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Paula Zahn Now
Shooting at the Border; Hayden Confirmation Hearing
Aired May 18, 2006 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Good evening everyone, glad to have you with us. Here's what's happening at this moment. A developing story near the Mexican border. Federal officials shot and killed the driver of a car headed for Mexico near the crossing at San Ysidro, California. There were no reports of other injuries. The shooting caused a huge traffic jam at the entry point along Interstate five.
Turns out Bell South now wants a retraction from "USA Today" for last week's story alleging that it and other phone companies helped the government build a database of domestic phone calls. Verizon also denies that. Meanwhile the paper is standing by the story, but says it's reviewing the denials.
FDA advisers have unanimously approved Gardasil. That is the first vaccine to protects women and girls from a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. The vaccine is made by Merck. Final approval by the FDA could make it available by this summer.
Now onto today's big showdown on Capitol Hill. It is only now wrapping up after a secret session between the Senate Intelligence Committee and General Michael Hayden who President Bush wants to run the CIA. Before it went behind closed doors, Hayden's confirmation hearing turned into a verbal jousting match, albeit a polite one, between (inaudible) lawmakers and a man who already knows the Bush administration's deepest secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): The message that General Michael Hayden brought to Capitol Hill is that the CIA needs to get back in the shadows and concentrate on collecting and analyzing secrets.
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: CIA needs to get out of the news as source or subject.
ZAHN: Hayden also says it's time to stop second guessing past CIA mistakes like missing the September 11th plot or saying that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
HAYDEN: The American intelligence business has too much become the football in American political discourse. It's time to move past what seems to me to be an endless picking apart of the archaeology of every past intelligence success or failure.
ZAHN: Throughout the day, senators from both parties challenged Hayden about the Bush administration's super secret program of intercepting phone calls without obtaining court warrants. Hayden, who set up the program as director of the National Security Agency, insisted that the surveillance is legal and that the privacy of ordinary Americans is protected.
HAYDEN: We were intercepting the international calls entering or exiting the United States which we had reason to believe were associated with al Qaeda.
ZAHN: Hayden wouldn't even talk about last's week's report that the government is collecting calls lists from phone companies.
HAYDEN: I'm not in a position to confirm or deny the story that appeared in "USA Today."
ZAHN: Hayden confirmed that he has been briefing some law makers about the administration's secret surveillance programs for years, but only a small bipartisan group. He was asked if anyone ever complained until recently?
HAYDEN: I can tell you in my heart of hearts senator, I never left those sessions thinking I had to change anything.
UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Did anybody say at any particular time that the program ought to be terminated?
HAYDEN: No sir.
UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: That it was illegal?
HAYDEN: No, sir.
ZAHN: Some members of the committee are clearly frustrated at having been left out of the loop.
SEN. RON WYDEN (D) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: For months and months, as a member of this committee, I have gotten most of my information about the key programs from the newspapers.
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I happen to believe that with the programs in question, that the Congress was really never really consulted.
ZAHN: Hayden promised openness if he's confirmed, but made it clear that openness would continue to have its limits.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: A lawmaker we just heard from joins me now from Capitol Hill. Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine is just out of that secret intelligence committee session with General Hayden. She joins us now, always good to see you. We just heard some of the general's testimony when it came to the phone call database that the government is alleged to have compiled. He would never confirm nor denial that. Do you think he stonewalled on that question?
SNOWE: No, I think he's not in a position, because obviously it all remains classified. I think he did get the message today about the concern on the part of members that it is absolutely essential that the administration and that he, if confirmed as director of the CIA, has to be much more engaging and forth right with the authorizing committees with respect to new programs.
ZAHN: And based on what you heard today, senator, you're confident that would happen if confirmed?
SNOWE: I think he is demonstrating good faith today. He's certainly a straight forward individual and certainly seemed earnest in conveying the thought that he understands that he wants to have a much more open and cooperative relationship with members of Congress.
ZAHN: We just heard what you had to say about General Hayden and not commenting on the existence of the phone call database. Do you think it exists?
SNOWE: I can't confirm or deny it either. We just received a classified briefing this week on the operational details of this program and in fact the full Senate Intelligence Committee will be fully informed and briefed on this program so there are many consequent briefings as well to learn more about it.
ZAHN: We have been told by some of our sources that at the end of this confirmation hearing process, that it will be revealed that this phone call database is just the tip of the iceberg and that perhaps Americans are being surveilled in ways we don't know about. What's your reaction at that?
SNOWE: Obviously there's nothing that I'm aware of. I think at this point we need to do everything that we can to ground this program in the kind of safeguards that are going to be essential to protecting people's privacy and freedom at the same time protecting this country. I think this is what it's all about and the more that we're informed, the more we will be able to determine what kind of legislation should be structured to make sure that those proper checks and safeguards are in place to protect American's personal liberties but at the same time protecting America.
ZAHN: Senator, one quick yes or no. Do you think General Hayden will be confirmed?
SNOWE: Yes, I think he will ultimately be confirmed.
ZAHN: We appreciate your joining us after that closed door meeting.
SNOWE: Thank you.
ZAHN: Always appreciate your time. On now to the security watch and the battle over the security of the nation's borders. President Bush spent four hours today along the Arizona-Mexico border in what critics say is a big photo op. He talked with border patrol agents, rode a border patrol dune buggy and took a look at the fence separating the U.S. from Mexico, all of this to promote his immigration proposal which could cost close to $2 billion, build hundreds of miles of fences along the border, send National Guard troops to back up the border patrol and add 6,000 new border patrol agents. He also sat down with White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux to make the case for the plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush chose this spot along the U.S./Mexican border to make his case about immigration reform. Here at the border crossing at Yuma, Arizona, up to 450 illegal immigrants are caught each day. With the temperature over 100 degrees, the president visited with border patrols, took a ride in a dune buggy and sat down with us to answer questions.
Your critics and particularly those of your party, however, call this a publicity stunt. They say that the plan to move forward some 6,000 National Guard troops is really a political employ to get them to sign on to the guest worker program and they're not buying it.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have people coming here to work and doing jobs that Americans aren't doing. And instead of sneaking across, it seems like it makes sense to me in order to help our border patrol do the job, there's a rational way for them to come.
MALVEAUX: Under Mr. Bush's guest worker program, some illegal immigrants would earn the right to stay. But Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who will usher the immigration debate through the House slammed the president. He simply says you don't get it, that they believe it's amnesty, that ultimately, they're not going to be able to sign off on this.
BUSH: This is an issue I have been living with a long period of time as the governor have Texas. I understand immigration and I know we got to enforce the border. But I'm also realistic. There are some - look, amnesty to me means you're an automatic citizen and I'm not advocating. Some in the Democrat party might be advocating that, but I'm certainly not. On the other hand, I recognize that people here for a long period of time and it doesn't make any sense to try to deport millions of people. And so there ought to be a way for people to pay a fine or learn the English language and then get in the citizenship line but at the back, not at the front.
MALVEAUX: The president also rejected the notion that racism was playing a role in this emotional debate.
BUSH: I think it would be too harsh a judgment to say that somebody who doesn't support a comprehensive immigration plan is a racist.
MALVEAUX: We then turned our focus to another red-hot issue for the president, Iraq. A lot of American people see their top priority as Iraq and the majority of Americans have lost faith in that mission.
BUSH No question Iraq has unsettled the American people. I understand that. People don't like war. I don't believe Americans want us to cut and run either. MALVEAUX: On the number one question, when will the troops come home, the president deferred to his generals.
BUSH: The military decision is going to be based upon the advise of General Casey who is the leader on the ground there.
MALVEAUX: Faced with opposition over his domestic and international priorities, I questioned him about his future. What do you do to become at least not risk becoming irrelevant?
BUSH: We're going to win the war on terror. I'm doing my job, what the American people want me to do.
MALVEAUX: And that the audience Mr. Bush is trying to reach with his four hours at the border, hoping to convince the public to convince Congress, particularly members of his own party, to follow his lead. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Yuma, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And joining me now, an outspoken Republican opponent of the president's immigration proposals, Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado. Welcome sir.
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R) COLORADO: Good evening, Paula.
ZAHN: Thank you. A number of your colleagues have accused the president of going on this trip to stage a photo op. How did you view this tour?
TANCREDO: Well, I just looked at it as another way that the president is going to use to try and advance his agenda. It's certainly not unique for politicians, presidents to do something like this. The fact that he goes down there on the border and I'm hoping that he saw a lot of things that I have been when I've been on the border and I hope he heard a lot of the things that I have heard when I have gone down to the border, things that would certainly tend to dissuade him from pushing this idea of amnesty for 13 to 15 million people who are presently here illegally.
ZAHN: All right. So you don't agree with some of your fellow Republicans when they see this as a cynical attempt to gain more support among conservatives in the party.
TANCREDO: No, it is simply - it is one of the things that is done in order to advance an agenda. I don't think it's necessarily cynical. The president wants to go down there because he wants to focus the attention of the people of this nation on the border and his particular plan. I'm all for focusing the peoples' attention on this issue. I'm just saying that we have a totally different idea, the president and I, about how to solve it.
ZAHN: All right, so his idea is that you would have this guest worker program. He said that does not grant automatic citizenship. What would you do to handle the 12 million illegal immigrants who are already here? He says just getting out and deporting them all is not practical.
TANCREDO: He presents a false dichotomy. I don't know anyone frankly Paula who is saying that the alternative to amnesty is deportation of 12 million people. I don't know of a soul saying that. What you can do is this, however. You can actually begin to do something pretty radical in this area, pretty amazing. I know what I'm going to say here, but you can begin to enforce the law. If you do so, if you actually enforce the law against employers who are hiring people who are here illegally, you will see through attrition, you will see people moving back to the country of origin because if you don't have a job here, really, what are your options and you will not have to deport millions of people. They will leave because the reason they came here, the job, is no longer available. It's just -- a simple matter of attrition, but not amnesty.
ZAHN: Well, I think all Americans fascinated to see what Congress will do with the president's proposal and what this will all look like once it goes through the compromise --
TANCREDO: I'm am, too.
ZAHN: Representative Tom Tancredo, thanks so much, always good to see you.
Right now though, we move onto our countdown of the top 10 stories on cnn.com. About 18 million of you logging on to our website today. At number 10, the AAA says get ready to spend more on your summer vacation. Why? Not just on the gas but on car rentals, airline flights and hotel rooms. Number nine, heavy fighting and a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. A U.S. antinarcotics agent was killed in the explosion. Meanwhile, a Canadian Army officer who was killed while fighting insurgents became that country's first female soldier to die in battle.
Numbers eight and seven just ahead, along with sudden new developments in one of America's infamous unsolved mysteries.
Is this really the place? Near Detroit they're digging, probing and they could be at it for weeks. After the best lead in years, how close is the FBI to finding Jimmy Hoffa?
And vital signs. They're tall. They're lean and some are outstanding athletes. But a strange disorder they might not even know about could kill them at any moment. The mystery of Marfan syndrome and much more just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: It's huge, isn't it? The ultimate sky box is finally pulling up to gate. What is the newest, biggest and maybe most luxurious airliner look like inside. Try spa services in that big plane. Let's move on now to what's happening at this moment.
More now on the developing story we mentioned at the top of hour. Suspected migrant smuggling may be behind the shooting of a driver near the Mexican border at San Ysidro, California. Officials say the driver was under surveillance and heading for Tijuana when Federal agents opened fire and killed him just 50 feet from that crossing.
Tonight the House is debating whether to lift a ban on drilling for oil and gas three miles from the shore in the western Gulf of Mexico. That ban has been in force for more than 25 years.
Now onto our nightly look at gas prices all over the country. We call it "crude awakening." The states with the highest gas prices are in red, the lowest ones in green. Green outnumbers the red for the first time in a long time. The average today for unleaded regular, $2.91, down two cents since yesterday.
Right now a horse farm outside of Detroit remains the focus in one of the most enduring crime mysteries of the past 30 years. For a second day in the row, Federal agents were digging at the Hidden Dreams farm in Milford Township, Michigan, hoping to find the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, the former teamsters leader who vanished way back in 1975. National correspondent Susan Candiotti is covering the search in Michigan and just filed this report for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The searchers have been busy. Armed with sticks, they probed the grounds of a horse farm. The FBI even enlisted University of Michigan students to help. News helicopters showed sections of fields dug up by FBI agents who today revealed that they are in fact looking for Hoffa's remains. A spokesman said the search could go on for weeks and that it was based on a solid tip.
DAN ROBERTS, FBI: In the last two years I've been here as the agent in charge, this is the best lead that I've seen come across on the Hoffa investigation.
CANDIOTTI: According to a law enforcement official who asked not to be identified, the latest search for the missing teamsters boss is based on old information that has only recently been verified. Part of it has to do with suspicious activity at the farm the day Hoffa disappeared and a backhoe spotted near a barn where mob meetings were once held. The FBI said they even brought in architects to look more closely at that barn.
ROBERTS: We may have to actually physically remove at least one structure here on the property in order to adequately finish our search of the property.
CANDIOTTI: Hoffa vanished on July 30th, 1975, about 20 miles from this farm. He was due to meet Tony Provansano (ph), a New Jersey teamster official with Mafia connections and a Detroit mobster named Anthony Giaclone (ph). In 1982, Hoffa was officially declared dead. As the teamster's most powerful boss, he had been famous for organizing truckers and for using underworld allies to get what he wanted. Years later, Hoffa did time for injury tampering, his sentence later commuted by Richard Nixon. For three decades, there have been many claims, for example, that he was buried inside Giant stadium or that he'd been murdered in a Detroit house where blood was found. Nothing has ever panned out and nothing else will pan out at this horse farm either predicts a lawyer for the farm's former owner. Mayer Morganroth says the place was searched with quote, a fine toothed comb shortly after Hoffa disappeared.
MAYER MORGANROTH, ATTORNEY: I think that what's going to come out of it is egg on the face.
CANDIOTTI (on-camera): Still, the search is likely to be much more thorough than anything that's ever been down here before. And if nothing is found, the FBI is promising as it has before, that it will never stop looking for Jimmy Hoffa. Susan Candiotti, CNN, Milford, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And a member of Duke University's lacrosse team found himself in a very unfamiliar and uncomfortable setting this afternoon. What happened when he went to court and why did the judge end up lecturing the spectators. What's ahead in a rape case that's captured national attention.
Also, what disorder could cause extremely long and thin fingers and what might it signal? It's something that can also kill you.
First though number eight in our cnn.com countdown, the latest discovery of a secret tunnel under the U.S./Mexican border was found Friday near the San Ysidro crossing in California. Federal officials say it could have been used to smuggle people or drugs.
Number seven, the Pentagon says U.S. soldiers in Iraq are now using a laser device to temporarily blind drivers who ignore warnings to stop at check points. The military says the lasers will help soldiers avoid using deadly force. Stay with us. Numbers six and five are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: The Duke University rape investigation is back in the headlines tonight. One of the three accused players appeared in court today for the very first time since his indictment last month. The players you might remember are accused of raping an exotic dancer at a rowdy party in March. Well today the defense won a small battle over the prosecution's evidence. So where does this complicated and emotional case stand tonight? Jason Carroll was in court today for the hearing. His report is just in for tonight's outside the law.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accused Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann arrived at Durham County courthouse for a pretrial hearing with his attorney at his side. A small group of protesters shouted at Seligmann as he walked by.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice will be done.
CARROLL: Some of those same protesters found their way into the courtroom. Superior court judge Ronald Stevens (ph) had a stern warning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody thought this was going to be a public forum in which somebody could stand and speak, that is not going to be allowed. Anybody who decides to do that, will be held in contempt of this court and I will put you in jail.
CARROLL: Seligmann's attorney, Kirk Osborn has already made it clear that he will attack the credibility of the young woman who alleges she was raped by Seligmann and two of his Duke teammates. Today, Osborn pressed the prosecution to turn over the accuser's cell phone to find out which calls she made the night of the alleged attack.
KIRK OSBORN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's important to get experts access to that phone immediately and hopefully the phone has not been tampered with. If we don't get an expert to it, who knows what he's doing, the evidence in that phone can be lost.
CARROLL: Direct attorney Michael Nifong questioned why a defense expert needed access to the phone before his own expert could examine it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe that it has. I would wonder what evidence he thinks that he's entitled to would be on that telephone.
CARROLL: Nifong did turn over a box filled with evidence. And the defense attorneys promised to examine it closely.
JOE CHESHIRE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We have 1200 some odd pages and papers and two videotapes and a CD of pictures. I haven't looked at it.
CARROLL: Defense attorneys for the three accused lacrosse players are looking for what they say are more holes in the prosecution's case. The first round of DNA test results showed no match between the accuser and the players. Defense attorneys say a second round of DNA tests was inconclusive. They also say their time line shows two accused players, Seligmann and Colin Finnerty, were elsewhere when the alleged crime took place. Though the district attorney has revealed very few details about his case, we expect the alleged victim's testimony and the results of a hospital rape examination will be key. The DA is expected to turn more evidence over to the defense in coming weeks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And also during today's hearing, defense attorneys asked to have Reade Seligmann's bond reduced from $400,000 to $40,000. The judge said he would consider that during Seligmann's next court hearing which is scheduled for just about a month from now. Paula.
ZAHN: Quite a display there in the courtroom from that no nonsense judge, huh Jason.
CARROLL: Oh absolutely. He really took a lot of us back when he started out. He is a no nonsense kind of a guy and made his wishes very clear.
ZAHN: You heard clear about that. There was no ambivalence. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
We have found a fascinating medical mystery to share with you. What kind of disorder can make you tall and thin and even affects your fingers but could also kill you?
A little bit later on, a brand new airline that looks like it needs to go on a diet, biggest one in the world. How many people can fit into this thing? Well, we're going to take you on a tour tonight to see if you want to go on it some day.
Now number six in our cnn.com countdown, in South Carolina an 18- year-old student was stabbed to death this morning in a parking lot outside her high school. Police have arrested a suspect but have said absolutely nothing about a motive.
Number five, just how much will it cost Paul McCartney to divorce his basically brand new wife, Heather? Some legal experts say a big chunk of his estimated $1 billion fortune at stake, how about by some estimates, $1.8 million a week per week of marriage. Much more on that, plus number four on our list, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Now here's what's happening "At This Moment," updating this developing story in San Ysidro, California. Federal officials shot and killed the driver of an SUV as he raced toward the Mexican border. Officials say the vehicle was under surveillance in a migrant smuggling case. The driver was killed just 50 feet from the border crossing in Tijuana.
A $46 million Catholic Church sex abuse settlement was then thrown out by a judge in Spokane Washington. The deal would have covered 75 people who filed claims against the now bankrupt Spokane Diocese.
And a top Homeland Security official says the states have a spotty record when it comes to getting ready for the bird flu. The federal government has warned that state and local governments bear most of the responsibility of preparing for a possible pandemic.
Tonight, even as we speak, thousands of Americans may have be walking around with a time bomb inside of them, born with a very unusual disorder that could kill them with absolutely no warning. But the signs may be right in front of you, a bizarre combination of physical features including extreme height and strangely long fingers. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has tonight's "Vital Signs."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day Karen Murray (ph) searches for someone who looks like her son. She's trying to save a life. KAREN MURRAY: What I would do is walk up to them and say, listen, my name is Karen Murray. Nice to meet you. I try to shake their hand. I just want to stop you and tell you that you have some characteristics that are very, very similar to my son. You're tall, you have a thin stature, long arms, long fingers.
COHEN: It's those fingers, those incredibly long fingers, like her son Michael's, that tell Karen someone might die suddenly. They might have a weak heart because of a disease called Marfan Syndrome. There's a good chance they don't even know they have Marfan, so Karen wants to tell them.
K. MURRAY: If you don't know you have it, it's simple. Your aorta will burst and you will die.
COHEN: And for athletes who don't know they have Marfan, it can be especially deadly. Ironically, Marfan patients often make great athletes due to their tall stature, lean frame, and long fingers. Flo Hyman, captain of the 1984 U.S. Olympic volleyball team, didn't know she had Marfan. She died on the court during a game.
And Chris Patton, a star player on the University of Maryland basketball team, also died on the court. If his doctors had known he had Marfan, they never would have let him play.
Karen Murray knows this might have been her son's story.
K. MURRAY: Michael is 14 and he's 6'4. He probably gets stopped three or four times a day to play basketball. He would have been pushed into sports and I would have lost him. There's no doubt.
COHEN: It's not just athletes at risk. Jonathan Larson, the creator of the musical "Rent," had no idea he had Marfan Syndrome, a disorder people have from birth. Just days before "Rent" opened on Broadway, Larson felt chest pain. One emergency room told them he had food poisoning. Another told him it was the flu. But the next day Larson died alone in his New York City apartment. Later, doctors realized he had Marfan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jonathan didn't know he had this disorder, even though he did show many of the outward physical signs.
COHEN: The National Marfan Foundation estimates that half the people who have the disorder are like Larson and don't even know it. That means tens of thousands go undiagnosed. And inside their chest, a silent killer -- a weak aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart, which can rupture at any time.
DR. HAL DIETZ, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Now take your pinky and thumb, and wrap them around the opposite wrist.
COHEN: Dr. Hal Dietz at Johns Hopkins, one of the world's foremost Marfan experts, is trying to teach doctors to look for signs or Marfan, because once it's diagnosed and treated, the patient usually lives a long and healthy life. But left untreated ... DIETZ: Someone can have a ticking time bomb in place, an aorta that is truly massively enlarged and right to rupture without anyone knowing about it.
COHEN: So why was Karen's son Michael so lucky? Why was he diagnosed? It wasn't his doctors. His mother diagnosed him. When Michael was born, Karen just knew something was wrong from those strangely long fingers that were bent backwards. She brought him to the best pediatricians in New York ,but they didn't listen.
(on camera): What did they tell you when you told them you were worried?
K. MURRAY: Not to worry. He's fine. Be happy. You have a new, healthy baby boy.
COHEN (voice-over): Doctors even wrote in the medical records that Karen had "maternal anxiety."
(on camera): And all those doctors that you took him to, none of them mentioned Marfan's?
K. MURRAY: None.
COHEN (voice-over): What did help her was this, a CD that came with a computer she bought Michael for his fifth birthday. She looked up his symptoms and found Marfan. She rushed him to the hospital.
K. MURRAY: A team of four or five doctors came out white as ghosts, and they said his aorta is enlarged. It's double the size it should be.
COHEN (on camera): Do you remember when you were five and diagnosed?
MICHAEL MURRAY: I remember when my mom first saw the article on the computer and I actually do remember that night.
COHEN (voice-over): Michael immediately went on drugs to help his heart and will still likely need heart surgery in the future. Dr. Dietz said Michael's story is not unusual.
DIETZ: I think that the sad reality is that often a layperson with the use of the Internet and Google can know more about Marfan Syndrome than their family physician.
COHEN: Michael is already getting care from Dr. Dietz at Hopkins.
(on camera): You get an echocardiogram done on your heart every ...
M. MURRAY: Every six months.
COHEN (voice-over): Meanwhile, his mother will continue her search for people who might have fragile hearts and not know it. K. MURRAY: I feel like I might have saved a life and I'll never know. I'll never know, but it helps me sleep at night.
COHEN: She does know that she may have already saved her son's life.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Good for her. If you want some more information, you can go to the National Marfan Foundation Web site. That's at www.marfan.org.
Stand by for the arrival of the world's biggest passenger jet. How much company will you have if you fly one of these babies? And just how big is the gym on that thing inside?
Plus, why has Heather Mills-McCartney decided to get out of her husband's life and how much money could she be taking along? $1.8 million, apparently, some say for every week she was married to Paul McCartney. We'll have the numbers for you coming up, but now, number four on our CNN.com countdown.
A shouting match erupts at a closed door Senate committee meeting on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter lashed out at Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold after Feingold announced his opposition to the amendment. It was approved on a party line vote.
Number three is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Onto on tonight's "Eye Opener." I really want you to look at this. It is the world' biggest airliner, the brand new double decker Airbus A380, room for 555 passengers. It arrived in London earlier today for tests and our Richard Quest was there and has more on this huge plane for tonight's "Eye Opener."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The world's busiest international airport welcomes the world's biggest passenger plane for the first time. With the exception of a slight jolt on meeting, the two seemed to get along just fine. More than $800 million had to be spent across Heathrow to make the airport A380 ready. They strengthened the runway, they widened the roads. They even built a special terminal pier to cope with the double-decker plane. It was time to make sure it all worked.
CHARLES CHAMPION, COO, AIRBUS: We don't expect any surprises because we went to Frankfurt already. It went very well, we went to Asia also. But you never know, so it's better to check it out completely.
QUEST: So much for the technicalities, but passengers are now starting to wonder what the planes looks like inside.
(on camera): Everyone is always fascinated by what's going on upstairs onboard the plane in those exclusive cabins. Let's have a look. A wide staircase will take lucky passengers to the upper, lofty regions. If we look at this test flight and this test plane, past the passenger seats and now you really see the difference.
This is the upper deck of the A380 and immediately you see it is quite different to the current 747 bubble. This is vast. At the moment, it's filled with computers and engineering equipment, big water ballots all designed to test how the plane will perform in flight. But in just a few moments, this will be gone and the whole area will be filled with rows and rows and rows of seats.
(voice-over): First to fly the A380 with passengers will be Singapore Airlines in December this year, from Singapore to Sydney. What are they planning? Gyms, saunas or just seats?
MARVIN TAN, SINGAPORE AIRLINES: Financial reality has to sink in at some point. And we certainly would offer those, but you'd have to find passengers who are willing to pay to enjoy those facilities on board.
QUEST: Frankfurt, Sydney, Dubai and Singapore -- now London joins the list of cities ready and waiting for the super jumbo. But with order numbers stalled at 159, there won't be that many of them to see for a few years. When you do though, you know it. Richard Quest, CNN, Heathrow Airport, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: All right, to give you a sense of all the statistics here, the A380 knocked Boeing 747 right off its throne as the biggest jet liner. Boeing has no plans to beat the A380, but it does plan to have a bigger version of its 747 in service three years from now. It will carry 450 passengers, that's 100 less than the brand new plane we just showed you now.
Still ahead, how much will a failed marriage cost former Beatle Paul McCartney? A little bit of high finance is coming up, we're talking maybe $300 million. We will talk about that right after we take a biz break.
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ZAHN: So guess who is in town here in New York City? "LARRY KING LIVE" is coming up in a few minutes. I came to say hello to you but we couldn't find you. So, hello, welcome to town.
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, I was here. I had a bite in the building. I was looking for you and you came into the makeup room and said, "I'm Paula Zahn is Larry King here?" Paula, you work here. They know you.
ZAHN: I didn't know the man who was sitting in there. You never want to make that assumption. KING: He would know who you are.
ZAHN: Midwestern manners, you know?
KING: Yes, I know.
ZAHN: Who do you have on tonight?
KING: Oh, we're going to have a major panel, a lot of people: elected officials, advisers, pundits, all discussing one concept. What's happened to President Bush and his party? How have they become a House divided? Can it be corrected in time for the fall elections. What's wrong with the Republicans? That's the top for the full hour with viewer phone calls right at the top of the hour, Paula.
ZAHN: We'll be watching. I'll catch up with you soon, Larry. Have a good show.
KING: Maybe tomorrow.
ZAHN: Maybe tomorrow, there's always Friday.
Coming up, the bottom line on Paul McCartney's marriage problems. How much could his long-haired lady be taking with her if they end up in divorce court?
Before that, No. 3 though on our CNN.com countdown. Elliott Yamin is the latest contestant to be booted from "American Idol." I hope I just said his name right. Sorry he's up against -- up against us, so I haven't been able to watch it lately much. That means just two people are left for the big showdown later this month. No. 2 on our list straight ahead.
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ZAHN: You probably heard that Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills, are splitting up, and it could cost the ex- billion -- that's why I (inaudible) -- ex-Beatle a lot of his billion- dollar fortune. Here is entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas.
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SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mere hours after Paul McCartney and Heather Mills told the world they were both saying no and both saying go, the focus quickly shifted from a romance spoiled to the bottom line.
NATHAN BRACKETT, SR. EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": McCartney is probably rock's first billionaire. Only Mick Jagger, Elton John, David Gilmore of Pink Floyd probably make as much money.
VARGAS: In fact, according to various estimates, the former Beatle is worth a staggering $1.5 billion.
BRACKETT: He makes money off every Beatles record that's sold, any Beatles TV shows, any DVDs, any t-shirts. He doesn't tour a lot, but when he does, he sells out arenas. He gets tens of millions of dollars worth in concert advances. His tickets go for around $250 a pop, and that's just for the cheap seats.
VARGAS: For a man worth so much, it came as a shock to many that McCartney and Mills had no pre-nup.
BRACKETT: Heather Mills offered to sign a prenup with him. He thought it was really unromantic, and didn't.
VARGAS: Throughout their four-year marriage, newspapers were unkind, often attacking Mills, calling her a gold digger.
HEATHER MILLS MCCARTNEY: I was shocked, because I was really hurt by a lot of things and surprised by a lot of people that you only met once or twice in your life and wanted to make money out of knowing you.
VARGAS: Now, even in the midst of their breakup, McCartney defends Mills, writing on his official Web site, quote, "It's been suggested that she married me for the money, and there is not an ounce of truth in this. She's a very generous person, who spends most of her time trying to help others in greater need than herself."
(on camera): McCartney's words may soon be put to the test if the separation leads to divorce. A British lawyer tells CNN that while there are few precedents for a case of this magnitude, you can be sure Mills is likely to walk away with a bundle, especially as she's likely to get custody of their daughter.
BRACKETT: Estimates are that he might end up losing around $200 million. Nobody knows yet. Divorce law in England is its own thing.
VARGAS (voice-over): A sad ending to what started as a happy marriage, but that was yesterday, when all their troubles seemed so far away.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.
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ZAHN: All right, we're going to move along now. You might expect someone who served 30 years in the military to settle down to a peaceful retirement, but not the man you're about to meet. He has decided to dedicate himself once again to service. Here's Jennifer Westhoven with tonight's "Life After Work."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm OK. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive and well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, you're working now here. JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Day and night, Rick Koca and his team of volunteers have food, clothes, food, computers, and most importantly, compassion for street kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where have you been all my life? Oh, my goodness.
RICK KOCA, FOUNDER, STANDUP FOR KIDS: I've traveled all over the world, 40-some foreign countries, and saw homeless kids in other cities and other countries, but I never expected that they would be in mine. And when I saw them here, I was just so upset.
WESTHOVEN: So he did something about it. Sixteen years ago, the former Navy officer started Standup for Kids.
KOCA: How can we help you get back into the job corps?
WESTHOVEN: Volunteers go out into the streets and find kids. Their mission: To care about them, and then at every point prove it.
KOCA: We're trying to be the family, the brother, the sister, the mom, the dad, depending on who you are. That's the piece we're really trying to play for them, to be for them, because they don't have that. So almost 18 years now, I have been walking the streets, talking to homeless and street children, and being, you know, involved in their lives. And I said in all that time, I never really met a kid who wanted to be on the streets, never, not one.
WESTHOVEN: Jennifer Westhoven, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Good man. Is the honeymoon over for the GOP? At the top of the hour, Larry King will talk with top Republicans about the rumblings of discontent within their party.
Number two in our cnn.com countdown, one we covered earlier. FBI agents digging up a Michigan horse farm to search for the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, the one time Teamsters boss, who has been missing since 1975. This search could go on for weeks and weeks and weeks. Number one story in our countdown right out of the break.
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ZAHN: Number one on our cnn.com countdown. Convicted child killer Lionel Tate is sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating his parole. He is accused of robbing a pizza delivery man at gunpoint.
The countdown on right now to the opening of "The Da Vinci Code" nationwide. Theaters all across the country. We'll separate fact from fiction tomorrow night and talk with clergymen who are fighting back.
Thanks so much for being with us tonight. Hope you be with us as we wrap up the week. Have a good night, everyone. Larry's next. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
