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CNN Live Today
Gay Couples Attempt to Marry in Manhattan
Aired March 04, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: And let's check the latest headlines at this hour.
An al Qaeda suspect associated with the attack on the USS Cole is in custody in Yemen. Authorities had tracked the suspect to a mountainous region in southern Yemen. Officials believe he was behind the jailbreak last year, in which suspect in the Cole attack escaped.
The same-sex marriage juggernaut has swept into New York City. Demonstrators converged on City Hall demanding the city issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Dozens of couples submitted applications but were turned away. The state attorney general says that current state law explicitly forbids such marriages, but he suggested those laws may be unconstitutional.
In business news, Michael Eisner will remain CEO of Disney, but he is no longer chairman. That job has been given to former Senator George Mitchell. Eisner still faces rebellion from some Disney insiders, who want him completely out of the company.
And in politics, President Bush heads to his Texas ranch later today, following more stops in a lucrative, two day swing through the Golden State. His re-election war chest is now approaching $160 million. Some of that money is going to launch television ads today, in his campaign to win a probable match up against Democrat John Kerry in November.
The issue of gay marriage is making for some strained relations in a growing number of states this morning. And in a New York City, the issue has landed on the steps of City Hall. There, supporters of same-sex marriages are sending a message to local and state officials, who say such unions are illegal.
Our Adaora Udoji is in New York with more on that.
Adura, good morning.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Indeed. It's basically things have wrapped up here in downtown New York. We're outside a municipal building, where a group called New York Marriage Now rallied this morning despite the horrible weather. There were hundreds of people here. And basically, they came with a two- part strategy. The first being to rally in numbers, to force the Mayor Bloomberg to take a stand, show New York and the country that couples -- gay and lesbian couples, just like everyone else, want some legal recognition. The second part is dozens of couples lined up to go into the city clerk's office to apply for marriage licenses. They were swiftly denied, handed a letter and a 50-page packet outlining exactly what you mentioned. Which was the attorney general's conclusion yesterday that under New York law, as it stands at the moment, same-sex marriages are prohibited.
The couples knew that coming in. But they said that applying for that license is a step.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we'd like is for the discussion to continue. If licenses can't be issued today for the debate to continue and for the courts to make a decision, thinking about the civil equality that marriage could confer to a group of people who don't have that right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the man that I love. This is the person I'm going spend the rest of my life with, and why should by denied a basic right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: And Daryn, as you mentioned, in the attorney general's conclusions yesterday, many people read it to say in that he talked about how he believed that the marriage laws in New York did raise some constitutional important questions about equal protection. Many people read that to mean that they should go forward, try to apply for these licenses. And then when they are denied, be able to take the issue to the courts and force the courts to try and reconcile, what some see as particular issues with the marriage laws here in New York City. So Gay and lesbian advocates say this is just the beginning -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And it also sounds like the Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was saying no, you can't get married here but go somewhere else, come back and according to the Constitution, New York will have to recognize those marriages.
UDOJI: Indeed. He talks specifically about how the law does make room for recognizing same-sex marriages that are consum -- that are legally officiated in other places, like Canada or perhaps even Massachusetts if that goes forward in the coming months.
KAGAN: Adaora Udoji in New York City.
Thank you, Adura.
Well, on of those other places, Oregon, in the very next hour officials say they're going to resume handing out marriage licenses in Noma County. That is the latest location in a widening battle over same-sex marriage. Yesterday, the county issued more than 400 licenses; the overwhelming majority to same-sex couples. Oregon's governor is seeking a legal opinion from that attorney general. The state's 140-year-old marriage statute specifically refers to marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Jurors in the Martha Stewart trial return to work this hour. They are trying to decide whether the domestic diva lied to investigators about her sale of Imclone stock. And then conspired to cover it up. Shortly after the jurors began deliberations yesterday, they asked to review testimony from the government's star witness. The brokerage assistant who handled Stewart's stock sale just before its value -- excuse me, plummeted. Prosecutors say the two used forbidden insider information to dump the stock. Defense attorneys say the sale was triggered by an earlier agreement.
Let's get some legal perspective now on the Martha Stewart case. And for that we turn to our expert, senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Jeff, good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: D.K., how are you?
KAGAN: OK. I thought one of the judge's instructions was very interesting to this jury, that it's not all or nothing. You can find either or both, Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic, guilty or not guilty.
TOOBIN: That's right. And this is a complicated task for the jury, because there are four charges against Martha Stewart, five charges against Peter Bacanovic. They could convict on all or some against each defendant. Plus within each charge there are many decisions that the jurors have to make. Not just the elements of each crime, but certain specifications about certain false statements that the jury has to evaluate, as far as each count is concerned. So this jury deliberation, I think, is just getting started.
KAGAN: And what do you make about what the jury has asked to see yet again. And that is some of the testimony from Douglas Faneuil?
TOOBIN: Well, they sent two substantive notes yesterday, right after their deliberation in the early afternoon, right after they started. They asked for Faneuil's testimony in an important charge that the government introduced. And then, right at the end of the day, they asked for almost a dozen pieces of information. Including more testimony from critical witnesses, some of the very important exhibits. It shows that this jury was obviously paying attention. They zeroed in on the most important evidence. And I think on balance, these are votes that the prosecution will be more encouraged by than the defense. They seem to be following the case as the prosecution laid it out.
KAGAN: And just because I haven't had a chance to talk to you since closing arguments, I wanted to ask you about Martha Stewart's attorney pointing and making reference to the fact that she didn't sit -- that she didn't take the stand. That he acknowledged, you know, you're probably be disappointed that you can't hear from her herself. Was that smart to point to that admission -- omission?
TOOBIN: It's certainly very unusual for a defense attorney to call attention to the fact that a defendant didn't testify. You know, I think it's ultimately not going to be that big a deal one way or another. I think there is so much evidence in this case, and so much evidence that both sides have pointed to, that I think they are going to really focus on the evidence that was presented to them, and follow the judge's instructions. And remember, the judge said don't speculate; don't hold it against the defendant that she didn't testify. And this jury seems very attentive, very admiring, sympathetic to the judge. I think they're going to follow her direction.
KAGAN: And Jeff, remind us again what is at stake here, not just for Peter Bacanovic, but Martha Stewart as well.
TOOBIN: Well, it's really -- it's a jail case. I don't see any scenario in which Martha Stewart, if she's convicted of any of the counts against her, that she avoids jail. Same thing with Peter Bacanovic. You know, we're not talking about long, long terms. But we are looking at a year, maybe two years in prison for either or both if they are convicted. So the stakes are really high.
KAGAN: Jeffrey Toobin in Manhattan, thank you for that.
Of course, we'll have the latest for you as the jury does come to a verdict.
Thank you, Jeff.
Another big trial. Jury selection gets underway today in the case of Scott Peterson, the California man accused of murdering his wife, Laci and their unborn son. Some 200 prospective jurors will face a flurry of questions. Some of them seemingly obscure.
Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City for the proceedings and to give us a peek at that 30-page questionnaire.
Rusty, good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. You know, some of the questions are going to deal with everything from bumper stickers, do you have them, what do they say? Marital status. Also, have you ever had an affair? Do you know anyone that has had an affair? Did you ever lose a child, of course, which would relate to this case? What kind of magazines do you read? Mark Geragos was determined to get in the question. Do you read "Field and Stream," "Ladies Home Journal?" Just a gamut of the media. Also, media exposure; what kinds of TV shows do you watch?
And of course, their views on the death penalty. They're trying to sort out just the right juror. Of course, this has become a big business. Both sides have hired jury consultants in this case. Now, according to experts, the defense is looking for someone who may be a little bit suspicious of law enforcement, who isn't convinced maybe by only circumstantial evidence. Who might think that there are some other suspects that could be out there besides Scott Peterson.
Prosecution looking for someone a little bit more conservative. The experts do say, in this case, because they have to qualify as a death penalty jury. In other words, they have to be willing to at least consider the death penalty. Some experts say that makes them a little more conservative and tilts them in favor of the prosecution.
Now, of course, besides finding an impartial jury, the biggest problem here may be finding a jury that's able to sit here for five to six months. That's the estimate or guestimate on how long this trial's going to take. Apparently, the prosecution is going to be calling at least 150 witnesses. Mark Geragos has not tilted his hand on how many witnesses he will be calling in this case. Jury selection alone, Daryn, is going to be taking from four to eight weeks.
KAGAN: Wow. You have to take me back to this questionnaire. And of course, I guess, it's done on paper. But so you're called -- if you have the misfortune of being called to serve on this jury and you're asked oh, who had an affair? Who cheated on their wife? Me.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: Well, you know, the way they ask it is a little bit easier. They say -- I think it's phrased at have you or anyone you know
KAGAN: Oh.
DORNIN: So it gives you a little bit of an out there.
KAGAN: I get it.
DORNIN: And also, those things are not...
KAGAN: This friend of mine.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: Right. Right. And they may not be revealed in court. It will just be the lawyers that are looking at that. But they're going to ask them questions in open court to kind of weed out some of the answers.
KAGAN: Mm. Well, that should be an interesting day or few days, as you were pointing out.
Rusty Dornin, thank you for that.
To Washington now. The FBI has opened an aggressive new front to catch sexual predators who prey on children. In some cases, agents are using the child pornographers' favorite outlet, the internet, to flush them out into the open.
Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena explains how it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI Special agent Stacey Bradley was working a particularly gruesome child pornography case, when she repeatedly came across photos of children being abused by the same predators.
STACEY BRADLEY, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: And I used to take those images of bank robberies or fugitives and put them all over the news media. Why can't I do that with these guys?
ARENA: Now, she can. There are thousands of pictures on the internet of children being sexually exploited; their abusers faces are also shown. The FBI isolates the most recent photos to be sure the victims are still children. For suspects who cannot be identified, agents work on getting so-called "John Doe indictments," then publish pictures of the suspects. So far, photos of three men have been publicized on the FBI's website and on "America's Most Wanted."
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Keep getting them. You get the indictments; we'll put them on the air. We'll take them down. You put them in jail.
ARENA: Two of the men are already in custody. The effort is part of the FBI's Innocent Images Program. Agents there spend hours on the internet posing as young girls to snare pornographers. They're even coached by actual teenagers. Here we see agents tackling a multiple-choice quiz.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, pulling me on. My mom likes her but I don't.
ARENA: That, too, was one of Bradley's ideas.
BRADLEY: I want to keep every child just as safe as my own.
ARENA: Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: The hits just keep on coming. Allegations of steroid use. Hear what a former teammate says about Barry Bonds and the performance enhancing drugs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: One of the things that must never change is the entrepreneurial spirit of America. This country needs a president who clearly sees that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The president's campaign message hits the airwaves in key battleground states.
And two friends on a climbing trip and the unthinkable decision they faced. The story is called "Touching the Void." We'll talk to one of those climbers just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Baseball slugger, Barry Bonds probably wishes he could hit off questions about alleged steroid use out of the ballpark. But try as he may, the issue is not going away.
Our Josie Burke has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barry Bonds is going through the rituals of spring training, without addressing the latest allegations linking him to performance enhancing drugs. It's a topic that's hard to avoid.
JASON SCHMIDT, PITCHER, GIANTS: I don't know anything about it, so I come to the park to play baseball. That's what I do.
BURKE: One former Bonds teammate did not shy away from the subject during a radio interview this week.
RICK BALLOU, HOST, "THE RICK BALLOU SHOW": Are you telling us that in your opinion, Andy, it looks like he has taken steroids?
ANDY VAN SLYKE, FROMER BARRY BONDS TEAMMATE: Oh, unequivocally he's taken them. Without equivocation he's taken them.
And you know, I can say that you know, with the utmost certainty.
BURKE: Both Giants and baseball have taken steps to curtail the speculation. Last week, a team attorney addressed San Francisco players and advised them against talking about Bonds and steroids. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selieg issued a similar directive to the club executives and owners under his direction. But no one has silenced the fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's so much evidence now against it. They're leading to the fact that he used it. It's kind of sad in my estimation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That doesn't necessarily mean that Barry Bonds took the steroids. Maybe he didn't, maybe he didn't. But we'll have to wait and see what comes out.
BURKE (on camera): Bonds did speak briefly with reporters on Wednesday. He did not talk about steroids. But he did allow however, that he spent part of Tuesday, quote, "Playing with my computer and trying to avoid the TV as much as possible."
Josie Burke, CNN, Scottsdale, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We're at 15 minutes past the hour. Let's look at some stories across America.
Authorities in Chicago are investigating five racial slurs heard over fire department radio frequencies. A city official says those responsible should be fired. The fire commissioner says it's possible an outsider is illegally transmitting on the department's frequency. Authorities in Houston pull more than $1 million from a fuel tank of an 18-wheeler during a routine stop. They say they got a little suspicious when the truck's drivers gave some inconsistent stories. After a drug sniffing dog detected something in the tank, the drivers were held for questioning.
A legally blind woman in Illinois has reason to give thanks. Rosetta Weideman was heading to the store on her motorized scooter when it got stuck on a railroad track. Well, Tom Wortecki (ph) came along and pulled her from the scooter seconds before it was hit by a train. The company later donated a new scooter. Weideman says she will always be thankful that Tom saved her life.
Some severe weather is brewing into parts of the U.S. We'll tell you where almost a foot of snow is expected to fall today.
And the president's message outlined in his brand new campaign ads. John King looks at the president's re-election bid.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Lot of news ahead as well. U.S. plans for a pull back in Iraq. Troops walk a fine line ready to protect Iraqis but trying to let them protect themselves. Is it working?
He wrote the rulings for some of the most important Supreme Court decisions, Justice Harry Blackmun. So, how can you read more of his work? We will tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're keeping our eyes on what's happening at the Martha Stewart trial. We're getting word from our Allan Chernoff, who's covering that trial that four of the jurors Martha Stewart case have not shown up this morning. So for now deliberations have been put on hold. We'll get more from Allan and our other reporters on the scene in just a little bit. So we'll get more on the Martha Stewart trial and the missing four jurors just ahead. Right now we'll take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Here are some of the stories we're watching at this hour.
A German court has ordered a new trial for the only person convicted in the September 11 attacks in the U.S. The court sided with an appeal filed on behalf of the Munir al Motasiq (ph), saying that essential evidence had not been properly addressed. The Moroccan was a friend of the suicide hijackers, was serving a 15-year prison term for conspiracy.
The U.S. government has allowed dirty bomb suspect, Jose Padilla to meet with his lawyer in a session that the government monitored. It's the first such meeting since Padilla was transferred to a Navy brig almost two years ago. The former Chicago gang member and a convert to Islam is being held as an enemy combatant, which the government says reduces his rights. A court ruling that challenges that position goes before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
U.S. Marines are expanding their patrols of Haiti, after the country's rebel leader promised that his forces will lay down their arms and step aside. Haiti has been ravaged by the rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The International Red Cross is asking for $3.5 million in donations to cover emergency operation.
The United Nations is shopping for a top tier security firm to help protect its staff around the world. That decision comes after a study of the August bombing of its head quarters in Iraq. The report blasted the U.N. own security staff, calling it "dysfunctional" and blaming it for unnecessary casualties.
President Bush is taking his first political swings at Democratic rival, John Kerry. They came during the first of several Republican fund-raising events in California.
More now from our senior White House correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new day in the presidential campaign, and an immediate effort to frame the choice.
BUSH: He's spent two decades in Congress. He's built up quite a record.
(CHEERING)
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: In fact, Senator Kerry's been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KING: And in TV commercials, a message that the incumbent is the right man for the challenges still ahead.
BUSH: I know exactly where I want to lead this country. I know what I need to do to make the world more free and more peaceful.
The first ads of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign portray a president forced to deal with recession, then terrorism. Images of September 11 meant to remind voters of the first term's biggest test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But America rose to the challenge.
KING: Mr. Bush talked of a spirited race and a call to congratulate Senator Kerry Tuesday night. And by early Wednesday, the president's allies opened the effort to paint him as an elitist liberal bent on racing taxes.
REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: He's either insincere about spending, dishonest about new taxes, uninterested in the deficit or they just didn't teach him math at the European boarding school that he went to.
KING: The president trails Senator Kerry in national polls. His immediate short term goal is to revitalize his standing now that the democratic campaign is all but over.
ED GILLESPIE, RNC CHAIRMAN: I understand that the democratic candidates and their primary have aired $17 million in attack ads against the president over the course of the past six months.
KING: Mr. Bush is upbeat about his chances but sees senator Kerry as a tenacious foe, crediting him with fighting back when it looked like he would fall early in the Democratic race.
(on camera): The election is still eight months away but the early sparring is intense. Steady Leadership in times of change is the slogan of those early bush TV ads. Senator Kerry was quick to respond that the presidents' leadership is steady all right but in his view steadily heading in the wrong direction.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Other Republicans speaking out against John Kerry include Karen Hughes. She says Kerry has flipped on lot of issues. Hughes talked about Kerry's negative campaign ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN HUGHES, BUSH ADVISER: It's an interesting reflection that what we've seen throughout the democratic nomination process is anger and invective directed at President Bush.
But anger is not an optimistic vision for the future of this country. Anger doesn't create jobs. Anger doesn't wage and win the war against terror. It doesn't improve extend freedom in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: No doubt there will be a lot of talk in the coming weeks about John Kerry's possible running mate. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson said they would be interested if Kerry came calling. Both men campaigned with Kerry in their home states Wednesday. And some mentioned Hillary Rodham Clinton's name but she told Lou Dobbs last night she's not interested in the VP job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: That is totally up to the nominee. And I don't think I would ever be offered. I don't think I would accept. Obviously I want to do everything I can to see John Kerry elected president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Meanwhile, president bush's foreign policy may be playing at home more than abroad. An Associated Press poll finds that the U.S.-led war on Iraq has increased the world wide threat of terrorism. That is based on interviews of nearly 7,000 people in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain.
KAGAN: Now to Iraq. U.S. officials, military officials are facing some tough questions over plans to pull back and play a more secondary role in the nation's security, specifically this week's series of attacks show threat Iraq's own security forces are not yet up to the task.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is looking at that story this morning. Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. More questions today at this hour. General John Abizaid the head of the U.S. Central Command on Capitol Hill as you see here testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee getting a lot of questions about this situation in Iraq. This week of course being a very difficult week. Hundreds killed and injured in those bombings earlier in Baghdad and Karbala.
Ambassador Paul Bremer yesterday saying that the U.S. will move to try and beef up border security in Iraq so foreign fighters cannot come in to the country. But the question that is emerging is whether that will be enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The horrific bombings Tuesday in Baghdad in Karbala are raising questions again about the ability of Iraqi forces to take control as the June 30 date for sovereignty approaches.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: One of the weak spots is the still building capacity of Iraqi security institutions.
STARR: A weak spot exploited by terrorists. Suicide bombers and carts of explosives apparently made it past Iraqi security near the mosques. U.S. forces had stayed out of sight in deference to worshipers. It was the same scenario at a recent attack on Iraqi security forces in Fallujah.
U.S. forces responded after the attack began, trying to give the Iraqis the opportunity to handle things themselves. That strategy is not being changed.
In Baghdad the plan is to reduce the profile of U.S. troops from last year's high of 36,000 in 46 locations to 24,000 in eight locations. A smaller urban profile certainly will mean less attacks on American troops.
But Abizaid still worries Iraqis need more training and experience.
ABIZAID: We do not intend in any way, shape or form to abandon these immature security formations to their fate. And if they get in trouble and don't ask for our help, we'll still come to their aid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now, Daryn, General Abizaid is warning on Capitol Hill that there are insurgents trying to create civil war in Iraq. He is warning Iraqi security forces are not yet ready to deal with all of this. He said he believes they will get better but that they still need a lot of assistance from the U.S. military -- Daryn.
KAGAN: What about word of this one man who is responsible for a lot of attacks al Zarqawi? Reports that he might be dead? What do you have on that
STARR: Well, Daryn, those reports continue to circulate but I have to tell you least here the working assumption in the U.S. military is that man, Abu Mousab al Zarqawi a Jordanian terrorist with links to al Qaeda, is believed to be in Iraq working with the insurgents. General Abizaid indicating the he believes he believes Zarqawi has ties to a former Iraqi intelligence element and all of these groups are coming together causing a lot of these attacks, planning these very well coordinated at tax against Iraqis.
So the working assumption is he is still operating and that they are looking for him -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon. Barbara thank you for that.
For complete coverage of Iraq including in depth analysis and all the latest headlines, visit our Web site. The address is cnn.com/iraq.
One vote that is how close the nation's highest court came to overturning Roe v. Wade, the federal abortion law, almost happened back in 1992 but we're only hearing about this now the fifth anniversary of the death of justice just about Harry Blackmun. He was a key author of that decision. Justice Blackmun's private papers released to the public 90 minutes ago.
But Linda Greenhouse was given an advance look and she's going to give us look at what she was able to see. Joining us live from New York. Linda, good morning.
Linda Greenhouse, "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
KAGAN: Such a fascinating picture. Even the idea of how it was set up. Justice Blackmun donated his papers, a half million different documents to the Library of Congress, stipulation they stay sealed for five years.
GREENHOUSE: Right, five years after his death.
KAGAN: Which is a relatively short amount of time.
GREENHOUSE: Yes. Most justices over time have kept their papers closed while the other justices that they served with are still on the court. Although that's kind of broken down in recent years when Justice Marshall died his will stipulated that his papers be opened immediately. Many justices were still serving then and were kind of upset about it.
KAGAN: Yes, none too pleased, want to respect their privacy there.
Let's look at the evolution of this man. First of all, interesting that this is a man, goes on the court in 1970, appointed by Nixon with the idea this would be a conservative factor on the more liberal court.
GREENHOUSE: That's right. I think the idea was that Harry Blackmun would be kind of a clone of his boyhood friend Warren Berger who president Nixon made the Chief Justice just the year before. And they had grown up together and were very intimate friends for their entire life up until that point.
In fact, the part of my article is going to run in tomorrow's paper, traces the Berger/Blackmun relationship through their letters and other documents. But anyway, Harry Blackmun wasn't going to be anybody's clone. It didn't turn out that way.
KAGAN: Two key issues to track his evolution. One, of course, being abortion. This is not necessarily a man who you would have picked or scholars would have picked to be the one who would carry this huge decision on his shoulders.
GREENHOUSE: Well, of course one thing that's interesting. Although he came to personify Roe v. Wade which he wrote and to personify the pro-choice position on abortion.
Of course people forget that Roe against Wade was a 7-2 decision. Back in 1973 when the court issued it, the notion that abortion should not be a criminal matter was really widely shared by the medical establishment and sort of by the elites of the country at that time. It was kind of an establishment position actually.
Justice Blackmun had been the general counsel for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and knew a lot of doctors and had almost become a doctor himself. So he incorporated the sort of view that abortion was a public health issue that the court needed to address at that time.
KAGAN: What about on the death penalty, how did he evolve on that issue?
GREENHOUSE: That was very interesting, because he came on the court one of the early decisions that court had to make in the early '70s was on the constitutionality of all the existing state death penalty laws. 1972 when the Thurmond case, the court declared all the decisions unconstitutional. And Justice Blackmun dissented it. He said, I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but I think this is really a job for legislatures not for judges.
By the end of his career in February 1994, just a few months before he retired he wrote a ringing denunciation of the death penalty basically saying I have tried our society has tried our courts have tried.
This just doesn't work. There's no way we can make the death penalty be fair and consistent and equitable consequently he said, "I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death." That's a very interesting 22-year trajectory on that.
KAGAN: Interesting to follow.
Now as we mentioned at the top here, it's only been five years since Justice Blackmun died. So you do see things in these papers, these half million documents that does shed light about current justices. What did you take away from that?
GREENHOUSE: Well, of course, lot of very interesting anecdotes and back and forth and so on. I mean, one thing that interested me was who were the strategic players behind the scenes?
One thing that was illuminating me, maybe not everybody was, the rile (ph) that John Paul Stevens, who's also one of the elderly liberals on the court, and the very active strategic role that he played behind the scenes in trying to broker negotiations and trying to work things out break law and that isn't necessarily manifest in his opinions or a behind the velvet curtain there.
KAGAN: A fascinating look, as I said a half million documents, letters notes journals memos, all sorts of things and you can get a peek by looking in "The New York Times" and nytimes.com, Linda Greenhouse, thank you.
GREENHOUSE: Thank you.
KAGAN: Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY the story of two friends and an adventure that turned into a life and death decision. You' going to hear the story of touching the void and he's managed to hang on, kind of.
Michael Eisner may be looking losing his grip on Disney's wonderful world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, the story of two friends, an incredible mountain climbing adventure that went wrong. They were faced with a life or death decision, changed both their lives. Their incredible story coming up just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A snow border lost five days on a snowy mountain lived to tell the tale. Eric Lemarque had to have both feet amputated but says he has never been a happier man. Credits the survival to building a make shift igloo and will power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC LEMARQUE, SURVIVED AFTER 5 DAYS LOST ON A SNOWY MOUNTAIN: I kept myself focused mentally with each day, but I kept telling myself, I'm not going to let my parents bury me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Lemarque vows he will return to the slopes. Doctors predict he will be able to walk with temporary prosthetics in about six to eight weeks.
Well are looking at another incredible story of survival. It is called "Touching the Void." The film won outstanding British film of the year at the British Film Academy Awards, based on the harrowing true story of British mountain climber Joe Simpson. And he's with us in London to tell us about the unforgettable events that happened nearly 20 years ago.
Joe, thanks for being with us.
JOE SIMPSON, AUTHOR, "TOUCHING THE VOID": Good morning.
KAGAN: Hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years. Take us back to 1985. You go to climb the Andes in Peru with your partner, Simon Yates. Things went great going up but on the way down things went very wrong.
SIMPSON: Yes. We had just done a very technical assent to the west face, first assent of the west base, 21,000 feet. When I was coming down the north ridge at about 20,000 feet, some ice broke away and I fell a short distance. The impact drove my lower leg straight through my knee joint, and I also broke my heel and my ankle. There's no mountain rescue there no helicopters, no other people.
Simon attempted to lower me single handedly down the mountain in terrible snow conditions in a storm, continuous powder avalanches. For ten hours he risked his life to try and save me. In the dark at night the end of that day, he lowered me off an over hanging ice cliff he couldn't see. I ended up hanging there was nothing I could do about it. Couldn't get up the rope.
Simon hung on to me for about an hour and a half. He had no anchor. He was being steadily pulled off the mountain. At the last minute he remembered he had a knife. He cut the rope. He knew he was 300 feet off the ground. He didn't know whether I was one foot or five.
Unfortunately, I was 80 feet off the ground, fell 80 feet. I hit the snow but it happened to be the roof of a crevasse, a slot in the ice.
Then I broke into this crevasse and fell another 80 feet and impacted. And I spent all night there screaming Simon's name. And in the morning he came down, couldn't hear me. He thought I was dead. He went down. I knew this probably had happened.
I eventually found a way of descending deeper. In other words, trying find another way out. I crawled for four days without food and water over eight miles of huge boulders and rocks and I got to Simon 3:00 in the morning on the fifth day weighing about 80 pounds and dying effectively and just survived.
KAGAN: At that point when you saw each other, he must have felt like he was seeing a ghost.
SIMPSON: Oh, I think so, yes. Can you imagine? I had a pretty bad time physically and psychologically, but Simon had done this incredible thing to try and rescue me probably one of the most heroic attempts at a rescue. Then being forced in this terrible decision to kill his friend, but he had no choice.
I didn't blame him for one minute. First thing I did when I got down was thank him. And then suddenly four days later I make him feel really bad that he didn't help me. So he had a terrible time as well. None of it was particularly good.
KAGAN: Right so at a certain point he had to make a decision that none of us know what we would do. He did literally have to cut the rope.
But the book you wrote about this and now the movie that comes from it, you're not doing it as a finger pointing exercise. You actually give him credit and say it's a story of incredible friendship about how much he tried to save you.
SIMPSON: Well, yes. In real life when we go back to England the story went around the climbing world. And you know like a story goes around it changes and changes and changes. After 40 people it comes back and you don't recognize it. Everybody just fixated on the cutting of the rope.
And they criticized Simon for it. The only reason I wrote the book was to exonerate Simon. It's dedicated to him as my friend. And quite clearly, if you read the book or see the film, he did an extraordinary thing.
The film, you know, 18 years later or whatever it was, 19 years later, just further shows what an incredible thing Simon did. So in a way, writing the book and making the film has exonerated Simon completely and it's produced this film.
What happens in this film is more scary than in real life. I don't think I would start winning bachelor awards or becoming the world's most successful documentary in U.K. film history it's real scary.
KAGAN: Real quickly I have to ask you, where is Simon today and does he appreciate the story coming out again 20 years ago and do you think he wishes the whole thing would go away?
SIMPSON: Well it think it's a two-edged sword, you know. I condemn Simon in a way to always being the man who cut the rope yet Simon has done many amazing things on many expeditions all over the world and mountains all over the world.
It's also produced a degree of fame where he's benefited as a guide and written his own books. Of course, now the film has done it all again. I mean there's this huge publicity surrounding it in Britain anyway It's created all this great buzz.
So Simon now lives up in the lake district, 150 miles away from me. He's married. He has a child. His life's going in one direction, mine's going in another. I can't say we're best of friends because we never were in the first place we were just climbing companions.
But I think we both appreciate that it's a very well-made film. Most importantly the climbing world at last has given a really authentic mountaineering film not rubbish that comes out, you know like vertical limit and cliffhanger. I think the climbing world is really happy about that. So am I.
KAGAN: Well thank you for sharing part of your story. It's called touching the void. Joe Simpson thank you for taking time visiting with us.
SIMPSON: Thank you.
KAGAN: You can keep your eye on entertainment by pointing your Internet browser to cnn.com/entertainment.
CNN LIVE TODAY is back in a flash .
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: How about a nickel for your thoughts? The U.S. Mint released its new nickel. The first overhaul of the coin in 66 years. And it commemorates the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Thomas Jefferson's profile is still on the front. About 900 million nickels will start showing up in general circulation over the next few years. Other redesigns for the nickel are due out later.
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Aired March 4, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: And let's check the latest headlines at this hour.
An al Qaeda suspect associated with the attack on the USS Cole is in custody in Yemen. Authorities had tracked the suspect to a mountainous region in southern Yemen. Officials believe he was behind the jailbreak last year, in which suspect in the Cole attack escaped.
The same-sex marriage juggernaut has swept into New York City. Demonstrators converged on City Hall demanding the city issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Dozens of couples submitted applications but were turned away. The state attorney general says that current state law explicitly forbids such marriages, but he suggested those laws may be unconstitutional.
In business news, Michael Eisner will remain CEO of Disney, but he is no longer chairman. That job has been given to former Senator George Mitchell. Eisner still faces rebellion from some Disney insiders, who want him completely out of the company.
And in politics, President Bush heads to his Texas ranch later today, following more stops in a lucrative, two day swing through the Golden State. His re-election war chest is now approaching $160 million. Some of that money is going to launch television ads today, in his campaign to win a probable match up against Democrat John Kerry in November.
The issue of gay marriage is making for some strained relations in a growing number of states this morning. And in a New York City, the issue has landed on the steps of City Hall. There, supporters of same-sex marriages are sending a message to local and state officials, who say such unions are illegal.
Our Adaora Udoji is in New York with more on that.
Adura, good morning.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Indeed. It's basically things have wrapped up here in downtown New York. We're outside a municipal building, where a group called New York Marriage Now rallied this morning despite the horrible weather. There were hundreds of people here. And basically, they came with a two- part strategy. The first being to rally in numbers, to force the Mayor Bloomberg to take a stand, show New York and the country that couples -- gay and lesbian couples, just like everyone else, want some legal recognition. The second part is dozens of couples lined up to go into the city clerk's office to apply for marriage licenses. They were swiftly denied, handed a letter and a 50-page packet outlining exactly what you mentioned. Which was the attorney general's conclusion yesterday that under New York law, as it stands at the moment, same-sex marriages are prohibited.
The couples knew that coming in. But they said that applying for that license is a step.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we'd like is for the discussion to continue. If licenses can't be issued today for the debate to continue and for the courts to make a decision, thinking about the civil equality that marriage could confer to a group of people who don't have that right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the man that I love. This is the person I'm going spend the rest of my life with, and why should by denied a basic right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: And Daryn, as you mentioned, in the attorney general's conclusions yesterday, many people read it to say in that he talked about how he believed that the marriage laws in New York did raise some constitutional important questions about equal protection. Many people read that to mean that they should go forward, try to apply for these licenses. And then when they are denied, be able to take the issue to the courts and force the courts to try and reconcile, what some see as particular issues with the marriage laws here in New York City. So Gay and lesbian advocates say this is just the beginning -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And it also sounds like the Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was saying no, you can't get married here but go somewhere else, come back and according to the Constitution, New York will have to recognize those marriages.
UDOJI: Indeed. He talks specifically about how the law does make room for recognizing same-sex marriages that are consum -- that are legally officiated in other places, like Canada or perhaps even Massachusetts if that goes forward in the coming months.
KAGAN: Adaora Udoji in New York City.
Thank you, Adura.
Well, on of those other places, Oregon, in the very next hour officials say they're going to resume handing out marriage licenses in Noma County. That is the latest location in a widening battle over same-sex marriage. Yesterday, the county issued more than 400 licenses; the overwhelming majority to same-sex couples. Oregon's governor is seeking a legal opinion from that attorney general. The state's 140-year-old marriage statute specifically refers to marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Jurors in the Martha Stewart trial return to work this hour. They are trying to decide whether the domestic diva lied to investigators about her sale of Imclone stock. And then conspired to cover it up. Shortly after the jurors began deliberations yesterday, they asked to review testimony from the government's star witness. The brokerage assistant who handled Stewart's stock sale just before its value -- excuse me, plummeted. Prosecutors say the two used forbidden insider information to dump the stock. Defense attorneys say the sale was triggered by an earlier agreement.
Let's get some legal perspective now on the Martha Stewart case. And for that we turn to our expert, senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Jeff, good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: D.K., how are you?
KAGAN: OK. I thought one of the judge's instructions was very interesting to this jury, that it's not all or nothing. You can find either or both, Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic, guilty or not guilty.
TOOBIN: That's right. And this is a complicated task for the jury, because there are four charges against Martha Stewart, five charges against Peter Bacanovic. They could convict on all or some against each defendant. Plus within each charge there are many decisions that the jurors have to make. Not just the elements of each crime, but certain specifications about certain false statements that the jury has to evaluate, as far as each count is concerned. So this jury deliberation, I think, is just getting started.
KAGAN: And what do you make about what the jury has asked to see yet again. And that is some of the testimony from Douglas Faneuil?
TOOBIN: Well, they sent two substantive notes yesterday, right after their deliberation in the early afternoon, right after they started. They asked for Faneuil's testimony in an important charge that the government introduced. And then, right at the end of the day, they asked for almost a dozen pieces of information. Including more testimony from critical witnesses, some of the very important exhibits. It shows that this jury was obviously paying attention. They zeroed in on the most important evidence. And I think on balance, these are votes that the prosecution will be more encouraged by than the defense. They seem to be following the case as the prosecution laid it out.
KAGAN: And just because I haven't had a chance to talk to you since closing arguments, I wanted to ask you about Martha Stewart's attorney pointing and making reference to the fact that she didn't sit -- that she didn't take the stand. That he acknowledged, you know, you're probably be disappointed that you can't hear from her herself. Was that smart to point to that admission -- omission?
TOOBIN: It's certainly very unusual for a defense attorney to call attention to the fact that a defendant didn't testify. You know, I think it's ultimately not going to be that big a deal one way or another. I think there is so much evidence in this case, and so much evidence that both sides have pointed to, that I think they are going to really focus on the evidence that was presented to them, and follow the judge's instructions. And remember, the judge said don't speculate; don't hold it against the defendant that she didn't testify. And this jury seems very attentive, very admiring, sympathetic to the judge. I think they're going to follow her direction.
KAGAN: And Jeff, remind us again what is at stake here, not just for Peter Bacanovic, but Martha Stewart as well.
TOOBIN: Well, it's really -- it's a jail case. I don't see any scenario in which Martha Stewart, if she's convicted of any of the counts against her, that she avoids jail. Same thing with Peter Bacanovic. You know, we're not talking about long, long terms. But we are looking at a year, maybe two years in prison for either or both if they are convicted. So the stakes are really high.
KAGAN: Jeffrey Toobin in Manhattan, thank you for that.
Of course, we'll have the latest for you as the jury does come to a verdict.
Thank you, Jeff.
Another big trial. Jury selection gets underway today in the case of Scott Peterson, the California man accused of murdering his wife, Laci and their unborn son. Some 200 prospective jurors will face a flurry of questions. Some of them seemingly obscure.
Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City for the proceedings and to give us a peek at that 30-page questionnaire.
Rusty, good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. You know, some of the questions are going to deal with everything from bumper stickers, do you have them, what do they say? Marital status. Also, have you ever had an affair? Do you know anyone that has had an affair? Did you ever lose a child, of course, which would relate to this case? What kind of magazines do you read? Mark Geragos was determined to get in the question. Do you read "Field and Stream," "Ladies Home Journal?" Just a gamut of the media. Also, media exposure; what kinds of TV shows do you watch?
And of course, their views on the death penalty. They're trying to sort out just the right juror. Of course, this has become a big business. Both sides have hired jury consultants in this case. Now, according to experts, the defense is looking for someone who may be a little bit suspicious of law enforcement, who isn't convinced maybe by only circumstantial evidence. Who might think that there are some other suspects that could be out there besides Scott Peterson.
Prosecution looking for someone a little bit more conservative. The experts do say, in this case, because they have to qualify as a death penalty jury. In other words, they have to be willing to at least consider the death penalty. Some experts say that makes them a little more conservative and tilts them in favor of the prosecution.
Now, of course, besides finding an impartial jury, the biggest problem here may be finding a jury that's able to sit here for five to six months. That's the estimate or guestimate on how long this trial's going to take. Apparently, the prosecution is going to be calling at least 150 witnesses. Mark Geragos has not tilted his hand on how many witnesses he will be calling in this case. Jury selection alone, Daryn, is going to be taking from four to eight weeks.
KAGAN: Wow. You have to take me back to this questionnaire. And of course, I guess, it's done on paper. But so you're called -- if you have the misfortune of being called to serve on this jury and you're asked oh, who had an affair? Who cheated on their wife? Me.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: Well, you know, the way they ask it is a little bit easier. They say -- I think it's phrased at have you or anyone you know
KAGAN: Oh.
DORNIN: So it gives you a little bit of an out there.
KAGAN: I get it.
DORNIN: And also, those things are not...
KAGAN: This friend of mine.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: Right. Right. And they may not be revealed in court. It will just be the lawyers that are looking at that. But they're going to ask them questions in open court to kind of weed out some of the answers.
KAGAN: Mm. Well, that should be an interesting day or few days, as you were pointing out.
Rusty Dornin, thank you for that.
To Washington now. The FBI has opened an aggressive new front to catch sexual predators who prey on children. In some cases, agents are using the child pornographers' favorite outlet, the internet, to flush them out into the open.
Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena explains how it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI Special agent Stacey Bradley was working a particularly gruesome child pornography case, when she repeatedly came across photos of children being abused by the same predators.
STACEY BRADLEY, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: And I used to take those images of bank robberies or fugitives and put them all over the news media. Why can't I do that with these guys?
ARENA: Now, she can. There are thousands of pictures on the internet of children being sexually exploited; their abusers faces are also shown. The FBI isolates the most recent photos to be sure the victims are still children. For suspects who cannot be identified, agents work on getting so-called "John Doe indictments," then publish pictures of the suspects. So far, photos of three men have been publicized on the FBI's website and on "America's Most Wanted."
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Keep getting them. You get the indictments; we'll put them on the air. We'll take them down. You put them in jail.
ARENA: Two of the men are already in custody. The effort is part of the FBI's Innocent Images Program. Agents there spend hours on the internet posing as young girls to snare pornographers. They're even coached by actual teenagers. Here we see agents tackling a multiple-choice quiz.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, pulling me on. My mom likes her but I don't.
ARENA: That, too, was one of Bradley's ideas.
BRADLEY: I want to keep every child just as safe as my own.
ARENA: Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: The hits just keep on coming. Allegations of steroid use. Hear what a former teammate says about Barry Bonds and the performance enhancing drugs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: One of the things that must never change is the entrepreneurial spirit of America. This country needs a president who clearly sees that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The president's campaign message hits the airwaves in key battleground states.
And two friends on a climbing trip and the unthinkable decision they faced. The story is called "Touching the Void." We'll talk to one of those climbers just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Baseball slugger, Barry Bonds probably wishes he could hit off questions about alleged steroid use out of the ballpark. But try as he may, the issue is not going away.
Our Josie Burke has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barry Bonds is going through the rituals of spring training, without addressing the latest allegations linking him to performance enhancing drugs. It's a topic that's hard to avoid.
JASON SCHMIDT, PITCHER, GIANTS: I don't know anything about it, so I come to the park to play baseball. That's what I do.
BURKE: One former Bonds teammate did not shy away from the subject during a radio interview this week.
RICK BALLOU, HOST, "THE RICK BALLOU SHOW": Are you telling us that in your opinion, Andy, it looks like he has taken steroids?
ANDY VAN SLYKE, FROMER BARRY BONDS TEAMMATE: Oh, unequivocally he's taken them. Without equivocation he's taken them.
And you know, I can say that you know, with the utmost certainty.
BURKE: Both Giants and baseball have taken steps to curtail the speculation. Last week, a team attorney addressed San Francisco players and advised them against talking about Bonds and steroids. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selieg issued a similar directive to the club executives and owners under his direction. But no one has silenced the fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's so much evidence now against it. They're leading to the fact that he used it. It's kind of sad in my estimation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That doesn't necessarily mean that Barry Bonds took the steroids. Maybe he didn't, maybe he didn't. But we'll have to wait and see what comes out.
BURKE (on camera): Bonds did speak briefly with reporters on Wednesday. He did not talk about steroids. But he did allow however, that he spent part of Tuesday, quote, "Playing with my computer and trying to avoid the TV as much as possible."
Josie Burke, CNN, Scottsdale, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We're at 15 minutes past the hour. Let's look at some stories across America.
Authorities in Chicago are investigating five racial slurs heard over fire department radio frequencies. A city official says those responsible should be fired. The fire commissioner says it's possible an outsider is illegally transmitting on the department's frequency. Authorities in Houston pull more than $1 million from a fuel tank of an 18-wheeler during a routine stop. They say they got a little suspicious when the truck's drivers gave some inconsistent stories. After a drug sniffing dog detected something in the tank, the drivers were held for questioning.
A legally blind woman in Illinois has reason to give thanks. Rosetta Weideman was heading to the store on her motorized scooter when it got stuck on a railroad track. Well, Tom Wortecki (ph) came along and pulled her from the scooter seconds before it was hit by a train. The company later donated a new scooter. Weideman says she will always be thankful that Tom saved her life.
Some severe weather is brewing into parts of the U.S. We'll tell you where almost a foot of snow is expected to fall today.
And the president's message outlined in his brand new campaign ads. John King looks at the president's re-election bid.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Lot of news ahead as well. U.S. plans for a pull back in Iraq. Troops walk a fine line ready to protect Iraqis but trying to let them protect themselves. Is it working?
He wrote the rulings for some of the most important Supreme Court decisions, Justice Harry Blackmun. So, how can you read more of his work? We will tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're keeping our eyes on what's happening at the Martha Stewart trial. We're getting word from our Allan Chernoff, who's covering that trial that four of the jurors Martha Stewart case have not shown up this morning. So for now deliberations have been put on hold. We'll get more from Allan and our other reporters on the scene in just a little bit. So we'll get more on the Martha Stewart trial and the missing four jurors just ahead. Right now we'll take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Here are some of the stories we're watching at this hour.
A German court has ordered a new trial for the only person convicted in the September 11 attacks in the U.S. The court sided with an appeal filed on behalf of the Munir al Motasiq (ph), saying that essential evidence had not been properly addressed. The Moroccan was a friend of the suicide hijackers, was serving a 15-year prison term for conspiracy.
The U.S. government has allowed dirty bomb suspect, Jose Padilla to meet with his lawyer in a session that the government monitored. It's the first such meeting since Padilla was transferred to a Navy brig almost two years ago. The former Chicago gang member and a convert to Islam is being held as an enemy combatant, which the government says reduces his rights. A court ruling that challenges that position goes before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
U.S. Marines are expanding their patrols of Haiti, after the country's rebel leader promised that his forces will lay down their arms and step aside. Haiti has been ravaged by the rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The International Red Cross is asking for $3.5 million in donations to cover emergency operation.
The United Nations is shopping for a top tier security firm to help protect its staff around the world. That decision comes after a study of the August bombing of its head quarters in Iraq. The report blasted the U.N. own security staff, calling it "dysfunctional" and blaming it for unnecessary casualties.
President Bush is taking his first political swings at Democratic rival, John Kerry. They came during the first of several Republican fund-raising events in California.
More now from our senior White House correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new day in the presidential campaign, and an immediate effort to frame the choice.
BUSH: He's spent two decades in Congress. He's built up quite a record.
(CHEERING)
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: In fact, Senator Kerry's been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KING: And in TV commercials, a message that the incumbent is the right man for the challenges still ahead.
BUSH: I know exactly where I want to lead this country. I know what I need to do to make the world more free and more peaceful.
The first ads of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign portray a president forced to deal with recession, then terrorism. Images of September 11 meant to remind voters of the first term's biggest test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But America rose to the challenge.
KING: Mr. Bush talked of a spirited race and a call to congratulate Senator Kerry Tuesday night. And by early Wednesday, the president's allies opened the effort to paint him as an elitist liberal bent on racing taxes.
REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: He's either insincere about spending, dishonest about new taxes, uninterested in the deficit or they just didn't teach him math at the European boarding school that he went to.
KING: The president trails Senator Kerry in national polls. His immediate short term goal is to revitalize his standing now that the democratic campaign is all but over.
ED GILLESPIE, RNC CHAIRMAN: I understand that the democratic candidates and their primary have aired $17 million in attack ads against the president over the course of the past six months.
KING: Mr. Bush is upbeat about his chances but sees senator Kerry as a tenacious foe, crediting him with fighting back when it looked like he would fall early in the Democratic race.
(on camera): The election is still eight months away but the early sparring is intense. Steady Leadership in times of change is the slogan of those early bush TV ads. Senator Kerry was quick to respond that the presidents' leadership is steady all right but in his view steadily heading in the wrong direction.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Other Republicans speaking out against John Kerry include Karen Hughes. She says Kerry has flipped on lot of issues. Hughes talked about Kerry's negative campaign ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN HUGHES, BUSH ADVISER: It's an interesting reflection that what we've seen throughout the democratic nomination process is anger and invective directed at President Bush.
But anger is not an optimistic vision for the future of this country. Anger doesn't create jobs. Anger doesn't wage and win the war against terror. It doesn't improve extend freedom in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: No doubt there will be a lot of talk in the coming weeks about John Kerry's possible running mate. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson said they would be interested if Kerry came calling. Both men campaigned with Kerry in their home states Wednesday. And some mentioned Hillary Rodham Clinton's name but she told Lou Dobbs last night she's not interested in the VP job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: That is totally up to the nominee. And I don't think I would ever be offered. I don't think I would accept. Obviously I want to do everything I can to see John Kerry elected president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Meanwhile, president bush's foreign policy may be playing at home more than abroad. An Associated Press poll finds that the U.S.-led war on Iraq has increased the world wide threat of terrorism. That is based on interviews of nearly 7,000 people in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain.
KAGAN: Now to Iraq. U.S. officials, military officials are facing some tough questions over plans to pull back and play a more secondary role in the nation's security, specifically this week's series of attacks show threat Iraq's own security forces are not yet up to the task.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is looking at that story this morning. Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. More questions today at this hour. General John Abizaid the head of the U.S. Central Command on Capitol Hill as you see here testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee getting a lot of questions about this situation in Iraq. This week of course being a very difficult week. Hundreds killed and injured in those bombings earlier in Baghdad and Karbala.
Ambassador Paul Bremer yesterday saying that the U.S. will move to try and beef up border security in Iraq so foreign fighters cannot come in to the country. But the question that is emerging is whether that will be enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The horrific bombings Tuesday in Baghdad in Karbala are raising questions again about the ability of Iraqi forces to take control as the June 30 date for sovereignty approaches.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: One of the weak spots is the still building capacity of Iraqi security institutions.
STARR: A weak spot exploited by terrorists. Suicide bombers and carts of explosives apparently made it past Iraqi security near the mosques. U.S. forces had stayed out of sight in deference to worshipers. It was the same scenario at a recent attack on Iraqi security forces in Fallujah.
U.S. forces responded after the attack began, trying to give the Iraqis the opportunity to handle things themselves. That strategy is not being changed.
In Baghdad the plan is to reduce the profile of U.S. troops from last year's high of 36,000 in 46 locations to 24,000 in eight locations. A smaller urban profile certainly will mean less attacks on American troops.
But Abizaid still worries Iraqis need more training and experience.
ABIZAID: We do not intend in any way, shape or form to abandon these immature security formations to their fate. And if they get in trouble and don't ask for our help, we'll still come to their aid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now, Daryn, General Abizaid is warning on Capitol Hill that there are insurgents trying to create civil war in Iraq. He is warning Iraqi security forces are not yet ready to deal with all of this. He said he believes they will get better but that they still need a lot of assistance from the U.S. military -- Daryn.
KAGAN: What about word of this one man who is responsible for a lot of attacks al Zarqawi? Reports that he might be dead? What do you have on that
STARR: Well, Daryn, those reports continue to circulate but I have to tell you least here the working assumption in the U.S. military is that man, Abu Mousab al Zarqawi a Jordanian terrorist with links to al Qaeda, is believed to be in Iraq working with the insurgents. General Abizaid indicating the he believes he believes Zarqawi has ties to a former Iraqi intelligence element and all of these groups are coming together causing a lot of these attacks, planning these very well coordinated at tax against Iraqis.
So the working assumption is he is still operating and that they are looking for him -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon. Barbara thank you for that.
For complete coverage of Iraq including in depth analysis and all the latest headlines, visit our Web site. The address is cnn.com/iraq.
One vote that is how close the nation's highest court came to overturning Roe v. Wade, the federal abortion law, almost happened back in 1992 but we're only hearing about this now the fifth anniversary of the death of justice just about Harry Blackmun. He was a key author of that decision. Justice Blackmun's private papers released to the public 90 minutes ago.
But Linda Greenhouse was given an advance look and she's going to give us look at what she was able to see. Joining us live from New York. Linda, good morning.
Linda Greenhouse, "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
KAGAN: Such a fascinating picture. Even the idea of how it was set up. Justice Blackmun donated his papers, a half million different documents to the Library of Congress, stipulation they stay sealed for five years.
GREENHOUSE: Right, five years after his death.
KAGAN: Which is a relatively short amount of time.
GREENHOUSE: Yes. Most justices over time have kept their papers closed while the other justices that they served with are still on the court. Although that's kind of broken down in recent years when Justice Marshall died his will stipulated that his papers be opened immediately. Many justices were still serving then and were kind of upset about it.
KAGAN: Yes, none too pleased, want to respect their privacy there.
Let's look at the evolution of this man. First of all, interesting that this is a man, goes on the court in 1970, appointed by Nixon with the idea this would be a conservative factor on the more liberal court.
GREENHOUSE: That's right. I think the idea was that Harry Blackmun would be kind of a clone of his boyhood friend Warren Berger who president Nixon made the Chief Justice just the year before. And they had grown up together and were very intimate friends for their entire life up until that point.
In fact, the part of my article is going to run in tomorrow's paper, traces the Berger/Blackmun relationship through their letters and other documents. But anyway, Harry Blackmun wasn't going to be anybody's clone. It didn't turn out that way.
KAGAN: Two key issues to track his evolution. One, of course, being abortion. This is not necessarily a man who you would have picked or scholars would have picked to be the one who would carry this huge decision on his shoulders.
GREENHOUSE: Well, of course one thing that's interesting. Although he came to personify Roe v. Wade which he wrote and to personify the pro-choice position on abortion.
Of course people forget that Roe against Wade was a 7-2 decision. Back in 1973 when the court issued it, the notion that abortion should not be a criminal matter was really widely shared by the medical establishment and sort of by the elites of the country at that time. It was kind of an establishment position actually.
Justice Blackmun had been the general counsel for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and knew a lot of doctors and had almost become a doctor himself. So he incorporated the sort of view that abortion was a public health issue that the court needed to address at that time.
KAGAN: What about on the death penalty, how did he evolve on that issue?
GREENHOUSE: That was very interesting, because he came on the court one of the early decisions that court had to make in the early '70s was on the constitutionality of all the existing state death penalty laws. 1972 when the Thurmond case, the court declared all the decisions unconstitutional. And Justice Blackmun dissented it. He said, I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but I think this is really a job for legislatures not for judges.
By the end of his career in February 1994, just a few months before he retired he wrote a ringing denunciation of the death penalty basically saying I have tried our society has tried our courts have tried.
This just doesn't work. There's no way we can make the death penalty be fair and consistent and equitable consequently he said, "I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death." That's a very interesting 22-year trajectory on that.
KAGAN: Interesting to follow.
Now as we mentioned at the top here, it's only been five years since Justice Blackmun died. So you do see things in these papers, these half million documents that does shed light about current justices. What did you take away from that?
GREENHOUSE: Well, of course, lot of very interesting anecdotes and back and forth and so on. I mean, one thing that interested me was who were the strategic players behind the scenes?
One thing that was illuminating me, maybe not everybody was, the rile (ph) that John Paul Stevens, who's also one of the elderly liberals on the court, and the very active strategic role that he played behind the scenes in trying to broker negotiations and trying to work things out break law and that isn't necessarily manifest in his opinions or a behind the velvet curtain there.
KAGAN: A fascinating look, as I said a half million documents, letters notes journals memos, all sorts of things and you can get a peek by looking in "The New York Times" and nytimes.com, Linda Greenhouse, thank you.
GREENHOUSE: Thank you.
KAGAN: Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY the story of two friends and an adventure that turned into a life and death decision. You' going to hear the story of touching the void and he's managed to hang on, kind of.
Michael Eisner may be looking losing his grip on Disney's wonderful world.
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KAGAN: Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, the story of two friends, an incredible mountain climbing adventure that went wrong. They were faced with a life or death decision, changed both their lives. Their incredible story coming up just ahead.
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KAGAN: A snow border lost five days on a snowy mountain lived to tell the tale. Eric Lemarque had to have both feet amputated but says he has never been a happier man. Credits the survival to building a make shift igloo and will power.
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ERIC LEMARQUE, SURVIVED AFTER 5 DAYS LOST ON A SNOWY MOUNTAIN: I kept myself focused mentally with each day, but I kept telling myself, I'm not going to let my parents bury me.
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KAGAN: Lemarque vows he will return to the slopes. Doctors predict he will be able to walk with temporary prosthetics in about six to eight weeks.
Well are looking at another incredible story of survival. It is called "Touching the Void." The film won outstanding British film of the year at the British Film Academy Awards, based on the harrowing true story of British mountain climber Joe Simpson. And he's with us in London to tell us about the unforgettable events that happened nearly 20 years ago.
Joe, thanks for being with us.
JOE SIMPSON, AUTHOR, "TOUCHING THE VOID": Good morning.
KAGAN: Hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years. Take us back to 1985. You go to climb the Andes in Peru with your partner, Simon Yates. Things went great going up but on the way down things went very wrong.
SIMPSON: Yes. We had just done a very technical assent to the west face, first assent of the west base, 21,000 feet. When I was coming down the north ridge at about 20,000 feet, some ice broke away and I fell a short distance. The impact drove my lower leg straight through my knee joint, and I also broke my heel and my ankle. There's no mountain rescue there no helicopters, no other people.
Simon attempted to lower me single handedly down the mountain in terrible snow conditions in a storm, continuous powder avalanches. For ten hours he risked his life to try and save me. In the dark at night the end of that day, he lowered me off an over hanging ice cliff he couldn't see. I ended up hanging there was nothing I could do about it. Couldn't get up the rope.
Simon hung on to me for about an hour and a half. He had no anchor. He was being steadily pulled off the mountain. At the last minute he remembered he had a knife. He cut the rope. He knew he was 300 feet off the ground. He didn't know whether I was one foot or five.
Unfortunately, I was 80 feet off the ground, fell 80 feet. I hit the snow but it happened to be the roof of a crevasse, a slot in the ice.
Then I broke into this crevasse and fell another 80 feet and impacted. And I spent all night there screaming Simon's name. And in the morning he came down, couldn't hear me. He thought I was dead. He went down. I knew this probably had happened.
I eventually found a way of descending deeper. In other words, trying find another way out. I crawled for four days without food and water over eight miles of huge boulders and rocks and I got to Simon 3:00 in the morning on the fifth day weighing about 80 pounds and dying effectively and just survived.
KAGAN: At that point when you saw each other, he must have felt like he was seeing a ghost.
SIMPSON: Oh, I think so, yes. Can you imagine? I had a pretty bad time physically and psychologically, but Simon had done this incredible thing to try and rescue me probably one of the most heroic attempts at a rescue. Then being forced in this terrible decision to kill his friend, but he had no choice.
I didn't blame him for one minute. First thing I did when I got down was thank him. And then suddenly four days later I make him feel really bad that he didn't help me. So he had a terrible time as well. None of it was particularly good.
KAGAN: Right so at a certain point he had to make a decision that none of us know what we would do. He did literally have to cut the rope.
But the book you wrote about this and now the movie that comes from it, you're not doing it as a finger pointing exercise. You actually give him credit and say it's a story of incredible friendship about how much he tried to save you.
SIMPSON: Well, yes. In real life when we go back to England the story went around the climbing world. And you know like a story goes around it changes and changes and changes. After 40 people it comes back and you don't recognize it. Everybody just fixated on the cutting of the rope.
And they criticized Simon for it. The only reason I wrote the book was to exonerate Simon. It's dedicated to him as my friend. And quite clearly, if you read the book or see the film, he did an extraordinary thing.
The film, you know, 18 years later or whatever it was, 19 years later, just further shows what an incredible thing Simon did. So in a way, writing the book and making the film has exonerated Simon completely and it's produced this film.
What happens in this film is more scary than in real life. I don't think I would start winning bachelor awards or becoming the world's most successful documentary in U.K. film history it's real scary.
KAGAN: Real quickly I have to ask you, where is Simon today and does he appreciate the story coming out again 20 years ago and do you think he wishes the whole thing would go away?
SIMPSON: Well it think it's a two-edged sword, you know. I condemn Simon in a way to always being the man who cut the rope yet Simon has done many amazing things on many expeditions all over the world and mountains all over the world.
It's also produced a degree of fame where he's benefited as a guide and written his own books. Of course, now the film has done it all again. I mean there's this huge publicity surrounding it in Britain anyway It's created all this great buzz.
So Simon now lives up in the lake district, 150 miles away from me. He's married. He has a child. His life's going in one direction, mine's going in another. I can't say we're best of friends because we never were in the first place we were just climbing companions.
But I think we both appreciate that it's a very well-made film. Most importantly the climbing world at last has given a really authentic mountaineering film not rubbish that comes out, you know like vertical limit and cliffhanger. I think the climbing world is really happy about that. So am I.
KAGAN: Well thank you for sharing part of your story. It's called touching the void. Joe Simpson thank you for taking time visiting with us.
SIMPSON: Thank you.
KAGAN: You can keep your eye on entertainment by pointing your Internet browser to cnn.com/entertainment.
CNN LIVE TODAY is back in a flash .
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KAGAN: How about a nickel for your thoughts? The U.S. Mint released its new nickel. The first overhaul of the coin in 66 years. And it commemorates the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Thomas Jefferson's profile is still on the front. About 900 million nickels will start showing up in general circulation over the next few years. Other redesigns for the nickel are due out later.
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