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Lawyer on Trial; Baby Got Backlash?

Aired January 12, 2005 - 13:30   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said today there's no credible evidence linking the events to terrorist. He blames a few irresponsible people, using laser pens and these pointers used to point out constellations. Probably more than a few though. But even those low-intensity lasers can temporarily blind a pilot, much like getting a flash bulb in your face. It could, theoretically -- theoretically, remotely, cause an accident.
Now as of January 19th, pilots will be required to report laser incidents immediately to air-traffic controllers. Controllers will alert other pilot, contact local police, so suspects can be tracked down and cost. Mineta says any such cases will be aggressively prosecuted. So be careful when you're showing your kid Orion's Belt.

Meanwhile, the outgoing head of homeland security points a finger at U.S. passports and says fingerprints should be an added requirement. Tom Ridge noted that the U.S. currently requires that citizens of 27 other countries be photographed and fingerprinted when they arrive in this country, including citizens of countries that are U.S. allies. He noted, "It's a lot easier to negotiate with your allies if you've already done what you're asking them to do." Critics who oppose the measure say it's a potential violation of privacy rights.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, before Osama bin Laden -- before al Qaeda, America's No. 1 terrorist enemy was a blind Egyptian shaikh named Omar Abdel Rahman. His followers bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and planned other attacks that were thwarted. Rahman is now serving a life sentence, but the attorney who defended him 10 years ago is now defending herself against charges that she, too, is a terrorist.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more on the case as it goes to a jury.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors consider the radical Egyptian cleric Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman so dangerous they wanted him to disappear. After he was found guilty in 1995 of plotting to blow up New York bridges, tunnels and landmarks, Rahman was locked away in solitary confinement. He was banned from communicating with anyone, except his immediate family and his lawyer, civil rights attorney Lynn Stewart. Now it's Stewart who is on trial.

LYNNE STEWART, ATTORNEY ON TRIAL: The notion that the -- in these cases, the lawyer becomes the defendant. Now that didn't happen when people defend the mob, or drug dealers or even, you know, Nazi war criminals.

FEYERICK: Stewart's alleged crime. In June 2000, she visited Rahman in prison. Afterwards, she issued a statement on his behalf, saying Rahman was withdrawing his support for a cease-fire between his militant Islamic followers and the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors say by publicizing Rahman's message, Stewart deliberately broke prison rules. They say it amounted to a jailbreak, describing Rahman's words as more dangerous than weapons.

Stewart denied any link to violence, saying she only wanted to keep her client in the public eye.

STEWART: If he had said to me, I want you to tell them that the blood shall flow, and you must attack them and all -- I would not have delivered that message.

FEYERICK: But that's just what prosecutors feared might happen. In 1997, Rahman followers opened fire on tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 58. There's no evidence that the later prison message triggered any other attacks. Legal scholars say that's not the point.

DAN RICHMAN, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: She's not charged with conspiring to murder. She's charged with making somebody available to a terrorist enterprise. That's what she did. And the fact there were no grievous consequences from that action really is not a part of the legal, and to my mind, even the moral analysis.

FEYERICK: More troubling to some defense lawyers videotapes of prison meetings between Rahman and his lawyers, made with a court order, but without Stewart's knowledge.

STEWART: It's one of the sacred precincts of the law, you know, that your client should feel absolutely free to tell you whatever he needs to tell you, and that you should be free to give whatever advice you think you need to give.

FEYERICK (on camera): Stewart lost the fight to keep the tapes from being shown to a jury. She faces up to 20 years in prison. And says if she is convicted, it will have a chilling effect on all defense lawyers and who they choose to represent.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information, day and night.

O'BRIEN: Topping the news at this half hour, federal sentencing guidelines getting a fresh look. The U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that judges through the years have been adding time to sentences improperly. We expect Justice Department officials to issue a formal response today, detailing how the sentencing system will, in fact, be overhauled. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought somebody got struck by lightning or a car wreck, because it was just all of a sudden, it was just bam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: One of many witnesses who could only watch, horrified, when the pilot of a small plane with engine failure tried to set it down on a golf course in Orlando. It didn't go so well. The plane hit power wire and a pole. Two men on board, one of them killed.

And Bob Marley's widow says she'll celebrate what would have been her husband's 60th birthday by fulfilling what she calls her mission. Rita Marley plans to exhume the reggae great's body in Jamaica and see that it is reburied in Africa. She says that's his spiritual resting place. Bob Marley died in 1981.

There's no doubt the market continues to grow for rap and hip-hop music, but along with the increasing popularity has come an increasing trend of pushing the boundaries, especially when it comes to sex and the depiction of women.

Well, if you think some of the lyrics are raw, the videos are even more graphic. And a number of women are saying, enough already. The editors of "Essence" magazine are taking the discussion very public in a new campaign called Take Back the Music. "Essence" executive editor Michaela Angela Davis joins us now from New York to talk about a campaign that she says is more about conversation than censorship.

Good to see you, Michaela.

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, EXEC. EDITOR, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: Hi. Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, this conversation is one that you are committed to take on for about a year, I believe, right? And, already, are you getting both condemnation and support for what you all are calling the hypersexuality of the portrayal of women?

DAVIS: Yes, the "Essence" Take Back the Music Campaign is a year-long initiative where we will roll out different feature-length articles, action, steps, to help our readers organize their concerns and give voice to their opinion. And so far, the support has been overwhelmingly -- the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. There have been so many men, women, children, all ages, all races, feeling concerned. And we've just opened up the conversation in a very safe, but a very directed way, for them to speak.

WHITFIELD: And when you say supportive, supporting of the notion of this conversation, or supportive of the images that are being portrayed?

DAVIS: Supportive of the conversation. I think that across the board, even though we do have varying degrees of concern, everyone's really concerned. Everyone that has responded to us has been a voice of concern about the disproportionate images that objectify women, particularly black women, particularly young women of color. So the support has really been in the name of the campaign, in the name of finding some balance in the way that we're portrayed in mainstream pop urban media.

WHITFIELD: So what do you then do with this dialogue? Is the objective to put the onus on someone, whether it's the industry, whether it's the artist, whether it's the women who are allowing themselves to be portrayed this way in some of these videos?

DAVIS: Well, "Essence" has a really rich history in inspiring, educating, and empowering women, and black women particularly. So that's really the heart of this program. It's more like an intervention, as if we had a loved one that has a problem that we have to address. So we're not pointing any fingers. We're not taking up any picket signs. We're not targeting any artist or any particular record company or executive.

However, we are going to direct our readers to take action that they will be able to follow in the magazine and on the Web site, at how to inspire, educate and empower themselves to make a change.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's examine some of the responses that you've already received in your first issue. And this coming from a student, a senior at Spelman College. Moya Bailey writes, for black women especially there are not as many choices out there to counteract the video images. I think it's deliberate. She believes that this is intentional, these images. Is it an issue of intent, or is it an issue of acceptance?

DAVIS: Well, it's a very complicated issue. And we really know that, and a lot of folks come from very different angles. And Spelman College, as you may have known, or maybe some of your audience knows, took a real stand in disinviting Nelly to a concert that they had scheduled, because of a "Tip Drill" video. And some people come from a very political point of view, a historical point of view. They think that it may be some conspiracy theories. Some people are very emotional about it. So we respect Moya's point of view.

However, there's no data that shows it's really deliberate or a conspiracy. However, we're clear that it's mostly black women that are shown in this light. We are clear that it's mostly young women of color. We are clear that it is targeted who these images, who these objectified women are.

WHITFIELD: And Michaela, before we run out of time, you've really heard from quite a variety of people in this issue. The artist Ludacris says that the women dancers are mostly to blame. And he puts it this way, "I don't mean to depict women in a certain way. The ones who want to shake what their mama gave them are going to do that, whether they're in the videos or not."

And then you mentioned Nelly, the artist. He puts it this way, "I respect women and I'm not a misogynist. I'm an artist. Hip hop videos are art and entertainment. Videos tell stories. Some are violent, some are sexy, some are fun, some are serious. As for how women are shown in the videos, I don't have a problem with it because it's entertainment."

So these artists, at least, in particular, are saying the women who are involved are just as guilty as those who are producing or directing these videos.

DAVIS: Well, you know, that's a very elementary point of view, and particularly coming from young men and that's really who enjoys most of these images, to say things like that. Certainly, there's always been a small number of women, strippers, exotic dancers, in the culture, black, white, whatever. And so what we have a problem with is that it's such a narrow view of women of color. Certainly there are some women that have been doing that.

However, there are no other images to balance that in the video culture, which is not as controlled as other art forms. Certainly there are films, certainly there are works of arts in galleries and museums, with a controlled kind of environment. The environment in which something is set really sets the tone. And any child can turn on the TV and see this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Michaela Angela Davis, executive editor of "Essence" magazine. Thanks so much for hoping to open up a pretty riveting dialogue you all will be doing for the next year. And I understand you're also commissioning a study to see just how these kinds of videos just might impact young girls who watch them. Thanks so much for taking time out from New York.

DAVIS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. A couple things to keep you abreast of. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger taking aerial tour right now over Ventura County, specifically that part of Ventura County that we've been focusing so much on, La Conchita, where that terrible mudslide occurred the other day. Ten people are still considered missing. The death count now at ten.

There is still hope that there are little air pockets and voids beneath all of that mud, which would allow people the opportunity to survive. Rescuers continue their effort. More than 600 rescue personnel from 20 different agencies are taking part in that search. It is a 30 foot mound of mud and beneath it lie 15 homes. There, as we say, is some hope. And they continue those efforts. Schwarzenegger taking an aerial tour of that particular disaster site as we speak.

Also as we speak, other side of the country, that's Cape Canaveral Air Station, launchpad 14B. That's a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. At the top of it is a spacecraft known as Deep Impact. Deep Impact on its way, in little more than five minute's time, on a 240 million mile journey and ultimately a colossal, celestial train wreck, and it's all on purpose. We'll explain, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Live pictures from the Cape Canaveral air station. There you see the steamy belching. Boeing Delta 2 rocket, fully fueled and ready. Best we can tell, all systems are go. They've had a couple of issues there. We're inside 60 seconds as the Deep Impact launch is about to begin. Of course, NASA hoping the Deep Impact happens about six months from now, as this rocket makes its rendezvous with the Temple One comet, about a four mile in diameter comet that is out there.

And if all goes well, an impacter will auger right into that Temple One comet, will create a dust cloud, which a camera on the mothership will carefully record, giving scientists amazing access to the ingredients of comets. If you know what comets are made of, you know what the universe is made of, because they are the constituent building blocks, the leftovers, if you will, from the soup that is all of us. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- we have ignition and lift off of a Delta 2 rocket carrying Deep Impact, NASA's journey to unlock the mystery of the solar system's origin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Beautiful day on the Florida peninsula. Had some concerns about winds at very high levels. Those dissipated. Had a little problem with the radar there for the moment. That was straightened out. Off goes Deep Impact on that Boeing Delta 2 rocket. Stay tuned about six months from now. As a matter of fact, July 4th, how's that for some fireworks?

200-some million miles away, this Volkswagen-sized spacecraft will spit out a washing-machine-sized probe. If all goes well, it will make a hole the size of the Roman Coliseum. Take a bunch of pictures. And what's interesting about it, Fred, is it's not just the camera on the mothership that will be taking pictures, but the hubble telescope, the Spitzer telescope, the Shandra (ph) telescope, all in orbit, and plus thousands of amateurs and professional telescopes will all be pointed at this comet for the precise moment.

Together, they will -- as you see, those booster rockets drift away, like little cigarettes being tossed out of a car there. They will all together focus on this comet on July 4th and hopefully give us some indication of what they're all made of. We know there's some ice in there, we know it's rocky, but we don't know for sure what comets are made of. And this will tell us by kicking up the dust cloud and looking at the way it refracts light. You can actually tell what the constituent properties are.

WHITFIELD: So the debris -- we're talking, when we say dust cloud, the debris from this Coliseum-sized hole that crashed into this comet, all of the debris will be dust-like-sized particles, or might they be more significant? And what would happen to those particles? O'BRIEN: There could be bigger pieces. And that's a lot of what they want to know because they don't know how tightly packed these dirty snowballs that are comets are. And a lot of the information for them about the way they're made will have to do with what the crater looks like. If, in other words, if it's a very deep crater, very distinct, it might be kind firm. If it's not, it kind of bounces off, it might be more -- there you go, there go the booster rockets.

And Boeing Delta 2 appears to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. On its way to 23,000 miles an hour, which is escape velocity from earth orbit and on its way to the six-month journey. In any case, what the crater looks like and what the dust cloud is made of and how it moves is something that, if you understand all of these things, can tell you an awful lot about what a body is made of.

WHITFIELD: And there's a science to every decision made on this, of course. So how did they go about picking this kind of chicken leg- shaped comet?

O'BRIEN: Well, location, location, location, right?

WHITFIELD: OK.

O'BRIEN: You want to find a good one...

WHITFIELD: That's reasonable.

O'BRIEN: You want to find one big enough. And what's interesting, that chicken leg rotates on a rotisserie about 41 hours. And you want to make sure that your impacter hits it on a broad side of a barn, right? Because you always want to aim at the broad side of a barn. And so this launch you just saw was timed to the second so that when it arrives six months from now, it will see the broad size of that chicken leg. Now how's that for rocket science?

WHITFIELD: That's amazing.

O'BRIEN: Yes. That's why we're here anchoring and not doing a lot of math and those guys down there, like that guy, are doing what they do.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well, you're doing such a great job of explaining it. Because, you know, it really is way above most of our heads.

O'BRIEN: Quite literally.

WHITFIELD: You've done a great job explaining it, breaking it down for us.

O'BRIEN: All right.

WHITFIELD: They break down that comet. All right. Well, we're going to be right back. More of LIVE FROM right after this.

O'BRIEN: Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, she flew to orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor in 1992 and she made history at that time as the first African American female ever to go to space. As part of CNN's anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at Dr. Mae Jemison's accomplishments and what she's up to today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAE JEMISON, FMR. ASTRONAUT: You know when you're growing up, you have lots of things you want to do. I always assumed I would go into space.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition and lift-off!

O'BRIEN (voice-over): On September 12th, 1992, at the age of 35, Dr. Mae Jemison boldly went where no African-American woman had gone before.

JEMISON: It was really after we got on orbit that I had a sensation that I belonged anywhere in this universe.

O'BRIEN: Jemison makes it her life mission to explore the universe in every way she can. This high achiever is also a chemical engineer, peace corps veteran, physician, author and teacher.

In 1994, Jemison started an international science camp for teens called The Earth We Share. These days, Jemison is the founder and president of the BioSentient Corporation, where she is working on a device that provides mobile monitoring of people's nervous systems.

JEMISON: We think there are real applications in the future for trying to identify certain diseases. It can also help people monitor how effective drugs are.

O'BRIEN: In addition to her work in the sciences, Jemison says she may one day explore the field of politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: We've decided she's found the fountain of youth along the way, too, hasn't she?

WHITFIELD: No kidding. She looks like she could be in college still.

O'BRIEN: She's timeless, she looks like a million bucks.

WHITFIELD: She's amazing.

O'BRIEN: All right. We wish her well. And who knows, maybe we will see her on the political trail one day.

Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM... WHITFIELD: The ground search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Well, guess what? It's over. Why did they stop? LIVE FROM's "Hour of Power" begins right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 12, 2005 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said today there's no credible evidence linking the events to terrorist. He blames a few irresponsible people, using laser pens and these pointers used to point out constellations. Probably more than a few though. But even those low-intensity lasers can temporarily blind a pilot, much like getting a flash bulb in your face. It could, theoretically -- theoretically, remotely, cause an accident.
Now as of January 19th, pilots will be required to report laser incidents immediately to air-traffic controllers. Controllers will alert other pilot, contact local police, so suspects can be tracked down and cost. Mineta says any such cases will be aggressively prosecuted. So be careful when you're showing your kid Orion's Belt.

Meanwhile, the outgoing head of homeland security points a finger at U.S. passports and says fingerprints should be an added requirement. Tom Ridge noted that the U.S. currently requires that citizens of 27 other countries be photographed and fingerprinted when they arrive in this country, including citizens of countries that are U.S. allies. He noted, "It's a lot easier to negotiate with your allies if you've already done what you're asking them to do." Critics who oppose the measure say it's a potential violation of privacy rights.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, before Osama bin Laden -- before al Qaeda, America's No. 1 terrorist enemy was a blind Egyptian shaikh named Omar Abdel Rahman. His followers bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and planned other attacks that were thwarted. Rahman is now serving a life sentence, but the attorney who defended him 10 years ago is now defending herself against charges that she, too, is a terrorist.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more on the case as it goes to a jury.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors consider the radical Egyptian cleric Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman so dangerous they wanted him to disappear. After he was found guilty in 1995 of plotting to blow up New York bridges, tunnels and landmarks, Rahman was locked away in solitary confinement. He was banned from communicating with anyone, except his immediate family and his lawyer, civil rights attorney Lynn Stewart. Now it's Stewart who is on trial.

LYNNE STEWART, ATTORNEY ON TRIAL: The notion that the -- in these cases, the lawyer becomes the defendant. Now that didn't happen when people defend the mob, or drug dealers or even, you know, Nazi war criminals.

FEYERICK: Stewart's alleged crime. In June 2000, she visited Rahman in prison. Afterwards, she issued a statement on his behalf, saying Rahman was withdrawing his support for a cease-fire between his militant Islamic followers and the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors say by publicizing Rahman's message, Stewart deliberately broke prison rules. They say it amounted to a jailbreak, describing Rahman's words as more dangerous than weapons.

Stewart denied any link to violence, saying she only wanted to keep her client in the public eye.

STEWART: If he had said to me, I want you to tell them that the blood shall flow, and you must attack them and all -- I would not have delivered that message.

FEYERICK: But that's just what prosecutors feared might happen. In 1997, Rahman followers opened fire on tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 58. There's no evidence that the later prison message triggered any other attacks. Legal scholars say that's not the point.

DAN RICHMAN, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: She's not charged with conspiring to murder. She's charged with making somebody available to a terrorist enterprise. That's what she did. And the fact there were no grievous consequences from that action really is not a part of the legal, and to my mind, even the moral analysis.

FEYERICK: More troubling to some defense lawyers videotapes of prison meetings between Rahman and his lawyers, made with a court order, but without Stewart's knowledge.

STEWART: It's one of the sacred precincts of the law, you know, that your client should feel absolutely free to tell you whatever he needs to tell you, and that you should be free to give whatever advice you think you need to give.

FEYERICK (on camera): Stewart lost the fight to keep the tapes from being shown to a jury. She faces up to 20 years in prison. And says if she is convicted, it will have a chilling effect on all defense lawyers and who they choose to represent.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information, day and night.

O'BRIEN: Topping the news at this half hour, federal sentencing guidelines getting a fresh look. The U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that judges through the years have been adding time to sentences improperly. We expect Justice Department officials to issue a formal response today, detailing how the sentencing system will, in fact, be overhauled. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought somebody got struck by lightning or a car wreck, because it was just all of a sudden, it was just bam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: One of many witnesses who could only watch, horrified, when the pilot of a small plane with engine failure tried to set it down on a golf course in Orlando. It didn't go so well. The plane hit power wire and a pole. Two men on board, one of them killed.

And Bob Marley's widow says she'll celebrate what would have been her husband's 60th birthday by fulfilling what she calls her mission. Rita Marley plans to exhume the reggae great's body in Jamaica and see that it is reburied in Africa. She says that's his spiritual resting place. Bob Marley died in 1981.

There's no doubt the market continues to grow for rap and hip-hop music, but along with the increasing popularity has come an increasing trend of pushing the boundaries, especially when it comes to sex and the depiction of women.

Well, if you think some of the lyrics are raw, the videos are even more graphic. And a number of women are saying, enough already. The editors of "Essence" magazine are taking the discussion very public in a new campaign called Take Back the Music. "Essence" executive editor Michaela Angela Davis joins us now from New York to talk about a campaign that she says is more about conversation than censorship.

Good to see you, Michaela.

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, EXEC. EDITOR, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: Hi. Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, this conversation is one that you are committed to take on for about a year, I believe, right? And, already, are you getting both condemnation and support for what you all are calling the hypersexuality of the portrayal of women?

DAVIS: Yes, the "Essence" Take Back the Music Campaign is a year-long initiative where we will roll out different feature-length articles, action, steps, to help our readers organize their concerns and give voice to their opinion. And so far, the support has been overwhelmingly -- the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. There have been so many men, women, children, all ages, all races, feeling concerned. And we've just opened up the conversation in a very safe, but a very directed way, for them to speak.

WHITFIELD: And when you say supportive, supporting of the notion of this conversation, or supportive of the images that are being portrayed?

DAVIS: Supportive of the conversation. I think that across the board, even though we do have varying degrees of concern, everyone's really concerned. Everyone that has responded to us has been a voice of concern about the disproportionate images that objectify women, particularly black women, particularly young women of color. So the support has really been in the name of the campaign, in the name of finding some balance in the way that we're portrayed in mainstream pop urban media.

WHITFIELD: So what do you then do with this dialogue? Is the objective to put the onus on someone, whether it's the industry, whether it's the artist, whether it's the women who are allowing themselves to be portrayed this way in some of these videos?

DAVIS: Well, "Essence" has a really rich history in inspiring, educating, and empowering women, and black women particularly. So that's really the heart of this program. It's more like an intervention, as if we had a loved one that has a problem that we have to address. So we're not pointing any fingers. We're not taking up any picket signs. We're not targeting any artist or any particular record company or executive.

However, we are going to direct our readers to take action that they will be able to follow in the magazine and on the Web site, at how to inspire, educate and empower themselves to make a change.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's examine some of the responses that you've already received in your first issue. And this coming from a student, a senior at Spelman College. Moya Bailey writes, for black women especially there are not as many choices out there to counteract the video images. I think it's deliberate. She believes that this is intentional, these images. Is it an issue of intent, or is it an issue of acceptance?

DAVIS: Well, it's a very complicated issue. And we really know that, and a lot of folks come from very different angles. And Spelman College, as you may have known, or maybe some of your audience knows, took a real stand in disinviting Nelly to a concert that they had scheduled, because of a "Tip Drill" video. And some people come from a very political point of view, a historical point of view. They think that it may be some conspiracy theories. Some people are very emotional about it. So we respect Moya's point of view.

However, there's no data that shows it's really deliberate or a conspiracy. However, we're clear that it's mostly black women that are shown in this light. We are clear that it's mostly young women of color. We are clear that it is targeted who these images, who these objectified women are.

WHITFIELD: And Michaela, before we run out of time, you've really heard from quite a variety of people in this issue. The artist Ludacris says that the women dancers are mostly to blame. And he puts it this way, "I don't mean to depict women in a certain way. The ones who want to shake what their mama gave them are going to do that, whether they're in the videos or not."

And then you mentioned Nelly, the artist. He puts it this way, "I respect women and I'm not a misogynist. I'm an artist. Hip hop videos are art and entertainment. Videos tell stories. Some are violent, some are sexy, some are fun, some are serious. As for how women are shown in the videos, I don't have a problem with it because it's entertainment."

So these artists, at least, in particular, are saying the women who are involved are just as guilty as those who are producing or directing these videos.

DAVIS: Well, you know, that's a very elementary point of view, and particularly coming from young men and that's really who enjoys most of these images, to say things like that. Certainly, there's always been a small number of women, strippers, exotic dancers, in the culture, black, white, whatever. And so what we have a problem with is that it's such a narrow view of women of color. Certainly there are some women that have been doing that.

However, there are no other images to balance that in the video culture, which is not as controlled as other art forms. Certainly there are films, certainly there are works of arts in galleries and museums, with a controlled kind of environment. The environment in which something is set really sets the tone. And any child can turn on the TV and see this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Michaela Angela Davis, executive editor of "Essence" magazine. Thanks so much for hoping to open up a pretty riveting dialogue you all will be doing for the next year. And I understand you're also commissioning a study to see just how these kinds of videos just might impact young girls who watch them. Thanks so much for taking time out from New York.

DAVIS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. A couple things to keep you abreast of. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger taking aerial tour right now over Ventura County, specifically that part of Ventura County that we've been focusing so much on, La Conchita, where that terrible mudslide occurred the other day. Ten people are still considered missing. The death count now at ten.

There is still hope that there are little air pockets and voids beneath all of that mud, which would allow people the opportunity to survive. Rescuers continue their effort. More than 600 rescue personnel from 20 different agencies are taking part in that search. It is a 30 foot mound of mud and beneath it lie 15 homes. There, as we say, is some hope. And they continue those efforts. Schwarzenegger taking an aerial tour of that particular disaster site as we speak.

Also as we speak, other side of the country, that's Cape Canaveral Air Station, launchpad 14B. That's a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. At the top of it is a spacecraft known as Deep Impact. Deep Impact on its way, in little more than five minute's time, on a 240 million mile journey and ultimately a colossal, celestial train wreck, and it's all on purpose. We'll explain, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Live pictures from the Cape Canaveral air station. There you see the steamy belching. Boeing Delta 2 rocket, fully fueled and ready. Best we can tell, all systems are go. They've had a couple of issues there. We're inside 60 seconds as the Deep Impact launch is about to begin. Of course, NASA hoping the Deep Impact happens about six months from now, as this rocket makes its rendezvous with the Temple One comet, about a four mile in diameter comet that is out there.

And if all goes well, an impacter will auger right into that Temple One comet, will create a dust cloud, which a camera on the mothership will carefully record, giving scientists amazing access to the ingredients of comets. If you know what comets are made of, you know what the universe is made of, because they are the constituent building blocks, the leftovers, if you will, from the soup that is all of us. Let's listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- we have ignition and lift off of a Delta 2 rocket carrying Deep Impact, NASA's journey to unlock the mystery of the solar system's origin.

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O'BRIEN: Beautiful day on the Florida peninsula. Had some concerns about winds at very high levels. Those dissipated. Had a little problem with the radar there for the moment. That was straightened out. Off goes Deep Impact on that Boeing Delta 2 rocket. Stay tuned about six months from now. As a matter of fact, July 4th, how's that for some fireworks?

200-some million miles away, this Volkswagen-sized spacecraft will spit out a washing-machine-sized probe. If all goes well, it will make a hole the size of the Roman Coliseum. Take a bunch of pictures. And what's interesting about it, Fred, is it's not just the camera on the mothership that will be taking pictures, but the hubble telescope, the Spitzer telescope, the Shandra (ph) telescope, all in orbit, and plus thousands of amateurs and professional telescopes will all be pointed at this comet for the precise moment.

Together, they will -- as you see, those booster rockets drift away, like little cigarettes being tossed out of a car there. They will all together focus on this comet on July 4th and hopefully give us some indication of what they're all made of. We know there's some ice in there, we know it's rocky, but we don't know for sure what comets are made of. And this will tell us by kicking up the dust cloud and looking at the way it refracts light. You can actually tell what the constituent properties are.

WHITFIELD: So the debris -- we're talking, when we say dust cloud, the debris from this Coliseum-sized hole that crashed into this comet, all of the debris will be dust-like-sized particles, or might they be more significant? And what would happen to those particles? O'BRIEN: There could be bigger pieces. And that's a lot of what they want to know because they don't know how tightly packed these dirty snowballs that are comets are. And a lot of the information for them about the way they're made will have to do with what the crater looks like. If, in other words, if it's a very deep crater, very distinct, it might be kind firm. If it's not, it kind of bounces off, it might be more -- there you go, there go the booster rockets.

And Boeing Delta 2 appears to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. On its way to 23,000 miles an hour, which is escape velocity from earth orbit and on its way to the six-month journey. In any case, what the crater looks like and what the dust cloud is made of and how it moves is something that, if you understand all of these things, can tell you an awful lot about what a body is made of.

WHITFIELD: And there's a science to every decision made on this, of course. So how did they go about picking this kind of chicken leg- shaped comet?

O'BRIEN: Well, location, location, location, right?

WHITFIELD: OK.

O'BRIEN: You want to find a good one...

WHITFIELD: That's reasonable.

O'BRIEN: You want to find one big enough. And what's interesting, that chicken leg rotates on a rotisserie about 41 hours. And you want to make sure that your impacter hits it on a broad side of a barn, right? Because you always want to aim at the broad side of a barn. And so this launch you just saw was timed to the second so that when it arrives six months from now, it will see the broad size of that chicken leg. Now how's that for rocket science?

WHITFIELD: That's amazing.

O'BRIEN: Yes. That's why we're here anchoring and not doing a lot of math and those guys down there, like that guy, are doing what they do.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well, you're doing such a great job of explaining it. Because, you know, it really is way above most of our heads.

O'BRIEN: Quite literally.

WHITFIELD: You've done a great job explaining it, breaking it down for us.

O'BRIEN: All right.

WHITFIELD: They break down that comet. All right. Well, we're going to be right back. More of LIVE FROM right after this.

O'BRIEN: Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, she flew to orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor in 1992 and she made history at that time as the first African American female ever to go to space. As part of CNN's anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at Dr. Mae Jemison's accomplishments and what she's up to today.

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MAE JEMISON, FMR. ASTRONAUT: You know when you're growing up, you have lots of things you want to do. I always assumed I would go into space.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition and lift-off!

O'BRIEN (voice-over): On September 12th, 1992, at the age of 35, Dr. Mae Jemison boldly went where no African-American woman had gone before.

JEMISON: It was really after we got on orbit that I had a sensation that I belonged anywhere in this universe.

O'BRIEN: Jemison makes it her life mission to explore the universe in every way she can. This high achiever is also a chemical engineer, peace corps veteran, physician, author and teacher.

In 1994, Jemison started an international science camp for teens called The Earth We Share. These days, Jemison is the founder and president of the BioSentient Corporation, where she is working on a device that provides mobile monitoring of people's nervous systems.

JEMISON: We think there are real applications in the future for trying to identify certain diseases. It can also help people monitor how effective drugs are.

O'BRIEN: In addition to her work in the sciences, Jemison says she may one day explore the field of politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: We've decided she's found the fountain of youth along the way, too, hasn't she?

WHITFIELD: No kidding. She looks like she could be in college still.

O'BRIEN: She's timeless, she looks like a million bucks.

WHITFIELD: She's amazing.

O'BRIEN: All right. We wish her well. And who knows, maybe we will see her on the political trail one day.

Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM... WHITFIELD: The ground search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Well, guess what? It's over. Why did they stop? LIVE FROM's "Hour of Power" begins right after this.

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