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CNN Live Sunday

Danes Urged to Leave Lebanon and Syria; Anguishing Wait for Families of Ferry Travelers in Egypt; Ten are Dead in Pakistan Bus Blast; Gas Price Pains

Aired February 05, 2006 - 17:58   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Carol Lin. Ahead this hour, the alleged cop killer and gay bar shooting suspect is dead. Now investigators reveal the complicated sequence of events that led to a deadly shootout. Also, what the suspects family has to say.
And are you pained when you go to the pump? You're not alone. And now the government might step in to put the brakes on the high prices and even higher oil company profit.

And what are the chances of returning a favor to a stranger who saved your life? The twist of fate that brought a teenager and his hero together for another life-saving experience.

First, some of the stores now in the news. Islamic jihad sources tell CNN two members of that group were killed today in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. The strike comes a day after four Israelis were wounded in a rocket attack. Israel only confirms that it attacked two vehicles carrying Islamic jihad members.

Police across the globe are on the lookout for the al Qaeda terrorist who masterminded the bombing of the USS Cole. He's among 23 inmates including al Qaeda terrorists, who escaped from prison in Yemen. Interpol issued a global security alert. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed in the Cole bombing in Yemen back in 2000.

Muslim outrage over cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed spread to Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Demonstrators in Iraq burned Danish flags. In Beirut, protesters set fires to the Danish Consulate. The demonstrations began after a Danish newspaper published cartoons Muslims call blasphemous.

Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders is being treated at a hospital for dehydration and the flu. The 64-year-old congressman collapsed today while attending a funeral for a national guardsman killed in Iraq.

The hour's top story, Jacob Robida is dead. He's the Massachusetts teenager who witnesses say went on a violent rampage in a gay bar, then went on the run. He got quite far, from southern Massachusetts all the way to Arkansas. That's where a run-in with the police ended -- his flight and ended three lives. CNN has been on top of this remarkable story since the beginning. Our Allan Chernoff is in New Bedford, Massachusetts and Ceci Rodgers is in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Ceci, let's begin with you. CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, law enforcement officials in Arkansas are still trying to piece together just what this young man was doing in this area. And he had quite an interesting trek here. It ended in a desperate shootout yesterday just a few miles from here.

He then was taken to the hospital where he of course died overnight. In the meantime, he was first stopped by a police officer in Gassville, Arkansas. And as he came up -- as the police officer came up to the window of Jacob's car, Jacob opened fire on him.

He then, with another person who is believed -- who was 33-year- old Jennifer Bailey from Charleston, West Virginia, fled and they went on the chase. They had two cops chasing them. And a third when they were finally were stopped just a few miles from here. That's when the police officials say they discovered that Robida had -- had plans for Ms. Bailey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SADLER, ARKANSAS STATE POLICE: Investigators now believe that Robida raised a handgun to the head of Bailey, fired, and it is believed that she was killed instantly by that gunshot. At that point in time, Robida raised that same handgun and fired on the officers that were present at the scene. They returned fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: So it's a 63-year-old police officer from this area, Jim Sell. He was actually retired after a 25-year-long career in another town in Arkansas, Blitheville. And he was only working every other weekend in order to keep his hands in the law enforcement community. This was something that officials say was an unfortunate way to have ended this whole thing. But they praised their officers for their heroism. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Ceci Rodgers, thank you so much from Mountain Home, Arkansas. Let's go now to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where all of this began. And that's where we find our Allan Chernoff. Allan?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this city is still trying to come to terms with the tragic chain of events over the past five days that ended with a death of the 18-year-old teenager early this morning. Outside of the home where Robida lived with his mother, this morning his stepfather lashed out at the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ROBIDA, SUSPECT'S STEPFATHER: I loved Jacob, OK? I raised him as a little boy. We don't need none of this. He wasn't as bad as you guys put him to be. What am I going to say? You're ruining my daughter's life? You've got my ex-wife scared to death. She don't want all this, people thinking she's some bad mother. She's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHERNOFF: Friends did visit the home during the day. None of them would speak with CNN. But CNN did communicate online with a person who we're confident in fact was a friend of Robida.

She wrote, quote, "He had problems and hung out with the wrong people who were really racist and homophobic. Jake had gay and black friends. But these people would always talk about killing black people and laughing about it."

Police say that they found Nazi literature in Jacob Robida's room in his home and also one police officer told us that in fact he was kicked out of high school here, partly because he brought Nazi literature to school.

The police are continuing their investigation. They want to determine if anyone gave assistance to Robida in his attack, in his alleged attack at a gay bar against three individuals. They're wondering whether anyone gave assistance either before or after the attack. Three men were injured, seriously, one has been released from the hospital. Two remain hospitalized. One, still, we understand in critical condition -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Allan Chernoff, thanks so much, in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Well now to southern California where calm has been restored at a maximum-security prison. Quite a different scene, some 24 hours ago. Let's check in with Kareen Wynter who is covering the story -- Kareen?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, there are several jails actually inside this correctional facility. Two of them are on lockdown. Investigators say it will remain that way until they get to the bottom of exactly what happened here yesterday. A riot they believe was racially motivated, that melee broke out shortly before 3:20 local time her yesterday.

As many as 2,000 inmates were reportedly involved. Dozens of them wounded. There were no law enforcement officials hurt in this attack. However, one inmate was killed. He's now been identified as 45-year-old Wayne Tiznor, an L.A. city resident who was actually just arrested last month for failing to register as a sex offender.

The Los Angeles County sheriff's department shed some light into what may have sparked this attack. They pointed, Fredricka, to an incident that happened just last week. They say it involved a stabbing by a black inmate here on a Hispanic gang member and they believe this may have been some sort of retaliation. Here is Sheriff Baca.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE BACA, SHERIFF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Each of the disturbances that we've had today are similar to the ones in the past. It's all divided on racial lines. The Latinos, in this case, have the upper hand in the sense that they're outnumbering the African-Americans two- to-one. So that's their motive. It's a racial turf war. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: Another piece of evidence investigators are using to piece together what happened here, Fred, is a letter that they obtained shortly after yesterday's attack. It spelled out fears by one inmate calling for the need not only for segregation to separate inmates by race, but he said that unless that happened, the area just would not be safe -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kareen Wynter, thanks so much, from Castaic, California.

Well the sentencing phase in the terror conspiracy trial of Zacarias Moussaoui begins tomorrow in suburban Washington. Moussaoui admitted taking part in the conspiracy that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But he has vowed to fight the death penalty.

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee turns its attention to President Bush's domestic surveillance program. Up first, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He's expected to give a spirited defense of the controversial NSA program. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is live in Washington with a preview. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well hello, Fred. Of course the president and the White House have been engaged in this very aggressive campaign, of course, to defend the domestic spying program, keeping one eye on the potential political fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will take the hot seat Monday to defend the administration's controversial domestic surveillance program. And the most important question facing him, says the Republican in charge of those hearings...

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Why the administration did not go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and tell them about the program.

MALVEAUX: A 1978 law requires the president to do so, to get a warrant before listening in on Americans' communications overseas. Gonzales will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the president didn't need to.

In his prepared remarks, obtained by CNN, Gonzales will tell lawmakers that the terrorist surveillance program is both "necessary and lawful, an an essential element of our military campaign against al Qaeda."

He will say Mr. Bush had the constitutional and legal authority to carry out the administration's secret surveillance, in part from Congress' authorization to go to war after al Qaeda struck on September 11th.

SPECTER: I believe that contention is very strained and unrealistic. The authorization for the use of force doesn't say anything about electronic surveillance.

MALVEAUX: Gonzales will also explain in greater detail why he believes using the FISA Court system, which gives a 72-hour grace period for seeking a warrant, is still too slow in tracking al Qaeda.

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER NSA DIRECTOR: The emergency FISA process isn't that the folks at NSA can just go do what they want and have a 72-hour hall pass.

MALVEAUX: Members of the committee are eager to question Gonzales. Some are frustrated that the administration has refused to provide some classified documents about the wiretap program.

SPECTER: Will I consider a subpoena? Yes, I'd consider it, depending on whether we need it.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: I think the attorney general has to tell us the truth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And the White House calculation, of course, that the American people will see this as the administration does, that being an issue of national security. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you.

Well the political fight over record oil company profits. Why some on Capitol Hill say it's time for a change.

The battle against the biggest killer in Iraq. We'll introduce you to the American heroes who have to face them every day.

SHANON COOK, CNN ANCHOR: Hi I'm Shanon Cook with world news. Violence over controversial cartoon spreads to another Middle East capital. The details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time now for a check of international headlines. Anger over controversial cartoons continues to spread across the Muslim world. Shanon Cook has the details. Shanon?

COOK: Hey, thanks Fredricka. Yet another Danish consulate went up in flames today, this time in Lebanon's capital Beirut. Thousands of angry Muslims torched the 10-story building that houses the consulate and also stoned a nearby Catholic Church.

They were protesting editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, originally published in a Danish newspaper back in September. Riots escalated to clashes between Muslims and Christians. And following the riots, Lebanon's interior minister up and resigned.

Now Denmark is advising its citizens to leave Lebanon as well as Syria. Yesterday Syrians set fire to Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. Norway is caught up in all of this because Norwegian newspapers also published these cartoons.

Now we want to bring in some pictures here of Danes attending a peace rally in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Danish government tried again today to get a key message to Muslims that Denmark, like most Western governments, does not print newspapers, nor control what the media publish.

The Danish foreign minister also urged all political and religious leaders in the affected countries to urge that people refrain from violence.

And the cartoon controversy has also reached Afghanistan. Thousands demonstrated across the country today. Though these protests were on the whole, fairly peaceful. Meanwhile, Iraq's transportation minister has severed contracts with Danish and Norwegian companies.

And Fredricka, despite the widespread backlash, newspapers around the world continue to publish the cartoons, both as a show of solidarity for the Danes and also in support of the freedom of expression -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So something tells me that this will continue to percolate.

COOK: Sounds like it.

WHITFIELD: Shanon Cook, thanks so much.

Well Muslims in the U.S. are calling for calm tonight, urging others not to use violence as a way to deal with the cartoon controversy. The Council on American Islamic Relations says the community in this country rejects violence as a response to the images of the prophet Mohamed published in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARVEZ AHMED, CHAIRMAN: The publication of these cartoons are certainly defamatory. They have ridiculed a historical personality and a revered personality like prophet Mohammed. These cartoons were insensitive, they were hateful and they were provocative.

The reaction to this cartoons for most parts have been restrained including in the U.S. However, locational violence in some parts of the Muslim world such as burnings of flags, or burning of embassies are being unequivocally condemned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Dramatic new video of more survivors being plucked from the Red Sea two days after an Egyptian ferry caught fire and sank. Officials say about 400 people have been rescued. But hope is fading for another 1,000 passengers and crew still missing. CNN's Ben Wedeman has more on the families' anguished wait.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time, government workers hand out food to relatives of passengers from the Al Salam Bocacho 98 (ph), more than two and a half days after the ferry sank.

Tempers are frayed, anger raw. A catastrophe at sea is fast becoming a disaster on land. This port town is now crammed with thousands from throughout southern Egypt, desperate to know what happened to their loved ones.

We don't know who's alive and who's dead, says Asem Hamed (ph), seeking two cousins who were on the ferry. These are Egypt's salt of the earth: poor, many illiterate, puzzled why the bloated Egyptian bureaucracy has been so slow to respond.

Show us pictures of the dead so we can be at peace, shouts this Abda Nasir Hasinain (ph). Three days, three days we've have been waiting to see our relatives, cries this man over the heads of the riot police. An official reads the names of survivors. Information does get out, but slowly, sporadically.

There is no hot line for relatives, no information center. Riot police not sympathetic officials, represent the state. In clannish conservative upper Egypt, the family comes first. Many of these men won't go home until the fate of their relatives is known.

We can't go back to our families until we know what happened, Mohamed Zuhaid (ph), who is leading a sit-in, tells me. "We need to know if our loved ones are alive or dead. And if they're dead, we have to see a body."

Saturday, President Hosni Mubarak visited survivors in a hospital north of here, promising compensation. But the visit, extensively covered in the state-run media, has done little to dilute the rage.

Maha Abdal Med (ph) told me she fears her sister and three children have, in her words, "been eaten by the fish." And she says President Mubarak did well not to come here. "He's afraid to come," she tells me, "because he wouldn't have left here in one piece. We don't want Mubarak or his ministers. We didn't choose him. He was forced on us."

To soothe nerves, the government sent in a preacher and then loaded relatives on buses to Cairo where they'll claim those bodies that have been recovered. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Safaga, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Taking you on the front lines in Iraq, we'll show you how Marines take out the biggest killers in the war zone. That story straight ahead.

And still to come, it is a story seven years in the making. We'll explain how this woman's life-saving efforts saved her own life years later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Every week we bring you the more personal stories from the front lines. Today, a look at the No. 1 threat to coalition forces in Iraq. Roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices are mostly low-tech but fiendishly lethal, as we hear from CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the biggest killer in Iraq today, not bullets, bombs, roadside bombs, often cobbled together with old wire and batteries, the kind of stuff you would pull out of your garage, and rusty artillery shells easily stolen from ammo dumps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, around the corner.

DAMON: These men know what to look for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Do you see all the -- all the dirt is a different color over there, and how it's freshly dug? It's a perfect sign there there's an IED, that's one has been planted there recently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't have power to it right now.

DAMON: They are becoming more sophisticated, more deadly, but still absurdly simple, rubber hosing, bits of metal, a power source, cell phone parts, even a timer from a clothes dryer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All they will do is set the desired amount of time on it. And it's about the time your clothes will be dry. It's about the time the explosive would go off.

DAMON: On this day, the Marines arrived in western Iraq expecting resistance. They found no enemy that would confront them face to face. What they did find was that walking these streets is literally like walking through a mine field. Anything can blow at any time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up? Who is hit?

DAMON: This day, a Marine was unlucky. The Marine stepped on it, he was wounded. He could easily have died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do me a favor and not key your handset while you're looking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DAMON: Meet "Lucky," Staff Sergeant Pete Karr. He earned his nickname the day he was standing over an IED, preparing to disable it.

STAFF SERGEANT PETE KARR, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I found the device that was supposed to fire the IED. And, as I was going to separate it, the device exploded, and I walked out without a scratch.

DAMON: Lucky is one of many men whose job is diffusing IEDs before they can maim and kill troops, civilians or journalists.

KARR: The best way to explain it is probably take the most stressful thing you have ever done in your life, like the worst moment you have ever had, whatever that may be, have someone start shooting at you, stuff blowing up all around you, and, then, you have something that's going to explode right down the street.

DAMON: That thing down the street is what Lucky and his colleagues stopped from exploding.

The wounding of Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt has made headlines because of who they are, but the explosions that wounded them are daily events around this country. Hundreds, perhaps more, have died. Thousands have been wounded by such blasts. But the work these men do have saved many others. Arwa Damon, CNN, Karbala, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Big oil is big profits. Are they in line with other types of industry? We'll explain why some on Capitol Hill want to change how oil companies do business.

And do international journalists have the power to change American politics? How global networks are having an effect on Capitol Hill.

And it is something to sleep on for eight hours every night. But could it be making you sick? Still to come, what just might be living in your pillow. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A quick look at what is happening now in the news. The man accused of attacking three men in a Massachusetts gay bar last week is dead. Police in Arkansas say officers critically wounded 18- year-old Jacob Robida yesterday in a gun battle. He later died of the injuries. Police also say Robida shot and killed a woman that was in his car along with a police officer.

In southern California, nine inmates remain in critical condition following a riot that killed one prisoner and injured dozens. Hundreds were involved in the riot. The prison is 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The mastermind of the USS Cole bombing is among 23 inmates who escaped from a prison in Yemen. Seventeen U.S. soldiers died in the Cole attack in 2000. Many of the escapees are convicted al Qaeda terrorists. CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen says where the men were being held is a factor to consider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This is quite embarrassing for the Yemeni government, which is trying to do its best to cooperate in the war on terrorism. But the reality is that Yemen is a country which has, you know, jihadists, al Qaeda sympathizers and we've seen that with the USS Cole attack. We saw that also with an attack on a French oil tanker about a year after 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hear our entire interview with Peter Bergen on the terror suspect's escape on "CNN SUNDAY NIGHT." It starts at 10:00 Eastern.

Muslim fury mounts over cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. Angry crowds today torched the Danish consulate in Beirut and threw rocks at a church. Iraq's transportation ministry has frozen all contracts with Danish and Norwegian companies and protests took place in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories as well.

A bomb ripped through a bus in Quetta, Pakistan, today, killing at least 10 people and wounding 13. Officials say the bomb had been placed under a seat in the bus. A second explosion hit a procession of Shia Muslims in northwestern Pakistan wounding seven.

If you drive, you know it, gas prices are up. And with the big oil companies reporting record profits, some members of Congress are considering options they say will bring prices and profits back into line. CNN's Gary Nurenberg has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): With the national average price for regular at $2.36 this week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take more to fill this tank up.

NURENBERG: Members of Congress worry about the impact on their constituents.

SEN. HERB KOHL, (D) WISCONSIN: The pain felt by consumers from these price increases is real and it's growing.

NURENBERG: This at a time when oil companies are reporting record profits. Exxon Mobil posting the biggest in American history.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: So I am somewhere between impressed and astounded by these profits.

NURENBERG: The Senate Judiciary Committee wanted to talk to oil industry executives about their big corporate mergers and the impact on prices, but invitations were declined.

SPECTER: If we need to issue subpoenas, we can do that too.

NURENBERG: The industry says it invests heavily in exploration and argues its profits are not out of line.

RAYOLA DOUGHER, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: In the past five years, the oil industry has earned about 5.8 cents on the dollar. The rest of U.S. industry 5.5 cents on the dollar.

NURENBERG: A government accountability office study February 1st concludes oil industry mergers have caused higher prices, leading some senators to question whether merger regulation is sufficient.

SPECTER: It just may be time to legislate in this field with what is going on.

NURENBERG: Another challenge, worldwide supply is having trouble keeping up with demand.

SEN. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: Our biggest problem is simply crude oil. Bluntly, we don't have enough of it and we rely too must on it.

NURENBERG: The president's State of the Union goal . . .

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

NURENBERG: Resonates with analysts who think Americans have their heads in the sand when it comes to oil dependence.

STEPHEN LEEB, LEEB CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: This is a crisis that, in my opinion, is almost on the level of a major war.

NURENBERG: Leeb says Congress should give tax breaks to companies trying to develop energy alternatives.

Congress is likely to consider a number of options in the weeks ahead, none of which is likely to lower your price at the pump in the immediate days ahead.

Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also on The Hill, New House Majority Leader John Boehner, is calling for more public disclosure of the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers. Today Boehner urged Congress to work toward more bipartisan transparency and accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I think having a lobbyist reform package that's dealt with in a bipartisan way to bring more sunlight, more disclosure, more transparency between the relationship between members, their staff and those who lobby us. And secondly, reforming this earmark process where we reduce the number of earmarks and bring more transparency and accountability to those who put them in legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Boehner took over house majority leadership from Tom DeLay. The Texas Republican resign after being indicted on money laundering charges in his home state. DeLay's association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff is also being investigated. Abramoff pleaded guilty to corruption charges in January and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

And how international news is beginning to affect our lives here at home, CNN Political Analyst Carlos Watson joins us from Los Angeles with a fresh take on the news.

Carlos, good to see you. And I love that graphics.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Fred, it's always good it see you.

WHITFIELD: All the buildup. The pressure is on, my friend.

WATSON: The pressure -- I'm ready for it. I'm a Super Bowl-like performer. I'm ready.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, before we get to any kind of Super Bowl predicts you might have, let's talk about American's love of international movies. What does that have to do -- or what can we read in to what may be next, what may be big and happening international-wise and Americans?

WATSON: Well, Fred, you know, from overseas, whether it's been Nicole Kidman or Russell Crow or others, we fall in love as Americans with not only international movies but international movie stars. Now we're about to take from overseas not just entertainment, but news and that means that there will be more international news cable stations that you'll be watching at home on your cable box. And so whether that means BBC World, whether that means channels from Africa, whether that means al-Jazeera International which is a new English language version of the controversial Mideastern station, you're going to start to get that.

And why does that matter? It matters because, Fredricka, the last time we saw a new entity come in and cover politics in a different way was the blogs and that meant that we lost a majority leader, Trent Lott. It means that, in many ways, Dan Rather lost his job at CBS. And frankly some would argue that John Kerry got swift voted out of the presidency. I think just like that, these international news cable stations will tackle nuclear terrorism, they'll tackle trade and economic issues and it will tackle, frankly, the broader Middle Eastern complex in a different way and it will be a real shake-up in American politics. They're in the new blogs. They're the ones to watch.

WHITFIELD: And it also means involving something rather familiar faces. We know that ABC's Dave Marash is going to be one, CNN's Riz Khan, another familiar face on some of those new networks.

WATSON: Yes, it does. And you know what's so interesting, Fredricka, over the last couple of years, you've been able to catch either CNN International or, in some cases a few people with Dish satellite have been able to catch some of al-Jazeera. But now, thanks to some new cable deals, almost 90 to 100 percent of American household that have cable will be able to watch three or four different international news stations. That's going to be a big deal. It's going to be a big, new factor in our politics.

WHITFIELD: All right. You also tell me you want to talk about Jimmy Stewart. Everyone loves Jimmy Stewart. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," for one. What's new?

WATSON: Well, you know what, there was a new Jimmy Stewart on the scene. In some ways, he's not new because he's been in Congress since he was 27. But Chris Smith, Republican congressman from New Jersey, is about to hold hearings next week. And much like Jimmy Smith, who seemed to be one man wailing against the establishment, making a strong point, you're going to hear Chris Smith go after some very powerful constituencies.

On one hand, he's going after multibillion dollar firms like Yahoo! and Microsoft and AOL. And on the other hand, he's going after powerful trillion dollar governments like China and saying that it is improper for Internet firms to give information on their citizens to the Chinese government and lead to those folks being jailed, tortured or harassed. And he's promising that while hearings often don't make a big difference, every now and then, you remember the tobacco hearings, you remember hearings in terms of waste in the early '90s, every now and then they make a big difference. So watch this guy, Chris Smith, on this issue of what Internet firms can do and what they should do in helping governments like China essentially spy on their citizens.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh, a different Mr. Smith going to Washington.

All right. You alluded to it at the top. You want to talk Super Bowl, which means you've got a few predictions.

WATSON: Well, you know what, I'm a native of Cleveland, and so I love the Cleveland Browns, which makes it hard to root for the Pittsburgh Steelers even though . . .

WHITFIELD: Yes, I was going to say, excuse me, they're not in it. Nowhere close.

WATSON: Well, not this time but coming soon. But like everyone else, I'd love to see Jerome Bettis win. But I think the reality, and you heard it here first, I'm picking Seattle 31-21. Seattle wins this bad boy and brings something home to the Northwest. West coast.

WHITFIELD: All right, 31-21, that's your prediction. I'm going with what Larry Smith said earlier, and he went with 28-24. But I'm not picking a team. Just like you, I'm not picking a team.

WATSON: Oh, you're on the fence. That's not right.

WHITFIELD: I'm a wimp. What can I say?

WATSON: That's not right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Carlos.

WATSON: Good to see you. Have a great weekend. WHITFIELD: All right. You as well.

Well, she saved his life. Seven years later, an amazing coincidence occurred. That tale is next.

And still to come, it's a story of bacteria, fungus and dead skin cells. Yuck. And it's all taking place, guess where, in your pillow. Sweet dreams.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Other news across America.

In Arkansas, an apparent crime of passion is caught on tape at a Wal-Mart. Police say a man saw his estranged wife and her boyfriend in the store. They say the man then grabbed an aluminum bat from the aisle and started to hit the two. The victim's injuries are minor and the suspect is free on bond.

In Massachusetts, police say a seven-year-old boy was mauled to death by a neighbor's dog. The boy died at the hospital. Police say he was playing in the neighbor's yard when he was attacked by their English mastiff.

In Seattle, fierce winds forced the city to briefly shut down a floating bridge across Lake Washington. It reopened to traffic earlier today. The winds, up to 78 miles an hour, also downed trees and power lines across Washington and Oregon.

Let's check in now with Monica McNeal. Some pretty fierce weather conditions.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Well now a remarkable story that might be called the life you saved may be your own. A New York teenager, a junior firefighter rushes to save the life of a choking woman, only to realize who she is. Reporter Robin Young of CNN affiliate WGRZ in Buffalo has this extraordinary story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Seventeen-year-old Kevin Stephan (ph) and Penny Brown will always have a special connection.

KEVIN STEPHAN: I owe my life to her.

YOUNG: Seven years ago on this Amherst (ph) baseball diamond, Kevin was working at a bat boy. He was accidentally hit in the chest with a bat as a player practiced his swing.

STEPHAN: And all I remember is that I dropped the bat off and then all of a sudden just get hit in the chest with something. I turn around and passed out.

YOUNG: Penny Brown, who was a nurse, happened to be at that game.

PENNY BROWN, NURSE: I started CPR on him and he came back.

YOUNG: Penny helped save Kevin's life that day. But this story didn't end there. Fast-forward seven years to last week. Penny was eating lunch with her family at the Hillview (ph) Restaurant where Kevin happens to work. Penny started to choke.

BROWN: The food wasn't going anywhere and I totally couldn't breathe.

YOUNG: While several people tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her, Kevin was called from the back of the restaurant.

STEPHAN: They knew I was a volunteer firefighter. And they called me over and I did the Heimlich and I guess you could say I saved Mrs. Brown.

BROWN: You know, I was -- it was very frightening.

YOUNG: But when everyone had calmed down, they recognized this amazing twist of fate. Years ago, Penny saved Kevin's life on a baseball diamond. Now a teenager, he had saved hers.

STEPHAN: It's almost unbelievable.

BROWN: The fact that it's been two individuals, one person that, you know, helps each other out in a pretty dire situation, it's pretty extraordinary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Extraordinary indeed.

Well, Red Cross officials in Buffalo say this story highlights the importance of first aid and CPR training.

Well, when you lie down sleep tonight, would you be joined by uninvited microscopic guests? That story next.

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WHITFIELD: Well, we've all been sent to bed with, good night, don't let the bug bites bite. Well, to most of us it's a cute meaningless warning. But as Gary Tuchman found out, there may be some truth to that saying.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The young, the old, and all those in-between sleep. And while most rest their heads on a comfortable pillow to do so, few realize that while they're dreaming, their feeding an entire ecosystem. DR. DAVID DENNING, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER: We lose a lot of skin scales every day and we sweat in our beds, so that combination of product, if you like, drives both the house dust mite and the fungus.

TUCHMAN: Those house mites and fungi are feeding and reproducing from our body's castoffs, creating a legion of fungus and bacteria that could potentially make you sick.

ASHLEY WOODCOCK, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER: We also know that fungi produce toxins occasionally. And we really have no idea of the health effects of the exposure of fungal toxins directly in front of your face. What I'm worried about is fungi in your lungs.

TUCHMAN: After reading Doctors David Denning and Ashley Woodcock's study on pillow problems, we decided to do our own test. We took pillows from an airplane, to pash (ph) New York hotels, a retired couple, the CNN producer I worked with on this story, and several pillows from the Klainberg family of New York City. The Klainberg's were particularly interested in participating because with two small girls at home, colds are fast and furious and the father, Josh, has asthma.

JOSH KLAINBERG, FAMILY'S PILLOWS TESTED: When I, you know, purchased pillows or mattresses or things like that, I try to get things that are hypo allergenic or covers for dust mites, and so that's always a concern of mine, making sure that things are not going to be triggering my asthma.

TUCHMAN: So Josh and his wife gave us pillows from their room, his daughter's Shania's (ph) bed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give me that pillow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

TUCHMAN: And a 20-year-old big pillow they call Marvin. It was virtually a member of the family. All three pillows never to be seen again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time to say good-bye Uncle Marvin.

JOSH KLAINBERG: Good-bye, Uncle Marvin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say good-bye.

TUCHMAN: And when we asked them what they thought we might find, well, Josh was optimistic.

JOSH KLAINBERG: I'm hope you're going sweet dreams and not nightmares.

TUCHMAN: We bagged up all the pillows, including Marvin, and shipped them off to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio where they put our pillows to the test. Three tests, in fact. One used an Anderson air sampler which uses air to suck out the bacteria and fungi from the pillows. The two other tests involve a culture broth and a bowl (ph) culture of both the inside and outside of the pillows. Then we waited two weeks to see what lurked inside them.

ANNETTE FOTHERGILL, FUNGUS TESTING LABORATORY: And the results, I thought, were surprising.

TUCHMAN: Annette Fothergill is the technical director of the fungus testing lab that conducted the tests for us. She found thousands of bacteria and fungi in nearly everything we sent to her. With names like Penicillium, Rhizopus, Aureobasidium pullulans, Cladosporium, Aspergillus niger. All sound pretty scary.

Let's say you have severe allergies and your pillow has a lot of these organisms on them. What could happen?

FOTHERGILL: Well, a child or adult that is laying on a pillow with lots of fungal -- with a heavy fungal burden or load, it could be a trigger to set off an asthma attack.

TUCHMAN: Our worst defender was something of a surprise.

FOTHERGILL: That is the most that we saw from any of the organisms, 34 on a one centimeter square.

TUCHMAN: It was my producer's pillow.

FOTHERGILL: Because nothing else was that high.

TUCHMAN: So that's not great.

FOTHERGILL: If I tested my pillow and it had 34 Penicillium I would think, OK, fine, I'll just get a new one.

TUCHMAN: But before you throw out all your pillows, a colleague of Annette's cautions that fungus is normal and not always harmful.

MICHAEL RINALDI, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO: There is nowhere on earth where there's a pillow where there isn't fungus. The nature of these fungi is that they are truly ubiquitous. They're everywhere.

TUCHMAN: Dr. Michael Rinaldi says those who are immuno- compromised (ph), asthmatic or sick are at the most risk. The researchers say it could be a concern for anyone.

WOODCOCK: The issue really is that you spend eight hours of your -- of every 24, a third of your life, with your face in your pillow. We think there might be a specific risk which could be quite large.

TUCHMAN: If all this pillow talk is making you wonder what you can do to have healthier pillows, we can tell you the solutions are rather simple.

FOTHERGILL: It's a good idea to have an additional case between the pillow case and the pillow that can be taken off and laundered regularly and put become on. That's the best way to try and protect the pillow.

TUCHMAN: We took our results to the Klainberg to see what they thought. The age of the pillow didn't seem to matter in the Klainberg house. We had Shania put her hands over her ears as we told the family her pillow, less than six months old, was teaming with bacteria and allergy producing fungi and the same amount and types as 20-year- old Marvin.

Does that make you never want it use a pillow again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not that one.

JOSH KLAINBERG: Not that one. And I'm sorry that Marvin had to go the way he did, but I think it was for the best.

TUCHMAN: Are you surprised at the results?

JOSH KLAINBERG: With the older pillow, not terribly surprised. But with the newer ones, I am very surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very much so.

TUCHMAN: The Klainbergs vow to put an extra pillow case on their pillows and at least surface clean them more regularly, which is exactly what the experts advised to anyone who wants to get a healthier nights sleep.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, she's the first person ever to receive a face transplant. Tomorrow, she goes before the world for the first time. We'll preview her big debut next.

And are exercise and sensible diet all you really need to keep off those extra pounds, or is your DNA sabotaging your battle with the bulge. Find out more at 8:00 Eastern when "CNN Presents: Fat Chance."

And then at 9:00, former President Jimmy Carter sits down with Larry King to remember a civil rights icon, Coretta Scott King.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Rick Sanchez is up next with all the day's top stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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