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CNN Live Sunday

Tensions Escalate Between New Orleans and D.C.; Former Iraqi Prime Minister Attacked by Mob; Bush Administration Trying to Sell War Strategy to Public; Lawmakers Helping New Orleans Region; Gynecologist Accused of Molestations Continues to Practice Medicine; Checking up on a Doctor's History; Stanley "Tookie" Williams Clemency Hearing; Mexican Police Allegedly in Cahoots with Drug Cartel; MTV Laguna Beach Controversy

Aired December 04, 2005 - 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: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. To our top story in just a moment, but first, these are the stories making news right now.
A surgeon who helped transplant part of a face onto a woman in France says she is doing very well. He plans to keep her hospitalized for up to six weeks.

And gas prices slid another 11 cents in the past two weeks, to $2.13 a gallon. But experts say don't expect any more price cuts.

Hollywood stars are shining tonight in Washington. A performance at the Kennedy Center will honor the lifetime contributions of Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, Julie Harris, Robert Redford and Tina Turner.

And talking about Hurricane Katrina tonight. Who can forget these awful images? Appalling conditions, desperate victims, a city under a total state of emergency. We learn this weekend the hurricane that trashed New Orleans wasn't the only storm churning.

There is now a new political storm. Now 100,000 pages of memos and e-mails from Louisiana's governor gives an intimate and a disturbing look at the cries for help and Washington's response. CNN's Gary Nurenberg is in Washington today. Gary, you got a chance to look at some of the material?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At some of them, Carol, and they're fascinating. As you know, in the days after Katrina hit, Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco repeatedly asked the federal government for help. At one point writing President Bush with a shopping list of important needs. Five days after, a White House staffer wrote a letter -- wrote rather that that letter had never been received.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: (voice-over): The White House e-mail said the president never got Governor Kathleen Blanco's letters, said, "we found it on the governor's Web site, but we need an original for staff secretary to formally process the request she is making." At one point when thousands of evacuees are stranded and promised federal aid hasn't arrived, Blanco makes what describes as an urgent morning phone call to the White House, but can't get through to President Bush or his chief of staff.

It is only later in the day that she talks with the president and "stresses the situation is extremely grave." Blanco's Web site includes a narrative which accompanies the newly-released documents intended for congressional investigating committees. It shows her in constant touch with Washington, warning the president on August 27th that the storm will be so severe, state and local government will need federal help.

And recounts a phone call to the White House after Katrina struck where she says, "we need your help, we need everything you've got." Although the narrative says Blanco believes President Bush desired to be helpful, her aides were angry at criticism of her from Washington.

The governor's communications directors wrote, quote, "Bush's numbers are low and they're getting pummeled by the media for their inept response to Katrina, and are actively working to make us the scapegoats." Blanco writes in one memo, "I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary federal resources would be available in a timely fashion."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: And there is fascinating new information on that missing letter from the governor to the president. The governor's staff told CNN only moments ago that the governor herself handed that letter to President Bush. We have asked for White House reaction, Carol, and are waiting for it now.

LIN: Gary, some initial impressions by you of what you've read?

NURENBERG: In the days after the hurricane, it's clear that communications have broken down and that federal and state authorities are not on the same page as they try to respond to the really unexpected devastation.

As time goes on and each starts to criticize the other, political considerations begin to squeak into some of these memos. Those memos that we told you about, each side blaming the other. As we deal with these hundred thousand of pages of documents, Carol, it is likely we'll see more of that and we'll get it to you as soon as our eyes let us see it.

LIN: You bet. A lot of reading. Gary, thank you very much.

Now, for at least the next 28 days until the new year, we are holding political leaders responsible for answering specific questions about rebuilding. Tonight, my guest is Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. In just a few minutes, what she can do to make things happen for the people of New Orleans.

Also, some other stories that we're working on for you on CNN LIVE SUNDAY. A breach of doctor/patient trust. How can a physician with a record of sexual abuse still be practicing? That story of outrage on your "Healthwatch" coming up.

Also, members of the 9/11 Commission say we are vulnerable to another terror attack.

And later, a winter wallop. More snow is on the way.

Now, in Iraq, a mob attacks former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Shots are fired. He says it was an assassination attempt. Our Nic Robertson was only yards away when the drama unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the run being chased by an angry mob, not the image former prime minister and parliamentary candidate Ayad Allawi would like to have. His trouble began minutes after he arrived at Iraq's holiest shrine in the city of Najaf.

Allah, a secular Shia, was on his way to meet religious leaders but for reasons not entirely clear, anti-Allawi chanting broke out. Within 30 seconds, he was fleeing, later he was to say to save his life.

As Allawi sped away, gunfire erupted, his security shooting back in the direction of the crowd. It's just a few minutes now since Mr. Allawi was chased out of that shrine and it looks like he's leaving town, driving out of Najaf.

As his team stopped to regroup, they realized three people had been left behind. Once underway again, Apache gun ships escorted the convoy. Politician (INAUDIBLE) was one of the three left behind. She made it out OK.

SAFIA AL SOUHAIUL, IRAQI NATIONAL ALLIANCE: When we entered the place from the main gate, we started to see some faces from some forces who were prepared to assassinate Dr. Ayad Allawi.

ROBERTSON: As Allawi and the rest of his team regrouped in the safety of a U.S. base, an Iraqi journalist who fears retribution if he is recognized, told me he was inside the shrine with Allawi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think (INAUDIBLE) because there are gunmen (ph).

ROBERTSON: He believes a militia belonging to firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr was responsible. After a ride back to Baghdad on U.S. helicopters, Allawi seemed to have made a similar assessment.

AYAD ALLAWI, FORMER IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): About 60 people dressed in black carrying machetes and pistols starting chanting against us and it appeared to be an assassination attempt. ROBERTSON: Allawi's day was meant to be all about building popularity. He casts himself as a secular strongman, able to fix Iraq's security problems. But maintaining that image in the face of these pictures will take powerful rhetoric. Nic Robertson, CNN, Najaf, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Also in Iraq, two American soldiers are killed in a roadside bomb attack. Several others are wounded. And Iraqi security forces uncover a plot to bomb Saddam Hussein's trial tomorrow. Officials say insurgents aimed mortars at the court.

And "TIME" Magazine says the U.S. is negotiating with insurgents to drive a wedge between foreign insurgents and Iraqis.

Now, President Bush is on the offensive. Public support for his handling of the war in Iraq is way down. And the White House wants to reverse that slide fast. CNN's Elaine Quijano, at the White House right now. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Carol. And the White House strategy right now is to lay out to the American people, the administration's view of the way forward in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): With less than two weeks until Iraq's highly-anticipated parliamentary elections, the Bush administration is stepping up its efforts to convince Americans that there is a plan for winning in Iraq and that it's working.

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We're seeing progress against the terrorists. We're seeing progress in the political arena of increasing numbers of Iraqis voting and participating in the process to develop a government.

QUIJANO: But polls show an increase in the number of Americans who disapprove of the president's Iraq policy. In a "TIME" magazine survey last January, 51 percent said they disapproved of the way the president was handling Iraq. Now the disapproval number is up to 60 percent.

And when asked about U.S. troops in Iraq, 47 percent said the U.S. should withdraw within 12 months, regardless of conditions there; 40 percent said troops should remain until the Iraqi government is stable. And eight percent said the U.S. should send more troops.

The Bush administration has signaled there could be a troop reduction next year, depending on the circumstances on the ground. But Democratic Congressman John Murtha believes now is the time for U.S. troops to hand over security responsibilities to the Iraqis, and says U.S. forces are paying too high a price for nation building.

REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: We need to turn this over to the Iraqis. We need to give them the incentive to take this over. And they only way you're going to do it is let them start to take over their own destiny.

QUIJANO: Others disagree, noting that Iraq needs support as it faces critical tests.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: I oppose it because we have to two seminal events coming up -- one this election on December 15th, and then the constitution.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We've made serious mistakes. And I'm frustrated by them, and most Americans are too. But most Americans, I think, still appreciate that if we had some kind of premature withdrawal, that the consequences would be very severe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: And on Wednesday, President Bush will make the second in a series of speeches in the run-up to the Iraq elections. Aides say that he will focus on that country's economy, as well as the reconstruction efforts taking place there. Carol?

LIN: Elaine, thank you.

Also want to tell folks about a security breach at the White House. A 29-year-old man scales the fence and jumps on to the North Lawn. Shawn Cox of Arkansas was arrested by Secret Service officers. He faces charges of unlawful entry.

Crime and punishment. The founder of a notorious street gang is just days away from execution. He is waiting for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to give him a reprieve.

Plus, giving your doctor a checkup. In your health watch, a doctor who's a top consumer watchdog shows us how to investigate your doctor's stats.

Also why horse racing fans may have to start yelling "no, baby, no!" instead of "go, baby, go!"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The government should step in and say the levee broke. Let's do the right thing. So let's go to Washington. Let's do it, let's go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: These people feel like they were forgotten by FEMA and they're frustrated by insurance companies and feeling ignored by Washington. Katrina victims are reaching the breaking point. So we want to cut through the rhetoric of what's holding up recovery efforts and go straight to the men and women who hold the power and the purse strings of the government. Every week we will invite on our show, a lawmaker representing Katrina-ravaged Gulf regions to find out exactly what steps they are taking to help the region and its people, and track their success. My first guest is Louisiana's Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. Senator, thank you very much for joining us tonight.

We want to -- I know there's a big picture and you're fighting on a lot of different fronts. What is your absolute, first top priority for the coming week ahead?

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: Carol, for Louisiana to rebuild, we've got to have a world-class Category 5 and beyond, levee protection system, and coastal restoration, and an integrated water management system.

You know, this is America's only energy coast, the Gulf Coast. And it produces such wealth for this nation and has for decades, and will for decades ahead. So we're not asking for a handout but a hand- up. And getting, Carol, a dedicated stream of revenue, our own money that we actually send here through oil and gas revenues would be the beginning of, really the opportunity for us to help ourselves and rebuild. Without it, it will be very difficult to do.

LIN: Well, the estimated cost of getting those levees -- rebuilding them to a Category 5 -- to withstand a Category 5 storm is estimated at $32 billion. I understand so far that your suggestion has gotten frankly, a tepid response by the Bush administration. What are you going to do to make this happen? And how far are you willing to go?

LANDRIEU: Well Carol, you're right, it isn't a small amount of money. But literally based on what the Gulf Coast produces, which is just in royalties and severance taxes alone every year is about $6 billion, estimated to go up to $8 billion.

This money is not general fund money, this is money that comes out of offshore oil and gas revenue off the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi. So if we could get the federal government to redirect some of that money, just like the interior states get, which get to keep 50 percent of their revenues, based on drilling in their states on federal land, we could get it done.

It sounds like a lot of money, but relative to the gross national product or the economic input from this region of the country, it really is an investment in our future and in the nation's future.

LIN: Senator, who needs to sign off on this to make it happen?

LANDRIEU: You know, we've come very close in the past. This has been our delegation's No. 1 ask, for literally, unbelievably, over 15 years, money for coastal restoration, high levees. You know it was the Corps of Engineers' fault, basically -- primarily, not only, because of those levee breaks, 80 percent of the city went under water, the region flooded.

LIN: So? LANDRIEU: So the federal government has a responsibility to step up, redirect some of these revenues...

LIN: ... who in the federal government? Who do you go to?

LANDRIEU: Well, I think Congress, but also the president has not yet supported a dedicated stream of revenue. The Corps of Engineers told me: Senator, we could reduce the cost by 20 percent or 30 percent if we knew we could count on the money, instead of having to do it one congressional earmark at a time. So that's what the people of Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Texas need.

LIN: All right, so you're not counting on an act of Congress. You want President Bush what, to sign an executive order? I mean, what would the president need to do?

LANDRIEU: No, it needs to be both. But the president's support for this is crucial. We've had a vote out of the House of Representatives positively on this subject in years past, and a lot of support in the Senate. But the administration has been very lukewarm. We need the president to come out and say: yes, Louisiana and Mississippi deserve these funds and we can begin. And we need more than that.

LIN: So who are you talking to this coming week then?

LANDRIEU: Well, I talk to everybody, every week. I never stop talking about our levees and coastal restoration.

LIN: The Congress is about to go on holiday break?

LANDRIEU: Well, we're going to try to keep everybody in until we get some of this done. Now we won't get all of it done, Carol, this week. But we need a commitment that's supplemental for a down payment on a very strong levee protection, coastal restoration.

We need to build support around the nation for why New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is so valuable. And again, we're willing to do our part, but the federal government needs to do its part as a reliable partner. And you know, we've got a lot riding on this. I don't think the country wants to abandon the Gulf Coast. And we've got a solution that's workable.

LIN: All right, let's see what happens, because you know, as critics say, it's the guy on the high mountain in the desert who's also going to be paying this out of his taxes, and it's a question: who should pay?

That's the question that the Bush administration is asking. So we're going to be tracking your progress very closely. Senator, I appreciate the time.

Well, should he live or should he die? Reaction from gangland in California. Should a former gang member turned peacemaker die for his crimes? And a breach of doctor/patient trust. How can a physician with a record of sexual abuse still be practicing? That story of outrage on your "Healthwatch" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In your "Healthwatch" today, the trust you put in your doctor and what you should do if the doctor is incompetent or worse. Now, in some cases the violation can be the most degrading.

I'm going to talk with Dr. Sidney Wolfe, the author of "Worst Pills, Best Pills" in just a moment. He's going to show us how to protect ourselves. But first, see what happened to two California women in this Ted Rowlands report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In February of 2000, Yvette Chambers went to see Dr. Laurence Reich for a gynecological exam at a clinic near Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immediately, there was something wrong.

ROWLANDS: Chambers said she was in the exam room with her feet in the stirrups, Reich the only other person in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are naked from your waist down, and your legs are spread. And you feel extremely vulnerable.

ROWLANDS: Chambers says she became concerned with the way he was touching her and the things he was talking about, including her sex life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was questioning myself as to why I felt so uncomfortable, because it's a doctor. He's a doctor.

ROWLANDS: After the exam, Chambers says Reich watched her get dressed and then asked her out.

(on camera): He offered to take you to lunch?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Offered to take me to lunch.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Chambers saved a piece of paper with personal phone numbers, which she says Reich gave her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At that point, I realized, eww. Eww. I have just been molested. I have just been violated.

ROWLANDS: Five months before Chambers saw Reich, this woman, who doesn't want us to use her name, says she had a very similar experience when she went to get a prescription for birth control.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are in a precarious situation, with your feet in stirrups, and this doctor examining you. You are pretty vulnerable right there. And, so, when you are feeling like something is not right, and you are in that position, you -- there's really no option for you to escape at that point.

ROWLANDS: This woman, like Chambers, says Reich made her feel uncomfortable while touching her. Then, she says, he asked questions about her sex life and, eventually, for her home telephone number.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just knew, in my gut, that something was wrong. I was scared.

ROWLANDS: Both women filed complaints and found out they were not alone. In documents on file with the California Osteopathic Medical Board, Reich is accused of outrageous behavior by a number of women, dating back to the late 1970s.

One woman says that Reich was touching her genitals during an exam and asked her if it, quote, "felt good" and then kissed her. Another claims Reich was sexually excited during an exam and told her she needed to, quote, "lubricate herself" through self stimulation, so that he could properly diagnose an infection.

Another woman says Reich asked her to, quote, "manipulate" herself in front of him. And, then, after the exam, she says Reich asked her to demonstrate an oral sex technique on his thumb.

In 1982, Laurence Reich had his license suspend for 180 days. When he resumed practice, part of Reich's punishment was that, for 10 years, another person had to be in the exam room while he worked. In August of 2002, because of the new allegations and his history, Reich was arrested for sexual misconduct.

MAUREEN GREEN, DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It had factual challenges. It had legal challenges, but I certainly would have tried the case.

ROWLANDS: Maureen Green was the prosecutor on the case. She says her goal was to get Reich to stop practicing. So, she agreed to a deal. The doctor would plead no contest and avoid a possible prison sentence. She thought that would speed up the process of pulling his license.

GREEN: Why should someone like that continue to practice?

ROWLANDS (on camera): But, three years later, the Osteopathic Medical Board has done nothing about Dr. Reich's license. He's still practicing medicine. He's also the medical director at a clinic in this Beverly Hills building.

(voice-over): We found Reich by calling one of those numbers given to Chambers. When we went to see him, he appeared to be at his office, but his staff claimed he wasn't there.

Dozens of phone calls to Reich and his lawyer have not been returned. So why, three years after he pleaded no contest, has nothing been done?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's bring the... ROWLANDS: It's up to the state Osteopathic Medical Board to suspend or pull a license. The board was in public session yesterday in Sacramento. After the meeting, we asked them about the Reich case.

DR. TRACEY NORTON, MEMBER, OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA: I don't think I can comment on it, because it is still in process.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Any feelings about him still practicing three years after the criminal case?

DR. MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, PRESIDENT, OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA: I -- I have no opinion on that, because, if I did, I couldn't judge the case later on.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): For three years, Reich's lawyer has been trying to negotiate a settlement with the board. According to a source close to the case, two deals have been brought to the board, but were both rejected because, the board thought, they were too lenient.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the system is absolutely broken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they would have acted immediately on my complaint in February, that -- what happened to Yvette and probably a number of other women in between there would not have happened.

ROWLANDS: The board, which regulates osteopathic doctors, not medical doctors, could pull Reich's license without negotiating. But it hasn't.

(on camera): Would you want your daughter to see this doctor during this process?

LINDA BERGMANN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA: I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The state board needs to be completely revamped. And this kind of thing should never happen again.

GREEN: I understand the victims' frustration. I'm concerned. He's treating patients. I'm concerned.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Reich is free to treat patients until a decision is made by the board. A hearing on his case is not scheduled until February.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So how can you check your doctor out? Dr. Sidney Wolfe, he is the director of Public Citizens Health Research Group and he's also the author of book, "Best Pills, Worst Pills." He is the best person we can go to for this kind of advice. Dr. Wolfe, why didn't this board suspend this doctor's license? How much more evidence did they need?

DR. SIDNEY WOLFE, PUBLIC CITIZENS HEALTH RESEARCH GROUP: It's a good question, Carol, because every year there are about 100,000 people killed in hospitals alone because of negligence, mainly doctors' negligence.

We published a few paper years ago, about 761 physicians who had been disciplined for sexually abusing patients, such as the case here, half of them were still practicing medicine. There's a doctor in Texas, for example, who has admitted to having sex with 15 of his patients, still practicing medicine.

So the problem is whether it's the California Osteopathic Board or most of the medical boards in the country. They aren't doing a very good job. Most of the doctors who had repeated malpractice payouts, in other words, they'd been found with adjudicated case in court or a settlement to have injured or killed people, most of them have never been disciplined by the state medical board.

So the state medical board is supposed to be upholding the State Medical Practice Act and they aren't. On our Web site, citizen.org/hrg, we show a ranking of medical boards. And what you see every year is that some of the boards, the better ones, are disciplining two, three, four, five, 10 times more doctors per thousand doctors, than others. We know much more about unsafe cars and safe cars, even though cars kill only about half as many people as doctors do.

LIN: That's crazy.

WOLFE: And it doesn't make any sense. I mean, 40,000, 50,000 people a year are killed in automobile accidents. A hundred thousand people are killed just in hospitals alone, through negligence. What can people do? One thing they can do is to go to their state medical board Web site. Some of the sites are much better than others. But at least it's a start.

In some states you can find out whether there have been malpractice payouts. In a smaller number of states, whether they've been thrown off the staff of a hospital. And in most states, you can find out at least something about whether they've been disciplined.

We should be able to go to a national, but secret data bank that has everything that has ever happened in the last 15 years, to every doctor. Every malpractice payout, every disciplinary action, every hospital action.

But thanks to the American Medical Association, that site is kept secret from the public and from physicians. Another thing patients can do is if they live in a city and most large cities there's at least one or more medical schools, they can call the medical school and find out if a doctor they're going to or thinking of going to has admitting privileges and the hospitals that are associated with that medical school.

LIN: And what if you've already been violated? I mean, then what do you do? What should the patient do next?

WOLFE: Well, if the violation is rape, which in some cases it is, they need to go and complain to the criminal justice system. If it is something short of rape, then they need to complain to the medical board, but need to be very, very persistent. Some medical boards act more quickly than others.

In Texas the medical board went for five or eight years before taking any kind of action against this physician I mentioned who admitted to having sex with 15 patients. So the medical boards need to be gotten to. It needs to be made an issue in the legislature in the state. The only reason that medical boards are allowed to do such a terrible job is because the state legislature isn't monitoring them enough.

In the District of Columbia, for instance, until a recent hearing, the medical board didn't have any full-time staff at all and so as in District and in many other states, there aren't enough investigators and not enough people to go after these doctors and go after them promptly. Every month or two that goes by without a doctor being disciplined who should be, more patient are exposed.

LIN: Oh yeah, this guy's still practicing, clearly.

WOLFE: It has a multiplying effect. Every -- a typical doctor may have a practice of 500, 1,000, 1,500 patients and if they're caught doing something with one patient, unless they're properly disciplined, in some cases it might be a strict enforceable probation, in other cases they should just lose their license. And it should happen as quickly as possible, otherwise patients are being put in serious jeopardy.

LIN: And it is shocking that it doesn't. That there isn't justice in these cases, at least not yet. Dr. Wolfe, thank you very much.

You can go to CNN.com/health for much more information on this issue.

Now, do you want a white Christmas? Well, New York's getting theirs a bit early. More snow is on the way for the northeast. So what can you expect during tomorrow's rush hour? You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back. Here's what's happening right now in the news. In Najaf, a mob insulted former Iraqi leader Ayad Allawi by throwing shoes at him. The former prime minister is running for parliament.

And security forces foiled a plan to attack tomorrow's session of Saddam Hussein's trial. They discovered mortars aimed at the courthouse.

And former members of the 9/11 Commission say the government has not done enough to protect America from terrorism. They say we are going to be attacked again and the country is not ready. The group is releasing a new report tomorrow to follow up on its original recommendations.

And President Bush plans to mingle with Hollywood stars tonight. The Kennedy Center in Washington is giving Lifetime Achievement Awards to Robert Redford and the likes of Tony Bennett, who you're seeing who just arrived at the Kennedy Center a short while ago; also Tina Turner and dancer Suzanne Farrell and actress Julie Harris also getting awards tonight.

Now time is running out for Stanley "Tookie" Williams. The convicted killer has nine days left to live until California's governor steps in. On the streets of L.A. there is mixed reaction. CNN's Kareen Wynter reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the talk of this town. A neighborhood in south central L.A. The rough streets Stanley "Tookie" Williams grew up on and some say terrorized.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have seen him beat up guys when I was in high school like 50 on one person, just everybody just stomping them. I have seen him do that.

WYNTER: Business isn't the only thing buzzing inside L.T.'s Barber Shop this Saturday afternoon. Customers like Duane Davis who says he went to high school with Williams, says the notorious Crips Gang found should die for the 1979 robbery and slaying of four people. So does barber Lawrence Tolliver.

LAWRENCE TOLLIVER, BARBERSHOP OWNER: If do you the research and it's perfectly clear that he did the murderers.

WYNTER: Tolliver has followed this case so closely, even obtained court documents on Williams' 1981 conviction.

TOLLIVER: Evidence. This is his record.

WYNTER: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to a clemency hearing for the death row inmate. Is there room for a reprieve? After spending decades behind bars, Williams denounced his former gang life, wrote several anti-violence children's books and was even nominated by a member of the Swiss Parliament and again by a group of professors for a Nobel Peace Prize. Williams' supporters certainly think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?

CROWD: Amnesty!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?

CROWD: Now!

WYNTER: From community activists...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the message out now that we want "Tookie" to live.

WYNTER: To Williams' own attorney.

STEVE ROHDE, WILLIAMS' ATTORNEY: We've filed a powerful petition for clemency.

WYNTER: Williams' supporters took out this full-page ad in the "Los Angeles Times." Williams has never apologized for the murders. He says he didn't do it. For critics like Lawrence Tolliver, that's the first step in redemption.

TOLLIVER: I don't think he should escape his date with time.

(on camera): Many agree Stanley "Tookie" Williams has a small window of opportunity here. Not since 1967 has a California governor granted clemency to a death row inmate. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The death penalty, who carries out the highest number of executions in the entire world? Well, here's a CNN fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIN (voice-over): Nearly half of all executions have been conducted in just two states: Texas and Virginia. They've executed 45 percent of the U.S. total since 1976. Oklahoma, Missouri and Florida round out the top five, 37 of the 50 states provide for the death penalty in law. Eric Nantz is the 830th American killed by lethal injection, by far the most common method used in the United States.

But it's not the only one. Believe it or not, death by hanging and firing squad are still legal in a few states. Other methods include the gas chamber and electrocution, which is still used in 10 states.

Last year, 97 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Vietnam and the United States. But China executes far more people than the rest of the world's governments combined. Amnesty International says based on figures, it estimates 3,400 death sentences were carried out there in 2004 alone. But a delegate at the National People's Congress said that nearly 10,000 people are executed each year in China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: A video showing four bruised and beaten men. The source claims this is proof that some Mexican police officers are in cahoots with a violent drug cartel. CNN's Casey Wian has more on the video and what it says about Mexico's battle against drug traffickers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looks like a video shot by a hostage taking terrorist in Iraq, but apparently this is the work of rogue law enforcement officers just across our border in Mexico. These four men, badly bloodied and bruised, sit handcuffed and tell interrogators how they served as hitmen for the Zetas, they're the group of former Mexican military commandos who defected to work for the Gulf Drug Cartel.

Zetas are believed to be responsible for dozens of killings in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, even some across the border in Texas. This man talked in detail about the killings of a Mexican police chief and a well known journalist. Others spoke with their alliances with Mexican law enforcement.

The men appear terrified often looking off camera at their captors. At the end of the DVD video a pistol appears and one hit man is shot in the head. The video was sent anonymously to a small newspaper in Washington state which passed it on to the "Dallas Morning News" and the FBI. Law enforcement sources in the United States and Mexico say they've been aware of the video for months but only after it became public this week did Mexican authorities arrest 11 federal agents on charges of murder and kidnapping.

JOSE LUIS VASCONCELOS, MEXICAN ASST. ATTY. GENERAL (through translator): We are able to determine the participation of some investigative federal agents in what we originally thought was a kidnapping.

WIAN: Vasconcelos says the video is an effort to discredit Mexico's efforts to fight violent drug gangs. Meanwhile, Mexican President Vicente Fox appeared at a news conference, but Mexican journalists failed to ask him about the video or the arrests of Mexican federal agents.

(on camera): Now that the video is public, law enforcement officers on both sides of the border are preparing for a new round of violence. Many suspect the video is part of a dispute between rival drug gangs and is now likely to escalate.

Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Up next on CNN, we are off to the races, but maybe not for long. A closer look at the struggles of the New York Racing Association.

And they're young, they're rich, and they're on a hit TV show that is driving their neighbors crazy. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

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LIN: People in parts of the northeast are digging out from the first big snowfall of the season. Here's what happened in Syracuse, New York. Police in New Jersey are reporting three people died in traffic accidents. Meteorologist Monica McNeal in for what's ahead tonight and maybe even tomorrow as everybody is going to work.

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LIN: Thanks, Monica.

Well, horse racing in New York state has run into hard times. People are placing bets differently now. And there are now charges of gross mismanagement and someone now has to be put out to pasture. Here's J.J. Ramberg.

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J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A typical day of betting at the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York.

ANNOUNCER: And they're off.

RAMBERG: There are winners. And there are losers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That sucks.

RAMBERG: But the crowds are small a sign of the financial difficulties of the New York Racing Association, known as NYRA. After 50 years of racing in New York state including the famed Belmont Stakes and the Saratoga Summer Races, NYRA says it is on the verge of bankruptcy.

CHARLIE HAYWARD, PRESIDENT, NYRA: NYRA has no ability to retain earnings.

RAMBERG: NYRA's president blames off-track betting and the dwindling numbers of racing fans who come out to the track. He says the system can't pay off as long as it's running under the same laws as when it was founded in 1955.

HAYWARD: An important point is that at that time there was no off-track betting. If you wanted to come -- if you wanted to bet legally, the only thing you could bet on were horses and you had to come to the track to do that.

RAMBERG: But NYRA has faced its share of scandal and corruption and critics say the leadership has grossly mismanaged the business.

(on camera): Horses have been racing at the racetrack, at the Aqueduct since 1984, but with the New York Racing Association possibly losing control of this track and New York's other two big racetracks at the end of 2007, the future of all these properties is up in the air.

(voice-over): NYRA's contract with the state is almost up and the franchise is expected to be put up for bid. But some say for- profit companies could also be an obstacle. Fearing they would be more concerned with the bottom line than the sport itself.

GARY CONTESSA, HORSE TRAINER: Not today. Not today.

RAMBERG: Gary Contessa has been training race horses for 24 years.

CONTESSA: The people who are here now really love racing and want to see it keep going, so do we. But if they stop racing and just make this a casino or whatever it's going to be a real negative for all of us.

RAMBERG: Most agree New York horse racing is not going to disappear for good no matter what happens with NYRA's contract, but nobody knows what the winner's circle might look like two years down the road.

J.J. Ramberg, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The "Laguna Beach" battle. Up next, why a TV show has a community saying, "not in my neighborhood."

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LIN: Teenagers, MTV and a beautiful California beach. Well, it's the formula for a hit TV show. But for people living there, is it the end of the neighborhood? CNN's Dan Simon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laguna Beach, the ocean isn't the only thing making waves here. MTV's wildly popular television show "Laguna Beach" has rocked the shores of this coastal community.

In the show, MTV gives audiences a firsthand look into the drama- filled teenage lives of the rich and beautiful, drama that includes sleeping around and hard partying ways. This show, which has gone through only two seasons, has become such a hit that many of the cast members are now bona fide celebs. Some moving to Los Angeles and hiring top notch agents. And Laguna Beach is attracting a whole new set of tourists. Katie and Nick from Louisiana envious of the real life characters.

NICK THOMAS, TOURIST: They get everything that they want, they get to do everything they want. Their dreams come true. They get to make CDs, have a fashion line made for them.

KATIE LINYARD, TOURIST: Yeah, I am a big fan. We have Laguna Beach parties every Monday.

SIMON: MTV could not have found a more picturesque settings for its show. Laguna Beach is one of the most beautiful places you'll ever see. But that doesn't mean everyone here is thrilled with the show. According to some folks, the network is trashing the town's reputation.

HOWARD HILLS, LAGUNA BEACH RESIDENT: It doesn't portray our community the way we know our community. It has very...

SIMON: ... attorney Howard Hills says the community of 25,000 is about the art, culture, and down home family values, not everyone here, he points out, gets a BMW from their parents, lives on a hilltop mansion, or has fashion magazine looks. Worse, perhaps, he claims local teens with the consent of their parents are going to extreme measures to try to get chosen for the show.

HILLS: We know of examples of young women getting plastic surgery in the hopes that it would improve their chances of maybe getting on the cast.

SIMON: Community activist Derek Ostensen would like to see an outright MTV boycott.

DEREK OSTENSEN, LAGUNA BEACH RESIDENT: MTV is perverting the true essence of this town and profiting from it. They're changing it into something that it's not, into a hypermaterialistickic, hypersuperficial, and hypersoap opera dramatic television show.

SIMON: But others here seem to describe to the old adage, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Televangelist Robert Schuller and his wife Donna had no problem with their daughter Christina being part of the show. Who they say provided a dose of good and moral behavior.

REV. ROBERT A. SCHULLER, CHRISTINA SCHULLER'S FATHER: My daughter and her friend Morgan on MTV in one of the shows had a conversation about them being virgins and how happy and glad that they were, that they were virgins.

SIMON: They say the show actually gave a voice to the segment of the teen population.

DONNA SCHULLER, CHRISTINA SCHULLER'S MOTHER: One of the beautiful things that -- for us at least, that allowed our daughter to show is that, yeah, you can be attractive, you can be popular in school and you can still be a normal kid, but you don't have to go way overboard, you know, and become this huge, you know, party animal.

SIMON: Laguna Beach is about to start shooting its third season. For critics, this growing controversy may have the unintended effect of boosting the program's ratings. And the show's status is sure to bring more curious fans to this seaside colony.

Dan Simon, CNN, Laguna Beach, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, CNN called MTV and officials there declined to comment or make available anyone who's involved in producing that show.

Now, coming up next, at 7:00 Eastern, do good fences make good neighbors? Well, I'm going to ask Congressman Steven King and public affairs director Douglas Massey to weigh in on border security. Congressman King wants to build a fence along the Mexican border.

At 8:00 "CNN 25: THEN & NOW" a look at the most prominent events, stinkers, and issues that have defined the news in the last quarter century.

And at 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND" and tonight's guest tonight, domestic diva, Martha Stewart.

And at 10:00 Eastern, does your car measure up? I'm going to bring you the first ever top safety pick awards.

The hour's headlines with the rest of today's top stories after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

It's December 4 and you're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Carol Lin. Straight ahead in this hour, a look behind the scenes of a disaster management crisis like no other. You'll see it's not pretty.

Also ahead, security concerns in Baghdad. Iraqis say insurgents plan to attack the Saddam Hussein trial.

And does the U.S. need to fence itself in completely to stay safe and keep illegal immigrants and terrorists out? You're going to hear the pros and cons of a border fence. All this and more right now on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

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