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CNN Live Sunday

Protecting New York City Streets; Gun Battle in Baghdad; Final Moments from 9/11 Attacks Caught on Tape; Language Proficiency at a Young Age

Aired March 26, 2006 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A real test of democracy. Will his conversion to Christianity cost him his life? We'll tell you what the Bush administration is doing to help save this man.
Also the Big Apple's big plan for protecting its streets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Now the New York City Police Department wants to install cameras like this one throughout the entire city.

WHITFIELD: We'll tell you why some are questioning this latest step in the war on terror and what does it take to be a champ like Lance Armstrong? What it means to be wired to win.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here's what's making news right now.

First in Iraq, at least 20 militia members loyal to a radical Shiite cleric have been killed in fighting with U.S. troops in Baghdad. That's according to Iraqi police and sources from the office of that cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. We'll bring you a live report in just one minute.

The pictures are jarring. Race car driver Paul Dana died today after a crash during a warm-up to an Indy car race in Homestead, Florida. Dana slammed into another car that spun and hit the wall. The other driver, Ed Carpenter, is said to be awake and alert at a Miami hospital.

Conflicting details in the case of the Afghan man threatened with execution for his conversion from Islam to Christianity. Several sources tell CNN that Abdul Rahman could be released sometime today. But other sources in Afghanistan say his case could be thrown out without his release. More details on that straight ahead.

There was a collision in the Persian Gulf this weekend. A Navy destroyer, the USS McCampbell, collided with an oil tanker on Saturday. It happened about 30 miles off the coast of Iraq. Minor injuries and minor damage to both ships reported.

Now to our top story this hour. Just hours after a gruesome discovery, 30 beheaded bodies reportedly found north of Baghdad. A major battle has broken out inside the capital. U.S. troops are battling forces loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Let's go straight to Baghdad where CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, that was the report we had just a little while ago from Iraqi police, that there was a gun battle between the people in the Mehdi militia, that is the militia loyal to the fire-brand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and U.S. forces.

Police have said that 17 people were killed in that incident, four people wounded. Police said that it took place around a mosque. Members of the Mehdi militia said that members were gunned down inside the mosque. What we have now learned from U.S. military officials is that this was an operation involving Iraqi special operations forces with advisory support from U.S. special operations forces.

They say this was a precision intelligence-guided operation, and that did not involve going inside a mosque. They say that 16 insurgents were killed and 15 other people taken away from questioning. The pictures that have been shown on Iraqi television this evening indicate a number of dead men, unable to see if they're militiamen or if they're civilians inside a building, many of them very bloody.

But the confirmation now from U.S. military command here, that this was in fact Iraqi special operations forces, not the U.S. military as Iraqi police have been widely reporting so far. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And Nic, that the U.S., as you're reporting, was in an advisory support kind of role -- are we seeing more of this or is this still a fairly rare combination?

ROBERTSON: We don't often get a lot of details about special operations forces, by the very nature of what they do. It's generally not heavily publicized, but this is the direction that the operations are going and that advisers are going to be put in with the Iraqi military.

What we've seen is the Iraqi military in small numbers work with U.S. troops. Then about even numbers of Iraqi troops, U.S. troops, and the trend is to go over to this advisory capacity. But with these special operations forces, it is a little hard for me to gauge at this stage just how often that they work in this way, because we don't learn a lot about the special operations forces, exactly how they work with U.S. military, at least Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson in Baghdad -- thank you very much for that update.

Well just last week, President Bush said a complete troop withdrawal from Iraq will likely happen after his administration. Today U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it's, quote, "entirely probable a significant withdrawal could be ordered over the next year." That's in line with what military commanders have been saying. But like those commanders, Rice says any withdrawal depends on the ability of Iraqi forces to take more control. We'll get a former general's take on the current situation in Iraq. That live interview with General James "Spider" Marks is straight ahead.

Now to Afghanistan and the fate of the man facing trial for converting to Christianity. His crime, abandoning Islam, a death penalty offense. Now some officials are saying the man will be freed, but a reporter on the ground says not so fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS COGHLAN, JOURNALIST (on phone): Now Afghan government officials are sending out more confusing signals. I've spoken to officials close to the president. Now they're saying they do expect Abdul Rahman to be released today. But other sources that I'm talking to are based in the Supreme Court, in the Afghan judiciary, they saying no, that the case against him has been thrown out. Now that's a key issue. The case has been thrown out, but they're saying the case is being sent back to the attorney general of Afghanistan, on a technical ground. There are technical reasons why the case is being thrown out, and it may not be that he is released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The case has attracted international attention. But for many Afghans, the man's offense is all too clear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Repent or die. The only options for Abdul Rahman because of this belief.

ABDUL RAHMAN, CHRISTIAN CONVERT (through translator): I believe in Christianity. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I am a Christian.

WHITFIELD: Within the past 24 hour, the man who denounced Islam for Christianity was moved to this notorious maximum security prison outside Kabul, that houses hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda militants. Authorities say he had to be moved because detainees at an overcrowded prison in the capital were threatening to kill him. Prison officials also say he has been begging for his Bible.

SHAHMIR AMIRPUR, COMMANDER, POLICHARKI PRISON (through translator): He does not have any book with him, but he asked that if the judge has his book, if possible to get it back to him.

WHITFIELD: People across Afghanistan, and even a judge at Rahman's trial, are demanding he pay the ultimate price for forsaking Islam.

ANSARULLAH MOWLAWIZADA, JUDGE (through translator): If he does not repent, you will all be witness to the sort of punishment he will face.

WHITFIELD: Country's senior clerics and prominent scholars also agree that he must be executed for converting. DR. MOHAMMAD AYAZ, ISLAMIC SCHOLAR (through translator): It's the law of all constitutions in Islamic countries in the constitutions of Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. It's clear that the man who converts must be killed.

WHITFIELD: Forty-one-year-old Rahman converted 16 years ago while working for an international aid agency in neighboring Pakistan. He returned to Afghanistan recently and his family turned him in during a custody battle for his children. Family members told a news agency he must be insane to have converted.

ZAMARI AMERI, DIR, ATTORNEY INVESTIGATION (through translator): According to his daughter and cousin, he has mental problems.

WHITFIELD: Authorities plan to examine Rahman this week to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. Rahman says he's not insane, but the insanity plea could be one thing that saves him from execution. Afghan clerics predict he'll die anyway, if not by order of the courts, then at the hands of his countrymen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The Bush administration is closely following this case. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House. So Kathleen, how involved is the Bush administration in this?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well very much so, Fredricka. The White House has been applying pressure ever since the case of Abdul Rahman came to life -- pressure for his prosecution to end.

This is a government that President Bush likes to hold up as a success story, a model democracy. So clearly if Rahman were to be tried and executed, it would certainly be an embarrassment. So it's no surprise whatsoever that President Bush himself, last week, was pushing for Rahman's prosecution to end and that today his secretary of state was following suit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Rahman should not face these charges. There should be a resolution in this case. But this is also a young democracy and we have to recognize that unlike the Taliban, it actually has a constitution to which one can appeal about the universal declaration of human rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now Rice added that all democracies, including our own, must wrestle with this delicate relationship between religion and politics. Now from what we understand from the State Department, there has been no final word given to the U.S. government about the fate of Abdul Rahman. But clearly the hope here is that it has been resolved. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House, thank you. Well many Christians here in the U.S. are concerned about the plight of the Afghan man. The president of the Family Research Council calls this prosecution an outrage. A live discussion in the next hour of CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

Final moments from the 9/11 attacks caught on tape. It turns out some recordings made to emergency dispatchers on that day had not been previously released, and now the victims next of kin must decide what to do with them. Some say the way they found out about the unreleased 911 calls was callous. Our Tony Harris reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): More than four years after the fact, families of some victims of 9/11 are finding out for the first time, that their loved ones voices are in the city's 911 system.

As that were not shocking enough the victims' families must also decide whether they want the public to hear what may have been their loved one's dying words.

The study notification arrived Friday in what some say family members call a terse form letter from the city, telling them their loved one's voice had been identified in the 911 system. The letter also informed them of their rights regarding the recording's public release in the form of a CD.

For some relatives, the shock was too much.

DAN BOYLE, SON DIED ON 9/11: I had one family member call me today, hysterical. She actually fainted, she opened it up in an elevator and she couldn't believe it, because she never heard from her husband that morning. But apparently he called 911.

HARRIS: The city has apologized for upsetting the families. A statement from the mayor's office issued Saturday night reads in part, "The city's plan was to advise World Trade Center support organizations on Friday by e-mail of the imminent release of the calls and of the letters that were going to the families. Unfortunately, because of a miscommunication, the e-mails did not go out as planned and instead went out this evening. We sincerely regret the delay."

Tony Harris, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: New York City will release a C.D. this week of the 911 calls, the result of a long court battle. By law, only the dispatcher's voices can be made public unless a family gives consent for a loved one's voice to be heard as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's chilling, that somebody in government knows every place I go and with whom and when. That's a little bit scary, I think. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How scary is it? Straight ahead, the New York City surveillance plan. Is the search for security going too far?

Also, what dreams are made of, showing up to school naked or perhaps running in slow motion? We'll help you decipher what your nocturnal thoughts are telling you.

Plus, brains vs. brawn. Find out why mind matters just as much as muscle, in a grueling event like the Tour de France.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf and if you happen to be sneezing and coughing and your eyes are runny and you just feel awful, there's a chance you may have the flu and you're not alone, especially if you live right along the Mississippi River, any spot east. It has been pretty widespread to regional, to say the very least. However, out to the West Coast, it's not quite as prevalent. Only sporadic to just local activity in many places back towards California. I'm Reynolds Wolf with your flu season report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This development in the case of the two Milwaukee boys ages 11 and 12, who have been missing now for a week. Well the Milwaukee Police Department just held a press conference just moments ago and are saying now for the first time, they are treating this as a criminal investigation.

Before they said they just didn't have enough evidence in which to classify, it was simply a missing persons case. Well now it is a criminal investigation. This is what the spokesperson for the Milwaukee Police Department said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE E. SCHWARTZ, SPOKESPERSON, MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: The focus of the search for Quadrevion Henning and Purvis Parker is a criminal investigation. Canvassing by the task force, as well as leads and tips have led us to that conclusion. As this is a criminal investigation, that will limit the amount of information that you all are going to be receiving. That is so that we do not compromise the integrity of the criminal investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now the investigators would not say anything further, just that none of the family members of the two boys, Quadrevion Henning or Purvis Parker, are in any way suspicious at this juncture. But they are still looking for information. If you have any, here is the tip number to call, 877-628-3804.

On the CNN "Security Watch," questions loom over whether a Supreme Court justice should recuse himself from an upcoming case. The court hears arguments Tuesday in the case of a man accused of being a driver and bodyguard to Osama bin Laden. His lawyers challenged the use of military tribunals to try Guantanamo detainees. Justice Antonin Scalia may have indicated his thoughts on the matter already.

"Newsweek" reports that during a private talk at a university in Switzerland, Scalia didn't talk about this specific case, but he generally dismissed the idea that detainees had rights under the U.S. Constitution or international conventions. He said, quote, "War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant, you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts."

He goes to say, quote, "If he was captured by my army on a battlefield, that is where he belongs. I had a son on that battlefield and they were shooting at my son and I'm not about to give this man who was captured in a war, a full jury trial. I mean, it's crazy." Those words from Antonin Scalia during a visit at the university in Switzerland.

In New York, police plan what they call a ring of steel, hundreds of cameras across the city to help fight crime and terrorism. But some object, saying the Big Apple is heading for "Big Brother." Here's CNN Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Fordham Road, whether you're on foot or in a car, the New York City Police Department is watching, capturing your image, sometimes your license plate. Overhead cameras are rolling 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We see them as a deterrence tool. So, the fact they're labeled NYPD, I think, you know, may very well prevent anybody from doing something untoward, committing a crime.

SNOW: The other goal, says New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, is to deter terrorism.

Kelly says, New York trails behind cities like London, and he is using homeland security money to add more eyes.

(on camera): Here in the Bronx, police have been monitoring these streets with surveillance cameras for more than a year. They say it has cut down on crime, specifically robberies. Now the New York City Police Department wants to install cameras like this one throughout the entire city.

(voice-over): Five hundred five cameras are slated to create what some call a ring of steel around areas like the Financial District, considered a prime target for terrorists.

Critics question the move.

DONNA LIEBERMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: It's chilling that somebody in government knows every place I go, and with whom, and when. Those a little bit scary, I think.

SNOW: Commissioner Kelly says New York is taking a page from London, where surveillance cameras helped track suspects in last summer's subway bombings.

KELLY: They were a useful tool in London. And, God forbid, we have to use them to that degree here. But I think, you know, they are an effective means of deterrence and, also, an effective investigative tool, when needed.

SNOW (on camera): The New York Civil Liberties Union is questioning whether the benefits of the cameras outweigh the erosion of privacy. But the city's police commissioner says the cameras are not hidden, that they're clearly labeled and there is no expectation of privacy. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And this reminder, CNN is the place to turn day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Well do you remember what you dreamt last night? Many of us are worlds apart when we're awake, but we have a lot in common when we sleep, actually. We have the list of top dreams and what they mean.

But first, growing up a lot us studied French, German or Spanish in school. Well now some kids are choosing Mandarin, Arabic or even Farsi. A new tongue for the young, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking news around the world now. Exit polls shows the party of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych leading in the parliamentary elections. Yanukovych wants to improve ties with Moscow and halt the Ukraine's efforts to join NATO. His rival of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko meantime, which on the job, and it not being at stake, balloting will determine the makeup of the Ukraine's parliament.

Voters go to the polls in Israel Tuesday. The results could affect the future of peace in the Middle East. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is pledging to consult Israelis and the world about plans to pull out of the West Bank. Some pollsters predict a low turnout.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is attending the Arab Summit this week. The meeting comes as Hamas leaders press the Arab League for more financial support. They're asking for triple the amount of financial aid league members have pledged in the past. And those past pledges were rarely met.

Clever minds and tiny tykes. In the war on terror and in business, being able to speak other languages is seen as a key asset. There is a new push to get younger children fluent in foreign tongues. CNN's Gary Nurenberg looks at this emerging trend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FATEN GAFFERE, TEACHER: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Students in Arabic classes at Washington D.C.'s Rock Creek International School are as young as three.

GAFFERE: They learn really fast because at that age, their mind is like a sponge. So it is the perfect age for teaching a language.

CAROLE AL-KAHOUAJI, ROCK CREEK INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL: We found that although the mental blocks that adults might have towards language learning don't exist when they're only three-years-old.

NURENBERG: In a war on terror, that President Bush says will last years, foreign language proficiency, he says, will be key.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need intelligence officers who when somebody says something in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu, knows what they're talking about.

NURENBERG: Saying American soldiers would be more effective if they could speak native tongues, the president included more than $100 million in next year's budget for what he calls the national security language initiative.

(on camera): In Arlington, Virginia, the school board has approved a plan to offer at a local college, Arabic and Chinese to students in the seventh through twelfth grades.

MARK JOHNSON, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA SCHOOLS: And this allows students to earn college credit at the same time they're earning high school credit.

NURENBERG (voice-over): Educators believe Arabic and Chinese will be essential to compete in the global economy.

GENE BROWN, NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Now all the businesses, no matter what you're involved in, the trade is involved with China and the Middle East.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad really wants me to learn it, because he speaks Arabic.

NURENBERG: Parents are a driving force, seeing language proficiency as key to their children's success and pressuring schools to provide the training.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NURENBERG: That means good morning, the start of a new day, in so many ways. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. military clashes with a Shiite militia, leaving nearly two dozen dead. What does this mean for the U.S. mission in Iraq? I'll speak with retired Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks coming up next.

Also coming up, in less than 30 minutes, what's it like to compete in one of the world's most grueling athletic events. A look at the Tour de France, you've never seen it this way.

And at the top of the hour, the state-of-the-art technology that's helping to stop drunk drivers even before they pick up a drink.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here is what is happening now in the news.

Violence in Iraq, at least 25 fighters loyal to radical Shiite Muqtada al-Sadr had been killed in a battle in Baghdad in Sadr City. Initial reports indicated U.S. troops were involved but the America military denies this. Radical Shiite say it happened at a mosque in northeast Baghdad.

Conflicting reports today about faith of the Afghan man threatened with death for becoming a Christian. Afghan officials say he will soon be released, others say the case against him has been thrown out. But he may not be set free.

The city of New York is getting ready to release recordings of 911 calls made during the September 11 attacks. The CDs will only include the dispatcher's side of the conversations.

Why did two takeoffs have to be aborted at Chicago's O'Hare Airport this week? Both times takeoffs were stopped to avoid hitting other planes. The Federal Aviation Administration says both look like air traffic controller mistakes.

Just this hour, Milwaukee police say the search for two missing boys is now a criminal investigation. A department spokesperson says its task force coupled with hundreds of tips from the public leaves them to reach that conclusion. Twelve year-old Quadrevion Henning and 11 year old Purvis Parker were last seen Sunday on their way to a neighborhood park.

And now a close are look at those clashes going on today in Baghdad. As we reported earlier, U.S. troops battling a militia loyal to radical Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Is this an isolated clash or an indication of something far more reaching? Joining us now from Washington, Retired Brigadier General James Marks who served in Iraq as a senior intelligence officer for coalition land forces. Good to see you.

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well first a clarification on what this mission seems to involve. We've heard Nic Robertson report just moments ago that the U.S. is involved but more in an advisory role and that it's the Iraqi special forces operation taking place. Does this sound about right to you?

MARKS: Fred, you know it does. It is probably based on good Iraqi intelligence that was generated at those very lowest levels and that the United States or the coalition forces primarily the United States forces on the ground backed up the Iraqi special ops as they went and conducted its operations.

You need to keep in mind that any operation likes that is going to require clearance. There is a unit. Whether it is an Iraqi unit or a U.S. unit that owns that piece of terrain so in order to bring in another unit, there's going to be clearance and there is going to be coordination. So it's probably as described. Iraqi-led, U.S. supported and then clearances provided to ensure that other forms of support as necessary during the fight could be brought in.

WHITFIELD: Well given your experience with the initial operation "Iraqi Freedom," how significant is this kind of fighting taking place in Sadr City?

MARKS: Well it is very significant. Sadr City certainly is, was a slum under Saddam's years when he was terrorizing the country, and it is a stronghold of Shias and certainly where Muqtada al-Sadr has his presence and where the Mehdi army is located. We need to take stock of the fact that the operation was generated probably by the Iraqis and led probably by the Iraqis with the U.S. in support and the real thing to keep in mind is that there are these kinds of militias that exist in the country, and they have to be eliminated if you want to achieve a professional force and certainly achieve political maturity, you have to rest all of your security forces and demands on a recognized profit force.

That doesn't mean you wantonly go out and take operations against a militia. But there will be an after reaction that will take place, the facts will be revealed and follow-on operations will be based on what the coalition forces will learn from this operation.

WHITFIELD: And now reportedly a lot this fighting took place near a mosque there in Sadr City and that in Nic's report, a couple the militia members were actually killed inside the mosque. Even if the U.S. is involved in an advisory role, how potentially incendiary is this?

MARKS: Well it's always incendiary, but I need to tell you it will take place. It took place when I was there early on, and it will occur again, only because mosques can be used not that they are routinely, so this is not an indictment, but they can be used as a sanctuary. If you have insurgents and if you have folks that are engaged in combat and they go use a mosque as a form of sanctuary to hold up, generally what you want to always have is Iraqi on Iraqis trying to solve that problem and not have a U.S. soldier or a westerner walk in to the mosque. You want to try to control it as best you can.

WHITFIELD: All right. Retired General James "Spider" Marks. Thanks so much. Good to see you.

MARKS: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: The emotional debate over immigration takes center stage this week. On Monday a Senate committee is expected to take up immigration reform legislation, at least four different proposals are on the table. On Wednesday, President Bush meets with Mexico's President Vicente Fox. It is an issue that crosses party lines and has divided some Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: The crime they have committed is coming in to this country without our permission. The penalty that is supposed to be applied to that under the law that we have today is deportation. If you say you can be here, you can do that you can come across the border without our permission, and you will be able to stay and, yes, there will be some, a little fine or whatever, that's -- it's not deportation. It is amnesty. And what it does is send a horrible message.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: If you're going to make them fugitives, if you're going to do what Congressman Tancredo wants to do, you are going to create a situation where as President Bush last Monday in Cleveland said, you're going to be forcing them to come into 18 wheelers, those are big trucks where they're stuffed in, to come into this country illegally, and as President Bush said, that's not the American way to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Bush has proposed a guest worker program. He said it will create a legal way to match foreign workers with U.S. companies and fill jobs Americans, he says don't want.

The house has already passed and immigration bill, among other things, entering the United States illegally would be a felony.

Well let's check in now with meteorologist Bonnie Schneider get a look at the weather picture out there beginning with Hawaii. Yesterday you talked about snow, and did it happen?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well still a possibility for later today into tonight. But look at all this rain Fredricka, can't catch a break in Hawaii. Sometimes we get a couple days where it's quiet then everything starts up again. Now the flash flooding is happening in the island of Oahu. There is a flash flood warning that goes into effect until 12:30 p.m. Hawaiian time, so we have a little bit less than an hour for that. That includes Honolulu. And when you look at the radar picture, it's pretty evident that the rain keeps coming.

We have low pressure here just to the north of Quai and that is kind of picking up moisture from the south, just bringing drenching rains to most of the islands. So we will be watching for that. On the big island, we are watching in the higher elevations believe it or not for snow that is possible with wind as well. But that is at the extreme high summits up to 13,000 feet. So we'll check that out for you as well.

Taking a look at the rest of the country and the U.S. mainland, temperatures starting to warm up. At least Sunday is a little milder than it was yesterday for a lot of locations. We're getting some of that warm air. You can see it bulging up from the south they're coming up towards the mid Plains. But eventually this is all going to work its way to the east and much of the country will be feeling like its spring.

Of course in some place, it's not the case at all. For example, as we look towards the northeast, wind and rain and unfortunately that's making for a raw day towards New York City, Long Island and Connecticut. We have on and off spotty showers with temperatures into the 40s. So not the prettiest Sunday and as we travel further off to the south you find it's pretty wet through much of the midsection, towards Charleston, West Virginia, and in Cincinnati.

Finally we are watching for some heavy snow. That's in Wyoming, where it is blizzard conditions are expected to develop later on tonight we can see all that snow here in the southern section of Wyoming. So a winter storm brewing, let's hope it is the last one, then we can get full force into spring after that.

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Well cyclists have it, other athletes do too. But are you wired to win? A new movie poses that very question. I'll ask the director, coming up.

But first, the top most popular dreams being chased is right up there. The rest of the list when we come right back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Richard Theriault of M.D. Anderson Cancer center in Houston is turning risk into reward. A leading pioneer in using chemotherapy to successfully treat pregnant women with breast cancer a controversial practice that many physicians are not willing to consider.

DR. RICHARD THERIAULT, M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: What we still hear from the patients who come to us is that the doctors they see outside often say, you must terminate the pregnancy or we can't take care of the cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 13-year study conducted by Theriault and his team of oncologists suggests you can save the baby while fighting the disease. Seventy percent of the mothers treated are still alive and cancer-free; all of the children survived and have normal development thus far. One child was born with Down's syndrome but doctors believe the disorder is not connected to the chemo.

TAMI RENETZKY, CANCER PATIENT: I couldn't even believe that you could put chemo, a poison into your body, and that it wouldn't have any affect on the baby whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tammy Renetzky started chemo six months into her pregnancy; she delivered a healthy baby girl Sierra, and now continues radiation treatment.

RENETZKY: I'm very blessed to be here with her, because Theriault from the initial day one wasn't sure if I was going to make it, to be able to be here to see her be born. And I'm just very happy.

THERIAULT: I don't take a lot of personal credit for this. It's just something that I fell into. The women are heroic. They get all the credit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When you go to sleep you enter a different world, the world of dream. Dreams are important for your mental health and you might be surprised to find out that some of your dreams are shared by people around the world. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks out the most common dreams and what they mean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Each night as we dream what we experience may seem uniquely personal, but how unique are our dreams, really?

PATRICIA GARFIELD, AUTHOR: Whatever we have in common with other human beings, I think in part, form what I call the university dream themes.

GUPTA: Author and psychologist Patricia Garfield has spent most of her career studying dreamers and dream cultures around the globe. She says that people who may be worlds apart in their waking life share a common culture while sleeping.

GARFIELD: It's both universal and particular, in the sense that everyone has dreams about being chased, for instance. It is the most common negative dream theme around the world, of any age, bar none. Little kids dream more often about wild animals after them. Adults dream more often about wild people after them.

GUPTA: Garfield says it's the particulars that vary from culture to culture.

GARFIELD: I did a study of children in India, and there were, in their dreams, many vultures were attacking the dreamer, compared to American kids who had more super heroes and no vultures at all, but if they had seen the movie "Jaws," there were many shark dreams.

GUPTA: According to her research, the other most common universal dream themes include flying, transportation trouble, natural disasters, menacing spirits, falling and being naked in public.

GARFIELD: Dreams of falling or drowning often occur when we feel disappointed by someone, or like our emotional ground has fallen out. The dreams of being naked are frequently when we're feeling particularly vulnerable. Dreams of taking a test, being back in school, being examined, that kind of dream often occurs when we feel we're being tested right now by something.

GUPTA: Testing us and perhaps more ways than we realize.

GARFIELD: Our dreams are more negative than positive in general. It's because, I believe that we're attempting to solve our problems, and we always have new problems. So, you know, we have to keep coping in the best way that we can.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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WHITFIELD: And you can see more of Sanjay Gupta's in-depth look at dreams and all issues related to sleep tonight at 10:00 Eastern.

The fight against drunk drivers is betting even more high tech. Coming up at the top of the hour we'll tell you about a new bracelet that let's judges monitor what defendants drink while on probation.

Up next wired to win I'll speak to the director of an amazing new film that shows you what it's like to ride like Lance Armstrong.

But first here's Gerri Willis to explain why those large tax refunds may not be such a good thing after all's

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Tax refunds sound like a good thing. Right? Before you celebrate that big return, remember something, it's always been your money! Last year workers overpaid their taxes by 29 percent. According to "USA Today" and when you overpay, well, you're basically giving the government an interest-free loan. So if you're getting back large sums of money during tax season, do yourself a favor. Reduce how much money is with held from your paycheck, put that extra money into an investment that pays a better return, and watch out for the tax preparers who would like to help you spend your tax return. Some of those pre-paid credit cards actually cost you $30.

You're much better off filing electronically and getting your refund directly deposited into your bank account.

And in real estate confusing and contradictorily numbers on the housing market. Existing home sales jumped in February to the biggest gain in over two years. New home sales had the biggest drop in almost nine years and prices keep falling. The median home price is now just over $230,000. That is the lowest level since July. The good news, experts say mortgage rates will not spike, and could in the year-end at current levels.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get to this point you're so exhausted. On top of that the heat. It gets harder and harder pup need to stay focused.

WHITFIELD: It takes plenty of brawn to win a grueling competition like the Tour De France but it also takes guess what, brains. A new giant screen movie takes a look at what happens to athlete's brains while they compete in that cycling race. It is called "Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour De France." I talked to the film's director Bayley Silleck earlier and asked him if that same brain power exists in all of us?

BAYLEY SILLECK, DIRECTOR, "WIRED TO WIN:" The big news about the human brain from recent science is that it is a malleable dynamic, changeable organ. And that it, we all, all of us, whether in the Tour De France, on television or whatever, we all need to challenge our brains throughout our lives, and by challenging the brain, we improve its qualities and its abilities. The Tour De France is an amazing challenge for the human brain.

We all think of sports, as being essentially physical challenges, but a race like the Tour De France is a three-week, 3,000-kilometer race in which the mind is really the principle muscle in a sense. Motivation. If you look at Lance Armstrong and the other great ones, you really see that the mental aspect of it is paramount.

WHITFIELD: It's grueling, obviously, for the biker, but it was grueling for you and the crew as well to film all of this. What did you have to go through in order to film all of this? That means big equipment, that means moving in constantly just as the bikers are traversing this course?

SILLECK: Exactly. Well, first of all, it's liked world's biggest traveling circus. The Tour De France it moves 200 miles every day. So every day you're in a new hotel. We had a 53-person crew with four large format IMAX cameras, and it was an extraordinary undertaking just to get to the next stage of the race. And, of course, just watching these guys as they, you know, ride each stage, and fight exhaustion and pain. Don't forget it goes over two mountain ranges. So it's not just riding 3,000 kilometers. They go over the Alps, and they go over the Pyrenees and what's interesting is to see how each rider deals differently with the challenges.

WHITFIELD: Wow. You got down and dirty with these challenges, whether it was you know, on the course. Whether it was you know, in the mountains, and then you got down and dirty just in the scientist labs too to really see what the brain is up against, and it really is eye-popping in many different ways this entire film. Isn't it?

SILLECK: Yes. We think it's a spectacular look at human brain in a way it's never been seen before. I think the computer graphics are going to take you inside the brain and show you things you've never seen before.

WHITFIELD: You saw it literally, too, as well? Holding it in your hands the human brain that was kind of gross. Wasn't it?

SILLECK: Initially it was gross. It's interesting actually one of our science advisers from Harvard Medical School said I will collaborate on the film with you but first you've got to come up and hold a human brain in your hands.

WHITFIELD: That was -- SILLECK: I said, are you sure I have to do this? And he says, no, no. You're going to get a lot out of it and we did that, it's extraordinary. I felt like Hamlet with a skull you know, this person was alive a few weeks ago. Had dreams, had emotions had a life. And it's a great mass of tissue; jut a little bit more solid than let's say a bowl full of yogurt.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Fascinating all the way around. An incredible teaching tool especially for all of us who don't get a chance to see the human brain up close and personal like you did or get a chance to see these athletes in the Tour De France. Bayley Silleck thank you so much. And we look forward to seeing this at an IMAX theater near you.

SILLECK: Great thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: By the way, Bayley tells me he spent two years shooting the movie with a crew of more than 50 people. "Wired to Win" is already playing on some IMAX screens and opens across the country officially tomorrow.

The battle over the life of a Christian convert in Afghanistan. What's being done to help save the Afghan's life? I'll speak with one man who is pressuring the White House to do more.

CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues right after this.

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