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CNN Sunday Morning
Deadly Accident in Baltimore; Iraq's Interim Constitution May Be Back on Track
Aired March 07, 2004 - 07:00 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.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is March 7th. Good morning. I'm Kelli Arena.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Renay San Miguel. Thanks for being with us. We have a lot to cover in the next three hours. So let's start by telling you what's coming up this hour.
A deadly accident in Baltimore. A water taxi capsizes in a sudden storm. One person is confirmed dead.
A search for the missing is due to resume this hour. Catching child pornographers, we'll tell you about the FBI's unique new approach toward nabbing those who exploit children.
As you can see, it's high energy, it's amazing, it's packing them in all across the country. We will take you under the big top and talk to the man behind the Universe Soul Circus.
ARENA: Iraq's interim constitution may be back on track. Shi'ite politicians met this weekend with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. One of them says he hopes the constitution will be signed tomorrow by Iraq's governing council. He says there's been progress in resolving the issue. That postponed Friday's scheduled signed.
And in an interview with "TIME" magazine, Senator John Kerry says that he will almost certainly send a team to Iraq to assess the situation there, so he can answer the tough questions on Iraq during the election.
Building the case against Saddam Hussein, a Justice Department team of 50 prosecutors, investigators and administrators is heading for Iraq this weekend. They'll help the Iraqis organize evidence for war crimes trials, targeting Saddam Hussein and top officials of his regime.
And bird flu has been found on a chicken farm in Maryland. It's the fifth state where it's been detected so far. Thousands of chickens will be destroyed at that Eastern shore farm and another farm nearby. 20 nations have banned imports of poultry from the United States.
And it is set for today, the first big opposition march in Haiti since President Jean Bertrand-Aristide left the country. Police and foreign peacekeepers will work together to prevent violence. Supporters of Aristide have sometimes attacked opposition demonstrators.
SAN MIGUEL: Our top story this hour, it is now a recovery operation in Baltimore Harbor. Rescue workers resumed their search this hour for three people missing since a water taxi capsized yesterday afternoon.
22 people were rescued, but one of them died. Witnesses say a squall seemed to come from nowhere. And the water taxi flipped over.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live at the scene. She gives us now the latest on the investigation -- Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, that investigation is now being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. We are expecting to be having a press conference from there on site in about a half an hour. They're going to be looking into everything from the maintenance and operation of this vessel, to the weather, which was said to be a key factor in this accident yesterday.
But of course, the focus this morning is, as it was last night, recovering those still missing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): Coast Guard vessels and helicopters search a grid pattern near the mouth of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, looking for the three passengers still missing and now presumed dead.
Naval Reservists training on shore saw the Seaport water taxi with 23 passengers and two crew flip over around 4:00 p.m., when the pontoon boat was hit by a microburst of intense wind.
MELVIN JOHNSON, NAVAL COMMAND CENTER: I saw the ferry coming down with the heavy gale force winds and the water plowing it. And it looked like it was going to overcome them. And basically, it looked like the ferry tried to make a turn to get back into the upper end of the harbor. And the wind just took it. And it looked like it tilted. Then the boat completely capsized.
KOCH: Naval Reserve and fire department boats sped to the scene one mile off shore. Some rescuers dove in to save passengers. Many though had already managed to scramble out of the frigid 46 degree water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw two people get up out of the water onto the top of the boat. And the rest of the people started getting on top of the boat, which would be the bottom at that point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: Now these water taxi services have been operating in Baltimore's scenic Inner Harbor for than 20 years. This is the first fatal accident they've ever had. The service involved the Seaport taxi service has suspended operations today, out of deference to the families. Now at the time that this accident occurred yesterday, initially the weather had been lovely here in the Baltimore area, but there were -- there was a small craft advisory in effect with a warning for wind gusts of up to 45 miles an hour, but the owner of Seaport water taxi says that that boat, that 36 foot long by 12 foot wide boat was designed to handle such weather -- Renay?
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Kathleen Koch, reporting live from Baltimore. Thanks so much.
And as Kathleen mentioned, there is a press conference scheduled for some time later this morning. Kathleen will remain at the scene for live updates of this story throughout the day.
ARENA: Well, defending the campaign ads. 22 people who lost relatives in the September 11 attacks have signed an open letter to America, declaring their support for President Bush. The letter calls the 9/11 images painful, but says their use in the president's re- election commercials is respectful of the memories of September 11.
Prominent Republican Rudy Giuliani, who was New York's mayor on September 11, is also defending the Bush campaign ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R), FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR: When people have evaluate George W. Bush even historically, I think they're going to feel he was a great president because of the way he brought us through September 11 and the attacks of September 11. So it's, you know, part of his record. And it's an appropriate part of his record
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Giuliani spoke with reporters last night at the Gridiron dinner in New York.
So what do you think? Should 9/11 images be used in campaign ads? Send us your comments for our morning e-mail. The web address is wam@cnn.com. We'll read some of your responses throughout the morning.
SAN MIGUEL: Martha Stewart is to report to her probation officer in New York tomorrow. The homemaking diva will be given guidelines on what she can and can't do before being sentenced on June 17.
Stewart was convicted Friday on all four counts in her obstruction of justice case. She could get 20 years in prison. But legal observers say 18 to 24 months is more likely.
Almost everyone who's been following the Stewart case has an opinion. We went to her hometown of Westport, Connecticut to see what the locals there had to see.
As CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports, the reaction was mixed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than 30 years, the tony Connecticut suburb of Westport has been Martha Stewart's hometown. Main Street here isn't K-Mart, but rather Coach and Talbots.
At Oscar's Deli, where Stewart sometimes ordered lunch, hometown opinion is divided.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people made her famous and the people are going to deal with her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's been tough. And she's not the most likable person, although on the other side, I know if I was presented with a similar situation, I don't know if I would have not done the same thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a shame to see someone fall from grace, if you will, but we're people. We make mistakes. I think she made a mistake.
HINOJOSA: Outside her picturesque country home, it was a quiet Saturday. But in downtown Westport, just about everyone, even teenagers, had an opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was younger, I do -- she did seem more like a role model. And sort of deceptive now that she would go and do something so underhanded and deceiving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She lied to the government, she cheated people out of money. And I have no sympathy for her.
HINOJOSA: Bars still protect the work studio that Stewart built, but talk about town is what will happen should she find herself behind another kind of bars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she really learned her lesson. Putting her in prison I don't think is going to be -- is not going to do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Poor Martha, she's going to either if the judge says you go to jail, I doubt it. But if she does go to jail, she could teach all the inmates how to cook.
HINOJOSA (on camera): But not until the judge decides whether or not she deserves jail time. And that won't happen until June 17th.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Westport, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: And one other Martha note for you. CBS' New York affiliate has pulled the plug on Martha Stewart's syndicated show, "Martha Stewart Living." It'll be off the air at WCBS beginning tomorrow.
ARENA: Well, it's time to check some other stories making headlines this morning. How about another job for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Well, the governor accepted a gig as executive editor of two muscle magazines. He'll earn an undisclosed salary for the position and $250,000 a year will also be paid to his council on physical fitness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: This is just now kind of like another title. Really, this was the bottom line is here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Well, Kobe Bryant may want to talk to the governor about keeping fit. The Lakers guard may miss up to a month of action on the basketball court due to a sprained shoulder. Bryant was injured in the first minute of Friday's game against Seattle.
And a New Paltz, New York, 13 same-sex couples were married without the mayor's help. The ceremonies were performed by Unitarian ministers. Mayor Jason West is facing 19 misdemeanor counts, after performing same-sex marriages last week.
And in his annual report to stockholders, billionaire Warren Buffett says that he and his company made even more money. Earnings nearly doubled last year. Buffett talked about the Bush administration's tax cut plan, saying many corporations don't pay close to their share of taxes. He also says if there is class warfare in America, then his class is winning.
SAN MIGUEL: Now let's face forward to the week ahead. On Tuesday, sniper John Allen Muhammad will be sentenced in Manassas, Virginia. A jury recommended death, but the judge could give him life in prison.
On Thursday, the Massachusetts legislature renews its debate on a bill to ban gay marriage. This comes in the wake of a state supreme court ruling in favor of gay marriages.
On Friday, the suspect in the abduction that was caught on videotape will be arraigned in Sarasota, Florida. Joseph Smith is accused of killing 11-year old Carlie Brucia.
ARENA: These are some of the newest images from Mars, an area which NASA scientists believe was once very wet. Both Mars rovers have now moved to new locations, to continue their explorations. NASA says Opportunity's cameras recently captured a solar eclipse as one of two Martian moons passed in front of the sun. Scientists are now waiting for that image to be beamed back to earth.
SAN MIGUEL: It is a dream that came true. A one of a kind circus offsets negative images in the black community. Later, the 10 year anniversary of the Universe Soul Circus, right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
ARENA: And up next, the FBI wants your kids to be safe. And it's showing you exactly who they should stay away from. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARENA: The FBI has turned to the mass media in an effort to crack down on child pornography. And they're hoping that traffic on the web can help end the trafficking and exploitation of children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI special agent Stacy Bradley was working a particularly gruesome child pornography case, when she repeatedly came across photos of children being abused by the same predators.
STACY BRADLEY, FBI: And I used to take those images of bank robberies or fugitives, and put them all over the news media. Why can't I do that with these guys?
ARENA: Now she can. There are thousands of pictures on the Internet of children of being sexually exploiters. Their abusers faces are also shown. The FBI isolates the most recent photos to be sure the victims are still children. For suspects who cannot be identified, agents work on getting so-called John Doe indictments, then publish pictures of the suspects.
So far, photos of three men have been publicized on the FBI's Web site and on "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED."
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Keep getting them. You get the indictments, we'll put them on the air. We'll take them down. You put them in jail.
ARENA: Two of the men are already in custody. The effort is part of the FBI's innocent images program. Agents there spend hours on the Internet posing as young girls to snare pornographers. They're even coached by actual teenagers. Here we see agents tackling a multiple choice quiz.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom likes her, but I don't.
ARENA: That, too, was one of Bradley's ideas.
BRADLEY: I want to keep every child just as safe as my own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The FBI's innocent images program is responsible for more than 3,000 arrests. Joining us now to talk more about this newest initiative is Kevin Perkins. He's the FBI's special agent in charge of the Baltimore division.
Kevin, it's nice to see you.
KEVIN PERKINS, FBI'S SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF BALTIMORE DIVISION: Good morning, Kelli. Nice to see you, too.
ARENA: Kevin, I know there's a lot of confusion about how these pictures are gathered, how they're brought into FBI hands. Can you explain, as generally as you can, how the FBI gets their hands on pictures of these suspects?
PERKINS: Certainly, Kelli. We are on the Internet a great deal during the day. We have undercover operations actually in place all across the country that are dealing with individuals who are involved and producing and distributing child pornography.
We're in contact with them on a daily basis via the Internet in an undercover capacity. These images are available over the Internet. They are easily obtainable. And that's one of the biggest concerns we have is, is how easy they are to obtain through your computer at home.
ARENA: And these are images, just so that our viewers are clear, these are images of mostly men involved in some sort of sexual exploitation of children?
PERKINS: That's correct. That's correct. There are all types of different things, but the vast majority of them are men involved with minors. That's correct.
ARENA: So when you go to a judge for a John Doe warrant, tell us what you have to prove to that judge in order to get that warrant, and then publicize those pictures?
PERKINS: We have to be able to show that this picture is, especially in the John Doe warrant case, that this is an ongoing activity that the individuals in the photograph, the individual or individuals are minors, along with the adult or adults. And many occasions, there are multiple individuals within the photograph.
We're able to prove to the judge that these individuals are minors and adults. And the photograph itself pretty much explains what's taking place.
ARENA: And so then you take this photo, you put it on the web. Of course we saw in the piece we did earlier, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." Do you expect that you'll be publishing those photos in other arenas?
PERKINS: Yes. We're very happy that the media has taken this on through "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED," through other media outlets, to publish these photographs.
The more exposure we can get, the better chance we will have in apprehending these individuals. And more importantly, one of the things we do after apprehending the individual that, allows us in many cases to be able to identify the victims. And in the end, in many cases, save children's lives.
ARENA: All right, Kevin Perkins, FBI's Baltimore office, thanks so much for joining us.
PERKINS: Thanks, Kelli.
SAN MIGUEL: Remember when Howard Dean was at the top of the polls, before the first caucus was held? Later this hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, we'll take you inside the campaign to see both the meteoric rise and the spectacular fall of the former frontrunner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: Well, "The Lord of the Rings" director and recent Oscar winner, as you see there, Peter Jackson says he'd now like to make a film of "The Hobbit," the prequel to the famous trilogy.
However, it may take a while. Jackson is in the middle of current project, that being "King Kong" with Naomi Watts. But already, he is thinking about casting for "The Hobbit." And Jackson says he wants that man right there, Ian McKellen, to play Gandalf since the wizard plays a big role in the entire saga.
This is, of course, very good news because I'm not sure that the entire may -- you know, I don't think it made quite enough money after three films and a billion some odd dollars worldwide.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: It's not about money, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Oh, that's right.
MARCIANO: It's about art and entertainment.
SAN MIGUEL: This is true. Now hey, I'm a "Lord of the Rings" fan. I was a big fan of the films. And I'm glad that they recognized fantasy, but it'd be interesting to see if they can get all the characters back together. All the actors.
ARENA: Well, you know, I don't know. I don't think so.
SAN MIGUEL: After they spent, what, you know, three years...
ARENA: Yes, this may be it.
SAN MIGUEL: ...in New Zealand.
MARCIANO: I'm just trying to get my life together for nine hours so I can sit down and watch the thing.
SAN MIGUEL: There's the challenge right there.
MARCIANO: Hey folks vacationing in Florida, it's been warm, but in the morning, it's been awfully foggy. This is Clearwater Beach, where we'll call it a fogwater beach.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
MARCIANO: Good morning, gang. WTVT on the west coast of Florida and around Tampa. We're looking at 68 degrees and obviously some poor visibility out that way.
But you will see the sun come out. And it will warm up quite rapidly. Temperatures easily into the 70s. And you can go just a little bit inland. And we'll look at temperatures that will easily get into the 80s.
And we've highlighted that in one of our weather headlines.
Warm across Florida and California, mostly -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Great Lakes clipper. We'll get rid of that graphic rather quickly.
All right, here's your situation on the weather map this morning. A little clipper moving across the Great Lakes. Wind on both sides of this thing. And some rain and snow to the north of this thing, mostly north of Detroit, across the UP of Michigan, maybe a couple of inches of snow there. And a little bit cooler and windier across the Northeast today. That little clipper comes your way tonight with some rain and snow mixed actually in New York City.
And there's your warm across much of Florida. The fog that's along the coast should be giving way to some sunshine. Also sunshine across much of the inner mountain west. Big (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in control. And where they just miserable spring training weather this past week across much of Arizona, where the west coast teams train, where it's been cold and wet, you're looking at sunshine and temperatures that will be in the 80s.
A bit of a an offshore flow for California. And that means that San Francisco will get to near 70 and Los Angeles will get to near 80 degrees. 82 expected in Phoenix today. 69 degrees in Salt Lake City. 53 degrees expected in D.C. 48 in New York, after you folks got up into the 60s. And then 41, a little bit cooler in Chicago.
We talked yesterday about the big race happening in Anchorage, Alaska or the start of it, the Iditarod. And we have some video as we promised. They're dogs. They can't wait to get out there and take a trip around Alaska, just a leisurely stroll. Usually takes about two weeks. They had good weather yesterday. Temperatures were about 15 degrees with clear skies, which could be a lot worse in Alaska.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes, well.
MARCIANO: This 32nd running of it. They started -- restarted this morning in Willow, which is different from where it should be, because they have actually not as much snow as they should have, but they had to chuck a little bit of snow in there in Anchorage.
ARENA: That's amazing.
SAN MIGUEL: But otherwise, good mushing weather I would think.
MARCIANO: Excellent mushing weather, you're right about that.
SAN MIGUEL: Thanks a lot.
ARENA: Thanks a lot.
Well, we have some dramatic pictures to show you from Australia. These people were caught up in a fast moving flood, but rescue crews were able to pull one of them to safety just moments before the rushing waters sent their SUV downstream. A rescuer then dove in to free the other person, who had become trapped underneath the vehicle.
SAN MIGUEL: Here's a quick check now of our top stories. A U.S. Justice Department team heads to Iraq this weekend to put together evidence against Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi dictator and members of his regime could face a war crimes trial. Iraqi officials may finally sign the interim constitution for that country.
Friday's planned signing was derailed after a top cleric rejected portions of the document. Now a member of Iraq's governing council says the differences are being resolved during a weekend meeting with the cleric and the signing may take place tomorrow.
ARENA: John Kerry takes his campaign straight to the president's home turf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm just want to say back to the president I hope this early in the campaign he's not running so scared...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Find out why Kerry is accusing Bush of departing from the truth when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And for the first time, I was helpless. I couldn't even stand up without my buddy helping me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAN MIGUEL: A story of one American hero who found a new mission after his service in Iraq.
ARENA: And we are expecting a news conference from Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where a water taxi toppled over. Three people are still missing. You're looking at live pictures right night. Once again, waiting for a news conference from that location. Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've all heard about the dangers of over using antibiotics and bacterial resistance, but a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that taking antibiotics may increase a woman's risk for breast cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On average, women who used antibiotics for more than 500 days had a two fold risk, increased risk of breast cancer. FIRFER: Here are some tips on the safest way to use antibiotics. If your doctor thinks antibiotics are the best meds, then take them. Never take them for the cold, cough, or the flu. Take the full course of treatment, even after you're feeling better. Never take leftovers. It could delay treatment and allow bacteria to multiply.
Medical experts are recommending that further studies be done to confirm those findings.
Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: Live pictures from Baltimore Harbor. We are expecting a news briefing to start momentarily here, led by Baltimore fire chief William Goodwin, Martin O'Malley, the Baltimore mayor and officials with the National Transportation Safety Board. All of this having to do with the search for three people who are missing after a water taxi they were riding in capsized yesterday during a storm. One person was killed in the accident. The pontoon boat flipped over about a mile offshore, after being hit by high winds. Once that press conference gets underway, we will go to it live.
Also, Israeli military forces clashed with Palestinian gunmen during two early morning raids on refugee camps in Gaza. Witnesses say at least 14 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded. Israelis say their forces were met with heavy gunfire.
President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox wrap up their mini summit today with some final talks on trade issues and immigration. They did reach a consensus that short term Mexican visitors to the U.S. won't be fingerprinted and photographed.
ARENA: One of the main topics of debate during the election is sure to be the ongoing situation in Iraq. Senator John Kerry says he may need some help to answer the tough questions. In an interview with "TIME" magazine, Kerry says he will almost certainly send a fact finding team to Iraq so he can formulate detailed answers to the Iraq questions that he'll face on the campaign trail. Among the names mentioned for the trip are Delaware Senator Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, candidate Kerry made his way into the president's home state to talk about jobs, the economy, and the Alamo.
Candy Crowley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 168 years to the day the Alamo fell, John Kerry blasted into Bush territory for an assault of a different sort.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As they say, remember the Alamo. I say remember those people who have lost their jobs. Remember those kids who downsized their dreams.
CROWLEY: From Houston to San Antonio, Kerry courted voters, looked for donors, and took Texas style jabs at the president. At an outdoor rally just blocks from the Alamo, Kerry accused the president of telling tall Texas tales when he says that Kerry will raise taxes.
KERRY: I just want to say back to the president, I hope this early in the campaign he's not running so scared that he feels he's got to already depart from the truth in this campaign.
CROWLEY: One of the most Democratic cities in Texas, San Antonio ported out for the almost nominee, who says the president is guilty of a long trail of broken promises. In Houston, just about 200 miles from Crawford, where President Bush was hosting Mexican President Vicente Fox, Kerry held a town hall meeting, an hour and a half event. It covered everything from the price of bottled water to the federal deficit.
And inside the issues, you could hear the beginnings of a Kerry defense against charges he's a Massachusetts liberal who changes his tune for political gain.
KERRY: If being liberal is wanting to keep faith with no child left behind and actually educate kids and be fair about not giving the wealthiest people another tax cut at the expense of our children, if being liberal is protecting the veterans who earned the right to have a VA that works for them, hey, they'd go ahead and throw the labels around all they want.
CROWLEY: Texas is not fertile voter territory for national Democrats, but there is money here. John Edwards found a lot of it to fund his campaign. Kerry met with fund-raisers in Houston in the first step to setting up his own network.
(on camera): Camp Kerry would love to tap into Edwards' spigot of trial lawyers. To that end, the Kerry money men will meet next week with Edwards finance team. It may look a lot like old home week, because Kerry has also invited Howard Dean down to Washington for a chat. And Dean has said yes.
Candy Crowley, CNN, San Antonio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: And Howard Dean can offer John Kerry more than just advice. He also has 178 delegates in his back pocket headed for the convention.
As for the Dean campaign itself, it paved the road for a new way to reach voters and volunteers. As part of our special "CNN PRESENTS" on the Dean campaign, we look at how it used the Internet to impact the political machine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready, Georgia boy? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready, Utah boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was -- so you want to know what we're doing at 2:00 in the morning? Constant faucet of creativity for Dean for America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to get back to changing oil.
E.J. DIONNE, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Lots of people have spun all sorts of theories about the Internet, none of which usually panned out. And here suddenly, you had a candidate who would use this new tool, you know, there's no other way to put it. He used it brilliantly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're screaming live from here.
DIONNE: And then you had Joe Trippi, who even before he went to Dean, believed you could do this differently, and you could use the new technology in a different way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, where am I blogging?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only one medium in the world that would allow two million Americans to give $100 to us in one day if they wanted to do it. It's the Internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would help if I had a computer that was hooked up to something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each time we have set a goal that seemed impossible, yet somehow you made sure we reached it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We broke President Clinton's record for raising the most money. And we didn't do it with $2000 contributions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it? $1358?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that it sometimes may seem at the end of the quarter, but the campaign is too focused on the money, but how we raise our money is a very important part of the message of Governor Dean's campaign.
KAREN HICKS, STAFF DIRECTOR: You know, I think Kerry will fight hard and come back and make up a little bit of loss ground, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you heard anything about his money?
HICKS: No, I've heard -- I mean, I think they're going to -- it's been so tight that I can't help but think that they're going to come out with something more than five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your old girlfriend in the Kerry campaign say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call her up. She won't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call her up. Tell her you'll marry her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to get me in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kate, how are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys going to break seven, because that's the word on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) marry me in order to tell me. You will take me up on that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just proposed marriage to her on CNN PRESENTS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: That's one way to do opposition research, I guess. You can see much more from behind the scenes when "CNN PRESENTS: True Believers, Life Inside the Dean Campaign." That comes your way tonight at 8:00 Eastern time.
ARENA: And in another programming note, and another former presidential candidate General Wesley Clark joins Wolf Blitzer on today's "LATE EDITION." That's at noon Eastern today.
SAN MIGUEL: Well, the largest minority in America might be a deciding factor in the November elections. So which candidate has a better chance of getting that vote? Find out at the top of next hour. And then at 9:00 Eastern, is gay marriage a civil right? Get ready for a heated debate on that. And then later, some college football news, but it's not what you think. How far do colleges go to attract the best athletes? You'll be surprised to find out what goes on behind the scenes.
But up next, from Iraq to the LAPD, the story of one American hero who found a new passion after a tour of duty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARENA: U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant Ryan White, a veteran of the Iraq War, is a recruiter. But he's not trying to get civilians into the Marines. He's trying to get Marines into the LAPD.
Bill Tucker has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUNNERY SGT. RYAN WHITE, U.S. MARINE RESERVES: There's a nine step hiring process in becoming a police officer.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ryan White is the Los Angeles Police Department's recruiting liaison with the military.
WHITE: Now I got probably the best job in the whole world, in my opinion.
TUCKER: He wants young Marines to join the department when their days on active duty are over.
WHITE: That's the type of person I want to work with back when I get to the streets with LAPD.
TUCKER: White is both a cop and a Marine and done both jobs in the past year. He rolled into Baghdad with the first Marine expeditionary force and got injured the day Saddam's statue fell.
WHITE: Somebody was taking pop shots and went into rounds, ricocheted off the deck, and struck me in the left foot.
TUCKER: It wasn't a life threatening injury, but enough to take him out of battle.
WHITE: My years in law enforcement, my many years in the Marine Corps, you know, you train with weapons all the time. And for the first time, I was helpless. I couldn't even stand up without my buddy helping me.
TUCKER: White came home to wife Mindy and daughter Savannah in May. By August, he recovered and went back to work. In October, he was awarded the Purple Heart and a Marine medal for achievement, but dismisses the idea that he's a hero.
WHITE: It's gals like my wife that stick with a man like me through my whole life. Those are the true heroes.
TUCKER: Now young Marines listen as White tells them how valuable their military experience is to the LAPD and about the rewards of a life, combining military service overseas with law enforcement at home.
Bill Tucker, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The first of about $5 billion in construction contracts for rebuilding Iraq could be awarded as early as this week. It's part of the $18.4 billion that Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction. More than $12 billion is expected to be spent on construction projects over the next few years.
We are now going live to a press conference with Baltimore's fire chief William Goodwin about the boat -- the water taxi that capsized there. Let's listen in.
WILLIAM GOODWIN, BALTIMORE FIRE CHIEF: ...through the night time hours last night on a limited basis from the surface. We'll continue surface based operations. We'll do some aerial searches with the helicopters. Additionally, we're going to be putting some divers in specific locations, as close as we can re pinpoint where the boat possibly capsized today. We're going to be incorporating some cadaver dogs, which is used, that we've had some success with before locating the spots from the surface with the boat. We'll be using side scan sonar. And most of the same things we were using yesterday, at the onset of the incident.
KOCH: What sorts of things you're looking for now? I mean, are you looking for debris from the boat to give you an idea of where the bodies might have drifted?
GOODWIN: No, really, we're looking for the bodies specifically. We found debris as far as Fort Carroll from here yesterday. So the current was moving rather swiftly, along with the winds right after that storm. So we're going to center back on the area of where the boat first capsized and see if we have any additional luck there.
We started there yesterday and continued downstream. Now we're going to come back to start over again, re-establish a grid pattern, and start working back from there.
KOCH: How many people do you have today? Men, women, children, could you give us an idea?
GOODWIN: I still can't release any of that at this time. As I said, last night, we're being extremely guarded because all the people involved in this, all 25 people, were related somehow, that not necessarily to each other all 25, but they were in couples or families. They weren't necessarily in one group, but the people that are hospitalized and the people that are still missing are related.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the conditions of the people who were hospitalized? We understood that two are in critical. How are they today?
GOODWIN: The update is pretty much the same as it was at midnight last night. We still have one deceased, two in critical condition, three missing. As of 1:30 this morning, we had 10 people released from the hospital of those that were remaining.
So all together, we're getting an update as we speak, but we'll see those people that were released were just treated for the cold and exposure. And one or two other serious injuries, not life threatening. They were hospitalized, but except for the two in critical, no others that have any type of potentially fatal injuries.
KOCH: Can you describe to us how many people and who -- what organizations are involved in today's search?
GOODWIN: Today, we will have the Department of Natural Resources, United States Coast Guard, Baltimore City Police, Baltimore City Fire, and possibly the Marin State Police with their helicopters.
And that's what we'll start with. If we think that we need anything additional, we'll call from there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us more about the weather condition that seemed to have caused the capsize? GOODWIN: It seems to be somewhat of an anomaly that happened yesterday that no one really took notice to, until after the accident happened. There was a brief severe thunderstorm warning. And within several minutes, some sort of cell of severe weather passed directly over the harbor from northwest to southeast. And apparently, that's what took place, severe thunderstorm. Winds approaching 50 miles per hour. And as quick as it happened, it seemed to be over, but...
ARENA: We've been listening to Baltimore fire chief William Goodwin talking about a water taxi that capsized in Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday. One mile offshore. That boat was carrying 25 people. Divers are still searching the area. One person is confirmed dead. Two in critical condition. Three people are still missing. And the fire chief says that those three individuals are related.
Again, this in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.
Well, we've got other headlines for you and other stop stories right after this break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: A decade ago, two friends turned a dream into a true American success story. They were looking for a place for America's black community to escape the sometimes deplorable images nearby. Their creation reaches a milestone this year.
As Kyra Phillips tells us, it's been 10 years under the Big Top for the UniverSoul Circus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL DUPRIS, FOUNDER: I am the co-founder and ringmaster of this Big Top. My name is Casual.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the early '90s, former radio DJ Casual Cal Dupris and music promoter Cedric Walker wanted to offset the often vulgar images portrayed in rap music and other forms of entertainment popular in the black community.
CEDRIC WALKER, PRESIDENT, CEO, UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: And I just thought that we should try to do something that grandmother, daughter, father, and son could all sit on the same bench, generations and see something together.
DUPRIS: Somebody, anybody, everybody, scream!
PHILLIPS: Thus the UniverSoul Circus was born. And in 1994, co- founder Casual Cal became the world's first black circus ringmaster.
WALKER: Cal, I think, is a genius. I think that he has the ability to touch people. He has the magic.
PHILLIPS: They lost $500,000 the first year. The second year wasn't much better. WALKER: We spent $350,000 the second time and we took in to. And we were very happy to lose $150,000. No I thought -- people thought I was crazy. I only lost -- you know, the investors all were taking off one by one, you know.
PHILLIPS: UniverSoul, not boasts a 50 city trek, two touring companies, and trips to South Africa.
WALKER: People don't buy things because of the color of your skin. They buy them because of the quality in content. And the word of mouth had to go out.
DUPRIS: If this is Atlanta, Georgia, put your hands together for the Governese Acrobatic Tour.
PHILLIPS: It was an immediate magnet for the world's black performers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got here, and we see the way they was performing, they was doing the show, running the whole thing, we just, you know, feel that was the right place to be.
PHILLIPS: Ten years later, dreams of an even larger Big Top. Underneath, you would travel through the Harlem Renaissance or skate with a black ice show. Walker says it would be a black Disneyworld.
So many things that has an influence to American culture, that you know, that we could pull together and represent and present in certain ways. So we have a lot of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Kyra Phillips, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: Well the success story of the UniverSoul Circus could probably be used as a blueprint for the small businessman. And joining us now is a man who wants to take the company, an example -- make the company an example, rather, for large corporations as well, the president and CEO of UniverSoul, Cedric Walker.
Thanks for being on this morning.
CEDRIC WALKER, PRESIDENT, CEO, UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: Thank you for having us.
SAN MIGUEL: You know, you can tell when Casual Cal comes running out at the beginning of UniverSoul Circus and he comes out to a James Brown song. And the lights are going. It's almost like a concert.
You can tell this is not your father's circus here. I mean, you're going into new territory, but how vital has Casual Cal been to the success of the UniverSoul...
WALKER: He's been a core creative force. In the format, actually have two shows. And both shows -- Cal is a genius. He feels it. And he expresses it -- he expresses himself and touches people. SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
WALKER: He's just -- and when comes out, he's stepping high.
SAN MIGUEL: The energy level goes to another level when he hits the stage there. So how do you transfer this? I mean, the idea of taking various aspects of African American culture, and applying that into what, you know, what many saw as a traditional form of entertainment, the circus, and trying to do something new with that.
Where else do you want to go with this concept?
WALKER: Well, I think there's a lot of things that we haven't done. And there's a lot -- been a lot of contributions to American culture, that African-Americans have made for so long.
We've looked at African-American culture or black culture as something from Africa or to jazz. And it's been very limited in expression.
I think that there's the ice show, for instance. There's the rodeo. There's the -- we need a street. I mean, we've made the Harlem Renaissance, the Chitlin' Circuit of Club Harlem in Atlantic City, Small Paradise in New York, you know, the Total Experience in L.A., Motown. There -- it's...
SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
WALKER: ...you can go on. Stacksville International. It's just been so many great contributions to our culture.
SAN MIGUEL: The Beale Street experience in Memphis. You also, I think another example.
We only have about 30 seconds here, but you know, how do you balance what you want to do with this, with any kind of criticisms of exploiting various elements of black culture? Because I know you kind of ran into some of that at the beginning of the UniverSoul Circus. And you talked about that. It's a delicate balancing act, isn't it?
WALKER: Well, I think the contributions are so important and so rich. I look at it totally different. I look at it as something that uplifts a people. It uplifts a culture and makes the great contribution.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, well, and you've gotten a lot of good publicity this year. Great write-up in "Newsweek" magazine. You now have two tours going with it. So I think some of those contributions are taking heart in the black community.
Cedric Walker, president and CEO of UniverSoul's Circus, thanks for joining us and good luck in the future.
WALKER: Thank you.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Kelli, back over to you. ARENA: All right. Well, we asked you earlier today if you think 9/11 images should be used in campaign ads. We'll read some of your responses when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns. And in case you missed it yesterday, in about half an hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's journey back to Iraq nearly one year after the war began. Catch the details on our Weekend House Call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: And now we go to Rob Marciano for a quick check on the weather -- Rob?
MARCIANO: Good morning again, guys. Let's go to the Northeast, where yesterday, some records fell in places like Washington, D.C. and New York City. We go to Boston, where it was pretty warm yesterday as well.
Today, though, even though you're seeing blue skies from our affiliate out that way, WCVV, beautiful shots in downtown I believe in Charles. We are expecting temperatures today to be held down into the 40s and then even colder tomorrow. This system will come your way and may spread a little -- make some rain and snow.
Chicago, some wind today. Detroit, a mix of rain and snow. Just north of Detroit, you'll see some snow as well, but a lot of the map is seeing some sunny weather and a bit of a flash that I'll fix for the next half an hour.
In about 20, 25 minutes, we'll talk about the next two days to start up your work week. Back to you guys in the studios.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, we'll see you then, Rob, thanks.
ARENA: Thanks, Rob.
Well, here is an update on our top stories. The search resumes this hour for three people still missing and feared dead, after a water taxi capsized in Baltimore Harbor. One person is confirmed dead. 21 survived.
After a round of talks, it looks like Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric and the Iraqi governing council are coming to terms over an interim constitution. The cleric effectively blocked Friday's planned signing, after rejecting portions of the document. A member of the council says differences are being resolved, and the document may be signed tomorrow.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, our question of the day on our e-mails, asking you to write in what you think -- if you think 9/11 images should be used in the campaign ads for the presidential election, coming up. And we are starting to hear from some of you on this.
ARENA: All right, we hear, first from Justin in Ohio. Oh, no, you know what? Let's read Carol first.
SAN MIGUEL: This one right from Carol in Saratoga Springs, New York. "Bush promised he would not use this tragedy for political gain. I wish I could tell you the date and time. He would gain lots more points if he just kept one of his promises."
(AUDIO GAP)
ARENA: ...thinks they should be used. "He and America had to overcome a great tragedy and that tragedy led to the war on terror to break up al Qaeda."
SAN MIGUEL: We are going to hear some more of your e-mails later on, but for right now, the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING begins right now.
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May Be Back on Track>
Aired March 7, 2004 - 07:00 ET
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KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is March 7th. Good morning. I'm Kelli Arena.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Renay San Miguel. Thanks for being with us. We have a lot to cover in the next three hours. So let's start by telling you what's coming up this hour.
A deadly accident in Baltimore. A water taxi capsizes in a sudden storm. One person is confirmed dead.
A search for the missing is due to resume this hour. Catching child pornographers, we'll tell you about the FBI's unique new approach toward nabbing those who exploit children.
As you can see, it's high energy, it's amazing, it's packing them in all across the country. We will take you under the big top and talk to the man behind the Universe Soul Circus.
ARENA: Iraq's interim constitution may be back on track. Shi'ite politicians met this weekend with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. One of them says he hopes the constitution will be signed tomorrow by Iraq's governing council. He says there's been progress in resolving the issue. That postponed Friday's scheduled signed.
And in an interview with "TIME" magazine, Senator John Kerry says that he will almost certainly send a team to Iraq to assess the situation there, so he can answer the tough questions on Iraq during the election.
Building the case against Saddam Hussein, a Justice Department team of 50 prosecutors, investigators and administrators is heading for Iraq this weekend. They'll help the Iraqis organize evidence for war crimes trials, targeting Saddam Hussein and top officials of his regime.
And bird flu has been found on a chicken farm in Maryland. It's the fifth state where it's been detected so far. Thousands of chickens will be destroyed at that Eastern shore farm and another farm nearby. 20 nations have banned imports of poultry from the United States.
And it is set for today, the first big opposition march in Haiti since President Jean Bertrand-Aristide left the country. Police and foreign peacekeepers will work together to prevent violence. Supporters of Aristide have sometimes attacked opposition demonstrators.
SAN MIGUEL: Our top story this hour, it is now a recovery operation in Baltimore Harbor. Rescue workers resumed their search this hour for three people missing since a water taxi capsized yesterday afternoon.
22 people were rescued, but one of them died. Witnesses say a squall seemed to come from nowhere. And the water taxi flipped over.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live at the scene. She gives us now the latest on the investigation -- Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, that investigation is now being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. We are expecting to be having a press conference from there on site in about a half an hour. They're going to be looking into everything from the maintenance and operation of this vessel, to the weather, which was said to be a key factor in this accident yesterday.
But of course, the focus this morning is, as it was last night, recovering those still missing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): Coast Guard vessels and helicopters search a grid pattern near the mouth of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, looking for the three passengers still missing and now presumed dead.
Naval Reservists training on shore saw the Seaport water taxi with 23 passengers and two crew flip over around 4:00 p.m., when the pontoon boat was hit by a microburst of intense wind.
MELVIN JOHNSON, NAVAL COMMAND CENTER: I saw the ferry coming down with the heavy gale force winds and the water plowing it. And it looked like it was going to overcome them. And basically, it looked like the ferry tried to make a turn to get back into the upper end of the harbor. And the wind just took it. And it looked like it tilted. Then the boat completely capsized.
KOCH: Naval Reserve and fire department boats sped to the scene one mile off shore. Some rescuers dove in to save passengers. Many though had already managed to scramble out of the frigid 46 degree water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw two people get up out of the water onto the top of the boat. And the rest of the people started getting on top of the boat, which would be the bottom at that point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: Now these water taxi services have been operating in Baltimore's scenic Inner Harbor for than 20 years. This is the first fatal accident they've ever had. The service involved the Seaport taxi service has suspended operations today, out of deference to the families. Now at the time that this accident occurred yesterday, initially the weather had been lovely here in the Baltimore area, but there were -- there was a small craft advisory in effect with a warning for wind gusts of up to 45 miles an hour, but the owner of Seaport water taxi says that that boat, that 36 foot long by 12 foot wide boat was designed to handle such weather -- Renay?
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Kathleen Koch, reporting live from Baltimore. Thanks so much.
And as Kathleen mentioned, there is a press conference scheduled for some time later this morning. Kathleen will remain at the scene for live updates of this story throughout the day.
ARENA: Well, defending the campaign ads. 22 people who lost relatives in the September 11 attacks have signed an open letter to America, declaring their support for President Bush. The letter calls the 9/11 images painful, but says their use in the president's re- election commercials is respectful of the memories of September 11.
Prominent Republican Rudy Giuliani, who was New York's mayor on September 11, is also defending the Bush campaign ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R), FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR: When people have evaluate George W. Bush even historically, I think they're going to feel he was a great president because of the way he brought us through September 11 and the attacks of September 11. So it's, you know, part of his record. And it's an appropriate part of his record
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Giuliani spoke with reporters last night at the Gridiron dinner in New York.
So what do you think? Should 9/11 images be used in campaign ads? Send us your comments for our morning e-mail. The web address is wam@cnn.com. We'll read some of your responses throughout the morning.
SAN MIGUEL: Martha Stewart is to report to her probation officer in New York tomorrow. The homemaking diva will be given guidelines on what she can and can't do before being sentenced on June 17.
Stewart was convicted Friday on all four counts in her obstruction of justice case. She could get 20 years in prison. But legal observers say 18 to 24 months is more likely.
Almost everyone who's been following the Stewart case has an opinion. We went to her hometown of Westport, Connecticut to see what the locals there had to see.
As CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports, the reaction was mixed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than 30 years, the tony Connecticut suburb of Westport has been Martha Stewart's hometown. Main Street here isn't K-Mart, but rather Coach and Talbots.
At Oscar's Deli, where Stewart sometimes ordered lunch, hometown opinion is divided.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people made her famous and the people are going to deal with her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's been tough. And she's not the most likable person, although on the other side, I know if I was presented with a similar situation, I don't know if I would have not done the same thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a shame to see someone fall from grace, if you will, but we're people. We make mistakes. I think she made a mistake.
HINOJOSA: Outside her picturesque country home, it was a quiet Saturday. But in downtown Westport, just about everyone, even teenagers, had an opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was younger, I do -- she did seem more like a role model. And sort of deceptive now that she would go and do something so underhanded and deceiving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She lied to the government, she cheated people out of money. And I have no sympathy for her.
HINOJOSA: Bars still protect the work studio that Stewart built, but talk about town is what will happen should she find herself behind another kind of bars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she really learned her lesson. Putting her in prison I don't think is going to be -- is not going to do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Poor Martha, she's going to either if the judge says you go to jail, I doubt it. But if she does go to jail, she could teach all the inmates how to cook.
HINOJOSA (on camera): But not until the judge decides whether or not she deserves jail time. And that won't happen until June 17th.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Westport, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: And one other Martha note for you. CBS' New York affiliate has pulled the plug on Martha Stewart's syndicated show, "Martha Stewart Living." It'll be off the air at WCBS beginning tomorrow.
ARENA: Well, it's time to check some other stories making headlines this morning. How about another job for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Well, the governor accepted a gig as executive editor of two muscle magazines. He'll earn an undisclosed salary for the position and $250,000 a year will also be paid to his council on physical fitness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: This is just now kind of like another title. Really, this was the bottom line is here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Well, Kobe Bryant may want to talk to the governor about keeping fit. The Lakers guard may miss up to a month of action on the basketball court due to a sprained shoulder. Bryant was injured in the first minute of Friday's game against Seattle.
And a New Paltz, New York, 13 same-sex couples were married without the mayor's help. The ceremonies were performed by Unitarian ministers. Mayor Jason West is facing 19 misdemeanor counts, after performing same-sex marriages last week.
And in his annual report to stockholders, billionaire Warren Buffett says that he and his company made even more money. Earnings nearly doubled last year. Buffett talked about the Bush administration's tax cut plan, saying many corporations don't pay close to their share of taxes. He also says if there is class warfare in America, then his class is winning.
SAN MIGUEL: Now let's face forward to the week ahead. On Tuesday, sniper John Allen Muhammad will be sentenced in Manassas, Virginia. A jury recommended death, but the judge could give him life in prison.
On Thursday, the Massachusetts legislature renews its debate on a bill to ban gay marriage. This comes in the wake of a state supreme court ruling in favor of gay marriages.
On Friday, the suspect in the abduction that was caught on videotape will be arraigned in Sarasota, Florida. Joseph Smith is accused of killing 11-year old Carlie Brucia.
ARENA: These are some of the newest images from Mars, an area which NASA scientists believe was once very wet. Both Mars rovers have now moved to new locations, to continue their explorations. NASA says Opportunity's cameras recently captured a solar eclipse as one of two Martian moons passed in front of the sun. Scientists are now waiting for that image to be beamed back to earth.
SAN MIGUEL: It is a dream that came true. A one of a kind circus offsets negative images in the black community. Later, the 10 year anniversary of the Universe Soul Circus, right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
ARENA: And up next, the FBI wants your kids to be safe. And it's showing you exactly who they should stay away from. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARENA: The FBI has turned to the mass media in an effort to crack down on child pornography. And they're hoping that traffic on the web can help end the trafficking and exploitation of children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI special agent Stacy Bradley was working a particularly gruesome child pornography case, when she repeatedly came across photos of children being abused by the same predators.
STACY BRADLEY, FBI: And I used to take those images of bank robberies or fugitives, and put them all over the news media. Why can't I do that with these guys?
ARENA: Now she can. There are thousands of pictures on the Internet of children of being sexually exploiters. Their abusers faces are also shown. The FBI isolates the most recent photos to be sure the victims are still children. For suspects who cannot be identified, agents work on getting so-called John Doe indictments, then publish pictures of the suspects.
So far, photos of three men have been publicized on the FBI's Web site and on "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED."
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Keep getting them. You get the indictments, we'll put them on the air. We'll take them down. You put them in jail.
ARENA: Two of the men are already in custody. The effort is part of the FBI's innocent images program. Agents there spend hours on the Internet posing as young girls to snare pornographers. They're even coached by actual teenagers. Here we see agents tackling a multiple choice quiz.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom likes her, but I don't.
ARENA: That, too, was one of Bradley's ideas.
BRADLEY: I want to keep every child just as safe as my own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The FBI's innocent images program is responsible for more than 3,000 arrests. Joining us now to talk more about this newest initiative is Kevin Perkins. He's the FBI's special agent in charge of the Baltimore division.
Kevin, it's nice to see you.
KEVIN PERKINS, FBI'S SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF BALTIMORE DIVISION: Good morning, Kelli. Nice to see you, too.
ARENA: Kevin, I know there's a lot of confusion about how these pictures are gathered, how they're brought into FBI hands. Can you explain, as generally as you can, how the FBI gets their hands on pictures of these suspects?
PERKINS: Certainly, Kelli. We are on the Internet a great deal during the day. We have undercover operations actually in place all across the country that are dealing with individuals who are involved and producing and distributing child pornography.
We're in contact with them on a daily basis via the Internet in an undercover capacity. These images are available over the Internet. They are easily obtainable. And that's one of the biggest concerns we have is, is how easy they are to obtain through your computer at home.
ARENA: And these are images, just so that our viewers are clear, these are images of mostly men involved in some sort of sexual exploitation of children?
PERKINS: That's correct. That's correct. There are all types of different things, but the vast majority of them are men involved with minors. That's correct.
ARENA: So when you go to a judge for a John Doe warrant, tell us what you have to prove to that judge in order to get that warrant, and then publicize those pictures?
PERKINS: We have to be able to show that this picture is, especially in the John Doe warrant case, that this is an ongoing activity that the individuals in the photograph, the individual or individuals are minors, along with the adult or adults. And many occasions, there are multiple individuals within the photograph.
We're able to prove to the judge that these individuals are minors and adults. And the photograph itself pretty much explains what's taking place.
ARENA: And so then you take this photo, you put it on the web. Of course we saw in the piece we did earlier, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." Do you expect that you'll be publishing those photos in other arenas?
PERKINS: Yes. We're very happy that the media has taken this on through "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED," through other media outlets, to publish these photographs.
The more exposure we can get, the better chance we will have in apprehending these individuals. And more importantly, one of the things we do after apprehending the individual that, allows us in many cases to be able to identify the victims. And in the end, in many cases, save children's lives.
ARENA: All right, Kevin Perkins, FBI's Baltimore office, thanks so much for joining us.
PERKINS: Thanks, Kelli.
SAN MIGUEL: Remember when Howard Dean was at the top of the polls, before the first caucus was held? Later this hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, we'll take you inside the campaign to see both the meteoric rise and the spectacular fall of the former frontrunner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: Well, "The Lord of the Rings" director and recent Oscar winner, as you see there, Peter Jackson says he'd now like to make a film of "The Hobbit," the prequel to the famous trilogy.
However, it may take a while. Jackson is in the middle of current project, that being "King Kong" with Naomi Watts. But already, he is thinking about casting for "The Hobbit." And Jackson says he wants that man right there, Ian McKellen, to play Gandalf since the wizard plays a big role in the entire saga.
This is, of course, very good news because I'm not sure that the entire may -- you know, I don't think it made quite enough money after three films and a billion some odd dollars worldwide.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: It's not about money, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Oh, that's right.
MARCIANO: It's about art and entertainment.
SAN MIGUEL: This is true. Now hey, I'm a "Lord of the Rings" fan. I was a big fan of the films. And I'm glad that they recognized fantasy, but it'd be interesting to see if they can get all the characters back together. All the actors.
ARENA: Well, you know, I don't know. I don't think so.
SAN MIGUEL: After they spent, what, you know, three years...
ARENA: Yes, this may be it.
SAN MIGUEL: ...in New Zealand.
MARCIANO: I'm just trying to get my life together for nine hours so I can sit down and watch the thing.
SAN MIGUEL: There's the challenge right there.
MARCIANO: Hey folks vacationing in Florida, it's been warm, but in the morning, it's been awfully foggy. This is Clearwater Beach, where we'll call it a fogwater beach.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
MARCIANO: Good morning, gang. WTVT on the west coast of Florida and around Tampa. We're looking at 68 degrees and obviously some poor visibility out that way.
But you will see the sun come out. And it will warm up quite rapidly. Temperatures easily into the 70s. And you can go just a little bit inland. And we'll look at temperatures that will easily get into the 80s.
And we've highlighted that in one of our weather headlines.
Warm across Florida and California, mostly -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Great Lakes clipper. We'll get rid of that graphic rather quickly.
All right, here's your situation on the weather map this morning. A little clipper moving across the Great Lakes. Wind on both sides of this thing. And some rain and snow to the north of this thing, mostly north of Detroit, across the UP of Michigan, maybe a couple of inches of snow there. And a little bit cooler and windier across the Northeast today. That little clipper comes your way tonight with some rain and snow mixed actually in New York City.
And there's your warm across much of Florida. The fog that's along the coast should be giving way to some sunshine. Also sunshine across much of the inner mountain west. Big (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in control. And where they just miserable spring training weather this past week across much of Arizona, where the west coast teams train, where it's been cold and wet, you're looking at sunshine and temperatures that will be in the 80s.
A bit of a an offshore flow for California. And that means that San Francisco will get to near 70 and Los Angeles will get to near 80 degrees. 82 expected in Phoenix today. 69 degrees in Salt Lake City. 53 degrees expected in D.C. 48 in New York, after you folks got up into the 60s. And then 41, a little bit cooler in Chicago.
We talked yesterday about the big race happening in Anchorage, Alaska or the start of it, the Iditarod. And we have some video as we promised. They're dogs. They can't wait to get out there and take a trip around Alaska, just a leisurely stroll. Usually takes about two weeks. They had good weather yesterday. Temperatures were about 15 degrees with clear skies, which could be a lot worse in Alaska.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes, well.
MARCIANO: This 32nd running of it. They started -- restarted this morning in Willow, which is different from where it should be, because they have actually not as much snow as they should have, but they had to chuck a little bit of snow in there in Anchorage.
ARENA: That's amazing.
SAN MIGUEL: But otherwise, good mushing weather I would think.
MARCIANO: Excellent mushing weather, you're right about that.
SAN MIGUEL: Thanks a lot.
ARENA: Thanks a lot.
Well, we have some dramatic pictures to show you from Australia. These people were caught up in a fast moving flood, but rescue crews were able to pull one of them to safety just moments before the rushing waters sent their SUV downstream. A rescuer then dove in to free the other person, who had become trapped underneath the vehicle.
SAN MIGUEL: Here's a quick check now of our top stories. A U.S. Justice Department team heads to Iraq this weekend to put together evidence against Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi dictator and members of his regime could face a war crimes trial. Iraqi officials may finally sign the interim constitution for that country.
Friday's planned signing was derailed after a top cleric rejected portions of the document. Now a member of Iraq's governing council says the differences are being resolved during a weekend meeting with the cleric and the signing may take place tomorrow.
ARENA: John Kerry takes his campaign straight to the president's home turf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm just want to say back to the president I hope this early in the campaign he's not running so scared...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: Find out why Kerry is accusing Bush of departing from the truth when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And for the first time, I was helpless. I couldn't even stand up without my buddy helping me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAN MIGUEL: A story of one American hero who found a new mission after his service in Iraq.
ARENA: And we are expecting a news conference from Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where a water taxi toppled over. Three people are still missing. You're looking at live pictures right night. Once again, waiting for a news conference from that location. Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've all heard about the dangers of over using antibiotics and bacterial resistance, but a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that taking antibiotics may increase a woman's risk for breast cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On average, women who used antibiotics for more than 500 days had a two fold risk, increased risk of breast cancer. FIRFER: Here are some tips on the safest way to use antibiotics. If your doctor thinks antibiotics are the best meds, then take them. Never take them for the cold, cough, or the flu. Take the full course of treatment, even after you're feeling better. Never take leftovers. It could delay treatment and allow bacteria to multiply.
Medical experts are recommending that further studies be done to confirm those findings.
Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: Live pictures from Baltimore Harbor. We are expecting a news briefing to start momentarily here, led by Baltimore fire chief William Goodwin, Martin O'Malley, the Baltimore mayor and officials with the National Transportation Safety Board. All of this having to do with the search for three people who are missing after a water taxi they were riding in capsized yesterday during a storm. One person was killed in the accident. The pontoon boat flipped over about a mile offshore, after being hit by high winds. Once that press conference gets underway, we will go to it live.
Also, Israeli military forces clashed with Palestinian gunmen during two early morning raids on refugee camps in Gaza. Witnesses say at least 14 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded. Israelis say their forces were met with heavy gunfire.
President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox wrap up their mini summit today with some final talks on trade issues and immigration. They did reach a consensus that short term Mexican visitors to the U.S. won't be fingerprinted and photographed.
ARENA: One of the main topics of debate during the election is sure to be the ongoing situation in Iraq. Senator John Kerry says he may need some help to answer the tough questions. In an interview with "TIME" magazine, Kerry says he will almost certainly send a fact finding team to Iraq so he can formulate detailed answers to the Iraq questions that he'll face on the campaign trail. Among the names mentioned for the trip are Delaware Senator Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, candidate Kerry made his way into the president's home state to talk about jobs, the economy, and the Alamo.
Candy Crowley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 168 years to the day the Alamo fell, John Kerry blasted into Bush territory for an assault of a different sort.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As they say, remember the Alamo. I say remember those people who have lost their jobs. Remember those kids who downsized their dreams.
CROWLEY: From Houston to San Antonio, Kerry courted voters, looked for donors, and took Texas style jabs at the president. At an outdoor rally just blocks from the Alamo, Kerry accused the president of telling tall Texas tales when he says that Kerry will raise taxes.
KERRY: I just want to say back to the president, I hope this early in the campaign he's not running so scared that he feels he's got to already depart from the truth in this campaign.
CROWLEY: One of the most Democratic cities in Texas, San Antonio ported out for the almost nominee, who says the president is guilty of a long trail of broken promises. In Houston, just about 200 miles from Crawford, where President Bush was hosting Mexican President Vicente Fox, Kerry held a town hall meeting, an hour and a half event. It covered everything from the price of bottled water to the federal deficit.
And inside the issues, you could hear the beginnings of a Kerry defense against charges he's a Massachusetts liberal who changes his tune for political gain.
KERRY: If being liberal is wanting to keep faith with no child left behind and actually educate kids and be fair about not giving the wealthiest people another tax cut at the expense of our children, if being liberal is protecting the veterans who earned the right to have a VA that works for them, hey, they'd go ahead and throw the labels around all they want.
CROWLEY: Texas is not fertile voter territory for national Democrats, but there is money here. John Edwards found a lot of it to fund his campaign. Kerry met with fund-raisers in Houston in the first step to setting up his own network.
(on camera): Camp Kerry would love to tap into Edwards' spigot of trial lawyers. To that end, the Kerry money men will meet next week with Edwards finance team. It may look a lot like old home week, because Kerry has also invited Howard Dean down to Washington for a chat. And Dean has said yes.
Candy Crowley, CNN, San Antonio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: And Howard Dean can offer John Kerry more than just advice. He also has 178 delegates in his back pocket headed for the convention.
As for the Dean campaign itself, it paved the road for a new way to reach voters and volunteers. As part of our special "CNN PRESENTS" on the Dean campaign, we look at how it used the Internet to impact the political machine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready, Georgia boy? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready, Utah boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was -- so you want to know what we're doing at 2:00 in the morning? Constant faucet of creativity for Dean for America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to get back to changing oil.
E.J. DIONNE, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Lots of people have spun all sorts of theories about the Internet, none of which usually panned out. And here suddenly, you had a candidate who would use this new tool, you know, there's no other way to put it. He used it brilliantly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're screaming live from here.
DIONNE: And then you had Joe Trippi, who even before he went to Dean, believed you could do this differently, and you could use the new technology in a different way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, where am I blogging?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only one medium in the world that would allow two million Americans to give $100 to us in one day if they wanted to do it. It's the Internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would help if I had a computer that was hooked up to something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each time we have set a goal that seemed impossible, yet somehow you made sure we reached it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We broke President Clinton's record for raising the most money. And we didn't do it with $2000 contributions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it? $1358?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that it sometimes may seem at the end of the quarter, but the campaign is too focused on the money, but how we raise our money is a very important part of the message of Governor Dean's campaign.
KAREN HICKS, STAFF DIRECTOR: You know, I think Kerry will fight hard and come back and make up a little bit of loss ground, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you heard anything about his money?
HICKS: No, I've heard -- I mean, I think they're going to -- it's been so tight that I can't help but think that they're going to come out with something more than five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your old girlfriend in the Kerry campaign say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call her up. She won't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call her up. Tell her you'll marry her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to get me in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kate, how are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys going to break seven, because that's the word on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) marry me in order to tell me. You will take me up on that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just proposed marriage to her on CNN PRESENTS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: That's one way to do opposition research, I guess. You can see much more from behind the scenes when "CNN PRESENTS: True Believers, Life Inside the Dean Campaign." That comes your way tonight at 8:00 Eastern time.
ARENA: And in another programming note, and another former presidential candidate General Wesley Clark joins Wolf Blitzer on today's "LATE EDITION." That's at noon Eastern today.
SAN MIGUEL: Well, the largest minority in America might be a deciding factor in the November elections. So which candidate has a better chance of getting that vote? Find out at the top of next hour. And then at 9:00 Eastern, is gay marriage a civil right? Get ready for a heated debate on that. And then later, some college football news, but it's not what you think. How far do colleges go to attract the best athletes? You'll be surprised to find out what goes on behind the scenes.
But up next, from Iraq to the LAPD, the story of one American hero who found a new passion after a tour of duty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARENA: U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant Ryan White, a veteran of the Iraq War, is a recruiter. But he's not trying to get civilians into the Marines. He's trying to get Marines into the LAPD.
Bill Tucker has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUNNERY SGT. RYAN WHITE, U.S. MARINE RESERVES: There's a nine step hiring process in becoming a police officer.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ryan White is the Los Angeles Police Department's recruiting liaison with the military.
WHITE: Now I got probably the best job in the whole world, in my opinion.
TUCKER: He wants young Marines to join the department when their days on active duty are over.
WHITE: That's the type of person I want to work with back when I get to the streets with LAPD.
TUCKER: White is both a cop and a Marine and done both jobs in the past year. He rolled into Baghdad with the first Marine expeditionary force and got injured the day Saddam's statue fell.
WHITE: Somebody was taking pop shots and went into rounds, ricocheted off the deck, and struck me in the left foot.
TUCKER: It wasn't a life threatening injury, but enough to take him out of battle.
WHITE: My years in law enforcement, my many years in the Marine Corps, you know, you train with weapons all the time. And for the first time, I was helpless. I couldn't even stand up without my buddy helping me.
TUCKER: White came home to wife Mindy and daughter Savannah in May. By August, he recovered and went back to work. In October, he was awarded the Purple Heart and a Marine medal for achievement, but dismisses the idea that he's a hero.
WHITE: It's gals like my wife that stick with a man like me through my whole life. Those are the true heroes.
TUCKER: Now young Marines listen as White tells them how valuable their military experience is to the LAPD and about the rewards of a life, combining military service overseas with law enforcement at home.
Bill Tucker, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The first of about $5 billion in construction contracts for rebuilding Iraq could be awarded as early as this week. It's part of the $18.4 billion that Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction. More than $12 billion is expected to be spent on construction projects over the next few years.
We are now going live to a press conference with Baltimore's fire chief William Goodwin about the boat -- the water taxi that capsized there. Let's listen in.
WILLIAM GOODWIN, BALTIMORE FIRE CHIEF: ...through the night time hours last night on a limited basis from the surface. We'll continue surface based operations. We'll do some aerial searches with the helicopters. Additionally, we're going to be putting some divers in specific locations, as close as we can re pinpoint where the boat possibly capsized today. We're going to be incorporating some cadaver dogs, which is used, that we've had some success with before locating the spots from the surface with the boat. We'll be using side scan sonar. And most of the same things we were using yesterday, at the onset of the incident.
KOCH: What sorts of things you're looking for now? I mean, are you looking for debris from the boat to give you an idea of where the bodies might have drifted?
GOODWIN: No, really, we're looking for the bodies specifically. We found debris as far as Fort Carroll from here yesterday. So the current was moving rather swiftly, along with the winds right after that storm. So we're going to center back on the area of where the boat first capsized and see if we have any additional luck there.
We started there yesterday and continued downstream. Now we're going to come back to start over again, re-establish a grid pattern, and start working back from there.
KOCH: How many people do you have today? Men, women, children, could you give us an idea?
GOODWIN: I still can't release any of that at this time. As I said, last night, we're being extremely guarded because all the people involved in this, all 25 people, were related somehow, that not necessarily to each other all 25, but they were in couples or families. They weren't necessarily in one group, but the people that are hospitalized and the people that are still missing are related.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the conditions of the people who were hospitalized? We understood that two are in critical. How are they today?
GOODWIN: The update is pretty much the same as it was at midnight last night. We still have one deceased, two in critical condition, three missing. As of 1:30 this morning, we had 10 people released from the hospital of those that were remaining.
So all together, we're getting an update as we speak, but we'll see those people that were released were just treated for the cold and exposure. And one or two other serious injuries, not life threatening. They were hospitalized, but except for the two in critical, no others that have any type of potentially fatal injuries.
KOCH: Can you describe to us how many people and who -- what organizations are involved in today's search?
GOODWIN: Today, we will have the Department of Natural Resources, United States Coast Guard, Baltimore City Police, Baltimore City Fire, and possibly the Marin State Police with their helicopters.
And that's what we'll start with. If we think that we need anything additional, we'll call from there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us more about the weather condition that seemed to have caused the capsize? GOODWIN: It seems to be somewhat of an anomaly that happened yesterday that no one really took notice to, until after the accident happened. There was a brief severe thunderstorm warning. And within several minutes, some sort of cell of severe weather passed directly over the harbor from northwest to southeast. And apparently, that's what took place, severe thunderstorm. Winds approaching 50 miles per hour. And as quick as it happened, it seemed to be over, but...
ARENA: We've been listening to Baltimore fire chief William Goodwin talking about a water taxi that capsized in Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday. One mile offshore. That boat was carrying 25 people. Divers are still searching the area. One person is confirmed dead. Two in critical condition. Three people are still missing. And the fire chief says that those three individuals are related.
Again, this in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.
Well, we've got other headlines for you and other stop stories right after this break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: A decade ago, two friends turned a dream into a true American success story. They were looking for a place for America's black community to escape the sometimes deplorable images nearby. Their creation reaches a milestone this year.
As Kyra Phillips tells us, it's been 10 years under the Big Top for the UniverSoul Circus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL DUPRIS, FOUNDER: I am the co-founder and ringmaster of this Big Top. My name is Casual.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the early '90s, former radio DJ Casual Cal Dupris and music promoter Cedric Walker wanted to offset the often vulgar images portrayed in rap music and other forms of entertainment popular in the black community.
CEDRIC WALKER, PRESIDENT, CEO, UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: And I just thought that we should try to do something that grandmother, daughter, father, and son could all sit on the same bench, generations and see something together.
DUPRIS: Somebody, anybody, everybody, scream!
PHILLIPS: Thus the UniverSoul Circus was born. And in 1994, co- founder Casual Cal became the world's first black circus ringmaster.
WALKER: Cal, I think, is a genius. I think that he has the ability to touch people. He has the magic.
PHILLIPS: They lost $500,000 the first year. The second year wasn't much better. WALKER: We spent $350,000 the second time and we took in to. And we were very happy to lose $150,000. No I thought -- people thought I was crazy. I only lost -- you know, the investors all were taking off one by one, you know.
PHILLIPS: UniverSoul, not boasts a 50 city trek, two touring companies, and trips to South Africa.
WALKER: People don't buy things because of the color of your skin. They buy them because of the quality in content. And the word of mouth had to go out.
DUPRIS: If this is Atlanta, Georgia, put your hands together for the Governese Acrobatic Tour.
PHILLIPS: It was an immediate magnet for the world's black performers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got here, and we see the way they was performing, they was doing the show, running the whole thing, we just, you know, feel that was the right place to be.
PHILLIPS: Ten years later, dreams of an even larger Big Top. Underneath, you would travel through the Harlem Renaissance or skate with a black ice show. Walker says it would be a black Disneyworld.
So many things that has an influence to American culture, that you know, that we could pull together and represent and present in certain ways. So we have a lot of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Kyra Phillips, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAN MIGUEL: Well the success story of the UniverSoul Circus could probably be used as a blueprint for the small businessman. And joining us now is a man who wants to take the company, an example -- make the company an example, rather, for large corporations as well, the president and CEO of UniverSoul, Cedric Walker.
Thanks for being on this morning.
CEDRIC WALKER, PRESIDENT, CEO, UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: Thank you for having us.
SAN MIGUEL: You know, you can tell when Casual Cal comes running out at the beginning of UniverSoul Circus and he comes out to a James Brown song. And the lights are going. It's almost like a concert.
You can tell this is not your father's circus here. I mean, you're going into new territory, but how vital has Casual Cal been to the success of the UniverSoul...
WALKER: He's been a core creative force. In the format, actually have two shows. And both shows -- Cal is a genius. He feels it. And he expresses it -- he expresses himself and touches people. SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
WALKER: He's just -- and when comes out, he's stepping high.
SAN MIGUEL: The energy level goes to another level when he hits the stage there. So how do you transfer this? I mean, the idea of taking various aspects of African American culture, and applying that into what, you know, what many saw as a traditional form of entertainment, the circus, and trying to do something new with that.
Where else do you want to go with this concept?
WALKER: Well, I think there's a lot of things that we haven't done. And there's a lot -- been a lot of contributions to American culture, that African-Americans have made for so long.
We've looked at African-American culture or black culture as something from Africa or to jazz. And it's been very limited in expression.
I think that there's the ice show, for instance. There's the rodeo. There's the -- we need a street. I mean, we've made the Harlem Renaissance, the Chitlin' Circuit of Club Harlem in Atlantic City, Small Paradise in New York, you know, the Total Experience in L.A., Motown. There -- it's...
SAN MIGUEL: Yes.
WALKER: ...you can go on. Stacksville International. It's just been so many great contributions to our culture.
SAN MIGUEL: The Beale Street experience in Memphis. You also, I think another example.
We only have about 30 seconds here, but you know, how do you balance what you want to do with this, with any kind of criticisms of exploiting various elements of black culture? Because I know you kind of ran into some of that at the beginning of the UniverSoul Circus. And you talked about that. It's a delicate balancing act, isn't it?
WALKER: Well, I think the contributions are so important and so rich. I look at it totally different. I look at it as something that uplifts a people. It uplifts a culture and makes the great contribution.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, well, and you've gotten a lot of good publicity this year. Great write-up in "Newsweek" magazine. You now have two tours going with it. So I think some of those contributions are taking heart in the black community.
Cedric Walker, president and CEO of UniverSoul's Circus, thanks for joining us and good luck in the future.
WALKER: Thank you.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Kelli, back over to you. ARENA: All right. Well, we asked you earlier today if you think 9/11 images should be used in campaign ads. We'll read some of your responses when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns. And in case you missed it yesterday, in about half an hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's journey back to Iraq nearly one year after the war began. Catch the details on our Weekend House Call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: And now we go to Rob Marciano for a quick check on the weather -- Rob?
MARCIANO: Good morning again, guys. Let's go to the Northeast, where yesterday, some records fell in places like Washington, D.C. and New York City. We go to Boston, where it was pretty warm yesterday as well.
Today, though, even though you're seeing blue skies from our affiliate out that way, WCVV, beautiful shots in downtown I believe in Charles. We are expecting temperatures today to be held down into the 40s and then even colder tomorrow. This system will come your way and may spread a little -- make some rain and snow.
Chicago, some wind today. Detroit, a mix of rain and snow. Just north of Detroit, you'll see some snow as well, but a lot of the map is seeing some sunny weather and a bit of a flash that I'll fix for the next half an hour.
In about 20, 25 minutes, we'll talk about the next two days to start up your work week. Back to you guys in the studios.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, we'll see you then, Rob, thanks.
ARENA: Thanks, Rob.
Well, here is an update on our top stories. The search resumes this hour for three people still missing and feared dead, after a water taxi capsized in Baltimore Harbor. One person is confirmed dead. 21 survived.
After a round of talks, it looks like Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric and the Iraqi governing council are coming to terms over an interim constitution. The cleric effectively blocked Friday's planned signing, after rejecting portions of the document. A member of the council says differences are being resolved, and the document may be signed tomorrow.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, our question of the day on our e-mails, asking you to write in what you think -- if you think 9/11 images should be used in the campaign ads for the presidential election, coming up. And we are starting to hear from some of you on this.
ARENA: All right, we hear, first from Justin in Ohio. Oh, no, you know what? Let's read Carol first.
SAN MIGUEL: This one right from Carol in Saratoga Springs, New York. "Bush promised he would not use this tragedy for political gain. I wish I could tell you the date and time. He would gain lots more points if he just kept one of his promises."
(AUDIO GAP)
ARENA: ...thinks they should be used. "He and America had to overcome a great tragedy and that tragedy led to the war on terror to break up al Qaeda."
SAN MIGUEL: We are going to hear some more of your e-mails later on, but for right now, the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING begins right now.
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