Return to Transcripts main page

Paula Zahn Now

Scott Peterson Murder Trial Begins; Surviving as a Prisoner of War

Aired June 01, 2004 - 20:00   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.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): John McCain, prisoner of war, Vietnam, 1967 to 1973, Terry Anderson, hostage, Lebanon, 1985 to 1991, Michael Durant, prisoner, Somalia, 1993, Ron Young and David Williams, prisoners of war, Iraq, 2003, what do you they have others in common? How did they find the will to survive? Tonight, the first in our series "Held Captive."

And Iraq's new government, what's next and is it good for the United States?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This a very hopeful day for the Iraqi people and a hopeful day for the American people.

ZAHN: Plus, the Scott Peterson murder trial finally begins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Good evening. Welcome to a brand new month here. Thanks for joining us tonight.

Prisoners of war, hostages, kidnap victims, they live a kind of horror that for the rest of us is the stuff of nightmares, the shock of capture, the fear of sudden, violent death, the despair of isolation, and for those we'll meet this week, an overpowering will to live. They will give us a rare glimpse into how they endured, even as this spring in Iraq, we have witnessed the agony of captivity unfold on our television screens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Images of humans held hostage are disturbing. They are meant to disturb. Civilian contractors, they are the latest rage in hostage taking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They attacked our convoy.

ZAHN: Trucker driver Scott Hamill's convoy was attacked April 9. He escaped his kidnappers three weeks later and is recovering back home in Mississippi.

And it's not only Iraq where hostages are being taken. This weekend in Saudi Arabia, security forces stormed a complex where Islamic militants held 242 hostages. We have yet to hear from the survivors. Taking civilians hostage is nothing new. In 1979, 52 Americans were kidnapped in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. They were released 444 days later.

Journalists are also targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First to my family, I love you and I miss you very much.

ZAHN: In Lebanon during the 1980s, the AP's Terry Anderson was held hostage for more than six years. Bob Simon of CBS and his crew were held for 40 days during the Persian Gulf war.

BOB SIMON, HOSTAGE: We're going home, which is the place you go to after a war when you've been as lucky as we've been.

ZAHN: Journalist Robert Young Pelton shot this video showing what it was like for him and two colleagues held by Colombian paramilitaries in the jungle for 10 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

ZAHN: Anderson, Simon, and Pelton were eventually released by their captors. Daniel Pearl of "The Wall Street Journal" was not.

Military prisons of war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you come from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Texas.

ZAHN: Their captors often take pictures used for propaganda, then Lieutenant Commander John McCain in Vietnam, Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant in Somalia, Major Jeff Tice in the first Gulf War.

JEFF TICE, FORMER GULF WAR POW: I was essentially beaten, tortured and starved.

ZAHN: McCain, Durant and Tice survived.

Former POWs Ron Young and David Williams can also speak to the will to survive that all POWs and hostages feel. Both chief warrant officers at the time, they were held for 22 days after their Apache helicopter was shot down during the height of the war in Iraq. Young and Williams were kept with members of Jessica Lynch's maintenance unit before being rescued.

What Young and Williams endured and how they endured it are the reasons they join us tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Gentlemen, welcome. It's an honor to have both of you with us this evening.

RON YOUNG, FORMER POW: Thank you. It's great to be here.

ZAHN: So, David, I am going to start with you this evening; 22 days in captivity, you were cycled through seven different locations, different captors along the way. You were interrogated. You were demeaned. You were paraded through the streets. What was the worst part of your captivity?

DAVID WILLIAMS, FORMER POW: The worst part, Paula, was when I first got caught, when we became indoctrinated into their prison system. If there's any time that you are going to be executed, it will be when you first get caught. And by far, that was the most worrisome time.

ZAHN: And, at that point, is that where you were confronted with a bunch of people on the streets that started to beat you?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. When Ron and I first got caught, they policed us up, bound our hands, after taking some initial beatings from the guys who caught us. They put us in the back of a truck. And Ron and I were in the bed. And they were taking us into Karbala about 3:00 in the morning.

And I remember, as we rounded the corner, I looked over my left shoulder. There was between 50 to 75 Iraqis waiting in the street there. And as soon as the vehicle stopped, that's when the sucker punches began. All you could do was lean in and hope to God that they spared your life.

ZAHN: And I understand, David, Ron enjoyed a height advantage, which made him more of a target?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. Unfortunately, I suppose it was perhaps a macho thing. Ron is 6'4''. And he took a lot more hits than I did.

ZAHN: Did you think you were going to die at that point, Ron?

YOUNG: Absolutely.

I started having visions of Somalia, what Michael Durant and some of those guys went through, and thinking that these guys were going to tear us limb from limb. They were grabbing parts of my body and just doing really brutal things, spitting on us, hitting us with sticks. One guy kept -- and he would actually -- while I was bound up, he would take me with his hand and take my face and pull it up, so he could slap me right in the face.

ZAHN: So what did you do to defend yourself, just block with your body?

YOUNG: Just try to duck your head. There really wasn't anything I could do. And for me, it served to make me more angry about the entire experience. And that's why, when people see me on those videos, they say, you look very angry. And it's because of going through this and these guys slapping me and hitting me with sticks and binding us and sticking knives to our throats and all that type of stuff. ZAHN: I will never forget the day the video was released of the Marines rescuing the two of you. And I think the one thing that struck me, after we breathed this enormous sigh of relief in the newsroom, was that, once you get on board, you will see the two of you have a relationship.

Tell us how that relationship helped both of you survive, Ron. You can see even in these pictures here.

YOUNG: Oh, absolutely.

Me and Dave, we knew each other very well. Of course, being in the desert a month and a half, you miss your families. And it's a very bonding experience for soldiers anyway. And then, of course, to come under this, the way me and Dave like to explain it, it's kind of like I'm the yin and he's the yang. And we just mesh. We're complete opposites. We're very different in personality, as far as I'm very matter of fact, kind of who cares, have just an adventurous attitude toward life.

And Dave can get very serious. And he's the one that centers everything back to the ground. And it was the same in our cockpit as well. He's doing the flying and the really serious stuff as far as keeping us from crashing into the aircraft. And in the front seat, I'm the guy having fun shooting at folks. So...

ZAHN: And then, David, you really then ended up playing a senior role in this whole 22-day ordeal?

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I did.

Under the UCMJ and the law of land warfare, it's my responsibility, just by my title to the welfare, to see to the welfare of the other prisons. And at the time, we didn't know who the other kids were. We come to find out it was the 507th Maintenance Company. So I really had a lot of stress on my shoulders, because I also had to tend to them to ensure that their welfare was kept as well.

ZAHN: How much were the two of you able to talk in captivity?

YOUNG: We weren't able to talk at all about the first 14 days. Me and Dave were actually put in a prison cell right beside each other. And of course, we're using different means of trying to contact one other.

ZAHN: Like what? What would you do?

YOUNG: Tap on the walls in certain ways to -- you learn certain ways to go about it, not to give out too much of what we do, because other people are going to have to use those means. But we do use means of communication. and we were trying to communicate with one another. And it just served to have us spread further apart.

They actually put us a long ways away from one another. And I would see Dave actually walk by my cell going to the bathroom and I would just kind of, through the door say, Dave, every time he'd walk by. And he would never hear me.

ZAHN: Dave, did you ever think about trying to create an escape plan?

WILLIAMS: Well, actually, Paula I thought about it every day.

But the biggest thing is here I am, I'm an Anglo guy. I'm in pajamas. How far would I have gotten? And I would have never -- Ron and I would have never left the other 507, because a lot of them were incapacitated and they were not able to leave or move on their own. So that was the furthest thing from my mind.

ZAHN: Ron, why do you think you two guys were spared by your captors?

YOUNG: I honestly don't have a -- it has to be God, in my eyes. God works in mysterious ways. And I think he put me and Dave in prison to take care of five other soldiers that really didn't understand what they were going through and had no idea how to deal with it.

ZAHN: Today, upon reflection, I know even the two of you use humor to help you deal with what you've been through. But do you still have nightmares, David, about what you endured?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am, I do.

Fortunately, though, those are far and few between. I really started having nightmares during the anniversary timeframe of March and April. But they've kind of subsided now. And my bad days are also far and few between.

ZAHN: And, Ron, you?

YOUNG: The same thing.

At first, of course, when we came back, I would actually lay down and I could be laying there as you dose off to sleep, where some people have like a nervous twitch and it will kind of shake them awake, I could actually hear a bomb hit beside my head. And all of a sudden -- and people don't understand this -- you react the same way you do in combat. No longer are you just startled by someone, but all of sudden, you have the adrenaline and the emotion and the fear and you feel like someone's trying to kill you because you can identify with what it feels like for someone to try to kill you.

So when things startle you, they affect you the same way.

ZAHN: You have an amazing story to tell about being in the middle of a bombing campaign with your captors and you need to use the restroom. I think this story is really revealing, though, about the mind-set of your captors. Share it with us tonight.

YOUNG: Well, me and Dave, we were just taken, and it was probably around midnight, and they had taken us through where the guys were slapping us and all that.

And we end up in the city of Karbala with these militant guys. And I'm sitting there. And as me and Dave are sitting across from 50 different people, the Americans are dropping bombs. And you're hearing these loud explosions. And every time they would drop them, these guys got more and more mad. So finally it came to pretty much a boiling point.

And me and Dave are sitting beside them and they're accusing us all of this horrible stuff. And I thought we were an inch away from these guys executing us. So I told them I had to go to the restroom.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG: Yes. I mean, I wanted to get out of there. So they get me up and they take me into the restroom and this guy proceeds to watch me at point-blank range to make sure I'm not doing anything funny while I'm using the restroom. And it served just to -- I couldn't go. I had stage fright, major case.

ZAHN: So you come back.

YOUNG: So I come back and I have to...

ZAHN: And you solicit the high-ranking general in this captor crowd and what happened?

(CROSSTALK)

YOUNG: I had to ask the general if I could use the restroom without him watching me because he was making me nervous. I was in an extremely difficult situation anyway. And all these guys busted out laughing around me, the Iraqi guards. And I started to be their muse for the night.

ZAHN: Well, we are glad to have both of you home safely. Thank you for sharing your stories with us tonight, David Williams, Ron Young. Best of luck to both of you.

(CROSSTALK)

YOUNG: Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am.

ZAHN: And our "Held Captive" series continues tomorrow. CBS News correspondent Bob Simon was thrown into Abu Ghraib prison while covering the first Gulf War. I am going to ask him how he survived as a hostage under the regime of Saddam Hussein. That is tomorrow night.

But coming up next, suddenly, one month ahead of schedule, a new Iraqi president takes center stage. Who is he and what does this mean for the U.S. as the administration prepares to hand power back to the Iraqis. All that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: It is 29 days and counting until the handover of power in Iraq. And, as of today, there is an interim government to hand it to. It is headed by a four member presidential council.

The most important figure is interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He is a 58-year-old Shiite Muslim who has worked as a surgeon and a businessman. The interim president, which is a more ceremonial position, is that of Sheik Ghazi al-Yawer. He is a 46-year-old Sunni Muslim, as well as businessman and tribal leader.

There are also two deputy presidents and 31 Cabinet ministers. Even though it was all smiles for today's swearing-in ceremony, the selection process has been fraught with delays and a lot of political maneuvering. The Bush administration is going out of its way to emphasize this is not a puppet government. President Bush himself praised the people who will be in charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Five are regional officials, six are women, and the vast majority of government ministries will have new ministers. The foremost tasks of this new interim government will be to prepare Iraq for a national election no later than January of next year and to work with our coalition to provide the security that will make that election possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: We should also mention the two top minister slots went to Kurds, representing a diversity in the country's population.

Here to discuss today's developments in Iraq are "TIME" magazine columnist and our regular contributor, Joe Klein. And Kiron Skinner is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. And Fouad Ajami is director of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, as well as author of "The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey."

Good to see all three of you.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: So, Fouad, most Americans want a government in Iraq that represents America's interests. Does this new government do that?

FOUAD AJAMI, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, I think what we want is a government that actually represents Iraq's interests. And what we want is a government that would keep the peace in Iraq and allow us to get out of Iraq. This really is what we want.

And this government has it. And one thing is very impressive. And tomorrow, President Bush will speak to this. We can now say that this is the most representative government in the Arab world. So, even under occupation, we beget a government that is representative of the deep diversity of the Iraqi people, which is an irony in its own right.

ZAHN: But we also have to acknowledge the fact the Sheik al- Yawer was not the U.S.' top choice. He is a man who has been openly critical of this transition period. Is he the guy who the U.S. wanted in place?

JOE KLEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's not as important, because the presidency is a kind of symbolic position. They wanted to have a Sunni Arab.

What is important here is that the Sunni Arabs didn't have much of a say in the Governing Council, because they didn't want it. And then they don't have much of a say in this government. And I think that the big question which was there during the Governing Council period remains there now, which is, are the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds going to be able to cut a political deal that will enable all three of them to remain in Iraq?

ZAHN: Are you confident they can do that, Kiron.

KIRON SKINNER, HOOVER INSTITUTION: I'm confident.

And, actually, if you listen to what Dr. Rice said this morning, she spoke very early about this transition of authority. She spoke about the fact that the administration was fine with whatever the outcome would be in terms of the selection of Cabinet members, the presidency and the prime minister position. I think there's been a lot of reporting in the media that may not be getting it right about the administration's true preferences.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But that still doesn't address the question of whether these three different groups can cobble together any kind of consensus.

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: I do think that they probably can, because if we look at the political process -- and I don't even think the presidency, the process has been ceremonial. I think it's been deeply reflective of democratic learning in this country in this past year.

The fact that we're moving in this direction in Iraq and that the level of discourse and language that is taking place is positive and suggests something might happen that's inclusive of all groups.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: You seem a little less optimistic about it.

KLEIN: It was chaotic enough to be democratic. One week ago, Lakhdar Brahimi had a totally different set of nominees in mind. ZAHN: A lot of them didn't want to end up with the jobs that they were being picked for.

KLEIN: Because the Governing Council, which took a far more active role, and I think that is probably a good thing, didn't want them.

The problem here is a problem of perception. The prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is a Shiite and he close to the CIA.

Now, he's probably a pretty good politician because he got the Governing Council to support him. The question is whether the perception of having a CIA interlocutor as prime minister is going to be a good one.

ZAHN: That doesn't help the Bush administration's argument, does it, that this is not a puppet government?

AJAMI: No, that's not so bad, actually.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: It's not so bad? Why?

AJAMI: If we go back to the president, Ghazi Yawer, he was chosen by the Governing Council, who really preempted Brahimi and preempted Paul Bremer. Paul Bremer, he has only a month to go. He wanted this elder gentleman, Adnan Pachachi, as president, 81 years old.

And what the Iraqi Governing Council did is, they stole his thunder and appointed Ghazi Yawer, a man from Mosul, a man who comes from one of the greatest tribes in Arabia, a tribe that started Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan. There's tremendous legitimacy there for Ghazi Yawer.

And also the fact that he's a Sunni Arab is for the plus. And the fact is that power is divided and even this man, the prime minister who is close to the CIA is a very good politician. And the emphasis is on security. And these are very tough and capable people. And they do come from the Governing Council, which we had approved.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But how are they going to work together?

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: I think the fact that the IGC turned itself on the U.S., turned democracy on the U.S., I think that's been stunning this past week, is a good sign for the future of the politicians and the civilian in the country to work together. That's very important.

And I disagree just a little bit, Joe, on the issue that perceptions are the only thing driving this. I think the language and discourse has the potential to open up political culture in very significant ways.

KLEIN: I think that's actually true.

(CROSSTALK)

KLEIN: Perceptions matter on the ground.

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: Yes, but if you listen to the discourse today, it was strongly in favor of democracy by the P.M. and the president.

KLEIN: The security question is far more important. When you were saying, Fouad, that the emphasis now is on security, what do you mean?

AJAMI: Well, actually, because if you take a look at the push in the case for Ghazi Yawer was that he's actually a tough guy. And against Iyad Allawi, the prime minister, is that he actually could be trusted with running the store, because, before anything else, first, peace in the streets of Iraq. And these are very strong people.

And I think President Bush, even though he may not have chosen everyone there, he would welcome all this, because this is our ticket out of Iraq. The more credible these people are, and these are fairly credible players, the better it is for us.

A general in Iraq wrote to me and said, we are due some luck. This is luck in a curious way, in a curious way, that the Iraqis themselves preempt us. And in the past, under colonial regimes, it used to be that usually, you imprison the man you want. Before you left, you put your favorite choice in prison so the people could take to him and see him as anti-colonial hero. The Iraqis have done it on their own. And good for them.

ZAHN: We've got to leave it there, trio, practicing our own form of democracy right here in the studio this evening.

Joe Klein, Kiron Skinner, Fouad Ajami, thanks for all of your perspectives.

Coming up next, a woman most wanted by her family and the FBI, the government calls her a suspected operative for al Qaeda, but her mother fears she may be in grave danger. I will ask a family attorney what is known about her fate in an exclusive interview.

Then the Scott Peterson trial finally begins. Prosecutors paint a picture of a cheating husband who lied to cover up his alleged crimes.

That's also coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We are hearing today from the family of one of the seven al Qaeda suspects on the FBI's be on the lookout list. The FBI issued that alert last week for seven people from seven different countries that it wants to question.

The alert came with a warning that al Qaeda may be planning an attack in the U.S. sometime this summer. Among the seven, Aafia Siddiqui, a 32-year-old woman from Pakistan who studied at MIT and wrote a doctoral thesis on neurological sciences at Brandeis University. The FBI calls her an al Qaeda operative.

But today, a lawyer for Siddiqui's said family members don't even know where she is and they are afraid she may be dead.

Joining us from Boston in an exclusive interview is Elaine Whitfield Sharp, an attorney for Aafia Siddiqui's mother.

Good of you to join us.

ELAINE WHITFIELD SHARP, ATTORNEY FOR MOTHER OF AAFIA SIDDIQUI: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Elaine, I'd like for you to clear up some of the confusion here. On one hand, you have the FBI in pursuit of Aafia Siddiqui, and then you have her family saying they fear she may have been kidnapped by her ex-husband's family or that she may be dead. Isn't it possible with no one having seen her since March of last year, she could also be on the run?

SHARP: Possible, but probable? No.

ZAHN: Why?

SHARP: Remember, she has three children, an 8-year-old, a 5- year-old and an 18-month-old baby. She doesn't speak street Urdu Pakistani. She speaks more formal Urdu Pakistani. It would be very difficult for her to go underground. Besides, she doesn't have any money. She has no source of income. How could she be on the run?

ZAHN: Well, let me share with you tonight some of what law enforcement officials are saying about her. The FBI reportedly received suspicious activity reports from a bank about your client's daughter, about purchase she may have made with her estranged husband from stores selling military equipment. Why would they have made these kind of purchases?

(CROSSTALK)

SHARP: Let's talk about that.

She was supposed to have purchased -- well, it was alleged that -- in fact, let me go back to early 2002, when Aafia and her husband, Mohammed Amjad Khan, returned from Pakistan. The FBI interviewed Khan only, not Aafia about those purchases. And it was established that in fact it was Khan who made those purchases, not Aafia Siddiqui.

ZAHN: For what purpose?

SHARP: He claimed he made the purchases, that night-vision goggles that he had gotten for hunting because they don't sell them in Pakistan.

I don't know whether his claim is true or false. What I can tell you is that the family knows for a fact that it was Amjad Khan who was interviewed by the FBI in early 2002 and Aafia Siddiqui was incidentally interviewed. Both of them were let go. Neither were detained as material witnesses or any other type of witness. They went about their business in the Boston area unencumbered. No charges were ever brought.

ZAHN: Still, the FBI tells us tonight they're after her. Why is that?

SHARP: Well, that's a mystery to the family because everything about Aafia is inconsistent with FBI claims that she is a fixer or a so-called operative.

Basically, what the family is doing is, they're not trying to defend Aafia. They're trying to find her. And in that respect, they have cooperated fully and openly with the FBI. Every single member of the Siddiqui family in the United States voluntarily cooperated with the FBI.

ZAHN: Let me come back to this because that charge of being a fixer came from no one other than 9/11 mastermind Shaikh Mohammed, who told investigators that Aafia Siddiqui was a fixer, that she helped al Qaeda operatives come into this country. Why would he have said that?

SHARP: That's correct. But let's not forget that not everything KSM, as he's referred to in FBI documents, turned out to be reliable. The family has seen absolutely no evidence and the FBI has produced no evidence whatsoever that Aafia Siddiqui was in fact the person that opened up a P.O. Box. There's no evidence of that.

ZAHN: Let's come back for a final question about your -- I guess you represent the mother of this woman. You deny or the family denies that Aafia is an al Qaeda operative?

SHARP: The family does not believe it. The family has difficult believing it given Aafia's background. She and her husband broke up because of an issue over how the children would be raised. She wanted them raised in the west. Does that sound like an al Qaeda operative? She wanted a job in the west. Does that sound like an al Qaeda operative? The answer the family gives to that is no. It's inconsistent with everything they know and believe about her.

ZAHN: Elaine Whitfield. We have to leave it there this evening. Elaine Whitfield Sharp, thanks for your time tonight.

Coming up next, we move on to a case that has made some national headlines. A pregnant Laci Peterson vanished two Christmases ago. Today the murder trial of her husband finally got underway.

And a family separated from a father in the reserves, serving in Afghanistan but his sacrifice involves so much more than just danger and distance. That story coming up a little bit later on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Did Scott Peterson murder his wife, Laci? Today, 12 jurors in Redwood City, California, whose job it is to answer that question heard opening statements in Peterson's trial. It is a milestone opening in a case that has been closely watched across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope she's safe and will be back. What else is there to say? We hope she's not going through anything terrible.

ZAHN (voice-over): It happened Christmas Eve 2002.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my daughter so much. I miss her every minute of every day.

ZAHN: The media could not resist. A young wife, a 27-year-old substitute teacher due to deliver her first child in just seven weeks vanishes. The story immediately grabs national headlines.

PAUL JONCICH, KOVR 13 CORRESPONDENT: ...Joncich with some breaking news on the Laci Peterson murder investigation.

ZAHN: Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, told police that he had left his wife that morning to go on a fishing trip. When he got back, he said she was gone. Then, a month later Scott's image as a loving husband is shattered by a revelation from massage therapist, Amber Frye.

AMBER FREY, CLAIMS TO HAVE HAD AFFAIR WITH PETERSON: Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm only left to question what else he may be hiding.

ZAHN: On April 18, 2003, the worst fears of Laci Peterson's family are realized. California's attorney general confirms that the bodies of a young woman and a male fetus bodies found in the San Francisco Bay area were those of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.

Scott Peterson is arrested in San Diego, his hair died blonde. Authorities say he's holding a large amount of cash. Police are concerned he might try to leave the country for Mexico. Peterson is charged with two murders and pleads not guilty.

Throughout it all, the media swarm grows. Peterson now a celebrity himself hires a celebrity lawyer, Mark Geragos whose high- profile clients include Winona Ryder and Gary Condit. December 3, 2003. He pleads not guilty at his arraignment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct, your honor, I am innocent.

ZAHN: And today, after a change in venue, a new judge and a three-month jury selection process, Scott Peterson's jury trial began. There are many questions. How did Laci Peterson die? Was her baby born alive? And apparently without a murder weapon or an eye-witness, does the prosecution have enough evidence to convict?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And we are going to get more now on opening statements in the Peterson trial. Court TV's Beth Karas was in the courtroom today. She joins us from Redwood City, California unless she blows away during the middle of this interview. Let's talk a little bit about what happened in court today. The prosecution used slides to illustrate some of the events leading up to Laci's murder. In your judgment, did it build a convincing case?

BETH KARAS, COURT TV: Well, I must tell you , it was one of the most thorough opening statements I have ever seen. For almost four hours Rick Distasso held court in that courtroom addressing the evidence in this case. He dismantled Scott Peterson's multiple statements to the police, to the media, where he made inconsistent statements, where he lied, where he made irrational explanations for certain things, taking apart his alibi of having gone fishing in the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve.

He talked about the relationship Scott Peterson had with Amber Frye, the motive witness in this case, we learned more about that relationship and he ended with showing the jury photographs of the corpses of Connor (ph) Peterson and Laci Peterson. There were audible gasps in the courtroom when those photos were shown.

ZAHN: But in spite of that emotional reaction, you're still talking about a case at its root, it's based on circumstantial evidence, aren't you?

KARAS: Entirely circumstantial. There's no direct evidence, there's no eyewitness, there's no confession, there's no forensic evidence. This is a very circumstantial case but there's a lot of suspicious conduct, a lot of stuff can't be explained away. Piece by piece by piece, the prosecution is going to build this case and that's what they did with their opening statement today because otherwise when Mark Geragos gets up tomorrow and he starts talking about what they don't have it would be disaster for the prosecution if they didn't put on this detail. By the end of the day, you're scratching your head saying, they got this guy dead in the water.

ZAHN: Tell us what Mr. Geragos is up against tomorrow. What does he have to do to specifically counter some of these allegations?

KARAS: He is going to have to give an innocent explanation for some of the circumstantial evidence. OK, so Scott was on his telephone in the San Francisco Bay area, he can be tracked back to Modesto, you can see he starred in Modesto. The prosecutor is trying to say the timeline there doesn't quite fit with the story he gives. The timeline isn't so far off. It is possible he was actually fishing in the Bay. However, he doesn't have the right gear with him to be fishing for sturgeon. Then again he is a neophyte fisherman so maybe he didn't know any better so what he'll do is take a lot of this evidence piece by piece and explain that it has an innocent interpretation. But when you look at it all together the totality, it looks pretty bad.

ZAHN: Beth, I need a quick final thought on how both Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson's family reacted today.

KARAS: There was some tough stuff in the courtroom, sometimes they had to walk out. But when there were bad photos up on the screen to the left, their heads were down. Scott Peterson could not look at the photos of the corpses of his wife and son nor could he look at the pictures of himself with Amber Frey. Those fun pictures that they took for the month that they were going out.

ZAHN: And Laci's family?

KARAS: Also emotional. A few walked out but they had their heads down and they would not look up. But the families are used to being together in the courtroom and they deal with each other very well by ignoring each other.

ZAHN: I don't blame them. Beth Karas, thanks, hey, we'd love to have you come and next time we're going to actually tether you to your chair.

Coming up next, a unique story. The sacrifice and the rewards of military service. E-mail may be a poor substitute for a dad serving in Afghanistan. A military doctor finds himself torn between his family and the victims of war.

And then the war on Iraq, the war on terror across the globe here at home. Both are potent issues in this year's presidential campaign. What the voters are saying straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Members of the national guard and reserves used to be known as weekend warriors. But the war on terrorism, war in Afghanistan and war in Iraq have changed that to full time warriors. In Iraq, for example, guard members and reserve visits make up 40 percent of the U.S. combat to force, that's more than 55,000 families weekend warrior is on an unplanned and extended weekend leave of absence, and just part of the picture. Thelma Gutierrez, has the story of a surgeon and reservist on active duty in Afghanistan while his family makes sacrifices back home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California, a son misses his father. Across the world, the father is saving lives. It is a family's sacrifice for the military one doctor volunteered for. He's a renowned surgeon from California.

LT. COL. ROBERT HALE, SURGEON: This is a terrorist of tests.

GUTIERREZ: Working under extreme conditions in Afghanistan.

It is a tiring tough job for Dr. Robert Hale, a surgeon who specializes in facial and oral surgery. It is the first time in his life he's come face-to-face with victims of war.

HALE: Very, very brave. Very, very brave.

GUTIERREZ: Lieutenant Colonel Hale was a reserve visit activated for duty back in October. He hasn't been home since.

HALE: It was different for me. But I keep in mind why I'm here to help American and coalition forces and innocent civilians that get in the line of fire.

GUTIERREZ: Here the work is non-stop.

HALE: There is no comparison. The California practice, I get calls for one patient at a time, not where we have mass casualties, where we have as many as 18 patients coming in at once.

GUTIERREZ: While Dr. Hale is saving lives here, his own is changing radically at home. In this surgery center North Ridge, California is what Dr. Hale calls the crowning achievement of his career. It took him 18 years to get to this point but his surgery center cannot function without him, so the Hales have no choice. They have to lay off staff and put it up for sale.

SUE ELLEN HALE, HALE'S WIFE: It's hard because everywhere I look, he's here. Everything that's in this surgery center was something he built.

GUTIERREZ: Sue Ellen Hale that says family's income took an 85 percent hit.

SUE ELLEN HALE: When you're a doctor, you're the only sole person. If you're not there, you're not generating any income.

GUTIERREZ: They took out a small business disaster loan and made lifestyle changes. The biggest disaster this distance.

HALE: I'll be sitting in my tent and thinking about what they're doing, and how much pain they're going through. Because they need me. For now I need to be here.

TYLER HALE, HALE'S SON: He's helped me and he's helping other kids. And I know that they need him as much as I need him.

AUSTIN HALE, HALE'S SON: I am just sad and I miss him.

GUTIERREZ: The kids say they're not sure when they'll see their father again, but they say what he's doing is important and that's the reason their dad became a doctor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And Thelma Gutierrez joins us now from Los Angeles. Those kids of generous souls, don't they?

They have no idea when their dad is coming home, do they? GUTIERREZ: That that has been a nagging question not only for Dr. Hale, but many other reserve visits. His wife, Sue Ellen said she hoped they would be home by this summer, but because there are so few oral surgeons out there it looks as though he may not have come home until October. So that means that it would have been away an entire year from his patients and away from his family, most important.

ZAHN: The last thing on his mind has to be all these changes, I guess, as he's trying to save lives that are taking place on the homefront. It must be incredibly painful for his family to have downsize the way they're downsizing and fire staff that's with him a long time.

GUTIERREZ: They say it's incredibly difficult, after all, they have had to make so many changes. They have had to layoff staff with them so much time. But they say, that they feel he is doing the right thing. As you heard, his son said he is not only missed at home, but they know he's helping other children back there. And they also believe, they say, (AUDIO GAP) to, and they say that is what keeps them going.

ZAHN: I tell you, certainly is a powerful remind over the generosity of spirit, isn't it, Thelma?

GUTIERREZ: It sure it is, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you for bringing that us to.

We would like to recognize the contributions of our crew in Afghanistan, Nic Robertson and David Alberton.

When we come back, a state with a winning streak when it comes to picking president. Carlos Watson samples views of voters who chose George Bush last time. Find out what they're thinking now, as we take the "American Pulse." Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Welcome back. All this signs still point to a close election this fall. That means states that could go either red or blue, are important battle ground for the Bush and Kerry camp. Carlos Watson has been taking the "American Pulse" in those battle ground states. He's gotten an earful from NBA players in Florida to religious voters in Minnesota, the gays in Pennsylvania and southern voters in New Orleans. Tonight, he's back from Missouri, a state voted for the winner in every presidential year since 1960. A state where I went to college, where I was on the 10-year plan. No just kidding 4-year plan.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A (UNINTELLIGIBLE) scholarship, as I remember.

ZAHN: That got me really far, didn't it?

So, why is Missouri a presidential indicator. WATSON: It's got big city and got rural areas. Kansas City and St. Louis being big cities and some towns. It wasn't super small, but where I went, near Ozark, southwestern corner, very representative. I talked to five people, all whom voted for President Bush in 2000, some Dems, some independents, Republicans. They had interesting things to say. You'll be surprised where things end up.

ZAHN: Let's listen to them sound off, right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: What are the most critical issues for you in this election?

STEVE WIEMER (R), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: The war in Iraq. I think we have to have an exit strategy, look at it and say no matter what the scenario plays out, this is how we're going to play and we've got to be out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a lot of family and friends in education. That is a concern of mine. We've got to keep these kids in school.

WATSON: Steve.

STEVE BRANNAN (I), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I think the economy is not what it was. I think the economy is much worse for most people. Missouri almost went bankrupt last year, many states on the verge of bankrupt bankruptcy, many cities, first thing to go, police protection, health, safety and welfare. I don't see the positive gains.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to say social services and education are most important to me than exiting Iraq at this time?

WATSON: Particularly because of your...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of my children.

KARI MURPHY (D), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I have a 3-year-old disabled and we were kicked off Medicaid for her, because my husband graduated from college and got a real job. And in the state Missouri, an adult making about $10,000 a year, no longer qualifies for Medicaid, but can't afford to purchase private health insurance for themself, and I find it appalling in a nation such as ourselves.

WATSON: Do you worry about being safe, about the fact that a terrorist attack could happen here in Springfield?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't worry about that. Not here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think about it periodicly. I fly a lot. I do travel around the country a lot. And as I'm getting on board aircraft out in Springfield, what's the big deal with all the security, and than I think, if I was a terrorist, where would I want to be? I would want to attempt to board or attempt to board in somewhere fairly obscure such as Springfield.

WATSON: What do you think about this whole security question outside the big cities?

ROHNDA YUNG (R), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I want more security. I don't feel all that secure. Am I concerned? Yes, I'm concerned, but what can I do about it right now?

I have to feel like our government is doing the best that they can. We're not going to know everything, we're not -- and I don't want to know everything. It would scare me if I knew everything.

WATSON: The fact that you feel uncomfortable will that translate in any way how you vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, it won't.

WATSON: Steve, it looks like you have a thought you want to share.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't fault anybody. I don't fault the president, I can't fault the Congress, I don't fault the people, I just think something will happen. I will tell you, something's going to happen in the next several of months that will help define who I will vote.

WATSON: Who are you going to vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a Republican. If that tells you anything that will be who I vote for.

WATSON: You'd vote for the president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll vote for the president.

WATSON: Are you voting for the president with energy, and excitement, with reservations, how do you feel?

YUNG: I liked President Bush, ever since he's been in office, he's had a hard road. I think he's got compassion, he has concern. I think he speaks well. He's got a good lady behind him. I think a lot of Laura Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to say, I would be leaning more towards Kerry opposed to Bush. I think the war on terrorism this right war, the war in Iraq is the wrong war.

WATSON: Kari, what about you, you are paying attention to the election?

MURPHY: Yes.

WATSON: Do you have a preference one way or the other?

MURPHY: I'm all about President Kerry.

WATSON: You are?

Why do you think he's going to win.

MURPHY: George Bush has been an embarrassing president. He's made a mess out of everything he's touched. I mean, he's lied to the American people. He's lied to the world and if one of my kids acted like that I would send them to their room and punish them and I won't tolerate a president who treats me like that either.

WIEMER: I voted for President Bush the last election, and I will do it again. There's a lot of things the Republican Party does that I don't agree with, at the end of the day I want to see the Republican Party maintain power.

WATSON: When you think about John Kerry, does he have a prayer with you?

WIEMER: No, not a prayer.

WATSON: So, you're one of the voters that John Kerry shouldn't waste a stamp on.

WIEMER: Spend his campaign money and send it to me, it keeps it from going somewhere else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: A pretty good example how people feel about specific issues. You've got the Dem and the Independent sort of leaving George Bush territory now?

What will be the keys to winning Missouri.

WATSON: Those Dems and Independents outside the big cities. So, when you got to rural areas or outside the big cities, if that continues to happen to the president he losses. The formula for winning Missouri, Republicans, whether Bush in 2000 or winning Senate in 2002, was get those Dems and Independents in rural areas.

ZAHN: Very important question, why don't we see you bowl?

WATSON: I may have had a 300 and you don't know that. You don't know it.

ZAHN: We only know you did that if we saw it on camera. We'll be right back.

WATSON: OK.

ZAHN: Liar!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And that wraps it up for all us here this evening. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. Tomorrow night, CBS News correspondent Bob Simon, on his terrifying experience as a prisoner of Saddam Hussein. That is part two of our special series, "Held Captive." He will give us very specific details on what it was like to be held at Abu Ghraib Prison. That of course is the prison that has sparked the prison abuse scandal.

Again that wraps it up for all us here this evening. Thanks so much for joining us. "LARRY KING LIVE" is next. Hope you have are really good night.

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, 2004 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): John McCain, prisoner of war, Vietnam, 1967 to 1973, Terry Anderson, hostage, Lebanon, 1985 to 1991, Michael Durant, prisoner, Somalia, 1993, Ron Young and David Williams, prisoners of war, Iraq, 2003, what do you they have others in common? How did they find the will to survive? Tonight, the first in our series "Held Captive."

And Iraq's new government, what's next and is it good for the United States?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This a very hopeful day for the Iraqi people and a hopeful day for the American people.

ZAHN: Plus, the Scott Peterson murder trial finally begins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Good evening. Welcome to a brand new month here. Thanks for joining us tonight.

Prisoners of war, hostages, kidnap victims, they live a kind of horror that for the rest of us is the stuff of nightmares, the shock of capture, the fear of sudden, violent death, the despair of isolation, and for those we'll meet this week, an overpowering will to live. They will give us a rare glimpse into how they endured, even as this spring in Iraq, we have witnessed the agony of captivity unfold on our television screens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Images of humans held hostage are disturbing. They are meant to disturb. Civilian contractors, they are the latest rage in hostage taking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They attacked our convoy.

ZAHN: Trucker driver Scott Hamill's convoy was attacked April 9. He escaped his kidnappers three weeks later and is recovering back home in Mississippi.

And it's not only Iraq where hostages are being taken. This weekend in Saudi Arabia, security forces stormed a complex where Islamic militants held 242 hostages. We have yet to hear from the survivors. Taking civilians hostage is nothing new. In 1979, 52 Americans were kidnapped in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. They were released 444 days later.

Journalists are also targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First to my family, I love you and I miss you very much.

ZAHN: In Lebanon during the 1980s, the AP's Terry Anderson was held hostage for more than six years. Bob Simon of CBS and his crew were held for 40 days during the Persian Gulf war.

BOB SIMON, HOSTAGE: We're going home, which is the place you go to after a war when you've been as lucky as we've been.

ZAHN: Journalist Robert Young Pelton shot this video showing what it was like for him and two colleagues held by Colombian paramilitaries in the jungle for 10 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

ZAHN: Anderson, Simon, and Pelton were eventually released by their captors. Daniel Pearl of "The Wall Street Journal" was not.

Military prisons of war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you come from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Texas.

ZAHN: Their captors often take pictures used for propaganda, then Lieutenant Commander John McCain in Vietnam, Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant in Somalia, Major Jeff Tice in the first Gulf War.

JEFF TICE, FORMER GULF WAR POW: I was essentially beaten, tortured and starved.

ZAHN: McCain, Durant and Tice survived.

Former POWs Ron Young and David Williams can also speak to the will to survive that all POWs and hostages feel. Both chief warrant officers at the time, they were held for 22 days after their Apache helicopter was shot down during the height of the war in Iraq. Young and Williams were kept with members of Jessica Lynch's maintenance unit before being rescued.

What Young and Williams endured and how they endured it are the reasons they join us tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Gentlemen, welcome. It's an honor to have both of you with us this evening.

RON YOUNG, FORMER POW: Thank you. It's great to be here.

ZAHN: So, David, I am going to start with you this evening; 22 days in captivity, you were cycled through seven different locations, different captors along the way. You were interrogated. You were demeaned. You were paraded through the streets. What was the worst part of your captivity?

DAVID WILLIAMS, FORMER POW: The worst part, Paula, was when I first got caught, when we became indoctrinated into their prison system. If there's any time that you are going to be executed, it will be when you first get caught. And by far, that was the most worrisome time.

ZAHN: And, at that point, is that where you were confronted with a bunch of people on the streets that started to beat you?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. When Ron and I first got caught, they policed us up, bound our hands, after taking some initial beatings from the guys who caught us. They put us in the back of a truck. And Ron and I were in the bed. And they were taking us into Karbala about 3:00 in the morning.

And I remember, as we rounded the corner, I looked over my left shoulder. There was between 50 to 75 Iraqis waiting in the street there. And as soon as the vehicle stopped, that's when the sucker punches began. All you could do was lean in and hope to God that they spared your life.

ZAHN: And I understand, David, Ron enjoyed a height advantage, which made him more of a target?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. Unfortunately, I suppose it was perhaps a macho thing. Ron is 6'4''. And he took a lot more hits than I did.

ZAHN: Did you think you were going to die at that point, Ron?

YOUNG: Absolutely.

I started having visions of Somalia, what Michael Durant and some of those guys went through, and thinking that these guys were going to tear us limb from limb. They were grabbing parts of my body and just doing really brutal things, spitting on us, hitting us with sticks. One guy kept -- and he would actually -- while I was bound up, he would take me with his hand and take my face and pull it up, so he could slap me right in the face.

ZAHN: So what did you do to defend yourself, just block with your body?

YOUNG: Just try to duck your head. There really wasn't anything I could do. And for me, it served to make me more angry about the entire experience. And that's why, when people see me on those videos, they say, you look very angry. And it's because of going through this and these guys slapping me and hitting me with sticks and binding us and sticking knives to our throats and all that type of stuff. ZAHN: I will never forget the day the video was released of the Marines rescuing the two of you. And I think the one thing that struck me, after we breathed this enormous sigh of relief in the newsroom, was that, once you get on board, you will see the two of you have a relationship.

Tell us how that relationship helped both of you survive, Ron. You can see even in these pictures here.

YOUNG: Oh, absolutely.

Me and Dave, we knew each other very well. Of course, being in the desert a month and a half, you miss your families. And it's a very bonding experience for soldiers anyway. And then, of course, to come under this, the way me and Dave like to explain it, it's kind of like I'm the yin and he's the yang. And we just mesh. We're complete opposites. We're very different in personality, as far as I'm very matter of fact, kind of who cares, have just an adventurous attitude toward life.

And Dave can get very serious. And he's the one that centers everything back to the ground. And it was the same in our cockpit as well. He's doing the flying and the really serious stuff as far as keeping us from crashing into the aircraft. And in the front seat, I'm the guy having fun shooting at folks. So...

ZAHN: And then, David, you really then ended up playing a senior role in this whole 22-day ordeal?

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I did.

Under the UCMJ and the law of land warfare, it's my responsibility, just by my title to the welfare, to see to the welfare of the other prisons. And at the time, we didn't know who the other kids were. We come to find out it was the 507th Maintenance Company. So I really had a lot of stress on my shoulders, because I also had to tend to them to ensure that their welfare was kept as well.

ZAHN: How much were the two of you able to talk in captivity?

YOUNG: We weren't able to talk at all about the first 14 days. Me and Dave were actually put in a prison cell right beside each other. And of course, we're using different means of trying to contact one other.

ZAHN: Like what? What would you do?

YOUNG: Tap on the walls in certain ways to -- you learn certain ways to go about it, not to give out too much of what we do, because other people are going to have to use those means. But we do use means of communication. and we were trying to communicate with one another. And it just served to have us spread further apart.

They actually put us a long ways away from one another. And I would see Dave actually walk by my cell going to the bathroom and I would just kind of, through the door say, Dave, every time he'd walk by. And he would never hear me.

ZAHN: Dave, did you ever think about trying to create an escape plan?

WILLIAMS: Well, actually, Paula I thought about it every day.

But the biggest thing is here I am, I'm an Anglo guy. I'm in pajamas. How far would I have gotten? And I would have never -- Ron and I would have never left the other 507, because a lot of them were incapacitated and they were not able to leave or move on their own. So that was the furthest thing from my mind.

ZAHN: Ron, why do you think you two guys were spared by your captors?

YOUNG: I honestly don't have a -- it has to be God, in my eyes. God works in mysterious ways. And I think he put me and Dave in prison to take care of five other soldiers that really didn't understand what they were going through and had no idea how to deal with it.

ZAHN: Today, upon reflection, I know even the two of you use humor to help you deal with what you've been through. But do you still have nightmares, David, about what you endured?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am, I do.

Fortunately, though, those are far and few between. I really started having nightmares during the anniversary timeframe of March and April. But they've kind of subsided now. And my bad days are also far and few between.

ZAHN: And, Ron, you?

YOUNG: The same thing.

At first, of course, when we came back, I would actually lay down and I could be laying there as you dose off to sleep, where some people have like a nervous twitch and it will kind of shake them awake, I could actually hear a bomb hit beside my head. And all of a sudden -- and people don't understand this -- you react the same way you do in combat. No longer are you just startled by someone, but all of sudden, you have the adrenaline and the emotion and the fear and you feel like someone's trying to kill you because you can identify with what it feels like for someone to try to kill you.

So when things startle you, they affect you the same way.

ZAHN: You have an amazing story to tell about being in the middle of a bombing campaign with your captors and you need to use the restroom. I think this story is really revealing, though, about the mind-set of your captors. Share it with us tonight.

YOUNG: Well, me and Dave, we were just taken, and it was probably around midnight, and they had taken us through where the guys were slapping us and all that.

And we end up in the city of Karbala with these militant guys. And I'm sitting there. And as me and Dave are sitting across from 50 different people, the Americans are dropping bombs. And you're hearing these loud explosions. And every time they would drop them, these guys got more and more mad. So finally it came to pretty much a boiling point.

And me and Dave are sitting beside them and they're accusing us all of this horrible stuff. And I thought we were an inch away from these guys executing us. So I told them I had to go to the restroom.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG: Yes. I mean, I wanted to get out of there. So they get me up and they take me into the restroom and this guy proceeds to watch me at point-blank range to make sure I'm not doing anything funny while I'm using the restroom. And it served just to -- I couldn't go. I had stage fright, major case.

ZAHN: So you come back.

YOUNG: So I come back and I have to...

ZAHN: And you solicit the high-ranking general in this captor crowd and what happened?

(CROSSTALK)

YOUNG: I had to ask the general if I could use the restroom without him watching me because he was making me nervous. I was in an extremely difficult situation anyway. And all these guys busted out laughing around me, the Iraqi guards. And I started to be their muse for the night.

ZAHN: Well, we are glad to have both of you home safely. Thank you for sharing your stories with us tonight, David Williams, Ron Young. Best of luck to both of you.

(CROSSTALK)

YOUNG: Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am.

ZAHN: And our "Held Captive" series continues tomorrow. CBS News correspondent Bob Simon was thrown into Abu Ghraib prison while covering the first Gulf War. I am going to ask him how he survived as a hostage under the regime of Saddam Hussein. That is tomorrow night.

But coming up next, suddenly, one month ahead of schedule, a new Iraqi president takes center stage. Who is he and what does this mean for the U.S. as the administration prepares to hand power back to the Iraqis. All that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: It is 29 days and counting until the handover of power in Iraq. And, as of today, there is an interim government to hand it to. It is headed by a four member presidential council.

The most important figure is interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He is a 58-year-old Shiite Muslim who has worked as a surgeon and a businessman. The interim president, which is a more ceremonial position, is that of Sheik Ghazi al-Yawer. He is a 46-year-old Sunni Muslim, as well as businessman and tribal leader.

There are also two deputy presidents and 31 Cabinet ministers. Even though it was all smiles for today's swearing-in ceremony, the selection process has been fraught with delays and a lot of political maneuvering. The Bush administration is going out of its way to emphasize this is not a puppet government. President Bush himself praised the people who will be in charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Five are regional officials, six are women, and the vast majority of government ministries will have new ministers. The foremost tasks of this new interim government will be to prepare Iraq for a national election no later than January of next year and to work with our coalition to provide the security that will make that election possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: We should also mention the two top minister slots went to Kurds, representing a diversity in the country's population.

Here to discuss today's developments in Iraq are "TIME" magazine columnist and our regular contributor, Joe Klein. And Kiron Skinner is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. And Fouad Ajami is director of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, as well as author of "The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey."

Good to see all three of you.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: So, Fouad, most Americans want a government in Iraq that represents America's interests. Does this new government do that?

FOUAD AJAMI, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, I think what we want is a government that actually represents Iraq's interests. And what we want is a government that would keep the peace in Iraq and allow us to get out of Iraq. This really is what we want.

And this government has it. And one thing is very impressive. And tomorrow, President Bush will speak to this. We can now say that this is the most representative government in the Arab world. So, even under occupation, we beget a government that is representative of the deep diversity of the Iraqi people, which is an irony in its own right.

ZAHN: But we also have to acknowledge the fact the Sheik al- Yawer was not the U.S.' top choice. He is a man who has been openly critical of this transition period. Is he the guy who the U.S. wanted in place?

JOE KLEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's not as important, because the presidency is a kind of symbolic position. They wanted to have a Sunni Arab.

What is important here is that the Sunni Arabs didn't have much of a say in the Governing Council, because they didn't want it. And then they don't have much of a say in this government. And I think that the big question which was there during the Governing Council period remains there now, which is, are the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds going to be able to cut a political deal that will enable all three of them to remain in Iraq?

ZAHN: Are you confident they can do that, Kiron.

KIRON SKINNER, HOOVER INSTITUTION: I'm confident.

And, actually, if you listen to what Dr. Rice said this morning, she spoke very early about this transition of authority. She spoke about the fact that the administration was fine with whatever the outcome would be in terms of the selection of Cabinet members, the presidency and the prime minister position. I think there's been a lot of reporting in the media that may not be getting it right about the administration's true preferences.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But that still doesn't address the question of whether these three different groups can cobble together any kind of consensus.

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: I do think that they probably can, because if we look at the political process -- and I don't even think the presidency, the process has been ceremonial. I think it's been deeply reflective of democratic learning in this country in this past year.

The fact that we're moving in this direction in Iraq and that the level of discourse and language that is taking place is positive and suggests something might happen that's inclusive of all groups.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: You seem a little less optimistic about it.

KLEIN: It was chaotic enough to be democratic. One week ago, Lakhdar Brahimi had a totally different set of nominees in mind. ZAHN: A lot of them didn't want to end up with the jobs that they were being picked for.

KLEIN: Because the Governing Council, which took a far more active role, and I think that is probably a good thing, didn't want them.

The problem here is a problem of perception. The prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is a Shiite and he close to the CIA.

Now, he's probably a pretty good politician because he got the Governing Council to support him. The question is whether the perception of having a CIA interlocutor as prime minister is going to be a good one.

ZAHN: That doesn't help the Bush administration's argument, does it, that this is not a puppet government?

AJAMI: No, that's not so bad, actually.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: It's not so bad? Why?

AJAMI: If we go back to the president, Ghazi Yawer, he was chosen by the Governing Council, who really preempted Brahimi and preempted Paul Bremer. Paul Bremer, he has only a month to go. He wanted this elder gentleman, Adnan Pachachi, as president, 81 years old.

And what the Iraqi Governing Council did is, they stole his thunder and appointed Ghazi Yawer, a man from Mosul, a man who comes from one of the greatest tribes in Arabia, a tribe that started Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan. There's tremendous legitimacy there for Ghazi Yawer.

And also the fact that he's a Sunni Arab is for the plus. And the fact is that power is divided and even this man, the prime minister who is close to the CIA is a very good politician. And the emphasis is on security. And these are very tough and capable people. And they do come from the Governing Council, which we had approved.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But how are they going to work together?

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: I think the fact that the IGC turned itself on the U.S., turned democracy on the U.S., I think that's been stunning this past week, is a good sign for the future of the politicians and the civilian in the country to work together. That's very important.

And I disagree just a little bit, Joe, on the issue that perceptions are the only thing driving this. I think the language and discourse has the potential to open up political culture in very significant ways.

KLEIN: I think that's actually true.

(CROSSTALK)

KLEIN: Perceptions matter on the ground.

(CROSSTALK)

SKINNER: Yes, but if you listen to the discourse today, it was strongly in favor of democracy by the P.M. and the president.

KLEIN: The security question is far more important. When you were saying, Fouad, that the emphasis now is on security, what do you mean?

AJAMI: Well, actually, because if you take a look at the push in the case for Ghazi Yawer was that he's actually a tough guy. And against Iyad Allawi, the prime minister, is that he actually could be trusted with running the store, because, before anything else, first, peace in the streets of Iraq. And these are very strong people.

And I think President Bush, even though he may not have chosen everyone there, he would welcome all this, because this is our ticket out of Iraq. The more credible these people are, and these are fairly credible players, the better it is for us.

A general in Iraq wrote to me and said, we are due some luck. This is luck in a curious way, in a curious way, that the Iraqis themselves preempt us. And in the past, under colonial regimes, it used to be that usually, you imprison the man you want. Before you left, you put your favorite choice in prison so the people could take to him and see him as anti-colonial hero. The Iraqis have done it on their own. And good for them.

ZAHN: We've got to leave it there, trio, practicing our own form of democracy right here in the studio this evening.

Joe Klein, Kiron Skinner, Fouad Ajami, thanks for all of your perspectives.

Coming up next, a woman most wanted by her family and the FBI, the government calls her a suspected operative for al Qaeda, but her mother fears she may be in grave danger. I will ask a family attorney what is known about her fate in an exclusive interview.

Then the Scott Peterson trial finally begins. Prosecutors paint a picture of a cheating husband who lied to cover up his alleged crimes.

That's also coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We are hearing today from the family of one of the seven al Qaeda suspects on the FBI's be on the lookout list. The FBI issued that alert last week for seven people from seven different countries that it wants to question.

The alert came with a warning that al Qaeda may be planning an attack in the U.S. sometime this summer. Among the seven, Aafia Siddiqui, a 32-year-old woman from Pakistan who studied at MIT and wrote a doctoral thesis on neurological sciences at Brandeis University. The FBI calls her an al Qaeda operative.

But today, a lawyer for Siddiqui's said family members don't even know where she is and they are afraid she may be dead.

Joining us from Boston in an exclusive interview is Elaine Whitfield Sharp, an attorney for Aafia Siddiqui's mother.

Good of you to join us.

ELAINE WHITFIELD SHARP, ATTORNEY FOR MOTHER OF AAFIA SIDDIQUI: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Elaine, I'd like for you to clear up some of the confusion here. On one hand, you have the FBI in pursuit of Aafia Siddiqui, and then you have her family saying they fear she may have been kidnapped by her ex-husband's family or that she may be dead. Isn't it possible with no one having seen her since March of last year, she could also be on the run?

SHARP: Possible, but probable? No.

ZAHN: Why?

SHARP: Remember, she has three children, an 8-year-old, a 5- year-old and an 18-month-old baby. She doesn't speak street Urdu Pakistani. She speaks more formal Urdu Pakistani. It would be very difficult for her to go underground. Besides, she doesn't have any money. She has no source of income. How could she be on the run?

ZAHN: Well, let me share with you tonight some of what law enforcement officials are saying about her. The FBI reportedly received suspicious activity reports from a bank about your client's daughter, about purchase she may have made with her estranged husband from stores selling military equipment. Why would they have made these kind of purchases?

(CROSSTALK)

SHARP: Let's talk about that.

She was supposed to have purchased -- well, it was alleged that -- in fact, let me go back to early 2002, when Aafia and her husband, Mohammed Amjad Khan, returned from Pakistan. The FBI interviewed Khan only, not Aafia about those purchases. And it was established that in fact it was Khan who made those purchases, not Aafia Siddiqui.

ZAHN: For what purpose?

SHARP: He claimed he made the purchases, that night-vision goggles that he had gotten for hunting because they don't sell them in Pakistan.

I don't know whether his claim is true or false. What I can tell you is that the family knows for a fact that it was Amjad Khan who was interviewed by the FBI in early 2002 and Aafia Siddiqui was incidentally interviewed. Both of them were let go. Neither were detained as material witnesses or any other type of witness. They went about their business in the Boston area unencumbered. No charges were ever brought.

ZAHN: Still, the FBI tells us tonight they're after her. Why is that?

SHARP: Well, that's a mystery to the family because everything about Aafia is inconsistent with FBI claims that she is a fixer or a so-called operative.

Basically, what the family is doing is, they're not trying to defend Aafia. They're trying to find her. And in that respect, they have cooperated fully and openly with the FBI. Every single member of the Siddiqui family in the United States voluntarily cooperated with the FBI.

ZAHN: Let me come back to this because that charge of being a fixer came from no one other than 9/11 mastermind Shaikh Mohammed, who told investigators that Aafia Siddiqui was a fixer, that she helped al Qaeda operatives come into this country. Why would he have said that?

SHARP: That's correct. But let's not forget that not everything KSM, as he's referred to in FBI documents, turned out to be reliable. The family has seen absolutely no evidence and the FBI has produced no evidence whatsoever that Aafia Siddiqui was in fact the person that opened up a P.O. Box. There's no evidence of that.

ZAHN: Let's come back for a final question about your -- I guess you represent the mother of this woman. You deny or the family denies that Aafia is an al Qaeda operative?

SHARP: The family does not believe it. The family has difficult believing it given Aafia's background. She and her husband broke up because of an issue over how the children would be raised. She wanted them raised in the west. Does that sound like an al Qaeda operative? She wanted a job in the west. Does that sound like an al Qaeda operative? The answer the family gives to that is no. It's inconsistent with everything they know and believe about her.

ZAHN: Elaine Whitfield. We have to leave it there this evening. Elaine Whitfield Sharp, thanks for your time tonight.

Coming up next, we move on to a case that has made some national headlines. A pregnant Laci Peterson vanished two Christmases ago. Today the murder trial of her husband finally got underway.

And a family separated from a father in the reserves, serving in Afghanistan but his sacrifice involves so much more than just danger and distance. That story coming up a little bit later on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Did Scott Peterson murder his wife, Laci? Today, 12 jurors in Redwood City, California, whose job it is to answer that question heard opening statements in Peterson's trial. It is a milestone opening in a case that has been closely watched across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope she's safe and will be back. What else is there to say? We hope she's not going through anything terrible.

ZAHN (voice-over): It happened Christmas Eve 2002.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my daughter so much. I miss her every minute of every day.

ZAHN: The media could not resist. A young wife, a 27-year-old substitute teacher due to deliver her first child in just seven weeks vanishes. The story immediately grabs national headlines.

PAUL JONCICH, KOVR 13 CORRESPONDENT: ...Joncich with some breaking news on the Laci Peterson murder investigation.

ZAHN: Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, told police that he had left his wife that morning to go on a fishing trip. When he got back, he said she was gone. Then, a month later Scott's image as a loving husband is shattered by a revelation from massage therapist, Amber Frye.

AMBER FREY, CLAIMS TO HAVE HAD AFFAIR WITH PETERSON: Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm only left to question what else he may be hiding.

ZAHN: On April 18, 2003, the worst fears of Laci Peterson's family are realized. California's attorney general confirms that the bodies of a young woman and a male fetus bodies found in the San Francisco Bay area were those of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.

Scott Peterson is arrested in San Diego, his hair died blonde. Authorities say he's holding a large amount of cash. Police are concerned he might try to leave the country for Mexico. Peterson is charged with two murders and pleads not guilty.

Throughout it all, the media swarm grows. Peterson now a celebrity himself hires a celebrity lawyer, Mark Geragos whose high- profile clients include Winona Ryder and Gary Condit. December 3, 2003. He pleads not guilty at his arraignment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct, your honor, I am innocent.

ZAHN: And today, after a change in venue, a new judge and a three-month jury selection process, Scott Peterson's jury trial began. There are many questions. How did Laci Peterson die? Was her baby born alive? And apparently without a murder weapon or an eye-witness, does the prosecution have enough evidence to convict?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And we are going to get more now on opening statements in the Peterson trial. Court TV's Beth Karas was in the courtroom today. She joins us from Redwood City, California unless she blows away during the middle of this interview. Let's talk a little bit about what happened in court today. The prosecution used slides to illustrate some of the events leading up to Laci's murder. In your judgment, did it build a convincing case?

BETH KARAS, COURT TV: Well, I must tell you , it was one of the most thorough opening statements I have ever seen. For almost four hours Rick Distasso held court in that courtroom addressing the evidence in this case. He dismantled Scott Peterson's multiple statements to the police, to the media, where he made inconsistent statements, where he lied, where he made irrational explanations for certain things, taking apart his alibi of having gone fishing in the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve.

He talked about the relationship Scott Peterson had with Amber Frye, the motive witness in this case, we learned more about that relationship and he ended with showing the jury photographs of the corpses of Connor (ph) Peterson and Laci Peterson. There were audible gasps in the courtroom when those photos were shown.

ZAHN: But in spite of that emotional reaction, you're still talking about a case at its root, it's based on circumstantial evidence, aren't you?

KARAS: Entirely circumstantial. There's no direct evidence, there's no eyewitness, there's no confession, there's no forensic evidence. This is a very circumstantial case but there's a lot of suspicious conduct, a lot of stuff can't be explained away. Piece by piece by piece, the prosecution is going to build this case and that's what they did with their opening statement today because otherwise when Mark Geragos gets up tomorrow and he starts talking about what they don't have it would be disaster for the prosecution if they didn't put on this detail. By the end of the day, you're scratching your head saying, they got this guy dead in the water.

ZAHN: Tell us what Mr. Geragos is up against tomorrow. What does he have to do to specifically counter some of these allegations?

KARAS: He is going to have to give an innocent explanation for some of the circumstantial evidence. OK, so Scott was on his telephone in the San Francisco Bay area, he can be tracked back to Modesto, you can see he starred in Modesto. The prosecutor is trying to say the timeline there doesn't quite fit with the story he gives. The timeline isn't so far off. It is possible he was actually fishing in the Bay. However, he doesn't have the right gear with him to be fishing for sturgeon. Then again he is a neophyte fisherman so maybe he didn't know any better so what he'll do is take a lot of this evidence piece by piece and explain that it has an innocent interpretation. But when you look at it all together the totality, it looks pretty bad.

ZAHN: Beth, I need a quick final thought on how both Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson's family reacted today.

KARAS: There was some tough stuff in the courtroom, sometimes they had to walk out. But when there were bad photos up on the screen to the left, their heads were down. Scott Peterson could not look at the photos of the corpses of his wife and son nor could he look at the pictures of himself with Amber Frey. Those fun pictures that they took for the month that they were going out.

ZAHN: And Laci's family?

KARAS: Also emotional. A few walked out but they had their heads down and they would not look up. But the families are used to being together in the courtroom and they deal with each other very well by ignoring each other.

ZAHN: I don't blame them. Beth Karas, thanks, hey, we'd love to have you come and next time we're going to actually tether you to your chair.

Coming up next, a unique story. The sacrifice and the rewards of military service. E-mail may be a poor substitute for a dad serving in Afghanistan. A military doctor finds himself torn between his family and the victims of war.

And then the war on Iraq, the war on terror across the globe here at home. Both are potent issues in this year's presidential campaign. What the voters are saying straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Members of the national guard and reserves used to be known as weekend warriors. But the war on terrorism, war in Afghanistan and war in Iraq have changed that to full time warriors. In Iraq, for example, guard members and reserve visits make up 40 percent of the U.S. combat to force, that's more than 55,000 families weekend warrior is on an unplanned and extended weekend leave of absence, and just part of the picture. Thelma Gutierrez, has the story of a surgeon and reservist on active duty in Afghanistan while his family makes sacrifices back home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California, a son misses his father. Across the world, the father is saving lives. It is a family's sacrifice for the military one doctor volunteered for. He's a renowned surgeon from California.

LT. COL. ROBERT HALE, SURGEON: This is a terrorist of tests.

GUTIERREZ: Working under extreme conditions in Afghanistan.

It is a tiring tough job for Dr. Robert Hale, a surgeon who specializes in facial and oral surgery. It is the first time in his life he's come face-to-face with victims of war.

HALE: Very, very brave. Very, very brave.

GUTIERREZ: Lieutenant Colonel Hale was a reserve visit activated for duty back in October. He hasn't been home since.

HALE: It was different for me. But I keep in mind why I'm here to help American and coalition forces and innocent civilians that get in the line of fire.

GUTIERREZ: Here the work is non-stop.

HALE: There is no comparison. The California practice, I get calls for one patient at a time, not where we have mass casualties, where we have as many as 18 patients coming in at once.

GUTIERREZ: While Dr. Hale is saving lives here, his own is changing radically at home. In this surgery center North Ridge, California is what Dr. Hale calls the crowning achievement of his career. It took him 18 years to get to this point but his surgery center cannot function without him, so the Hales have no choice. They have to lay off staff and put it up for sale.

SUE ELLEN HALE, HALE'S WIFE: It's hard because everywhere I look, he's here. Everything that's in this surgery center was something he built.

GUTIERREZ: Sue Ellen Hale that says family's income took an 85 percent hit.

SUE ELLEN HALE: When you're a doctor, you're the only sole person. If you're not there, you're not generating any income.

GUTIERREZ: They took out a small business disaster loan and made lifestyle changes. The biggest disaster this distance.

HALE: I'll be sitting in my tent and thinking about what they're doing, and how much pain they're going through. Because they need me. For now I need to be here.

TYLER HALE, HALE'S SON: He's helped me and he's helping other kids. And I know that they need him as much as I need him.

AUSTIN HALE, HALE'S SON: I am just sad and I miss him.

GUTIERREZ: The kids say they're not sure when they'll see their father again, but they say what he's doing is important and that's the reason their dad became a doctor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And Thelma Gutierrez joins us now from Los Angeles. Those kids of generous souls, don't they?

They have no idea when their dad is coming home, do they? GUTIERREZ: That that has been a nagging question not only for Dr. Hale, but many other reserve visits. His wife, Sue Ellen said she hoped they would be home by this summer, but because there are so few oral surgeons out there it looks as though he may not have come home until October. So that means that it would have been away an entire year from his patients and away from his family, most important.

ZAHN: The last thing on his mind has to be all these changes, I guess, as he's trying to save lives that are taking place on the homefront. It must be incredibly painful for his family to have downsize the way they're downsizing and fire staff that's with him a long time.

GUTIERREZ: They say it's incredibly difficult, after all, they have had to make so many changes. They have had to layoff staff with them so much time. But they say, that they feel he is doing the right thing. As you heard, his son said he is not only missed at home, but they know he's helping other children back there. And they also believe, they say, (AUDIO GAP) to, and they say that is what keeps them going.

ZAHN: I tell you, certainly is a powerful remind over the generosity of spirit, isn't it, Thelma?

GUTIERREZ: It sure it is, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you for bringing that us to.

We would like to recognize the contributions of our crew in Afghanistan, Nic Robertson and David Alberton.

When we come back, a state with a winning streak when it comes to picking president. Carlos Watson samples views of voters who chose George Bush last time. Find out what they're thinking now, as we take the "American Pulse." Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Welcome back. All this signs still point to a close election this fall. That means states that could go either red or blue, are important battle ground for the Bush and Kerry camp. Carlos Watson has been taking the "American Pulse" in those battle ground states. He's gotten an earful from NBA players in Florida to religious voters in Minnesota, the gays in Pennsylvania and southern voters in New Orleans. Tonight, he's back from Missouri, a state voted for the winner in every presidential year since 1960. A state where I went to college, where I was on the 10-year plan. No just kidding 4-year plan.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A (UNINTELLIGIBLE) scholarship, as I remember.

ZAHN: That got me really far, didn't it?

So, why is Missouri a presidential indicator. WATSON: It's got big city and got rural areas. Kansas City and St. Louis being big cities and some towns. It wasn't super small, but where I went, near Ozark, southwestern corner, very representative. I talked to five people, all whom voted for President Bush in 2000, some Dems, some independents, Republicans. They had interesting things to say. You'll be surprised where things end up.

ZAHN: Let's listen to them sound off, right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: What are the most critical issues for you in this election?

STEVE WIEMER (R), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: The war in Iraq. I think we have to have an exit strategy, look at it and say no matter what the scenario plays out, this is how we're going to play and we've got to be out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a lot of family and friends in education. That is a concern of mine. We've got to keep these kids in school.

WATSON: Steve.

STEVE BRANNAN (I), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I think the economy is not what it was. I think the economy is much worse for most people. Missouri almost went bankrupt last year, many states on the verge of bankrupt bankruptcy, many cities, first thing to go, police protection, health, safety and welfare. I don't see the positive gains.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to say social services and education are most important to me than exiting Iraq at this time?

WATSON: Particularly because of your...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of my children.

KARI MURPHY (D), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I have a 3-year-old disabled and we were kicked off Medicaid for her, because my husband graduated from college and got a real job. And in the state Missouri, an adult making about $10,000 a year, no longer qualifies for Medicaid, but can't afford to purchase private health insurance for themself, and I find it appalling in a nation such as ourselves.

WATSON: Do you worry about being safe, about the fact that a terrorist attack could happen here in Springfield?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't worry about that. Not here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think about it periodicly. I fly a lot. I do travel around the country a lot. And as I'm getting on board aircraft out in Springfield, what's the big deal with all the security, and than I think, if I was a terrorist, where would I want to be? I would want to attempt to board or attempt to board in somewhere fairly obscure such as Springfield.

WATSON: What do you think about this whole security question outside the big cities?

ROHNDA YUNG (R), VOTED FOR BUSH IN 2000: I want more security. I don't feel all that secure. Am I concerned? Yes, I'm concerned, but what can I do about it right now?

I have to feel like our government is doing the best that they can. We're not going to know everything, we're not -- and I don't want to know everything. It would scare me if I knew everything.

WATSON: The fact that you feel uncomfortable will that translate in any way how you vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, it won't.

WATSON: Steve, it looks like you have a thought you want to share.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't fault anybody. I don't fault the president, I can't fault the Congress, I don't fault the people, I just think something will happen. I will tell you, something's going to happen in the next several of months that will help define who I will vote.

WATSON: Who are you going to vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a Republican. If that tells you anything that will be who I vote for.

WATSON: You'd vote for the president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll vote for the president.

WATSON: Are you voting for the president with energy, and excitement, with reservations, how do you feel?

YUNG: I liked President Bush, ever since he's been in office, he's had a hard road. I think he's got compassion, he has concern. I think he speaks well. He's got a good lady behind him. I think a lot of Laura Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to say, I would be leaning more towards Kerry opposed to Bush. I think the war on terrorism this right war, the war in Iraq is the wrong war.

WATSON: Kari, what about you, you are paying attention to the election?

MURPHY: Yes.

WATSON: Do you have a preference one way or the other?

MURPHY: I'm all about President Kerry.

WATSON: You are?

Why do you think he's going to win.

MURPHY: George Bush has been an embarrassing president. He's made a mess out of everything he's touched. I mean, he's lied to the American people. He's lied to the world and if one of my kids acted like that I would send them to their room and punish them and I won't tolerate a president who treats me like that either.

WIEMER: I voted for President Bush the last election, and I will do it again. There's a lot of things the Republican Party does that I don't agree with, at the end of the day I want to see the Republican Party maintain power.

WATSON: When you think about John Kerry, does he have a prayer with you?

WIEMER: No, not a prayer.

WATSON: So, you're one of the voters that John Kerry shouldn't waste a stamp on.

WIEMER: Spend his campaign money and send it to me, it keeps it from going somewhere else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: A pretty good example how people feel about specific issues. You've got the Dem and the Independent sort of leaving George Bush territory now?

What will be the keys to winning Missouri.

WATSON: Those Dems and Independents outside the big cities. So, when you got to rural areas or outside the big cities, if that continues to happen to the president he losses. The formula for winning Missouri, Republicans, whether Bush in 2000 or winning Senate in 2002, was get those Dems and Independents in rural areas.

ZAHN: Very important question, why don't we see you bowl?

WATSON: I may have had a 300 and you don't know that. You don't know it.

ZAHN: We only know you did that if we saw it on camera. We'll be right back.

WATSON: OK.

ZAHN: Liar!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And that wraps it up for all us here this evening. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. Tomorrow night, CBS News correspondent Bob Simon, on his terrifying experience as a prisoner of Saddam Hussein. That is part two of our special series, "Held Captive." He will give us very specific details on what it was like to be held at Abu Ghraib Prison. That of course is the prison that has sparked the prison abuse scandal.

Again that wraps it up for all us here this evening. Thanks so much for joining us. "LARRY KING LIVE" is next. Hope you have are really good night.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com