By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: February 16, 2005
CNN, which has been retooling its programming in a bid to close the ratings gap with Fox News, has replaced the senior executive producer of the prime-time program "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," a spokeswoman said last night.
The senior producer, Sharon Van Zwieten, who held the post for about a year, was succeeded by Wil Surratt, executive producer of CNN's morning show, "American Morning," said Christa Robinson, a CNN senior vice president.
In informal remarks yesterday to the network's employees, Jonathan Klein, president of CNN's domestic operations, said, "This move puts us in a better position to win," Ms. Robinson said. CNN is a unit of Time Warner.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Social Security Advertising To Increase Over President's Day Holiday; Baby 81 back at home with parents; Replacement troops being trained in Iraq
Aired February 16, 2005 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
There are many ways of gauging the distance between the fall of Baghdad and today, schools built, an election held, lives lost. Tonight, we look at how many times a unit returns to Iraq, a measure, a rough one in more than one way, not just of the then but the now and also the is and the ought to be.
Almost two years ago, we watched as members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, the 3rd ID stormed across the desert. That was then. Tonight, Iraq is a different place. The mission is different too, one that begins with a crash course in the now.We begin tonight with CNN's Jane Arraf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): This is a crash course on Iraq. Battalion Commander Pete Newell is the back seat driver. His replacement is in the front. Newell is showing Roger Cloutier, commander of Task Force 130 of the 3rd Infantry Division the lay of the land.
CDR. PETE NEWELL, BATTALION CMDR., 1ST INFANTRY DIV.: This land is 75 percent Sunni.
ARRAF: Across north central Iraq more than 22,000 U.S. troops are switching out in the space of a few weeks and across the area the soldiers and officers leaving are trying to teach the new troops as much as they can to deal with this dangerous and complex environment.
LT. COL. ROGER CLOUTIER, 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION: So, the hardest thing is how do I extract a year's worth of experience in two weeks of time?
ARRAF: And how do the soldiers absorb it? (on camera): For more than half of these new troops, this is their second deployment in Iraq but they left a year and a half ago and they're going to find that a lot has changed. (voice-over): It's become more dangerous. The units that Newell's task force replaced last year lost two men in their time in Iraq. Newell's task force lost 36. The 3rd Infantry Division took Baghdad in 2003 and left before there was a new Iraqi Army or a new police force. One of the most important things the new troops are learning is who not to shoot that an armed man wearing a ski mask might be an Iraqi policeman trying to protect his identity and not a criminal.Just before heading out on the road, Sergeant Major Darren Bohn (ph) reminds the men how to recognize an Iraqi soldier. They wear old model U.S. uniforms from the first Gulf War.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AK-47, look for the uniform. If he's ING he'll have like the chocolate chip uniform.
ARRAF: Colonel Newell tells them what danger signs to look for in the crowded market where they're going.
NEWELL: A sure sign that something's not right is people will start running. If people start running before you hear a round go off, start looking for a guy with an RPG.
ARRAF: Newell has spent a year forging a close relationship with Iraqi security forces and earning the trust of local and tribal leaders. One sheikh said of him "He can't be American. He's so patient."
NEWELL: Anybody coming here to do what we do has got to be able to take a multi-faceted approach to dealing with problems and dealing with people.
ARRAF: Cloutier's training in psychological operations and his Master's degree in international relations will serve him well. It's a whirlwind of introductions this one to local mayors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important to know that most of his soldiers have been here before. Iraq is not necessarily new to them.
ARRAF: They go to the governor's home. Outside are tribal leaders come to pay condolences for the death of two of the governor's bodyguards. Inside there's a test of sorts. Cloutier's cultural training has included how to eat with your hands but this is the first time he's done it for real. His training has not included dancing but here at an Iraqi Army celebration that's part of being one of the guys, as their savvy commander's part of the learning curve in Iraq 2005.Jane Arraf, CNN, Muqtadia (ph), Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: There are people we've been proud to meet in the last few years. They've given a lot and they continue to give. But in each meeting with every introduction there's also a chill that comes from knowing that soldiers fight and sometimes soldiers die.Since arriving back in Iraq, the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade has lost three members already, so with mixed feelings now another member of that brigade as he prepared to leave for Iraq, the introduction provided tonight by CNN's Michael Schulder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 4:00 a.m. near Fort Stewart, Georgia and Sergeant Major Bob Gallagher is making his wife coffee and warming her car. She has a long drive ahead of her to a fire station where she's the only woman firefighter in the county.
BOB GALLAGHER: I'll see you later on tonight. I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you too.
B. GALLAGHER: Be safe, all right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
B. GALLAGHER: It's really foggy out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll be fine.
SCHULDER: Only a few more days left until Bob Gallagher heads back to the war in Iraq. The Gallagher's 14-year-old daughter Casey (ph) has already witnessed the toll a long deployment takes on her mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's weird because the last time he went over there mom spent like half the time he was over there sitting in bed watching the news. It was just creepy because she wouldn't get up from the bed. She was really sad and all.
SCHULDER: His last time in Iraq, Sergeant Major Gallagher's leadership was tested here beneath the overpasses of Highway 8 at the edge of Baghdad. He and his men are outnumbered by enemy forces. Gallagher is hit by shrapnel in his left calf. A fellow officer works to stop the bleeding while Gallagher limps into position and continues fighting. Gallagher and his men prevail.As a boy, Bob Gallagher did not seem destined to become a leader.
GALLAGHER: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning sergeant major.
GALLAGHER: I was a juvenile delinquent. My mother passed away when I was young, six, seven years old, left my father to raise myself and my two brothers. I did not finish high school. I just decided on my own either I'm going to stay in this town and probably wind up in jail or I'm going to get up and go and I got up and went.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you do on your time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did just a little bit over three miles in 24 and a half minutes.
SCHULDER: He joined the Army, got his high school equivalency diploma and has risen to become the highest ranking non-commissioned officer of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Combat Brigade.
GALLAGHER: No problems last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sergeant major.
GALLAGHER: OK, thanks. What's up with you? Need a break? Still got that girlfriend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GALLAGHER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember her name too.
SCHULDER: After this day's rigorous physical training Sergeant Major Gallagher will have what some would call a come to Jesus meeting, a final opportunity to impress upon the several hundred who answer to him what will be required to accomplish the mission and survive. The deployment will be long, 12 to 18 months they're told.
GALLAGHER: I'm telling you it is a marathon.SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months of vigilance.
GALLAGHER: Supervising and maintenance on your vehicles, you'll pay attention to it more when your happy ass is one of these trucks and it breaks down, you know, three miles down the road.
SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months protecting each other.
GALLAGHER: Take this to the bank, no one moves alone at any given time, buddy teams at a minimum.
SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months of staying alive.
GALLAGHER: Helmet, groin protector, hearing protection will be worn, gloves, ballistic eye protection. Of the 42 soldiers that have lost their eyesight, I believe that all 42 were not wearing protective lenses. It's non-negotiable platoon sergeants. Make sure your squad leaders know and understand that. With that uniform I can guarantee that the effects from direct fire or indirect fires will be reduced.This is the helmet I was wearing in Mogadishu. That's shrapnel from an RPG blast.
SCHULDER: Twenty-three years of front line experience including the deadly battle in Somalia, known as Black Hawk Down, are some of the reasons Gallagher's men and women trust him.
GALLAGHER: That one right there probably would have put a whopping on me.
SCHULDER: Reasons for his wife to lose sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't take it one day at a time. It just gets too much. You know, you take it one week at a time and end of the month you check it off, you know, and just wait and just wait for him to come back.
SCHULDER: One last thing about Bob Gallagher we learned while looking at what he calls his ten square feet of wall space where photos of his past military battles hang.When this is all over if you want one more picture on that wall what kind of picture do you envision? What would you like to see?
GALLAGHER: Being at a retirement ceremony upright, walking with a smile on my face with my wife on my arm.
SCHULDER: Michael Schulder, CNN, outside Fort Stewart, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: We have much more to come tonight beginning with a question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MICHEL DUBOIS, NYU PAIN MANAGEMENT CENTER: What number would you put to your pain, zero is no pain and ten maximum possible?
ASHLEY TAYLOR, PAIN PATIENT: Now it's about six.
BROWN (voice-over): Doctors can ask you where it hurts but can they tell you why it hurts? With painkillers in the spotlight we look at the nature of pain itself.Elsewhere, the end of a mother's heartache quietly, we'll tell you the story of the happy ending for Baby 81.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll spend what it takes. It's going to be a long campaign.
BROWN: Separating the noise from the facts on Social Security, facts tonight.And the mutt owner makes room on the program and on the set for a pure bred dog or two and we'll ask what makes them tick, the dogs as well? You said it.
This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The safety and effectiveness of Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra were questioned and debated at an FDA hearing today. As a class these drugs are known as Cox-2 inhibitors. They're used to treat chronic pain like arthritis. Vioxx already off the market because it increases the risk in some people of heart attack and stroke. Celebrex and Bextra are still available but studies suggest they could impact the heart as well. The hearings continue tomorrow and Friday. It should result in recommendation on how the drugs should be used in the future if at all. Those recommendations will affect millions who live with pain, especially those with pain that is difficult, if not impossible to diagnose.
Here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the prick of a needle to a broken bone, physical pain is familiar to all of us but what happens when pain can't be measured?
TAYLOR: Walking around is very difficult and it usually takes just a few minutes before I get very tired and I have to rest and even when I do rest I don't feel better.
GUPTA: Since the age of ten, Ashley Taylor has felt pain in her neck, shoulders, back and legs. Now 20 years old she's seen neurologists, rheumatologists, even psychiatrists. In all, Ashley has been to more than 20 different doctors in just the past few years.
TAYLOR: Doctors don't know. I've had x-rays done and MRIs and numerous blood tests and a spinal tap and everything is negative, everything is OK and no doctor can tell me what's going on.
GUPTA: It's more than discomfort. She takes up to seven pain pills a day, including Celebrex and Vicodin and had to drop out of school last semester.
DUBOIS: A young lady who obviously you expect to be in perfect health who is going through a critical time of her life with a major handicap. Our role is to try to help her going.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE).
GUPTA: Despite all the advances of modern medicine, when doctors measure pain they rely primarily on the verbal analog scale.
DUBOIS: What number would you put to your pain, zero is no pain and ten maximum possible?
TAYLOR: Now it's about six.
GUPTA: A complicated name for a simple test. How much does it hurt on a scale from zero to ten?
DUBOIS: Since it is a subjective measurement based only on the patient's feedback you can imagine situations where the patient is not truthful when he reports his or her pain.
GUPTA: And there are variations. What one person calls a nine could easily be a four for another. While there is no reliable way to gauge honesty in these tests, the pain is very real to patients like Ashley.
TAYLOR: Right now I just have to learn to live with the pain as best as I can because it's not going away anytime soon.
GUPTA: A somewhat immeasurable price for a frustratingly immeasurable pain.Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: One programming note, tomorrow on the program we look at how the Cox-2 inhibitor drugs were heavily marketed to physicians and patients and how those doctors and those who suffer with pain must now balance the benefits of the drugs against the potential risks. That's tomorrow here on NEWSNIGHT.
Other news tonight, Andy Warhol once said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Over the last few nights, we've been reporting the story of a 4-month-old Sri Lankan boy Named Abhilash, just an infant yet known around the world as Baby 81, famous long before he'll ever know what fame means.Tonight what is probably the final public chapter in the saga of a young life from Sri Lanka, CNN's Satinder Bindra.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Home at last, the infant known for so long simply as Baby 81 sleeps fitfully under the watchful and loving eyes of his parents.For seven weeks, they've tried to get custody of their 4-month- old son. So have eight other couples until DNA tests led to this. This court handed over Sri Lanka's most famous and pampered baby back to the mother who tried so desperately to hold onto him through the tsunami.
"I went without food and sleep for days" says mother Junita Jeyarajah. "Now, I'm very happy."
Hundreds packed this courtroom. Baby 81 arrived escorted by a police guard. With his parents watching nervously Baby 81 slept through most of the proceedings, getting up just once for a little lunch.
The baby that was found among the debris on the beach has become an icon of suffering, the suffering of his parents and others across Sri Lanka have led to a worldwide outpouring of sympathy.
To show their appreciation and as an offering to the gods, the entire Jeyarajah family smashed 101 coconuts at this temple. Later, the Jeyarajahs took Abhilash to their old home, which was completely destroyed by the tsunami.
There they changed him from hospital clothes to his own. Many family members, including his grandmother broke down. Even though the Jeyarajahs have finally got their most cherished wish, they say they're not planning any parties."We won't be celebrating" says father Murugupillai Jeyarajah "because 30,000 people have lost their lives." All that matters, the Jeyarajahs say, is that Abhilash is home and all they want to do is raise him as a normal child.
Satinder Bindra CNN, Kalmunai, Eastern Sri Lanka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: In a moment, a return to the more sobering news of the day, first the testimony of the country's top spy and the possibility of the next major terrorist attack and that it might be nuclear.And later, separating the facts from the considerable noise on Social Security and the competing plans to change it, a break first.
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Two demonstrations in one today in Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets of Beirut to remember Rafik Hariri, the country's assassinated former prime minister, many of them also demonstrating against Syria, the nation they believe was behind the bombing that killed him on Monday.In Washington, the message to the Senate Intelligence Committee today stark and clear, messages concerning terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons. Delivering the news the country's top intelligence officials, the story delivered to us tonight by our National Security Correspondent David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At his first appearance on Capitol Hill as intelligence chief, Porter Goss said the top threat to the nation's national security remains terrorism, causing mass casualties.
PORTER GOSS, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE: It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that.
ENSOR: Russian reports say terrorists may have stolen some nuclear materials in Russia in recent years leading to concern about a possible dirty radioactive bomb.
SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), VICE CHMN., INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: Can you assure the American people that the material missing from Russian nuclear sites has not found its way into terrorist hands?
GOSS: No, I can't make that assurance.
ENSOR: Homeland security official James Loy said though that the most likely next attack will be a conventional one, along the same lines that troops are facing in Iraq.
JAMES LOY, DEP. SECY. DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We think we are most likely to be attacked with a vehicle borne improvised explosive device because that's the weapon of choice around the world.
ENSOR: Goss spoke of evidence both Iran and North Korea are moving ahead with nuclear weapons programs. Reflecting the criticism of the CIA about intelligence prior to the 9/11 attacks and on Iraq's weapons or lack thereof before the war, he stressed that the agency is getting more aggressive.
GOSS: Our officers are taking risks and I will be asking them to take more risks, justifiable risks because I would be much happier here explaining why we did something than why we did nothing.
ENSOR: On December 17th, President Bush signed an intelligence reform law creating a new director of national intelligence who will be Porter Goss' boss once selected. Democratic Senator Rockefeller said the president is taking too long making his choice.
ROCKEFELLER: Two months have now passed since the bill signing ceremony and the position of director of national intelligence remains vacant, not even a person nominated. To me this is unacceptable.ENSOR: But the Republican chairman said the decision is too important to be rushed.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), CHMN., INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: It is I think crucially important not only in terms of timing but to get the right person.ENSOR: What Goss did not discuss in the open hearing but what U.S. officials confirm is that CIA officials are growing uneasy about holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh and other top al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely at undisclosed locations overseas.
(END VIDEOATAPE)
ENSOR: Sources say the CIA wants to scale back its role running secret prisons around the world. The question, said one, is what is the end game for these people and that's a difficult question being quietly posed to the Justice Department and the White House -- Aaron.
BROWN: Two questions. First and quickly on both I guess, do we have any idea how many prisoners around the world the CIA is, in fact, holding?
ENSOR: They've never given a number publicly but talking to people who have some dealings with this, I would put it around a couple of dozen.
BROWN: OK. And on the question of the national intelligence chief hearing any buzz on the timing there?
ENSOR: We're hearing a lot of buzz this evening here in Washington, Aaron, on that one, a lot of suggestions it could be as early as tomorrow, people noting the president has a free schedule tomorrow and so -- and a lot of rumors that he has made his choice and will announce it very soon, a lot of people speculating about who it could be.
BROWN: Well, we'll find out more tomorrow. Thank you David, David Ensor in Washington for us tonight.
ENSOR: That's right.
BROWN: The president was in New Hampshire today again selling his plan for revamping Social Security and privatizing a portion of it, though it remains to be seen what the precise contours of the president's plan may be. He did, though, for the first time yesterday indicate he might accept raising the ceiling on Social Security taxes. Currently every dollar you make above $90,000 is not taxed for Social Security purposes. The president says he's open to a change there.This much is already clear. There's going to be a lot of noise in this debate, a lot of noise, paid for by a lot of money and somewhere in that noise there actually will be some facts, a bit of both now from CNN's Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Castellani, President of the Business Roundtable, has formed a new coalition spending at least $20 million to promote the president's Social Security plan, the latest salvo in an ad war expected to dwarf the epic healthcare battle of a decade ago.
JOHN CASTELLANI, PRESIDENT, BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE: We'll spend what it takes. It's going to be a long campaign.
HENRY: Democrats believe these Fortune 200 corporations have been sent on a rescue mission.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: The way the Bush Social Security is going they'll need to spend tens of millions of dollars because it's not doing well at all.
HENRY: But Democrats are playing the same game. CNN has learned a powerful labor union, the 1.4 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is leading a new coalition to defeat the Bush plan. The former campaign manager for ex-Senator Tom Daschle, Steve Hildebrand, will be running the coalition, which faces an uphill fight.In addition to the Business Roundtable, conservative groups like Club for Growth and Progress for America are providing cover for the president with millions of dollars in TV ads.
REP. EARLY POMEROY (D), NORTH DAKOTA: They want to privatize Social Security and they've gotten them to pony up vast sums of money and now they're about to roll a big lie out across the country in paid media advertising.
HENRY: But both sides have gotten caught bending the truth. The liberal group Moveon.org has been running TV ads charging the president's plan will lead to "the working retirement." The highly- respected independent group FactCheck.org points out the Move On ad falsely accuses the Bush plan of cutting benefits by 46 percent.In his State of the Union, meanwhile, the president said Social Security is headed for bankruptcy but even when the system faces trouble decades down the road it would still pay out a large share of benefits now promised.
The TV ads intensify next week when members of Congress head home for the President's Day recess. At their town hall meetings, Democrats will be armed with talking points claiming the president wants to create a crisis where none exists. Republicans will show off a new DVD of the president making his case.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But if we approach the Social Security debate with courage and honesty, we can succeed.
HENRY (on camera): Congressional Republicans are privately still very nervous that the Social Security issue could blow up in their faces, but they believe the president will be their best weapon. Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Still to come tonight on the program, they're certainly beautiful. They're definitely champions, but are they pets or something else? And finding light love at light speed. The company selling that possibility is a company "On the Rise."
Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Every dog shall have its day, except for the canine creme de la creme, who get two days, it turns out, every year at New York's Madison Square Garden. The annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a serious piece of business. What makes it so wonderful is that it's also just a little bit weird. Where else can you hear someone say to a dog, as reported in "The Boston Globe": "Hold still, girl. We've just got the grease pencil and the hairspray left to do"? I love that quote. Carlee was judged to be the top dog last night. The German shorthaired pointer also happened to look like an actual dog out there, instead of some Barbie-gone-bad version of a dog. Joining me now to add to their -- their insight to this subject, Leslie Padgett, the editor of "New York Dog" magazine. There's a magazine for everything. And Jim Deppen, a dog breeder fresh from the show, and his 195 -- 185 pound? -- 185 pounds sidekick, Sirius Black. That is a -- for people who are trying to figure out, what kind of dog is it?
JIM DEPPEN, DOG BREEDER: Neapolitan mastiff.
BROWN: And there are many different mastiff dogs? Is that it? I mean, this is...
DEPPEN: There's a variety of different mastiffs out there.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: Five or six different varieties of mastiff. And this one happens to be the one from Italy.
BROWN: And this is one -- this was in the show, actually.
DEPPEN: He was in the competition, yes.
BROWN: And he didn't win it, but the fact that he got there, that was pretty cool.
DEPPEN: It was an award of merit this year. BROWN: Here's my question. Here's a question.
DEPPEN: OK.
BROWN: Do you think of him as a pet?
DEPPEN: Absolutely.
BROWN: Really?
DEPPEN: Best pet you could ever have.
BROWN: I'm not -- you know, a pet like here, Rover, go get, bring it back?
DEPPEN: Well...
BROWN: Roll over.
DEPPEN: Neapolitans basically look at that job as something that the Border collies and the golden retrievers should do. Their job is more utilitarian in the fact that they're a guard dog and they're going to sit there and protect you. And their loyalty and their job is basically to serve and protect.
BROWN: Does the magazine -- is the magazine catering to Jim, who's -- you're a professional breeder of dogs.
DEPPEN: Sure.
BROWN: Right. Or is it to people like me, who go to the pound and get this little mutt and race around the backyard with it, to be honest?
LESLIE PADGETT, EDITOR, "THE NEW YORK DOG MAGAZINE": Well, we cater to all types of dog owners, because we really believe there's a special relationship between dogs and their owners. And it's very much turning into almost like a parent-child relationship, where the person -- the dog is a part of the family and sleeps with you at night. And I'm sure...BROWN: Like in the bed?
PADGETT: In the bed.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: I find that weird, too. That's the truth. That's not allowed in -- not in our house, no.
PADGETT: Well, sure. They're definitely treating them like members of the family. I mean...
BROWN: So you don't think it's particularly odd if you see a dog dressed up in a raincoat, galoshes and a hat?
PADGETT: Absolutely not. They need the protection from the elements, just like we do. And that's...
BROWN: No, actually, they don't.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: That's the -- the great thing about a dog is that they don't need to wear a raincoat, galoshes and a hat.
PADGETT: Well, some dogs don't necessarily function that well in rainy season. So...
BROWN: I wrote today in the e-mail we send to viewers that, in trying to understand the way breeders look at dogs and the way people who follow the competition look at it, that it's really -- you have to sort of see it as art, kind of a living art. Does that seem over the top?
DEPPEN: No, it's exactly that. I mean, you look at this dog here, and I don't think there's another piece of living art that's like that. And what's really interesting about the Neapolitan is that, like a fingerprint, each one of them is individual. You won't find any one of them that's exactly the same as the other. You might look out into a ring of Dobermans or rottweilers or, say, poodles, and you look at all of them, and you say, oh, there's a whole class of white standard poodles standing out there or black and tan Dobermans. When you look at this breed here, you see Neapolitan. You recognize it if you understand and know the breed. But then you start to actually look at them and every single dog has its own individual...
BROWN: But when people, like, show Dobermans, something I know about that much about, OK, they do see the distinction between Doberman Fido and Doberman Rover. I may not see it. Leslie may not see it, but they seem to tell. That's how these dogs win, right?
DEPPEN: Well, the judge is trained, and they have to learn to train their eye to look at the different idiosyncrasies and the small, small detail between each of those dogs and how they relate to the standard.
BROWN: Who's the market for the magazine? What kind of articles are in the magazine?
PADGETT: Well, we cover a lot of different topics.
BROWN: I hope so.
(LAUGHTER)
PADGETT: Obviously.
BROWN: Yes.
PADGETT: We cater to dog owners and what things...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: What's your cover story?
PADGETT: Well, for the next issue, we're covering the doggie dating scene and how dogs are now used as date bait. We also do dogs...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Wait, dogs aren't dating.
PADGETT: No, dogs aren't dating, but dogs are used as date bait.
BROWN: It's a way to get a date.
PADGETT: Absolutely. Dogs are a test for potential daters and potential partners that say, love me, love my dog. We're also doing dogs on Atkins, how to get your dog past a co-op board.
BROWN: Are you guys serious, or is this a joke?
PADGETT: Oh, we're absolutely serious.
BROWN: This is serious.
PADGETT: We take topics that we feel would pertain to us, and we then relay them to the dogs. So we're absolutely serious.
BROWN: OK. In the -- how many big dog competitions are there a year?
DEPPEN: Oh, there's thousands.
BROWN: They go on every week somewhere?
DEPPEN: Every weekend. You know, 52 -- almost 52 weekends a year, you can be out showing your dogs. But the number of big dog shows like Westminster or, say, the World Dog Show or Crufts, there's a handful of those that are recognized throughout the world.
BROWN: And the sort of investment that someone would make to train a top dog would be what? Hundreds of thousands of dollars or tens of thousands of dollars?
DEPPEN: Well, it's all indicative of that particular breed. I mean, you might spend more money to campaign some sporting dogs. I mean, you look at the dog that took best in show last night.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: The training of that animal was probably the least of their expenses. It was the time and the travel and the advertising, the promotion. All of the behind to promote and push that dog throughout the whole entire year is where you really find the expense.
BROWN: It's -- I'm fascinated by this. I mean, it's just -- you get that I see dogs differently, just -- I just want to roll around with them and, yes.
DEPPEN: Not as a commodity.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: Right.
BROWN: Nice to meet you. Thanks for bringing the dog in. That's -- or the dog brought you in. I'm not sure which it was.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Nice meeting you, too, Leslie. Thank you.
DEPPEN: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: We'll take a break. We'll continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: That dog was something, wasn't it?
A few other stories that made news around the country today, this one something as well.
A high school chemistry teacher in Orlando, Florida, arrested and charged with showing his students how to make bombs. Police say the investigation began after a student detonated an explosive device -- that would be a bomb -- on a golf course and videotaped it. They also say the teacher admitted to exploding four bombs on a ball field behind the school. They don't make chemistry teachers like they used to.
In Boulder, Colorado, anything but pennies from heaven. Two children out playing discovered a duffel bag stuffed with cash, more than $80,000. Police say the size of the stash and the way the money was packaged seemed to indicate it may have been part of a drug transaction. Someone's not very happy.
In Washington tonight, word that Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is battling Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph system. In a statement, the 75-year-old Pennsylvania Republican said -- quote -- "I've beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery, and many tough political opponents. I'm going to beat this, too." And we hope he's right.
In sports -- and you'd be amazed at how seldom we say that around here -- the National Hockey League announced it is canceling its season. The league and its players tried one last time, but failed to end a five-month-old lockout over salaries, though the players did offer to give back a quarter of their pay. For the first time since 1919, there will be no fight -- kind of a hockey pun there -- for the Stanley Cup.
During the long years of apartheid, millions of black South Africans had no rights in their own country. Archbishop Desmond Tutu never stopped encouraging his people to believe that freedom was possible. But he told them it could only flourish if freedom was brought about without violence. Desmond Tutu's heroic story now as we continue our anniversary series "Then and Now."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, HELPED END APARTHEID: Our struggle is going to succeed because it is a just struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the dark days of apartheid in South Africa, me he was the voice of hope.
TUTU: This must be the last of its kind!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Archbishop Desmond Tutu always claimed he was a leader by default, but e used his faith to inspire black South Africans to fight for freedom peacefully. In honor of his battle against apartheid, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. And when apartheid crumbled 10 years later, President Nelson Mandela pointed to Tutu to lead the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to help South Africa deal with the crimes committed during apartheid.
TUTU: We must face this ghastly past and not pretend it never happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Often, the truth of the past was painful, even reducing Tutu to tears. Now, age 73, Tutu is still outspoken on issues around the world, from war to crimes committed in the name of God.
TUTU: God is not a Christian. Nor is God a Muslim. All -- all are God's children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Despite a battle with prostate cancer in 1987, Tutu continues to inspire nonviolent political change around the world and works with the peace center that bears his name.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: OK, picture this. In the amount of time it takes to tell this story, you could discover your future spouse. And if this were a Hollywood love story, you might call it "Gone in 60 Seconds Meets On the Rise."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEN DECKINGER, CEO, HURRYDATE: And here we go. HurryDate!
ADELE TESTANI, PRESIDENT, HURRYDATE: HurryDate!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, did you bring a resume?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Steve 52.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) 13.
DECKINGER: HurryDate is basically a dating company with the idea of cutting to the chase and the idea of getting people to meet people quickly and efficiently and in a fun way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. Middle Village, Queens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't say that. You're the one that just said that. DECKINGER: We do that in two ways. One is, we throw parties around the country where people go on 20 four-minute dates. And then we also offer online dating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. It was important. I went to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.TESTANI: First, you sign up at our Web site at HurryDate.com. You'll pick a party that's right for you. We have tons of different age ranges.
DECKINGER: We do tons of different niches. We'll do different ethnic groups. We do all types of gender references, whatever you want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even better.
TESTANI: You show up the night of the party, and you get a scorecard and a name tag. And our hosts will literally start blowing a whistle every time you have one of your four-minute dates.
DECKINGER: Rotate!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really nice meeting you.
TESTANI: You'll look at their number on their name tag, then open up a scorecard and find that number and circle either a yes or a no, just to say if you want to see them again.
DECKINGER: After the party, everyone goes back to the HurryDate Web site, and our computer matches everybody up; 95 percent of the people who come to HurryDate get at least one match from the party.
TESTANI: And, on average, most people actually get about three to five matches per party.
DECKINGER: Welcome to HurryDate world headquarters. Hey.
TESTANI: Hey, welcome.
DECKINGER: This is where we basically run our whole business. This is our favorite success wall.
TESTANI: Eighty-three. We love them, part of our little HurryDate family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a tough city to like get into the whole dating scene.
DECKINGER: We started in New York City in May 2001, and we do HurryDates on a regular basis in roughly 65 cities right now. There are several thousands of people HurryDating monthly. A HurryDate party costs between $30 and $37, depending on the city that you live in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been to one of these things before. Have you?
TESTANI: There are actually a lot of tips for any dating situation, but especially at a HurryDate party. The biggest one is to just take a deep breath, relax, and have fun with it. Don't take it too seriously. You know, it is just a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only been like 20 seconds, but it feels more like 30, doesn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up? Wow.
DECKINGER: Differentiation is key in HurryDate. As long as you can stick out from the crowd, you're golden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you met any cool guys, besides me, of course?
TESTANI: When we hear about our success stories, that's what it's all about, you know, that we are bringing these people together. It's just amazing that just Ken and I are creating these...
DECKINGER: That's what is call.
TESTANI: You know, true love.
DECKINGER: Yes.
TESTANI: It's really cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very nice to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very nice meeting you.
TESTANI: Even if there's not marriages or engagements out of it, that's not even really how we define success.
DECKINGER: You make a friend, whatever you want. As long as you got something out of HurryDate and you had a good time, it's a success.
DECKINGER: This is your last date. Yay!
TESTANI: Yay!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: HurryDating, doggie dating. What is going on here? The dog will bring in morning papers after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(ROOSTER CROWING)
BROWN: Okeydokey, time to check morning papers around the country and around the world, a lot of good ones today, so I need to move sort of briskly.
"The Christian Science Monitor." "Bush Administration Blurs Media Boundary. Controversy Over a 'Journalist' -- in quote -- "Adds to the Buzz About Message Control in the Capital." This is the Jeff Gannon story chapter, about six now. It's actually -- it's kind of uncomfortable for the White House on this, in my view. This is the story I like most, though. "States Shore Up Support For Troops. From Life Insurance to Utility Bills and Tuition, There's a Surge of Support For Part-Time Soldiers," says "The Christian Science Monitor." And out West in Portland, Oregon there seems evidence that that is in fact true, not that "The Christian Science Monitor" would put something that was untrue on the front page. "Soldiers: Gene's Got Your Back." "A Tavern Owner in Tangent, Oregon" -- I hope I pronounced that right -- "Aids Families of Oregonians Serving in Iraq." So, good for him.
Now, two different ways to headline Social Security and Alan Greenspan today. "The Washington Times." "Greenspan Backs Social Security Plan," which kind of makes it sound like Greenspan backs the Social Security plan.
"San Antonio Express-News," same testimony, same Greenspan. "Social Security Caution Is Urged. Greenspan Says Bush on Right Track, But Private Retirement Accounts Shouldn't Be Rushed. Fed Chairman Concerned About the Impact on the Deficit."
How are we doing on time?
Thank you.
I knew you'd get there.
"Colorado's Top Dog Earns a Spot on the Couch." That's the winning dog, Carlee. And maybe that's her trainer. I can't -- yes. "The Des Moines Register." Nothing that I cared about today, as it turned out.
"The Detroit News." OK. "Game Over. Impasse: $6.5 Million Difference Kills Season. Impact: Metro Businesses, Fans End Up as Big Losers." Future: NHL's Existence in Doubt Beyond This Season." That's why they call Detroit hockey town USA, isn't it? Now, where is it that the owners were forced to pay the players all this money? I never understand that part of these stories.
"The Philadelphia Inquirer." NHL is -- it's a good hockey town also. They put the NHL on the front page. But I just love the way this story is laid out. "Avalanche of Details From Probe. Transcripts and Other Evidence Flesh Out Prosecutors' Portrait of Pay- to-Play at City Hall."
Weather tomorrow in Chicago is "rude."
Wrap it up in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Soledad O'Brien with a look ahead at tomorrow's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Aaron. Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," the guy who wrote "Honeymoon With My Brother." It starts with that guy getting stood up at the altar, and it gets better from there. Actually, it's a moving story about how a single event led two brothers on a journey that would end up completely transforming their lives. Now Hollywood can't wait to get its hands on the story. We talk to them CNN tomorrow 7:00 a.m. Eastern -- Aaron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Soledad, thank you. Tomorrow, right here, we'll take a look at the controversy over painkillers Vioxx and the rest, how they were marketed, and the other side of the story, which is patients who very much still want to take these drugs, despite the risks -- that and much more right here on NEWSNIGHT tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night for all of us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 16, 2005 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
There are many ways of gauging the distance between the fall of Baghdad and today, schools built, an election held, lives lost. Tonight, we look at how many times a unit returns to Iraq, a measure, a rough one in more than one way, not just of the then but the now and also the is and the ought to be.
Almost two years ago, we watched as members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, the 3rd ID stormed across the desert. That was then. Tonight, Iraq is a different place. The mission is different too, one that begins with a crash course in the now.We begin tonight with CNN's Jane Arraf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): This is a crash course on Iraq. Battalion Commander Pete Newell is the back seat driver. His replacement is in the front. Newell is showing Roger Cloutier, commander of Task Force 130 of the 3rd Infantry Division the lay of the land.
CDR. PETE NEWELL, BATTALION CMDR., 1ST INFANTRY DIV.: This land is 75 percent Sunni.
ARRAF: Across north central Iraq more than 22,000 U.S. troops are switching out in the space of a few weeks and across the area the soldiers and officers leaving are trying to teach the new troops as much as they can to deal with this dangerous and complex environment.
LT. COL. ROGER CLOUTIER, 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION: So, the hardest thing is how do I extract a year's worth of experience in two weeks of time?
ARRAF: And how do the soldiers absorb it? (on camera): For more than half of these new troops, this is their second deployment in Iraq but they left a year and a half ago and they're going to find that a lot has changed. (voice-over): It's become more dangerous. The units that Newell's task force replaced last year lost two men in their time in Iraq. Newell's task force lost 36. The 3rd Infantry Division took Baghdad in 2003 and left before there was a new Iraqi Army or a new police force. One of the most important things the new troops are learning is who not to shoot that an armed man wearing a ski mask might be an Iraqi policeman trying to protect his identity and not a criminal.Just before heading out on the road, Sergeant Major Darren Bohn (ph) reminds the men how to recognize an Iraqi soldier. They wear old model U.S. uniforms from the first Gulf War.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AK-47, look for the uniform. If he's ING he'll have like the chocolate chip uniform.
ARRAF: Colonel Newell tells them what danger signs to look for in the crowded market where they're going.
NEWELL: A sure sign that something's not right is people will start running. If people start running before you hear a round go off, start looking for a guy with an RPG.
ARRAF: Newell has spent a year forging a close relationship with Iraqi security forces and earning the trust of local and tribal leaders. One sheikh said of him "He can't be American. He's so patient."
NEWELL: Anybody coming here to do what we do has got to be able to take a multi-faceted approach to dealing with problems and dealing with people.
ARRAF: Cloutier's training in psychological operations and his Master's degree in international relations will serve him well. It's a whirlwind of introductions this one to local mayors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important to know that most of his soldiers have been here before. Iraq is not necessarily new to them.
ARRAF: They go to the governor's home. Outside are tribal leaders come to pay condolences for the death of two of the governor's bodyguards. Inside there's a test of sorts. Cloutier's cultural training has included how to eat with your hands but this is the first time he's done it for real. His training has not included dancing but here at an Iraqi Army celebration that's part of being one of the guys, as their savvy commander's part of the learning curve in Iraq 2005.Jane Arraf, CNN, Muqtadia (ph), Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: There are people we've been proud to meet in the last few years. They've given a lot and they continue to give. But in each meeting with every introduction there's also a chill that comes from knowing that soldiers fight and sometimes soldiers die.Since arriving back in Iraq, the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade has lost three members already, so with mixed feelings now another member of that brigade as he prepared to leave for Iraq, the introduction provided tonight by CNN's Michael Schulder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 4:00 a.m. near Fort Stewart, Georgia and Sergeant Major Bob Gallagher is making his wife coffee and warming her car. She has a long drive ahead of her to a fire station where she's the only woman firefighter in the county.
BOB GALLAGHER: I'll see you later on tonight. I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you too.
B. GALLAGHER: Be safe, all right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
B. GALLAGHER: It's really foggy out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll be fine.
SCHULDER: Only a few more days left until Bob Gallagher heads back to the war in Iraq. The Gallagher's 14-year-old daughter Casey (ph) has already witnessed the toll a long deployment takes on her mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's weird because the last time he went over there mom spent like half the time he was over there sitting in bed watching the news. It was just creepy because she wouldn't get up from the bed. She was really sad and all.
SCHULDER: His last time in Iraq, Sergeant Major Gallagher's leadership was tested here beneath the overpasses of Highway 8 at the edge of Baghdad. He and his men are outnumbered by enemy forces. Gallagher is hit by shrapnel in his left calf. A fellow officer works to stop the bleeding while Gallagher limps into position and continues fighting. Gallagher and his men prevail.As a boy, Bob Gallagher did not seem destined to become a leader.
GALLAGHER: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning sergeant major.
GALLAGHER: I was a juvenile delinquent. My mother passed away when I was young, six, seven years old, left my father to raise myself and my two brothers. I did not finish high school. I just decided on my own either I'm going to stay in this town and probably wind up in jail or I'm going to get up and go and I got up and went.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you do on your time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did just a little bit over three miles in 24 and a half minutes.
SCHULDER: He joined the Army, got his high school equivalency diploma and has risen to become the highest ranking non-commissioned officer of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Combat Brigade.
GALLAGHER: No problems last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sergeant major.
GALLAGHER: OK, thanks. What's up with you? Need a break? Still got that girlfriend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GALLAGHER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember her name too.
SCHULDER: After this day's rigorous physical training Sergeant Major Gallagher will have what some would call a come to Jesus meeting, a final opportunity to impress upon the several hundred who answer to him what will be required to accomplish the mission and survive. The deployment will be long, 12 to 18 months they're told.
GALLAGHER: I'm telling you it is a marathon.SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months of vigilance.
GALLAGHER: Supervising and maintenance on your vehicles, you'll pay attention to it more when your happy ass is one of these trucks and it breaks down, you know, three miles down the road.
SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months protecting each other.
GALLAGHER: Take this to the bank, no one moves alone at any given time, buddy teams at a minimum.
SCHULDER: Twelve to 18 months of staying alive.
GALLAGHER: Helmet, groin protector, hearing protection will be worn, gloves, ballistic eye protection. Of the 42 soldiers that have lost their eyesight, I believe that all 42 were not wearing protective lenses. It's non-negotiable platoon sergeants. Make sure your squad leaders know and understand that. With that uniform I can guarantee that the effects from direct fire or indirect fires will be reduced.This is the helmet I was wearing in Mogadishu. That's shrapnel from an RPG blast.
SCHULDER: Twenty-three years of front line experience including the deadly battle in Somalia, known as Black Hawk Down, are some of the reasons Gallagher's men and women trust him.
GALLAGHER: That one right there probably would have put a whopping on me.
SCHULDER: Reasons for his wife to lose sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't take it one day at a time. It just gets too much. You know, you take it one week at a time and end of the month you check it off, you know, and just wait and just wait for him to come back.
SCHULDER: One last thing about Bob Gallagher we learned while looking at what he calls his ten square feet of wall space where photos of his past military battles hang.When this is all over if you want one more picture on that wall what kind of picture do you envision? What would you like to see?
GALLAGHER: Being at a retirement ceremony upright, walking with a smile on my face with my wife on my arm.
SCHULDER: Michael Schulder, CNN, outside Fort Stewart, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: We have much more to come tonight beginning with a question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MICHEL DUBOIS, NYU PAIN MANAGEMENT CENTER: What number would you put to your pain, zero is no pain and ten maximum possible?
ASHLEY TAYLOR, PAIN PATIENT: Now it's about six.
BROWN (voice-over): Doctors can ask you where it hurts but can they tell you why it hurts? With painkillers in the spotlight we look at the nature of pain itself.Elsewhere, the end of a mother's heartache quietly, we'll tell you the story of the happy ending for Baby 81.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll spend what it takes. It's going to be a long campaign.
BROWN: Separating the noise from the facts on Social Security, facts tonight.And the mutt owner makes room on the program and on the set for a pure bred dog or two and we'll ask what makes them tick, the dogs as well? You said it.
This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The safety and effectiveness of Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra were questioned and debated at an FDA hearing today. As a class these drugs are known as Cox-2 inhibitors. They're used to treat chronic pain like arthritis. Vioxx already off the market because it increases the risk in some people of heart attack and stroke. Celebrex and Bextra are still available but studies suggest they could impact the heart as well. The hearings continue tomorrow and Friday. It should result in recommendation on how the drugs should be used in the future if at all. Those recommendations will affect millions who live with pain, especially those with pain that is difficult, if not impossible to diagnose.
Here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the prick of a needle to a broken bone, physical pain is familiar to all of us but what happens when pain can't be measured?
TAYLOR: Walking around is very difficult and it usually takes just a few minutes before I get very tired and I have to rest and even when I do rest I don't feel better.
GUPTA: Since the age of ten, Ashley Taylor has felt pain in her neck, shoulders, back and legs. Now 20 years old she's seen neurologists, rheumatologists, even psychiatrists. In all, Ashley has been to more than 20 different doctors in just the past few years.
TAYLOR: Doctors don't know. I've had x-rays done and MRIs and numerous blood tests and a spinal tap and everything is negative, everything is OK and no doctor can tell me what's going on.
GUPTA: It's more than discomfort. She takes up to seven pain pills a day, including Celebrex and Vicodin and had to drop out of school last semester.
DUBOIS: A young lady who obviously you expect to be in perfect health who is going through a critical time of her life with a major handicap. Our role is to try to help her going.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE).
GUPTA: Despite all the advances of modern medicine, when doctors measure pain they rely primarily on the verbal analog scale.
DUBOIS: What number would you put to your pain, zero is no pain and ten maximum possible?
TAYLOR: Now it's about six.
GUPTA: A complicated name for a simple test. How much does it hurt on a scale from zero to ten?
DUBOIS: Since it is a subjective measurement based only on the patient's feedback you can imagine situations where the patient is not truthful when he reports his or her pain.
GUPTA: And there are variations. What one person calls a nine could easily be a four for another. While there is no reliable way to gauge honesty in these tests, the pain is very real to patients like Ashley.
TAYLOR: Right now I just have to learn to live with the pain as best as I can because it's not going away anytime soon.
GUPTA: A somewhat immeasurable price for a frustratingly immeasurable pain.Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: One programming note, tomorrow on the program we look at how the Cox-2 inhibitor drugs were heavily marketed to physicians and patients and how those doctors and those who suffer with pain must now balance the benefits of the drugs against the potential risks. That's tomorrow here on NEWSNIGHT.
Other news tonight, Andy Warhol once said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Over the last few nights, we've been reporting the story of a 4-month-old Sri Lankan boy Named Abhilash, just an infant yet known around the world as Baby 81, famous long before he'll ever know what fame means.Tonight what is probably the final public chapter in the saga of a young life from Sri Lanka, CNN's Satinder Bindra.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Home at last, the infant known for so long simply as Baby 81 sleeps fitfully under the watchful and loving eyes of his parents.For seven weeks, they've tried to get custody of their 4-month- old son. So have eight other couples until DNA tests led to this. This court handed over Sri Lanka's most famous and pampered baby back to the mother who tried so desperately to hold onto him through the tsunami.
"I went without food and sleep for days" says mother Junita Jeyarajah. "Now, I'm very happy."
Hundreds packed this courtroom. Baby 81 arrived escorted by a police guard. With his parents watching nervously Baby 81 slept through most of the proceedings, getting up just once for a little lunch.
The baby that was found among the debris on the beach has become an icon of suffering, the suffering of his parents and others across Sri Lanka have led to a worldwide outpouring of sympathy.
To show their appreciation and as an offering to the gods, the entire Jeyarajah family smashed 101 coconuts at this temple. Later, the Jeyarajahs took Abhilash to their old home, which was completely destroyed by the tsunami.
There they changed him from hospital clothes to his own. Many family members, including his grandmother broke down. Even though the Jeyarajahs have finally got their most cherished wish, they say they're not planning any parties."We won't be celebrating" says father Murugupillai Jeyarajah "because 30,000 people have lost their lives." All that matters, the Jeyarajahs say, is that Abhilash is home and all they want to do is raise him as a normal child.
Satinder Bindra CNN, Kalmunai, Eastern Sri Lanka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: In a moment, a return to the more sobering news of the day, first the testimony of the country's top spy and the possibility of the next major terrorist attack and that it might be nuclear.And later, separating the facts from the considerable noise on Social Security and the competing plans to change it, a break first.
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Two demonstrations in one today in Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets of Beirut to remember Rafik Hariri, the country's assassinated former prime minister, many of them also demonstrating against Syria, the nation they believe was behind the bombing that killed him on Monday.In Washington, the message to the Senate Intelligence Committee today stark and clear, messages concerning terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons. Delivering the news the country's top intelligence officials, the story delivered to us tonight by our National Security Correspondent David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At his first appearance on Capitol Hill as intelligence chief, Porter Goss said the top threat to the nation's national security remains terrorism, causing mass casualties.
PORTER GOSS, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE: It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that.
ENSOR: Russian reports say terrorists may have stolen some nuclear materials in Russia in recent years leading to concern about a possible dirty radioactive bomb.
SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), VICE CHMN., INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: Can you assure the American people that the material missing from Russian nuclear sites has not found its way into terrorist hands?
GOSS: No, I can't make that assurance.
ENSOR: Homeland security official James Loy said though that the most likely next attack will be a conventional one, along the same lines that troops are facing in Iraq.
JAMES LOY, DEP. SECY. DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We think we are most likely to be attacked with a vehicle borne improvised explosive device because that's the weapon of choice around the world.
ENSOR: Goss spoke of evidence both Iran and North Korea are moving ahead with nuclear weapons programs. Reflecting the criticism of the CIA about intelligence prior to the 9/11 attacks and on Iraq's weapons or lack thereof before the war, he stressed that the agency is getting more aggressive.
GOSS: Our officers are taking risks and I will be asking them to take more risks, justifiable risks because I would be much happier here explaining why we did something than why we did nothing.
ENSOR: On December 17th, President Bush signed an intelligence reform law creating a new director of national intelligence who will be Porter Goss' boss once selected. Democratic Senator Rockefeller said the president is taking too long making his choice.
ROCKEFELLER: Two months have now passed since the bill signing ceremony and the position of director of national intelligence remains vacant, not even a person nominated. To me this is unacceptable.ENSOR: But the Republican chairman said the decision is too important to be rushed.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), CHMN., INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: It is I think crucially important not only in terms of timing but to get the right person.ENSOR: What Goss did not discuss in the open hearing but what U.S. officials confirm is that CIA officials are growing uneasy about holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh and other top al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely at undisclosed locations overseas.
(END VIDEOATAPE)
ENSOR: Sources say the CIA wants to scale back its role running secret prisons around the world. The question, said one, is what is the end game for these people and that's a difficult question being quietly posed to the Justice Department and the White House -- Aaron.
BROWN: Two questions. First and quickly on both I guess, do we have any idea how many prisoners around the world the CIA is, in fact, holding?
ENSOR: They've never given a number publicly but talking to people who have some dealings with this, I would put it around a couple of dozen.
BROWN: OK. And on the question of the national intelligence chief hearing any buzz on the timing there?
ENSOR: We're hearing a lot of buzz this evening here in Washington, Aaron, on that one, a lot of suggestions it could be as early as tomorrow, people noting the president has a free schedule tomorrow and so -- and a lot of rumors that he has made his choice and will announce it very soon, a lot of people speculating about who it could be.
BROWN: Well, we'll find out more tomorrow. Thank you David, David Ensor in Washington for us tonight.
ENSOR: That's right.
BROWN: The president was in New Hampshire today again selling his plan for revamping Social Security and privatizing a portion of it, though it remains to be seen what the precise contours of the president's plan may be. He did, though, for the first time yesterday indicate he might accept raising the ceiling on Social Security taxes. Currently every dollar you make above $90,000 is not taxed for Social Security purposes. The president says he's open to a change there.This much is already clear. There's going to be a lot of noise in this debate, a lot of noise, paid for by a lot of money and somewhere in that noise there actually will be some facts, a bit of both now from CNN's Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Castellani, President of the Business Roundtable, has formed a new coalition spending at least $20 million to promote the president's Social Security plan, the latest salvo in an ad war expected to dwarf the epic healthcare battle of a decade ago.
JOHN CASTELLANI, PRESIDENT, BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE: We'll spend what it takes. It's going to be a long campaign.
HENRY: Democrats believe these Fortune 200 corporations have been sent on a rescue mission.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: The way the Bush Social Security is going they'll need to spend tens of millions of dollars because it's not doing well at all.
HENRY: But Democrats are playing the same game. CNN has learned a powerful labor union, the 1.4 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is leading a new coalition to defeat the Bush plan. The former campaign manager for ex-Senator Tom Daschle, Steve Hildebrand, will be running the coalition, which faces an uphill fight.In addition to the Business Roundtable, conservative groups like Club for Growth and Progress for America are providing cover for the president with millions of dollars in TV ads.
REP. EARLY POMEROY (D), NORTH DAKOTA: They want to privatize Social Security and they've gotten them to pony up vast sums of money and now they're about to roll a big lie out across the country in paid media advertising.
HENRY: But both sides have gotten caught bending the truth. The liberal group Moveon.org has been running TV ads charging the president's plan will lead to "the working retirement." The highly- respected independent group FactCheck.org points out the Move On ad falsely accuses the Bush plan of cutting benefits by 46 percent.In his State of the Union, meanwhile, the president said Social Security is headed for bankruptcy but even when the system faces trouble decades down the road it would still pay out a large share of benefits now promised.
The TV ads intensify next week when members of Congress head home for the President's Day recess. At their town hall meetings, Democrats will be armed with talking points claiming the president wants to create a crisis where none exists. Republicans will show off a new DVD of the president making his case.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But if we approach the Social Security debate with courage and honesty, we can succeed.
HENRY (on camera): Congressional Republicans are privately still very nervous that the Social Security issue could blow up in their faces, but they believe the president will be their best weapon. Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Still to come tonight on the program, they're certainly beautiful. They're definitely champions, but are they pets or something else? And finding light love at light speed. The company selling that possibility is a company "On the Rise."
Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Every dog shall have its day, except for the canine creme de la creme, who get two days, it turns out, every year at New York's Madison Square Garden. The annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a serious piece of business. What makes it so wonderful is that it's also just a little bit weird. Where else can you hear someone say to a dog, as reported in "The Boston Globe": "Hold still, girl. We've just got the grease pencil and the hairspray left to do"? I love that quote. Carlee was judged to be the top dog last night. The German shorthaired pointer also happened to look like an actual dog out there, instead of some Barbie-gone-bad version of a dog. Joining me now to add to their -- their insight to this subject, Leslie Padgett, the editor of "New York Dog" magazine. There's a magazine for everything. And Jim Deppen, a dog breeder fresh from the show, and his 195 -- 185 pound? -- 185 pounds sidekick, Sirius Black. That is a -- for people who are trying to figure out, what kind of dog is it?
JIM DEPPEN, DOG BREEDER: Neapolitan mastiff.
BROWN: And there are many different mastiff dogs? Is that it? I mean, this is...
DEPPEN: There's a variety of different mastiffs out there.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: Five or six different varieties of mastiff. And this one happens to be the one from Italy.
BROWN: And this is one -- this was in the show, actually.
DEPPEN: He was in the competition, yes.
BROWN: And he didn't win it, but the fact that he got there, that was pretty cool.
DEPPEN: It was an award of merit this year. BROWN: Here's my question. Here's a question.
DEPPEN: OK.
BROWN: Do you think of him as a pet?
DEPPEN: Absolutely.
BROWN: Really?
DEPPEN: Best pet you could ever have.
BROWN: I'm not -- you know, a pet like here, Rover, go get, bring it back?
DEPPEN: Well...
BROWN: Roll over.
DEPPEN: Neapolitans basically look at that job as something that the Border collies and the golden retrievers should do. Their job is more utilitarian in the fact that they're a guard dog and they're going to sit there and protect you. And their loyalty and their job is basically to serve and protect.
BROWN: Does the magazine -- is the magazine catering to Jim, who's -- you're a professional breeder of dogs.
DEPPEN: Sure.
BROWN: Right. Or is it to people like me, who go to the pound and get this little mutt and race around the backyard with it, to be honest?
LESLIE PADGETT, EDITOR, "THE NEW YORK DOG MAGAZINE": Well, we cater to all types of dog owners, because we really believe there's a special relationship between dogs and their owners. And it's very much turning into almost like a parent-child relationship, where the person -- the dog is a part of the family and sleeps with you at night. And I'm sure...BROWN: Like in the bed?
PADGETT: In the bed.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: I find that weird, too. That's the truth. That's not allowed in -- not in our house, no.
PADGETT: Well, sure. They're definitely treating them like members of the family. I mean...
BROWN: So you don't think it's particularly odd if you see a dog dressed up in a raincoat, galoshes and a hat?
PADGETT: Absolutely not. They need the protection from the elements, just like we do. And that's...
BROWN: No, actually, they don't.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: That's the -- the great thing about a dog is that they don't need to wear a raincoat, galoshes and a hat.
PADGETT: Well, some dogs don't necessarily function that well in rainy season. So...
BROWN: I wrote today in the e-mail we send to viewers that, in trying to understand the way breeders look at dogs and the way people who follow the competition look at it, that it's really -- you have to sort of see it as art, kind of a living art. Does that seem over the top?
DEPPEN: No, it's exactly that. I mean, you look at this dog here, and I don't think there's another piece of living art that's like that. And what's really interesting about the Neapolitan is that, like a fingerprint, each one of them is individual. You won't find any one of them that's exactly the same as the other. You might look out into a ring of Dobermans or rottweilers or, say, poodles, and you look at all of them, and you say, oh, there's a whole class of white standard poodles standing out there or black and tan Dobermans. When you look at this breed here, you see Neapolitan. You recognize it if you understand and know the breed. But then you start to actually look at them and every single dog has its own individual...
BROWN: But when people, like, show Dobermans, something I know about that much about, OK, they do see the distinction between Doberman Fido and Doberman Rover. I may not see it. Leslie may not see it, but they seem to tell. That's how these dogs win, right?
DEPPEN: Well, the judge is trained, and they have to learn to train their eye to look at the different idiosyncrasies and the small, small detail between each of those dogs and how they relate to the standard.
BROWN: Who's the market for the magazine? What kind of articles are in the magazine?
PADGETT: Well, we cover a lot of different topics.
BROWN: I hope so.
(LAUGHTER)
PADGETT: Obviously.
BROWN: Yes.
PADGETT: We cater to dog owners and what things...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: What's your cover story?
PADGETT: Well, for the next issue, we're covering the doggie dating scene and how dogs are now used as date bait. We also do dogs...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Wait, dogs aren't dating.
PADGETT: No, dogs aren't dating, but dogs are used as date bait.
BROWN: It's a way to get a date.
PADGETT: Absolutely. Dogs are a test for potential daters and potential partners that say, love me, love my dog. We're also doing dogs on Atkins, how to get your dog past a co-op board.
BROWN: Are you guys serious, or is this a joke?
PADGETT: Oh, we're absolutely serious.
BROWN: This is serious.
PADGETT: We take topics that we feel would pertain to us, and we then relay them to the dogs. So we're absolutely serious.
BROWN: OK. In the -- how many big dog competitions are there a year?
DEPPEN: Oh, there's thousands.
BROWN: They go on every week somewhere?
DEPPEN: Every weekend. You know, 52 -- almost 52 weekends a year, you can be out showing your dogs. But the number of big dog shows like Westminster or, say, the World Dog Show or Crufts, there's a handful of those that are recognized throughout the world.
BROWN: And the sort of investment that someone would make to train a top dog would be what? Hundreds of thousands of dollars or tens of thousands of dollars?
DEPPEN: Well, it's all indicative of that particular breed. I mean, you might spend more money to campaign some sporting dogs. I mean, you look at the dog that took best in show last night.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: The training of that animal was probably the least of their expenses. It was the time and the travel and the advertising, the promotion. All of the behind to promote and push that dog throughout the whole entire year is where you really find the expense.
BROWN: It's -- I'm fascinated by this. I mean, it's just -- you get that I see dogs differently, just -- I just want to roll around with them and, yes.
DEPPEN: Not as a commodity.
BROWN: Yes.
DEPPEN: Right.
BROWN: Nice to meet you. Thanks for bringing the dog in. That's -- or the dog brought you in. I'm not sure which it was.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Nice meeting you, too, Leslie. Thank you.
DEPPEN: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: We'll take a break. We'll continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: That dog was something, wasn't it?
A few other stories that made news around the country today, this one something as well.
A high school chemistry teacher in Orlando, Florida, arrested and charged with showing his students how to make bombs. Police say the investigation began after a student detonated an explosive device -- that would be a bomb -- on a golf course and videotaped it. They also say the teacher admitted to exploding four bombs on a ball field behind the school. They don't make chemistry teachers like they used to.
In Boulder, Colorado, anything but pennies from heaven. Two children out playing discovered a duffel bag stuffed with cash, more than $80,000. Police say the size of the stash and the way the money was packaged seemed to indicate it may have been part of a drug transaction. Someone's not very happy.
In Washington tonight, word that Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is battling Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph system. In a statement, the 75-year-old Pennsylvania Republican said -- quote -- "I've beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery, and many tough political opponents. I'm going to beat this, too." And we hope he's right.
In sports -- and you'd be amazed at how seldom we say that around here -- the National Hockey League announced it is canceling its season. The league and its players tried one last time, but failed to end a five-month-old lockout over salaries, though the players did offer to give back a quarter of their pay. For the first time since 1919, there will be no fight -- kind of a hockey pun there -- for the Stanley Cup.
During the long years of apartheid, millions of black South Africans had no rights in their own country. Archbishop Desmond Tutu never stopped encouraging his people to believe that freedom was possible. But he told them it could only flourish if freedom was brought about without violence. Desmond Tutu's heroic story now as we continue our anniversary series "Then and Now."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, HELPED END APARTHEID: Our struggle is going to succeed because it is a just struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the dark days of apartheid in South Africa, me he was the voice of hope.
TUTU: This must be the last of its kind!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Archbishop Desmond Tutu always claimed he was a leader by default, but e used his faith to inspire black South Africans to fight for freedom peacefully. In honor of his battle against apartheid, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. And when apartheid crumbled 10 years later, President Nelson Mandela pointed to Tutu to lead the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to help South Africa deal with the crimes committed during apartheid.
TUTU: We must face this ghastly past and not pretend it never happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Often, the truth of the past was painful, even reducing Tutu to tears. Now, age 73, Tutu is still outspoken on issues around the world, from war to crimes committed in the name of God.
TUTU: God is not a Christian. Nor is God a Muslim. All -- all are God's children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Despite a battle with prostate cancer in 1987, Tutu continues to inspire nonviolent political change around the world and works with the peace center that bears his name.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: OK, picture this. In the amount of time it takes to tell this story, you could discover your future spouse. And if this were a Hollywood love story, you might call it "Gone in 60 Seconds Meets On the Rise."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEN DECKINGER, CEO, HURRYDATE: And here we go. HurryDate!
ADELE TESTANI, PRESIDENT, HURRYDATE: HurryDate!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, did you bring a resume?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Steve 52.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) 13.
DECKINGER: HurryDate is basically a dating company with the idea of cutting to the chase and the idea of getting people to meet people quickly and efficiently and in a fun way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. Middle Village, Queens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't say that. You're the one that just said that. DECKINGER: We do that in two ways. One is, we throw parties around the country where people go on 20 four-minute dates. And then we also offer online dating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. It was important. I went to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.TESTANI: First, you sign up at our Web site at HurryDate.com. You'll pick a party that's right for you. We have tons of different age ranges.
DECKINGER: We do tons of different niches. We'll do different ethnic groups. We do all types of gender references, whatever you want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even better.
TESTANI: You show up the night of the party, and you get a scorecard and a name tag. And our hosts will literally start blowing a whistle every time you have one of your four-minute dates.
DECKINGER: Rotate!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really nice meeting you.
TESTANI: You'll look at their number on their name tag, then open up a scorecard and find that number and circle either a yes or a no, just to say if you want to see them again.
DECKINGER: After the party, everyone goes back to the HurryDate Web site, and our computer matches everybody up; 95 percent of the people who come to HurryDate get at least one match from the party.
TESTANI: And, on average, most people actually get about three to five matches per party.
DECKINGER: Welcome to HurryDate world headquarters. Hey.
TESTANI: Hey, welcome.
DECKINGER: This is where we basically run our whole business. This is our favorite success wall.
TESTANI: Eighty-three. We love them, part of our little HurryDate family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a tough city to like get into the whole dating scene.
DECKINGER: We started in New York City in May 2001, and we do HurryDates on a regular basis in roughly 65 cities right now. There are several thousands of people HurryDating monthly. A HurryDate party costs between $30 and $37, depending on the city that you live in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been to one of these things before. Have you?
TESTANI: There are actually a lot of tips for any dating situation, but especially at a HurryDate party. The biggest one is to just take a deep breath, relax, and have fun with it. Don't take it too seriously. You know, it is just a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only been like 20 seconds, but it feels more like 30, doesn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up? Wow.
DECKINGER: Differentiation is key in HurryDate. As long as you can stick out from the crowd, you're golden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you met any cool guys, besides me, of course?
TESTANI: When we hear about our success stories, that's what it's all about, you know, that we are bringing these people together. It's just amazing that just Ken and I are creating these...
DECKINGER: That's what is call.
TESTANI: You know, true love.
DECKINGER: Yes.
TESTANI: It's really cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very nice to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very nice meeting you.
TESTANI: Even if there's not marriages or engagements out of it, that's not even really how we define success.
DECKINGER: You make a friend, whatever you want. As long as you got something out of HurryDate and you had a good time, it's a success.
DECKINGER: This is your last date. Yay!
TESTANI: Yay!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: HurryDating, doggie dating. What is going on here? The dog will bring in morning papers after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(ROOSTER CROWING)
BROWN: Okeydokey, time to check morning papers around the country and around the world, a lot of good ones today, so I need to move sort of briskly.
"The Christian Science Monitor." "Bush Administration Blurs Media Boundary. Controversy Over a 'Journalist' -- in quote -- "Adds to the Buzz About Message Control in the Capital." This is the Jeff Gannon story chapter, about six now. It's actually -- it's kind of uncomfortable for the White House on this, in my view. This is the story I like most, though. "States Shore Up Support For Troops. From Life Insurance to Utility Bills and Tuition, There's a Surge of Support For Part-Time Soldiers," says "The Christian Science Monitor." And out West in Portland, Oregon there seems evidence that that is in fact true, not that "The Christian Science Monitor" would put something that was untrue on the front page. "Soldiers: Gene's Got Your Back." "A Tavern Owner in Tangent, Oregon" -- I hope I pronounced that right -- "Aids Families of Oregonians Serving in Iraq." So, good for him.
Now, two different ways to headline Social Security and Alan Greenspan today. "The Washington Times." "Greenspan Backs Social Security Plan," which kind of makes it sound like Greenspan backs the Social Security plan.
"San Antonio Express-News," same testimony, same Greenspan. "Social Security Caution Is Urged. Greenspan Says Bush on Right Track, But Private Retirement Accounts Shouldn't Be Rushed. Fed Chairman Concerned About the Impact on the Deficit."
How are we doing on time?
Thank you.
I knew you'd get there.
"Colorado's Top Dog Earns a Spot on the Couch." That's the winning dog, Carlee. And maybe that's her trainer. I can't -- yes. "The Des Moines Register." Nothing that I cared about today, as it turned out.
"The Detroit News." OK. "Game Over. Impasse: $6.5 Million Difference Kills Season. Impact: Metro Businesses, Fans End Up as Big Losers." Future: NHL's Existence in Doubt Beyond This Season." That's why they call Detroit hockey town USA, isn't it? Now, where is it that the owners were forced to pay the players all this money? I never understand that part of these stories.
"The Philadelphia Inquirer." NHL is -- it's a good hockey town also. They put the NHL on the front page. But I just love the way this story is laid out. "Avalanche of Details From Probe. Transcripts and Other Evidence Flesh Out Prosecutors' Portrait of Pay- to-Play at City Hall."
Weather tomorrow in Chicago is "rude."
Wrap it up in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Soledad O'Brien with a look ahead at tomorrow's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Aaron. Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," the guy who wrote "Honeymoon With My Brother." It starts with that guy getting stood up at the altar, and it gets better from there. Actually, it's a moving story about how a single event led two brothers on a journey that would end up completely transforming their lives. Now Hollywood can't wait to get its hands on the story. We talk to them CNN tomorrow 7:00 a.m. Eastern -- Aaron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Soledad, thank you. Tomorrow, right here, we'll take a look at the controversy over painkillers Vioxx and the rest, how they were marketed, and the other side of the story, which is patients who very much still want to take these drugs, despite the risks -- that and much more right here on NEWSNIGHT tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night for all of us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
CNN's NewsNight where the experts deal Anti-Semitism
The Muslim community of DC are running into conflict with their holidays and the Jews according to CNN's NewsNight is the issue.
This from the e-mail:
"On to the other controversy of the evening - religion in schools. We report on a school where 30% of the kids are Jewish, so the school is closed on Jewish holidays. And now, although smaller in number, Muslims want the school to be closed to honor their holidays as well. If some kids get school off on their religious holidays, why shouldn't others? A look at that question and how school systems are handling changing demographics."
ALSO AT THIS SCHOOL are Christians that receive the traditional holidays off. But according to the CNN NewsNight e-mail it is the Jews that get the preference. Granted the Muslims are challenged to get their needs met and they need to pursue equity at any American School but to single out Jews is nothing short of Anti-Semitic.
That is CNN NewsNight's Sharon von Zwieten work of art. I cannot believe it has been better than a year or more that this bigot actually gets away with it all. Then again the Neocon Devout are tuning into the womanizers at FOX.
This from the e-mail:
"On to the other controversy of the evening - religion in schools. We report on a school where 30% of the kids are Jewish, so the school is closed on Jewish holidays. And now, although smaller in number, Muslims want the school to be closed to honor their holidays as well. If some kids get school off on their religious holidays, why shouldn't others? A look at that question and how school systems are handling changing demographics."
ALSO AT THIS SCHOOL are Christians that receive the traditional holidays off. But according to the CNN NewsNight e-mail it is the Jews that get the preference. Granted the Muslims are challenged to get their needs met and they need to pursue equity at any American School but to single out Jews is nothing short of Anti-Semitic.
That is CNN NewsNight's Sharon von Zwieten work of art. I cannot believe it has been better than a year or more that this bigot actually gets away with it all. Then again the Neocon Devout are tuning into the womanizers at FOX.
Producer Shift at CNN
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: February 16, 2005
CNN, which has been retooling its programming in a bid to close the ratings gap with Fox News, has replaced the senior executive producer of the prime-time program "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," a spokeswoman said last night.
The senior producer, Sharon Van Zwieten, who held the post for about a year, was succeeded by Wil Surratt, executive producer of CNN's morning show, "American Morning," said Christa Robinson, a CNN senior vice president.
In informal remarks yesterday to the network's employees, Jonathan Klein, president of CNN's domestic operations, said, "This move puts us in a better position to win," Ms. Robinson said. CNN is a unit of Time Warner.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/business/media/16cnn.html?ex=1189483200&en=35a620c826a2add2&ei=5070
Published: February 16, 2005
CNN, which has been retooling its programming in a bid to close the ratings gap with Fox News, has replaced the senior executive producer of the prime-time program "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," a spokeswoman said last night.
The senior producer, Sharon Van Zwieten, who held the post for about a year, was succeeded by Wil Surratt, executive producer of CNN's morning show, "American Morning," said Christa Robinson, a CNN senior vice president.
In informal remarks yesterday to the network's employees, Jonathan Klein, president of CNN's domestic operations, said, "This move puts us in a better position to win," Ms. Robinson said. CNN is a unit of Time Warner.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/business/media/16cnn.html?ex=1189483200&en=35a620c826a2add2&ei=5070
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