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Federal Court Hears Terri Schiavo Case; Faith-Based Groups Active in Politics

Aired March 21, 2005 - 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.


TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling for sweeping change at the United Nations. In a speech to the general assembly he proposed several reforms. They include expanding the Security Council and creating a new human rights council. The U.N. has been under fire for alleged abuse in oil-for-food program.
Back at the bench. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist returned to work today, hearing arguments for the first time since October when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The 80-year-old jurist has been working from home since October, although he did appear at President Bush's inauguration to administer the oath of office.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Happening right now, a federal judge in Florida is set to convene a hearing on the fate of Terri Schiavo. At issue, the lawsuit brought by her parents to reconnect the feeding tube removed last Friday by a Florida state court.

Earlier today, strong reaction to the moves by Congress and President Bush to throw the Schiavo case to the federal courts. First, the husband who says that his brain-damaged wife has a right to die and the government went too far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI SCHIAVO'S HUSBAND: I think it's an invasion to the American people when you make a private decision in a family matter, that they're thumbing -- they're their nose up to the American people and the Constitution. This is a sad day for Terri, and it's a sad day for every American in this country. And people should be outraged.

BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S FATHER: I think it's imperative that, you know, Terri receive a fair trial. And that's been our, you know, concern and frustration, is that everything that was presented in this trial before in the circuit court was being ignored. So hopefully with -- if we can get this in front of a federal court that they will listen to the evidence as presented, and Terri will be a free woman again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That federal court hearing was scheduled to begin just about two minutes ago, right there in Tampa, Florida. CNN does have crews on the scene, and we will report what is occurring as soon as we know. HARRIS: And as we await the word out of Tampa, let's get the opinions of a noted attorney. Bruce Fein joins us live from Washington. He has authored several books on the Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court.

Good to see you, sir.

BRUCE FEIN, ATTORNEY: Delighted to be with you today.

HARRIS: Well, I need some straight talk from you. We were watching Bob Schindler walk into the court in Tampa just a few moments ago. And remind us of how many times that family has walked into a court to litigate this issue.

FEIN: Well, I think my last count was 23 occasions. The case now has been 15 years pending. I think 16 judges have ruled on the issues. They've examined every single conceivable state or federal claim and concluded that, one, Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, and, two, by clear and convincing evidence that can be deduced, she would not have wished to have continuous hydration and nutrition at present.

And therefore it was honoring of her wishes and, indeed, of what Supreme Court has called the constitutional right to die to withdraw those life-preserving mechanisms at present.

Now, one other thing you should remember, is that just three days ago on March 18, the parents of Miss Schiavo entered federal court before a judge moody and really -- and made basically all of the claims that Congress says now can be raised again.

The judge quite properly said no, that the state court system entertained all of these arguments. It went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied review, and, therefore, the case is closed.

The legislature cannot usurp judicial authority by requiring new trials over and over again when the decision of the federal or state court has been that all due process and fairness has been offered, which is what has happened in this case.

HARRIS: So Bruce...

FEIN: I do not think -- go ahead.

HARRIS: Bruce, how does this stand?

FEIN: I think it stands that the federal court will conclude the statute either is meaningless insofar as it doesn't purport to create any new rights or it's unconstitutional by requiring a court to open a judgment that has been final for a long time and all appeals have been exhausted and, therefore, the case will be thrown out.

HARRIS: You mentioned the right to die a moment ago. Talk us through some of it, just a little bit of that 1989 Supreme Court case.

FEIN: Yes. It began in '89. I think the Supreme Court final decision in the case was 1990. But the whole issue of the so-called right to die began many years earlier.

I think you may recall Karen Ann Quinlan case that was...

HARRIS: Sure.

FEIN: ... a young lady who was in a persistent vegetative state, and there was a lot of agonizing up in New Jersey whether there was a right to die when you have simply a vegetative existence.

The Cruison (ph) case presented a situation where you didn't have an individual who was fully competent to decide whether to have nutrition and hydration removed, but you had a situation similar to Terri Schiavo's, where the individual was not competent. They were in a comatose condition.

And what the court basically ruled was that if there is clear and convincing evidence that the individual would not have wanted, in a persistent vegetative state, to continue with food and hydration, then you have a right to have those -- those life-preserving methods removed.

HARRIS: OK.

FEIN: And in this case, applying the clear and convincing evidence standards -- remember, it's clear and convincing evidence of what the patient wants, not what the guardian wants or the husband or parents, what the patient would have wanted. The courts concluded after exhaustive appeals that she would have not wanted to have this continued hydration and nutrition.

HARRIS: I love putting you in this juxtaposition here. So having said that, what do you expect this federal court to decide?

FEIN: I think the court will do two things. One, it will deny the emergency motion to reinstitute the hydration and nutrition.

HARRIS: You think so?

FEIN: Yes. I do not think it will mend -- because it will give an incentive for legislatures over and over again to continue to hold judgments open forever, even when courts have made final rulings. And I do think the court will say this statute, insofar as it requires us to reopen a case, is unconstitutional, because you're intruding on judicial authority, and legislatures have no power to do that.

I fully expect, however, that the losers, that the parents will take an appeal up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. I think it will lose, but we're probably still in for a couple more hours, if not a day of final exhaustive appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court finally puts an end to this.

HARRIS: Let me try this one on you, Bruce. If Congress were really concerned about end of life issues, it would not have crafted such specific legislation to this individual case.

FEIN: I think that's a fair analysis here. The bill itself provides explicitly that it's a bill to provide a cause of action for the parents of Terri Schiavo. That's quite extraordinary that you have the bill identify one case and one case only to which it applies, which again, smacks of attempts to review a judicial judgment, rather than create any general legislative standard for caring for persons who are in persistent vegetative states or are incompetent.

If the latter were true, then Congress would be holding hearings and calling not for the body of Terri Schiavo, but of many of the other hundreds of patients in similar situations to ensure that they are receiving adequate treatment. But that isn't what this bill is about. It's Terri Schiavo and Terri Schiavo alone.

HARRIS: Bruce, we appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

FEIN: Certainly.

HARRIS: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: President Bush made his position clear in the wee hours this morning. That's when he signed the emergency legislation making a federal case out of the Schiavo matter. He just left Tucson, Arizona, where he was stumping to change Social Security.

Our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, reports now live from Tucson. And he did take time to mention the Schiavo case, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did, Kyra. And really, even before the president flew across the country to sign this legislation in the wee hours of the night or morning, it was very clear how he felt about this issue.

But still, he was very careful over the last several days, as lawmakers and even his own staff were trying to figure out how to deal with this in Washington at the federal level, he was very careful not to talk about it publicly. But now that he has signed the legislation, his actions show how he feels. He explained here in Tucson just a short while ago why he intervened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together last night to give Terri Schiavo's parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life. This is a complex case with serious issues, but an extraordinary circumstances like this it is wise to always err on the side of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And that's the president explaining why he got involved. We have some information about just how it happened. As you know, this passed way after midnight last night.

The president is known to go to bed early, and he did so last night. So it was a White House operator that called him, woke him up and said that the bill had passed and it was coming his way down Pennsylvania Avenue. And just a short while later we're told that there was a knock on his door. It was his staff secretary, Brett Kavanaugh. The president got out of bed, opened the door, stood in the hallway, signed the bill, closed the door and then he went back to bed. So that's how it happened.

And today, Kyra, the White House is, though, still trying to defend against accusations that perhaps they overreached, perhaps the president was abusing his power along with Congress, but what White House spokesman Scott McClellan said is they believe an unusual, a complex case, that there lots of unanswered questions and that they are very comfortable in the fact that they don't think that this sets precedent for future cases -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dana Bash with the president, thank you so much.

Well, it seems just about everyone has an opinion on Terri Schiavo's situation and the role of Congress, but few are as vocal as Americans of faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WENDY WRIGHT, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: We need to live out our faith not just within our homes and in our churches, but we need to be impacting our culture, whether it's through the arts.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you worry, though, that this might be imposing your faith on people who don't share it?

WRIGHT: You know, people's views are constantly being imposed on the rest of us through politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM a look at the pros and cons of Christian activism.

HARRIS: But first, they say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. It looks like we're still in the lion part here. We'll check in with Jacqui Jeras for your forecast. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Folks in south San Francisco are cleaning up from this possible tornado. I'm sorry. We're looking at live pictures of the court in Tampa, where the hearing, we believe, is under way. As you know, the decision to be made now is whether a federal judge will order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. We will continue to watch this situation, and we will bring you the latest information as soon as we get it out of that courtroom there in Tampa.

Moving on now, as I just mentioned, a funnel cloud appeared to have touched down yesterday, cutting off power and damaging roof tops in south San Francisco. No injuries were reported. Forecasters are still trying to determine whether it was, in fact, a tornado. And folks in the parts of the south are bracing for some pretty rowdy weather. It's possible.

Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras from the weather center for the latest.

Hi, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: That is a busy map. Appreciate it. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now.

A Texas jury begins deliberating in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt. Authorities say that Tyrone Williams let 19 illegal immigrants suffocate to death in his unventilated truck just two years ago. If convicted, Williams could face the death penalty.

Molten steel spills, catches fire and explodes. It happened in the Severstal steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan. At least six people were hurt.

Baseball cracks down after a congressional hearing on steroid use. Owners and players have dropped the option of a fine if a player tests positive. Now they'll be suspended.

The A.P. reports that Barry Bonds' former girlfriend says the San Francisco slugger told her he used steroids. But her attorney says she never saw him with the drugs. Bonds denied under oath that he knowingly used steroids. His lawyer has said the woman is trying to promote a book about her life.

HARRIS: Helping the helpless who are imposing a point of view. Up next, a look at the role of religion in the Schiavo case and beyond. LIVE FROM is back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Happening right now: once again live to Tampa, Florida. A federal judge is set to convene a hearing on the fate of Terri Schiavo. At issue, as you know, the lawsuit brought by her parents to reconnect the feeding ring tube that was removed last Friday by a Florida state court.

A federal judge is expected to hear arguments within this half hour. We're following it. We've got a crew there. We'll bring you up to date as soon as we have more information.

Now let's move on to business news and Valerie Morris standing by with the latest on file sharing and illegal music downloads. What's the deal, Valerie?

(STOCK REPORT)

HARRIS: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Valerie. HARRIS: Well, no matter what the Founding Fathers did or did not intend when they framed the U.S. Constitution, it's a plain fact that religion has become an integral part of the current political scene.

PHILLIPS: Whether it's weighing in on the Terri Schiavo case, stem cell research, gay marriage, CNN's Tom Foreman says that faith based groups are making their influence felt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Another day, another time, the case of Terri Schiavo could have been one family's private struggle. Instead, faith-based political groups have elevated it to a national cause. Groups like the one Wendy Wright works for, Concerned Women for America.

WRIGHT: We need to live out our faith, not just within our homes and in our churches, but we need to be impacting our culture, whether it's through the arts.

FOREMAN (on camera) Do you worry, though, that this might be imposing your faith on people who don't share it?

WRIGHT: You know, people's views are constantly being imposed on the rest of us through politics.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The number of active Christians in America is conservatively estimated at 163 million, or 55 percent of the population, down six percent from 30 years ago.

(on camera) But the political activism of Christians and other communities of faith, by many accounts, is at unprecedented levels. Lobbying Congress, pressuring the courts, leaning on the media.

(voice-over) The National Council of Churches urges its 100,000 congregations to pray for good things, but work to make them happen. Bob Edgar is the leader and a former congressman.

BOB EDGAR, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH: And I think it is important for the faith community to stand up and to speak more clearly than it has in the past.

FOREMAN: Some faith-based efforts are undeniably good. Catholic relief services alone raised almost $112 million for tsunami relief. That's not much less than the annual payroll for the Boston Red Sox.

ASHLEY SMITH, FORMER KIDNAP VICTIM: I continue to rely on my faith in God.

FOREMAN: Ashley Smith says she put her faith into action, convincing the armed fugitive who held her hostage to let her go.

However, when faith-based initiatives are closely tied to hot political and social debates -- abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research -- many moderate faith groups grow wary of hard core conservatives. EDGAR: In many cases I think they misspeak on behalf of God's will.

FOREMAN: But this much they almost all agree on. The influence of faith in public life is still growing, and faith communities want to keep it that way.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Your show, how busy is this show. Your show is just...

PHILLIPS: Everything seems to happen on this shift. I'm telling you.

HARRIS: That wraps up this Monday edition of LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: We promise we'll be back tomorrow. But now to take us through "INSIDE POLITICS," Judy Woodruff.

Hi, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": And that's why we never miss you. All right.

HARRIS: OK.

WOODRUFF: Kyra and Tony, thanks very much.

Well, after a weekend of unprecedented political maneuvering here in Washington, Terri Schiavo's life is in the hands of a federal court. We're going to look at the political effects of last night's vote on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Plus, many Americans don't think Congress should have intervened in the Schiavo case. Our Bill Schneider examines the politics behind it and the fallout that may occur.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories now in the news, this hour in Florida, a federal court hearing scheduled in the Terri Schiavo case. Her parents want her put back on the feeding tube. Much more on this ahead in "INSIDE POLITICS," and, of course CNN will bring you the ruling when it happens.

The Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal by terror suspect Zacharias Moussaoui. This puts him back on track for trial. Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. He denies any involvement.

And it's the end of an era in the Big Apple. Cabaret legend Bobby Short died today of leukemia. He was an institution at New York's Carlisle Hotel, where he regaled guests for 35 years. Bobby Short was 80 years old.

Stay tuned. "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" up next.

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Aired March 21, 2005 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling for sweeping change at the United Nations. In a speech to the general assembly he proposed several reforms. They include expanding the Security Council and creating a new human rights council. The U.N. has been under fire for alleged abuse in oil-for-food program.
Back at the bench. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist returned to work today, hearing arguments for the first time since October when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The 80-year-old jurist has been working from home since October, although he did appear at President Bush's inauguration to administer the oath of office.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Happening right now, a federal judge in Florida is set to convene a hearing on the fate of Terri Schiavo. At issue, the lawsuit brought by her parents to reconnect the feeding tube removed last Friday by a Florida state court.

Earlier today, strong reaction to the moves by Congress and President Bush to throw the Schiavo case to the federal courts. First, the husband who says that his brain-damaged wife has a right to die and the government went too far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI SCHIAVO'S HUSBAND: I think it's an invasion to the American people when you make a private decision in a family matter, that they're thumbing -- they're their nose up to the American people and the Constitution. This is a sad day for Terri, and it's a sad day for every American in this country. And people should be outraged.

BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S FATHER: I think it's imperative that, you know, Terri receive a fair trial. And that's been our, you know, concern and frustration, is that everything that was presented in this trial before in the circuit court was being ignored. So hopefully with -- if we can get this in front of a federal court that they will listen to the evidence as presented, and Terri will be a free woman again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That federal court hearing was scheduled to begin just about two minutes ago, right there in Tampa, Florida. CNN does have crews on the scene, and we will report what is occurring as soon as we know. HARRIS: And as we await the word out of Tampa, let's get the opinions of a noted attorney. Bruce Fein joins us live from Washington. He has authored several books on the Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court.

Good to see you, sir.

BRUCE FEIN, ATTORNEY: Delighted to be with you today.

HARRIS: Well, I need some straight talk from you. We were watching Bob Schindler walk into the court in Tampa just a few moments ago. And remind us of how many times that family has walked into a court to litigate this issue.

FEIN: Well, I think my last count was 23 occasions. The case now has been 15 years pending. I think 16 judges have ruled on the issues. They've examined every single conceivable state or federal claim and concluded that, one, Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, and, two, by clear and convincing evidence that can be deduced, she would not have wished to have continuous hydration and nutrition at present.

And therefore it was honoring of her wishes and, indeed, of what Supreme Court has called the constitutional right to die to withdraw those life-preserving mechanisms at present.

Now, one other thing you should remember, is that just three days ago on March 18, the parents of Miss Schiavo entered federal court before a judge moody and really -- and made basically all of the claims that Congress says now can be raised again.

The judge quite properly said no, that the state court system entertained all of these arguments. It went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied review, and, therefore, the case is closed.

The legislature cannot usurp judicial authority by requiring new trials over and over again when the decision of the federal or state court has been that all due process and fairness has been offered, which is what has happened in this case.

HARRIS: So Bruce...

FEIN: I do not think -- go ahead.

HARRIS: Bruce, how does this stand?

FEIN: I think it stands that the federal court will conclude the statute either is meaningless insofar as it doesn't purport to create any new rights or it's unconstitutional by requiring a court to open a judgment that has been final for a long time and all appeals have been exhausted and, therefore, the case will be thrown out.

HARRIS: You mentioned the right to die a moment ago. Talk us through some of it, just a little bit of that 1989 Supreme Court case.

FEIN: Yes. It began in '89. I think the Supreme Court final decision in the case was 1990. But the whole issue of the so-called right to die began many years earlier.

I think you may recall Karen Ann Quinlan case that was...

HARRIS: Sure.

FEIN: ... a young lady who was in a persistent vegetative state, and there was a lot of agonizing up in New Jersey whether there was a right to die when you have simply a vegetative existence.

The Cruison (ph) case presented a situation where you didn't have an individual who was fully competent to decide whether to have nutrition and hydration removed, but you had a situation similar to Terri Schiavo's, where the individual was not competent. They were in a comatose condition.

And what the court basically ruled was that if there is clear and convincing evidence that the individual would not have wanted, in a persistent vegetative state, to continue with food and hydration, then you have a right to have those -- those life-preserving methods removed.

HARRIS: OK.

FEIN: And in this case, applying the clear and convincing evidence standards -- remember, it's clear and convincing evidence of what the patient wants, not what the guardian wants or the husband or parents, what the patient would have wanted. The courts concluded after exhaustive appeals that she would have not wanted to have this continued hydration and nutrition.

HARRIS: I love putting you in this juxtaposition here. So having said that, what do you expect this federal court to decide?

FEIN: I think the court will do two things. One, it will deny the emergency motion to reinstitute the hydration and nutrition.

HARRIS: You think so?

FEIN: Yes. I do not think it will mend -- because it will give an incentive for legislatures over and over again to continue to hold judgments open forever, even when courts have made final rulings. And I do think the court will say this statute, insofar as it requires us to reopen a case, is unconstitutional, because you're intruding on judicial authority, and legislatures have no power to do that.

I fully expect, however, that the losers, that the parents will take an appeal up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. I think it will lose, but we're probably still in for a couple more hours, if not a day of final exhaustive appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court finally puts an end to this.

HARRIS: Let me try this one on you, Bruce. If Congress were really concerned about end of life issues, it would not have crafted such specific legislation to this individual case.

FEIN: I think that's a fair analysis here. The bill itself provides explicitly that it's a bill to provide a cause of action for the parents of Terri Schiavo. That's quite extraordinary that you have the bill identify one case and one case only to which it applies, which again, smacks of attempts to review a judicial judgment, rather than create any general legislative standard for caring for persons who are in persistent vegetative states or are incompetent.

If the latter were true, then Congress would be holding hearings and calling not for the body of Terri Schiavo, but of many of the other hundreds of patients in similar situations to ensure that they are receiving adequate treatment. But that isn't what this bill is about. It's Terri Schiavo and Terri Schiavo alone.

HARRIS: Bruce, we appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

FEIN: Certainly.

HARRIS: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: President Bush made his position clear in the wee hours this morning. That's when he signed the emergency legislation making a federal case out of the Schiavo matter. He just left Tucson, Arizona, where he was stumping to change Social Security.

Our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, reports now live from Tucson. And he did take time to mention the Schiavo case, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did, Kyra. And really, even before the president flew across the country to sign this legislation in the wee hours of the night or morning, it was very clear how he felt about this issue.

But still, he was very careful over the last several days, as lawmakers and even his own staff were trying to figure out how to deal with this in Washington at the federal level, he was very careful not to talk about it publicly. But now that he has signed the legislation, his actions show how he feels. He explained here in Tucson just a short while ago why he intervened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together last night to give Terri Schiavo's parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life. This is a complex case with serious issues, but an extraordinary circumstances like this it is wise to always err on the side of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And that's the president explaining why he got involved. We have some information about just how it happened. As you know, this passed way after midnight last night.

The president is known to go to bed early, and he did so last night. So it was a White House operator that called him, woke him up and said that the bill had passed and it was coming his way down Pennsylvania Avenue. And just a short while later we're told that there was a knock on his door. It was his staff secretary, Brett Kavanaugh. The president got out of bed, opened the door, stood in the hallway, signed the bill, closed the door and then he went back to bed. So that's how it happened.

And today, Kyra, the White House is, though, still trying to defend against accusations that perhaps they overreached, perhaps the president was abusing his power along with Congress, but what White House spokesman Scott McClellan said is they believe an unusual, a complex case, that there lots of unanswered questions and that they are very comfortable in the fact that they don't think that this sets precedent for future cases -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dana Bash with the president, thank you so much.

Well, it seems just about everyone has an opinion on Terri Schiavo's situation and the role of Congress, but few are as vocal as Americans of faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WENDY WRIGHT, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: We need to live out our faith not just within our homes and in our churches, but we need to be impacting our culture, whether it's through the arts.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you worry, though, that this might be imposing your faith on people who don't share it?

WRIGHT: You know, people's views are constantly being imposed on the rest of us through politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM a look at the pros and cons of Christian activism.

HARRIS: But first, they say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. It looks like we're still in the lion part here. We'll check in with Jacqui Jeras for your forecast. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Folks in south San Francisco are cleaning up from this possible tornado. I'm sorry. We're looking at live pictures of the court in Tampa, where the hearing, we believe, is under way. As you know, the decision to be made now is whether a federal judge will order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. We will continue to watch this situation, and we will bring you the latest information as soon as we get it out of that courtroom there in Tampa.

Moving on now, as I just mentioned, a funnel cloud appeared to have touched down yesterday, cutting off power and damaging roof tops in south San Francisco. No injuries were reported. Forecasters are still trying to determine whether it was, in fact, a tornado. And folks in the parts of the south are bracing for some pretty rowdy weather. It's possible.

Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras from the weather center for the latest.

Hi, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: That is a busy map. Appreciate it. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now.

A Texas jury begins deliberating in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt. Authorities say that Tyrone Williams let 19 illegal immigrants suffocate to death in his unventilated truck just two years ago. If convicted, Williams could face the death penalty.

Molten steel spills, catches fire and explodes. It happened in the Severstal steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan. At least six people were hurt.

Baseball cracks down after a congressional hearing on steroid use. Owners and players have dropped the option of a fine if a player tests positive. Now they'll be suspended.

The A.P. reports that Barry Bonds' former girlfriend says the San Francisco slugger told her he used steroids. But her attorney says she never saw him with the drugs. Bonds denied under oath that he knowingly used steroids. His lawyer has said the woman is trying to promote a book about her life.

HARRIS: Helping the helpless who are imposing a point of view. Up next, a look at the role of religion in the Schiavo case and beyond. LIVE FROM is back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Happening right now: once again live to Tampa, Florida. A federal judge is set to convene a hearing on the fate of Terri Schiavo. At issue, as you know, the lawsuit brought by her parents to reconnect the feeding ring tube that was removed last Friday by a Florida state court.

A federal judge is expected to hear arguments within this half hour. We're following it. We've got a crew there. We'll bring you up to date as soon as we have more information.

Now let's move on to business news and Valerie Morris standing by with the latest on file sharing and illegal music downloads. What's the deal, Valerie?

(STOCK REPORT)

HARRIS: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Valerie. HARRIS: Well, no matter what the Founding Fathers did or did not intend when they framed the U.S. Constitution, it's a plain fact that religion has become an integral part of the current political scene.

PHILLIPS: Whether it's weighing in on the Terri Schiavo case, stem cell research, gay marriage, CNN's Tom Foreman says that faith based groups are making their influence felt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Another day, another time, the case of Terri Schiavo could have been one family's private struggle. Instead, faith-based political groups have elevated it to a national cause. Groups like the one Wendy Wright works for, Concerned Women for America.

WRIGHT: We need to live out our faith, not just within our homes and in our churches, but we need to be impacting our culture, whether it's through the arts.

FOREMAN (on camera) Do you worry, though, that this might be imposing your faith on people who don't share it?

WRIGHT: You know, people's views are constantly being imposed on the rest of us through politics.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The number of active Christians in America is conservatively estimated at 163 million, or 55 percent of the population, down six percent from 30 years ago.

(on camera) But the political activism of Christians and other communities of faith, by many accounts, is at unprecedented levels. Lobbying Congress, pressuring the courts, leaning on the media.

(voice-over) The National Council of Churches urges its 100,000 congregations to pray for good things, but work to make them happen. Bob Edgar is the leader and a former congressman.

BOB EDGAR, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH: And I think it is important for the faith community to stand up and to speak more clearly than it has in the past.

FOREMAN: Some faith-based efforts are undeniably good. Catholic relief services alone raised almost $112 million for tsunami relief. That's not much less than the annual payroll for the Boston Red Sox.

ASHLEY SMITH, FORMER KIDNAP VICTIM: I continue to rely on my faith in God.

FOREMAN: Ashley Smith says she put her faith into action, convincing the armed fugitive who held her hostage to let her go.

However, when faith-based initiatives are closely tied to hot political and social debates -- abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research -- many moderate faith groups grow wary of hard core conservatives. EDGAR: In many cases I think they misspeak on behalf of God's will.

FOREMAN: But this much they almost all agree on. The influence of faith in public life is still growing, and faith communities want to keep it that way.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

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HARRIS: Your show, how busy is this show. Your show is just...

PHILLIPS: Everything seems to happen on this shift. I'm telling you.

HARRIS: That wraps up this Monday edition of LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: We promise we'll be back tomorrow. But now to take us through "INSIDE POLITICS," Judy Woodruff.

Hi, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": And that's why we never miss you. All right.

HARRIS: OK.

WOODRUFF: Kyra and Tony, thanks very much.

Well, after a weekend of unprecedented political maneuvering here in Washington, Terri Schiavo's life is in the hands of a federal court. We're going to look at the political effects of last night's vote on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Plus, many Americans don't think Congress should have intervened in the Schiavo case. Our Bill Schneider examines the politics behind it and the fallout that may occur.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.

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PHILLIPS: Checking stories now in the news, this hour in Florida, a federal court hearing scheduled in the Terri Schiavo case. Her parents want her put back on the feeding tube. Much more on this ahead in "INSIDE POLITICS," and, of course CNN will bring you the ruling when it happens.

The Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal by terror suspect Zacharias Moussaoui. This puts him back on track for trial. Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. He denies any involvement.

And it's the end of an era in the Big Apple. Cabaret legend Bobby Short died today of leukemia. He was an institution at New York's Carlisle Hotel, where he regaled guests for 35 years. Bobby Short was 80 years old.

Stay tuned. "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" up next.

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