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Teen Pushes for Change in Youth Sex Offender Laws; New Africa Channel to Launch

Aired June 10, 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.


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson's fate still in the balance. The jurors in his child molestation case went back to work today, the sixth day of deliberations. Jackson is awaiting the verdict at his Neverland Ranch. He is facing ten felony charges.
Five U.S. marines have been killed in an explosion in Iraq's Al Anbar province. A marine official says they were killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb while conducting combat operations. Their deaths bring to 1,690 the number of U.S. troops killed in the war.

And the U.S. Army has opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of two soldiers near Tikrit in Iraq earlier this week. It was initially thought the two troops were killed by mortar fire, but now officials say it could be a case of fragging, which is killing or wounding of a fellow soldier. They say it also could have been an accident or an attack by an intruder.

She is just 17 years old, but she's already making a difference for sexual abuse survivors like herself. Amie Zyla persuaded Wisconsin lawmakers to make the records of juvenile sex offenders public. Now she's urging Congress to do the same nationwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIE ZYLA, ABUSE VICTIM: Every moment somewhere in this country, a child's heart is being stolen. He or she is young, afraid, confused and feeling dirty. That child is being terrorized by the most horrible kind of criminal. It happens every day and it still hurts me deeply to hear another kid is experiencing that same kind of pain I did at eight years old. I want to challenge you to look deep down inside. Isn't it time to put our kids safety before the rights of a sexual offender, adult or juvenile? When is enough going to be enough?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It has been a long journey from Wisconsin to Capitol Hill. CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry has Amie Zyla's story.

Here's Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many high school juniors, 17-year-old Amie Zyla is busy mulling her future with her father's help.

A. ZYLA: I want to become a hair designer and open up my own salon.

HENRY: But they're also still dealing with Amie's past. At the age of 8, she was sexually assaulted by a family friend, a memory so raw, this shy young lady still has trouble talking about the incident that shattered her childhood in Wisconsin.

The abuser was 14-year-old Joshua Wade, who didn't just sexually assault Amie.

MARK ZYLA, FATHER OF AMIE: He also had threatened her life. He was building a bomb with her name on it after she had turned him in.

HENRY: Wad was prosecuted and convicted in juvenile court for what he did to Amie. He was sent off to Ethan Allen School, a youth correctional center outside Milwaukee. That helped Amie and her family start the process of healing, secure in the notion that Wade could not abuse any other kids.

That's why the Zylas were stunned in January, when they saw the face of Wade, now 23 years old, pop up on the local TV news, charged with more crimes against children.

M. ZYLA: And, all of a sudden, he walks on to the television screens and just kind of walks back into our lives. This can't be. What is he doing out? And why don't we know it? You know, and I was angry. I was confused.

HENRY: After being released from the detention facility, Wade became a youth mentor. He later admitted to police he had videotaped more than 30 kids in his bathroom with a hidden cam and had sexually assaulted some of the kids repeatedly.

A. ZYLA: It scared me and made me mad, because knowing that he was out there and doing it to other kids made me mad. Like, what he did to me didn't count. Like, what happened to me didn't matter to anybody, because he was out and able to do it to so many other kids.

HENRY: After he served his sentence for abusing Amie, Wade was required to register as a sex offender with the Wisconsin police. But there was a glitch. Since Wade was a juvenile at the time of the crime, the police didn't notify the local community, because Wisconsin law prohibited disclosures of juvenile sex offenses. So, his background appeared to be squeaky clean. And the Zylas had no idea Wade was back on the streets.

M. ZYLA: Why don't I know that he's out, you know? This is a man who sexually abused my daughter, threatened her life, and now is just out doing it again. We were appalled, I think, is a good word for it.

HENRY: Despite that horror, they decided it was time to take action. M. ZYLA: Amie said, dad, what are we going to do? And I said, well, let's try this and let's try that. And we made a call to some state representatives. And just ball rolled quickly.

HENRY: The cause got a major push from Amie, who decided to go public for first time about the molestation. In February, her story riveted the Wisconsin state legislature.

A. ZYLA: How and why was he able to do this to so many more kids, especially after what he did to me?

HENRY: Hearing her emotional plea, state lawmakers wrote Amie's Law, which allows the police to notify the public of the juvenile record of sexual predators. It was signed by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle in May.

M. ZYLA: We can't change what happened to Amie and any victim. So, every minute of this is worth it. And we have been determined and on a mission.

HENRY: That mission takes up lot of time. And it's not easy for Mark to balance it with his job as a construction worker or for Amie to focus on school.

M. ZYLA: It's been a lot of work. Sometimes, Amie says, Dad, come on. And sometimes I go, man, what is going on? But we lift each other up and we keep pushing each other. It's worth every minute of it when we look at the fruit and the result. And only God knows how many kids this is going to protect, because those are going to be crimes against kids that are never committed. Do you understand? It's -- there are kids that will never know what Amie has done for them.

HENRY: But Amie is not satisfied. She's taking her personal plea to Capitol Hill, where her congressman, Mark Green, is trying to take Amie's Law national.

REP. MARK GREEN (R), WISCONSIN: And the changes that are taking place in Wisconsin are important, very important. But what will happen out here, what we'll get to do because of what you do, you will affect millions of people in a very, very positive way. You will make...

A. ZYLA: That makes me even more nervous

(LAUGHTER)

HENRY: That is why she was up until 4:30 in the morning fine- tuning her testimony.

M. ZYLA: This is whole different ball game than on the state level.

HENRY: That was compounded by Amie's fear of flying. But she brightened when the plane reached the nation's capital. M. ZYLA: Making that turn coming around, Amie and I are just looking out the window, going, wow, look at this. We're here. Let's get something done.

HENRY: Amie was nervous. But her personal plea to Congress was powerful.

A. ZYLA: He stole my self-esteem and made me feel so afraid, so afraid that I almost did not go to my parents, because I thought he would hurt me again.

HENRY: The ordeal has taken its toll. But the family feels the tide is turning.

M. ZYLA: I have see my daughter grow and just be empowered, take her power back. And she's turned into young woman now. And I love the fight in her.

HENRY (on camera): How does that make you feel, hearing your dad say that?

A. ZYLA: It makes me fool good, proud. But we have done it together.

HENRY (voice-over): Joshua Wade recently pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of child enticement. He faces up to 70 years in prison and is waiting for his sentence in August.

Amie is waiting for passage of the law that bears her name. That is also expected to come this summer.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: An educational soap opera? The founder of a new TV channel hopes it will work. We'll get some behind the scenes info. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Keribou (ph). Good evening. Welcome to the premiere of "Africa Within," a vibrant celebration of 21st century African lifestyle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Bridging the divide between Africa and the U.S. That is the aim behind cable television's newest offering. The Africa Channel is designed to bring news of the African continent, in-depth programs, music and soaps to an American audience.

Joining me with more on this ambitious venture, Africa channel founder and CEO James Makawa. James, good to meet you, good to talk to you.

JAMES MAKAWA, CEO, THE AFRICA CHANNEL: Tony, thank you very -- for having me.

HARRIS: Well, first of all, just a straightforward question to you. What is the mission? What is the mission statement for the Africa Channel?

MAKAWA: I think the mission statement is to demystify Africa and open up a daily window into Africa for the Western World. Plain and simple. Americans, unfortunately, are not reading like they used to. They watch TV.

HARRIS: It's true.

MAKAWA: And so what is going to engage them, what's going to inform them, what's going to entertain them is what they see through that television screen.

HARRIS: James, so much of the story out of Africa over the years has been one of war, of famine, of disease, of poverty, of corruption. You can't ignore the total story of Africa, but what is it that you want to show? The other side of Africa? That there is more to the story than you have seen so far?

MAKAWA: You're in the business of being trusted and balanced, correct?

HARRIS: Yes.

MAKAWA: We just want to balance the picture a little bit here. Because we're not saying that those things don't go on. Are they atrocious? Are they despicable? Absolutely. But at the same time, too, Africa is a living organism that is alive and vibrant. There's some terrific music coming out of here. There's some -- there are some incredible movies. There's great entertainment. I can go on and on and on. And there are incredible places to visit.

So the whole idea here is that if we start showing people that there is life out there, people will start to understand, people will start to travel and that will have a direct impact on that continent. Because people are not going to go and try something they have no idea about.

HARRIS: Dikembe Mutombo, basketball star Dikembe Mutombo. How does he factor into this?

MAKAWA: Dikembe is the one that helped us get this started. Two years ago we're sitting in Ambassador Young's office.

HARRIS: Andy Young?

MAKAWA: Andy Young, yes. I have to call him Ambassador. He's the ambassador.

HARRIS: Exactly. MAKAWA: And we're sitting in his office, I'm getting introduced to him. Me and one of my other partners out of Los Angeles, Jacob Arback (ph), we're sitting there. And he looks at this concept, looks at this idea, he says I like it, please go out and bills us. He wrote us our first check. And said to me, you know, in the deep gruff voice of his, what's my guarantee? I said you're looking at it.

HARRIS: You?

MAKAWA: Yes. And based on the...

HARRIS: As a broadcaster?

MAKAWA: As a broadcaster.

HARRIS: Former reporter, on and on?

MAKAWA: Exactly. But the fact that we knew what we were doing, we knew we had great content. We knew we had a compelling story to tell. And the only way this was going to be successful is that if we had compelling content and had a compelling story to tell.

HARRIS: Oh, James, it's more than that. You know it's more than that. The cable business is about getting on systems. You've got to get on cable systems so that you have a chance at winning eyeballs?

MAKAWA: Right.

HARRIS: Where are you in the process of negotiating the deals that will get you on the myriad of cable systems in the country?

MAKAWA: We have been busy the last three years, working very quietly. But we're not quiet anymore.

HARRIS: I see, I see.

MAKAWA: The fact that I've showed up here. For the last three years, we've been working very diligently to make sure our business was sound and proper. We have been in discussions -- I should say negotiations -- with Time Warner, your parent company.

HARRIS: Oh, OK, OK.

MAKAWA: With Comcast, with Cox, with Charter and also the satellite companies. And I can't go public with this just yet, because the press release is being done.

HARRIS: Are you close to a deal that will get you on system so we can see this?

MAKAWA: We -- we've got a deal with one of the top three cable companies in the United States of America.

HARRIS: And when do you expect to have a formal launch?

MAKAWA: End of August. HARRIS: What?

MAKAWA: End of August. End of August 2005.

HARRIS: And what will be your sort of beach head show, the show that you will put your marketing dollars around, that will give us the best indication of what this channel can offer?

MAKAWA: I think one of the things that people are hungry for is information about travel, about lifestyle and about news. Magazine shows.

HARRIS: Yes.

MAKAWA: We have those three categories that are just going to be huge for us, but I think the cherry on the cake is going to be music. We are going to bring music to people in a way -- we're going to have kids dancing the Kwasapasa (ph).

HARRIS: The what?

MAKAWA: Kwasapasa (ph) from the Congo. They're going to do Kwito (ph) out South Africa.

HARRIS: Any crunk in the Congo? Any crunk at all? Well, you sound very excited about. And if you're not excited right now, when are you going to be excited about it?

MAKAWA: That's exactly it.

HARRIS: And we wish you the absolute best in your launch and your success with this channel. Can't wait to see it. Can't wait to see it. James, good to see you, good to meet you and best of luck with the venture.

MAKAWA: Thank you. Thank you very much. And thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Our pleasure, our pleasure.

MAKAWA: News across the world now.

New accusations against Syria. A senior State Department official tells CNN Syria is hatching a plot to assassinate senior Lebanese politicians. The White House says the administration is deeply concerned about Syrian intimidation and interference in Lebanon.

An Italian hostage released in Afghanistan yesterday is back home. Clementina Cantoni arrived at a Rome airport a short while ago. She was met by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Cantoni was held for three weeks. Italian media says she was exchanged for a woman who was being held in connection with a previous abduction.

More details emerging on the missing Alabama girl in Aruba. Police say one of the men arrested in the case yesterday met Natalee Holloway at a casino a day before she went missing. Two brothers were also arrested.

And an international manhunt is on for a surgeon who's been linked to the deaths of 87 patients in Australia. The Indian-trained doctor, dubbed Dr. Death, could face murder, negligence and fraud charges. He was last seen in Portland, Oregon. He is banned from surgery in two U.S. states.

HARRIS: We've got our first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arlene. We'll go back live to Florida. And remember last year's hurricanes? There is something good that came out of storms. Look what the stork brought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN DOTCOM DESK: It's all about the fireworks on and off the set at the box office this weekend. CNN.com's Todd Leopold has your "Eye on Entertainment."

TODD LEOPOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The topic of my "Eye on Entertainment" column this week as well as the big movie this weekend is "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They're a married couple. Spark's gone out of their marriage, so they try to kill each other. Turns out that they're actually agents for opposing agencies. They're in each other's hitlist. And the movie is full of explosions like a lot of summer films, but it also has sharp dialogue and good chemistry.

In fact, the chemistry might have been a little too good, because that's probably all you've heard about for the last couple months. That's not usually a good thing when it comes to movies, because the publicity about the chemistry tends to overwhelm the movie itself. We have a whole gallery devoted to movies in which the romances between the stars or alleged romances tended to overwhelm the movie, from Gigli all the way back to Cleopatra.

You can check out our entertainment calendar for everything going on this weekend, including "The Honeymooners," with Cedric the Entertainer. There's a new album by Dwight Yoakam called, "Blame the Vein." And James Frey has a follow-up to his book, "A Million Little Pieces," called "My Friend Leonard."

DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Todd. For more on what's hot this weekend, you can log onto CNN.com/showbiz. For the DOTCOM news desk, I'm Veronica de la Cruz.

HARRIS: Did you know the weather can impact the birth rate? It's true. Linda Gialanella of affiliate WFRS in Tampa, Florida, delivers the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA GIALANELLA, WFRS (voice over): It was nine months ago when Frances visited Tampa Bay, and most of us remember where we were and what we were doing. Some at work; some at home, like Karen and Jonathan. JONATHAN CEREZO, NEW DAD: Everybody's in the house. Sometimes the electricity goes out, you know. So people tend to get closer together.

GIALANELLA: They say natural disasters bring people closer.

CAREN BRUSH, NEW MOM: When you're locked up inside, you know, all day, there's, you know not much to do.

GIALANELLA: The result? Just this month alone, the hospital is reporting a 22 percent increase in deliveries, leaving even maternity nurses to speculate like meteorologists.

JESSICA RIGGENS, NURSE: Who knows if it's a change in barometric pressure or just, you know, people with more time on their hands, but there's been a lot more babies because of that increased weather activity, I guess.

BRUSH: The department store where I worked at, I worked in the children's department, there were a lot of pregnant women, a lot around the same -- as far along as I was.

GIALANELLA: Making for a very busy maternity ward this season. These proud parents believe that last year's destructive storms have a saving grace.

CEREZO: Whenever there's a negative, there's always a positive. And with that negative, we got this positive.

GIALANELLA: But they're positively not planning a baby Arlene for this season.

CEREZO: One's good for right now.

BRUSH: Yeah. Not any time soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, while it may seem obvious, the little girl shown in that video was not named Francis. Instead, she was given the poetic Vivian Scarlett, a pointed reference to the heroine of "Gone With The Wind."

We're keeping an eye on a storm today that could become a hurricane. We're live at top of the hour with the forecast along the beach in Florida.

First a check of the markets. The Dow is down 42 points at 10,460. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Now with the news. Day six of deliberations in Santa Maria, California, and a lot of people on both sides holding their breath awaiting the jury's verdict in the Michael Jackson trial. Unless there's a decision by 5:30 p.m. Eastern, we'll wait until Monday, when the jury meets again to deliberate.

Grim confirmation just a short time ago from the U.S. Marines. Five Marines were killed Thursday in Al Anbar Province. The troops were killed by a roadside bomb while involved in a combat situation. The total number of U.S. troops killed in the war now stands at 1,690.

Presenting a united front, President Bush And South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun say their alliance remains strong and that both countries will continue efforts to get North Korea back to the six- party talks. Mr. Bush said both countries share the same goal: a Korean Peninsula without a nuclear weapon.

And these jaw-dropping pictures capture the fury of weather gone wild in Kansas. Emergency officials say the twisters did some property damage, but they have no reports of injuries. Today's weather brings the threat of more tornadoes to that region.

Tropical Storm Arlene soaks South Florida and parts of Cuba. It is also gaining strength and moving more quickly toward the northern Gulf Coast of the United States. Let's get the latest now on our Arlene and also the national weather outlook from CNN Meteorologist Jill Brown. Hi, Jill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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Aired June 10, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson's fate still in the balance. The jurors in his child molestation case went back to work today, the sixth day of deliberations. Jackson is awaiting the verdict at his Neverland Ranch. He is facing ten felony charges.
Five U.S. marines have been killed in an explosion in Iraq's Al Anbar province. A marine official says they were killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb while conducting combat operations. Their deaths bring to 1,690 the number of U.S. troops killed in the war.

And the U.S. Army has opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of two soldiers near Tikrit in Iraq earlier this week. It was initially thought the two troops were killed by mortar fire, but now officials say it could be a case of fragging, which is killing or wounding of a fellow soldier. They say it also could have been an accident or an attack by an intruder.

She is just 17 years old, but she's already making a difference for sexual abuse survivors like herself. Amie Zyla persuaded Wisconsin lawmakers to make the records of juvenile sex offenders public. Now she's urging Congress to do the same nationwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIE ZYLA, ABUSE VICTIM: Every moment somewhere in this country, a child's heart is being stolen. He or she is young, afraid, confused and feeling dirty. That child is being terrorized by the most horrible kind of criminal. It happens every day and it still hurts me deeply to hear another kid is experiencing that same kind of pain I did at eight years old. I want to challenge you to look deep down inside. Isn't it time to put our kids safety before the rights of a sexual offender, adult or juvenile? When is enough going to be enough?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It has been a long journey from Wisconsin to Capitol Hill. CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry has Amie Zyla's story.

Here's Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many high school juniors, 17-year-old Amie Zyla is busy mulling her future with her father's help.

A. ZYLA: I want to become a hair designer and open up my own salon.

HENRY: But they're also still dealing with Amie's past. At the age of 8, she was sexually assaulted by a family friend, a memory so raw, this shy young lady still has trouble talking about the incident that shattered her childhood in Wisconsin.

The abuser was 14-year-old Joshua Wade, who didn't just sexually assault Amie.

MARK ZYLA, FATHER OF AMIE: He also had threatened her life. He was building a bomb with her name on it after she had turned him in.

HENRY: Wad was prosecuted and convicted in juvenile court for what he did to Amie. He was sent off to Ethan Allen School, a youth correctional center outside Milwaukee. That helped Amie and her family start the process of healing, secure in the notion that Wade could not abuse any other kids.

That's why the Zylas were stunned in January, when they saw the face of Wade, now 23 years old, pop up on the local TV news, charged with more crimes against children.

M. ZYLA: And, all of a sudden, he walks on to the television screens and just kind of walks back into our lives. This can't be. What is he doing out? And why don't we know it? You know, and I was angry. I was confused.

HENRY: After being released from the detention facility, Wade became a youth mentor. He later admitted to police he had videotaped more than 30 kids in his bathroom with a hidden cam and had sexually assaulted some of the kids repeatedly.

A. ZYLA: It scared me and made me mad, because knowing that he was out there and doing it to other kids made me mad. Like, what he did to me didn't count. Like, what happened to me didn't matter to anybody, because he was out and able to do it to so many other kids.

HENRY: After he served his sentence for abusing Amie, Wade was required to register as a sex offender with the Wisconsin police. But there was a glitch. Since Wade was a juvenile at the time of the crime, the police didn't notify the local community, because Wisconsin law prohibited disclosures of juvenile sex offenses. So, his background appeared to be squeaky clean. And the Zylas had no idea Wade was back on the streets.

M. ZYLA: Why don't I know that he's out, you know? This is a man who sexually abused my daughter, threatened her life, and now is just out doing it again. We were appalled, I think, is a good word for it.

HENRY: Despite that horror, they decided it was time to take action. M. ZYLA: Amie said, dad, what are we going to do? And I said, well, let's try this and let's try that. And we made a call to some state representatives. And just ball rolled quickly.

HENRY: The cause got a major push from Amie, who decided to go public for first time about the molestation. In February, her story riveted the Wisconsin state legislature.

A. ZYLA: How and why was he able to do this to so many more kids, especially after what he did to me?

HENRY: Hearing her emotional plea, state lawmakers wrote Amie's Law, which allows the police to notify the public of the juvenile record of sexual predators. It was signed by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle in May.

M. ZYLA: We can't change what happened to Amie and any victim. So, every minute of this is worth it. And we have been determined and on a mission.

HENRY: That mission takes up lot of time. And it's not easy for Mark to balance it with his job as a construction worker or for Amie to focus on school.

M. ZYLA: It's been a lot of work. Sometimes, Amie says, Dad, come on. And sometimes I go, man, what is going on? But we lift each other up and we keep pushing each other. It's worth every minute of it when we look at the fruit and the result. And only God knows how many kids this is going to protect, because those are going to be crimes against kids that are never committed. Do you understand? It's -- there are kids that will never know what Amie has done for them.

HENRY: But Amie is not satisfied. She's taking her personal plea to Capitol Hill, where her congressman, Mark Green, is trying to take Amie's Law national.

REP. MARK GREEN (R), WISCONSIN: And the changes that are taking place in Wisconsin are important, very important. But what will happen out here, what we'll get to do because of what you do, you will affect millions of people in a very, very positive way. You will make...

A. ZYLA: That makes me even more nervous

(LAUGHTER)

HENRY: That is why she was up until 4:30 in the morning fine- tuning her testimony.

M. ZYLA: This is whole different ball game than on the state level.

HENRY: That was compounded by Amie's fear of flying. But she brightened when the plane reached the nation's capital. M. ZYLA: Making that turn coming around, Amie and I are just looking out the window, going, wow, look at this. We're here. Let's get something done.

HENRY: Amie was nervous. But her personal plea to Congress was powerful.

A. ZYLA: He stole my self-esteem and made me feel so afraid, so afraid that I almost did not go to my parents, because I thought he would hurt me again.

HENRY: The ordeal has taken its toll. But the family feels the tide is turning.

M. ZYLA: I have see my daughter grow and just be empowered, take her power back. And she's turned into young woman now. And I love the fight in her.

HENRY (on camera): How does that make you feel, hearing your dad say that?

A. ZYLA: It makes me fool good, proud. But we have done it together.

HENRY (voice-over): Joshua Wade recently pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of child enticement. He faces up to 70 years in prison and is waiting for his sentence in August.

Amie is waiting for passage of the law that bears her name. That is also expected to come this summer.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: An educational soap opera? The founder of a new TV channel hopes it will work. We'll get some behind the scenes info. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Keribou (ph). Good evening. Welcome to the premiere of "Africa Within," a vibrant celebration of 21st century African lifestyle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Bridging the divide between Africa and the U.S. That is the aim behind cable television's newest offering. The Africa Channel is designed to bring news of the African continent, in-depth programs, music and soaps to an American audience.

Joining me with more on this ambitious venture, Africa channel founder and CEO James Makawa. James, good to meet you, good to talk to you.

JAMES MAKAWA, CEO, THE AFRICA CHANNEL: Tony, thank you very -- for having me.

HARRIS: Well, first of all, just a straightforward question to you. What is the mission? What is the mission statement for the Africa Channel?

MAKAWA: I think the mission statement is to demystify Africa and open up a daily window into Africa for the Western World. Plain and simple. Americans, unfortunately, are not reading like they used to. They watch TV.

HARRIS: It's true.

MAKAWA: And so what is going to engage them, what's going to inform them, what's going to entertain them is what they see through that television screen.

HARRIS: James, so much of the story out of Africa over the years has been one of war, of famine, of disease, of poverty, of corruption. You can't ignore the total story of Africa, but what is it that you want to show? The other side of Africa? That there is more to the story than you have seen so far?

MAKAWA: You're in the business of being trusted and balanced, correct?

HARRIS: Yes.

MAKAWA: We just want to balance the picture a little bit here. Because we're not saying that those things don't go on. Are they atrocious? Are they despicable? Absolutely. But at the same time, too, Africa is a living organism that is alive and vibrant. There's some terrific music coming out of here. There's some -- there are some incredible movies. There's great entertainment. I can go on and on and on. And there are incredible places to visit.

So the whole idea here is that if we start showing people that there is life out there, people will start to understand, people will start to travel and that will have a direct impact on that continent. Because people are not going to go and try something they have no idea about.

HARRIS: Dikembe Mutombo, basketball star Dikembe Mutombo. How does he factor into this?

MAKAWA: Dikembe is the one that helped us get this started. Two years ago we're sitting in Ambassador Young's office.

HARRIS: Andy Young?

MAKAWA: Andy Young, yes. I have to call him Ambassador. He's the ambassador.

HARRIS: Exactly. MAKAWA: And we're sitting in his office, I'm getting introduced to him. Me and one of my other partners out of Los Angeles, Jacob Arback (ph), we're sitting there. And he looks at this concept, looks at this idea, he says I like it, please go out and bills us. He wrote us our first check. And said to me, you know, in the deep gruff voice of his, what's my guarantee? I said you're looking at it.

HARRIS: You?

MAKAWA: Yes. And based on the...

HARRIS: As a broadcaster?

MAKAWA: As a broadcaster.

HARRIS: Former reporter, on and on?

MAKAWA: Exactly. But the fact that we knew what we were doing, we knew we had great content. We knew we had a compelling story to tell. And the only way this was going to be successful is that if we had compelling content and had a compelling story to tell.

HARRIS: Oh, James, it's more than that. You know it's more than that. The cable business is about getting on systems. You've got to get on cable systems so that you have a chance at winning eyeballs?

MAKAWA: Right.

HARRIS: Where are you in the process of negotiating the deals that will get you on the myriad of cable systems in the country?

MAKAWA: We have been busy the last three years, working very quietly. But we're not quiet anymore.

HARRIS: I see, I see.

MAKAWA: The fact that I've showed up here. For the last three years, we've been working very diligently to make sure our business was sound and proper. We have been in discussions -- I should say negotiations -- with Time Warner, your parent company.

HARRIS: Oh, OK, OK.

MAKAWA: With Comcast, with Cox, with Charter and also the satellite companies. And I can't go public with this just yet, because the press release is being done.

HARRIS: Are you close to a deal that will get you on system so we can see this?

MAKAWA: We -- we've got a deal with one of the top three cable companies in the United States of America.

HARRIS: And when do you expect to have a formal launch?

MAKAWA: End of August. HARRIS: What?

MAKAWA: End of August. End of August 2005.

HARRIS: And what will be your sort of beach head show, the show that you will put your marketing dollars around, that will give us the best indication of what this channel can offer?

MAKAWA: I think one of the things that people are hungry for is information about travel, about lifestyle and about news. Magazine shows.

HARRIS: Yes.

MAKAWA: We have those three categories that are just going to be huge for us, but I think the cherry on the cake is going to be music. We are going to bring music to people in a way -- we're going to have kids dancing the Kwasapasa (ph).

HARRIS: The what?

MAKAWA: Kwasapasa (ph) from the Congo. They're going to do Kwito (ph) out South Africa.

HARRIS: Any crunk in the Congo? Any crunk at all? Well, you sound very excited about. And if you're not excited right now, when are you going to be excited about it?

MAKAWA: That's exactly it.

HARRIS: And we wish you the absolute best in your launch and your success with this channel. Can't wait to see it. Can't wait to see it. James, good to see you, good to meet you and best of luck with the venture.

MAKAWA: Thank you. Thank you very much. And thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Our pleasure, our pleasure.

MAKAWA: News across the world now.

New accusations against Syria. A senior State Department official tells CNN Syria is hatching a plot to assassinate senior Lebanese politicians. The White House says the administration is deeply concerned about Syrian intimidation and interference in Lebanon.

An Italian hostage released in Afghanistan yesterday is back home. Clementina Cantoni arrived at a Rome airport a short while ago. She was met by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Cantoni was held for three weeks. Italian media says she was exchanged for a woman who was being held in connection with a previous abduction.

More details emerging on the missing Alabama girl in Aruba. Police say one of the men arrested in the case yesterday met Natalee Holloway at a casino a day before she went missing. Two brothers were also arrested.

And an international manhunt is on for a surgeon who's been linked to the deaths of 87 patients in Australia. The Indian-trained doctor, dubbed Dr. Death, could face murder, negligence and fraud charges. He was last seen in Portland, Oregon. He is banned from surgery in two U.S. states.

HARRIS: We've got our first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arlene. We'll go back live to Florida. And remember last year's hurricanes? There is something good that came out of storms. Look what the stork brought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN DOTCOM DESK: It's all about the fireworks on and off the set at the box office this weekend. CNN.com's Todd Leopold has your "Eye on Entertainment."

TODD LEOPOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The topic of my "Eye on Entertainment" column this week as well as the big movie this weekend is "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They're a married couple. Spark's gone out of their marriage, so they try to kill each other. Turns out that they're actually agents for opposing agencies. They're in each other's hitlist. And the movie is full of explosions like a lot of summer films, but it also has sharp dialogue and good chemistry.

In fact, the chemistry might have been a little too good, because that's probably all you've heard about for the last couple months. That's not usually a good thing when it comes to movies, because the publicity about the chemistry tends to overwhelm the movie itself. We have a whole gallery devoted to movies in which the romances between the stars or alleged romances tended to overwhelm the movie, from Gigli all the way back to Cleopatra.

You can check out our entertainment calendar for everything going on this weekend, including "The Honeymooners," with Cedric the Entertainer. There's a new album by Dwight Yoakam called, "Blame the Vein." And James Frey has a follow-up to his book, "A Million Little Pieces," called "My Friend Leonard."

DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Todd. For more on what's hot this weekend, you can log onto CNN.com/showbiz. For the DOTCOM news desk, I'm Veronica de la Cruz.

HARRIS: Did you know the weather can impact the birth rate? It's true. Linda Gialanella of affiliate WFRS in Tampa, Florida, delivers the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA GIALANELLA, WFRS (voice over): It was nine months ago when Frances visited Tampa Bay, and most of us remember where we were and what we were doing. Some at work; some at home, like Karen and Jonathan. JONATHAN CEREZO, NEW DAD: Everybody's in the house. Sometimes the electricity goes out, you know. So people tend to get closer together.

GIALANELLA: They say natural disasters bring people closer.

CAREN BRUSH, NEW MOM: When you're locked up inside, you know, all day, there's, you know not much to do.

GIALANELLA: The result? Just this month alone, the hospital is reporting a 22 percent increase in deliveries, leaving even maternity nurses to speculate like meteorologists.

JESSICA RIGGENS, NURSE: Who knows if it's a change in barometric pressure or just, you know, people with more time on their hands, but there's been a lot more babies because of that increased weather activity, I guess.

BRUSH: The department store where I worked at, I worked in the children's department, there were a lot of pregnant women, a lot around the same -- as far along as I was.

GIALANELLA: Making for a very busy maternity ward this season. These proud parents believe that last year's destructive storms have a saving grace.

CEREZO: Whenever there's a negative, there's always a positive. And with that negative, we got this positive.

GIALANELLA: But they're positively not planning a baby Arlene for this season.

CEREZO: One's good for right now.

BRUSH: Yeah. Not any time soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, while it may seem obvious, the little girl shown in that video was not named Francis. Instead, she was given the poetic Vivian Scarlett, a pointed reference to the heroine of "Gone With The Wind."

We're keeping an eye on a storm today that could become a hurricane. We're live at top of the hour with the forecast along the beach in Florida.

First a check of the markets. The Dow is down 42 points at 10,460. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Now with the news. Day six of deliberations in Santa Maria, California, and a lot of people on both sides holding their breath awaiting the jury's verdict in the Michael Jackson trial. Unless there's a decision by 5:30 p.m. Eastern, we'll wait until Monday, when the jury meets again to deliberate.

Grim confirmation just a short time ago from the U.S. Marines. Five Marines were killed Thursday in Al Anbar Province. The troops were killed by a roadside bomb while involved in a combat situation. The total number of U.S. troops killed in the war now stands at 1,690.

Presenting a united front, President Bush And South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun say their alliance remains strong and that both countries will continue efforts to get North Korea back to the six- party talks. Mr. Bush said both countries share the same goal: a Korean Peninsula without a nuclear weapon.

And these jaw-dropping pictures capture the fury of weather gone wild in Kansas. Emergency officials say the twisters did some property damage, but they have no reports of injuries. Today's weather brings the threat of more tornadoes to that region.

Tropical Storm Arlene soaks South Florida and parts of Cuba. It is also gaining strength and moving more quickly toward the northern Gulf Coast of the United States. Let's get the latest now on our Arlene and also the national weather outlook from CNN Meteorologist Jill Brown. Hi, Jill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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