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Small Protest in Rome Against Boston Cardinal; Bush Meets with Sharon for West Bank Discussion

Aired April 11, 2005 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hostage negotiations continue in a police standoff involving a father, a mother and a child in New Jersey. Police say Almutah Saunders abducted his girlfriend and their 4-month-old child earlier today. He is also accused of shooting the woman's father in the leg. Authorities say there is history of domestic violence between the couple. Live pictures from WPIX of the scene there and the vehicle where Saunders and his 4-month-old are right now.
Live pictures now, actually recent pictures, coming from -- that is live, from our KTLA affiliate in Los Angeles. This is Long Beach Airport, where the Ameriquest blimp is having some difficulty ending its mission. It is attached at the nose to the mast, its mooring mast, but the rear end of the blimp is unable to settle out and level out.

Firefighters on the scene, as you can see, are dousing with water, hoping to cool down the gases, thus making them less buoyant and also add a little weight. Apparently some sort of venting capability failed or perhaps some water ballast was lost during the flight. We do not know how many people are on board the Ameriquest blimp there in Long Beach.

President Bush is urging Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to honor his commitment to stop the expansion of West Bank settlements. It's an obligation in the road map to peace; however, Sharon says it's too early to say what will happen. The leaders are meeting at the president's ranch. We'll go live to Texas in just a moment, give you a complete report.

In the hot seat, Senate Democrats grill John Bolton, the president's nominee for U.N. ambassador. On the first day of his confirmation hearing, Bolton promised to strengthen the U.N. He said it has gone off track, sometimes, however. Democrats question Bolton's respect for the international body.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In St. Peter's Square today, a small but symbolic protest. The focus: the cardinal chosen to celebrate a memorial mass for the late Pope John Paul II. CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Vatican City, where the public soon will be allowed to pray at the pope's tomb. Hi, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Yes, that protest this afternoon very small, indeed, only two members of SNAP, the survivors network of those abused by priests, who flew, nonetheless, five thousand miles to be here to protest the fact that Cardinal Law was celebrating mass at high altar of St. Peter's, the so-called papal altar, one of the nine mourning masses that are being said for the pope.

And they were just outraged at the fact that Cardinal Law was put in such a position of prominence. One of them, Barbara Blaine, said that she felt that Cardinal Law was the poster boy for the sex abuse scandal in the United States and the Vatican should never have allowed him to take the step of celebrating the mass today.

However, the Vatican has basically said all along -- had no particular reaction today, but they have said all along that Cardinal Law has paid for his sins, that he lost his job as the archbishop of Boston, and that he is now here in Rome.

Vatican experts like our John Allen say that, in fact, the reason that he delivered and celebrated the mass today is more a matter of tradition than anything else. The job that the pope gave him was the archpriest of the Santa Maria Maggiore Church here in Rome and that position, always, by tradition, allows the holder of the position to, in fact, say one of the masses for the deceased pope.

So that's why it happened, but that didn't satisfy those who were, in fact -- wanted to protest the appearance of Cardinal Law. And as you mentioned, one other thing from here today, and that is the fact that they're going to, on Wednesday, open up to the public the possibility of seeing the pope tombed down in the crypt of the Vatican -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jim, do you know if any of those members of SNAP will have a chance to meet with U.S. cardinals about a new pope and addressing the sex abuse scandal?

BITTERMANN: Well, in fact, we're not sure that they will. They are a little unsure of themselves of what they're going to do. They'd like to get more SNAP members over here. This kind of caught them by surprise and so they -- the two of them came, but they may try to get more SNAP members over here, they may try to meet with American cardinals. One thing that should be said is that there's only one American cardinal actually was at the mass today that I saw, so I think that mainly the American cardinals stayed away today.

PHILLIPS: Jim Bittermann, thank you so much. From Vatican City -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. Scant details. Don't have much to tell you, except to tell you that we have confirmed, CNN has confirmed, that an American contractor was kidnapped today in Iraq. Beyond that we have nothing more to tell you. An American contractor kidnapped in Iraq. We're obviously working very hard to get you more details and we'll get them to you as soon as possible. Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A story we're continuing to follow here at CNN Center. An American contractor kidnapped in Iraq. We're just starting to get in more information. We are told this American contractor was kidnapped today somewhere within the Baghdad area. That's according to a U.S. embassy spokesperson. We also are being told that this individual speaking to us on one condition, that we not use their names. The contractor was working on a reconstruction project -- reconstruction project, rather. The contractor's family has been notified of the abduction.

Once again, that's all the information we have at this point. We're working this story for you right now, but as you know, in Iraq right now, a lot of American companies along with U.S. military, are over in Iraq rebuilding throughout that area, rebuilding businesses and schools and getting water, of course, running and other utilities.

Now we are being told that one of the American contractors was kidnapped today somewhere in the Baghdad area, a contractor that was working on a reconstruction project. As soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you.

O'BRIEN: Now let's go to the woodshed of the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas, metaphorically, at least. As you know if you've been watching CNN all day, President Bush today told the visiting prime minister of Israel to tear up plans to expand a key Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

We get details from CNN's Elaine Quijano -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, that was one of the points of discussion, but the one that the two leaders chose to emphasize, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon essentially coming here to Crawford, seeking back-up, if you will, once again, from President Bush on Israel's plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Well, today he got that reassurance from President Bush that the U.S., in fact, does back that plan.

Now, Ariel Sharon met with President Bush just a short time ago at his ranch here in Crawford, Texas. Mr. Sharon is facing some heated opposition, intense opposition, really, from settlers, even receiving death threats. But President Bush today praised Sharon as courageous, saying he demonstrated strong visionary leadership.

And the president also took the opportunity to repeat his position. He sees the road map to peace, as he calls it, encompassing two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... States supports the establishment of a Palestinian state that is viable, (INAUDIBLE) sovereign and independent.

The United States will continue working with the international community to help Palestinians develop Democratic political institutions, build security institutions dedicated to maintaining law and order and dismantling terrorist organizations, reconstruct civic institutions and promote a free and prosperous economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: President Bush there, essentially recognizing that the new leader of the Palestinians, the new president, Mahmoud Abbas, will be needing some help in carrying out, in laying the groundwork for democracy. President Bush, though, also well aware of the criticism surrounding the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, that perhaps he has not done enough, not done all that he possibly can do in order to disarm and dismantle terrorist organizations, as required by the U.S.' so-called road map for peace.

Now the other issue that you brought up, the issue of a settlement in the West Bank that Ariel Sharon recently announced he would like to expand. Essentially, that issue was swept under the rug by Mr. Sharon, if you will, or at least pushed that discussion back to another day, but President Bush said unequivocally, what he had said earlier and what the United States had made clear, and that is it believes under the road map for peace, Israel has certain obligations, including freezing all settlement activity.

That is certainly a sticking point that did not appear to be resolved today. That discussion, as I said, Miles, looking like it will be pushed off for another day. But President Bush making quite clear he feels this is a prime opportunity that this Gaza withdrawal is a step forward, hopefully, in the peace process and he is urging all sides to take the steps necessary to move that process ahead -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano, Crawford, Texas. Thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Developing news now out of Santa Maria, California, at the Michael Jackson trial. Our Ted Rowlands there with the developments -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, another day of testimony from witnesses that are talking about prior bad acts or allegations against Michael Jackson. This morning, we heard from the mother of the accuser back in '93. This is the young man that eventually came to a financial settlement with Michael Jackson, and she, through very compelling testimony this morning, talked about the relationship that herself, her son and her family had with Michael Jackson, talking in detail about how Jackson had a chance meeting with her son.

She then talked about how Jackson called her son, next thing you know she said that they were going up to Neverland, saying it was a wonderful experience at the beginning but then she started to detail the relationship as it went bad, in her opinion. She said that Jackson asked for the son to start sleeping with Michael Jackson in the same room. She said in Las Vegas they were in a suite and all of a sudden, Michael Jackson started crying and broke down and said, don't you trust me, we're family, urging the mother to allow her to have her son sleep with Michael Jackson.

She says that she relented after about a 45-minute discussion and from there on, her son slept with Michael Jackson dozens of times, even at their house in Santa Monica, saying that Michael Jackson would come over to their house for weeks on end, sleep in the boy's bedroom and then he would leave when the boy went to school and come back when the boy came back from school. She's talking about a lot of similar themes that we have heard, not only from the accuser and the accuser's family in this case, but from other families that have accused Michael Jackson of improper acts.

This is all coming in on the judge's decision to allow these prior bad acts to come into this trial. None of this was substantiated in terms of criminal charges, but the jury in this case is hearing it. Thomas Meserau, Jackson's defense lawyer, will have his opportunity to cross-examine the mother, coming up after the short break in about five minutes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Ted Rowlands, live from the Michael Jackson trial. Thanks so much. Well, straight ahead, attention, gadget geeks. Miles. You've heard of i-Pod. Now get ready for i-Pot. That's pot with a T.

O'BRIEN: Is that legal? I-Pots? For medicinal purposes.

PHILLIPS: It does something totally legal that i-Pods can't do. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Almost at the top of the hour right now. It's a bit of an abrupt end to a brief and sort of bizarre standoff. What you're seeing right now is a live picture there at Capitol Hill. A man in black was approached by -- or approached the U.S. Capitol today, rather, with two suitcases. He stood there perfectly still while the Capitol SWAT team surrounded him and finally took him down. He's in custody this hour.

But those two bags, suitcases that were one on each side of him, were still -- here's the actual take-down, where you see the SWAT team come in and get him into custody. And see the two bags, one on each side. They quickly took him away from that area. Now we're learning more about what might possibly be inside the bags. The hazmat team has been called to the scene.

Our Bob Franken is there. Bob, what do we know, if anything, about this suspect, if indeed, he was protesting anything and if those bags have been seized by hazmat and if they've had a chance to get inside of them yet.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've taken X-rays of the bags and they're trying to determine what is in them. At the moment, they're moving cameras further back and moving people further back. But the protocol does not necessarily suggest that that means that there is any increased danger.

What they want to do in a situation like that until they absolutely know what is in the bag and before they decide what to do with that bag, is they want people far enough back that if there's any sort of noxious chemical or something like that, they're not affected by it. Quite frankly, I've been in situations where they've moved people back a lot further than this. At the moment, they're analyzing the bag, deciding whether they want to destroy it. Sometimes they decide just to blow it up. That happened recently when I was in down in Tampa during the Terri Schiavo matter, where there was a bomb scare. In this particular case, of course, the United States Capitol is particularly sensitive in the wake of September 11th and the police, as we saw on that videotape, spent very little time before they took the man down at the first opportunity and hustled him away.

Thus far, we have no identification of the man. And very little other information about what went on right before he was taken down. I will tell you that they evacuated some of the offices, not the entire Capitol, some of the offices on the west front of the Capitol, the ones that face out to where the two suitcases were and are. Those offices include the leadership offices of the majority leader on the Senate side and the speaker of the House.

But things have returned pretty much to normal in that regard, if you can consider normal a situation where there's still bags outside that need to be tested before the Capitol can be declared safe again -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So we were told earlier on that things were back to normal, but obviously, you've got two suitcases here, a hazmat team x- raying these bags. It's not back to normal. Has the whole area been evacuated? Has anyone been allowed to go back in and go back to work, Bob?

FRANKEN: Well, the Capitol was never fully evacuated. People are being told to make their own decisions. But they're told now to stay away from the windows that face out and chances are until the police have fully declared that these bags are safe and that they are no danger, that kind of alert is going to be under way.

I repeat, the entire Capitol was never evacuated. Tourists were moved, have now been moved to where we are, basically, where our cameras are which is probably about, oh, I'd say a quarter of a mile or so from the Capitol itself.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bob Franken, thank you so much. Once again, just real quickly, Capitol Hill had a little bit of a scare today when a suspicious man was standing here at this area in front of the U.S. Capitol with the two suitcases. He has been apprehended. The SWAT team came in and took him down and now the hazmat team is taking x-rays of those suitcases, trying to figure out what exactly is inside and if, indeed, they are a threat to anybody around.

Meanwhile, Bob saying that authorities are moving reporters and people completely back and farther away from where this took place. There right there is when SWAT team came in and took that suspect down and whisked him away. We're following the story for you.

O'BRIEN: Well, the i-Pod may no longer be the smartest gadget around. Enter the i-Pot.

PHILLIPS: A smoking new gadget, isn't it? O'BRIEN: It's a smart teapot which I guess you download songs like tea for two, I suppose, right, Susan Lisovicz?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, you got it. It's brilliant in its simplicity. Hello, Kyra, too. It is i-Pot with a T, not a tempest, but technology in a teapot. It serves an important purpose. It keeps an eye on the elderly.

In Japan, where tea drinking is a frequent activity, people can keep tabs on elderly relatives by monitoring their tea drinking habits. Here's how it works. The i-Pot records the date and time whenever it dispenses water. A wireless communications device on the bottom sends a signal to a central server, which then sends e-mails all over the world to designated recipients, letting them know about the i-Pot's usage.

Japan has a growing number of elderly people who live alone, so this device helps them keep in touch with loved ones. It's the equivalent of those life alert devices that let you know when someone has fallen and they can't get up. Kyra and Miles, I know you remember that one.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we don't want to run any of those commercials yet.

O'BRIEN: All right. Martha Stewart lost another little legal battle. Tell us about that.

LISOVICZ: Not a complete surprise there. A district judge, in fact, the same judge that sentenced her, Judge Miriam Cedarbaum, has denied Martha Stewart's request to modify her home confinement sentence. Stewart had asked the court could relax the restrictions on her sentence, which includes five months of home confinement that limit her to working 40 hours per week. District Judge Cedarbaum felt that the sentence is needed to quote, "reflect the seriousness of the offense." End quote. And she also said that she shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else convicted of those crimes.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Susan, thank you very much. Ahead, Republicans turn up the heat on Tom DeLay.

PHILLIPS: The house majority leader starting to get some pressure from his party about lingering ethics questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Checking some stories "Now in the News." Three hours now. Police say a mother and her 4-month-old baby girl have been held hostage in this silver Honda Accord. It began as a domestic dispute, but it's now a tense hostage negotiation. We will have a live report for you.

A brief scare outside the U.S. Capitol to tell you about. A man dressed in black, carrying two suitcases, caught the eye of law enforcement. He stood in a plaza near the West Entrance there. As you can see, it was taken down. Police, armed with assault rifles, approached him. He was eventually tackled, as you see, and taken away. No word yet on what he was doing there. They're still trying to figure out what were in those suitcases. Bomb squad on the scene.

Armed and dangerous. That's how police in South Carolina are describing 37-year-old ex-convict Stephen Stanko. Police suspect him in a crime-spree that began on Friday. They say he killed two, raped a teenage girl. Stanko was released from prison in July after serving time for kidnapping.

They've been banned for 13 years. Now the FDA is again debating the safety of silicone gel breast implants. Government scientists are hearing from women who want the ban lifted and those who say the implants can break, causing serious health problems.

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Aired April 11, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hostage negotiations continue in a police standoff involving a father, a mother and a child in New Jersey. Police say Almutah Saunders abducted his girlfriend and their 4-month-old child earlier today. He is also accused of shooting the woman's father in the leg. Authorities say there is history of domestic violence between the couple. Live pictures from WPIX of the scene there and the vehicle where Saunders and his 4-month-old are right now.
Live pictures now, actually recent pictures, coming from -- that is live, from our KTLA affiliate in Los Angeles. This is Long Beach Airport, where the Ameriquest blimp is having some difficulty ending its mission. It is attached at the nose to the mast, its mooring mast, but the rear end of the blimp is unable to settle out and level out.

Firefighters on the scene, as you can see, are dousing with water, hoping to cool down the gases, thus making them less buoyant and also add a little weight. Apparently some sort of venting capability failed or perhaps some water ballast was lost during the flight. We do not know how many people are on board the Ameriquest blimp there in Long Beach.

President Bush is urging Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to honor his commitment to stop the expansion of West Bank settlements. It's an obligation in the road map to peace; however, Sharon says it's too early to say what will happen. The leaders are meeting at the president's ranch. We'll go live to Texas in just a moment, give you a complete report.

In the hot seat, Senate Democrats grill John Bolton, the president's nominee for U.N. ambassador. On the first day of his confirmation hearing, Bolton promised to strengthen the U.N. He said it has gone off track, sometimes, however. Democrats question Bolton's respect for the international body.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In St. Peter's Square today, a small but symbolic protest. The focus: the cardinal chosen to celebrate a memorial mass for the late Pope John Paul II. CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Vatican City, where the public soon will be allowed to pray at the pope's tomb. Hi, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Yes, that protest this afternoon very small, indeed, only two members of SNAP, the survivors network of those abused by priests, who flew, nonetheless, five thousand miles to be here to protest the fact that Cardinal Law was celebrating mass at high altar of St. Peter's, the so-called papal altar, one of the nine mourning masses that are being said for the pope.

And they were just outraged at the fact that Cardinal Law was put in such a position of prominence. One of them, Barbara Blaine, said that she felt that Cardinal Law was the poster boy for the sex abuse scandal in the United States and the Vatican should never have allowed him to take the step of celebrating the mass today.

However, the Vatican has basically said all along -- had no particular reaction today, but they have said all along that Cardinal Law has paid for his sins, that he lost his job as the archbishop of Boston, and that he is now here in Rome.

Vatican experts like our John Allen say that, in fact, the reason that he delivered and celebrated the mass today is more a matter of tradition than anything else. The job that the pope gave him was the archpriest of the Santa Maria Maggiore Church here in Rome and that position, always, by tradition, allows the holder of the position to, in fact, say one of the masses for the deceased pope.

So that's why it happened, but that didn't satisfy those who were, in fact -- wanted to protest the appearance of Cardinal Law. And as you mentioned, one other thing from here today, and that is the fact that they're going to, on Wednesday, open up to the public the possibility of seeing the pope tombed down in the crypt of the Vatican -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jim, do you know if any of those members of SNAP will have a chance to meet with U.S. cardinals about a new pope and addressing the sex abuse scandal?

BITTERMANN: Well, in fact, we're not sure that they will. They are a little unsure of themselves of what they're going to do. They'd like to get more SNAP members over here. This kind of caught them by surprise and so they -- the two of them came, but they may try to get more SNAP members over here, they may try to meet with American cardinals. One thing that should be said is that there's only one American cardinal actually was at the mass today that I saw, so I think that mainly the American cardinals stayed away today.

PHILLIPS: Jim Bittermann, thank you so much. From Vatican City -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. Scant details. Don't have much to tell you, except to tell you that we have confirmed, CNN has confirmed, that an American contractor was kidnapped today in Iraq. Beyond that we have nothing more to tell you. An American contractor kidnapped in Iraq. We're obviously working very hard to get you more details and we'll get them to you as soon as possible. Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A story we're continuing to follow here at CNN Center. An American contractor kidnapped in Iraq. We're just starting to get in more information. We are told this American contractor was kidnapped today somewhere within the Baghdad area. That's according to a U.S. embassy spokesperson. We also are being told that this individual speaking to us on one condition, that we not use their names. The contractor was working on a reconstruction project -- reconstruction project, rather. The contractor's family has been notified of the abduction.

Once again, that's all the information we have at this point. We're working this story for you right now, but as you know, in Iraq right now, a lot of American companies along with U.S. military, are over in Iraq rebuilding throughout that area, rebuilding businesses and schools and getting water, of course, running and other utilities.

Now we are being told that one of the American contractors was kidnapped today somewhere in the Baghdad area, a contractor that was working on a reconstruction project. As soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you.

O'BRIEN: Now let's go to the woodshed of the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas, metaphorically, at least. As you know if you've been watching CNN all day, President Bush today told the visiting prime minister of Israel to tear up plans to expand a key Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

We get details from CNN's Elaine Quijano -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, that was one of the points of discussion, but the one that the two leaders chose to emphasize, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon essentially coming here to Crawford, seeking back-up, if you will, once again, from President Bush on Israel's plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Well, today he got that reassurance from President Bush that the U.S., in fact, does back that plan.

Now, Ariel Sharon met with President Bush just a short time ago at his ranch here in Crawford, Texas. Mr. Sharon is facing some heated opposition, intense opposition, really, from settlers, even receiving death threats. But President Bush today praised Sharon as courageous, saying he demonstrated strong visionary leadership.

And the president also took the opportunity to repeat his position. He sees the road map to peace, as he calls it, encompassing two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... States supports the establishment of a Palestinian state that is viable, (INAUDIBLE) sovereign and independent.

The United States will continue working with the international community to help Palestinians develop Democratic political institutions, build security institutions dedicated to maintaining law and order and dismantling terrorist organizations, reconstruct civic institutions and promote a free and prosperous economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: President Bush there, essentially recognizing that the new leader of the Palestinians, the new president, Mahmoud Abbas, will be needing some help in carrying out, in laying the groundwork for democracy. President Bush, though, also well aware of the criticism surrounding the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, that perhaps he has not done enough, not done all that he possibly can do in order to disarm and dismantle terrorist organizations, as required by the U.S.' so-called road map for peace.

Now the other issue that you brought up, the issue of a settlement in the West Bank that Ariel Sharon recently announced he would like to expand. Essentially, that issue was swept under the rug by Mr. Sharon, if you will, or at least pushed that discussion back to another day, but President Bush said unequivocally, what he had said earlier and what the United States had made clear, and that is it believes under the road map for peace, Israel has certain obligations, including freezing all settlement activity.

That is certainly a sticking point that did not appear to be resolved today. That discussion, as I said, Miles, looking like it will be pushed off for another day. But President Bush making quite clear he feels this is a prime opportunity that this Gaza withdrawal is a step forward, hopefully, in the peace process and he is urging all sides to take the steps necessary to move that process ahead -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano, Crawford, Texas. Thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Developing news now out of Santa Maria, California, at the Michael Jackson trial. Our Ted Rowlands there with the developments -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, another day of testimony from witnesses that are talking about prior bad acts or allegations against Michael Jackson. This morning, we heard from the mother of the accuser back in '93. This is the young man that eventually came to a financial settlement with Michael Jackson, and she, through very compelling testimony this morning, talked about the relationship that herself, her son and her family had with Michael Jackson, talking in detail about how Jackson had a chance meeting with her son.

She then talked about how Jackson called her son, next thing you know she said that they were going up to Neverland, saying it was a wonderful experience at the beginning but then she started to detail the relationship as it went bad, in her opinion. She said that Jackson asked for the son to start sleeping with Michael Jackson in the same room. She said in Las Vegas they were in a suite and all of a sudden, Michael Jackson started crying and broke down and said, don't you trust me, we're family, urging the mother to allow her to have her son sleep with Michael Jackson.

She says that she relented after about a 45-minute discussion and from there on, her son slept with Michael Jackson dozens of times, even at their house in Santa Monica, saying that Michael Jackson would come over to their house for weeks on end, sleep in the boy's bedroom and then he would leave when the boy went to school and come back when the boy came back from school. She's talking about a lot of similar themes that we have heard, not only from the accuser and the accuser's family in this case, but from other families that have accused Michael Jackson of improper acts.

This is all coming in on the judge's decision to allow these prior bad acts to come into this trial. None of this was substantiated in terms of criminal charges, but the jury in this case is hearing it. Thomas Meserau, Jackson's defense lawyer, will have his opportunity to cross-examine the mother, coming up after the short break in about five minutes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Ted Rowlands, live from the Michael Jackson trial. Thanks so much. Well, straight ahead, attention, gadget geeks. Miles. You've heard of i-Pod. Now get ready for i-Pot. That's pot with a T.

O'BRIEN: Is that legal? I-Pots? For medicinal purposes.

PHILLIPS: It does something totally legal that i-Pods can't do. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Almost at the top of the hour right now. It's a bit of an abrupt end to a brief and sort of bizarre standoff. What you're seeing right now is a live picture there at Capitol Hill. A man in black was approached by -- or approached the U.S. Capitol today, rather, with two suitcases. He stood there perfectly still while the Capitol SWAT team surrounded him and finally took him down. He's in custody this hour.

But those two bags, suitcases that were one on each side of him, were still -- here's the actual take-down, where you see the SWAT team come in and get him into custody. And see the two bags, one on each side. They quickly took him away from that area. Now we're learning more about what might possibly be inside the bags. The hazmat team has been called to the scene.

Our Bob Franken is there. Bob, what do we know, if anything, about this suspect, if indeed, he was protesting anything and if those bags have been seized by hazmat and if they've had a chance to get inside of them yet.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've taken X-rays of the bags and they're trying to determine what is in them. At the moment, they're moving cameras further back and moving people further back. But the protocol does not necessarily suggest that that means that there is any increased danger.

What they want to do in a situation like that until they absolutely know what is in the bag and before they decide what to do with that bag, is they want people far enough back that if there's any sort of noxious chemical or something like that, they're not affected by it. Quite frankly, I've been in situations where they've moved people back a lot further than this. At the moment, they're analyzing the bag, deciding whether they want to destroy it. Sometimes they decide just to blow it up. That happened recently when I was in down in Tampa during the Terri Schiavo matter, where there was a bomb scare. In this particular case, of course, the United States Capitol is particularly sensitive in the wake of September 11th and the police, as we saw on that videotape, spent very little time before they took the man down at the first opportunity and hustled him away.

Thus far, we have no identification of the man. And very little other information about what went on right before he was taken down. I will tell you that they evacuated some of the offices, not the entire Capitol, some of the offices on the west front of the Capitol, the ones that face out to where the two suitcases were and are. Those offices include the leadership offices of the majority leader on the Senate side and the speaker of the House.

But things have returned pretty much to normal in that regard, if you can consider normal a situation where there's still bags outside that need to be tested before the Capitol can be declared safe again -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So we were told earlier on that things were back to normal, but obviously, you've got two suitcases here, a hazmat team x- raying these bags. It's not back to normal. Has the whole area been evacuated? Has anyone been allowed to go back in and go back to work, Bob?

FRANKEN: Well, the Capitol was never fully evacuated. People are being told to make their own decisions. But they're told now to stay away from the windows that face out and chances are until the police have fully declared that these bags are safe and that they are no danger, that kind of alert is going to be under way.

I repeat, the entire Capitol was never evacuated. Tourists were moved, have now been moved to where we are, basically, where our cameras are which is probably about, oh, I'd say a quarter of a mile or so from the Capitol itself.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bob Franken, thank you so much. Once again, just real quickly, Capitol Hill had a little bit of a scare today when a suspicious man was standing here at this area in front of the U.S. Capitol with the two suitcases. He has been apprehended. The SWAT team came in and took him down and now the hazmat team is taking x-rays of those suitcases, trying to figure out what exactly is inside and if, indeed, they are a threat to anybody around.

Meanwhile, Bob saying that authorities are moving reporters and people completely back and farther away from where this took place. There right there is when SWAT team came in and took that suspect down and whisked him away. We're following the story for you.

O'BRIEN: Well, the i-Pod may no longer be the smartest gadget around. Enter the i-Pot.

PHILLIPS: A smoking new gadget, isn't it? O'BRIEN: It's a smart teapot which I guess you download songs like tea for two, I suppose, right, Susan Lisovicz?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, you got it. It's brilliant in its simplicity. Hello, Kyra, too. It is i-Pot with a T, not a tempest, but technology in a teapot. It serves an important purpose. It keeps an eye on the elderly.

In Japan, where tea drinking is a frequent activity, people can keep tabs on elderly relatives by monitoring their tea drinking habits. Here's how it works. The i-Pot records the date and time whenever it dispenses water. A wireless communications device on the bottom sends a signal to a central server, which then sends e-mails all over the world to designated recipients, letting them know about the i-Pot's usage.

Japan has a growing number of elderly people who live alone, so this device helps them keep in touch with loved ones. It's the equivalent of those life alert devices that let you know when someone has fallen and they can't get up. Kyra and Miles, I know you remember that one.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we don't want to run any of those commercials yet.

O'BRIEN: All right. Martha Stewart lost another little legal battle. Tell us about that.

LISOVICZ: Not a complete surprise there. A district judge, in fact, the same judge that sentenced her, Judge Miriam Cedarbaum, has denied Martha Stewart's request to modify her home confinement sentence. Stewart had asked the court could relax the restrictions on her sentence, which includes five months of home confinement that limit her to working 40 hours per week. District Judge Cedarbaum felt that the sentence is needed to quote, "reflect the seriousness of the offense." End quote. And she also said that she shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else convicted of those crimes.

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O'BRIEN: Susan, thank you very much. Ahead, Republicans turn up the heat on Tom DeLay.

PHILLIPS: The house majority leader starting to get some pressure from his party about lingering ethics questions.

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O'BRIEN: Checking some stories "Now in the News." Three hours now. Police say a mother and her 4-month-old baby girl have been held hostage in this silver Honda Accord. It began as a domestic dispute, but it's now a tense hostage negotiation. We will have a live report for you.

A brief scare outside the U.S. Capitol to tell you about. A man dressed in black, carrying two suitcases, caught the eye of law enforcement. He stood in a plaza near the West Entrance there. As you can see, it was taken down. Police, armed with assault rifles, approached him. He was eventually tackled, as you see, and taken away. No word yet on what he was doing there. They're still trying to figure out what were in those suitcases. Bomb squad on the scene.

Armed and dangerous. That's how police in South Carolina are describing 37-year-old ex-convict Stephen Stanko. Police suspect him in a crime-spree that began on Friday. They say he killed two, raped a teenage girl. Stanko was released from prison in July after serving time for kidnapping.

They've been banned for 13 years. Now the FDA is again debating the safety of silicone gel breast implants. Government scientists are hearing from women who want the ban lifted and those who say the implants can break, causing serious health problems.

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