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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Storm Slams Northeastern U.S.; Brenda van Dam Faces Daughter's Killer; More U.S. Forces Get Ready for War With Iraq
Aired January 03, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, GUEST HOST: A monster storm slams the northeast and who's getting dumped on this time? And, we'll tell you about the man who made it to the White House grounds, rubbed elbows with the president but probably shouldn't have.
But first our CNN news alert.
(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: That's a look at our CNN news alert. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
A white Christmas was enough already. Snow smacks the northeast again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First time is nice. Second time is good but now it's getting a little bit much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting a little ridiculous really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A mother faces her child's killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA VAN DAM, VICTIM'S MOTHER: You do not deserve any leniency, any mercy, because you refused to give it to Danielle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A new twist in the case of a missing pregnant woman. A new direction in the hunt for a man accused of killing his family.
More U.S. forces get ready for possible war. The commander-in- chief warns of crucial hours ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America will act decisively and America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And getting too big for the bathtub, why do people pick pets like this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone told me somebody had a shark in their house with four kids the first thing I'd say is that guy's nuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The call of the wild.
It is Friday, January 3, 2003. I'm Miles O'Brien in for Wolf Blitzer once again. The man convicted of murdering seven-year-old Danielle van Dam has been condemned to die for the crime. David Westerfield showed no emotion when the sentence was pronounced. CNN's Eric Phillips has our story from San Diego.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The court proceedings began with Westerfield's attorney arguing to have the sentence reduced from the jury's recommendation of death to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Life without possibility of parole, your Honor, provides a closure in this case that we can't get otherwise.
PHILLIPS: Prosecutors were quick to offer a rebuttal.
JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: Nobody else did this crime but him and the crime is horrific.
PHILLIPS: Superior Court Judge William Mudd denied the motion and before passing sentence gave Danielle's parents a chance to speak.
B. VAN DAM: I ask you why did you not let her go? Why didn't you drop her off in a safe place? If you had done so she would be with her family now and you would not be facing death.
PHILLIPS: Fifty-year-old Westerfield appeared emotionless. When asked if he wanted to speak, he simply said.
DAVID WESTERFIELD, SENTENCED TO DEATH: No, sir. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Then came the formal sentencing.
JUDGE WILLIAM MUDD, SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT: You shall be put to death within the walls of the California State Prison at San Quentin.
PHILLIPS: Westerfield, a neighbor of the van Dams, reportedly snatched Danielle from her San Diego bedroom early last February. More than three weeks later, searchers discovered her body near a desert road. Investigators later found her hair, blood, and fingerprints in Westerfield's home and RV.
B. VAN DAM: Our precious Danielle was taken by a monster seeking only self gratification and not thinking about the sweet little child that he was harming.
PHILLIPS: By law, Westerfield's lawyers will automatically appeal this death sentence. I'm Eric Phillips reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: What? Oh, excuse me. We've heard some of Brenda van Dam's testimony today in that report from Eric Phillips, but to really understand the depth of her emotion, here is more of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. VAN DAM: I guarantee you no matter no hard I try, I will not be able to explain to you what it would feel like if this had happened to your own daughter even though it happened to mine. The pain runs so deep you can't reach it to stop it and the missing never ends. The tears are always one memory away. But I can tell you how it felt to not know where Danielle was for 26 terrifying days, to know that someone else knew where she was and it was not her mommy or her daddy by an evil stranger. It was sickening and I felt like my heart was breaking in two and I was dying from the inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I'll have are the memories of her, helped by some old pictures and videos and dreams of her, which I hope are always as vivid as they are now and having to know how brutal the last hours of her life were. My heart and my wife's heart have been broken and my other two children have been deeply hurt.
VAN DAM: You sat by smugly as thousands of people frantically searched for Danielle and her family anguished over finding her. It disgusts me that you're sick fantasies and your pitiful needs made you feel that you needed Danielle more than her family. You put your needs over the needs of her entire family an entire community, an entire nation to find Danielle. What could make one human being murder another? This is a question I will forever ask myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too soon to measure the full impact of Danielle's abduction and murder on our lives and their lives but we know we have a hole in our hearts that will never heal and we will miss her for the rest of our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: We'll hear more from Brenda van Dam tonight. She joins CNN's Larry King, 9:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. Pacific.
It's another wallop of a winter storm for the northeast, the second major storm in just ten days is barreling through the region and its forecast to bring as much as a foot and a half of snow to some areas. Here's what it looks like right now about 200 miles west of Albany in Rochester, New York. Schools in both Albany and Rochester have canceled classes or, at least, closed early. Numerous accidents are reported on slippery roads.
And it's a similar scene in Waterbury, Connecticut. Snow is expected to fall at a rate of up to three inches an hour overnight in some areas. The state has mobilized all of its snow vehicles and it's calling on private contractors for help. And for a firsthand look at what's going on in Vermont, we turn now to CNN's Jason Carroll who is live in Bennington. Jason, what's the story there?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is my first time in Bennington, Vermont. You can take a look and see that the snow is coming down in this picturesque little town, population about 15,000. We left New York City, Miles at about I don't know early this morning at about ten o'clock.
About an hour outside the city we ran into freezing rain. About an hour and a half outside the city that's where we started running into the snow. It's been snowing ever since. You can take a look right here on this little trash can. I'm using it as an impromptu measuring device.
This is all fresh snow. About five inches, I would say, has fallen so far up here in Bennington. They're saying that they're expecting anywhere between a foot to two feet of snow for this particular storm, and as you may remember, this area and many of the other states up here in the northeast just had a winter storm on Christmas. Joining me right now is the town's manager, Stu Hurd.
STU HURD, TOWN MANAGER: How are you?
CARROLL: Stu are you prepared for this particular storm?
HURD: Yes, we are.
CARROLL: Tell me what you've done in terms of preparation.
HURD: Well, last night we knew the storm was coming early in the morning hours. We had our trucks loaded with salt and sand ready to go and that's traditionally what we do. I mean in a good winter we'll see a number of storms like this.
CARROLL: The National Weather Service is predicting that the worst of the storm is supposed to come later on tonight.
HURD: That's what we hear too.
CARROLL: Is that what you're hearing as well?
HURD: Yes.
CARROLL: I'm wondering if fatigue sort of sets in that you guys got a wallop for the last storm and now you've got another one that's on you.
HURD: No question about it. I mean my public works crews that are out taking care of the snowstorm, Christmas was a tough storm. Thank God there weren't a lot of people on the road. It was a long storm and we managed to get by that one. We're pretty rested up now and this looks like it's going to be another whopper for us.
CARROLL: Highway Patrol basically was saying that they didn't report any major accidents. Any major problems that you're reporting in terms of accidents, fender benders, anything at all like that?
HURD: No. I mean people in Vermont and people who travel to Vermont have got to be used to this kind of stuff.
CARROLL: Right.
HURD: I think it ...
CARROLL: It is winter after all. It is January.
HURD: That's right and it's supposed to snow in Vermont.
CARROLL: Right.
HURD: So, I think our folks are pretty used to it. We find that there are more fender benders and accidents the first couple of snowstorms of the season. Once people get used to it, it's a little easier for them.
CARROLL: All right, Stu Hurd, town manager, I want to thank you for joining us on such short notice.
HURD: Thank you. Welcome to Bennington.
CARROLL: Thank you very much.
Now, here's a little bit of good news for the area in Bennington, Vermont. This is a big skiing type of town and they're saying last year was not such a good year for skiing. This year obviously with the last storm and this storm they're expecting the skiing to be much better. But again, the worst of this storm is supposed to hit us later on this evening. National Weather Service is telling us that the storm should taper off by tomorrow, blow out to sea by late tomorrow -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: I suppose for a lot of people up there, those are pennies from heaven we're seeing there for ski resorts that kind of thing, right Jason?
CARROLL: Oh yes. I mean the skiing up here is what people live for in these parts and with all the snow that's falling right now and the snow that's supposed to fall for later on, they're saying the skiing and the powder is supposed to be in their words, awesome.
O'BRIEN: All right, I hope you get a chance to strap some boards on before you leave there.
CARROLL: Me too.
O'BRIEN: Sneak that into the old expense report, okay Jason. All right, we'll see you. Be safe up there. Let's check in now with Orelon Sidney up in the weather center. She's not going to get a chance to do any skiing. Where is Orelon Sidney? Let's get a forecast from her.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Orelon Sidney. Let's check in on flight delays right now. There's a good place to go at the FAA's Web site. There are a lot of commercial sites as well where you can check on flights in particular. But if you want to see if a particular airport is causing you some headaches this is a good place to go, faa.gov.
Check in there and, of course, the place that we're going hone in on here is the northeastern states. Let's scroll this up and if you can see there those little orange dots right here in the center there, those are the places that we're putting a lot of focus in right now because that of course is where the trouble is.
Let's check on LaGuardia, due to weather, winds, and low ceilings, departure traffic destined to LaGuardia subject to a ground delay program. JFK or Newark I should say, due to weather, wind, and low ceilings, departure traffic destined to Newark is subject to ground delays as well, Philadelphia also indicating orange or trouble.
What's interesting is Albany, where we know they got about a foot of snow, right now they're saying it's green and go there. That remains to be seen. For up to the minute forecasts for more than 10,000 cities in the U.S., plus cities around the globe, you can go anytime to our Web site, that's at cnn.com.
The search for a killer, an update on an Oregon father authorities say killed his wife and children. We'll also talk with a former FBI profiler for insight into these cases. And later, to Venezuela we go, a government in crisis turns to chaos in the streets, a dangerous place today; and, an illegal immigrant working at the White House, all that and more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Investigators in the case of a missing mother-to-be in California now say they're trying to rule out her husband as a suspect. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Modesto with the latest on the search for Laci Peterson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Modesto police say they would like to be able to clear Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, as a possible suspect in this case but they just don't have the kind of information they need to make that happen. So what they have done is they're trying to piece together a time line of where Scott Peterson was between December 23 and December 25.
So, they released pictures of a truck and boat that he says he was using on December 24 to go fishing. That truck is a Ford F-150, 2002, bronze colored, and the boat is a 14' aluminum boat with a small outboard motor. So police here are asking residents in the area that if they've seen Scott driving that truck and dragging that boat between December 23 and December 25 to call police. They'd like to hear what they have to say so that they can piece together a time line of their own and corroborate that story with what Scott Peterson has told investigators here.
His family says that they are not worried that he had anything to do with Laci Peterson's disappearance. They stand behind him 100 percent. Meanwhile, Laci Peterson's mother says she wants the focus to remain on her daughter and urging people to continue the search for Laci Peterson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I'd like to make a plea to the person or persons who have my daughter. I'd like, I would hope that you would have some compassion in your heart that if this was your daughter or your sister or your mother, would you want them to live in the fear and terror that my daughter has been living in? And if it was your mother or your sister or your daughter, would you want them to have the heartache or the pain that we have been going through? Please bring our daughter home.
LAVANDERA: Authorities here say that Scott Peterson is cooperating with police but only to a certain degree. Investigators have also removed forensic evidence from the truck and boat and that has been sent off for analysis but police here won't say exactly what kind of evidence that might be and they also do acknowledge that they just don't have many concrete leads at this point as they continue to search for Laci Peterson.
Ed Lavandera CNN, Modesto, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: An Oregon man accused of murdering his pregnant wife and their three children may be in Canada. The bodies of Renee (ph), Bryant, Alexis, and Jonathan Morris were found December 21 in Oregon's Tillamook State Forest.
The death has shocked the Portland area and the suspect's father has asked his son to turn himself in. There are reports the suspect, Edward Morris, was seen in British Columbia last Saturday and residents of the Canadian province are urged to be vigilant. Morris is White 6' tall, 200 pounds with balding brown hair and brown eyes. For insight on the Oregon case and the Modesto case we just told you about we've turned now to retired FBI Agent Candice DeLong to join us from San Francisco. She's a former FBI profiler and the author of the book, "Special Agent." Good to have you with us, Candice.
CANDICE DELONG, RETIRED FBI AGENT: Miles.
O'BRIEN: I think it's very telling when authorities in Modesto say Scott Peterson is cooperating but only to some degree. You're either cooperating or you're not cooperating, right?
DELONG: Yes, I found that interesting. If one's spouse is missing, let alone a pregnant wife, one would think that total cooperation would be, well certainly is called for so I find that very interesting. O'BRIEN: Very telling I would think. The statistics are, and I'm sure as when you were in the FBI, Suspect 1, whether it's stated publicly or not, Suspect 1 tends to be the spouse, right?
DELONG: Well, yes statistically in this country, we don't know that Laci has been murdered but things aren't looking good. She's been gone quite a while now. Seventy-five percent of American women, adult women, that are murdered in this country are murdered by someone that they know and a full 33 percent are murdered by a current or former husband, boyfriend, or love, so, yes of course the person, the male closest to the victim has to be looked at and alibied out.
O'BRIEN: There's an interesting statistic you shared with us early about the leading cause of death among pregnant women.
DELONG: Yes, a recent study published in the journal of the American Medical Association of 250 women in the Baltimore/D.C. area, pregnant women, found that the leading cause of death was murder.
O'BRIEN: Wow. That's a fairly narrow sampling but that's still a shocking statistic.
DELONG: Yes, it is.
O'BRIEN: Let's move over to Oregon, somebody who takes out their family, allegedly at least takes out their family. It's hard to put words on what might motivate something like this but there might be a copycat scenario here?
DELONG: Well, they're called family annihilators, someone that murders their whole family. Sometimes it's the mother but more often than not it is the father and that is what has alleged happened in this case. He seems to be copycatting Christian Longo who is currently under arrest for doing the same thing to his family about the same time last year. Do I think -- I mean the man they're looking for in this particular case has left, I understand, journals or information that he very much admired what Christian Longo did.
O'BRIEN: Why would he admire that?
DELONG: Well, my guess is you don't wake up in the morning and think of doing something this horrific and for the first time it crosses your mind, do it. He's probably been thinking of it for quite some time. He's bent in that direction to do that kind of thing and the Christian Longo case probably just fueled his fantasies.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's move to Louisiana, string of killings there linked by DNA. A composite sketch was released this week, a description another white vehicle that might or might not be useful in an investigation. Do you have the sense that police and investigators there are getting closer?
DELONG: Well, it's a baffling case. There are a number of unsolved murders of women in the Baton Rouge area that may also be linked to this known serial killer but they have been unable to obtain any evidence to do so, and this most recent killing that was linked to him is farther away than the others. It's not in the cluster. I do believe the police are making progress.
In terms of the sketch, it's certainly helpful. There are witnesses that say that they saw him with a woman, a nude woman, I believe slumped over in the cab of his white truck. I believe this was last May. People need to think back who do they know that had a white truck or access to a white truck last May. This person is probably a member of the community and known to people.
O'BRIEN: That's a frightening thought right there.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: We'll leave it at that right now, Candice thank you very much for being with us. Candice DeLong is a former FBI profiler. She's authored the book, "Special Agent," joining us out of San Francisco. Thanks for being with us.
DELONG: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day, do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? We'll have the results later in the broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf, and while you're there we'd like to hear from you. Send your comments. We'll try to read some of them at the end of the program if we have time. That's also where you'll find Wolf's daily online column, most days penned by Wolf, today I wrote it. You can read it at cnn.com/wolf.
Coming up on our program a man who managed to work at the White House but he shouldn't have even made it to the grounds. Also, protests in the streets become clashes in the streets. We'll go to Venezuela live. And, does North Korea think the U.S. will invade? You'll hear their answer coming up. Plus, when that small shark, cute and cuddly, well maybe not cuddly, becomes well a little too big for that tank, well we'll explain in just a minute. First, today's news quiz. On average, which eats more of its body weight per day sharks or humans, the answer coming up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: An illegal alien working at the White House, of all places? That apparently was the case for several years. Federal law enforcement sources are telling CNN the Mexican citizen worked for two years as a contractor that sent up tents for functions on the White House grounds. They say he was arrested reentering the country illegally last month and that he had pictures of himself with President Clinton and with Vice President Cheney. CNN Justice Department producer Terry Frieden joins us on the line now from Washington with more -- Terry.
TERRY FRIEDEN, CNN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, apparently what's happened today is that the individual who was working as an illegal alien on the White House grounds for more than two years has been indicted in Texas where he is currently in federal custody and the charges against him are illegal reentry into the United States, and the possession of false documents associated with his basically taking over the identity of another individual, which allowed him to gain access to the job at the White House in the first place.
O'BRIEN: Do we know much, Terry, about how he got a hold of these documents allegedly?
FRIEDEN: Apparently, this was not a case of identity theft as much as it was identity purchase. I have seen or am familiar with the contents of a secret report which does indicate that he had actually paid another individual, a man from Puerto Rico, for his identity documents, including a Maryland driver's license, a passport, and other identity papers.
O'BRIEN: And finally, and probably the most important question, is the White House, the administration, anybody telling you he was or ever considered a threat of any kind?
FRIEDEN: Well, that's right, Miles. That is the most important question and the Secret Service emphatically insists that he was never a threat of any kind. Other federal law enforcement agencies concur with that, but it's primarily the Secret Service, of course, which protects the president and other top officials and also the facilities of the White House.
And Secret Service officials insist that they at no time had any evidence to suggest that this individual was a threat of any kind and, in fact, they insist that in addition to the document papers and the personal histories there are a lot of other tools and methods that they have to ensure security in the White House complex.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Terry Frieden in Washington, thank you very much. I appreciate it. The man who sparked the hunt for the five individuals we've been telling you so much about may be back in the U.S. soon. There are their pictures. Extradition proceedings are underway in Canada for Michael John Hamdani (ph). He is the one who told authorities the five men may have slipped into the U.S. illegally on Christmas Eve. The men have not been found and officials say there's no proof they ever entered the country. Hamdani was already wanted in the U.S. on smuggling, forgery, and fraud charges.
Crack down in Venezuela, protests, clashes, tear gas, the political turmoil boils over in the capital of Caracas. A rare news conference in Beijing, what a North Korean official had to say about the U.S. And, how about something really different, would your local librarian do this? Reading between the lines (UNINTELLIGIBLE); first some other stories making news around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): Wet and windy, high winds and heavy rain are causing big problems in Europe. Flooding is reported from Britain to Portugal to Austria, at least five are dead.
Help is on the way. Relief workers hope to reach the Solomon Islands tomorrow. A devastating cyclone hit the remote Pacific Island chain nearly a week ago. The storm severed communication but a journalist who managed to reach the islands say many resident saved themselves by fleeing to mountain shelters. Against America, thousands of Pakistanis marched to protest the U.S. stance against Iraq but the turnout was lower than expected and most shopkeepers ignored calls for a general strike. Elsewhere, about 300 people staged an anti-American demonstration in Bahrain.
Train tragedy, relatives waited for word about their loved ones after a train wreck killed at least 18 people in Southern India. A passenger train ran into the back of a freight train. Human error is blamed.
Down and dangling, a pole supporting a chairlift collapsed in southeastern Australia. At least 16 people hurt and dozens more were trapped in the chairs for hours before they could be rescued. The chairs carry tourists to the top of the peak overlooking the sea.
English with a German accent, Germany's BMW unveiled its first Rolls Royce. BMW has taken over the British car maker but some things won't change. The Rolls will continue to be built in England and it will continue to be very, very expensive. The new model costs $380,000 but maybe you have a trade-in. That's our look around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back to WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. I'm Miles O'Brien sitting in for Wolf. Coming up, riots in Venezuela. Chaos sweeps in the streets of Caracas. We'll take you live on the scene.
Plus, does North Korea think the U.S. will invade? New tough talk today to tell you about. And President Bush's pep talk to the troops who might be headed to the Persian Gulf. But first, let's look at the other stories making news right now. "News Alert" time.
(NEWS ALERT)
O'BRIEN: Dozens of people have been injured in clashes between protesters and police in the Venezuelan capital. It's the latest violence in the ongoing strike by opponents of the country's president, Hugo Chavez. CNN producer Ingrid Arnesen is in Caracas with the latest. Ingrid, has it died down a little bit?
INGRID ARNESEN, CNN PRODUCER: Miles, it did die down somewhat about 20 minutes ago when just a small group of hard-core protesters on both camps continued this standoff. This after groups from both sides of the opposition and the pro-Chavez forces had a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) exchange of gunfire through the afternoon, which sent all the demonstrations scurrying in every direction. It was absolute chaos.
According to the department, the fire department chief, 25 people were injured today, mostly from tear gassing. Three were injured from gunshots. Those are our latest figures. There were several others that were hit by rocks and bottles.
O'BRIEN: Now, as I understand it, Ingrid, it all began with protesters who were trying to get the military to align itself with the anti-Chavez coalition, which is -- has been pursuing this general strike. That does not seem like a likely scenario. Did they have any luck getting the military over to their side?
ARNESEN: Precisely, Miles. Opposition march (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was slated to culminate in front of one of the largest military installations, where General Alfonso (ph), who has been detained for a couple of days now, is saying. Basically, the opposition was demanding that the military restate its policy from an institutional point of view. Although the chief of the army, the head commander did so on December 23 say that they stood by the president.
That march did not arrive at its goal. When it reached an intersection, the pro-Chavez demonstrators had gathered at the top of a bridge, very large numbers, and that created the confrontation which led to the riots this afternoon -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ingrid, just briefly, it seems like things are escalating there. Is there much concern that we're going to be seeing additional violence in the coming days?
ARNESEN: Yes, Miles. In fact, both camps were shouting insults at each other and saying we're going to be back, tomorrow will be worse. However, we have not heard yet from the secretary general of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), who had met with the president. Jose Gavira (ph) met with the president, had lunch with him, saying there are no indications that those negotiations are anywhere close to reaching some kind of agreement. In fact, the violence in the street today indicates worse to come in the coming days -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ingrid Arnesen, who is in Caracas, be safe. Thank you very much for that update.
As more U.S. forces got orders to deploy to the Persian Gulf, President Bush rallied the troops who are getting ready for a possible war with Iraq even as yet another crisis looms. We get the story from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash, who is with the president in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The commander-in-chief went to Ft. Hood Army base armed with a multifront message for his troops.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wherever you serve, or wherever you may be sent, you can know that America is grateful, and your commander-in-chief is confident in your abilities and proud of your service.
BASH: A note of gratitude to the 4,000 soldiers at the nation's largest Army base. And a warning to Saddam Hussein that he will call on these men and women to attack Iraq if he has to.
BUSH: If force becomes necessary to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act deliberately. America will act decisively, and America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
BASH: Thousands of troops from Ft. Hood served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Are they ready to take on Saddam Hussein again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The commander needs me. I will be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready to do my part to defend my country. Bring some people to justice.
BASH: Someone Mr. Bush made clear he will not need these troops to bring to justice for now, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il. Different circumstances, he said, require different strategies. Here, that's diplomacy.
BUSH: The case of North Korea, the world must continue to speak with one voice, to turn that regime away from its nuclear ambitions.
Our people are well-fed right here.
BASH: Ordering roast beef and mashed potatoes in the mess, checking out the tanks. Mr. Bush made clear while he believes they're ready for war and will prevail, giving the order will not be easy.
BUSH: I know that every order I give can bring a cost. I also know without a doubt that every order I give will be carried out with skill and unselfish courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: The president had another message for the troops and for the world. That is if the U.S. does invade Iraq, it will go there to liberate the country, not to conquer it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash in Crawford, Texas, thanks very much.
North Korea made another offer of talks today, but the Bush administration turned it down flat. The State Department said there will be no negotiations in response to threats or broken promises calling on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. But as CNN's Lisa Rose Weaver tells us from Beijing, it's not so much what the North Koreans had to say, but how they chose to say it. A rare public appearance by their ambassador to China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The tone of this press conference throughout was very much that this is really in the United States' court. It's up to the United States to take the first step.
Now, the ambassador also reacted a softening line coming out of Washington with President Bush in the last couple of days, saying that this standoff can be negotiated through diplomacy. It's not necessary to have a military confrontation over it. However, the ambassador said he did not believe U.S. intentions. CHOE JIN SU, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): As for the U.S. claim of no intentions to invade our country and its willingness to solve the crisis through diplomatic channels, we don't believe these words. If the U.S. were sincere, they should respond to our request for dialogue. They should sit down with us to conclude talks on the non-aggression treaty proposed by us.
WEAVER: Finally, the ambassador reiterated a long-held position by North Korea that this is not an international issue, accusing the United States of internationalizing it.
This is Lisa Rose Weaver, reporting from Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: U.N. inspection teams fanned out across Iraq today as a state-run newspaper said how it really feels about President Bush. CNN's Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): At least four teams of weapons experts were working today despite this being the Muslim day of rest. One of them went to a site belonging to Iraq's Military Industrial Commission that deals with rocket propellants. Another team of chemical experts headed off to a factory that produces chemicals and that is considered dual use. And then a couple of other teams fanned out across the country.
Now, the inspectors also plan to set up an office in a city of Mosel (ph). That's about a four-hour drive north of the Iraqi capital. That's due to happen on Saturday. And that comes ahead of the visit to Baghdad of U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix. He's expected to visit Iraq ahead of his report to the U.N. Security Council on the inspectors' activities.
In the meantime, President Bush has been laying even more pressure on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, calling on him again to disarm or face the consequences. That said, there's no love lost here in Iraq for President Bush, at least in the Iraqi media. One newspaper editorial referring to President Bush as "the master of evil," on the same level as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Rym Brahimi, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: In a moment, the fierce winter storm blasting the northeast. We'll check back on the snowfall totals.
The college football bragging rights on the line. And an Ohio State player finds himself embroiled in some controversy. We'll talk about the battle between athletics, academics and money.
Also ahead, when that fish grows up and becomes a little too much for its owner. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Let's check back in on the storm. CNN's Jason Carroll's never been to Bennington, Vermont, until today. It took him about three days to get up there. Maybe not quite. It was a long journey from New York City, wasn't it?
CARROLL: It felt like three days. It really did. I just want to show the audience what you were asking about a little bit earlier. You were asking about the snow, was it sticky, was it loose? I can show you right here. It's still very loose. It's powdery. It's perfect for skiing. You know, not very great for walking in it. It's not great for standing in either.
On the way up here, Miles, we counted at least a dozen accidents on the road. This is in about the area of upstate New York. Although the highway patrol officials telling us that there were no serious accidents. Most of what we saw, minor fender-benders. So again, we saw about 12 accidents just in our several-mile hour journey on the way up here. Saw just as many snow plows as well.
The one unusual thing that I found up here in Bennington, Vermont -- this couple right here. We've got Marty and Jeff. They join us from Daytona Beach, where I hear it's about 73 degrees. They are the opposite of snow birds. I mean, normally people go down to Florida to escape this. You guys come up here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
CARROLL: And what do you think? You are obviously loving it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, we come up every January to play in the snow. And boy, are we blessed. We hear there's 25 inches coming tonight.
CARROLL: And you're excited about that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely, yes.
CARROLL: OK. That's an interesting point of view. Maybe you can relate, sort of expand on that for us. You love this snow.
JEFF PORTEOUS, TOURIST: Oh, yes, I've always loved that. I love to ski. I have been in Florida for 25 years. And I miss skiing so much. And I am really looking forward to hitting the slopes.
CARROLL: All right, both of you, want to thank both of you for joining us. Enjoy the snow. I think a lot of people are going to be like this couple, enjoying the skiing. This is a big ski town. And they're expecting anywhere between one and two feet.
Most of the storm, or the worst of the storm is supposed to happen later on tonight. It's then supposed to blow out late tomorrow. I, of course, being from California, I'm waiting for the snow to blow out rather than come in. O'BRIEN: You should tell Marty, Jason, that with that flannel shirt and that hat and that beard, he looks native. He looks like he...
CARROLL: Oh, he does. Let's look again. Marty, our anchor Miles says that you look like a native with the flannel and the jacket there.
O'BRIEN: He's got the look. He's got it. Absolutely.
CARROLL: You've got the look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my buffalo look.
O'BRIEN: I wouldn't have pegged you for Daytona Beach. All right.
CARROLL: He needs shorts for Daytona.
O'BRIEN: There you go. See you, guys. Be safe up there, Jason.
They're small when they're young, but what happens when a shark gets too big for its tank? We'll explain that odd story in just a moment.
Also, he's fighting for the champions tonight, but this Ohio State player you saw a moment ago has had a tough battle off the field as well. He wanted to attend a close friend's funeral. So why didn't he go?
And if we could have all had librarians like this. Our picture of the day is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The national championship on line tonight when Ohio State takes on Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. But Buckeyes have another battle, with their star running back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Maurice Clarett is a young man who goes against the grain and draws a crowd wherever he is. This fall, the Ohio State freshman led the Buckeyes with some breathtaking rushing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the drive of those piston-like legs to the end zone.
O'BRIEN: While off the field, he rushed head first into a line of controversy. In October, he reportedly said he might challenge a rule against freshmen entering the pro football draft. And now on the eve of the bowl game that could give his team the national championship, Clarett is at it again.
Clarett wanted to skip practice in Arizona this week to return to Ohio for the funeral of an old friend. He wanted the school to pay for his ticket. NCAA rules allow this, so long as the athlete fills out some reimbursement forms. Clarett says he did file the paperwork, but Ohio State officials say he did not. Clarett says school officials are lying. The Ohio State brass clearly would prefer to keep their team focused on beating Miami, but a rather ugly cat is already out of the bag. And it leads to a stubborn debate about the often unharmonious marriage of academics, big-time athletics and huge amounts of money.
Ohio State and Miami will each receive at least $11 million just for participating in the Fiesta Bowl. Seldom shy Clarett insists on reminding us all that millions are spent and made on a typical college bowl game, while no one seems willing to feed the homeless. One of Clarett's teammates probably put it best. "Drama kind of follows him around," he said.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: It's a big game, a big business, and it involves a big bureaucracy. Is the student athlete, in this case a star athlete, caught in the middle? Joining me now from New York is Roy Johnson, assistant managing editor of "Sports Illustrated." Roy, good to have you with us.
ROY JOHNSON, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Thank you for having me, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's get to the root of this one. A lot of people would say it's high time we just started paying players a big salary, then he could afford to go back to Ohio or wherever he wanted, because after all, it's a big money sport. They probably deserve some of the money.
JOHNSON: Yes, any time you have a situation like this, you will always go back to the debate on whether you should play players or not. But this is less about money than it is about the arcane rules of the NCAA. In the end, both sides were right. There was some paperwork that needed to be filed and certainly it made not have been filed on time or totally correctly. But let's face it, these student athletes give a lot of their time and energy in order for schools like Ohio State to reap millions. If this had been their top sales person for any sort of corporate organization, they would have found a way to get that person back to a funeral and back in time for this important meeting and in this case, this important game.
So it's about finding a way to respond to the type of athlete that today the entire sports industry is depending on, and that's kids like Maurice Clarett.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely, I mean, $11 million just for starters for each team, win, lose or draw. That's a lot of tostitos. I just don't think it's fair to ask these players to do what they have to do, they compromise their academics. We are treating them as they are; they are a commodity, unfortunately.
JOHNSON: Absolutely. And I can see what Ohio State was trying to do. They were trying to not break any rules. But I'll tell you, there's not one person on the planet who knows every rule in the NCAA, and while they were trying not to break rules, of course a young man was angered, his focus was taken off of the game. You now have your star player who is drawing attention away from the game plan and the game itself.
But you know what, I do believe this was a great week for college football, because we often forget about the athletes who are participating and who are driving this industry. And the fact that in many places like in Columbus, these games take place within a stone's throw or a quarterback's throw of poverty, crime and the type of environment where so many of these young kids come from. So I think it was important for this young man to bring it up. And I think he brought it up in an intelligent way, in a way that showed us that he was a young man who was thoughtful.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I wanted to get your thought on that. I think you sort of answered the question, but expand on this a little bit. He's not just a whiny athlete here. He's a pretty thoughtful kid, mature beyond his years, isn't he?
JOHNSON: Absolutely. Just 18 years old. How many young men or young women could have stood up under very emotional point in their lives, when they just lost a best friend and wanted to attend a funeral, and articulate themselves in a manner that was clear, that came across nationally, that was concise. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. I give him credit for being a strong-minded young man, a strong-willed young man who was not afraid to say what he felt in an environment where many athletes are not encouraged to do that. In fact, they're encouraged to go along with the program. So I think he represented himself well in this instance.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, changing that system, that will be a tough buckeye to crack, I think. Roy Johnson, thank you very much for being with us. He's with "Sports Illustrated." You have a good weekend.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Now, time is running out for your turn to weigh in on our question of the day. It is -- Do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? Log on to cnn.com/wolf to vote. We'll have the results immediately when we return. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Earlier we asked, which eats more of its body weight per day? Humans eat slightly more of their body weight than sharks. According to the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, 100-pound shark eats the equivalent of five hamburgers a day. But they don't care about the fat.
In Pleasanton, California, the Valentine family is preparing to say goodbye to the family pet. Jigsaw, a 4 1/2-foot white tipped reef shark has outgrown his eight-ton, 1,500-gallon aquarium. That's some aquarium. But all is not grim for Jigsaw, no. He will not become shark fin soup. He is being donated to a special shark exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is a pretty cool place. Some might question the wisdom of keeping such a predator in a home with small children. Jigsaw's owner says the thought has crossed his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VALENTINE, SHARK OWNER: I don't know of anybody else and they didn't know of anybody else that had one in their home that had grown to this size. Actually, I think it's a little difficult to get them to start feeding. It's uncommon for them at their infantile stage to eat in captivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Valentine says it's his kids who will miss Jigsaw the most. They plan to go to visit their old chum in his new home.
Now, they say you can't tell a book by looking at its cover. If our picture of the day is any guide, you shouldn't make assumptions about librarians either. No Marian here. Seventeen librarians in Ocean County, New Jersey have posed for what's being called the "Easy Readers" wall calendar. They're riding motorcycles and wearing leather. This is not what we think of when we think of the library, of course, but sometimes image changes like library books can be way overdue. Hard to be quiet on a Harley, though, isn't it.
Now, here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you, do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? Seventy-seven percent of you said yes; 23 percent of you said no. You can keep tracking these results as they change. Just go to our Web site, cnn.com/wolf, and as we always tell you, it is not a scientific poll.
Time now to hear from you a little bit. Kevin writes -- "The story on amphetamine use in the Air Force we told you about yesterday is unbelievable. What happened to our war on drugs? Are we saying that drug use is OK as long as the U.S. Air Force is your supplier?"
Ron has this: "Any problems the Air Force has with pilot fatigue stem from undermanning and overcommitment. The use of psychoactive drugs is an ignorant way to address these problems, and in no way justifies overworking pilots."
But Richard has this: "The go pills were not the problem; lack of communication was. The pilots should have been given information about the live-fire exercises Canadians were conducting in the area. Miscommunication, not drug use, led to this fatal friendly fire incident."
That's all the time we have for today and this week. I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN center in Atlanta. Wolf Blitzer will be back Monday. Don't forget, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ" weekdays on noon Eastern. And this Sunday on "LATE EDITION," Senators Evan Bayh and Chuck Hagel on the Foreign Relations Committee. They will join Judy Woodruff. Until then, thanks very much for watching. "LOU DOBBS' MONEYLINE" is up next. Kitty Pilgrim in for Lou.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Daughter's Killer; More U.S. Forces Get Ready for War With Iraq>
Aired January 3, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, GUEST HOST: A monster storm slams the northeast and who's getting dumped on this time? And, we'll tell you about the man who made it to the White House grounds, rubbed elbows with the president but probably shouldn't have.
But first our CNN news alert.
(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: That's a look at our CNN news alert. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
A white Christmas was enough already. Snow smacks the northeast again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First time is nice. Second time is good but now it's getting a little bit much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting a little ridiculous really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A mother faces her child's killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA VAN DAM, VICTIM'S MOTHER: You do not deserve any leniency, any mercy, because you refused to give it to Danielle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A new twist in the case of a missing pregnant woman. A new direction in the hunt for a man accused of killing his family.
More U.S. forces get ready for possible war. The commander-in- chief warns of crucial hours ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America will act decisively and America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And getting too big for the bathtub, why do people pick pets like this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone told me somebody had a shark in their house with four kids the first thing I'd say is that guy's nuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The call of the wild.
It is Friday, January 3, 2003. I'm Miles O'Brien in for Wolf Blitzer once again. The man convicted of murdering seven-year-old Danielle van Dam has been condemned to die for the crime. David Westerfield showed no emotion when the sentence was pronounced. CNN's Eric Phillips has our story from San Diego.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The court proceedings began with Westerfield's attorney arguing to have the sentence reduced from the jury's recommendation of death to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Life without possibility of parole, your Honor, provides a closure in this case that we can't get otherwise.
PHILLIPS: Prosecutors were quick to offer a rebuttal.
JEFF DUSEK, PROSECUTOR: Nobody else did this crime but him and the crime is horrific.
PHILLIPS: Superior Court Judge William Mudd denied the motion and before passing sentence gave Danielle's parents a chance to speak.
B. VAN DAM: I ask you why did you not let her go? Why didn't you drop her off in a safe place? If you had done so she would be with her family now and you would not be facing death.
PHILLIPS: Fifty-year-old Westerfield appeared emotionless. When asked if he wanted to speak, he simply said.
DAVID WESTERFIELD, SENTENCED TO DEATH: No, sir. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Then came the formal sentencing.
JUDGE WILLIAM MUDD, SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT: You shall be put to death within the walls of the California State Prison at San Quentin.
PHILLIPS: Westerfield, a neighbor of the van Dams, reportedly snatched Danielle from her San Diego bedroom early last February. More than three weeks later, searchers discovered her body near a desert road. Investigators later found her hair, blood, and fingerprints in Westerfield's home and RV.
B. VAN DAM: Our precious Danielle was taken by a monster seeking only self gratification and not thinking about the sweet little child that he was harming.
PHILLIPS: By law, Westerfield's lawyers will automatically appeal this death sentence. I'm Eric Phillips reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: What? Oh, excuse me. We've heard some of Brenda van Dam's testimony today in that report from Eric Phillips, but to really understand the depth of her emotion, here is more of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. VAN DAM: I guarantee you no matter no hard I try, I will not be able to explain to you what it would feel like if this had happened to your own daughter even though it happened to mine. The pain runs so deep you can't reach it to stop it and the missing never ends. The tears are always one memory away. But I can tell you how it felt to not know where Danielle was for 26 terrifying days, to know that someone else knew where she was and it was not her mommy or her daddy by an evil stranger. It was sickening and I felt like my heart was breaking in two and I was dying from the inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I'll have are the memories of her, helped by some old pictures and videos and dreams of her, which I hope are always as vivid as they are now and having to know how brutal the last hours of her life were. My heart and my wife's heart have been broken and my other two children have been deeply hurt.
VAN DAM: You sat by smugly as thousands of people frantically searched for Danielle and her family anguished over finding her. It disgusts me that you're sick fantasies and your pitiful needs made you feel that you needed Danielle more than her family. You put your needs over the needs of her entire family an entire community, an entire nation to find Danielle. What could make one human being murder another? This is a question I will forever ask myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too soon to measure the full impact of Danielle's abduction and murder on our lives and their lives but we know we have a hole in our hearts that will never heal and we will miss her for the rest of our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: We'll hear more from Brenda van Dam tonight. She joins CNN's Larry King, 9:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. Pacific.
It's another wallop of a winter storm for the northeast, the second major storm in just ten days is barreling through the region and its forecast to bring as much as a foot and a half of snow to some areas. Here's what it looks like right now about 200 miles west of Albany in Rochester, New York. Schools in both Albany and Rochester have canceled classes or, at least, closed early. Numerous accidents are reported on slippery roads.
And it's a similar scene in Waterbury, Connecticut. Snow is expected to fall at a rate of up to three inches an hour overnight in some areas. The state has mobilized all of its snow vehicles and it's calling on private contractors for help. And for a firsthand look at what's going on in Vermont, we turn now to CNN's Jason Carroll who is live in Bennington. Jason, what's the story there?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is my first time in Bennington, Vermont. You can take a look and see that the snow is coming down in this picturesque little town, population about 15,000. We left New York City, Miles at about I don't know early this morning at about ten o'clock.
About an hour outside the city we ran into freezing rain. About an hour and a half outside the city that's where we started running into the snow. It's been snowing ever since. You can take a look right here on this little trash can. I'm using it as an impromptu measuring device.
This is all fresh snow. About five inches, I would say, has fallen so far up here in Bennington. They're saying that they're expecting anywhere between a foot to two feet of snow for this particular storm, and as you may remember, this area and many of the other states up here in the northeast just had a winter storm on Christmas. Joining me right now is the town's manager, Stu Hurd.
STU HURD, TOWN MANAGER: How are you?
CARROLL: Stu are you prepared for this particular storm?
HURD: Yes, we are.
CARROLL: Tell me what you've done in terms of preparation.
HURD: Well, last night we knew the storm was coming early in the morning hours. We had our trucks loaded with salt and sand ready to go and that's traditionally what we do. I mean in a good winter we'll see a number of storms like this.
CARROLL: The National Weather Service is predicting that the worst of the storm is supposed to come later on tonight.
HURD: That's what we hear too.
CARROLL: Is that what you're hearing as well?
HURD: Yes.
CARROLL: I'm wondering if fatigue sort of sets in that you guys got a wallop for the last storm and now you've got another one that's on you.
HURD: No question about it. I mean my public works crews that are out taking care of the snowstorm, Christmas was a tough storm. Thank God there weren't a lot of people on the road. It was a long storm and we managed to get by that one. We're pretty rested up now and this looks like it's going to be another whopper for us.
CARROLL: Highway Patrol basically was saying that they didn't report any major accidents. Any major problems that you're reporting in terms of accidents, fender benders, anything at all like that?
HURD: No. I mean people in Vermont and people who travel to Vermont have got to be used to this kind of stuff.
CARROLL: Right.
HURD: I think it ...
CARROLL: It is winter after all. It is January.
HURD: That's right and it's supposed to snow in Vermont.
CARROLL: Right.
HURD: So, I think our folks are pretty used to it. We find that there are more fender benders and accidents the first couple of snowstorms of the season. Once people get used to it, it's a little easier for them.
CARROLL: All right, Stu Hurd, town manager, I want to thank you for joining us on such short notice.
HURD: Thank you. Welcome to Bennington.
CARROLL: Thank you very much.
Now, here's a little bit of good news for the area in Bennington, Vermont. This is a big skiing type of town and they're saying last year was not such a good year for skiing. This year obviously with the last storm and this storm they're expecting the skiing to be much better. But again, the worst of this storm is supposed to hit us later on this evening. National Weather Service is telling us that the storm should taper off by tomorrow, blow out to sea by late tomorrow -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: I suppose for a lot of people up there, those are pennies from heaven we're seeing there for ski resorts that kind of thing, right Jason?
CARROLL: Oh yes. I mean the skiing up here is what people live for in these parts and with all the snow that's falling right now and the snow that's supposed to fall for later on, they're saying the skiing and the powder is supposed to be in their words, awesome.
O'BRIEN: All right, I hope you get a chance to strap some boards on before you leave there.
CARROLL: Me too.
O'BRIEN: Sneak that into the old expense report, okay Jason. All right, we'll see you. Be safe up there. Let's check in now with Orelon Sidney up in the weather center. She's not going to get a chance to do any skiing. Where is Orelon Sidney? Let's get a forecast from her.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Orelon Sidney. Let's check in on flight delays right now. There's a good place to go at the FAA's Web site. There are a lot of commercial sites as well where you can check on flights in particular. But if you want to see if a particular airport is causing you some headaches this is a good place to go, faa.gov.
Check in there and, of course, the place that we're going hone in on here is the northeastern states. Let's scroll this up and if you can see there those little orange dots right here in the center there, those are the places that we're putting a lot of focus in right now because that of course is where the trouble is.
Let's check on LaGuardia, due to weather, winds, and low ceilings, departure traffic destined to LaGuardia subject to a ground delay program. JFK or Newark I should say, due to weather, wind, and low ceilings, departure traffic destined to Newark is subject to ground delays as well, Philadelphia also indicating orange or trouble.
What's interesting is Albany, where we know they got about a foot of snow, right now they're saying it's green and go there. That remains to be seen. For up to the minute forecasts for more than 10,000 cities in the U.S., plus cities around the globe, you can go anytime to our Web site, that's at cnn.com.
The search for a killer, an update on an Oregon father authorities say killed his wife and children. We'll also talk with a former FBI profiler for insight into these cases. And later, to Venezuela we go, a government in crisis turns to chaos in the streets, a dangerous place today; and, an illegal immigrant working at the White House, all that and more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Investigators in the case of a missing mother-to-be in California now say they're trying to rule out her husband as a suspect. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Modesto with the latest on the search for Laci Peterson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Modesto police say they would like to be able to clear Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, as a possible suspect in this case but they just don't have the kind of information they need to make that happen. So what they have done is they're trying to piece together a time line of where Scott Peterson was between December 23 and December 25.
So, they released pictures of a truck and boat that he says he was using on December 24 to go fishing. That truck is a Ford F-150, 2002, bronze colored, and the boat is a 14' aluminum boat with a small outboard motor. So police here are asking residents in the area that if they've seen Scott driving that truck and dragging that boat between December 23 and December 25 to call police. They'd like to hear what they have to say so that they can piece together a time line of their own and corroborate that story with what Scott Peterson has told investigators here.
His family says that they are not worried that he had anything to do with Laci Peterson's disappearance. They stand behind him 100 percent. Meanwhile, Laci Peterson's mother says she wants the focus to remain on her daughter and urging people to continue the search for Laci Peterson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I'd like to make a plea to the person or persons who have my daughter. I'd like, I would hope that you would have some compassion in your heart that if this was your daughter or your sister or your mother, would you want them to live in the fear and terror that my daughter has been living in? And if it was your mother or your sister or your daughter, would you want them to have the heartache or the pain that we have been going through? Please bring our daughter home.
LAVANDERA: Authorities here say that Scott Peterson is cooperating with police but only to a certain degree. Investigators have also removed forensic evidence from the truck and boat and that has been sent off for analysis but police here won't say exactly what kind of evidence that might be and they also do acknowledge that they just don't have many concrete leads at this point as they continue to search for Laci Peterson.
Ed Lavandera CNN, Modesto, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: An Oregon man accused of murdering his pregnant wife and their three children may be in Canada. The bodies of Renee (ph), Bryant, Alexis, and Jonathan Morris were found December 21 in Oregon's Tillamook State Forest.
The death has shocked the Portland area and the suspect's father has asked his son to turn himself in. There are reports the suspect, Edward Morris, was seen in British Columbia last Saturday and residents of the Canadian province are urged to be vigilant. Morris is White 6' tall, 200 pounds with balding brown hair and brown eyes. For insight on the Oregon case and the Modesto case we just told you about we've turned now to retired FBI Agent Candice DeLong to join us from San Francisco. She's a former FBI profiler and the author of the book, "Special Agent." Good to have you with us, Candice.
CANDICE DELONG, RETIRED FBI AGENT: Miles.
O'BRIEN: I think it's very telling when authorities in Modesto say Scott Peterson is cooperating but only to some degree. You're either cooperating or you're not cooperating, right?
DELONG: Yes, I found that interesting. If one's spouse is missing, let alone a pregnant wife, one would think that total cooperation would be, well certainly is called for so I find that very interesting. O'BRIEN: Very telling I would think. The statistics are, and I'm sure as when you were in the FBI, Suspect 1, whether it's stated publicly or not, Suspect 1 tends to be the spouse, right?
DELONG: Well, yes statistically in this country, we don't know that Laci has been murdered but things aren't looking good. She's been gone quite a while now. Seventy-five percent of American women, adult women, that are murdered in this country are murdered by someone that they know and a full 33 percent are murdered by a current or former husband, boyfriend, or love, so, yes of course the person, the male closest to the victim has to be looked at and alibied out.
O'BRIEN: There's an interesting statistic you shared with us early about the leading cause of death among pregnant women.
DELONG: Yes, a recent study published in the journal of the American Medical Association of 250 women in the Baltimore/D.C. area, pregnant women, found that the leading cause of death was murder.
O'BRIEN: Wow. That's a fairly narrow sampling but that's still a shocking statistic.
DELONG: Yes, it is.
O'BRIEN: Let's move over to Oregon, somebody who takes out their family, allegedly at least takes out their family. It's hard to put words on what might motivate something like this but there might be a copycat scenario here?
DELONG: Well, they're called family annihilators, someone that murders their whole family. Sometimes it's the mother but more often than not it is the father and that is what has alleged happened in this case. He seems to be copycatting Christian Longo who is currently under arrest for doing the same thing to his family about the same time last year. Do I think -- I mean the man they're looking for in this particular case has left, I understand, journals or information that he very much admired what Christian Longo did.
O'BRIEN: Why would he admire that?
DELONG: Well, my guess is you don't wake up in the morning and think of doing something this horrific and for the first time it crosses your mind, do it. He's probably been thinking of it for quite some time. He's bent in that direction to do that kind of thing and the Christian Longo case probably just fueled his fantasies.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's move to Louisiana, string of killings there linked by DNA. A composite sketch was released this week, a description another white vehicle that might or might not be useful in an investigation. Do you have the sense that police and investigators there are getting closer?
DELONG: Well, it's a baffling case. There are a number of unsolved murders of women in the Baton Rouge area that may also be linked to this known serial killer but they have been unable to obtain any evidence to do so, and this most recent killing that was linked to him is farther away than the others. It's not in the cluster. I do believe the police are making progress.
In terms of the sketch, it's certainly helpful. There are witnesses that say that they saw him with a woman, a nude woman, I believe slumped over in the cab of his white truck. I believe this was last May. People need to think back who do they know that had a white truck or access to a white truck last May. This person is probably a member of the community and known to people.
O'BRIEN: That's a frightening thought right there.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: We'll leave it at that right now, Candice thank you very much for being with us. Candice DeLong is a former FBI profiler. She's authored the book, "Special Agent," joining us out of San Francisco. Thanks for being with us.
DELONG: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day, do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? We'll have the results later in the broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf, and while you're there we'd like to hear from you. Send your comments. We'll try to read some of them at the end of the program if we have time. That's also where you'll find Wolf's daily online column, most days penned by Wolf, today I wrote it. You can read it at cnn.com/wolf.
Coming up on our program a man who managed to work at the White House but he shouldn't have even made it to the grounds. Also, protests in the streets become clashes in the streets. We'll go to Venezuela live. And, does North Korea think the U.S. will invade? You'll hear their answer coming up. Plus, when that small shark, cute and cuddly, well maybe not cuddly, becomes well a little too big for that tank, well we'll explain in just a minute. First, today's news quiz. On average, which eats more of its body weight per day sharks or humans, the answer coming up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: An illegal alien working at the White House, of all places? That apparently was the case for several years. Federal law enforcement sources are telling CNN the Mexican citizen worked for two years as a contractor that sent up tents for functions on the White House grounds. They say he was arrested reentering the country illegally last month and that he had pictures of himself with President Clinton and with Vice President Cheney. CNN Justice Department producer Terry Frieden joins us on the line now from Washington with more -- Terry.
TERRY FRIEDEN, CNN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, apparently what's happened today is that the individual who was working as an illegal alien on the White House grounds for more than two years has been indicted in Texas where he is currently in federal custody and the charges against him are illegal reentry into the United States, and the possession of false documents associated with his basically taking over the identity of another individual, which allowed him to gain access to the job at the White House in the first place.
O'BRIEN: Do we know much, Terry, about how he got a hold of these documents allegedly?
FRIEDEN: Apparently, this was not a case of identity theft as much as it was identity purchase. I have seen or am familiar with the contents of a secret report which does indicate that he had actually paid another individual, a man from Puerto Rico, for his identity documents, including a Maryland driver's license, a passport, and other identity papers.
O'BRIEN: And finally, and probably the most important question, is the White House, the administration, anybody telling you he was or ever considered a threat of any kind?
FRIEDEN: Well, that's right, Miles. That is the most important question and the Secret Service emphatically insists that he was never a threat of any kind. Other federal law enforcement agencies concur with that, but it's primarily the Secret Service, of course, which protects the president and other top officials and also the facilities of the White House.
And Secret Service officials insist that they at no time had any evidence to suggest that this individual was a threat of any kind and, in fact, they insist that in addition to the document papers and the personal histories there are a lot of other tools and methods that they have to ensure security in the White House complex.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Terry Frieden in Washington, thank you very much. I appreciate it. The man who sparked the hunt for the five individuals we've been telling you so much about may be back in the U.S. soon. There are their pictures. Extradition proceedings are underway in Canada for Michael John Hamdani (ph). He is the one who told authorities the five men may have slipped into the U.S. illegally on Christmas Eve. The men have not been found and officials say there's no proof they ever entered the country. Hamdani was already wanted in the U.S. on smuggling, forgery, and fraud charges.
Crack down in Venezuela, protests, clashes, tear gas, the political turmoil boils over in the capital of Caracas. A rare news conference in Beijing, what a North Korean official had to say about the U.S. And, how about something really different, would your local librarian do this? Reading between the lines (UNINTELLIGIBLE); first some other stories making news around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): Wet and windy, high winds and heavy rain are causing big problems in Europe. Flooding is reported from Britain to Portugal to Austria, at least five are dead.
Help is on the way. Relief workers hope to reach the Solomon Islands tomorrow. A devastating cyclone hit the remote Pacific Island chain nearly a week ago. The storm severed communication but a journalist who managed to reach the islands say many resident saved themselves by fleeing to mountain shelters. Against America, thousands of Pakistanis marched to protest the U.S. stance against Iraq but the turnout was lower than expected and most shopkeepers ignored calls for a general strike. Elsewhere, about 300 people staged an anti-American demonstration in Bahrain.
Train tragedy, relatives waited for word about their loved ones after a train wreck killed at least 18 people in Southern India. A passenger train ran into the back of a freight train. Human error is blamed.
Down and dangling, a pole supporting a chairlift collapsed in southeastern Australia. At least 16 people hurt and dozens more were trapped in the chairs for hours before they could be rescued. The chairs carry tourists to the top of the peak overlooking the sea.
English with a German accent, Germany's BMW unveiled its first Rolls Royce. BMW has taken over the British car maker but some things won't change. The Rolls will continue to be built in England and it will continue to be very, very expensive. The new model costs $380,000 but maybe you have a trade-in. That's our look around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back to WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. I'm Miles O'Brien sitting in for Wolf. Coming up, riots in Venezuela. Chaos sweeps in the streets of Caracas. We'll take you live on the scene.
Plus, does North Korea think the U.S. will invade? New tough talk today to tell you about. And President Bush's pep talk to the troops who might be headed to the Persian Gulf. But first, let's look at the other stories making news right now. "News Alert" time.
(NEWS ALERT)
O'BRIEN: Dozens of people have been injured in clashes between protesters and police in the Venezuelan capital. It's the latest violence in the ongoing strike by opponents of the country's president, Hugo Chavez. CNN producer Ingrid Arnesen is in Caracas with the latest. Ingrid, has it died down a little bit?
INGRID ARNESEN, CNN PRODUCER: Miles, it did die down somewhat about 20 minutes ago when just a small group of hard-core protesters on both camps continued this standoff. This after groups from both sides of the opposition and the pro-Chavez forces had a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) exchange of gunfire through the afternoon, which sent all the demonstrations scurrying in every direction. It was absolute chaos.
According to the department, the fire department chief, 25 people were injured today, mostly from tear gassing. Three were injured from gunshots. Those are our latest figures. There were several others that were hit by rocks and bottles.
O'BRIEN: Now, as I understand it, Ingrid, it all began with protesters who were trying to get the military to align itself with the anti-Chavez coalition, which is -- has been pursuing this general strike. That does not seem like a likely scenario. Did they have any luck getting the military over to their side?
ARNESEN: Precisely, Miles. Opposition march (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was slated to culminate in front of one of the largest military installations, where General Alfonso (ph), who has been detained for a couple of days now, is saying. Basically, the opposition was demanding that the military restate its policy from an institutional point of view. Although the chief of the army, the head commander did so on December 23 say that they stood by the president.
That march did not arrive at its goal. When it reached an intersection, the pro-Chavez demonstrators had gathered at the top of a bridge, very large numbers, and that created the confrontation which led to the riots this afternoon -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ingrid, just briefly, it seems like things are escalating there. Is there much concern that we're going to be seeing additional violence in the coming days?
ARNESEN: Yes, Miles. In fact, both camps were shouting insults at each other and saying we're going to be back, tomorrow will be worse. However, we have not heard yet from the secretary general of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), who had met with the president. Jose Gavira (ph) met with the president, had lunch with him, saying there are no indications that those negotiations are anywhere close to reaching some kind of agreement. In fact, the violence in the street today indicates worse to come in the coming days -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ingrid Arnesen, who is in Caracas, be safe. Thank you very much for that update.
As more U.S. forces got orders to deploy to the Persian Gulf, President Bush rallied the troops who are getting ready for a possible war with Iraq even as yet another crisis looms. We get the story from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash, who is with the president in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The commander-in-chief went to Ft. Hood Army base armed with a multifront message for his troops.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wherever you serve, or wherever you may be sent, you can know that America is grateful, and your commander-in-chief is confident in your abilities and proud of your service.
BASH: A note of gratitude to the 4,000 soldiers at the nation's largest Army base. And a warning to Saddam Hussein that he will call on these men and women to attack Iraq if he has to.
BUSH: If force becomes necessary to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act deliberately. America will act decisively, and America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
BASH: Thousands of troops from Ft. Hood served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Are they ready to take on Saddam Hussein again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The commander needs me. I will be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready to do my part to defend my country. Bring some people to justice.
BASH: Someone Mr. Bush made clear he will not need these troops to bring to justice for now, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il. Different circumstances, he said, require different strategies. Here, that's diplomacy.
BUSH: The case of North Korea, the world must continue to speak with one voice, to turn that regime away from its nuclear ambitions.
Our people are well-fed right here.
BASH: Ordering roast beef and mashed potatoes in the mess, checking out the tanks. Mr. Bush made clear while he believes they're ready for war and will prevail, giving the order will not be easy.
BUSH: I know that every order I give can bring a cost. I also know without a doubt that every order I give will be carried out with skill and unselfish courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: The president had another message for the troops and for the world. That is if the U.S. does invade Iraq, it will go there to liberate the country, not to conquer it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash in Crawford, Texas, thanks very much.
North Korea made another offer of talks today, but the Bush administration turned it down flat. The State Department said there will be no negotiations in response to threats or broken promises calling on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. But as CNN's Lisa Rose Weaver tells us from Beijing, it's not so much what the North Koreans had to say, but how they chose to say it. A rare public appearance by their ambassador to China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The tone of this press conference throughout was very much that this is really in the United States' court. It's up to the United States to take the first step.
Now, the ambassador also reacted a softening line coming out of Washington with President Bush in the last couple of days, saying that this standoff can be negotiated through diplomacy. It's not necessary to have a military confrontation over it. However, the ambassador said he did not believe U.S. intentions. CHOE JIN SU, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): As for the U.S. claim of no intentions to invade our country and its willingness to solve the crisis through diplomatic channels, we don't believe these words. If the U.S. were sincere, they should respond to our request for dialogue. They should sit down with us to conclude talks on the non-aggression treaty proposed by us.
WEAVER: Finally, the ambassador reiterated a long-held position by North Korea that this is not an international issue, accusing the United States of internationalizing it.
This is Lisa Rose Weaver, reporting from Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: U.N. inspection teams fanned out across Iraq today as a state-run newspaper said how it really feels about President Bush. CNN's Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): At least four teams of weapons experts were working today despite this being the Muslim day of rest. One of them went to a site belonging to Iraq's Military Industrial Commission that deals with rocket propellants. Another team of chemical experts headed off to a factory that produces chemicals and that is considered dual use. And then a couple of other teams fanned out across the country.
Now, the inspectors also plan to set up an office in a city of Mosel (ph). That's about a four-hour drive north of the Iraqi capital. That's due to happen on Saturday. And that comes ahead of the visit to Baghdad of U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix. He's expected to visit Iraq ahead of his report to the U.N. Security Council on the inspectors' activities.
In the meantime, President Bush has been laying even more pressure on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, calling on him again to disarm or face the consequences. That said, there's no love lost here in Iraq for President Bush, at least in the Iraqi media. One newspaper editorial referring to President Bush as "the master of evil," on the same level as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Rym Brahimi, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: In a moment, the fierce winter storm blasting the northeast. We'll check back on the snowfall totals.
The college football bragging rights on the line. And an Ohio State player finds himself embroiled in some controversy. We'll talk about the battle between athletics, academics and money.
Also ahead, when that fish grows up and becomes a little too much for its owner. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Let's check back in on the storm. CNN's Jason Carroll's never been to Bennington, Vermont, until today. It took him about three days to get up there. Maybe not quite. It was a long journey from New York City, wasn't it?
CARROLL: It felt like three days. It really did. I just want to show the audience what you were asking about a little bit earlier. You were asking about the snow, was it sticky, was it loose? I can show you right here. It's still very loose. It's powdery. It's perfect for skiing. You know, not very great for walking in it. It's not great for standing in either.
On the way up here, Miles, we counted at least a dozen accidents on the road. This is in about the area of upstate New York. Although the highway patrol officials telling us that there were no serious accidents. Most of what we saw, minor fender-benders. So again, we saw about 12 accidents just in our several-mile hour journey on the way up here. Saw just as many snow plows as well.
The one unusual thing that I found up here in Bennington, Vermont -- this couple right here. We've got Marty and Jeff. They join us from Daytona Beach, where I hear it's about 73 degrees. They are the opposite of snow birds. I mean, normally people go down to Florida to escape this. You guys come up here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
CARROLL: And what do you think? You are obviously loving it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, we come up every January to play in the snow. And boy, are we blessed. We hear there's 25 inches coming tonight.
CARROLL: And you're excited about that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely, yes.
CARROLL: OK. That's an interesting point of view. Maybe you can relate, sort of expand on that for us. You love this snow.
JEFF PORTEOUS, TOURIST: Oh, yes, I've always loved that. I love to ski. I have been in Florida for 25 years. And I miss skiing so much. And I am really looking forward to hitting the slopes.
CARROLL: All right, both of you, want to thank both of you for joining us. Enjoy the snow. I think a lot of people are going to be like this couple, enjoying the skiing. This is a big ski town. And they're expecting anywhere between one and two feet.
Most of the storm, or the worst of the storm is supposed to happen later on tonight. It's then supposed to blow out late tomorrow. I, of course, being from California, I'm waiting for the snow to blow out rather than come in. O'BRIEN: You should tell Marty, Jason, that with that flannel shirt and that hat and that beard, he looks native. He looks like he...
CARROLL: Oh, he does. Let's look again. Marty, our anchor Miles says that you look like a native with the flannel and the jacket there.
O'BRIEN: He's got the look. He's got it. Absolutely.
CARROLL: You've got the look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my buffalo look.
O'BRIEN: I wouldn't have pegged you for Daytona Beach. All right.
CARROLL: He needs shorts for Daytona.
O'BRIEN: There you go. See you, guys. Be safe up there, Jason.
They're small when they're young, but what happens when a shark gets too big for its tank? We'll explain that odd story in just a moment.
Also, he's fighting for the champions tonight, but this Ohio State player you saw a moment ago has had a tough battle off the field as well. He wanted to attend a close friend's funeral. So why didn't he go?
And if we could have all had librarians like this. Our picture of the day is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The national championship on line tonight when Ohio State takes on Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. But Buckeyes have another battle, with their star running back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Maurice Clarett is a young man who goes against the grain and draws a crowd wherever he is. This fall, the Ohio State freshman led the Buckeyes with some breathtaking rushing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the drive of those piston-like legs to the end zone.
O'BRIEN: While off the field, he rushed head first into a line of controversy. In October, he reportedly said he might challenge a rule against freshmen entering the pro football draft. And now on the eve of the bowl game that could give his team the national championship, Clarett is at it again.
Clarett wanted to skip practice in Arizona this week to return to Ohio for the funeral of an old friend. He wanted the school to pay for his ticket. NCAA rules allow this, so long as the athlete fills out some reimbursement forms. Clarett says he did file the paperwork, but Ohio State officials say he did not. Clarett says school officials are lying. The Ohio State brass clearly would prefer to keep their team focused on beating Miami, but a rather ugly cat is already out of the bag. And it leads to a stubborn debate about the often unharmonious marriage of academics, big-time athletics and huge amounts of money.
Ohio State and Miami will each receive at least $11 million just for participating in the Fiesta Bowl. Seldom shy Clarett insists on reminding us all that millions are spent and made on a typical college bowl game, while no one seems willing to feed the homeless. One of Clarett's teammates probably put it best. "Drama kind of follows him around," he said.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: It's a big game, a big business, and it involves a big bureaucracy. Is the student athlete, in this case a star athlete, caught in the middle? Joining me now from New York is Roy Johnson, assistant managing editor of "Sports Illustrated." Roy, good to have you with us.
ROY JOHNSON, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Thank you for having me, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's get to the root of this one. A lot of people would say it's high time we just started paying players a big salary, then he could afford to go back to Ohio or wherever he wanted, because after all, it's a big money sport. They probably deserve some of the money.
JOHNSON: Yes, any time you have a situation like this, you will always go back to the debate on whether you should play players or not. But this is less about money than it is about the arcane rules of the NCAA. In the end, both sides were right. There was some paperwork that needed to be filed and certainly it made not have been filed on time or totally correctly. But let's face it, these student athletes give a lot of their time and energy in order for schools like Ohio State to reap millions. If this had been their top sales person for any sort of corporate organization, they would have found a way to get that person back to a funeral and back in time for this important meeting and in this case, this important game.
So it's about finding a way to respond to the type of athlete that today the entire sports industry is depending on, and that's kids like Maurice Clarett.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely, I mean, $11 million just for starters for each team, win, lose or draw. That's a lot of tostitos. I just don't think it's fair to ask these players to do what they have to do, they compromise their academics. We are treating them as they are; they are a commodity, unfortunately.
JOHNSON: Absolutely. And I can see what Ohio State was trying to do. They were trying to not break any rules. But I'll tell you, there's not one person on the planet who knows every rule in the NCAA, and while they were trying not to break rules, of course a young man was angered, his focus was taken off of the game. You now have your star player who is drawing attention away from the game plan and the game itself.
But you know what, I do believe this was a great week for college football, because we often forget about the athletes who are participating and who are driving this industry. And the fact that in many places like in Columbus, these games take place within a stone's throw or a quarterback's throw of poverty, crime and the type of environment where so many of these young kids come from. So I think it was important for this young man to bring it up. And I think he brought it up in an intelligent way, in a way that showed us that he was a young man who was thoughtful.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I wanted to get your thought on that. I think you sort of answered the question, but expand on this a little bit. He's not just a whiny athlete here. He's a pretty thoughtful kid, mature beyond his years, isn't he?
JOHNSON: Absolutely. Just 18 years old. How many young men or young women could have stood up under very emotional point in their lives, when they just lost a best friend and wanted to attend a funeral, and articulate themselves in a manner that was clear, that came across nationally, that was concise. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. I give him credit for being a strong-minded young man, a strong-willed young man who was not afraid to say what he felt in an environment where many athletes are not encouraged to do that. In fact, they're encouraged to go along with the program. So I think he represented himself well in this instance.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, changing that system, that will be a tough buckeye to crack, I think. Roy Johnson, thank you very much for being with us. He's with "Sports Illustrated." You have a good weekend.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Now, time is running out for your turn to weigh in on our question of the day. It is -- Do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? Log on to cnn.com/wolf to vote. We'll have the results immediately when we return. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Earlier we asked, which eats more of its body weight per day? Humans eat slightly more of their body weight than sharks. According to the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, 100-pound shark eats the equivalent of five hamburgers a day. But they don't care about the fat.
In Pleasanton, California, the Valentine family is preparing to say goodbye to the family pet. Jigsaw, a 4 1/2-foot white tipped reef shark has outgrown his eight-ton, 1,500-gallon aquarium. That's some aquarium. But all is not grim for Jigsaw, no. He will not become shark fin soup. He is being donated to a special shark exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is a pretty cool place. Some might question the wisdom of keeping such a predator in a home with small children. Jigsaw's owner says the thought has crossed his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VALENTINE, SHARK OWNER: I don't know of anybody else and they didn't know of anybody else that had one in their home that had grown to this size. Actually, I think it's a little difficult to get them to start feeding. It's uncommon for them at their infantile stage to eat in captivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Valentine says it's his kids who will miss Jigsaw the most. They plan to go to visit their old chum in his new home.
Now, they say you can't tell a book by looking at its cover. If our picture of the day is any guide, you shouldn't make assumptions about librarians either. No Marian here. Seventeen librarians in Ocean County, New Jersey have posed for what's being called the "Easy Readers" wall calendar. They're riding motorcycles and wearing leather. This is not what we think of when we think of the library, of course, but sometimes image changes like library books can be way overdue. Hard to be quiet on a Harley, though, isn't it.
Now, here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you, do you believe profiling is an effective way of finding killers? Seventy-seven percent of you said yes; 23 percent of you said no. You can keep tracking these results as they change. Just go to our Web site, cnn.com/wolf, and as we always tell you, it is not a scientific poll.
Time now to hear from you a little bit. Kevin writes -- "The story on amphetamine use in the Air Force we told you about yesterday is unbelievable. What happened to our war on drugs? Are we saying that drug use is OK as long as the U.S. Air Force is your supplier?"
Ron has this: "Any problems the Air Force has with pilot fatigue stem from undermanning and overcommitment. The use of psychoactive drugs is an ignorant way to address these problems, and in no way justifies overworking pilots."
But Richard has this: "The go pills were not the problem; lack of communication was. The pilots should have been given information about the live-fire exercises Canadians were conducting in the area. Miscommunication, not drug use, led to this fatal friendly fire incident."
That's all the time we have for today and this week. I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN center in Atlanta. Wolf Blitzer will be back Monday. Don't forget, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ" weekdays on noon Eastern. And this Sunday on "LATE EDITION," Senators Evan Bayh and Chuck Hagel on the Foreign Relations Committee. They will join Judy Woodruff. Until then, thanks very much for watching. "LOU DOBBS' MONEYLINE" is up next. Kitty Pilgrim in for Lou.
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Daughter's Killer; More U.S. Forces Get Ready for War With Iraq>
