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CNN Live Today
Watergate Source Reveals Identity; Discussion with Bono
Aired June 01, 2005 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A suicide bombing outside the main U.S. military complex in Baghdad today wounding 15 people. The car bomb exploded at the main checkpoint leading into the base and Baghdad International Airport. A mortar strike on the same target last night injured 11 people.
Operation Lightning is showing early results. The Iraq-led, U.S.-supported mission is aimed at securing Baghdad. Checkpoints and cordons have been set up around the capital. Iraqi military officials say about 100 suspected insurgents were arrested in overnight raids, and the U.S. military says dozen of other suspects were rounded up in three neighborhoods on Monday. We'll learn more about the operation next hour. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers are holding a Pentagon briefing, and we'll be taking that live.
And the National Spelling bee going on right now in Washington; 273 boys and girls are taking a written test, and will then go on to the round of oral quizzing. The students range in age from nine to 14. They're competing for $28,000 in cash, scholarships and bonds.
From water coolers to elevators, Americans are talking about the answer to one of the great political mysteries. The man who was the FBI second in command during Watergate has revealed himself as Deep Throat, the all-important source who helped topple the Nixon presidency.
CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton covered the Watergate scandal and has spent decades covering Washington politics as a whole. He joins us with some perspective.
Good to see you, Bruce.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the Felt family purportedly encouraged this 91-year-old to come forward, reveal that he was Deep Throat, because their were some financial problems that the family encountered over the years. But all of this is being revealed in "Vanity Fair." "Vanity Fair" says no money exchanged. Why wouldn't Felt have gone to "The Washington Post," given the history of revealing the information?
MORTON: Well, he apparently had some conversations with Bob Woodward at "The Washington Post." One of the daughters is quoted as saying that. But it somehow quite never quite came off. the other reason if they knew maybe that Woodward for a long time has been planning a book once Deep Throat's identity was revealed, and would he need any special help from Felt at this point. Maybe not.
WHITFIELD: So you think perhaps this may be a precursor to maybe the Felt family trying to launch some sort of movie deal or a book deal of their own?
MORTON: Well, assuming that they really want some money, and assuming that "Vanity Fair," in fact, has not paid them any, yes. You go on and try to get an agent, get a movie, get a television movie, something.
WHITFIELD: Well, given "All the President's Men" has already been done, that being a great book, and consequently a movie as well, involving Woodward and Bernstein, what would be left? What kind of story could be told?
MORTON: Well, I think one direction you could go would be to talk about the conflicts within felt. This is not some rabble rouser. This is not some radical. This is a career FBI man. And as I understand it, his real motive for going underground and feeding this stuff to Woodward and Bernstein was he was outraged at the Nixon's administration's efforts to politicize his agency, J. Edgar Hoover's old agency. There was a political appointee heading the agency by then, and Felt simply didn't want to see it go in a political direction. Those conflicts could make a movie a book or something.
WHITFIELD: Now Woodward and Bernstein have, you know, expressed that there was really no conflict for them to keep secret who Deep Throat was. They were sworn to secrecy, saying they would never reveal anything until his death.
However, until recently, Woodward was seen in the neighborhood, meeting with Felt, et cetera. Do you think that kind of conversation was taking place, that perhaps Felt was letting him know, that you know, I just might decide to reveal who I am before my death?
MORTON: I don't know, Fredricka. I don't think there's any way to answer that. Felt is 91 years old. Is his memory as clear as it once was? We don't know the answer to that. There were contacts. As I said, one of the daughters said she had some messages back and forth with Woodward. But I'm not sure there's an answer to that. Promising confidentiality is not unusual in Washington. Somebody in the State Department with an axe to grind, somebody in the Pentagon who thinks some weapons project is soaring out of control will talk to a reporter, and say, listen, there's bad stuff going on, but you can't use my name, I'll get in trouble; I'll lose my job. That's pretty common here.
WHITFIELD: Now how about for you personally. You covered Washington. You were on the hill as Watergate was unfolding. When you learned that it was, indeed, Mark Felt, did you say to yourself, you know what, I had heard that name associated with this all these years, I kind of thought so? How did it strike you?
MORTON: It struck me as, well, Bruce, you were wrong all those years.
WHITFIELD: Yes, like a lot of people.
MORTON: My favorite was main the White House named Leonard Garment. He didn't do it. Felt was on everybody's list. You know, if the list were five, or six or seven names wrong, he'd be on it, because he was in a good position to know the things that Deep Throat knew. He wasn't ever, as it happens, my personal pick.
WHITFIELD: All right, well Bruce Morton. I know that that's kind of the water cooler discussion today. Everyone saying, you know, I knew it all the time, or you know, this one really stumped me. All right, well, now the mystery has ended.
All right, well, thanks so much, Bruce Morton in Washington.
MORTON: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, it all happened 25 years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER: I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: See some of CNN's very first news coverage straight ahead. First, however, CNN is not alone celebrating a birthday today. Here are some other names you just might know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is a special day for us, our silver anniversary. CNN debuted 25 years ago today. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm David Walker.
LOIS HART, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Lois Hart. Now here's the news. President Carter...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The network's headquarters? Get this. A former country club in Atlanta. There were 300 original employees, compared to the 4,000 now. 22 of those originals are still with us today.
And we're taking a look at some of the major stories we've covered over the last quarter century and how those events have changed so many lives.
Six years ago, we watched in horror as the Columbine High School Massacre unfolded, but we also focused on one student's dramatic escape. Later, he would show the same determination, realizing his goals. This is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, what's your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently there's been a shooting up here at Columbine High School.
JOIE CHEN, FMR. CNN CORRESPONDENT: To our viewers who have been watching this developing situation here on CNN, we're getting coverage from four stations in the Denver area of a shooting at a high school in Littleton, Colorado.
PAT IRELAND, WOUNDED IN COLUMBINE TRAGEDY: When I first was shot in the library, I wasn't sure what had happened. I tried to stand up couple times and realized I couldn't because one of the bullets passed through the one side of my brain and paralyzed me on my right side. From the time that I was shot to the time that I climbed out the window, it was about a three-hour period.
I had to relearn how to walk and talk and read and write. Basically started out over from a kindergartener or grade school level.
Being such a competitor, not wanting to give up, not letting evil win in that situation, because I want to get better as quickly as possible and as best as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were uncertain what we were facing when Patrick let us through the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patrick Ireland won the hearts of his fellow students, who crowned him homecoming king.
IRELAND: I graduated valedictorian from Columbine. I had a 4.0 through my junior year, through the shootings. And then, it had always been one might have goals to keep that up and graduate valedictorian.
And the support behind that was all my family and friends. They were constantly around me, constantly giving me support.
I graduated magna cum laude from Colorado State and had a 3.9 GPA. Casey and I are going to get married this August. We went to CSU together. We met, actually, before classes started our freshman year.
There are times that when I was in the library, whenever I would stop and take a break, and you know, thoughts would cross my mind that this would be so much easier just to stop here, lay down. As soon as those thoughts started coming in my mind, I would think of all the different people I'd be letting down and all that I really had to look forward to in my life, just the drive and the determination that pushed me and made me keep going towards accomplishing all that I have accomplished.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Patrick Ireland, an incredible inspiration. And you can look back on more events from the last quarter century tonight. "Defining Moments," 25 stories that touched our lives, on CNN primetime. We'll have behind-the-scenes details about CNN's coverage and you'll hear from the newsmakers themselves.
Well, here at CNN, we bring you the latest up to the minute news. But today, we're glancing back, as you saw, to CNN's on air launch 25 years ago today.
CNN's Christina Park has a sneak peak at today's special feature at CNN.com.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: The world's first 24-hour news network was born 25 years ago. CNN.com looks at the biggest news events that have changed our lives and changed the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear, that I will...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PARK: Go straight to our interactive timeline for the biggest stories since 1980. From the space shuttle challenger that exploded on take-off, killing all seven aboard in 1986, to tearing down the Berlin Wall in November of 1989, revisit the images that have burned themselves into our memories. From the pro-democracy demonstrations that were crushed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to the Gulf Wars and the September 11th terrorist attacks. We've also said goodbye to Princess Di, JFK Junior, Pope John Paul II and many other newsmakers.
If you're a news junkie, take our quiz on world events and test your pop culture I.Q. What was the name of Madonna's film debut? Log on to find out. While you're there, tell us about your most memorable news event. We'll rank your top ten stories of the past 25 years and show you which ones touched the lives of others.
So log on to CNN.com/CNN25 to relive some of the biggest stories in the past quarter century.
Reporting from the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, lots of anniversaries to tell you about. 20 years ago, Live Aid brought together some of the biggest names in the rock business. So now, with the announcement of Live Eight, what could this new concert bring? U2's Bono is one of the organizers and we'll hear from him coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, after their announcement Tuesday, Live Eight organizers are now scrambling to prepare for the July 2nd concerts. The shows in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia will be free. Performers include Coldplay, Madonna, Paul McCartney and REM. The concert coincides with the G-8 meeting in Scotland. Organizer Bob Geldoff plans to pressure the world's richest nations to offer debt relief to the poorest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB GELDOFF, FOUNDER, LIVE 8: What this is, is to take a issue that doesn't trouble the electorates of the G-7, doesn't exercise them perhaps as much as it does here, how do we create domestic political heat? And the only way to do it is have people focus on what the artists are doing, and that's what will happen at Live Eight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Doesn't seem like it, but it was 20 years ago that Geldoff helped organize the Live Aid concert in London and Philadelphia. The shows raised tens of millions of dollars for famine relief in Africa.
Well, one of the bands that performed in that 1985 concert and will perform at the Live 8 is the Irish group U2.
Recently our Daryn Kagan sat down with the lead singer, Bono. They spoke about his humanitarian missions in Africa, and it's something you'll only see right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BONO, MUSICIAN: I respect CNN's coverage of Africa enormously, because I think it's -- I see it as what's happening in Africa as an adventure more than a burden. I would like to see it described that way. You have this extraordinary continent, shining continent, beautiful people, royal people. They look so striking, Africans. And this is their -- you know, their hour of need.
KAGAN: Not necessarily what is covered, but perhaps how it's covered, presented in a different way.
BONO: I mean, look, trying to get Africa on the news, stick with that for a second. I understand that people are burned out, seeing images of flies buzzing around children and, you know, the sort of despair of lives right at the end of their tether. But they're people -- they are -- you know, people living inside those images. We have to remind ourselves of that, just on AIDS and malaria; 6,000 people dying every day of a mosquitoes bite, as well as a preventable treatable disease like aids. That's 120,000 people every month, and that's not on the news.
KAGAN: One of the favorite stories I like to tell about, our trip we took three years ago almost to the day. BONO: We very nearly didn't come home then.
KAGAN: Yes, here we are.
BONO: Yes.
KAGAN: That people in Africa don't know who you are.
BONO: I mean, that's one of the great attractions for Africa for me is, you know, I really get to forgot that I'm in a band, and I really like it. Somebody said I walk differently, because I like to think that I'm immune, you know, to people looking at me or staring at me, but I mustn't be, because...
KAGAN: It would be impossible with all the attention and all...
BONO: Yes, but I think I've gotten used to it, but maybe I haven't, because I know in Africa, it does bring out another side of me. I mean, I should say this, but I have gotten so much more from Africa and Africans than I could ever give.
KAGAN: Do you get extra fascination or satisfaction out of picking causes or people that don't have a voice?
BONO: No. I just want to take issue with the cause thing, because again, a lot of people coming up to me and saying, love your cause. I don't think what's happening in Africa with AIDS in particular, and just the poverty and despair there is a cause; I think it's an emergency. And there are other things I feel passionately about, and that you feel passionately; lots of people have causes, and I have. But six and a half dozen people dying every day not a cause, an emergency. Just wanted to say that. Sorry I interrupted.
KAGAN: No, you didn't. Absolutely.
Now you say that. And I think another thing that people find interesting, you've taken on emergencies, things that can be overwhelming, yet you stand on stage last night and declare to the thousands that come to see you, and you say, I'm excited about the future.
BONO: Oh, yes. And we are, our band, we've been around for a while now.
KAGAN: I've heard.
BONO: But it doesn't feel like it, if you came to our rehearsals. It doesn't sound like it. There's a lot of drive there towards relevance, really. Being successful is probably a lot easier for us than being relevant. And we're excited about the future.
And in our band, in U2. But we're also excited about the future, as in, you know, what is the potential for this generation? You know, what can we accomplish? Could this be it? That we just -- that we're the generation that says no to not poverty, there's always going to be poverty, there's always going to natural calamity, but stupid poverty we can end.
KAGAN: Let me challenge you.
BONO: Please. Come on, let's get down to it, Daryn. Get it out.
KAGAN: All right. Instead of just calling on these leaders, let me put you in their jobs for a moment.
BONO: Right.
KAGAN: Let me make you -- Koffi Annan's going to be moving on not too long from now. Let me make you secretary-general of the United Nations. What would you do in that job?
BONO: The first thing I'd do, I'd fire myself.
KAGAN: Not an option.
BONO: I have enough respect for these people to know I could never fill their shoes. I mean, you know, the job of the artist, the writer, is to describe the problem, and luckily, not to solve it.
KAGAN: But if you're asking, yes, look, it's an really important question. The way we deal with the poor is how we will be judged, and that is true of our civilization, because never before had we the opportunity to deal on a grand scale with the problems of poverty in the developing world. We actually know how to do it now, and we can do it. And you can't fix every problem, but the ones you can, you must.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Operation Lightning is under way in Iraq. We're standing by for a briefing at the Pentagon. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will talk questions on that and other issues. We'll bring that to you live as it happens. The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 1, 2005 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A suicide bombing outside the main U.S. military complex in Baghdad today wounding 15 people. The car bomb exploded at the main checkpoint leading into the base and Baghdad International Airport. A mortar strike on the same target last night injured 11 people.
Operation Lightning is showing early results. The Iraq-led, U.S.-supported mission is aimed at securing Baghdad. Checkpoints and cordons have been set up around the capital. Iraqi military officials say about 100 suspected insurgents were arrested in overnight raids, and the U.S. military says dozen of other suspects were rounded up in three neighborhoods on Monday. We'll learn more about the operation next hour. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers are holding a Pentagon briefing, and we'll be taking that live.
And the National Spelling bee going on right now in Washington; 273 boys and girls are taking a written test, and will then go on to the round of oral quizzing. The students range in age from nine to 14. They're competing for $28,000 in cash, scholarships and bonds.
From water coolers to elevators, Americans are talking about the answer to one of the great political mysteries. The man who was the FBI second in command during Watergate has revealed himself as Deep Throat, the all-important source who helped topple the Nixon presidency.
CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton covered the Watergate scandal and has spent decades covering Washington politics as a whole. He joins us with some perspective.
Good to see you, Bruce.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the Felt family purportedly encouraged this 91-year-old to come forward, reveal that he was Deep Throat, because their were some financial problems that the family encountered over the years. But all of this is being revealed in "Vanity Fair." "Vanity Fair" says no money exchanged. Why wouldn't Felt have gone to "The Washington Post," given the history of revealing the information?
MORTON: Well, he apparently had some conversations with Bob Woodward at "The Washington Post." One of the daughters is quoted as saying that. But it somehow quite never quite came off. the other reason if they knew maybe that Woodward for a long time has been planning a book once Deep Throat's identity was revealed, and would he need any special help from Felt at this point. Maybe not.
WHITFIELD: So you think perhaps this may be a precursor to maybe the Felt family trying to launch some sort of movie deal or a book deal of their own?
MORTON: Well, assuming that they really want some money, and assuming that "Vanity Fair," in fact, has not paid them any, yes. You go on and try to get an agent, get a movie, get a television movie, something.
WHITFIELD: Well, given "All the President's Men" has already been done, that being a great book, and consequently a movie as well, involving Woodward and Bernstein, what would be left? What kind of story could be told?
MORTON: Well, I think one direction you could go would be to talk about the conflicts within felt. This is not some rabble rouser. This is not some radical. This is a career FBI man. And as I understand it, his real motive for going underground and feeding this stuff to Woodward and Bernstein was he was outraged at the Nixon's administration's efforts to politicize his agency, J. Edgar Hoover's old agency. There was a political appointee heading the agency by then, and Felt simply didn't want to see it go in a political direction. Those conflicts could make a movie a book or something.
WHITFIELD: Now Woodward and Bernstein have, you know, expressed that there was really no conflict for them to keep secret who Deep Throat was. They were sworn to secrecy, saying they would never reveal anything until his death.
However, until recently, Woodward was seen in the neighborhood, meeting with Felt, et cetera. Do you think that kind of conversation was taking place, that perhaps Felt was letting him know, that you know, I just might decide to reveal who I am before my death?
MORTON: I don't know, Fredricka. I don't think there's any way to answer that. Felt is 91 years old. Is his memory as clear as it once was? We don't know the answer to that. There were contacts. As I said, one of the daughters said she had some messages back and forth with Woodward. But I'm not sure there's an answer to that. Promising confidentiality is not unusual in Washington. Somebody in the State Department with an axe to grind, somebody in the Pentagon who thinks some weapons project is soaring out of control will talk to a reporter, and say, listen, there's bad stuff going on, but you can't use my name, I'll get in trouble; I'll lose my job. That's pretty common here.
WHITFIELD: Now how about for you personally. You covered Washington. You were on the hill as Watergate was unfolding. When you learned that it was, indeed, Mark Felt, did you say to yourself, you know what, I had heard that name associated with this all these years, I kind of thought so? How did it strike you?
MORTON: It struck me as, well, Bruce, you were wrong all those years.
WHITFIELD: Yes, like a lot of people.
MORTON: My favorite was main the White House named Leonard Garment. He didn't do it. Felt was on everybody's list. You know, if the list were five, or six or seven names wrong, he'd be on it, because he was in a good position to know the things that Deep Throat knew. He wasn't ever, as it happens, my personal pick.
WHITFIELD: All right, well Bruce Morton. I know that that's kind of the water cooler discussion today. Everyone saying, you know, I knew it all the time, or you know, this one really stumped me. All right, well, now the mystery has ended.
All right, well, thanks so much, Bruce Morton in Washington.
MORTON: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, it all happened 25 years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER: I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: See some of CNN's very first news coverage straight ahead. First, however, CNN is not alone celebrating a birthday today. Here are some other names you just might know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is a special day for us, our silver anniversary. CNN debuted 25 years ago today. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm David Walker.
LOIS HART, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Lois Hart. Now here's the news. President Carter...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The network's headquarters? Get this. A former country club in Atlanta. There were 300 original employees, compared to the 4,000 now. 22 of those originals are still with us today.
And we're taking a look at some of the major stories we've covered over the last quarter century and how those events have changed so many lives.
Six years ago, we watched in horror as the Columbine High School Massacre unfolded, but we also focused on one student's dramatic escape. Later, he would show the same determination, realizing his goals. This is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, what's your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently there's been a shooting up here at Columbine High School.
JOIE CHEN, FMR. CNN CORRESPONDENT: To our viewers who have been watching this developing situation here on CNN, we're getting coverage from four stations in the Denver area of a shooting at a high school in Littleton, Colorado.
PAT IRELAND, WOUNDED IN COLUMBINE TRAGEDY: When I first was shot in the library, I wasn't sure what had happened. I tried to stand up couple times and realized I couldn't because one of the bullets passed through the one side of my brain and paralyzed me on my right side. From the time that I was shot to the time that I climbed out the window, it was about a three-hour period.
I had to relearn how to walk and talk and read and write. Basically started out over from a kindergartener or grade school level.
Being such a competitor, not wanting to give up, not letting evil win in that situation, because I want to get better as quickly as possible and as best as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were uncertain what we were facing when Patrick let us through the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patrick Ireland won the hearts of his fellow students, who crowned him homecoming king.
IRELAND: I graduated valedictorian from Columbine. I had a 4.0 through my junior year, through the shootings. And then, it had always been one might have goals to keep that up and graduate valedictorian.
And the support behind that was all my family and friends. They were constantly around me, constantly giving me support.
I graduated magna cum laude from Colorado State and had a 3.9 GPA. Casey and I are going to get married this August. We went to CSU together. We met, actually, before classes started our freshman year.
There are times that when I was in the library, whenever I would stop and take a break, and you know, thoughts would cross my mind that this would be so much easier just to stop here, lay down. As soon as those thoughts started coming in my mind, I would think of all the different people I'd be letting down and all that I really had to look forward to in my life, just the drive and the determination that pushed me and made me keep going towards accomplishing all that I have accomplished.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Patrick Ireland, an incredible inspiration. And you can look back on more events from the last quarter century tonight. "Defining Moments," 25 stories that touched our lives, on CNN primetime. We'll have behind-the-scenes details about CNN's coverage and you'll hear from the newsmakers themselves.
Well, here at CNN, we bring you the latest up to the minute news. But today, we're glancing back, as you saw, to CNN's on air launch 25 years ago today.
CNN's Christina Park has a sneak peak at today's special feature at CNN.com.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: The world's first 24-hour news network was born 25 years ago. CNN.com looks at the biggest news events that have changed our lives and changed the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear, that I will...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PARK: Go straight to our interactive timeline for the biggest stories since 1980. From the space shuttle challenger that exploded on take-off, killing all seven aboard in 1986, to tearing down the Berlin Wall in November of 1989, revisit the images that have burned themselves into our memories. From the pro-democracy demonstrations that were crushed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to the Gulf Wars and the September 11th terrorist attacks. We've also said goodbye to Princess Di, JFK Junior, Pope John Paul II and many other newsmakers.
If you're a news junkie, take our quiz on world events and test your pop culture I.Q. What was the name of Madonna's film debut? Log on to find out. While you're there, tell us about your most memorable news event. We'll rank your top ten stories of the past 25 years and show you which ones touched the lives of others.
So log on to CNN.com/CNN25 to relive some of the biggest stories in the past quarter century.
Reporting from the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, lots of anniversaries to tell you about. 20 years ago, Live Aid brought together some of the biggest names in the rock business. So now, with the announcement of Live Eight, what could this new concert bring? U2's Bono is one of the organizers and we'll hear from him coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, after their announcement Tuesday, Live Eight organizers are now scrambling to prepare for the July 2nd concerts. The shows in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia will be free. Performers include Coldplay, Madonna, Paul McCartney and REM. The concert coincides with the G-8 meeting in Scotland. Organizer Bob Geldoff plans to pressure the world's richest nations to offer debt relief to the poorest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB GELDOFF, FOUNDER, LIVE 8: What this is, is to take a issue that doesn't trouble the electorates of the G-7, doesn't exercise them perhaps as much as it does here, how do we create domestic political heat? And the only way to do it is have people focus on what the artists are doing, and that's what will happen at Live Eight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Doesn't seem like it, but it was 20 years ago that Geldoff helped organize the Live Aid concert in London and Philadelphia. The shows raised tens of millions of dollars for famine relief in Africa.
Well, one of the bands that performed in that 1985 concert and will perform at the Live 8 is the Irish group U2.
Recently our Daryn Kagan sat down with the lead singer, Bono. They spoke about his humanitarian missions in Africa, and it's something you'll only see right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BONO, MUSICIAN: I respect CNN's coverage of Africa enormously, because I think it's -- I see it as what's happening in Africa as an adventure more than a burden. I would like to see it described that way. You have this extraordinary continent, shining continent, beautiful people, royal people. They look so striking, Africans. And this is their -- you know, their hour of need.
KAGAN: Not necessarily what is covered, but perhaps how it's covered, presented in a different way.
BONO: I mean, look, trying to get Africa on the news, stick with that for a second. I understand that people are burned out, seeing images of flies buzzing around children and, you know, the sort of despair of lives right at the end of their tether. But they're people -- they are -- you know, people living inside those images. We have to remind ourselves of that, just on AIDS and malaria; 6,000 people dying every day of a mosquitoes bite, as well as a preventable treatable disease like aids. That's 120,000 people every month, and that's not on the news.
KAGAN: One of the favorite stories I like to tell about, our trip we took three years ago almost to the day. BONO: We very nearly didn't come home then.
KAGAN: Yes, here we are.
BONO: Yes.
KAGAN: That people in Africa don't know who you are.
BONO: I mean, that's one of the great attractions for Africa for me is, you know, I really get to forgot that I'm in a band, and I really like it. Somebody said I walk differently, because I like to think that I'm immune, you know, to people looking at me or staring at me, but I mustn't be, because...
KAGAN: It would be impossible with all the attention and all...
BONO: Yes, but I think I've gotten used to it, but maybe I haven't, because I know in Africa, it does bring out another side of me. I mean, I should say this, but I have gotten so much more from Africa and Africans than I could ever give.
KAGAN: Do you get extra fascination or satisfaction out of picking causes or people that don't have a voice?
BONO: No. I just want to take issue with the cause thing, because again, a lot of people coming up to me and saying, love your cause. I don't think what's happening in Africa with AIDS in particular, and just the poverty and despair there is a cause; I think it's an emergency. And there are other things I feel passionately about, and that you feel passionately; lots of people have causes, and I have. But six and a half dozen people dying every day not a cause, an emergency. Just wanted to say that. Sorry I interrupted.
KAGAN: No, you didn't. Absolutely.
Now you say that. And I think another thing that people find interesting, you've taken on emergencies, things that can be overwhelming, yet you stand on stage last night and declare to the thousands that come to see you, and you say, I'm excited about the future.
BONO: Oh, yes. And we are, our band, we've been around for a while now.
KAGAN: I've heard.
BONO: But it doesn't feel like it, if you came to our rehearsals. It doesn't sound like it. There's a lot of drive there towards relevance, really. Being successful is probably a lot easier for us than being relevant. And we're excited about the future.
And in our band, in U2. But we're also excited about the future, as in, you know, what is the potential for this generation? You know, what can we accomplish? Could this be it? That we just -- that we're the generation that says no to not poverty, there's always going to be poverty, there's always going to natural calamity, but stupid poverty we can end.
KAGAN: Let me challenge you.
BONO: Please. Come on, let's get down to it, Daryn. Get it out.
KAGAN: All right. Instead of just calling on these leaders, let me put you in their jobs for a moment.
BONO: Right.
KAGAN: Let me make you -- Koffi Annan's going to be moving on not too long from now. Let me make you secretary-general of the United Nations. What would you do in that job?
BONO: The first thing I'd do, I'd fire myself.
KAGAN: Not an option.
BONO: I have enough respect for these people to know I could never fill their shoes. I mean, you know, the job of the artist, the writer, is to describe the problem, and luckily, not to solve it.
KAGAN: But if you're asking, yes, look, it's an really important question. The way we deal with the poor is how we will be judged, and that is true of our civilization, because never before had we the opportunity to deal on a grand scale with the problems of poverty in the developing world. We actually know how to do it now, and we can do it. And you can't fix every problem, but the ones you can, you must.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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