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Paula Zahn Now

Zacarias Moussaoui Testifies; Spring Break 101; Minister's Wife Confesses to Murder?

Aired March 27, 2006 - 20:00   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Appreciate your being with us.
Tonight, a courtroom bombshell -- a man who claims to have known all about the 9/11 plot calmly describes his own role in the business of mass murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): On the CNN "Security Watch," for the very first time, stunning testimony, as an al Qaeda terrorist takes the stand. Was he supposed to be the fifth pilot on 9/11? Jaw-dropping details you have never heard before about the attack that changed all of our lives.

"Outside the Law" -- once a preacher's wife, now in chains, accused of murdering her husband. Did anyone see it coming?

And the "Eye Opener" -- spring break 101, beyond the sun and the fun. Our cameras follow a girls night out and get a real education.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't put that on tape.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: What every young woman and her parents should know about spring break safety.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: We start tonight on the CNN "Security Watch" with stunning testimony from al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

He is the only person charged in the United States in connection with the attacks on 9/11. The questions tonight: What did he know and when did he know it?

Well, today, Moussaoui took the stand in his sentencing trial in Northern Virginia. And his words left the packed federal courtroom shocked at how much he claims he knew and how much he hid from investigators.

Justice correspondent Kelli Arena was in the courtroom. She has just filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a stunned courtroom listened to his testimony, Zacarias Moussaoui admitted, for the first time, that he knew about al Qaeda's plot to hijack planes and turn them into weapons aimed at the World Trade Center, saying: "I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I did not have the details."

He says he was supposed to pilot a fifth plane on that fateful day and fly it into the White House. And he named infamous shoe bomber Richard Reid as one of his team members.

PAUL CALLAN, FORMER NEW YORK STATE PROSECUTOR: I think his testimony today was suicide on the witness stand. I mean, here, the prosecutors had a very uphill battle in getting the death penalty, and I think that Zacarias Moussaoui has sealed his own fate by testifying today.

ARENA: Defense attorneys did everything they could to keep him off the stand, but the judge let Moussaoui have his say. Prosecutors say, Moussaoui deserves to die, arguing that, if he hadn't laid to investigators in 2001, they would have uncovered the September 11 conspiracy.

Playing right into their hands, Moussaoui told jurors: "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy."

STEPHEN SALTZBURG, PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: I think it is probably a 50-50 call, as to whether the jury, if they believe him, is going to say, wow, if the -- if he hadn't lied about this, there might very well have been chance to save at least the World Trade Center.

Moussaoui's defense team tried to undo some of the damage, getting him to admit he never had any contact with Richard Reid while in the United States. In fact, Reid was not in the United States at the time. What is more, Moussaoui's statements contradict his previous claim that he was supposed to be part of a separate follow-on attack, a claim reinforced by al Qaeda operative and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

In interrogation notes read to the jury, Mohammed said Moussaoui was never meant to be part of 9/11, but, instead, a possible second wave of attacks that was on the back burner. The notes also said Mohammed described Moussaoui as lax with security and as someone who talked too much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So, Kelli, you were our eyes and ears in the courtroom today. What was the mood as this testimony came down?

ARENA: It was very intense, Paula.

For first time every seat in that courtroom was filled. Everyone -- when he took the stand, there were five marshals, you know, all around him. And -- and everyone sort of moved forward in their seats to make sure that they heard what he had to say.

And -- and he, actually, was very calm and collected, and -- and understandable. I mean, usually, he rants and raves when he leaves the courtroom. You know, he screams, "God curse America."

But, this time, he was very reasoned, very moderate, but you -- you could just tell, everyone was hanging on -- on his every word. Victims' families and members of the public -- they haven't been there recently -- and even other prosecutors working on other cases, Paula, came in to hear him.

ZAHN: And we heard one of those former federal prosecutors -- or state prosecutors -- saying that he thought Moussaoui sealed his fate today, as far as the death penalty goes. Does that seem to be the consensus?

ARENA: You know, Paula, we -- we all thought that maybe he would get off, you know, before he opened his mouth. And now everybody thought that, whoa, you know, maybe he has done it this time.

But you know what? There are so many unanswered questions. And -- and the jury is going to sort out whether they believe what he said before, whether they believe what he's saying now, whether they believe the al Qaeda operatives who are in custody. This is anyone's guess here.

And -- and when Moussaoui was actually asked whether or not he wanted the death penalty, all his answer was, was: "Look, all I have to do is speak the truth. I am going to leave the rest in God's hands."

(CROSSTALK)

ARENA: So, I think he's the only one who knows.

ZAHN: Well, certainly an awful lot of contradictions to sift through here.

Kelli Arena, thanks so much...

ARENA: Sure are.

ZAHN: ... for the update.

The testimony, as you have just heard, was jaw-dropping, absolutely incredible. But was it all true? And what exactly does it all mean?

For that, we turn to CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: What do you make of Mr. Moussaoui's claims today?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I'm highly skeptical, to be honest.

You know, I -- it is not clear to me how he could have conspired with Richard Reid, when Moussaoui is in Minnesota. Richard Reid was in Europe at the time. And I'm also skeptical of the claim that they were really planning to attack the White House.

Al Qaeda central had already made the decision not to attack the White House, because, as you know, it is a relatively small building surrounded by trees, very difficult to hit with a -- a big passenger jet. The number-four target was Capitol Hill. And the al Qaeda central people had already decided that Moussaoui was sort of a loose canon, and really had decided not deal with him.

So, you know, maybe this is boasting. Maybe this is posturing. Certainly, he did himself no favors on the witness stand.

ZAHN: Is there any evidence at all that he had any contact with Richard Reid? You were talking about being in two separate cities would have made that difficult. But...

BERGEN: You know, they may have met in London. They both attended a sort of radical mosque in London. But, you know, I'm not sure that there were real connections. Apparently, they exchanged some kind of communication while they had been in prison.

But, you know, I -- I'm very skeptical of this claim.

ZAHN: If Moussaoui is just being boastful, what is his motivation here?

BERGEN: It is hard to get inside his head.

I mean, you know, as you know, he -- he has displayed some very, very unusual behavior throughout this trial. And terrorist organizations tend to not to want to deal with people who demonstrate personal problems.

And I think one of the reasons Moussaoui wasn't part of the 9/11 plot was, the people who ran it were smart enough to realize this guy was sort of a loose cannon and left him to his own devices. If he could do some damage to the United States, their calculation was, let him go ahead and do it. But let's not get him involved in the crown jewels, the 9/11 operation.

I think that's the way they saw him.

ZAHN: Peter Bergen, thanks so much for your insights, as always.

BERGEN: Thank you, Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And on a day when immigration policy was fiercely debated, we are just getting word of a miserable failure of security efforts along U.S. borders. In a secret test, U.S. government agents set up a fake company and bought enough radioactive material to make two so-called dirty bombs, bombs that spread radiation long after they explode. Well, the investigators didn't stop there. They actually smuggled the bomb components across checkpoints on both the northern and southern U.S. borders.

Again, the government agents did this. They aren't real bombs, but it first proves there are still real problems along both borders.

We're going to move on now to another court case and a fascinating unanswered question. She has already confessed to killing her husband, who was a church minister. So, why is she likely to plead not guilty?

And for all of you nervous parents of teenagers out there, it is spring break. What are millions of young women probably doing tonight that could endanger their lives? We have some very specific examples of what they should never do and how un -- woefully prepared they seem to be.

Plus, one of the hottest spot on the Web -- why talk about a clip from your favorite TV show, when you and your friends can see it again and again and again and again? We will show you.

First, though, let's move down to our countdown of the top 10 most popular stories on CNN.com. Eighteen million of you logged on to our Web site today.

At number 10 -- week three in the trial of two former New York police officers accused of being hit men for the mob. They are charged with carrying out eight murders.

Number nine -- in Iraq, attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq today have killed at least 67 people. Sixteen others were kidnapped in a raid on a trading company.

We will have numbers eight and seven right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Welcome back.

On tonight's "Eye Opener," spring break safety -- I want you to take a look at this shot right now -- this young woman leaving a bar in Daytona Beach, Florida, during spring break. Why is this such a big risk to her safety? Well, here is a hint.

Just think back to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, who left her friends at a bar during a high school trip to Aruba last year, and, more recently, the murder of a New York City graduate student who left her friend while bar-hopping.

We sent our cameras to Daytona Beach, Florida, to capture young women on spring break, many of them completely unaware that what they were doing could get them into big trouble, especially when alcohol is involved.

Here is Ted Rowlands with tonight's "Eye Opener."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a rite of passage, college kids from around the country heading south to party together in the sun.

For most students, hangovers and sunburns are the most feared elements. But, for female spring-breakers, possible danger lurks everywhere.

SERGEANT ALBERT TOLLEY, DAYTONA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT: Each year, our crisis center will see several females who come in. They're unable to describe a course of events that led up to what they feel was a -- was a sexual assault.

ROWLANDS: According to police, many times, young women are assaulted by men that they have just met partying. The combination of alcohol, aggressive behavior by men, and relative anonymity create a dangerous environment.

TOLLEY: It is heartbreaking, and not only that, but they have to -- they go home with it to their families. And we're left with, you know, very little information to go on.

ERIN WEED, FOUNDER, GIRLS FIGHT BACK: We really have to hold ourselves accountable for what happens to us.

ROWLANDS: Twenty-eight-year-old Erin Weed has dedicated her life to helping college-aged women stay safe. Five years ago, she founded the female empowerment organization Girls Fight Back, after one of her best friends, Shannon McNamara, was murdered on an Illinois college campus. Erin's most important advice for girls on spring break:

WEED: Look out for your girlfriends, because, sometimes, we can't look out for ourselves. In those situations, we have got to look out for each other.

ROWLANDS: These girls go school in Wisconsin. They're spending the week in Daytona Beach, Florida. Typical spring breakers, they spend their days on the beach and their nights partying at local bars, all while piling into a single hotel room.

Kyle (ph), Emily (ph), Nicole (ph) and Mallory (ph) allowed a CNN producer to go along with them and videotape a night out.

At the beginning of the night, all of the girls are together, drinking, dancing, and talking to boys. But, about two hours later, watch what happens. Mallory (ph), without telling any of her friends, leaves the club with two men she barely knows.

It is 11:30 p.m., and she has been drinking since noon. Eventually, the other girls end up leaving as well, not knowing where Mallory (ph) has gone. Finally, they get ahold of her back at the hotel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was the party?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She will be here in a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROWLANDS: Mallory (ph) is back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't put that on tape. Mom and dad will be mad.

(LAUGHTER)

ROWLANDS: Mallory (ph) says she lost her friends at the club, and the boys simply gave her a ride. But, at 1:00 a.m., Mallory (ph) left her friends again. While the others stayed at the hotel, she heads to a beach bar to continue partying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was out until about 3:00 in the morning.

ROWLANDS: The next day, we gathered the girls together to watch video from the night before, with safety expert Erin Weed there to analyze what happened.

(on camera): All right. Let's just watch a little bit, just general stuff. You guys are out, obviously having fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what spring break is all about.

ROWLANDS: Erin, it seems like they're just having a fun time.

WEED: Yes. I mean, that's spring break. I think, if they stick together and have a good time, then -- then, that's probably the most important thing. One of my number-one rules is, go out with your girlfriends; go home with your girlfriends.

ROWLANDS: That rule was broken a little bit last night.

(voice-over): Erin and the girls agree, the decision by Mallory (ph) to leave the bar alone with two men she didn't really know is a cause for concern.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew it wasn't good that I left. And I was not very happy about it, but I didn't know what else to do.

WEED: There is no doubt about it. You're taking a risk. And I'm sure she probably took that risk knowing the situation. I mean, it is definitely not something I condone, because sticking with friends is probably the most important thing.

(LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just my two drinks in my hand.

(LAUGHTER)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Erin's advice to girls on spring break, stick with or check in with friends. Monitor your drinking. Decide well beforehand if you plan to have sex, and trust your instincts.

Overall, Erin told the girls that their biggest mistake was splitting up, because, in that environment, when you are alone, she says anything can happen.

(on camera): While the girls from Wisconsin made it home OK, that same night that we met them, there was an assault in town, down the street from where they were staying, at this hotel. An 18-year- old girl was beaten up by a 19-year-old boy. Both of them were here on spring break.

(voice-over): According to the police report, witnesses say Dennis Skalski wandered into an unlocked room next to him, where two girls were staying. He then beat up one of the girls because he was upset she didn't want his phone number.

TOLLEY: He got aggressive with one of them, to one point where he was hole her neck. And he bruised her. She -- her nose is broken.

ROWLANDS: Seventy-four percent of women surveyed by the American Medical Association said, while on spring break, they used alcohol as an excuse for outrageous behavior. The experts say, this usually ends up to be harmless, but, in some unfortunate situations, it can be tragic.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Daytona Beach Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And one women's health expert says, sexual assault complaints seem to double this time of year. She also cautions young women to beware of date-rape drugs being slipped into their drinks.

Tonight, we have a mystery that seems to defy any kind of explanation. Why did so many members of a football team kill themselves? We are going to take you "Beyond the Headlines" tonight.

Now, though, number eight on our CNN.com countdown -- police in Seattle reveal that the man who opened fire at a party Saturday night had more than 300 rounds of ammunition, a baseball bat, and a machete. The gunman killed six people, before killing himself.

Number seven -- authorities in North Carolina say a woman accused of abducting her two young children from their father in 2003 has agreed to return to Arizona, where she faces kidnapping charges -- numbers six and five next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: This afternoon, we got another brief glimpse of the minister's wife who was accused of murdering her husband. Mary Winkler was brought in and out of a Tennessee courtroom in chains, as you can see on the screen behind me.

Now, according to her arrest warrant, she has already confessed to killing her husband last Wednesday, then fleeing to Alabama with the couple's three young daughters. But no one seems to know why.

Rusty Dornin is in Selmer, Tennessee, where the Winklers live. She joins us live with the very latest on the investigation.

Rusty, what do you got?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as you said, the police say she planned it. She told them that she did kill her husband.

But it was a spellbound courtroom that watched the very slight and demure-looking Mary Winkler shuffle into that courtroom to face what was supposed to be her arraignment. There was no plea today. Her attorneys apparently do say that she will be making a plea of not guilty when she does.

Why would a woman of this character -- people who say that she was part of a loving couple -- why would she shoot her husband in the back? The whole community is asking this question. A fellow churchgoer and also another teacher in the school where Mary Winkler taught visited her in jail. Apparently, Winkler told her that she was sorry, wanted to apologize to the community.

But Pam Killingsworth says she cannot figure out what a motive could be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM KILLINGSWORTH, FELLOW CHURCHGOER/TEACHER OF MARY WINKLER: I never saw any signs of domestic abuse. Mary never -- she never said anything. And, as much as I was with the children, nothing was ever said. There were no actions. Usually, there will be telltale signs. A children -- a child will act a certain way, their body language. There was never any of that with either one of those children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now, police are keeping that, of course, very close to the vest. They say infidelity was not part of the issue, but they were refusing to answer anything on domestic abuse.

Now, this couple was seen as -- or spoken of -- in glowing terms in this community. But one neighbor says she saw a different side to Matthew Winkler. She says that, at one point, he had come up to her children and claimed that he would shoot their dog if they did not put the dog inside the house. Sharon Lovette (ph) says, she wonders.

ZAHN: So, Rusty, are there any other clues investigators are sharing with you tonight?

DORNIN: They are not saying anything at this point, Paula.

They are saying, on Thursday, there is a preliminary hearing. And that's when the state will be presenting their side of the story. And, presumably, their side of the story is going to include her confession and possibly the motives. And they say, until then, they're not talking.

ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks so much for the update.

Now, there are plenty of other cases where women have killed their husbands and even signed confessions. What kind of light can they shed on the questions in this case?

Well, we have a pair of longtime court veterans, former prosecutor Wendy Murphy and criminal defense attorney Jayne Weintraub.

Good to see both of you.

So, Jayne, explain to us how this works tonight. You have a suspect who has confessed to committing this killing -- the cops saying she planned it. So, how would you defend her?

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the first thing that has to happen, Paula, is a psychiatric evaluation by credible psychiatrists. And we don't know what the surrounding circumstances were.

All we know from the confession is that she killed him. We don't know why, and we don't know if it was justified, excusable, provoked. We don't know if it was in self-defense. All we know is what the police want us to know, which is, infidelity wasn't the motive. Of course, they wouldn't comment if she was the victim of spousal abuse.

So, the police have already started their public-opinion spin. And now the court proceedings will have to take place Thursday. When there is a preliminary hearing, the defense lawyer will first have an opportunity to see and to challenge some of the evidence presented.

ZAHN: So, Wendy, given what Jayne has just said, we know that this confession is not a home run for the prosecution, but how much of a help is it at all?

(LAUGHTER)

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: It is at least a triple, if we're going to use sports metaphors. A confession is about as good as it gets, when you're the prosecutor, trying to win.

But what it doesn't really get you as a prosecutor is a guarantee conviction on the highest crime that you have charged. In other words, just because she's being prosecuted for first-degree murder, if the reason she killed him is something based on rage or anger or something that the jury is likely to say, "I would have done it, too; that justifies what she did," then, you may not end up with first- degree. It would bump down to second-degree, maybe even manslaughter.

And, frankly, in a case like this, that's probably going to be perceived as a victory for the defense.

ZAHN: So, Jayne, what kind of arguments do you think a jury might ultimately buy here?

WEINTRAUB: Well, I'm sure that they will put forward some kind of psychiatric defense.

I mean, you heard what we heard about the neighbor and the preacher apparently saying, or threatening to shoot the dog, if the dog wasn't inside. Imagine how the children were talked about, if that -- they were talking -- if he was just talking about the dog there.

Imagine how Mrs. Winkler must have felt she had to protect those children and herself. Imagine what it would take, being in a small town and being a preacher's wife, if something not so nice was going on behind those doors, and you have nowhere to go and nobody to talk to in that town. It must have been hard.

ZAHN: And, Wendy, we know, given so little facts that we have to analyze here tonight, that Mrs. Winkler, after all, fled with her three children. How does that enhance the prosecution's case?

MURPHY: Well, again it an interesting question, because, on the one hand, she did take off. But she wasn't really hiding.

I mean, she was at a restaurant with her kids, and in public. I think it is likely the defense will argue that she was fearful. And, of course, the prosecution will say, no, she took off.

And if you show that you were likely to run away after you did something horrible, the prosecution says no bail, and, almost always, you win, because the most important purpose of bail is guaranteed that the defendant shows up for trial.

But I will tell you what I think about the defense here. The silence is deafening as to the motive, which tells me that, whatever it was, it had to have been scandalous, because there is no excuse for the prosecution not to tell us, as they do in so many cases, exactly why they have locked this woman up at this point.

WEINTRAUB: And, Wendy...

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: You can't just tell us that he's dead. You have got to tell us a little bit more. And the fact that they're not telling us means, I think, he was doing something dastardly, scandalous, maybe...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: All right. Jayne, get you the last word. You have got 10 seconds... WEINTRAUB: Maybe making it a justifiable homicide.

ZAHN: .. to nail it here, Jayne.

WEINTRAUB: And maybe that's what will make it a justifiable homicide, and not a second-degree murder. Maybe she will be acquitted and have a real justifiable defense.

ZAHN: Well, we are...

WEINTRAUB: We will have to wait and see.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: We may agree on this one.

ZAHN: We are going to be waiting, it seems, for a while for some of these really critical facts to come in.

Wendy Murphy, Jayne Weintraub, thank you for handling the case for us tonight. Appreciate it.

WEINTRAUB: Thank you, Paula.

MURPHY: You bet.

ZAHN: And we move on now.

In one town, people are grappling with a really baffling mystery. Why would not just one, but five high school football stars take their own lives?

And, then, a little bit later on, one of the hottest sites on the Web -- can 30 million people a day be wrong? Can they also be breaking the law?

Before that, number six on our CNN.con -- dot-com, that is -- countdown, 18 million of you logging on today -- more huge immigration rallies today in Los Angeles. Thousands of kids walked out of school to march against proposed immigration reform. Just hours ago, a Senate committee passed a proposal to create a guest-worker program and give illegal immigrants already in the U.S. the chance to work toward legal status.

Number five, our lead story tonight, al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui tells a shocking new tale in federal court about plans to have him fly a fifth plane into the White House on 9/11. Lots of contradictions though in his testimony. Keep a close eye on this one. Don't go away, number four just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Right now a mystery that has devastated a small community in Maine. Five young athletes, all stars on the same high school football team shared a tragic fate. They all killed themselves. Jason Carroll has been looking into this chilling mystery and takes us beyond the headlines tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a small town like Winthrop, Maine, population a little more than 6,000, high school football is everything.

Gifted players are local heroes. That's why the community was stunned when one of the Ramblers, Jason Marston, committed suicide in 2003. He was just 15. Most people thought it was an isolate tragedy, that is until the following year when former player Lee St. Halair (ph) took his own life. St. Halair was 20.

Jason Marston's father and others in the community started to wonder if there was a connection.

BRIAN MARSTON, FATHER: People are, of course, going more and more what is going on here? We have to do something about this.

CARROLL: Then on January 8th of last year, another former star player, Brian Donovan, committed suicide. Three suicides in such a short time was bad enough. But suspicion turned to alarm just three days after Donovan's death.

GODFREY: That's Grandson Troy there. Two years ago.

CARROLL: When another former Rambler, Troy Ellis, hanged himself. He was 24.

GODFREY: We were completely baffled. Left no indication, made no indication that he wanted to take his life.

CARROLL: And as incredible as it seems, the football suicides didn't end there.

(on camera): Do you remember many of these games?

STEVE GARWOOD, FATHER: Almost all of them.

CARROLL: All of them.

(voice-over): Steve Garwood watches his son on tape replaying in his mind how Chad's promising future abruptly ended one night.

GARWOOD: He was just a model son. Nothing could have shocked anybody in this community more than to hear that Chad had done what he had done.

CARROLL: Chad Garwood hanged himself on June 11th of last year. Exactly five months after Troy Ellis' suicide. Garwood's college roommate at the Southern Maine University found his body. He's buried at a small cemetery just a few blocks from the home where he grew up.

GARWOOD: I just miss him and I wish he were back.

CARROLL: This is the place where Steve Garwood says he often wonders why his son took his life.

GARWOOD: I think at least in my son's case it was easier for him to see that as something he could do after having seen some of his friends do it.

CARROLL: In all, five young men from Winthrop High School's football team committed suicide within the past three years. The people of Winthrop knew they had a crisis on their hands. They called town hall meetings about the suicides. Why were they happening? How could they be stopped?

School administrators didn't want to talk to us about the issue, including the most troubling question, did football have something to do with what was going on?

The high school commissioned a study to find answers.

CHERYL DICARA, MAINE YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM: Suicide is very complex. It is not just the result of one thing or one or two things coming together. It is usually a very complicated number of factors that come together.

CARROLL: All five players knew each other, but were not all close friends. None of the young men wrote a note. Troy Ellis stopped playing ball after leaving Winthrop High School and was frustrated working in construction.

ELLIS: He was having a hard time trying to make ends meet. And that can be depressing. You can't meet your financial obligations --

GARWOOD: He was nominated Male Athlete of the Year.

CARROLL: Chad Garwood did play college ball after his award winning years in high school. But he told his father, it just wasn't the same. And Chad was increasingly upset over what was happening at home. His parents were in middle of what both told us was a messy divorce.

GARWOOD: He had everybody fooled that he was OK. But he obviously wasn't.

CARROLL: Garwood does not believe high school football had anything to do with the suicides. But the school's coach, Joel Stoneton, believes it explains at least part of what wept wrong.

JOEL STONETON, COACH: You go from an environment of feeling constant positive reinforcement from us and our program to not having that on a daily basis, to not having a thousand people out here watching you play football. When those type of things happen and they disappear, it is gone for them and I think sometimes they might feel lost.

CARROLL: Each time Steve Garwood visits his son's grave, he feels overwhelming regret.

GARWOOD: Just sorry I couldn't have figured out how to make him happy. And just wished he used better judgment and not did what he did. Really wished he called me that night.

CARROLL: As an entire community struggles and wonders what, if anything, could have been done, there are many other fathers and mothers here who worry that it might not be over. Jason Carroll, CNN, Winthrop, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: What a shame.

We're going to switch gears now. We'll take you to a country that loves tourists, but if you want to move there, why do they make you look at pictures of ugly apartments and topless people at the beach?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sabila Vargas. We have the latest way to waste time on the Web. Short video clips that are spread across the Internet by a rabid fan base. We'll take look at the phenomenon known as viral video when PAULA ZAHN NOW continues.

ZAHN: Number four on our CNN.com countdown. Some country radio stations are still shying away from giving the Dixie Chicks air play. Their latest single is slowly making its way up the charts, one week after its release. You might remember back in 2003, many stations boycotted the trio after lead singer, Natalie Maynes, criticized President Bush.

Number three when we come back, please stay with us.

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ZAHN: All right. So you want to be in the movies? Well, aspiring stars don't wait to be discovered anymore. They are making their own films. And if you haven't seen some of them just yet, you're in for a big surprise. There has been an explosion of homemade videos, viral videos they're called, because they spread like crazy on the web.

Entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas set out to find what coudl be the next digital revolution right on your own computer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS (voice over): They range from the bizarre and outrageous to out and out insanity. Short video clips that are sent from person to person throughout the Internet. You probably have had some show up in your own inbox. It is a phenomenon that some are calling viral video.

With dozens of web sites featuring some of the most passed around clips on the net, these viral videos are getting more exposure than ever. One site that is gaining enormous popularity is You Tube.

CHAD HURLEY, CO-FOUNDER, YOU TUBE.COM: We were taking photos and videos with our digital cameras and, you know, the next day realized how difficult it was to share the video files because they were too large.

VARGAS: You Tube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen had no idea when their creation went online last year it would generate such a wild response.

STEVE CHEN, CO-FOUNDER, YOU TUBE.COM: When we started this thing, there was virtually nothing like this out there.

VARGAS: According to the site's managers, You Tube attracts upwards of 30 million visitors a day, who upload as many as 30,000 different clips.

HURLEY: Well, what we're really doing is creating a stage for everyone. I mean, the personal content to the professional content. And now everyone, you know, has their time in the spotlight.

VARGAS: One clip that found itself in the spotlight was from an episode of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," a tongue in cheek rap video titled "Lazy Sunday." Days after it aired in December, the clip had been uploaded to several web sites and viewed by countless people on the Internet.

(on-camera): As its popularity spread, it caught the attention of NBC, whose lawyers contacted many of the sites, including You Tube asking that it be taken down.

(voice over): After actress Natalie Portman appeared in a February episode of the show performing a hardcore rap parody, NBC once again found itself asking web sites to take its copyrighted materials off the Internet. Shortly after, both of the clips from SNL appeared on NBC's page on iTunes, where users could now download them legitimately for a price.

NBC says, "As the broadband digital space develops, it's important for rules of the road to be clearly established. We want to find a balance between protecting our copyrighted material and meeting the audience's demand to watch video in new ways."

But it is not just NBC a search of sites like You Tube reveals copyrighted clips from other broadcast networks, as well as CNN. And while NBC isn't saying much about its clips on the web, plenty of others are joining the conversation. Shortly after SNL's "Lazy Sunday" made the rounds, a clip dubbed "Lazy Monday" started showing up on the net. A decidedly West Coast response to "Lazy Sunday's" New York-flavored rap.

It was followed by other responses from places like the Midwest with "Lazy Muncie (ph)." There is even a version from the UK.

MARK FEUERSTEIN, ACTOR: It is amazing that there is this medium now where anyone, anywhere can make a video and try to, you know, express themselves, show their creative voice.

VARGAS: Actor Mark Feuerstein and director Adam Stein, who created the "Lazy Monday" clip, say they're fascinated by the potential for viral videos. ADAM STEIN, DIRECTOR: Traditionally television has been only one way, where you're just watching whatever is on TV. In this new system, you can watch what is on sites like You Tube and then you can also participate if you want to.

CHEN: We have digital cameras and now cell phones being able to take digital videos too. And I think with the sort of infusion or the mass injection of user-generated content, as well as the broadband actually being delivered to this content, I think, we're only sort of at the infancy of Internet videos.

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: It's a brave new world out there.

Still ahead, one of the oddest tour guides we have ever seen. What kind of place wants you to look at videos of gay men kissing? And then also, wants you to look at people bathing topless at the beach? Can't wait to see that one.

But first, Christi Paul has today's "Headline News Business Break."

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Paula. The stock market marked time today as investors waited to see whether the Fed would raise interest rates tomorrow. The Dow fell more than 33 points. The Nasdaq rose less than five points. While the S&P dropped less than one point.

The first federal reserve meeting held under new chairman Ben Bernanke ends on Tuesday. The meeting is expected to call for another quarter of a percent hike in the federal funds rate to 4.75 percent.

And General Motors is expected to announce another round of layoffs as early as Tuesday. The new cuts are expected to hit salaried workers. The troubled automaker offered buyouts to hourly workers last week.

Paula back to you.

ZAHN: Appreciate it, Christi, thanks so much.

We're moving up on about 13 minutes before the hour. "LARRY KING LIVE" coming up at the top of the hour.

Hi, Larry, how are you doing tonight?

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Hello my dear Paula Zahn. How are you?

ZAHN: I'm fine, thanks. So who is joining you tonight?

KING: We have got a good show tonight. Half of it, we'll look at the strange case of Mary Winkler, which you just discussed, the woman who has confessed to shooting her pastor husband in the back and then running away with the three children. We will have lots of people to discuss that.

And then half the show with Michael Schiavo, the husband of the late Terri Schiavo, who has written a book about his experiences with her life and her death. All that with viewer phone calls at top of the hour -- Paula.

ZAHN: That case is such an interesting one to follow. Because of the enormous divide between Michael Schiavo and Terri's family. We'll be watching tonight, Larry. Thanks, have a good show.

KING: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Travel videos usually highlight a country's best places. So why have the Dutch produced one, it showcases things like rundown apartments, topless beaches and illegal drugs. Stick around, we'll show you.

First though number three in our CNN.com countdown. Tonight police in Elk Grove, California, are still trying to find the motive for a Saturday night shooting spree that killed one person and wounded three others. A 28-year-old man is under arrest. Number two right after this break.

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ZAHN: All right, even when it comes to immigration, the Dutch do things their own way. You can call it Holland or you can call it The Netherlands. But whatever you call the country, some people may not be ready to go Dutch. And if you don't believe it, let's go straight to the videotape with Jeanne Moos, who asks what were they thinking?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who needs a fence to keep out immigrants? Just do what the Dutch did ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I arrived here, it was incredibly cold.

MOOS: ... and make a video...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought, my goodness, they really are white.

MOOS: ... a video that's required viewing for would-be immigrants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not exactly hi there, welcome, come in, sit down, you know?

MOOS: Previous immigrants do a lot of the talking in the Dutch government's DVD called "To The Netherlands."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd stay in my own country, really. MOOS: No mistaking this for a Dutch tourism video.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Public transport runs on a strict timetable and doesn't usually wait for passengers who are late. And there are traffic jams, a lot of traffic jams.

MOOS: When we showed the Dutch tape to Americans...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): People don't make a fuss about nudity.

MOOS: No one seemed dying to move to Holland, until the topless shot appeared, which we had to blur.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, maybe I will go there.

MOOS: But then there was this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): It is against the law to discriminate against either men or women because they're homosexual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe I'm not going there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not going there.

MOOS (voice-over): I think they're saying if that kind of thing bothers you, then maybe The Netherlands isn't for you. Is The Netherlands not for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes that kind of turned me over and made me almost want to hurl.

MOOS: Oh, really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): A spokesperson for the Dutch Immigration Minister says "it's necessary for people to know that this is a free country and this is what they can expect." The DVD shows public housing, the type poor people might end up in. Sort of makes you think twice about going Dutch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Dutch is a very difficult language for foreigners. And you may well have to be content with the job below your capacity. Good luck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck?

MOOS (on camera): You know, a required viewing DVD for immigrants like the Dutch did, that could work for New York too, imagine.

(voice-over): If you move to New York, you can expect to encounter wildlife in the subway and in your kitchen. New Yorkers aren't always cheerful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to the yellow line, yellow, yellow, all the way down.

MOOS: And they tend to speak in a strange dialect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You (BLEEP), in the media these are all (BLEEP).

MOOS: But take a deep breath, or maybe not that deep. And don't be surprised if you see a cowboy in his undies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the naked cowboy.

MOOS: Sort of makes topless sunbathing seem tame.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So many choices out there now in some countries. Some of these images, like nudity, of nudity and homosexuality are actually illegal. So the Dutch actually have an edited version available for those countries.

Now this is one of those nights where we're keeping a very close eye on some very bad weather. What is about to hit, how bad will be it and exactly where is it headed? We're going to get an update in just a second.

Then at the top of the hour on "LARRY KING LIVE," Michael Schiavo talks about his wife and his fight to let her die.

Right now, No. 2 on our CNN.com countdown: the United Nations says the Afghan man threatened with the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity has asked for asylum outside the country, earlier today. A Western diplomat, an Afghan official said, Abdul Rahman would be released from custody.

No. 1, Mary Winkler, the wife of a Tennessee minister accused of killing him enters no plea today during her arraignment. But her attorney's say she will plea not guilty at her next court appearance in spite of her confession.

We'll be right back.

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ZAHN: Doesn't that look nice out there tonight? Our front yard from our Time Warner studios here. Never mind the calendar says it's been spring for week now, Jacqui Jeras is standing by in the CNN Weather Center where we're expecting a big dose of wind, rain and even snow. How bad is it out there?

(WEATHER REPORT)

ZAHN: We wish those folks luck out there. Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much. That wraps it up for all of us here. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. We'll be back again tomorrow night.

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