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CNN Live Sunday
Texas Woman Aquitted By Reason Of Insanity In Texas; Big Brother Pulled Off Saudi Station
Aired April 04, 2004 - 18:00 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: CNN SUNDAY is ahead, but first these headlines. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is set to testify before the 9/11 commission on Thursday. Today, new information is coming out about the kind of pressure the commission exherted on the White House to get Rice to testify. We're going to have full details coming up.
In Iraq, 9 U.S. troops have been killed in weekend clashes. Fighting in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood has left at least 7 soldiers dead, 24 others were wounded. Two Marines were killed in a separate attack west of Baghdad.
In Spain, police believe the ringleader of the Madrid train bombing died in an explosion Saturday. Police now say 5 suspected terrorists, not 4, were killed when they blew themselves up in a building during a stand-off, 3 had international arrest warrants. Police are searching for at least 2 others who may have escaped.
Good evening, I'm Carol Lin. Welcome to CNN's LIVE SATURDAY (sic). Coming up this hour, the fallout after a Texas mom is acquitted of murder by reason of insanity in the killings of her own children. We are going to talk to a Court TV reporter what went on in the courtroom as the verdict was read.
And how this compares to the Andrea Yates case, another Texas murder trial with a very different outcome.
Also, tonight, Michael Jackson's here, there, and everywhere, courting everyone. Is he suddenly reaching for his roots to garnish support as he faces legal troubles? We're going to talk to an expert.
But first we begin at the White House. For weeks, the Bush Administration refused to let Condoleezza Rice testify before the September 11 Commission. Then suddenly, last week a stunning reversal. Tonight there are new insights into the about face. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us more of the details -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, the White House says it was really the extraordinary circumstances of September 11th that guarantee that Dr. Rice's testimony would not be a precedent. But today we're learning no insights and new pressure that both Democrats and Republicans used those tactics to get the White House to change its mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush is back from Camp David with a date set to privately go before the 9/11 Commission, along with Vice President Dick Cheney in the next two weeks, but this week all eyes are on his top advisor, Condoleezza Rice, who will testify publicly and under oath Thursday she'll make the case, aides say that the Administration did all it could to prevent the 9/11 attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we could have envisioned it and done anything to have prevented it.
MALVEAUX: The White House resisted for weeks putting Rice in front of the Commission publicly, sighting executive privilege. But the Commission was so determined to have her testify, last Monday, it's Executive Director Republican Phillip Zelikow, faxed White House Council a 1945 "New York Times" photo and article showing Presidential Chief of Staff Admiral William Leahy, back then, Rice's equivalent, testifying before an congressional panel investigating Pearl Harbor.
The Commission argued history showed the White House's argument didn't hold up, it's spokesman said. The next day the President announced he was changing course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may have been one of the straws on the camel's back, but the camel certainly had the big load of the 9/11 Commission with bipartisan support insisting on Dr. Rice's public and sworn testimony.
MALVEAUX: One big question before Rice will be whether the Bush Administration treated the threat of quite al-Qaeda as an urgent matter prior to September 11. For those who used to sit in Rice's seat, he White House gets mixed reviews.
HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: When a new administration comes in, the files in the White House are empty. There are a lot of people who tell them that matters are very urgent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The difference between urgent and important is a question of priority.
BRENT SCOWCROFT, FMR NATL SECURITY ADVISOR: It's fundamentally a matter of judgment. This Administration came in with a certain mind- set coming out of the campaign and so on. For example, ballistic missile defense was something they really wanted to get through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Carol, this evening, the White House responding to the idea that photo influencing the President's decision, a spokesman saying it is wrong to suggest a photo resulted in the President's decision. He goes on to say, we've had an ongoing dialogue with the commission about the best ways they can provide them with information that they need to complete the work, that the President is pleased with the agreement.
Should also let you know as well, the Commission as well as White House officials both guaranteeing that there will be a report released to the public before the November elections -- Carol.
LIN: Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House.
Condoleezza Rice, again, expected to testify Thursday morning under oath publicly before the 9/11 Commission. CNN is going to carry that live beginning at 9:00 Eastern.
And also on our 10:00 primetime show tonight, David Gergen, the former editor of "U.S. News and World Report" is a personal friend of Phillip Zelikow. I'm going to be talking to him tonight in our 10: 00pm prime time show more about the photo and the story behind it.
In the meantime, back to the war on terror. In Spain, the manhunt continues. Police now say five suspected terrorists may have died when they blew themselves up as police were closing in on them yesterday. Police believe one of them is the ringleader of the 3/11 bombings. CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): This is what it looked like Saturday night. Suspected terrorists blew themselves up as the police closed in on their hide out, killing a police officer, and wounding others.
ANGEL ACEBES, SPANISH INTERIOR MINISTER: (through translator): The central core of those who carried out the terrorist attacks have been either arrested, or are deed, killed by the collective suicide bombing of yesterday.
GOODMAN: The dead include this Tunisian, Serhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, the suspected coordinator of the deadly Madrid commuter train bombings last month. Moroccan Abdennabi Kounjaa also was killed. Like the Tunisian, he was wanted on an international arrest warrant for the train bombings.
The apartment where the suspects lived was pulverized by the explosion, and it caused damage throughout the building in Madrid's southern suburbs Leganes.
But authorities say explosives found intact at the apartment after the blast links the suspects to the March 11 Madrid commuter train bombings, and also to the bomb found last Friday on the bullet train tracks south of Madrid.
ACEBES (through translator): They found around 200 detonators, ten kilos of unexploded dynamite, and some of this explosive was already prepared, ready for immediate use. The detonators are of the same model that was found in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bag in the Aver (ph) track one. Therefore, this suggests all the incidents are related.
GOODMAN: The working class neighborhood has not recovered from the commotion, shocked that terror suspects lived right next door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was tremendous, an enormous blast. My son was thrown against the sofa, and I don't know what else I can say. It was horrible.
GOODMAN: As people here return to their homes, grim work continued inside the suspected terrorist hideout. And inside this dark van, forensics experts prepared to leave with remains of the suspects.
Spanish leaders turned out Sunday for the funeral of the police officer who also died in Saturday's raid.
(on-camera): Police say the manhunt continues in the Madrid train bombings. At least two terrorist suspects may have escaped police on Saturday and others sought on international arrest warrants apparently remain at large. Al Goodman, CNN, Leganes, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Right back here in the Unites States, a housewife who said God told her to kill her sons will go to a maximum-security hospital, not a prison. That is the decision a hushed courtroom in Tyler, Texas heard yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty by reason of insanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A jury acquitted Deanna Laney of capital murder in the killing of two of her sons and injuring a third. They determined she was insane when she did it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT BINGHAM, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I don't think anybody in this room or anybody in that courtroom weren't touched by the evidence in this case. For the rest of my life, I'll remember Aaron, I'll remember Joshua, I'll remember Luke. I'll never forget what happened to them that day. But you have a job to do.
BUCK FILES, LANEY'S ATTORNEY: There is nothing worse than the fear that you will have a client inappropriately convicted when they are innocent either purely innocent or innocent as a result of being insane at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: "Court TV" reporter Savannah Gutherie covered the case, and she's with us right now. Savannah what was it like inside that courtroom?
SAVANNAH GUTHERIE, COURT TV: Carol, it was incredibly tense. I can tell you the whole week was so somber, some of the most gruesome testimony I have ever seen in a court case. And then when it was time for the verdict, the jury had deliberated almost seven hours on Saturday. And as we waited for the jurors to come up, I looked at Deanna Laney's face, I'd been studying it all week, she looked absolutely petrified as far as I was concerned.
And then your viewers just saw it a few minutes ago as the verdict was read, not guilty by reason of insanity, her face flushed with relief. She started to cry and I saw her later as the judge was speaking to the jurors, trying to look over at the jurors and just had a look of just relief and gratitude.
LIN: What was the reasoning behind the verdict? Why were they so convinced that she was actually insane, especially given the verdict in the Houston mom case, Andrea Yates, who's spending life in prison for killing her kids?
GUTHERIE: It's such a good question. Well, I have to say in this case, all four psychiatrists who testified, two of whom were hired by the state, the prosecutors in the case and one that was hired by the court, not to mention the defense psychiatrists, all said she was a textbook case of insanity.
Nevertheless, the prosecutors put on a really tough case. They highlighted all of the facts that suggested maybe she did know right from wrong, and that was the bottom line under Texas law. Did she know right from wrong? The defense lawyer said, I asked him, why is this case different from Andrea Yates? There are so many similarities.
And he told me because, and he was advised by Yates's lawyer in the days following after he got this case. He said put her on videotape so the jurors see right away what she was like around the time of the killings, and the jurors did see that. She seemed very calm and very remorseless and clearly someone in a psychotic state.
LIN: So, this was tape shot what, a day after her arrest, the same day?
GUTHERIE: Actually, it was six days later. And the psychiatrists all agree, she was still delusional at that point. And I can tell you, it was very chilling. She describes in detail the killings of these boys, and the injury of the youngest boy who is still alive and has a lot of injuries now. And she shows no remorse. She doesn't even cry.
And I think the jurors probably looked at that and said, now here's something that we've seen her very close in time to these killings, and this is not someone acting who is normal by any stretch of the imagination.
LIN: So she actually goes to a hospital now, and doctors are going to examine her. What happens next? How long is she going to be there?
GUTHERIE: Well, that is the question. Certainly she's going to go to a maximum-security unit of a state hospital for the next 60 days. And then it will be up to a judge who will be advised by a review board of the Mental Health Department in Texas, and they'll determine whether she's a danger to herself or others, and whether she should be involuntarily committed. I would be very surprised if she gets out of a mental institution anytime soon.
LIN: Her husband, Keith, was in the courtroom when the verdict was read. And he bowed his head. Was that because of relief or because, or was it because of disappointment?
GUTHERIE: I'm sure he had a mix of emotions. He's very private. He didn't speak to reporters. I don't believe he's ever broken his silence. It is my understanding that Keith Laney, and the Laney family, support Deanna Laney, and they wanted to have a trial, and they wanted to have a fair trial, and have the facts aired out. But that he wanted her to be acquitted by reason of insanity.
They've come to believe that that is only explanation for what happened here. They all testified during the trial. They never saw any sign of mental illness. It was as if one day out of the blue, she woke up and did this terrible thing to her kids.
LIN: And you know Savannah, it's still so hard to believe that something like that could happen. If it could happen to her, it seems like it could happen to any of us.
GUTHERIE: It's truly frightening.
LIN: A truly bizarre case. Thank you very much. Savannah Gutherie of Court Television.
GUTHERIEI: My pleasure.
LIN: Coming up at 10:00 tonight prime time show, I'm going to have an exclusive interview with Tonda Curry, one of Deanna Laney's attorneys, defense attorney. That's at 10:00 Eastern tonight on "CNN SUNDAY NIGHT." Stay tuned.
Some more stories across America right now, Edwardsville, Kansas a man suspected of killing his ex-wife and her co-worker in a fire station is found dead. Police believe Matthew Bath (ph) ambushed the two medics early Saturday and later committed suicide.
North Highlands, California: a teacher at a Catholic school says he was fired for offering extra credit to seventh graders who watched "The Passion of the Christ." The school has a policy against assigning students to watch R-rated movies.
New York in July: visitors will be able to stand at the base of the Statue of Liberty for the first time since 9/11, but a published report says they didn't have to wait that long. The "New York Times" says both the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Foundation and the National Parks Service delayed the monument's reopening unnecessarily.
Gas prices are hitting record highs across the country. Right now, they're averaging 1.76 a gallon. Drivers and businesses are looking for ways to cope with the sky rocketing costs. And for many it's a hard sell. Our Kathleen Koch brings us a reality check from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESONDENT (voice-over): As gasoline prices continue their climb upward, the hardest hit are bailing out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't afford it. I have to start using the bus now.
KOCH: Some small independent truck drivers are sidelined until prices drop.
PAUOL CUTTER JR, OWNER-OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSN: You see truck drivers declaring that they're parking their truck. They don't make any money out on the road.
KOCH: Bigger freight carriers are buying diesel fuel in bulk months ahead of time, and using satellite technology to track down affordable fuel on the road.
BOB COSTELLO, AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSN: They can then contact the carriers -- the drivers as they are going down the road and tell them where the cheapest place is to fuel up.
KOCH: Most, like this florist, are being forced to pass on the higher cost of doing business.
LAILA, AZIZI, OWNER, FLOWER TOWN: Now I have to charge a delivery charge of $5 or $8. I try not to, but unfortunately it's very hard now with the gas prices.
KOCH: And some business owners are scaling back.
TOM DOYLE, OWNER, DOYLE PRINTING: We've actually traded in some vehicles, bigger SUVs that we have, the bigger gas-guzzlers, and we've gone to a smaller vehicles to better gas mileage.
KOCH: But few individuals are changing their habits, even when it comes to summer travel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll probably use the car still, because the distances aren't that far and so I don't think it will make that big a difference.
KOCH: Hybrids that get more than 40 miles per gallon remain a hot commodity.
GINNI GULTON, PRIUS OWNER: You get to drive by the gas station and don't have to stop.
KOCH: But it's the SUV that still rules the road with sales up 14 percent over last year, while sales of small and mid-size cars dropped.
PAUL TAYLOR, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NATL AUTO DEALERS ASSN: I think gasoline prices over $2.50 a gallon in the United States, not just in California, would start to change the selection of vehicles that consumers make. KOCH: (on-camera): And economists say those prices would have to stay high for sometime before most Americans would permanently change their buying or driving habits. Kathleen Koch, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: It's the most popular kind of television show in the U.S., but not in other parts of the world. OK. How is western style reality TV playing in the Middle East?
And pucker up. It's a kissing contest Bali style, but not everyone approves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: It's been a day of turmoil in Iraq. Violence erupted across the country with deadly consequences. It all began in the southern city of Najaf. CNN's Walter Rodgers is following all the developments from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to coalition officials, the protesting Shiite Muslims fired first. From a crowd targeting Spanish troops and Iraqi police. The exchange of fire sent over 100 people to the hospital, it included several soldiers from coalition forces.
The blood shed followed two days of relatively peaceful Shiite protests followers of the fiery cleric Moqtada al Sadr. But then coalition forces arrested one of Sadr's deputies on a warrant for the earlier murder of another rival Muslim cleric, and the shooting began. U.S. Administrator Paul Bremer said enough.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: This morning, a group of people in Najaf have crossed the line. And they have moved to violence. This will not be tolerated.
RODGERS: This Shiite spokesman, however, suggested his people have long memories, and the coalition has become public enemy number one.
They are arrogant countries, he said. They open fire on demonstrators.
In Baghdad, the anti-American demonstrators marched through the city, sometimes peacefully, sometimes less so. It had the appearance of the new intifada against the Americans promised Friday by radical Shiites.
In Sadr City, a southern suburb of Baghdad, the Shiite Muslims seized a number of police stations, and it looked as though war was breaking out again. Followers of Moqtada al Sadr fired rocket propelled grenades at U.S. forces. This fighting spawned over anti- coalition violence across much of Iraq. Marking a very bloody weekend in this country.
(on-camera): The last week has seen what seems to be a progressive disintegration of the American experiment in Iraq. First there was the horrific murder and mutilation of four American civilian contractors in Fallujah, now Iraqi Shiite protesters have been gunned down in An Najaf by Iraqi police and coalition forces. It does not seem to be going according to Washington's script. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And in other news around the world, the World Health Organization is launching a year-long campaign to reduce traffic accidents. It says they kill more than a million people worldwide each year, and that the number is expected to double in the next 15 years.
In Britain, the last of British Airway's seven concords has begun its journey to its final destination, a museum in Scotland. There you see the supersonic jet taking off minus wings, tail and nose cone.
St. Peter's Square, Vatican City: Pope John Paul II held a special service for tens of thousands of people observing Palm Sunday, despite his ailing health. The day commemorates Jesus Christ's arrival in Jerusalem on the Sunday before his crucifixion. Young cheering crowds waved palm fronds and olive branches. The Vatican called the service a powerful antidote to the fear of terror.
And in Bali, Indonesia, an annual kissing festival gets underway. Couples kiss to ensure good health, and prevent bad luck in the village. The ceremony dates to the late 19th century and ends with village priests dumping buckets of water on the couples to douse their passions.
Reality shows aren't exclusive to American television. In the Middle East it got a little too real for the religious right. CNN's Brent Sadler has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are a huge commercial success. Western style reality TV shows captivating audiences in the Middle East, daring brands of entertainment here. Featuring young men and women under one roof for all to see. "Big Brother" clashed head on with conservative Islam.
REINA SARKIS, PSYCHOANALYST: It's as if that show sort of lifted the veil, not from women's faces, but from the society's face.
SADLER: Seen in some forms say the Dutch creators by as many as 2 billion viewers in 25 countries, including the United States.
(on-camera): But not in the Middle East, until producers thought they had worked out a new format that would not cross this region's strict religious and social boundaries.
(voice-over): Wrong: MBC, a Saudi Arabian owned company pulled the plug on the reported $10 million program after just ten days on air to silence a religious outcry in the kingdom of Bahrain where the show was transmitted from. Howls of protest followed this scene of a Saudi man with a Saudi flag kissing a Tunisian housemate, sparking fierce public debate that reached parliament.
There are many other scenes that were sickening, says this Islamism MP so we took action. To shut down this purpose built studio with separate sleeping quarters for men and women and prayer rooms for both. Zain Al-Thawadi (ph) is a Bahraini who worked on the show from day one, returning home after years of study in the United States to help produce what she thought was a pioneering venture, only to feel crushed and let down.
ZAIN AL-THAWADI, ASST. PROD, BIG BROTHER: No matter how much you try to change it, nothing is going to change here. I really -- I feel, I envy people who can just pick up their bags and leave. I really do.
SADLER: Viewers never saw these pictures of the 12 housemates doing just that, ending a regional show the creators promised to revamp and relocate to reach a part of the world where reality TV is far stranger than fiction. Brett Sadler, CNN, Bahrain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Still to come on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, he may be the new kid on the block, but his teammates say all hail, Adu.
And the King of Pop has had more than his share of television face time lately. From the kisses to the waves, is Michael Jackson using the media for his personal P.R. agenda?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In college hoops, say adios to the brackets. Only two teams remain in the NCAA tournament. Georgia Tech beat Oklahoma State in the Alamo Dome, 67-65 last night. UConn beat Duke 79-78. The Yellow Jackets and the Huskies will go head-to-head Monday with each team looking to grab the championship title.
He's been called a super hero, he's compared been to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and even to Mozart. Not bad for a 14-year-old, wouldn't you say? So who is he? Joyce Jackson from our affiliate WUSA reports America should get ready for Freddy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOYCE JACKSON, WUSA: As the world waited with bated breath, Freddy Adu entered the world of professional soccer in the 61st minute of the United's opener against San Jose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; The Freddy Adu era officially begins.
JACKSON: Each time he touched the ball, the crowd cheered with anticipation. Nothing spectacular happened, but there is the promise of a brilliant future and the relief that the first game is over. FREDDY ADU, SOCCER PLAYER: It went great. Something I'm going to remember for a long time. I had fun out there. It was a great atmosphere and obviously, I would have liked to have played a little bit more, but you know what, it's my first professional game, and I've got to take it one game at a time.
JAIME MORENO, DC UNITED FORWARD: He's got all the talent. He's still young like I said. It's a game that is very physical and still a little guy. I'm sure he's going to grow. But like I said, the people have to think, he's only 14 and I know that people probably they expected a little bit more but you've got to give him a little chance to show all his stuff.
BOBBY CONVEY, DC UNITED FORWARD: I think Freddy liked being on the field. Obviously, today he was a little bit nervous because of all the people and everything. But Freddy is best when he's on the field and away from everything, and just doing what he knows how to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Adu is the youngest person to play for a major U.S. sports team since 1887. Back then, that title belonged to another 14-year- old, Fred Chapman. He debuted for Philadelphia as part of Major League Baseball's American Association. Did we really get that year right, 1887?
The boys of summer will need their long sleeves for their stateside opener tonight when the Boston's Red Sox visit Baltimore to play the Orioles. Temperatures are expected to be in the 30s.
The New York Yankees opened the Major League Baseball season last Tuesday against Tampa Bay, but that game was in Japan.
They were complete strangers a few years ago, but now they share a tragic story and they're taking it to Capitol Hill.
Plus, it's a war of words. Political figures in the literary arms race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now we've got to check at this hour's top stories. It's been a deadly weekend in Iraq: 9 U.S. troops and 24 wounded. Seven soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in clashes of Baghdad's biggest Shiite neighborhood. Two Marines died in a separate attack west of Baghdad.
And in the southern Iraqi town of Najaf, protests today by supporters of the same Shiite cleric turned deadly. Insurgents firing on a military post of mostly Spanish troops killed a Salvadoran soldier.
Spanish forensic experts say 5 suspected terrorists may have died yesterday as they blew themselves up inside an apartment on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. The explosion ripped through the building as police were trying to move in to arrest the susepects. One Spanish police officer was also killed.
All right, let's focus again on the September 11th Commission. It is preparing to question National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Thursday. Her planned appearance was the focus of discussion on the Sunday talk shows. Former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich weighed in as well as the Commission's chairman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THOMAS KEAN, 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: There may be differences/ whether we call them discrepancies or not, there are differences between her recollections and some cases, reflections, and other people's. We want to find out about the transition, we want to find out about the policies, we want to find out about any policy differences, and we're going to find out any recommendations she has.
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think the most of the important question is to get an understanding from Dr. Rice of the plans they had underway to systematically go after al-Qaeda, and what they were doing, particularly in Central Asia, to lay the base for going after al-Qaeda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: What the U.S. knew and didn't know about terror threats facing the nation will be the focus when Condoleezza Rice testifies under oath before the 9/11 Commission Thursday morning. CNN will carry that live beginning at 9:00 Eastern.
Here is something you may not know. The Commission may not have even existed were it not for a group of September 11th widows. Many are calling them the Jersey Girls. CNN's Alina Cho has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPNDENT (voice-over): Spend a few minutes with the Jersey Girls, and you may think they're lifelong friends. They are not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? You have homework.
CHO: The four mothers never knew each other before September 11th, but when all of them lost their husbands that day --
MINDY KLEINBERG, 9/11 WIDOW: We wanted to know how could this have happened? How could we live here and have been taken over by 19 terrorists from another country.
PATTY CASAZZA, 9/11 WIDOW: For us, there would be no peace until we had the answers to all of our questions.
CHO: So Patty Casazzza and Mindy Kleinberg joined with Kristin Brettweiser (ph) and Lorie Van Auken to form a group of 9/11 families hoping for answers.
LORIE VAN AUKEN, 9/11 WIDOW: 9/11 for us was a colossal failure, a failure of defense, security.
CHO: And change.
KLEINBERG: We don't want to have another attack. We don't want anybody to walk in our shoes.
CHO: So these women did something about it and pushed hard for the creation of a 9/11 Commission.
KEAN: They're influential in everything. I mean, they really are. They're there they work when we need something, they're on the spot.
CHO: That means staging a walkout when Richard Armitage testified instead of National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice during the hearings. Rice will now go before the Commission this week.
(on-camera): But the women's activism in an election year has made them a target of Republican attacks. Republicans who say they are being used by the Democrats to go after President Bush.
(voice-over): The women took issue with the President's use of 9/11 images in his ads.
KRISTEN BRETTWEISER (ph), 9/11 WIDOW: I know that certain people have called ground zero the, quote unquote, perfect backdrop. It is hell on earth for me.
CHO: And then there are lighter moments.
VAN AUKEN: And Congress was split between the Senate and the House but I didn't know which one had more members and now I know.
CHO: They've learned a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Certainly succeeded.
CHO: But say they will never stop searching for answers. Alina Cho, CNN East Brunswick, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry is making his first public appearance today since his shoulder surgery. Kerry marked the start of Easter week taking communion at Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston. The Massachusetts Senator had outpatient surgery Wednesday. Aides say he's easing back into the campaign trail after four days of recuperating at home.
After spending the weekend at Camp David, President Bush is back at the White House tonight. He won't be there for long though. Tomorrow he heads to North Carolina to push his new job training initiative. And then it's on to Missouri where the President will toss out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals' season opener.
Now the war of words between conservatives and liberals has become a real page-turner, quite literally. CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIO POLITICAL ANAYLIST (voice-over): The literary arms race is on. Books have become weapons in the cultural war that's been going on since the 60s, left versus right. A war that reached the peak with the baby boom presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
RICH LOWRY, NATIONAL REVIEW: The Clinton and Bush are sort of archtypes for each side in this conflict.
SCHNEIDER: The Clintons spawned an entire industry of anti- Clinton books with titles like "High Crimes and Misdemeanors", and "No One Left To Lie To". But the Clintons got their revenge when Hillary Clinton's living history became a worldwide bestseller.
Now there's a thriving market in anti--Bush books with titles like "Bush Whacked" and "Weapons of Mass Deception". The secret of success in that market, timing says David Corn, author of the "The Lies of George W. Bush".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the spring of 2002, I talked to my agent about doing a book like this. She sniffed around the publishing houses, and at that point, there was no interest.
SCHNEIDER: But times change quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In October 2002, my agent tried again, and got six houses within a day to say yes we want to do it.
SCHNEIDER: Now with the campaign on, there's a thriving market in pro-Bush books like "Deliver Us from Evil," "The Faith of George W. Bush" and "Bush Country." Each side is armed to the teeth with shocking revelations.
CRAIG UNGER, AUTHOR OF HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD: Never before in history has the president of the United States had such a close relationship with another foreign power as the Bush family has with the Saudis.
SCHNEIDER: And up front agendas like a new book by Presidential Advisor Karen Hughes.
KAREN HUGHES, BUSH ADVISOR: It's important to my family and all the families in America that he be re-elected.
SCHNEIDER: You know how on web sites like amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com they tell you customers who bought this book also bought these other books? One scholar used that information to map out books that shared the same readers.
Sure enough, he found two distinct markets. A network of conservative readers who purchased books like "The O'Reilly Factor," and a network of liberal readers who purchased books like "The O'Really Factor." Blue readers and red readers rarely read each other's books, and there are very few books that both sides read.
Who needs neutrality when there's a war on?
SCHNEIDER (on-camera): You want to see the literary arms race go nuclear? Wait till this summer when Bill Clinton's book is supposed to come out. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you Americans doing so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we kicked their butts off the beach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Jason Bellini on a battlefield like no other. We're going to show you a new twist on the war.
And next, he's aligned himself with the nation of Islam, and he even pushed a visit with the congressional black caucus Capital Hill. Is Michael Jackson playing the media with the race card? A discussion straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A grand jury investigating the Michael Jackson child molestation case continues taking testimony tomorrow in Santa Barbara, California. The Pop star took steps last week at the same time to deal with an image problem beyond the scope of any cosmetic surgeon. CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me just say to Michael, hugs to you.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson in Washington, D.C. accepting love and praise from members of congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know your interest in the sideshow, but in the central issue that confronts real people's lives, the issue of aides in Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MARQUEZ: In a picture perfect ceremony surrounded by children, Jackson accepted an award for his charitable work in Africa.
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: I want you to know that I have been going to Africa since I was 12 years old, and I love it very much.
MARQUEZ: High profile Washington trip in the middle of Jackson's swirling legal sideshow back home, in a pair of hearings to decide if there was enough evidence to send the case to trial. A grand jury took testimony in Santa Barbara, while 75 miles north in Santa Maria, a judge listened to arguments from Jackson's lawyers.
BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, ATTORNEY FOR JACKSON: I think Michael Jackson, those of you who saw him on TV last night receiving an award in Washington; I think is he in good spirits, and being Michael Jackson, and leaving the legal work to his lawyers.
MARQUEZ: But there is other work. Michael Levine who represented Jackson in the early '90s, the last time molestation charges were alleged. He says Jackson's problems are real and perceived. And the Washington, D.C. trip was all about changing the public perception of Michael Jackson.
MICHAEL LEVINE, PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIST: I think this was an effort, albeit desperate effort even perhaps to find an oasis from the bad news.
MARQUEZ: Levine, a Public Relations Expert, and author on "Making the Bad Look Good" says Jackson's image may be beyond repair.
LEVINE: Michael Jackson has crossed a threshold that makes redemption or resurrection of his persona or image virtually impossible.
MARQUEZ (on-camera): So the seemingly all but certain trial of Michael Jackson when verdict day comes, whether innocent or guilty, will it be the beginning or the end to his problems? Will he ever be able to work in this town again? Miguel Marquez, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now consider who Michael Jackson has been aligning himself with, for example, the nation of Islam, and also taking up the cause of aides in Africa, planning a trip in the future he told the caucus. Have his legal troubles sent the pop star scurrying to rediscover his roots? Ellis Cose, writes about race for "Newsweek," and he's also a contributing editor to that magazine. Ellis, thank you very much for being with us.
ELLIS COSE, NEWSWEEK: My pleasure Carol.
LIN: Do you think Michael Jackson is playing the race card?
COSE: He's playing several cards; the biggest card he is playing is the celebrity card. There's a long tradition in American public life, if you're a celebrity and get in trouble, you try to change the subject. Celebrities have the power to do that. Within that context, he certainly appealed to issues and the people who he thinks will be responsive him. Clearly he reached out to black congress people, not the Speaker of the House, not congress in general. So within that context, sure, he's aligning himself with people of color, and with black people in particular.
LIN: Just days after the charges were announced, announced, Jermaine Jackson spoke angry little with CNN. This is what he had to say about the media circus, in the response to his brother's charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: I am sick and tired of everybody saying these things about my family. We will fight and we will stand up, and everybody that knows us around the world will support us, because at the end of the day, this is nothing but a modern day lynching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Fighting words. How is that likely to be received by African Americans?
COSE: I'm sure he's sincere. But I think anyone who understands the history of this country, and knows what lynching is, think that's preposterous. And I think it's a misrepresentation of history, and a misunderstanding of very loaded word.
Lynching was about people getting mutilated, killed, destroyed in secret largely for offenses that were never aired in public. This is something very different. He is getting criticized. And I'm sure his family is hurt by that. To call this a lynching, I think that's just silly.
LIN: So how does a mostly white grand jury -- taking a look at the pictures of Michael Jackson with members of the black congressional caucus, talking about his trip to Africa, aligning himself with the nation of Islam, the family goes on and uses the word lynching, how does a white jury, grand jury likely to be able to receive that?
COSE: I think Jackson has a larger problem as one of your guests earlier said. He's perceived by large parts of the public, white and black as well as at this point, as being a walking joke waiting for a punch line.
LIN: Regardless of color.
COSE: Regardless of color. And he's certainly trying to change the subject. And I think a lot of what he's successful at doing that is going to depend whether he can follow through with it. Whether he is going to really make himself into an advocate for serious causes in the way of a Bono in the way of a Danny Glover as opposed to somebody who sort of drops in when he's in trouble and says hey, remember me, I like Africa too.
LIN: Does he lose credibility then with African Americans?
COSE: I don't think he has a lot of credibility as a serious spokesman on serious subjects. Aids is a very serious subject. Millions of people are dying every year. The Bush Administration is backing away from its commitment of billions of dollars.
There are questions of how you get drugs to people. There are questions of what is the appropriate public response to change behavior. He hasn't addressed any of that. If he is going to address that in some serious way, he's going to gain a lot of credibility. But that remains to be seen whether he does that or not.
LIN: Well it certainly seems like he's trying. Ellis Cose, thank you. Ellis Cose is author of a new book, "Bone to Pick." About forgiveness, reconciliation, reparation, and revenge.
They're reenacting a war that happened 60 years ago, but they're fighting with no grenades and no tanks. The ammunition, just balls of paint. We'll take you to the colorful battle next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In southern Tennessee today, a reenactment of a famous military campaign. It was to honor American fighting men who lost their lives during World War II in the D-Day fighting. Jason Bellini was there and has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On one point, the reenactment of D-Day reflected reality. Most everyone, including myself and my camera, had been shot before we even reached the shore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That could have been dead, first shot right there in the neck, man.
BELLINI: Some saw the scenario as a way of honoring World War II veterans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess this is as close as anybody here will ever know what the firestorm was like on that beach that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they appreciate more exactly what those people did sacrifice for us at that time.
BELLINI: Not all the players treat this as an exercise in patriotism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clean sweep.
BELLINI: Peaches is a German field commander.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attempted to make this like World War II.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a German whore in a pink dress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the landings, the allied and German forces earn points by completing missions. Missions that involve seizing and defending specific towns and fortresses deeper and deeper into France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will have to hold four towns. They've got 40 airborne paratroopers, they're going to drop in twos, threes, and fours.
BELLINI: To be fair, many young participants keep what seems a healthy perspective. Corey Harrison (ph) is a high school student during the week.
Do you think people peat participating in this get a better appreciation for what D-Day veterans went through?
COREY HARRISON (ph): It's kind of like maybe in about 1/100 of what it really was. Because these are just paint balls. OK, good shot man. You weren't saying that obviously because you'd be dead.
BELLINI: It's some of the adults we wonder about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a little crazy, isn't he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but he's cool.
BELLINI: Just when it seemed Peaches had completely lost the plot, he offered this assessment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get some reenactment information if you will, but best way to do it, go to a history book.
BELLINI: Peaches perhaps not so crazy after all. Jason Bellini, CNN, Fayetteville Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: It's hard to fight in a dress. That's it for us. Up next on PEOPLE IN THE NEWS a look at the star of the hit the reality show, "The Apprentice." Then at 8: 00 Eastern, as millions of Christians around the world enter the week of Easter, CNN PRESENTS takes a closer look at the mystery of Jesus.
And then at 9:00 Eastern, ABC anchor Peter Jennings will join Larry King.
And at 10:00 I'll be back with an exclusive interview with one of the attorneys for Deanna Laney, the Texas mother who's been acquitted in the killings of her sons.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 4, 2004 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: CNN SUNDAY is ahead, but first these headlines. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is set to testify before the 9/11 commission on Thursday. Today, new information is coming out about the kind of pressure the commission exherted on the White House to get Rice to testify. We're going to have full details coming up.
In Iraq, 9 U.S. troops have been killed in weekend clashes. Fighting in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood has left at least 7 soldiers dead, 24 others were wounded. Two Marines were killed in a separate attack west of Baghdad.
In Spain, police believe the ringleader of the Madrid train bombing died in an explosion Saturday. Police now say 5 suspected terrorists, not 4, were killed when they blew themselves up in a building during a stand-off, 3 had international arrest warrants. Police are searching for at least 2 others who may have escaped.
Good evening, I'm Carol Lin. Welcome to CNN's LIVE SATURDAY (sic). Coming up this hour, the fallout after a Texas mom is acquitted of murder by reason of insanity in the killings of her own children. We are going to talk to a Court TV reporter what went on in the courtroom as the verdict was read.
And how this compares to the Andrea Yates case, another Texas murder trial with a very different outcome.
Also, tonight, Michael Jackson's here, there, and everywhere, courting everyone. Is he suddenly reaching for his roots to garnish support as he faces legal troubles? We're going to talk to an expert.
But first we begin at the White House. For weeks, the Bush Administration refused to let Condoleezza Rice testify before the September 11 Commission. Then suddenly, last week a stunning reversal. Tonight there are new insights into the about face. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us more of the details -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, the White House says it was really the extraordinary circumstances of September 11th that guarantee that Dr. Rice's testimony would not be a precedent. But today we're learning no insights and new pressure that both Democrats and Republicans used those tactics to get the White House to change its mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush is back from Camp David with a date set to privately go before the 9/11 Commission, along with Vice President Dick Cheney in the next two weeks, but this week all eyes are on his top advisor, Condoleezza Rice, who will testify publicly and under oath Thursday she'll make the case, aides say that the Administration did all it could to prevent the 9/11 attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we could have envisioned it and done anything to have prevented it.
MALVEAUX: The White House resisted for weeks putting Rice in front of the Commission publicly, sighting executive privilege. But the Commission was so determined to have her testify, last Monday, it's Executive Director Republican Phillip Zelikow, faxed White House Council a 1945 "New York Times" photo and article showing Presidential Chief of Staff Admiral William Leahy, back then, Rice's equivalent, testifying before an congressional panel investigating Pearl Harbor.
The Commission argued history showed the White House's argument didn't hold up, it's spokesman said. The next day the President announced he was changing course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may have been one of the straws on the camel's back, but the camel certainly had the big load of the 9/11 Commission with bipartisan support insisting on Dr. Rice's public and sworn testimony.
MALVEAUX: One big question before Rice will be whether the Bush Administration treated the threat of quite al-Qaeda as an urgent matter prior to September 11. For those who used to sit in Rice's seat, he White House gets mixed reviews.
HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: When a new administration comes in, the files in the White House are empty. There are a lot of people who tell them that matters are very urgent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The difference between urgent and important is a question of priority.
BRENT SCOWCROFT, FMR NATL SECURITY ADVISOR: It's fundamentally a matter of judgment. This Administration came in with a certain mind- set coming out of the campaign and so on. For example, ballistic missile defense was something they really wanted to get through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Carol, this evening, the White House responding to the idea that photo influencing the President's decision, a spokesman saying it is wrong to suggest a photo resulted in the President's decision. He goes on to say, we've had an ongoing dialogue with the commission about the best ways they can provide them with information that they need to complete the work, that the President is pleased with the agreement.
Should also let you know as well, the Commission as well as White House officials both guaranteeing that there will be a report released to the public before the November elections -- Carol.
LIN: Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House.
Condoleezza Rice, again, expected to testify Thursday morning under oath publicly before the 9/11 Commission. CNN is going to carry that live beginning at 9:00 Eastern.
And also on our 10:00 primetime show tonight, David Gergen, the former editor of "U.S. News and World Report" is a personal friend of Phillip Zelikow. I'm going to be talking to him tonight in our 10: 00pm prime time show more about the photo and the story behind it.
In the meantime, back to the war on terror. In Spain, the manhunt continues. Police now say five suspected terrorists may have died when they blew themselves up as police were closing in on them yesterday. Police believe one of them is the ringleader of the 3/11 bombings. CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): This is what it looked like Saturday night. Suspected terrorists blew themselves up as the police closed in on their hide out, killing a police officer, and wounding others.
ANGEL ACEBES, SPANISH INTERIOR MINISTER: (through translator): The central core of those who carried out the terrorist attacks have been either arrested, or are deed, killed by the collective suicide bombing of yesterday.
GOODMAN: The dead include this Tunisian, Serhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, the suspected coordinator of the deadly Madrid commuter train bombings last month. Moroccan Abdennabi Kounjaa also was killed. Like the Tunisian, he was wanted on an international arrest warrant for the train bombings.
The apartment where the suspects lived was pulverized by the explosion, and it caused damage throughout the building in Madrid's southern suburbs Leganes.
But authorities say explosives found intact at the apartment after the blast links the suspects to the March 11 Madrid commuter train bombings, and also to the bomb found last Friday on the bullet train tracks south of Madrid.
ACEBES (through translator): They found around 200 detonators, ten kilos of unexploded dynamite, and some of this explosive was already prepared, ready for immediate use. The detonators are of the same model that was found in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bag in the Aver (ph) track one. Therefore, this suggests all the incidents are related.
GOODMAN: The working class neighborhood has not recovered from the commotion, shocked that terror suspects lived right next door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was tremendous, an enormous blast. My son was thrown against the sofa, and I don't know what else I can say. It was horrible.
GOODMAN: As people here return to their homes, grim work continued inside the suspected terrorist hideout. And inside this dark van, forensics experts prepared to leave with remains of the suspects.
Spanish leaders turned out Sunday for the funeral of the police officer who also died in Saturday's raid.
(on-camera): Police say the manhunt continues in the Madrid train bombings. At least two terrorist suspects may have escaped police on Saturday and others sought on international arrest warrants apparently remain at large. Al Goodman, CNN, Leganes, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Right back here in the Unites States, a housewife who said God told her to kill her sons will go to a maximum-security hospital, not a prison. That is the decision a hushed courtroom in Tyler, Texas heard yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty by reason of insanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A jury acquitted Deanna Laney of capital murder in the killing of two of her sons and injuring a third. They determined she was insane when she did it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT BINGHAM, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I don't think anybody in this room or anybody in that courtroom weren't touched by the evidence in this case. For the rest of my life, I'll remember Aaron, I'll remember Joshua, I'll remember Luke. I'll never forget what happened to them that day. But you have a job to do.
BUCK FILES, LANEY'S ATTORNEY: There is nothing worse than the fear that you will have a client inappropriately convicted when they are innocent either purely innocent or innocent as a result of being insane at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: "Court TV" reporter Savannah Gutherie covered the case, and she's with us right now. Savannah what was it like inside that courtroom?
SAVANNAH GUTHERIE, COURT TV: Carol, it was incredibly tense. I can tell you the whole week was so somber, some of the most gruesome testimony I have ever seen in a court case. And then when it was time for the verdict, the jury had deliberated almost seven hours on Saturday. And as we waited for the jurors to come up, I looked at Deanna Laney's face, I'd been studying it all week, she looked absolutely petrified as far as I was concerned.
And then your viewers just saw it a few minutes ago as the verdict was read, not guilty by reason of insanity, her face flushed with relief. She started to cry and I saw her later as the judge was speaking to the jurors, trying to look over at the jurors and just had a look of just relief and gratitude.
LIN: What was the reasoning behind the verdict? Why were they so convinced that she was actually insane, especially given the verdict in the Houston mom case, Andrea Yates, who's spending life in prison for killing her kids?
GUTHERIE: It's such a good question. Well, I have to say in this case, all four psychiatrists who testified, two of whom were hired by the state, the prosecutors in the case and one that was hired by the court, not to mention the defense psychiatrists, all said she was a textbook case of insanity.
Nevertheless, the prosecutors put on a really tough case. They highlighted all of the facts that suggested maybe she did know right from wrong, and that was the bottom line under Texas law. Did she know right from wrong? The defense lawyer said, I asked him, why is this case different from Andrea Yates? There are so many similarities.
And he told me because, and he was advised by Yates's lawyer in the days following after he got this case. He said put her on videotape so the jurors see right away what she was like around the time of the killings, and the jurors did see that. She seemed very calm and very remorseless and clearly someone in a psychotic state.
LIN: So, this was tape shot what, a day after her arrest, the same day?
GUTHERIE: Actually, it was six days later. And the psychiatrists all agree, she was still delusional at that point. And I can tell you, it was very chilling. She describes in detail the killings of these boys, and the injury of the youngest boy who is still alive and has a lot of injuries now. And she shows no remorse. She doesn't even cry.
And I think the jurors probably looked at that and said, now here's something that we've seen her very close in time to these killings, and this is not someone acting who is normal by any stretch of the imagination.
LIN: So she actually goes to a hospital now, and doctors are going to examine her. What happens next? How long is she going to be there?
GUTHERIE: Well, that is the question. Certainly she's going to go to a maximum-security unit of a state hospital for the next 60 days. And then it will be up to a judge who will be advised by a review board of the Mental Health Department in Texas, and they'll determine whether she's a danger to herself or others, and whether she should be involuntarily committed. I would be very surprised if she gets out of a mental institution anytime soon.
LIN: Her husband, Keith, was in the courtroom when the verdict was read. And he bowed his head. Was that because of relief or because, or was it because of disappointment?
GUTHERIE: I'm sure he had a mix of emotions. He's very private. He didn't speak to reporters. I don't believe he's ever broken his silence. It is my understanding that Keith Laney, and the Laney family, support Deanna Laney, and they wanted to have a trial, and they wanted to have a fair trial, and have the facts aired out. But that he wanted her to be acquitted by reason of insanity.
They've come to believe that that is only explanation for what happened here. They all testified during the trial. They never saw any sign of mental illness. It was as if one day out of the blue, she woke up and did this terrible thing to her kids.
LIN: And you know Savannah, it's still so hard to believe that something like that could happen. If it could happen to her, it seems like it could happen to any of us.
GUTHERIE: It's truly frightening.
LIN: A truly bizarre case. Thank you very much. Savannah Gutherie of Court Television.
GUTHERIEI: My pleasure.
LIN: Coming up at 10:00 tonight prime time show, I'm going to have an exclusive interview with Tonda Curry, one of Deanna Laney's attorneys, defense attorney. That's at 10:00 Eastern tonight on "CNN SUNDAY NIGHT." Stay tuned.
Some more stories across America right now, Edwardsville, Kansas a man suspected of killing his ex-wife and her co-worker in a fire station is found dead. Police believe Matthew Bath (ph) ambushed the two medics early Saturday and later committed suicide.
North Highlands, California: a teacher at a Catholic school says he was fired for offering extra credit to seventh graders who watched "The Passion of the Christ." The school has a policy against assigning students to watch R-rated movies.
New York in July: visitors will be able to stand at the base of the Statue of Liberty for the first time since 9/11, but a published report says they didn't have to wait that long. The "New York Times" says both the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Foundation and the National Parks Service delayed the monument's reopening unnecessarily.
Gas prices are hitting record highs across the country. Right now, they're averaging 1.76 a gallon. Drivers and businesses are looking for ways to cope with the sky rocketing costs. And for many it's a hard sell. Our Kathleen Koch brings us a reality check from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESONDENT (voice-over): As gasoline prices continue their climb upward, the hardest hit are bailing out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't afford it. I have to start using the bus now.
KOCH: Some small independent truck drivers are sidelined until prices drop.
PAUOL CUTTER JR, OWNER-OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSN: You see truck drivers declaring that they're parking their truck. They don't make any money out on the road.
KOCH: Bigger freight carriers are buying diesel fuel in bulk months ahead of time, and using satellite technology to track down affordable fuel on the road.
BOB COSTELLO, AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSN: They can then contact the carriers -- the drivers as they are going down the road and tell them where the cheapest place is to fuel up.
KOCH: Most, like this florist, are being forced to pass on the higher cost of doing business.
LAILA, AZIZI, OWNER, FLOWER TOWN: Now I have to charge a delivery charge of $5 or $8. I try not to, but unfortunately it's very hard now with the gas prices.
KOCH: And some business owners are scaling back.
TOM DOYLE, OWNER, DOYLE PRINTING: We've actually traded in some vehicles, bigger SUVs that we have, the bigger gas-guzzlers, and we've gone to a smaller vehicles to better gas mileage.
KOCH: But few individuals are changing their habits, even when it comes to summer travel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll probably use the car still, because the distances aren't that far and so I don't think it will make that big a difference.
KOCH: Hybrids that get more than 40 miles per gallon remain a hot commodity.
GINNI GULTON, PRIUS OWNER: You get to drive by the gas station and don't have to stop.
KOCH: But it's the SUV that still rules the road with sales up 14 percent over last year, while sales of small and mid-size cars dropped.
PAUL TAYLOR, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NATL AUTO DEALERS ASSN: I think gasoline prices over $2.50 a gallon in the United States, not just in California, would start to change the selection of vehicles that consumers make. KOCH: (on-camera): And economists say those prices would have to stay high for sometime before most Americans would permanently change their buying or driving habits. Kathleen Koch, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: It's the most popular kind of television show in the U.S., but not in other parts of the world. OK. How is western style reality TV playing in the Middle East?
And pucker up. It's a kissing contest Bali style, but not everyone approves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: It's been a day of turmoil in Iraq. Violence erupted across the country with deadly consequences. It all began in the southern city of Najaf. CNN's Walter Rodgers is following all the developments from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to coalition officials, the protesting Shiite Muslims fired first. From a crowd targeting Spanish troops and Iraqi police. The exchange of fire sent over 100 people to the hospital, it included several soldiers from coalition forces.
The blood shed followed two days of relatively peaceful Shiite protests followers of the fiery cleric Moqtada al Sadr. But then coalition forces arrested one of Sadr's deputies on a warrant for the earlier murder of another rival Muslim cleric, and the shooting began. U.S. Administrator Paul Bremer said enough.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: This morning, a group of people in Najaf have crossed the line. And they have moved to violence. This will not be tolerated.
RODGERS: This Shiite spokesman, however, suggested his people have long memories, and the coalition has become public enemy number one.
They are arrogant countries, he said. They open fire on demonstrators.
In Baghdad, the anti-American demonstrators marched through the city, sometimes peacefully, sometimes less so. It had the appearance of the new intifada against the Americans promised Friday by radical Shiites.
In Sadr City, a southern suburb of Baghdad, the Shiite Muslims seized a number of police stations, and it looked as though war was breaking out again. Followers of Moqtada al Sadr fired rocket propelled grenades at U.S. forces. This fighting spawned over anti- coalition violence across much of Iraq. Marking a very bloody weekend in this country.
(on-camera): The last week has seen what seems to be a progressive disintegration of the American experiment in Iraq. First there was the horrific murder and mutilation of four American civilian contractors in Fallujah, now Iraqi Shiite protesters have been gunned down in An Najaf by Iraqi police and coalition forces. It does not seem to be going according to Washington's script. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And in other news around the world, the World Health Organization is launching a year-long campaign to reduce traffic accidents. It says they kill more than a million people worldwide each year, and that the number is expected to double in the next 15 years.
In Britain, the last of British Airway's seven concords has begun its journey to its final destination, a museum in Scotland. There you see the supersonic jet taking off minus wings, tail and nose cone.
St. Peter's Square, Vatican City: Pope John Paul II held a special service for tens of thousands of people observing Palm Sunday, despite his ailing health. The day commemorates Jesus Christ's arrival in Jerusalem on the Sunday before his crucifixion. Young cheering crowds waved palm fronds and olive branches. The Vatican called the service a powerful antidote to the fear of terror.
And in Bali, Indonesia, an annual kissing festival gets underway. Couples kiss to ensure good health, and prevent bad luck in the village. The ceremony dates to the late 19th century and ends with village priests dumping buckets of water on the couples to douse their passions.
Reality shows aren't exclusive to American television. In the Middle East it got a little too real for the religious right. CNN's Brent Sadler has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are a huge commercial success. Western style reality TV shows captivating audiences in the Middle East, daring brands of entertainment here. Featuring young men and women under one roof for all to see. "Big Brother" clashed head on with conservative Islam.
REINA SARKIS, PSYCHOANALYST: It's as if that show sort of lifted the veil, not from women's faces, but from the society's face.
SADLER: Seen in some forms say the Dutch creators by as many as 2 billion viewers in 25 countries, including the United States.
(on-camera): But not in the Middle East, until producers thought they had worked out a new format that would not cross this region's strict religious and social boundaries.
(voice-over): Wrong: MBC, a Saudi Arabian owned company pulled the plug on the reported $10 million program after just ten days on air to silence a religious outcry in the kingdom of Bahrain where the show was transmitted from. Howls of protest followed this scene of a Saudi man with a Saudi flag kissing a Tunisian housemate, sparking fierce public debate that reached parliament.
There are many other scenes that were sickening, says this Islamism MP so we took action. To shut down this purpose built studio with separate sleeping quarters for men and women and prayer rooms for both. Zain Al-Thawadi (ph) is a Bahraini who worked on the show from day one, returning home after years of study in the United States to help produce what she thought was a pioneering venture, only to feel crushed and let down.
ZAIN AL-THAWADI, ASST. PROD, BIG BROTHER: No matter how much you try to change it, nothing is going to change here. I really -- I feel, I envy people who can just pick up their bags and leave. I really do.
SADLER: Viewers never saw these pictures of the 12 housemates doing just that, ending a regional show the creators promised to revamp and relocate to reach a part of the world where reality TV is far stranger than fiction. Brett Sadler, CNN, Bahrain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Still to come on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, he may be the new kid on the block, but his teammates say all hail, Adu.
And the King of Pop has had more than his share of television face time lately. From the kisses to the waves, is Michael Jackson using the media for his personal P.R. agenda?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In college hoops, say adios to the brackets. Only two teams remain in the NCAA tournament. Georgia Tech beat Oklahoma State in the Alamo Dome, 67-65 last night. UConn beat Duke 79-78. The Yellow Jackets and the Huskies will go head-to-head Monday with each team looking to grab the championship title.
He's been called a super hero, he's compared been to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and even to Mozart. Not bad for a 14-year-old, wouldn't you say? So who is he? Joyce Jackson from our affiliate WUSA reports America should get ready for Freddy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOYCE JACKSON, WUSA: As the world waited with bated breath, Freddy Adu entered the world of professional soccer in the 61st minute of the United's opener against San Jose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; The Freddy Adu era officially begins.
JACKSON: Each time he touched the ball, the crowd cheered with anticipation. Nothing spectacular happened, but there is the promise of a brilliant future and the relief that the first game is over. FREDDY ADU, SOCCER PLAYER: It went great. Something I'm going to remember for a long time. I had fun out there. It was a great atmosphere and obviously, I would have liked to have played a little bit more, but you know what, it's my first professional game, and I've got to take it one game at a time.
JAIME MORENO, DC UNITED FORWARD: He's got all the talent. He's still young like I said. It's a game that is very physical and still a little guy. I'm sure he's going to grow. But like I said, the people have to think, he's only 14 and I know that people probably they expected a little bit more but you've got to give him a little chance to show all his stuff.
BOBBY CONVEY, DC UNITED FORWARD: I think Freddy liked being on the field. Obviously, today he was a little bit nervous because of all the people and everything. But Freddy is best when he's on the field and away from everything, and just doing what he knows how to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Adu is the youngest person to play for a major U.S. sports team since 1887. Back then, that title belonged to another 14-year- old, Fred Chapman. He debuted for Philadelphia as part of Major League Baseball's American Association. Did we really get that year right, 1887?
The boys of summer will need their long sleeves for their stateside opener tonight when the Boston's Red Sox visit Baltimore to play the Orioles. Temperatures are expected to be in the 30s.
The New York Yankees opened the Major League Baseball season last Tuesday against Tampa Bay, but that game was in Japan.
They were complete strangers a few years ago, but now they share a tragic story and they're taking it to Capitol Hill.
Plus, it's a war of words. Political figures in the literary arms race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now we've got to check at this hour's top stories. It's been a deadly weekend in Iraq: 9 U.S. troops and 24 wounded. Seven soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in clashes of Baghdad's biggest Shiite neighborhood. Two Marines died in a separate attack west of Baghdad.
And in the southern Iraqi town of Najaf, protests today by supporters of the same Shiite cleric turned deadly. Insurgents firing on a military post of mostly Spanish troops killed a Salvadoran soldier.
Spanish forensic experts say 5 suspected terrorists may have died yesterday as they blew themselves up inside an apartment on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. The explosion ripped through the building as police were trying to move in to arrest the susepects. One Spanish police officer was also killed.
All right, let's focus again on the September 11th Commission. It is preparing to question National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Thursday. Her planned appearance was the focus of discussion on the Sunday talk shows. Former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich weighed in as well as the Commission's chairman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THOMAS KEAN, 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: There may be differences/ whether we call them discrepancies or not, there are differences between her recollections and some cases, reflections, and other people's. We want to find out about the transition, we want to find out about the policies, we want to find out about any policy differences, and we're going to find out any recommendations she has.
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think the most of the important question is to get an understanding from Dr. Rice of the plans they had underway to systematically go after al-Qaeda, and what they were doing, particularly in Central Asia, to lay the base for going after al-Qaeda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: What the U.S. knew and didn't know about terror threats facing the nation will be the focus when Condoleezza Rice testifies under oath before the 9/11 Commission Thursday morning. CNN will carry that live beginning at 9:00 Eastern.
Here is something you may not know. The Commission may not have even existed were it not for a group of September 11th widows. Many are calling them the Jersey Girls. CNN's Alina Cho has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPNDENT (voice-over): Spend a few minutes with the Jersey Girls, and you may think they're lifelong friends. They are not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? You have homework.
CHO: The four mothers never knew each other before September 11th, but when all of them lost their husbands that day --
MINDY KLEINBERG, 9/11 WIDOW: We wanted to know how could this have happened? How could we live here and have been taken over by 19 terrorists from another country.
PATTY CASAZZA, 9/11 WIDOW: For us, there would be no peace until we had the answers to all of our questions.
CHO: So Patty Casazzza and Mindy Kleinberg joined with Kristin Brettweiser (ph) and Lorie Van Auken to form a group of 9/11 families hoping for answers.
LORIE VAN AUKEN, 9/11 WIDOW: 9/11 for us was a colossal failure, a failure of defense, security.
CHO: And change.
KLEINBERG: We don't want to have another attack. We don't want anybody to walk in our shoes.
CHO: So these women did something about it and pushed hard for the creation of a 9/11 Commission.
KEAN: They're influential in everything. I mean, they really are. They're there they work when we need something, they're on the spot.
CHO: That means staging a walkout when Richard Armitage testified instead of National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice during the hearings. Rice will now go before the Commission this week.
(on-camera): But the women's activism in an election year has made them a target of Republican attacks. Republicans who say they are being used by the Democrats to go after President Bush.
(voice-over): The women took issue with the President's use of 9/11 images in his ads.
KRISTEN BRETTWEISER (ph), 9/11 WIDOW: I know that certain people have called ground zero the, quote unquote, perfect backdrop. It is hell on earth for me.
CHO: And then there are lighter moments.
VAN AUKEN: And Congress was split between the Senate and the House but I didn't know which one had more members and now I know.
CHO: They've learned a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Certainly succeeded.
CHO: But say they will never stop searching for answers. Alina Cho, CNN East Brunswick, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry is making his first public appearance today since his shoulder surgery. Kerry marked the start of Easter week taking communion at Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston. The Massachusetts Senator had outpatient surgery Wednesday. Aides say he's easing back into the campaign trail after four days of recuperating at home.
After spending the weekend at Camp David, President Bush is back at the White House tonight. He won't be there for long though. Tomorrow he heads to North Carolina to push his new job training initiative. And then it's on to Missouri where the President will toss out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals' season opener.
Now the war of words between conservatives and liberals has become a real page-turner, quite literally. CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIO POLITICAL ANAYLIST (voice-over): The literary arms race is on. Books have become weapons in the cultural war that's been going on since the 60s, left versus right. A war that reached the peak with the baby boom presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
RICH LOWRY, NATIONAL REVIEW: The Clinton and Bush are sort of archtypes for each side in this conflict.
SCHNEIDER: The Clintons spawned an entire industry of anti- Clinton books with titles like "High Crimes and Misdemeanors", and "No One Left To Lie To". But the Clintons got their revenge when Hillary Clinton's living history became a worldwide bestseller.
Now there's a thriving market in anti--Bush books with titles like "Bush Whacked" and "Weapons of Mass Deception". The secret of success in that market, timing says David Corn, author of the "The Lies of George W. Bush".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the spring of 2002, I talked to my agent about doing a book like this. She sniffed around the publishing houses, and at that point, there was no interest.
SCHNEIDER: But times change quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In October 2002, my agent tried again, and got six houses within a day to say yes we want to do it.
SCHNEIDER: Now with the campaign on, there's a thriving market in pro-Bush books like "Deliver Us from Evil," "The Faith of George W. Bush" and "Bush Country." Each side is armed to the teeth with shocking revelations.
CRAIG UNGER, AUTHOR OF HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD: Never before in history has the president of the United States had such a close relationship with another foreign power as the Bush family has with the Saudis.
SCHNEIDER: And up front agendas like a new book by Presidential Advisor Karen Hughes.
KAREN HUGHES, BUSH ADVISOR: It's important to my family and all the families in America that he be re-elected.
SCHNEIDER: You know how on web sites like amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com they tell you customers who bought this book also bought these other books? One scholar used that information to map out books that shared the same readers.
Sure enough, he found two distinct markets. A network of conservative readers who purchased books like "The O'Reilly Factor," and a network of liberal readers who purchased books like "The O'Really Factor." Blue readers and red readers rarely read each other's books, and there are very few books that both sides read.
Who needs neutrality when there's a war on?
SCHNEIDER (on-camera): You want to see the literary arms race go nuclear? Wait till this summer when Bill Clinton's book is supposed to come out. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you Americans doing so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we kicked their butts off the beach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Jason Bellini on a battlefield like no other. We're going to show you a new twist on the war.
And next, he's aligned himself with the nation of Islam, and he even pushed a visit with the congressional black caucus Capital Hill. Is Michael Jackson playing the media with the race card? A discussion straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A grand jury investigating the Michael Jackson child molestation case continues taking testimony tomorrow in Santa Barbara, California. The Pop star took steps last week at the same time to deal with an image problem beyond the scope of any cosmetic surgeon. CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me just say to Michael, hugs to you.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson in Washington, D.C. accepting love and praise from members of congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know your interest in the sideshow, but in the central issue that confronts real people's lives, the issue of aides in Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MARQUEZ: In a picture perfect ceremony surrounded by children, Jackson accepted an award for his charitable work in Africa.
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: I want you to know that I have been going to Africa since I was 12 years old, and I love it very much.
MARQUEZ: High profile Washington trip in the middle of Jackson's swirling legal sideshow back home, in a pair of hearings to decide if there was enough evidence to send the case to trial. A grand jury took testimony in Santa Barbara, while 75 miles north in Santa Maria, a judge listened to arguments from Jackson's lawyers.
BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, ATTORNEY FOR JACKSON: I think Michael Jackson, those of you who saw him on TV last night receiving an award in Washington; I think is he in good spirits, and being Michael Jackson, and leaving the legal work to his lawyers.
MARQUEZ: But there is other work. Michael Levine who represented Jackson in the early '90s, the last time molestation charges were alleged. He says Jackson's problems are real and perceived. And the Washington, D.C. trip was all about changing the public perception of Michael Jackson.
MICHAEL LEVINE, PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIST: I think this was an effort, albeit desperate effort even perhaps to find an oasis from the bad news.
MARQUEZ: Levine, a Public Relations Expert, and author on "Making the Bad Look Good" says Jackson's image may be beyond repair.
LEVINE: Michael Jackson has crossed a threshold that makes redemption or resurrection of his persona or image virtually impossible.
MARQUEZ (on-camera): So the seemingly all but certain trial of Michael Jackson when verdict day comes, whether innocent or guilty, will it be the beginning or the end to his problems? Will he ever be able to work in this town again? Miguel Marquez, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now consider who Michael Jackson has been aligning himself with, for example, the nation of Islam, and also taking up the cause of aides in Africa, planning a trip in the future he told the caucus. Have his legal troubles sent the pop star scurrying to rediscover his roots? Ellis Cose, writes about race for "Newsweek," and he's also a contributing editor to that magazine. Ellis, thank you very much for being with us.
ELLIS COSE, NEWSWEEK: My pleasure Carol.
LIN: Do you think Michael Jackson is playing the race card?
COSE: He's playing several cards; the biggest card he is playing is the celebrity card. There's a long tradition in American public life, if you're a celebrity and get in trouble, you try to change the subject. Celebrities have the power to do that. Within that context, he certainly appealed to issues and the people who he thinks will be responsive him. Clearly he reached out to black congress people, not the Speaker of the House, not congress in general. So within that context, sure, he's aligning himself with people of color, and with black people in particular.
LIN: Just days after the charges were announced, announced, Jermaine Jackson spoke angry little with CNN. This is what he had to say about the media circus, in the response to his brother's charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: I am sick and tired of everybody saying these things about my family. We will fight and we will stand up, and everybody that knows us around the world will support us, because at the end of the day, this is nothing but a modern day lynching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Fighting words. How is that likely to be received by African Americans?
COSE: I'm sure he's sincere. But I think anyone who understands the history of this country, and knows what lynching is, think that's preposterous. And I think it's a misrepresentation of history, and a misunderstanding of very loaded word.
Lynching was about people getting mutilated, killed, destroyed in secret largely for offenses that were never aired in public. This is something very different. He is getting criticized. And I'm sure his family is hurt by that. To call this a lynching, I think that's just silly.
LIN: So how does a mostly white grand jury -- taking a look at the pictures of Michael Jackson with members of the black congressional caucus, talking about his trip to Africa, aligning himself with the nation of Islam, the family goes on and uses the word lynching, how does a white jury, grand jury likely to be able to receive that?
COSE: I think Jackson has a larger problem as one of your guests earlier said. He's perceived by large parts of the public, white and black as well as at this point, as being a walking joke waiting for a punch line.
LIN: Regardless of color.
COSE: Regardless of color. And he's certainly trying to change the subject. And I think a lot of what he's successful at doing that is going to depend whether he can follow through with it. Whether he is going to really make himself into an advocate for serious causes in the way of a Bono in the way of a Danny Glover as opposed to somebody who sort of drops in when he's in trouble and says hey, remember me, I like Africa too.
LIN: Does he lose credibility then with African Americans?
COSE: I don't think he has a lot of credibility as a serious spokesman on serious subjects. Aids is a very serious subject. Millions of people are dying every year. The Bush Administration is backing away from its commitment of billions of dollars.
There are questions of how you get drugs to people. There are questions of what is the appropriate public response to change behavior. He hasn't addressed any of that. If he is going to address that in some serious way, he's going to gain a lot of credibility. But that remains to be seen whether he does that or not.
LIN: Well it certainly seems like he's trying. Ellis Cose, thank you. Ellis Cose is author of a new book, "Bone to Pick." About forgiveness, reconciliation, reparation, and revenge.
They're reenacting a war that happened 60 years ago, but they're fighting with no grenades and no tanks. The ammunition, just balls of paint. We'll take you to the colorful battle next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In southern Tennessee today, a reenactment of a famous military campaign. It was to honor American fighting men who lost their lives during World War II in the D-Day fighting. Jason Bellini was there and has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On one point, the reenactment of D-Day reflected reality. Most everyone, including myself and my camera, had been shot before we even reached the shore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That could have been dead, first shot right there in the neck, man.
BELLINI: Some saw the scenario as a way of honoring World War II veterans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess this is as close as anybody here will ever know what the firestorm was like on that beach that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they appreciate more exactly what those people did sacrifice for us at that time.
BELLINI: Not all the players treat this as an exercise in patriotism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clean sweep.
BELLINI: Peaches is a German field commander.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attempted to make this like World War II.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a German whore in a pink dress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the landings, the allied and German forces earn points by completing missions. Missions that involve seizing and defending specific towns and fortresses deeper and deeper into France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will have to hold four towns. They've got 40 airborne paratroopers, they're going to drop in twos, threes, and fours.
BELLINI: To be fair, many young participants keep what seems a healthy perspective. Corey Harrison (ph) is a high school student during the week.
Do you think people peat participating in this get a better appreciation for what D-Day veterans went through?
COREY HARRISON (ph): It's kind of like maybe in about 1/100 of what it really was. Because these are just paint balls. OK, good shot man. You weren't saying that obviously because you'd be dead.
BELLINI: It's some of the adults we wonder about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a little crazy, isn't he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but he's cool.
BELLINI: Just when it seemed Peaches had completely lost the plot, he offered this assessment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get some reenactment information if you will, but best way to do it, go to a history book.
BELLINI: Peaches perhaps not so crazy after all. Jason Bellini, CNN, Fayetteville Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: It's hard to fight in a dress. That's it for us. Up next on PEOPLE IN THE NEWS a look at the star of the hit the reality show, "The Apprentice." Then at 8: 00 Eastern, as millions of Christians around the world enter the week of Easter, CNN PRESENTS takes a closer look at the mystery of Jesus.
And then at 9:00 Eastern, ABC anchor Peter Jennings will join Larry King.
And at 10:00 I'll be back with an exclusive interview with one of the attorneys for Deanna Laney, the Texas mother who's been acquitted in the killings of her sons.
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