn't allow it unless Barmasse received further treatment.

MAHONY: When he asked to come back her I said no because the family doesn't want that.

GRIFFIN (on camera): At any time, I mean you must have been aware of this person's past, were you concerned that he was in Tucson with little or no restrictions, in fact in charge of several youth groups?

MAHONY: Well, again, I don't think I ever met the man. This all was arranged before I came here. He was supposed to be seeing a doctor. We have his name in reports and the doctor was maintaining that he was doing well in treatment there.

So, again, that was the protocol of the '80s. You're talking about the '80s. That's where he was and that's the treatment he was receiving. Today, 2004, he'd be out of ministry immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles we now know knew about him and rather than having him prosecuted in Los Angeles, shipped him here without missing a beat. He walked right into a parish, right into the youth group, right into many people's lives, many children's lives and from there he was moved again and moved again and he was allowed to hurt many people. GRIFFIN: This past February, Cardinal Mahony issued a report to his faithful on more than seven decades of clergy abuse in Los Angeles. Mahony cited the church's misunderstanding of the nature of the problem and explained that pedophilia had been wrongly regarded as a moral weakness and a sin. He did not believe offenders, once confronted, would offend again. He admits it was a mistake.

The report also calls for openness but prosecutor Bill Hodgman says the archdiocese has been anything but, fighting subpoenas and refusing to hand over potential evidence. The archdiocese says that's because their counseling of priests must remain private to be effective.

Hodgman says the number of cases involving priests and sexual abuse continues to grow. He is now trying to determine if all these cases add up to evidence of a larger crime of conspiracy to deceive.

HODGMAN: We will go where the evidence takes us. We are still actively gathering evidence at this time and, indeed, we will go where the evidence takes us. No one in this county is above the law and that includes Cardinal Mahony.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So far, no charges have been filed against Cardinal Roger Mahony but his involvement in several high profile cases have brought him in direct contact with priest after accused priest in which little or no action was taken to prevent further abuse.

(voice-over): According to the L.A. Archdiocese in 1986 Father Michael Baker confessed to Cardinal Mahony that he had abused two young boys. He was not removed until a total of 23 alleged victims came forward.

In 1987, the archdiocese received a report that Father Michael Wempe was accused of abusing children. He was sent for psychiatric treatment but remained a priest until 2002.

Father Carl Sutphin was first accused in 1991. He remained a priest for 11 more years. His alleged victims now number 18.

(on camera): All these people were known to the archdiocese and many known to Cardinal Mahony as well as having a problem with sexually molesting and yet I can't think of one of those cases where the cardinal or the archdiocese came to the police and basically turned them in, is that correct?

HODGMAN: I think the record speaks for itself.

FRANK KEATING, FMR. OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: Los Angeles has been a disappointment to me because I'm afraid they are thinking out there, and I include Cardinal Mahony in this category, more with their pocketbooks than their hearts, more with their heads than their hearts.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In 2002, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops asked former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating to head a national review board to scrutinize the Catholic Church, hold bishops accountable, and guide the church in how to prevent, report, and disclose sexual abuse.

Keating resigned after making critical comments about how some diocese, including Los Angeles, were and continue to be less than open with the public and less than honest with themselves.

KEATING: If you take the position that you won't get anything out of me without a subpoena, the suggestion is you have something to hide and for a faith institution that's a terrible suggestion.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You, as a man of God, and answering to a much higher calling than a district attorney or a former governor of Oklahoma, I guess their feeling is and the feeling of some of the victims are, too, who cares about all these laws? Let's get this out in the open and put the sexual crisis behind the Catholic Church. I mean it does appear to them that there's something to hide.

MAHONEY: Well, that's simply not the case but there are a lot of privileged communications in the State of California. One of them is reporters and news media or sources. That's a very highly protected -- protection that you have. There are between a husband and wife testifying against each other there are a whole list of them. Those are protected communications and so a priest talking to his bishop is a protected communication.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): This man says he had a private conversation with Roger Mahony 23 years ago. He now wants to know why Mahony protected the priest instead of the children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean how could you do that to little kids, you know, teenagers, taking their childhood. How could you do that?

GRIFFIN (on camera): Cardinal, did the archdiocese protect the priests over the children?

MAHONY: Absolutely not. That was never, never our objective at all. We were operating under the knowledge and the treatment protocols of the time doing what we thought was best at the time. We have learned with time that that was simply inadequate and now we have a zero tolerance policy and that's the way it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The man who says he reported his abuse to Mahony now has filed his own lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton, where Mahony was bishop.

PHILLIPS: If you drive a Dodge Dakota or Durango, there may be a recall soon. Details ahead.

HARRIS: Are laser beams the next terror worry for pilots? The FBI is working on it.

PHILLIPS: And the most expensive furniture every sold at auction, if you can spare a million or two. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, at first, club-goers thought the man who jumped on stage with the band Damageplan was just an excited fan or part of the show, but moments later, lead guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott had been shot at least five times in the head. And three other people had also killed. As the Ohio massacre unfolded, several people grabbed cell phones and called 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine-one-one emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at the Alrosa Villa, and there's a shooting. Someone is shooting the band on the stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone's shooting the band on the stage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the stage at the Alrosa Villa. And they're screaming, Call 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, stay on the line with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), they're still shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're still shooting. The person is still moving with the gun.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow.

Last night, about 200 people gathered for a vigil outside the club. The suspected gunman, Nathan Gale, was shot by police. And police say they may never know his motive for the rampage. Some witnesses say he was angry that Pantera, an earlier version of the band, broke up. Another friend says Gale once claimed Pantera had stolen his song lyrics.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, Dodge Durango dangerous, that's according to federal regulators, who are demanding DaimlerChrysler recall more than a half-million four-by-four Durango and Dakota trucks. At issue, ball joints the National Transportation Safety Board says are faulty. It cause the wheels to fall off. DaimlerChrysler has the next move.

Alaska's Aleutian island chain, a massive cargo ship, the engine failed. It ran aground and broke apart. Complicating matters, Coast Guard helicopters sent to save the crew crashed. Not all on board were accounted for. We are still watching it.

Federal officials now fear terrorists have looking into using lasers to bring down passenger jets. A probe was launched after a commercial pilot was temporarily blinded by a laser beam shown into the cockpit. That plane landed safely.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK, here's the deal. It's an old piece of furniture. It really is just old piece of furniture that's not your parents hand- me-down couch. This 18th century Badminton cabinet has broken its own record as the most expensive piece of furniture sold at an auction.

Christies in London sold this Italian masterpiece for more than $36 million. The Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, Austria, will put the cabinet on display to the public early next year. There it is.

PHILLIPS: A Badminton cabinet.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Don't you just want to like kick it or something just because it's so...

PHILLIPS: You kind of wonder -- but, anyway.

HARRIS: Turn the kids loose on it, something.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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 December 10, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All legal eyes on Redwood City, California.
Rusty Dornin joins us with the latest in the penalty phase deliberations in the Scott Peterson trial.

Do you think we will go home early or be here all night, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really hard to say, most here feeling that there will be a verdict today.

We've really been on pins and needles this morning for any sign of activity people get a little excited about. In fact, the judge came in to certify the record and there was a bit of a buzz, because that is what happened last time. He said he was only going to certify the record. And then he said, by the way, we have reached a verdict in this case. So did have a packed courtroom in there.

However, they just certified the record and he said they are hard at work. They hadn't heard a word from the juror. We just heard that they are at lunch. They're going to be there for about an hour before resuming deliberations. Meantime, here at the courthouse, a couple hundred journalists here milling around, a lot of court watchers.

I have noticed more and more people are coming to the courthouse to just see if the verdict is going to happen today or not. So, basically, Kyra, we're just watching and waiting.

PHILLIPS: All right, we're watching and waiting, too. We'll check in with you. Rusty Dornin, thanks so much -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It was just a week ago that CNN broke the news that the Diocese of Orange County, California, had agreed to pay $100 million to victims of sexual abuse by priests. It was the largest civil settlement paid so far by the Catholic Church to settle abuse cases. Several more lawsuits against the church are set to begin trial shortly in California, only a fraction of those pending.

Now, as CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin tell us, the head of the largest archdiocese in the U.S. finds himself defending the church against accusations it covered up child molestation by priests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His story has not been told for 23 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked and he's coming back.

GRIFFIN: He was just 16 at the time from the Philippines living in Stockton, California. He wanted to improve his English. His mother thought a Catholic priest would be a good tutor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So then Father O'Grady...

GRIFFIN: But Father Oliver O'Grady, it turns out, had more in mind than tutoring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's touching me and fondling me and he was touching my private area.

GRIFFIN: It is a story told again and again by those accusing clergy of sexual abuse. What makes this account different is that he says he has told the awful story before in 1981 right after he says he was molested by Father O'Grady. He says he told his mother, told a local Filipino priest and then went directly to the bishop of Stockton and told him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then we went to this office there to meet Father Mahony.

GRIFFIN: Father Roger Mahony, then Bishop of Stockton, the same Roger Mahony who is now cardinal of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father Mahony sat down on the chair, sat down and looked at me and he asked me directly if anybody else knows about this. He asked me, Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure nobody else know about this?

GRIFFIN: Thursday morning, Cardinal Roger Mahony sat down in his Los Angeles residence with CNN and said he does not believe the victim's story.

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, LOS ANGELES ARCHDIOCESE: As far as I know it didn't happen. I'd remember. I would have acted on it like I did act on another case that same year. So, to have someone tell me that with his mother present and not do anything about it is contradictory.

GRIFFIN: But this accuser says he remembers the meeting with Mahony in detail, including repeated questions about whether authorities were told.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you report it to the police or did you tell anyone or your teacher at school, all right? He didn't ask if I was OK. I thought he was going to take a type of action. When he told me that he will investigate it, I kind of feel kind of a sense of relief.

GRIFFIN: Father Oliver O'Grady remained a priest and, in 1985, was promoted by Mahony to pastor, continued to seek out young boys and even young girls, molest them and move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict? GRIFFIN: In 1993, Father Oliver O'Grady pled guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with other children. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After serving seven years, he was deported to Ireland.

O'Grady told CNN he does not recall the case of the young Filipino boy. Roger Mahony went on to become cardinal of the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States and investigators say continued to cover up and deny any involvement in a huge sex abuse scandal growing inside his church.

BILL HODGMAN, LOS ANGELES DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was staggering to me, to my investigators. Quite frankly we were overwhelmed in the initial months of pursuing this investigation.

GRIFFIN: Bill Hodgman heads the sex crimes division for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. For the past two and a half years he has investigated 100 allegations of priests abusing children and an archdiocese he says that has been trying to keep it a secret.

HODGMAN: There is a generalized sense that has been reflected back to me by many of a feeling that there has been concealment and cover-up here in the County of Los Angeles by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

GRIFFIN: Investigators say one of the most notorious examples of cover-up by the archdiocese involves another former priest Kevin Barmasse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that you molested them, is that true? Kevin, is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the church itself was down through there. That used to be like...

GRIFFIN: Michael Moylan moved with his family from the Midwest to Tucson, Arizona in 1986. He was a high school junior.

MICHAEL MOYLAN, ALLEGED ABUSE VICTIM: This was the rectory right. This is where the priests lived.

GRIFFIN: The family was Catholic. The children were in need of new friends. The solution was to find a church.

MOYLAN: And Father Kevin Barmasse was the associate pastor up there and he was in charge of the youth group.

GRIFFIN (on camera): At the time, Michael Moylan thought Barmasse was his new best friend. Looking back now do you feel like you were being reeled in by a real predator?

MOYLAN: Oh, definitely, definitely. Yes, he -- he knew enough about us as kids and our weaknesses, you know. He knew how Catholic I was, so yes, he was very skilled, you know. He -- he knew exactly what he was looking for and what he was doing, reeled us in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think strung along is a better term.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Their accounts are almost identical. He got you drunk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, he did.

MOYLAN: He sexually assaulted me, yes. That's difficult to talk about still.

GRIFFIN: The archdiocese itself has acknowledged that six other credible victims have come forward to also identify Kevin Barmasse as a pedophile and the church now admits it had a problem with this priest from day one.

In 1983, shortly after Barmasse's ordination, police in Los Angeles were brought in to investigate claims by a young boy that Barmasse had abused him. According to the Los Angeles and Tucson diocese the parents were told Father Barmasse would get treatment so he would not hurt other children.

(on camera): But that's not the way it turned out. While Barmasse did receive some treatment, the Los Angeles Archdiocese shipped its problem priest to Tucson, Arizona.

(voice-over): Roger Mahony was not in Los Angeles when the Barmasse deal was made but for years after being dispatched to Tucson, Barmasse would petition the cardinal asking he be allowed to return to Los Angeles. Each time the cardinal wouldn't allow it unless Barmasse received further treatment.

MAHONY: When he asked to come back her I said no because the family doesn't want that.

GRIFFIN (on camera): At any time, I mean you must have been aware of this person's past, were you concerned that he was in Tucson with little or no restrictions, in fact in charge of several youth groups?

MAHONY: Well, again, I don't think I ever met the man. This all was arranged before I came here. He was supposed to be seeing a doctor. We have his name in reports and the doctor was maintaining that he was doing well in treatment there.

So, again, that was the protocol of the '80s. You're talking about the '80s. That's where he was and that's the treatment he was receiving. Today, 2004, he'd be out of ministry immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles we now know knew about him and rather than having him prosecuted in Los Angeles, shipped him here without missing a beat. He walked right into a parish, right into the youth group, right into many people's lives, many children's lives and from there he was moved again and moved again and he was allowed to hurt many people. GRIFFIN: This past February, Cardinal Mahony issued a report to his faithful on more than seven decades of clergy abuse in Los Angeles. Mahony cited the church's misunderstanding of the nature of the problem and explained that pedophilia had been wrongly regarded as a moral weakness and a sin. He did not believe offenders, once confronted, would offend again. He admits it was a mistake.

The report also calls for openness but prosecutor Bill Hodgman says the archdiocese has been anything but, fighting subpoenas and refusing to hand over potential evidence. The archdiocese says that's because their counseling of priests must remain private to be effective.

Hodgman says the number of cases involving priests and sexual abuse continues to grow. He is now trying to determine if all these cases add up to evidence of a larger crime of conspiracy to deceive.

HODGMAN: We will go where the evidence takes us. We are still actively gathering evidence at this time and, indeed, we will go where the evidence takes us. No one in this county is above the law and that includes Cardinal Mahony.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So far, no charges have been filed against Cardinal Roger Mahony but his involvement in several high profile cases have brought him in direct contact with priest after accused priest in which little or no action was taken to prevent further abuse.

(voice-over): According to the L.A. Archdiocese in 1986 Father Michael Baker confessed to Cardinal Mahony that he had abused two young boys. He was not removed until a total of 23 alleged victims came forward.

In 1987, the archdiocese received a report that Father Michael Wempe was accused of abusing children. He was sent for psychiatric treatment but remained a priest until 2002.

Father Carl Sutphin was first accused in 1991. He remained a priest for 11 more years. His alleged victims now number 18.

(on camera): All these people were known to the archdiocese and many known to Cardinal Mahony as well as having a problem with sexually molesting and yet I can't think of one of those cases where the cardinal or the archdiocese came to the police and basically turned them in, is that correct?

HODGMAN: I think the record speaks for itself.

FRANK KEATING, FMR. OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: Los Angeles has been a disappointment to me because I'm afraid they are thinking out there, and I include Cardinal Mahony in this category, more with their pocketbooks than their hearts, more with their heads than their hearts.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In 2002, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops asked former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating to head a national review board to scrutinize the Catholic Church, hold bishops accountable, and guide the church in how to prevent, report, and disclose sexual abuse.

Keating resigned after making critical comments about how some diocese, including Los Angeles, were and continue to be less than open with the public and less than honest with themselves.

KEATING: If you take the position that you won't get anything out of me without a subpoena, the suggestion is you have something to hide and for a faith institution that's a terrible suggestion.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You, as a man of God, and answering to a much higher calling than a district attorney or a former governor of Oklahoma, I guess their feeling is and the feeling of some of the victims are, too, who cares about all these laws? Let's get this out in the open and put the sexual crisis behind the Catholic Church. I mean it does appear to them that there's something to hide.

MAHONEY: Well, that's simply not the case but there are a lot of privileged communications in the State of California. One of them is reporters and news media or sources. That's a very highly protected -- protection that you have. There are between a husband and wife testifying against each other there are a whole list of them. Those are protected communications and so a priest talking to his bishop is a protected communication.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): This man says he had a private conversation with Roger Mahony 23 years ago. He now wants to know why Mahony protected the priest instead of the children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean how could you do that to little kids, you know, teenagers, taking their childhood. How could you do that?

GRIFFIN (on camera): Cardinal, did the archdiocese protect the priests over the children?

MAHONY: Absolutely not. That was never, never our objective at all. We were operating under the knowledge and the treatment protocols of the time doing what we thought was best at the time. We have learned with time that that was simply inadequate and now we have a zero tolerance policy and that's the way it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The man who says he reported his abuse to Mahony now has filed his own lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton, where Mahony was bishop.

PHILLIPS: If you drive a Dodge Dakota or Durango, there may be a recall soon. Details ahead.

HARRIS: Are laser beams the next terror worry for pilots? The FBI is working on it.

PHILLIPS: And the most expensive furniture every sold at auction, if you can spare a million or two. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, at first, club-goers thought the man who jumped on stage with the band Damageplan was just an excited fan or part of the show, but moments later, lead guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott had been shot at least five times in the head. And three other people had also killed. As the Ohio massacre unfolded, several people grabbed cell phones and called 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine-one-one emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at the Alrosa Villa, and there's a shooting. Someone is shooting the band on the stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone's shooting the band on the stage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the stage at the Alrosa Villa. And they're screaming, Call 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, stay on the line with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), they're still shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're still shooting. The person is still moving with the gun.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow.

Last night, about 200 people gathered for a vigil outside the club. The suspected gunman, Nathan Gale, was shot by police. And police say they may never know his motive for the rampage. Some witnesses say he was angry that Pantera, an earlier version of the band, broke up. Another friend says Gale once claimed Pantera had stolen his song lyrics.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, Dodge Durango dangerous, that's according to federal regulators, who are demanding DaimlerChrysler recall more than a half-million four-by-four Durango and Dakota trucks. At issue, ball joints the National Transportation Safety Board says are faulty. It cause the wheels to fall off. DaimlerChrysler has the next move.

Alaska's Aleutian island chain, a massive cargo ship, the engine failed. It ran aground and broke apart. Complicating matters, Coast Guard helicopters sent to save the crew crashed. Not all on board were accounted for. We are still watching it.

Federal officials now fear terrorists have looking into using lasers to bring down passenger jets. A probe was launched after a commercial pilot was temporarily blinded by a laser beam shown into the cockpit. That plane landed safely.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK, here's the deal. It's an old piece of furniture. It really is just old piece of furniture that's not your parents hand- me-down couch. This 18th century Badminton cabinet has broken its own record as the most expensive piece of furniture sold at an auction.

Christies in London sold this Italian masterpiece for more than $36 million. The Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, Austria, will put the cabinet on display to the public early next year. There it is.

PHILLIPS: A Badminton cabinet.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Don't you just want to like kick it or something just because it's so...

PHILLIPS: You kind of wonder -- but, anyway.

HARRIS: Turn the kids loose on it, something.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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