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More Pilgrims Let In to See Pope; Centuries of History Behind Vatican Architecture; Former Jackson Employee Corroborates Accuser
Aired April 07, 2005 - 13:00 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, HOST: Painkiller pulled from the market. Why the FDA wants Bextra off the shelves. What you need to know.
And check out this amazing video. Gripping a gator. You're going to hear from the winner of this wrestling match this hour.
And lessons from a legend. Bobby Jones tees it up with James Cagney and W.C. Fields to teach Hollywood and America how to play the game. You're not going to want to miss it.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Time's running out for the non-VIPs, Very Important Pilgrims, to pay their personal respects to John Paul II. The doors to St. Peter's Basilica are due to close three hours from now in preparation for the late pontiff's funeral tomorrow morning, and the epic flow of mourners measured in the millions will cease.
You may recall the line was capped last yesterday -- or late yesterday, rather, and the basilica closed for maintenance. Well, this morning, both reopened. It was very good news for an estimated two million mourners from the pope's beloved Poland, many of them still pouring off trains and buses in Rome. You'll know them by the flags.
It's been another eventful day behind the scenes, too, with security preparations, new decisions on post-funeral rituals, and a public release of the pope's spiritual testament.
CNN's Jennifer Eccleston joins us now with more about that.
Hi, Jen.
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.
Well, it was released today, Pope John Paul II's will, very much a spiritual will, which was 15 pages long. He started writing it in 1979. And today, it was read in both his native Polish and also in Italian.
And it is basically an outline of his vision for the church in the future. But there were two salient points that a lot of people who watch the Vatican pointed to today.
And those are that he had indicated in the year 2000, the year of the jubilee, that he was contemplating whether or not he should leave his post, whether he should -- whether he should actually resign. But he framed this in the context of whether it was up to God, that God would point him in the direction of whether he needed to end his pontificate and hand it over to somebody else in the church.
And the other point was that he made a reference to his funeral. And he asked the College of Cardinals to take into the considerations of the wishes of the Polish people as to where he should be buried. But he also said in the will that he would very much leave that up to the College of Cardinals. And as we know, he will be buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica.
And as you can see from these pictures behind me, and as you mentioned, there are tens of thousands of people still on line, waiting to file through the basilica to see the body of Pope John Paul II, to say a final farewell.
It seems that Vatican officials and Rome officials appear to have surmounted a logistical problem, whereby last night they announced at 10 p.m. that no further people would be allowed on the line after 10 p.m.
Overnight it changed. And they had people coming in and asking to be let in, and they said all right. They relaxed the laws, and people have been streaming in all day. And we understand that that line will be closed at 10 p.m. They're also saying that the doors of the basilica will be closed, so what will happen in between we don't know -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jennifer Eccleston, thank you so much.
And John Paul of course considered all of us VIPs, but the term takes on a whole different definition just ahead of his funeral, now 27 hours away. Later this hour, we're going to look at the guest list with our invaluable Vatican analyst, Delia Gallagher.
Well, the eyes of the world are on Vatican City, as they have been on and off for centuries. While there's a lot more eyes than there used to be, the Vatican is timeless. Yet, there, too, John Paul II made his mark.
Here's CNN's Bill Hemmer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): Among the hundred acres of Vatican City there might be a million stories of significance and symbolism. Our Vatican expert John Allen is straddling the border.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: I have one foot in one sovereign state, which is the republic of Italy, and another in the world's smallest sovereign state, which is the Holy See.
HEMMER: The Renaissance architect Bernini had a plan about 350 years ago. ALLEN: His idea was that the basilica was sort of the head of a body. And those great colonnades were like arms, reaching out to gather all of humanity.
HEMMER (on camera): So when the people are gathered here in St. Peter's Square, it's like the children of God coming together?
ALLEN: That's right, the arms of God are reaching in to gather his children.
HEMMER (voice-over): And high above those colonnades stand 140 statues of Catholic saints.
As the story goes, when John Paul II became pope, he stood in the square and asked, "Where are the women?" Shortly, a fresco of the Virgin Mary was placed high above the cobblestone pavement. And when an assassin tried to kill him 24 years ago in this square, the pontiff said the Virgin Mary steered the bullet off course.
In the square's center stands an Egyptian obelisk. According to tradition, this the last thing St. Peter saw when he was crucified upside down here.
Four stories up, the window for the pope's bedroom is still shuttered.
ALLEN: The window is closed when the pope is not there, open when he is. And the lighting, the lighting indicates there's activity going on in the papal apartments. Well, of course now, there is no pope, so there is no activity.
HEMMER: When there's a new pope, the window will open again.
And the main doors to the world's largest church are open. That happens only once every 50 years. And when a pope finishes his work here.
Bill Hemmer, CNN, Vatican City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can set your alarms or your video recorders. Either way don't miss CNN's special coverage of the biggest funeral in modern history. It starts at 3 a.m. Eastern, which is 9 a.m. in Rome, at midnight in the Western U.S. In the rest of the U.S., the ceremony starts at 4 Eastern and should last about three hours.
Life and death and politics are in the spotlight in Washington. Specifically, a controversial anonymous memo that reportedly made the rounds on Capitol Hill while lawmakers were scrambling to send the Terri Schiavo case to federal court.
The memo said the debate was a great political issue and a tough issue for Democrats. Top Republicans denounced that view at the time. Democrats pounced. And now word comes from Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez that the document was authored by a senior member of his staff. Martinez says a staffer was unilaterally responsible and he, the senator, had no idea until yesterday. Martinez says the man doesn't work for him anymore.
Explosive and sorted testimony in the Michael Jackson trial. And before we go to our correspondent in Santa Maria, we do want to warn you that this particular subject matter hasn't been heard before in this case, and you may not want to hear it. It comes from a former security guard at Neverland. We'll get the details now. Some are very graphic and disturbing. But CNN's Miguel Marquez is going to bring it to us as tactfully as he can.
Hi, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll try to PG it there for you, Kyra.
It sounded certainly like devastating testimony in there today. Mr. Chacon, Ralph Chacon, he's a former security guard at Neverland Ranch. He was there from '91 to '94. He testified today. He's also a former repo man, a guy who repossesses cars from Thousand Oaks, California, just north of Los Angeles.
This guy in testimony today just seemed to really devastate and to corroborate a lot about what happened in the past, what the past accusers say happened with Mr. Jackson.
He says that on two occasions he saw Mr. Jackson and his '93 accuser in compromising situations. One, he testified, very compromising, that he saw Mr. Jackson in an area in the bathroom next to the pool area at Neverland Ranch, passionately kissing this young man and then performing oral sex on him.
On a second occasion, some weeks later, he said he saw Mr. Jackson kissing and groping the same boy.
But on cross examination, Mr. Jackson's lawyer, Tom Mesereau Jr., came out swinging, bringing up a lawsuit, a civil lawsuit with this security -- which this security guard and others filed against Mr. Jackson. They were seeking money, $16 million, in fact.
But the jury, instead of finding Mr. Jackson guilty, found that this gentleman had been terminated properly by Jackson. He sued him for wrongful termination. And not only that, they found that he had also stolen from Mr. Jackson and ordered that he repay Mr. Jackson what he stolen, about $25,000, and then ordered all of those who sued Mr. Jackson to pay over $1 million, $1.4 million, to settle Mr. Jackson's legal bill. They said -- the judge said in that suit that they had to settle Mr. Jackson's legal bills.
The lawyer for Mr. Jackson, Mr. Mesereau, asked him, "Do you have a motive to come here today and say what you say -- say what you've said?" And so far the security guard has said no. Cross-examination, though, is continuing. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Miguel Marquez, reporting from the Michael Jackson trial. Thanks, Miguel.
Southerners are on the lookout for more bad weather this afternoon as it approaches but not quite as bad, as they hope, as yesterday. Several tornadoes ripped through parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, leaving serious and widespread damage and injuring at least nine people.
CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney has the bigger picture now from the weather center -- Orelon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Orelon, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, the amazing video of the day. Watch this: going in after a gator. Oh yes, things get a little ugly. We're going to show you what happened next and hear from the man who lived to tell about it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Another -- another painkiller pulled off the shelves. What are people in pain supposed to do? We'll be talking about that when LIVE FROM returns after the break.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK, you've heard of alligator attacks, but rarely, if ever, have you seen one actually on tape, captured, until now. Call it an occupational hazard. A gator trapper got in a bit of trouble as he tried to catch an eight-foot beast in South Florida yesterday.
Reporter Joan Murray of CNN affiliate WFOR has these amazing pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN MURRAY, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): They make it look so easy. But the danger involved in trapping a wild gator is all too real, captured in this video.
TODD HARDWICK, GATOR TRAPPER: There's more blood on the alligator than me, because I was sitting on him and it was just pouring out. But this is all -- all blood.
MURRAY: What started off as a routine capture of an 8 1/2-foot gator for trooper Todd Hardwick quickly degenerated into high drama. When he went to jump on the animal's back and secure the mouth, a grappling hook jammed into Hardwick's arm, all the way to the bone. HARDWICK: So my thoughts were, keep that head under control or you're going to get bit severely. Don't let him drag you over to the deep end, or you're going to drown. Third, stay calm so that you can ask for some assistance.
MURRAY: Assistance came in the form of bystanders and police, who helped Hardwick get a hold of the gator before it got him.
MOISES ROJAS, WITNESS: He was going in. He was going in the water. And had to grab the line and the hook and pull him out and snapped the hook out of his arm so he could hold him.
MURRAY: After a trip to the doctor with the gator in tow, Hardwick stopped at the pharmacy for medication to control any infection.
HARDWICK: See what I got to do now, buddy? Not only do we have all these shots, but I got to take these. But you know what? It's not your fault.
MURRAY: And Hardwick promises the gator will not go to the slaughter.
HARDWICK: Any alligator that can get the best of me is not going to be a purse. There is no way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thanks to Joan Murray and especially her photographer for that report from WFOR.
Well, health concerns are forcing another popular painkiller off the market. This time, it's the arthritis drug Bextra.
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, here to talk about the reasons behind the withdrawal.
COHEN: Yet another painkiller is having problems.
PHILLIPS: Not good news.
COHEN: Not good news. And this time, the FDA said, "We're not just going to just tell them to put a warning on. We're going to actually suggest that they take it off the market."
This is a release that the FDA sent out today. They said the FDA has asked Pfizer to withdraw Bextra from the market because the overall risk versus benefit profile for the drug is unfavorable. That is a fancy way of saying that it does more harm than good.
And the harm specifically is that people taking Bextra seem to have an increased risk of having heart attacks and strokes and also a potentially deadly skin condition.
This is a very popular drug. Last year, 12.8 million prescriptions were written for Bextra, and that led to $1.2 billion in sales.
So if you've been taking Bextra, what should you do? Well, Pfizer says stop taking Bextra. Talk to your doctor about alternatives. But remember, other that painkillers, even over the counter painkillers, also carry risks.
Another important point to remember is that these painkillers, whether it's over the counter or whether it's Celebrex, seem to cause problems when people took them at higher doses and for longer amounts of time. So some patients may choose to consider taking them -- to continue taking them.
They may say, these patients and their doctors may say, "I don't have any heart problems. I'm not at particularly high risk for having heart problems. I'm in terrible pain, and I want to continue taking these drugs, even though they might cause a risk."
Now, Kyra, it's interesting. The FDA today also said that Celebrex has to carry a big prominent warning, called the black box warning, talking about these cardiovascular risks.
PHILLIPS: Well, Bextra is being taken off the shelves, but why does Celebrex stay? I mean, obviously, it's going to have a warning, right? But why does it get to stay?
COHEN: It gets to stay, according to the FDA, because Bextra seemed to be more likely to cause this horrible skin condition that can lead to death. In fact, as of December 4, people taking Bextra had contracted this skin condition.
And so they said it was really the skin condition that kind of put things over the edge.
PHILLIPS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.
COHEN: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM...
RANDOLPH DIAL, CAPTURED FUGITIVE: I was armed only with a knife against her carteroid artery in her leg.
PHILLIPS: The inmate and the warden's wife. A bizarre escape saga ends after 11 years on the lam.
Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bobby, you've spoiled my whole day. I've given up golf.
PHILLIPS: Learning from a legend, as the master swings into action. Playing golf with Bobby Jones, the Hollywood way.
And later... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a bloody trollop, isn't she?
PHILLIPS: Camilla Parker Bowles' not so loyal subjects. Our cameras go to the Cornwall where she will soon become the duchess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More details now on the developing story we've been bringing you out of the Maryland/Delaware area, with regard to that one man shooting spree that we've been following. Bob Franken live now from Salisbury, Maryland, with more on the status of that suspect -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the police say now it is over. But it just shows what one person can do in a shooting rampage can affect so many communities in a two-state area.
According to police, a 22-year-old man this morning began with a shooting in Laurel, Delaware, across the border from where we are now in Salisbury, Maryland, shooting in an apartment complex, leaving one dead. He raced over to a nearby shopping mall, continuing to shoot, wounded a couple more others.
He got into his vehicle and started driving and shooting wildly as he drove first to Delmar, which as the name suggests, straddles the border between Delaware and Maryland here in the Eastern Shore area, and kept on driving, shooting, injuring one, we're told by police officials, ended up here on the west side of Salisbury, Maryland.
There, and the details get a little bit sketchier, but officials believe he car-jacked a sports utility vehicle. And as police were closing in, he jumped out of the vehicle but shot and killed that driver as he was running away.
There was a foot chase, according to police, but they were able to apprehend him. There was absolutely no resistance when he was arrested. But police officials say they described him as out of control.
One official said he was wearing body armor, although that is just the word of one police official. He is now in custody, identified only as a 22-year-old man.
During the entire spree here in the Salisbury area, the schools were shut down. There was a lockdown, purely for precaution, said officials. But it's the first time they could recall that anything like that had happened.
Now they're trying to piece together the details. No word yet, Kyra, on any motive.
PHILLIPS: All right. Bob Franken from Salisbury, Maryland, thank you so much. And another story involving a shooting earlier today. We've got an update for you now, as we look at live pictures from our affiliate in Dallas, KDFW, from the helicopter right now.
You're seeing police surrounding a car of a suspect that they believe also is responsible for a shooting that took place in Canton, Texas. Apparently, a football coach was shot at a high school there in Canton earlier in the day. Authorities are still combing the area for the gunman. We're told right here within this area, not sure of the exact location in Texas. We're working that right now.
But the shooting took place in Canton. Now police coming across the car, searching for that suspect.
The shooting happened about 10:20 Eastern Time at the Canton High School field. A dispatcher for the Canton Police Department is giving us information as we're getting it, actually, to this point.
No children or juveniles, we are told, were involved. Authorities have identified the suspect, though. They believe they're looking for Jeffrey Doyle Robertson, 37 years old, who is not a school employee. That is a suspect right now.
Police are telling us they are looking for in this sort of open field area in Lindale, Texas, I'm now being told, Lindale Texas, not far from Canton, Texas.
Ed Lavandera has actually been working the story for us, our bureau chief there out of Dallas.
Ed, first of all, tell me if they believe that Jeffrey Doyle Robertson is in this area, and also put into perspective how far is Lindale from Canton, Canton from Dallas?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm having a hard time. We're driving in a car so if you can help me out with exactly what they're seeing -- the video?
We understand that there are reports out there that they have found the pickup truck that they believe belongs to the suspect in this case, and that they're trying to locate him.
We see a lot of -- we just arrived into Canton, and we see, you know, a lot of police officer moving around in rather quick fashion so...
PHILLIPS: Where's Lindale? Where's Lindale, Texas, Ed?
LAVANDERA: I'm not sure at this point.
PHILLIPS: OK. It looks like a pretty remote area. I can just kind of describe the live picture that I'm seeing from KDFW from there, their helicopter cam. And it looks sort of like a forest, an area -- not a lot of development. I don't see any homes.
And they blocked off, actually, the truck, what they believe to be the suspect's truck. We're looking at a picture of that now. A number of police cars.
Maybe we can backtrack a little bit. Tell us what happened. Do we know anything about Jeffrey Robinson (sic), this suspect, 37 years old, not a school employee, why he would go to this field and shoot this -- allegedly shoot this football coach?
LAVANDERA: Well, there are reports starting to rush out that we've been hearing from residents here in the Canton area that he was at a party last night. He was angry, had been drinking, had also been talking about perhaps -- some reports have been going so far as to suggest that he was talking about doing this today.
I can tell you, Kyra, that Lindale is -- I don't want to guess on the mileage, but it is -- it is east of the Canton area.
PHILLIPS: OK.
LAVANDERA: Close to -- close to Tyler, which is in the next county over from Canton, which kind of conflicts with what we've been hearing before, where authorities were saying here in Canton that they suspected he might be moving toward the Dallas area. But this is in completely the opposite direction where they have apparently found this truck.
PHILLIPS: Well, do we know anything about Jeffrey Robinson (sic), this alleged suspect? Anything about what he does or relationship that he could have had with this football coach, Gary Joe Kenny, I'm told his name, evidently shot below the ribs, and he was flown to Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. You mentioned Tyler, Texas, just 36 miles away, I'm now being told, from Canton.
Do we know about the relationship between the two?
LAVANDERA: It's not exactly clear -- you know, describing it at this point. But we do understand that the coach of the team had a son who played football for Canton High School, and there are some people who believe that in some way this might have been connected in some way.
PHILLIPS: We're looking at live pictures now of the high school, Ed, Canton. OK this is not live pictures. I apologize. This is actually taped footage of Canton High School, which I'm being told is in lockdown right now, since this shooting took place. The high school still in lockdown, especially because the suspect, allegedly, still on the loose.
Ed Lavandera, I know you're getting closer to the scene, and we'll continue to check in with you as this story continues to unfold. But right now, just real quickly, to bring you up to date, the search is still on for a suspect. Live pictures here from the scene, where they believe the suspect's truck is right here on the side road.
Police right now say they are looking for Jeffrey Doyle Robinson (sic), who they believe shot a football coach at Canton High School in Canton, Texas. We're going to follow this as it continues to develop.
Now moving on. Unbelievable. It's truly the only word we can think of to describe this next story.
Days ago, authorities found an elusive killer hiding out in Nacodoches, Texas, with the wife of an assistant prison warden, the woman he took as a hostage during his escape from prison more than 10 years ago. That's the connection.
Once again, here's our CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's got the story of this long manhunt and the subsequent capture of a wanted fugitive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAL: Progression of events, you know?
LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial's story reads more like outlandish fiction than real life. He was a chicken farming killer on the run with self-proclaimed mob connections and a flair for painting and sculpting in his spare time.
And after his headline grabbing arrest, it's clear the man like to put on a show.
DIAL: Well, boys and girl, it's "Howdy Doody" time.
LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial first made headlines when he escaped from this Oklahoma prison 10 year ago. He says he forced the deputy warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, into a car to escape.
DIAL: I was armed only with a knife, against her carteroid artery in her leg.
LAVANDERA: Dial was a prison trustee, which means he had more freedom than most convicts. He convinced prison authorities to let him start an inmate pottery program. That's how he met Bobbi Parker, who helped out with the class.
DIAL: I had worked on her for about a year trying to get her mind right. And I convinced her that the friend was the enemy and the enemy was the friend.
LAVANDERA: Nearly 11 years ago Dial and Mrs. Parker disappeared. Her husband and two daughters feared she'd been killed. But the bad news never came.
Then Monday afternoon a tip was phoned in to the TV show "America's Most Wanted." Bobbi Parker was mowing a grass field. Dial was watching golf and cooking meat patties in their trailer when the past came knocking on the door.
CAPT. MIKE TOLLETT, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Went in the front door. And he was standing in the living room, and he was caught completely by surprise, had no idea that we were coming.
LAVANDERA: No one around Campti, Texas knew Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker. To anyone who asked, they were Richard and Samantha Deal (ph), a couple raising chickens and living a quiet life in this trailer. TOLLETT: Not much out here at all. It'd be a good place to lay low, as you say, or to hide out.
SHERIFF NEWTON JOHNSON, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS: He kept real low keyed and stayed out of sight. And he didn't drive. He didn't have a driver's license. He didn't have a Social Security number. He didn't do anything to bring any attention to himself.
LAVANDERA (on camera): This is a great place to hide. The nearest main road is six miles down this dirt path. Apparently Randolph Dial was happy spending his days out here. He told authorities that in the five years he lived here, he only went in to town a couple of times, once to go to the grocery store, once to go to the library.
(voice-over): But Bobbi Parker was often seen in town coming to the Big M Market to cash checks and buy groceries.
TAMMY BROWN, BIG M MARKET: I don't buy her story at all. How could she be held hostage for 10 years. If you're able to come and get gas, why couldn't you just drive off?
LAVANDERA: Mrs. Parker and her family are back together, but they're not talking. Dial says he brainwashed Mrs. Parker into thinking that if she ever tried to get away he'd kill her daughters. He says he would never have done that.
DIAL: She's a very special person and very easy to like.
LAVANDERA: Three years ago, Oklahoma writer Charles Sasser wrote a book about Dial. Investigators say Dial went to a book signing in Tulsa.
(on camera): He stood face to face with the author?
KENT SHAFFER, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: And in fact I want to say that he actually bought the book when he was having that signing, because he said he took it home and read it.
LAVANDERA: And after reading it, Dial called Sasser.
CHARLES SASSER, AUTHOR: And he says I read your book, at large, 12 times. And I figure, oh my, what a great fan I've got here, 12 times the same book. And he says you weren't always complimentary to me, but I love the book because you were fair.
LAVANDERA: The story of Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker isn't over yet. What's unfolded in the last few days has added new twists to a bizarre tale.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Shelby County, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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Aired April 7, 2005 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Painkiller pulled from the market. Why the FDA wants Bextra off the shelves. What you need to know.
And check out this amazing video. Gripping a gator. You're going to hear from the winner of this wrestling match this hour.
And lessons from a legend. Bobby Jones tees it up with James Cagney and W.C. Fields to teach Hollywood and America how to play the game. You're not going to want to miss it.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Time's running out for the non-VIPs, Very Important Pilgrims, to pay their personal respects to John Paul II. The doors to St. Peter's Basilica are due to close three hours from now in preparation for the late pontiff's funeral tomorrow morning, and the epic flow of mourners measured in the millions will cease.
You may recall the line was capped last yesterday -- or late yesterday, rather, and the basilica closed for maintenance. Well, this morning, both reopened. It was very good news for an estimated two million mourners from the pope's beloved Poland, many of them still pouring off trains and buses in Rome. You'll know them by the flags.
It's been another eventful day behind the scenes, too, with security preparations, new decisions on post-funeral rituals, and a public release of the pope's spiritual testament.
CNN's Jennifer Eccleston joins us now with more about that.
Hi, Jen.
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.
Well, it was released today, Pope John Paul II's will, very much a spiritual will, which was 15 pages long. He started writing it in 1979. And today, it was read in both his native Polish and also in Italian.
And it is basically an outline of his vision for the church in the future. But there were two salient points that a lot of people who watch the Vatican pointed to today.
And those are that he had indicated in the year 2000, the year of the jubilee, that he was contemplating whether or not he should leave his post, whether he should -- whether he should actually resign. But he framed this in the context of whether it was up to God, that God would point him in the direction of whether he needed to end his pontificate and hand it over to somebody else in the church.
And the other point was that he made a reference to his funeral. And he asked the College of Cardinals to take into the considerations of the wishes of the Polish people as to where he should be buried. But he also said in the will that he would very much leave that up to the College of Cardinals. And as we know, he will be buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica.
And as you can see from these pictures behind me, and as you mentioned, there are tens of thousands of people still on line, waiting to file through the basilica to see the body of Pope John Paul II, to say a final farewell.
It seems that Vatican officials and Rome officials appear to have surmounted a logistical problem, whereby last night they announced at 10 p.m. that no further people would be allowed on the line after 10 p.m.
Overnight it changed. And they had people coming in and asking to be let in, and they said all right. They relaxed the laws, and people have been streaming in all day. And we understand that that line will be closed at 10 p.m. They're also saying that the doors of the basilica will be closed, so what will happen in between we don't know -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jennifer Eccleston, thank you so much.
And John Paul of course considered all of us VIPs, but the term takes on a whole different definition just ahead of his funeral, now 27 hours away. Later this hour, we're going to look at the guest list with our invaluable Vatican analyst, Delia Gallagher.
Well, the eyes of the world are on Vatican City, as they have been on and off for centuries. While there's a lot more eyes than there used to be, the Vatican is timeless. Yet, there, too, John Paul II made his mark.
Here's CNN's Bill Hemmer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): Among the hundred acres of Vatican City there might be a million stories of significance and symbolism. Our Vatican expert John Allen is straddling the border.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: I have one foot in one sovereign state, which is the republic of Italy, and another in the world's smallest sovereign state, which is the Holy See.
HEMMER: The Renaissance architect Bernini had a plan about 350 years ago. ALLEN: His idea was that the basilica was sort of the head of a body. And those great colonnades were like arms, reaching out to gather all of humanity.
HEMMER (on camera): So when the people are gathered here in St. Peter's Square, it's like the children of God coming together?
ALLEN: That's right, the arms of God are reaching in to gather his children.
HEMMER (voice-over): And high above those colonnades stand 140 statues of Catholic saints.
As the story goes, when John Paul II became pope, he stood in the square and asked, "Where are the women?" Shortly, a fresco of the Virgin Mary was placed high above the cobblestone pavement. And when an assassin tried to kill him 24 years ago in this square, the pontiff said the Virgin Mary steered the bullet off course.
In the square's center stands an Egyptian obelisk. According to tradition, this the last thing St. Peter saw when he was crucified upside down here.
Four stories up, the window for the pope's bedroom is still shuttered.
ALLEN: The window is closed when the pope is not there, open when he is. And the lighting, the lighting indicates there's activity going on in the papal apartments. Well, of course now, there is no pope, so there is no activity.
HEMMER: When there's a new pope, the window will open again.
And the main doors to the world's largest church are open. That happens only once every 50 years. And when a pope finishes his work here.
Bill Hemmer, CNN, Vatican City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can set your alarms or your video recorders. Either way don't miss CNN's special coverage of the biggest funeral in modern history. It starts at 3 a.m. Eastern, which is 9 a.m. in Rome, at midnight in the Western U.S. In the rest of the U.S., the ceremony starts at 4 Eastern and should last about three hours.
Life and death and politics are in the spotlight in Washington. Specifically, a controversial anonymous memo that reportedly made the rounds on Capitol Hill while lawmakers were scrambling to send the Terri Schiavo case to federal court.
The memo said the debate was a great political issue and a tough issue for Democrats. Top Republicans denounced that view at the time. Democrats pounced. And now word comes from Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez that the document was authored by a senior member of his staff. Martinez says a staffer was unilaterally responsible and he, the senator, had no idea until yesterday. Martinez says the man doesn't work for him anymore.
Explosive and sorted testimony in the Michael Jackson trial. And before we go to our correspondent in Santa Maria, we do want to warn you that this particular subject matter hasn't been heard before in this case, and you may not want to hear it. It comes from a former security guard at Neverland. We'll get the details now. Some are very graphic and disturbing. But CNN's Miguel Marquez is going to bring it to us as tactfully as he can.
Hi, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll try to PG it there for you, Kyra.
It sounded certainly like devastating testimony in there today. Mr. Chacon, Ralph Chacon, he's a former security guard at Neverland Ranch. He was there from '91 to '94. He testified today. He's also a former repo man, a guy who repossesses cars from Thousand Oaks, California, just north of Los Angeles.
This guy in testimony today just seemed to really devastate and to corroborate a lot about what happened in the past, what the past accusers say happened with Mr. Jackson.
He says that on two occasions he saw Mr. Jackson and his '93 accuser in compromising situations. One, he testified, very compromising, that he saw Mr. Jackson in an area in the bathroom next to the pool area at Neverland Ranch, passionately kissing this young man and then performing oral sex on him.
On a second occasion, some weeks later, he said he saw Mr. Jackson kissing and groping the same boy.
But on cross examination, Mr. Jackson's lawyer, Tom Mesereau Jr., came out swinging, bringing up a lawsuit, a civil lawsuit with this security -- which this security guard and others filed against Mr. Jackson. They were seeking money, $16 million, in fact.
But the jury, instead of finding Mr. Jackson guilty, found that this gentleman had been terminated properly by Jackson. He sued him for wrongful termination. And not only that, they found that he had also stolen from Mr. Jackson and ordered that he repay Mr. Jackson what he stolen, about $25,000, and then ordered all of those who sued Mr. Jackson to pay over $1 million, $1.4 million, to settle Mr. Jackson's legal bill. They said -- the judge said in that suit that they had to settle Mr. Jackson's legal bills.
The lawyer for Mr. Jackson, Mr. Mesereau, asked him, "Do you have a motive to come here today and say what you say -- say what you've said?" And so far the security guard has said no. Cross-examination, though, is continuing. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Miguel Marquez, reporting from the Michael Jackson trial. Thanks, Miguel.
Southerners are on the lookout for more bad weather this afternoon as it approaches but not quite as bad, as they hope, as yesterday. Several tornadoes ripped through parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, leaving serious and widespread damage and injuring at least nine people.
CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney has the bigger picture now from the weather center -- Orelon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Orelon, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, the amazing video of the day. Watch this: going in after a gator. Oh yes, things get a little ugly. We're going to show you what happened next and hear from the man who lived to tell about it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Another -- another painkiller pulled off the shelves. What are people in pain supposed to do? We'll be talking about that when LIVE FROM returns after the break.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK, you've heard of alligator attacks, but rarely, if ever, have you seen one actually on tape, captured, until now. Call it an occupational hazard. A gator trapper got in a bit of trouble as he tried to catch an eight-foot beast in South Florida yesterday.
Reporter Joan Murray of CNN affiliate WFOR has these amazing pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN MURRAY, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): They make it look so easy. But the danger involved in trapping a wild gator is all too real, captured in this video.
TODD HARDWICK, GATOR TRAPPER: There's more blood on the alligator than me, because I was sitting on him and it was just pouring out. But this is all -- all blood.
MURRAY: What started off as a routine capture of an 8 1/2-foot gator for trooper Todd Hardwick quickly degenerated into high drama. When he went to jump on the animal's back and secure the mouth, a grappling hook jammed into Hardwick's arm, all the way to the bone. HARDWICK: So my thoughts were, keep that head under control or you're going to get bit severely. Don't let him drag you over to the deep end, or you're going to drown. Third, stay calm so that you can ask for some assistance.
MURRAY: Assistance came in the form of bystanders and police, who helped Hardwick get a hold of the gator before it got him.
MOISES ROJAS, WITNESS: He was going in. He was going in the water. And had to grab the line and the hook and pull him out and snapped the hook out of his arm so he could hold him.
MURRAY: After a trip to the doctor with the gator in tow, Hardwick stopped at the pharmacy for medication to control any infection.
HARDWICK: See what I got to do now, buddy? Not only do we have all these shots, but I got to take these. But you know what? It's not your fault.
MURRAY: And Hardwick promises the gator will not go to the slaughter.
HARDWICK: Any alligator that can get the best of me is not going to be a purse. There is no way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thanks to Joan Murray and especially her photographer for that report from WFOR.
Well, health concerns are forcing another popular painkiller off the market. This time, it's the arthritis drug Bextra.
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, here to talk about the reasons behind the withdrawal.
COHEN: Yet another painkiller is having problems.
PHILLIPS: Not good news.
COHEN: Not good news. And this time, the FDA said, "We're not just going to just tell them to put a warning on. We're going to actually suggest that they take it off the market."
This is a release that the FDA sent out today. They said the FDA has asked Pfizer to withdraw Bextra from the market because the overall risk versus benefit profile for the drug is unfavorable. That is a fancy way of saying that it does more harm than good.
And the harm specifically is that people taking Bextra seem to have an increased risk of having heart attacks and strokes and also a potentially deadly skin condition.
This is a very popular drug. Last year, 12.8 million prescriptions were written for Bextra, and that led to $1.2 billion in sales.
So if you've been taking Bextra, what should you do? Well, Pfizer says stop taking Bextra. Talk to your doctor about alternatives. But remember, other that painkillers, even over the counter painkillers, also carry risks.
Another important point to remember is that these painkillers, whether it's over the counter or whether it's Celebrex, seem to cause problems when people took them at higher doses and for longer amounts of time. So some patients may choose to consider taking them -- to continue taking them.
They may say, these patients and their doctors may say, "I don't have any heart problems. I'm not at particularly high risk for having heart problems. I'm in terrible pain, and I want to continue taking these drugs, even though they might cause a risk."
Now, Kyra, it's interesting. The FDA today also said that Celebrex has to carry a big prominent warning, called the black box warning, talking about these cardiovascular risks.
PHILLIPS: Well, Bextra is being taken off the shelves, but why does Celebrex stay? I mean, obviously, it's going to have a warning, right? But why does it get to stay?
COHEN: It gets to stay, according to the FDA, because Bextra seemed to be more likely to cause this horrible skin condition that can lead to death. In fact, as of December 4, people taking Bextra had contracted this skin condition.
And so they said it was really the skin condition that kind of put things over the edge.
PHILLIPS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.
COHEN: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM...
RANDOLPH DIAL, CAPTURED FUGITIVE: I was armed only with a knife against her carteroid artery in her leg.
PHILLIPS: The inmate and the warden's wife. A bizarre escape saga ends after 11 years on the lam.
Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bobby, you've spoiled my whole day. I've given up golf.
PHILLIPS: Learning from a legend, as the master swings into action. Playing golf with Bobby Jones, the Hollywood way.
And later... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a bloody trollop, isn't she?
PHILLIPS: Camilla Parker Bowles' not so loyal subjects. Our cameras go to the Cornwall where she will soon become the duchess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More details now on the developing story we've been bringing you out of the Maryland/Delaware area, with regard to that one man shooting spree that we've been following. Bob Franken live now from Salisbury, Maryland, with more on the status of that suspect -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the police say now it is over. But it just shows what one person can do in a shooting rampage can affect so many communities in a two-state area.
According to police, a 22-year-old man this morning began with a shooting in Laurel, Delaware, across the border from where we are now in Salisbury, Maryland, shooting in an apartment complex, leaving one dead. He raced over to a nearby shopping mall, continuing to shoot, wounded a couple more others.
He got into his vehicle and started driving and shooting wildly as he drove first to Delmar, which as the name suggests, straddles the border between Delaware and Maryland here in the Eastern Shore area, and kept on driving, shooting, injuring one, we're told by police officials, ended up here on the west side of Salisbury, Maryland.
There, and the details get a little bit sketchier, but officials believe he car-jacked a sports utility vehicle. And as police were closing in, he jumped out of the vehicle but shot and killed that driver as he was running away.
There was a foot chase, according to police, but they were able to apprehend him. There was absolutely no resistance when he was arrested. But police officials say they described him as out of control.
One official said he was wearing body armor, although that is just the word of one police official. He is now in custody, identified only as a 22-year-old man.
During the entire spree here in the Salisbury area, the schools were shut down. There was a lockdown, purely for precaution, said officials. But it's the first time they could recall that anything like that had happened.
Now they're trying to piece together the details. No word yet, Kyra, on any motive.
PHILLIPS: All right. Bob Franken from Salisbury, Maryland, thank you so much. And another story involving a shooting earlier today. We've got an update for you now, as we look at live pictures from our affiliate in Dallas, KDFW, from the helicopter right now.
You're seeing police surrounding a car of a suspect that they believe also is responsible for a shooting that took place in Canton, Texas. Apparently, a football coach was shot at a high school there in Canton earlier in the day. Authorities are still combing the area for the gunman. We're told right here within this area, not sure of the exact location in Texas. We're working that right now.
But the shooting took place in Canton. Now police coming across the car, searching for that suspect.
The shooting happened about 10:20 Eastern Time at the Canton High School field. A dispatcher for the Canton Police Department is giving us information as we're getting it, actually, to this point.
No children or juveniles, we are told, were involved. Authorities have identified the suspect, though. They believe they're looking for Jeffrey Doyle Robertson, 37 years old, who is not a school employee. That is a suspect right now.
Police are telling us they are looking for in this sort of open field area in Lindale, Texas, I'm now being told, Lindale Texas, not far from Canton, Texas.
Ed Lavandera has actually been working the story for us, our bureau chief there out of Dallas.
Ed, first of all, tell me if they believe that Jeffrey Doyle Robertson is in this area, and also put into perspective how far is Lindale from Canton, Canton from Dallas?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm having a hard time. We're driving in a car so if you can help me out with exactly what they're seeing -- the video?
We understand that there are reports out there that they have found the pickup truck that they believe belongs to the suspect in this case, and that they're trying to locate him.
We see a lot of -- we just arrived into Canton, and we see, you know, a lot of police officer moving around in rather quick fashion so...
PHILLIPS: Where's Lindale? Where's Lindale, Texas, Ed?
LAVANDERA: I'm not sure at this point.
PHILLIPS: OK. It looks like a pretty remote area. I can just kind of describe the live picture that I'm seeing from KDFW from there, their helicopter cam. And it looks sort of like a forest, an area -- not a lot of development. I don't see any homes.
And they blocked off, actually, the truck, what they believe to be the suspect's truck. We're looking at a picture of that now. A number of police cars.
Maybe we can backtrack a little bit. Tell us what happened. Do we know anything about Jeffrey Robinson (sic), this suspect, 37 years old, not a school employee, why he would go to this field and shoot this -- allegedly shoot this football coach?
LAVANDERA: Well, there are reports starting to rush out that we've been hearing from residents here in the Canton area that he was at a party last night. He was angry, had been drinking, had also been talking about perhaps -- some reports have been going so far as to suggest that he was talking about doing this today.
I can tell you, Kyra, that Lindale is -- I don't want to guess on the mileage, but it is -- it is east of the Canton area.
PHILLIPS: OK.
LAVANDERA: Close to -- close to Tyler, which is in the next county over from Canton, which kind of conflicts with what we've been hearing before, where authorities were saying here in Canton that they suspected he might be moving toward the Dallas area. But this is in completely the opposite direction where they have apparently found this truck.
PHILLIPS: Well, do we know anything about Jeffrey Robinson (sic), this alleged suspect? Anything about what he does or relationship that he could have had with this football coach, Gary Joe Kenny, I'm told his name, evidently shot below the ribs, and he was flown to Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. You mentioned Tyler, Texas, just 36 miles away, I'm now being told, from Canton.
Do we know about the relationship between the two?
LAVANDERA: It's not exactly clear -- you know, describing it at this point. But we do understand that the coach of the team had a son who played football for Canton High School, and there are some people who believe that in some way this might have been connected in some way.
PHILLIPS: We're looking at live pictures now of the high school, Ed, Canton. OK this is not live pictures. I apologize. This is actually taped footage of Canton High School, which I'm being told is in lockdown right now, since this shooting took place. The high school still in lockdown, especially because the suspect, allegedly, still on the loose.
Ed Lavandera, I know you're getting closer to the scene, and we'll continue to check in with you as this story continues to unfold. But right now, just real quickly, to bring you up to date, the search is still on for a suspect. Live pictures here from the scene, where they believe the suspect's truck is right here on the side road.
Police right now say they are looking for Jeffrey Doyle Robinson (sic), who they believe shot a football coach at Canton High School in Canton, Texas. We're going to follow this as it continues to develop.
Now moving on. Unbelievable. It's truly the only word we can think of to describe this next story.
Days ago, authorities found an elusive killer hiding out in Nacodoches, Texas, with the wife of an assistant prison warden, the woman he took as a hostage during his escape from prison more than 10 years ago. That's the connection.
Once again, here's our CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's got the story of this long manhunt and the subsequent capture of a wanted fugitive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAL: Progression of events, you know?
LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial's story reads more like outlandish fiction than real life. He was a chicken farming killer on the run with self-proclaimed mob connections and a flair for painting and sculpting in his spare time.
And after his headline grabbing arrest, it's clear the man like to put on a show.
DIAL: Well, boys and girl, it's "Howdy Doody" time.
LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial first made headlines when he escaped from this Oklahoma prison 10 year ago. He says he forced the deputy warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, into a car to escape.
DIAL: I was armed only with a knife, against her carteroid artery in her leg.
LAVANDERA: Dial was a prison trustee, which means he had more freedom than most convicts. He convinced prison authorities to let him start an inmate pottery program. That's how he met Bobbi Parker, who helped out with the class.
DIAL: I had worked on her for about a year trying to get her mind right. And I convinced her that the friend was the enemy and the enemy was the friend.
LAVANDERA: Nearly 11 years ago Dial and Mrs. Parker disappeared. Her husband and two daughters feared she'd been killed. But the bad news never came.
Then Monday afternoon a tip was phoned in to the TV show "America's Most Wanted." Bobbi Parker was mowing a grass field. Dial was watching golf and cooking meat patties in their trailer when the past came knocking on the door.
CAPT. MIKE TOLLETT, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Went in the front door. And he was standing in the living room, and he was caught completely by surprise, had no idea that we were coming.
LAVANDERA: No one around Campti, Texas knew Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker. To anyone who asked, they were Richard and Samantha Deal (ph), a couple raising chickens and living a quiet life in this trailer. TOLLETT: Not much out here at all. It'd be a good place to lay low, as you say, or to hide out.
SHERIFF NEWTON JOHNSON, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS: He kept real low keyed and stayed out of sight. And he didn't drive. He didn't have a driver's license. He didn't have a Social Security number. He didn't do anything to bring any attention to himself.
LAVANDERA (on camera): This is a great place to hide. The nearest main road is six miles down this dirt path. Apparently Randolph Dial was happy spending his days out here. He told authorities that in the five years he lived here, he only went in to town a couple of times, once to go to the grocery store, once to go to the library.
(voice-over): But Bobbi Parker was often seen in town coming to the Big M Market to cash checks and buy groceries.
TAMMY BROWN, BIG M MARKET: I don't buy her story at all. How could she be held hostage for 10 years. If you're able to come and get gas, why couldn't you just drive off?
LAVANDERA: Mrs. Parker and her family are back together, but they're not talking. Dial says he brainwashed Mrs. Parker into thinking that if she ever tried to get away he'd kill her daughters. He says he would never have done that.
DIAL: She's a very special person and very easy to like.
LAVANDERA: Three years ago, Oklahoma writer Charles Sasser wrote a book about Dial. Investigators say Dial went to a book signing in Tulsa.
(on camera): He stood face to face with the author?
KENT SHAFFER, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: And in fact I want to say that he actually bought the book when he was having that signing, because he said he took it home and read it.
LAVANDERA: And after reading it, Dial called Sasser.
CHARLES SASSER, AUTHOR: And he says I read your book, at large, 12 times. And I figure, oh my, what a great fan I've got here, 12 times the same book. And he says you weren't always complimentary to me, but I love the book because you were fair.
LAVANDERA: The story of Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker isn't over yet. What's unfolded in the last few days has added new twists to a bizarre tale.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Shelby County, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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