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Live From...

Jose Padilla Named in Terror Indictment; Mortar Attack Disrupts Palace Handover in Tikrit; Thanksgiving Travel

Aired November 22, 2005 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's the stories we're working on for you right now.
A mortar attack mars a ceremony in Iraq, punctuating the danger that troops and civilians face.

Terror charges. A man held for more than three years in U.S. custody now formally charged. We're on the case.

And tough travel. The crowds and the weather making for some rough going on this busy holiday weekend.

All that, plus how Arab primetime TV is portraying terrorism.

The second hour of LIVE FROM starts right now.

Charge me or free me, said terror suspect and U.S. citizen Jose Padilla. And now the U.S. has charged him. The so-called dirty bomb suspect who's been on ice for three and a half years is being named in a terror indictment handed up last week in Miami, but the charges don't exactly match the initial allegations. And you won't find the term "dirty bomb" anywhere.

CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena picks up the story in Washington.

What happened, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Justice officials say that prosecutors went forward with charges that they believe they could prove in court. As you know, we heard from Justice officials a little more than a year ago laying out all of these allegations against Padilla, saying that he confessed to having a plan to blow up apartment buildings in the United States, a plan to build and detonate a dirty bomb. But those, as you said, are not anywhere in this indictment.

The attorney general refused to speak outside the indictment, but the officials that we spoke to said, look, you know, we'd have to present, you know, al Qaeda operatives in a court of law, we'd have -- it would be very complicated to move what he told us.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, what have his lawyers said about all of this? Didn't they go to the Supreme Court to argue? ARENA: Well, his lawyers went to the Supreme Court last month and asked them to hear his case, to basically say how long can the government hold a U.S. citizen who's been detained in the war on terror without charging that person, or at least providing some sort of a hearing, whether it be in a military environment or in a judicial environment? And there was actually a deadline for the government to respond in that case next Monday.

Some are arguing maybe the government was trying to forestall, to, you know, avoid a showdown at the Supreme Court. But his lawyers basically say, look, we're going to go forward with that case, it's separate from this. Padilla is very happy to know that he's finally going to be charged.

They believe that -- that he'll be vindicated, and they say that this is a triumph not only for Padilla, but the Constitution as a whole.

PHILLIPS: Well, what happens if he's acquitted?

ARENA: That's -- that is a big question, Kyra. We're trying to figure this all out. Right now it's very unclear.

This is -- this is a person that the U.S. government has said very publicly that they believe is very dangerous. They can't deport him. He's a U.S. citizen, right? Do they just let him walk the streets?

Everyone says, well, probably not, but what do they do? Do they bring new charges against him? I mean, they could always come up with a superseding indictment or come up with a separate case as they -- as they gather more evidence.

Do they make him an enemy combatant again? That was something that some people suggested.

All very uncharted territory, Kyra. Very complicated moving forward. We don't -- we don't know where this is headed.

He started off being arrested, you know, in Chicago, in the judicial process, was then made an enemy combatant. Does he get switched over again if they don't succeed in court? A possibility.

Nobody's saying that that can't happen. So all very, very confusing.

PHILLIPS: All right. And of course we'll continue to try and unravel the confusion. Kelli Arena...

ARENA: Lucky me.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Lucky you. Thanks, Kelli. I'll check in with you later. Thanks, Kelli.

Well, they didn't call it danger for nothing. A forward- operating base in Tikrit, Iraq, consisting of 1,000 acres and 18 -- yes, 18 -- former presidential palaces, today the U.S. turned it over lock, stock and gun barrel to the Iraq government in a ceremony complete with fireworks. Unscheduled, potentially disastrous fireworks.

CNN's Nic Robertson fills us in on that and much more about the serious attacks in Kirkuk from his post in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iraqi police the target of attacks in Kirkuk today, two attacks. The first coming about 1:30 in the afternoon.

An Iraqi police checkpoint just outside of the town, a suicide car bomber drove his car up to the checkpoint. Two policemen, Iraqi policemen, wounded in that attack.

But later in the day, in the center of Kirkuk, about ten to 6:00 in the evening, a hand grenade was thrown at an Iraqi policeman. He was killed. People gathered around. Other policemen gathered around. And that's when a suicide bomber drove his car up, detonated the explosives.

Seventeen people were killed, four of them Iraqi policemen. Twenty-eight people wounded in that attack.

Five of those wounded people Iraqi police officers. They were the focus of the attack in Kirkuk, and Kirkuk has generally been relatively quiet.

And a surprising attack as well today coming in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's former home town. The U.S. military handing over one of its big military bases in the town, FOB Danger, Forward Operating Base Danger, a complex spreading over about a thousand acres, 18 of Saddam Hussein's former presidential palaces.

The handing over ceremony being handed over from the U.S. military to Iraqi control was taking place. There were some very high-level dignitaries there, the U.S. ambassadors, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. general in charge of coalition forces, General George Casey, was there.

Just as the ceremony was under way, a mortar was fired into the gathering. It scattered people. People ran for cover.

It didn't explode. No one was injured. And a senior U.S. official described it as a futile effort to try and disrupt progress.

It does give an indication, however, just an indication, we don't know for sure. But it does give an indication perhaps the insurgents knew exactly where this ceremony was going to take place and exactly what time. And that's, perhaps, why they decided to target it. But the explosives didn't go off and no one injured.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Regrets, yes, but no revelations from perhaps the world's most famous investigative reporter. The story is the outing of Valerie Plame, CIA operative and wife of a former diplomat who embarrassed the White House with his attacks on prewar intelligence.

Enter Bob Woodward with less than a timely realization that he learned of Plame's identity before Dick Cheney's chief of staff tipped Judith Miller, then at "The New York Times." Now, at the time, Woodward says it seemed more of a tidbit than a bombshell. He spoke last night with CNN's Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB WOODWARD, "THE WASHINGTON POST": The day of the indictment I read the charges against Libby and looked at the press conference by the special counsel. And he said the first disclosure of all of this was on June 23, 2003 by Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, to "New York Times" reporter Judy Miller.

I went, whoa, because I knew I'd learned about this in mid-June, a week, 10 days before. So then I say, something's up. There's a piece that the special counsel does not have in all of this.

I, then, went in to incredibly aggressive reporting mode and called the source the beginning of the next week and said, "Do you realize when we talked about this and exactly what was said?" And the source, in this case, at this moment -- it's a very interesting moment in all of this -- said, "I have to go to the prosecutor. I have to go to the prosecutor. I have to tell the truth."

And so I realized I was going to be dragged into this, that I was the catalyst. And then I asked the source, "If you go to the prosecutor, am I released to testify?" And the source told me yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Woodward did give a sworn deposition, and finally he clued in his boss at "The Washington Post." He says he should have done that a lot sooner, though. Woodward won't make his source's name public, though he gave Larry credit for trying.

Now an update on a story that we told you about a little earlier. Washington is denying a report suggesting that President Bush once wanted to bomb the headquarters of Al-Jazeera television. The Pentagon calls it an absolutely absurd allegation. The White House says, "We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response."

The Bush administration has long accused Al-Jazeera of parroting anti-American propaganda. And today's report came from Britain's "Daily Mirror" newspaper in a story about a British civil servant who's been charged with leaking a memo.

According to the newspaper, the memo dealt with a meeting between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. That memo allegedly said that Mr. Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera's Qatar headquarters but Mr. Blair talked him out of it.

The newspaper says its sources differ on whether Mr. Bush was joking or not.

America on the move. Travel and crowds go together like turkey and stuffing for millions of people during Thanksgiving week. And if you're trying to get somewhere today, well, you've got lots of company. You probably already knew that.

Many airports are packed, including Hartsfield-Jackson International right here in Atlanta. And a crowd is already building, and it's expected to get even busier the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

But AAA says that more than 80 percent of travelers will drive. And a lot of you, well, you'll have to deal with some rough weather, also.

This is a live look at the conditions right now in Pittsburgh. A strong storm is giving parts of the Northeast an early taste of winter, dumping a lot of rain and snow already.

Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider keeping a close eye on the weather conditions for you. She joins us live.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a crowded house at the world's busiest passenger airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International, right here in Atlanta, Georgia.

Patty Pan from our affiliate WAGA is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY PAN, REPORTER, WAGA: People flying out today say they wanted to beat the holiday rush by flying out today rather than tomorrow. Little did they know airport officials say that today is going to be the busiest travel day outside of Sunday. An estimated 290,000 people will use this airport today alone.

(voice over): Lines at the counters. Lines waiting to get through security. Everywhere you look at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport today, that's what you'll see.

Airport officials say today will be an even busier travel day than tomorrow. That's news to Claudette Williams (ph). She and her 2-year-old daughter are on their way to Korea to spend the holidays with their husband on an Air Force base.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought tomorrow would be the busiest. And I didn't want to get in all of that rush. So I picked today, and here am I in the rush.

PAN: Carl Menkoff (ph) drove up from Augusta with his wife and two children earlier this morning. They're on their way to Dallas for Thanksgiving. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's kind of nice not having to travel on a Wednesday. We figured it was going to be even worse tomorrow.

PAN (on camera): Actually, airport officials say today is the busiest travel day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

PAN: Oh well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh well. We gave ourselves time, though.

PAN (voice over): Lines and traffic here at Hartsfield is expected to pick up and continue throughout the rest of the day. Take a look at what the pickup lines outside the terminals looked like earlier this morning. A number of flights were either delayed or canceled because of Atlanta's bad weather.

Evan Revson (ph) flew in from Philly and was delayed three and a half hours. But that wasn't was irritated him. When he got here, he and hundreds of others travelers found themselves stranded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What bothers me is, there's no trains running out of this MARTA station to compensate for all of these delays. It should have been coordinated, run a few trains up the line.

PAN (on camera): Things have slowly returned to normal since earlier this morning. But again, airport officials say with 290,000 people expected to use this airport today alone, if coming out, make sure to give yourself ample time for parking and to make it through security.

Reporting from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, this midday, Patty Pan.

Now back to you Kyra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Patty Pan, thank you.

Well, straight ahead, he's accused of gunning down his girlfriend's parents. But did the 18-year-old also kidnap her? Police say they know the answer.

That story when CNN's LIVE FROM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And back here live in B control with my crew, we're talking now about the embattled Texas congressman, Tom DeLay. He will have to wait to see if he's going to face trial.

The former House majority leader appeared in court in Austin, Texas, today, seeking to get money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges against him dropped. The judge said a short while ago he wants to wait two weeks before ruling on that request. DeLay and two co-defendants are accused of illegally contributing corporate money to GOP candidates.

This is the second judge in the case. The first was removed over complaints that he was a partisan Democrat.

Now two teens in trouble are telling their stories now. Pennsylvania police say that 18-year-old David Ludwig confessed to killing his 14-year-old girlfriend's parents. And we finally have an answer to the question, did the girlfriend go with him voluntarily or was she kidnapped?

Here's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kara Borden, just 14 years old, allegedly told her 18-year-old boyfriend David Ludwig she wanted to go with him, to drive west, "To get as far away as possible, get married, and start a new life."

That according to a statement Borden gave to police released Monday, and that's why prosecutors plan to drop the kidnapping charge against Ludwig. But he still faces two counts of homicide after allegedly confessing to shooting and killing Borden's mother and father, Cathryn and Michael Borden, after an argument at their home in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

No word yet on whether Kara was involved in the murder.

DAVID SHEAFER, FAMILY FRIEND: She's a child of god, and we've forgiven her. We all make mistakes. And if it comes out that there was a situation there, then so be it. But we still love her and are going to pray for her and do whatever we can for her.

CARROLL: A police affidavit shows Ludwig told them the murder weapon, a Glock model 27 semiautomatic pistol, was under the driver's front seat of the car, in which they drove 600 miles before being caught.

Also in Ludwig's car, police found a rifle, numerous rounds of ammunition, a black hood and a black stocking mask.

Back at the teenager's house, police found a videotape in which they say Ludwig and a friend planned an armed, forcible entry. Ludwig also discusses having an intimate relation with Borden.

In another development, a Warwick Township, Pennsylvania, police chaplain confirmed that Ludwig also had run off with a former girlfriend last spring before his relationship with Borden. That situation was resolved by his and the girl's families.

Borden's attorney declined to comment on the case. Ludwig's attorney did not return calls.

On Saturday, two silver hearses carried the bodies of Borden's parents in a funeral procession. Hundreds of people in this small religious community mourned their deaths and tried to understand how this double murder could have happened here.

TINA SHYVER-PLANK, BORDEN FAMILY FRIEND: We're all completely devastated. It's like it just ripped down through the center of our hearts. But we're all like a family there, a big Christian family, and we're pulling together.

CARROLL: Ludwig has not entered a plea to the two homicide charges against him. As for Borden, her attorney says she's devastated and what she's going through would have sent an adult into a tailspin. But he also says she's being well cared for by relatives.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Lititz, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Doing very, very well and in great spirits, that's the word just in on Jiri Fischer of the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings. Last night during a game in Detroit, the defensive man suffered a seizure and collapsed on the bench. His heart just stopped.

The team physician was right next to him and began CPR. Fischer was also shocked with a defibrillator before being rushed to the hospital. Three years ago Fischer was diagnosed with a heart abnormality, but he had passed numerous stress tests.

Doctors say they don't know yet what triggered last night's episode. As for the game with Nashville, well, it was canceled. And the Red Wings are working with the NHL to reschedule that game.

The grim reality of terrorism becomes a high ratings TV show. In the Middle East, dramas like this one are giving Arabic viewers a take on terrorists that you might not expect. We're going to talk about it straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: General Motors workers and their families are trying to make plans today for an uncertain future. The automaker announced yesterday that it will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close or cut back operations at a dozen plants. But GM workers aren't alone.

The nation's number two carmaker, Ford, will be cutting jobs also. Ford plans to reduce its North American workforce by eliminating 4,000 white collar jobs.

Some of the cuts will come through voluntarily -- or those layoffs, rather, while others will come through attrition. Now, details of the plan won't be revealed until January. Ford chairman and CEO Bill Ford says that his company, like GM, needs to change in order to compete.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL FORD, FORD CHAIRMAN & CEO: There is an element of structure that we have to reduce. Not just in the plants, but really in the entire North American operation.

And -- but very important piece of it, and I'd say perhaps the biggest piece as far as I'm concerned is, what are we going to do differently as a company? What are we going to stand for? And where are we going to place our bets going forward?

So it's not just a plan to reduce and cut. It is also a plan that very much takes us into the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: When GM announced its layoff plans yesterday, it was only the latest retreat in a long series of setbacks. Fifty years ago there was a Chevy, a Pontiac, an Oldsmobile, a Buick, or a Cadillac in every other driveway. Well, GM doesn't even make Oldsmobiles anymore, and those other famous-name plates face an uncertain future.

CNN's Ali Velshi takes a looks at what happened to General Motors and the rest of the U.S. auto industry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): General Motors has been the world's biggest carmaker since 1931. In 1955, it became the first American company to make over $1 billion a year and it was all built on relentless demand for cars. Cars for the masses were first built in America about 100 years ago and Americans haven't stopped buying them since.

The thing is, they just don't buy as many from GM any more or from Ford. And GM and Ford's losses seem to be Toyota's gain. In fact, once the restructuring is done, GM will build a million fewer cars a year, allowing Toyota to take the lead and become the world's biggest carmaker.

MICHAEL QUINCY, CONSUMER REPORTS: There is less of that stigma about I don't want to buy foreign, I only want to buy American. I think Toyota had the right cars at the right time. Since even the 1970's when fuel prices were high and the oil embargo, they built small, fuel-efficient cars that people flocked to buy.

VELSHI: U.S. carmakers got into a price war five years ago to overcome the sagging sales. Then they introduced lower than bank interest financing, then zero interest financing. Now they tell you they'll sell you a car for the same price that employees pay. None of it worked. GM and Ford now have the smallest share of the U.S. car market ever. Meanwhile, Toyota, Honda and others swooped in and won American drivers over with their quality, value and their styling.

But for GM, it's more than just sales, it's costs. GM's biggest parts supplier, Delphi, recently filed for bankruptcy. GM used to own Delphi and may have to cover some of Delphi's health care expenses. That could cost GM billions. GM's own health care costs will amount to $5.8 billion this year. GM has already lost $4 billion this year. Some people on Wall Street think the carmaker itself could go bankrupt.

Now it's not all bad, American pickup truck sales have been solid. You might say "like a rock." GM's Chevy Silverado is the second best selling vehicle in the United States. The best selling vehicle is Ford's F-Series pickup. But, the best selling car in the United States, the Toyota Camry.

Toyota knows that as early as next year it could earn the title of world's biggest carmaker. And they are worried that in the world's biggest car market that may trigger a backlash, especially given how many American autoworkers have been laid off. So Toyota has embarked on an ad campaign touting the 190,000 U.S. auto jobs that it's created.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And U.S. automakers continue to rely on incentives to sell cars. Here are the current "Big Three" programs which run through the end of the year.

Chrysler is giving buyers $2,000 worth of free gasoline under its "Miles of Freedom" incentive program. The offer could ease concerns about gasoline prices that have been hurting sales of SUVs, trucks and larger cars.

Now, earlier, GM announced a red tag sale offering discounts of up to $3,000.

Ford quickly countered with similar discounts, touting its incentive program as the "Keep It Simple" plan.

Well, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season comes this Friday. It's a crucial time for retailers.

Susan Lisovicz joins me live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest forecast.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Terrorists -- you see the results of their bombs in the news coverage. They post their attack videos on Web sites seen all around the world.

And as if they don't get enough exposure, they're getting primetime treatment now on networks in the Middle East.

Check this out.

(VIDEO CLIP) Pretty slick stuff, wouldn't you say? It looks like an episode of the American TV series "24." But it's actually a drama called "The Rocky Road" that tells the story of a cell of resistance fighters.

Instead of glorifying terrorism, this and other widely-watched dramas are actually questioning terrorism.

Souheila al-Jadda, a producer for Link TV and Global Television Network based in the United States joins me from our San Francisco bureau to talk about it.

Souheila, good to see you.

SOUHEILA AL-JADDA, PRODUCER, LINK TV: Nice to see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about how it's not propaganda for terrorists but that actually in many ways it is -- the series addresses that terrorism is wrong. Give some examples about the series and what it's trying to achieve.

AL-JADDA: Well, I think what they're trying to do is they're trying to debate the issue of terrorism and debate the issue of violence against civilians.

In the one that we just saw, "The Rocky Road," it follows a terrorist cell and inside -- within the terrorist cell they actually question the methods that they are using against civilians. And there's one person within the cell who actually says, "You know, we shouldn't be hitting civilians. This is not our cause. We should be doing something else." Eventually, the other members of the cell, they eliminate him basically because he was a weak link within the cell.

PHILLIPS: So, Souheila, what generated this idea?

Was it more -- wow, terrorism, it always makes a lead story in the news so we know we'll hit it big if we do it in television? Or do you think the agenda is let's educate people more on why terrorists do what they do and let's try and do something about it?

AL-JADDA: I think the latter is true.

I think that a lot of folks have realized that you can't fight terrorism with bombs, bullets and torture chambers, and I think that they realize that terrorism is to be fought through ideas, through a battle of ideas, a war of information, if you will.

And so these shows and others like them are trying to eliminate the ideas that sort of foster terrorist ideology, political ideology that promotes terrorist actions.

PHILLIPS: Now, you're a producer for Link TV. So were you involved in any of these episodes specifically?

AL-JADDA: No, no.

This is all made, produced and funded in the Middle East.

PHILLIPS: Who funds it?

AL-JADDA: You know, there are different places that provide the funding.

For example, there's a series called "Hora Lien," (ph) it's funded mainly by the Saudis. The Saudis have funded that because I think they realize as well that there's a huge problem with terrorism within that country and in the Middle East in general.

And so they're trying to use dramatizations and fiction to educate the public, the mass who -- all of them watch television and many of them watch these new series that are coming out. And they're really the ones that are pushing for it.

Again, "The Rocky Road" was funded by Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, and other local governments and regions.

PHILLIPS: So how have the ratings been and who's watching -- and are a lot of people watching?

AL-JADDA: I think a lot of people are watching.

You know, these shows came out during the fasting month of Ramadan, when everybody, after they fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days -- all the new shows come out during Ramadan.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Because you have to go home?

Right, you have to go home and relax, right, and eat?

AL-JADDA: Exactly.

You relax, you sit at the television for like five hours at a time watching all of the new shows, just like September sweeps is here in the United States. People -- everybody watches it. It's become almost a popular ritual in the Middle East.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

And are parents OK with their kids watching these programs? Because they get pretty violent.

AL-JADDA: You know, these programs dealing with terrorism are relatively new on the Middle East scene. We haven't seen this before. It's very unprecedented.

But, yes, it's a family affair in the Middle East. Everybody watches it. You know, relatives, extended relatives. They gather around the television after they've eaten and they watch these programs, and often they flip from channel to channel to catch the latest ones. And what's interesting also, is that these programs aren't only shown during Ramadan. They're also shown throughout the years, and they're shown on various different satellite channels throughout the Middle East. So people will be watching them again and again and again.

PHILLIPS: So, of course, we always see responses and messages from actual terrorist groups online. Have any of these terrorist groups responded to these shows?

AL-JADDA: Actually, they have responded. Some people have put out death threats against the actors of the shows. And they have put out statements saying that these shows are distorting Islam. You know, last year there was a show called "Road to Kabul" that aired during Ramadan.

It was showing -- after eight episodes, they pulled it off the air because there too many death threats against -- being made against the actors. At least, that's what was claimed, is that there were too many death threats being made against the actors and so they pulled it off the show.

And it was a program that sort of glorified the resistance of the Afghans against the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty interesting, the shows and also that it's happening. Hopefully we can talk as the shows continue to see what kind of response it generates and if it has an impact.

Souheila Al-Jadda, producer for Link TV, thank you so much.

AL-JADDA: Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Last year the voices ordered her to light herself on fire. Suicide attempts. A body covered in cigarette burns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't stop her. I'm a psychiatrist, I'm her twin sister, and I can't stop her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Up next, the emotional story of twin sisters who made sure the mental illness that divided their lives did not break their bond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, twins are pretty fascinating. Two people so alike, yet very different. Such is the case with the twin girls you're about to meet. They were identical in every way, until one started hearing voices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two beautiful babies, twins. Carolyn and Pamela. So alike that it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

As the twins began to walk and talk, the comparisons began.

CAROLYN SPIRO, SISTER: I was seen as the fragile, second twin. Pammy was seen as the strong, smart twin, who didn't have problems.

PHILLIPS: And yet it was Pamela, who everyone called Pammy, the strong, smart twin, whose life began to unravel when the girls were in the sixth grade. She remembers the day she first heard the voices -- November 22nd, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was killed.

PAMELA SPIRO WAGNER, SISTER: It was the first time I heard voices.

PHILLIPS: What did the voices say to you?

WAGNER: They'd say things like kill him, kill her, kill him, kill her, kill him, kill her. Will you kill her? Will you kill her?

PHILLIPS: Did you tell anybody?

WAGNER: No, I didn't.

PHILLIPS: Carolyn, when did you realize...

SPIRO: That something was wrong?

PHILLIPS: ... that something was wrong.

SPIRO: Seventh grade. She didn't shower. She didn't know how to dress. She didn't do anything that all the other seventh grade kids seemed to know how to do.

PHILLIPS: Pammy struggled for years to ignore the voices. No one knew that she was suffering from schizophrenia, and she continued to excel in high school.

She was accepted to Brown University, as was her twin, Carolyn. But this is where the twins' lives took dramatically different paths.

Carolyn went on to graduate from Harvard Medical School and became a psychiatrist. She got married and had two children.

But right away, things were very different for Pammy. She overdosed on sleeping pills during her freshman year at Brown, and began cutting and burning herself.

WAGNER: All logic is suspended, and when they say, burn, baby, burn, then they start telling me that I have to kill myself, I have to do it.

PHILLIPS: Although Pamela graduated from Brown, she's never been able to keep a job or hold on to a romantic relationship. She has spent years in and out of hospitals, fighting the demons in her head.

WAGNER: I would say it's a waking nightmare. It's hell.

PHILLIPS: Are there any alternative therapies?

Last year, the voices ordered her to light herself on fire, suicide attempts. A body covered in cigarette burns.

SPIRO: I can't stop her. I can't -- I'm a psychiatrist. I'm her twin sister, and I can't stop her.

PHILLIPS: Carolyn couldn't stop Pammy's pain, but she could help her express it. And here's where the twins, whose lives had taken such opposite paths, began to come together again.

WAGNER: I wake in a psychiatric ward, on a bare mattress on a floor of an empty room.

PHILLIPS: The sisters began a memoir called "Divided Minds."

SPIRO: I want to dare her to kill herself.

PHILLIPS: The book is a gripping tale of the tragedy of mental illness. It chronicles the tested but unbreakable bond of two sisters.

Carolyn, you wrote in the book, "I can never really know the hell in which Pammy lives. When I hang up the phone, hell disappears, but she knows nothing else. Hell is her life. When I look back over the past decades, I weep for her."

Is that hard to listen to?

SPIRO: There have been times when I've thought about Pammy's life and thought about my life, and wondered how is this fair? I have had so much joy. I have had -- I have such an incredibly wonderful life. And she has all the suffering.

WAGNER: You know, I've never felt, one, envious of Linny, and I never felt like I deserved more. Not because I feel guilty or evil, but because I could have developed cancer at age 19 and died at age 20. So, there are fates that are worse.

PHILLIPS: The last time Pamela was in the hospital was nearly a year ago.

Finding the right treatment has been difficult. Out of desperation, Pamela even resorted to electroshock therapy. Finally, her doctors found a combination of medicines that help. Still, a visiting nurse keeps the pills in a lock box, so Pamela only takes what she needs.

WAGNER: To look at me, I'm doing a million times better than I was just a year ago.

PHILLIPS: The voices are still there, but they don't control her the way they did for so long.

WAGNER: Hurtful, harmful voices don't come right now.

PHILLIPS: Yet, even today, evidence of her illness remains in her own home. She put tinfoil up on her bedroom walls to block out radio waves that she says contaminate her brain.

WAGNER: And I think that the radio waves contaminated my brain.

PHILLIPS: As babies, they were mirror images of each other. As adults, they mourn the part of their lives together that has been lost.

SPIRO: She doesn't really understand what she means to me.

PHILLIPS: Can you imagine life without your sister, Pam?

WAGNER: No.

SPIRO: No.

PHILLIPS: That's love.

WAGNER: Well, I -- I think it is love, I guess. I just don't know what it feels like.

SPIRO: How could I give up on her? I mean, she is part of me. But it's like -- it would be like stopping breathing myself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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PHILLIPS: Schizophrenia affects more than two million Americans. Carolyn and Pamela have been on their book tour for three months, speaking to audiences as big as 300, and they say at each stop, people tell them they finally feel free to talk about schizophrenia in their families.

Well, the news keeps coming. And we're going to keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Well, roll out the red carpet. The hottest performers in music are getting ready to strut their stuff in the 33rd annual "American Music Awards" tonight in Los Angeles. Who are this year's top contenders? Well, CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas in L.A. with a preview. And of course, you're going, right, Sibila?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course! I wouldn't disappoint., not you?

PHILLIPS: You got to work it, that's right.

VARGAS: I got to work the red carpet. That's right, Kyra.

It's going to be a big night for the music industry, as some of its finest performers converge at L.A.'s famous Shrine Auditorium. That's the site for this year's 33rd annual "American Music Awards."

And from Mariah Carey to 50, Destiny's Child to Gretchen Wilson, singers will be rocking it out for some of music's finest honors.

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VARGAS (voice-over): Pop diva Mariah Carey hopes to shake off her competition at tonight's "American Music Awards." The superstar singer tops the list of nominees with four in all, including favorite female artist in both the pop/rock and soul, rhythm, and blues categories.

For top selling disc, the "Emancipation of Mimi" is also nominated for pop/rock and soul, rhythm, and blues album of the year.

"American Idol" alum Kelly Clarkson breaks away with three nods, as does hip hop superstar 50 Cent and punk rock pioneers Green Day.

Clarkson will go head-to-head with Carey in the favorite female artist in pop/rock album categories and duke it out with alternative rock act Maroon 5 and singer/songwriter John Mayer for favorite adult contemporary artist.

50 Cent could have a sweet win as favorite male artist in both the pop/rock and rap/hip hop categories, while his No. 1 CD, "The Massacre," takes a stab at favorite rap/hip-hop album.

American idiots or American music award winners? That question will be answered when Green Day battles it out for favorite pop/rock group and pop/rock album, as well as favorite alternative music artist.

The night's most coveted trophy, the all-genre, breakthrough favorite new artist of the year award boils down to three. Country music's red hot trip Sugarland, the teen heartthrob with a beautiful soul, Jesse McCartney, and Mr. Brightside's alter-ego, The Killers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: And some of the celebrities who will be handing out these awards include Pamela Anderson, Brooks & Dunn, LeAnn Rimes, and Paris Hilton, just to name a few. Funny man Cedric the Entertainer will host the show, tonight on ABC.

And here's some interesting info you may want to know about the nominees. They were chosen on the basis of record sales, with winners selected through a survey of about 20,000 listeners. And of course, Kyra, I will be out on the red carpet, so I'll bring you an update tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: Sounds great, we'll look forward to it. Thanks so much, Sibila.

Now we're just getting word in out of Virginia that a U.S. man has been found guilty in, of conspiring with al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush. We're just getting this information in. A 12-member federal jury found that Ahmed Abu Ali, 24, guilty of all nine charges of conspiring with and aiding al Qaeda and conspiracy to kill Bush. Abu Ali now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Once again a jury finding this U.S. man guilty of a plot, an al Qaeda plot to assassinate the president of the United States. We'll work in more information, we'll bring it to you as soon as we can.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

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