[Miles O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said today there's no credible evidence linking the events to terrorist. He blames a few irresponsible people, using laser pens and these pointers used to point out constellations. Probably more than a few though. But even those low-intensity lasers can temporarily blind a pilot, much like getting a flash bulb in your face. It could, theoretically theoretically, remotely, cause an accident. Now as of January 19th, pilots will be required to report laser incidents immediately to air-traffic controllers. Controllers will alert other pilot, contact local police, so suspects can be tracked down and cost. Mineta says any such cases will be aggressively prosecuted. So be careful when you're showing your kid Orion's Belt. Meanwhile, the outgoing head of homeland security points a finger at U.S. passports and says fingerprints should be an added requirement. Tom Ridge noted that the U.S. currently requires that citizens of 27 other countries be photographed and fingerprinted when they arrive in this country, including citizens of countries that are U.S. allies. He noted, "It's a lot easier to negotiate with your allies if you've already done what you're asking them to do." Critics who oppose the measure say it's a potential violation of privacy rights.
[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Well, before Osama bin Laden before al Qaeda, America's No. 1 terrorist enemy was a blind Egyptian shaikh named Omar Abdel Rahman. His followers bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and planned other attacks that were thwarted. Rahman is now serving a life sentence, but the attorney who defended him 10 years ago is now defending herself against charges that she, too, is a terrorist. CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more on the case as it goes to a jury.
[Deborah Feyerick, Cnn Correspondent:] Prosecutors consider the radical Egyptian cleric Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman so dangerous they wanted him to disappear. After he was found guilty in 1995 of plotting to blow up New York bridges, tunnels and landmarks, Rahman was locked away in solitary confinement. He was banned from communicating with anyone, except his immediate family and his lawyer, civil rights attorney Lynn Stewart. Now it's Stewart who is on trial.
[Lynne Stewart, Attorney On Trial:] The notion that the in these cases, the lawyer becomes the defendant. Now that didn't happen when people defend the mob, or drug dealers or even, you know, Nazi war criminals.
[Feyerick:] Stewart's alleged crime. In June 2000, she visited Rahman in prison. Afterwards, she issued a statement on his behalf, saying Rahman was withdrawing his support for a cease-fire between his militant Islamic followers and the Egyptian government. Prosecutors say by publicizing Rahman's message, Stewart deliberately broke prison rules. They say it amounted to a jailbreak, describing Rahman's words as more dangerous than weapons. Stewart denied any link to violence, saying she only wanted to keep her client in the public eye.
[Stewart:] If he had said to me, I want you to tell them that the blood shall flow, and you must attack them and all I would not have delivered that message.
[Feyerick:] But that's just what prosecutors feared might happen. In 1997, Rahman followers opened fire on tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 58. There's no evidence that the later prison message triggered any other attacks. Legal scholars say that's not the point.
[Dan Richman, Fordham Law School:] She's not charged with conspiring to murder. She's charged with making somebody available to a terrorist enterprise. That's what she did. And the fact there were no grievous consequences from that action really is not a part of the legal, and to my mind, even the moral analysis.
[Feyerick:] More troubling to some defense lawyers videotapes of prison meetings between Rahman and his lawyers, made with a court order, but without Stewart's knowledge.
[Stewart:] It's one of the sacred precincts of the law, you know, that your client should feel absolutely free to tell you whatever he needs to tell you, and that you should be free to give whatever advice you think you need to give.
[Feyerick:] Stewart lost the fight to keep the tapes from being shown to a jury. She faces up to 20 years in prison. And says if she is convicted, it will have a chilling effect on all defense lawyers and who they choose to represent. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
[Whitfield:] And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information, day and night.
[O'brien:] Topping the news at this half hour, federal sentencing guidelines getting a fresh look. The U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that judges through the years have been adding time to sentences improperly. We expect Justice Department officials to issue a formal response today, detailing how the sentencing system will, in fact, be overhauled.
[Unidentified Male:] I thought somebody got struck by lightning or a car wreck, because it was just all of a sudden, it was just bam.
[O'brien:] One of many witnesses who could only watch, horrified, when the pilot of a small plane with engine failure tried to set it down on a golf course in Orlando. It didn't go so well. The plane hit power wire and a pole. Two men on board, one of them killed. And Bob Marley's widow says she'll celebrate what would have been her husband's 60th birthday by fulfilling what she calls her mission. Rita Marley plans to exhume the reggae great's body in Jamaica and see that it is reburied in Africa. She says that's his spiritual resting place. Bob Marley died in 1981. There's no doubt the market continues to grow for rap and hip-hop music, but along with the increasing popularity has come an increasing trend of pushing the boundaries, especially when it comes to sex and the depiction of women. Well, if you think some of the lyrics are raw, the videos are even more graphic. And a number of women are saying, enough already. The editors of "Essence" magazine are taking the discussion very public in a new campaign called Take Back the Music. "Essence" executive editor Michaela Angela Davis joins us now from New York to talk about a campaign that she says is more about conversation than censorship. Good to see you, Michaela.
[Michaela Angela Davis, Exec. Editor, "essence" Magazine:] Hi. Good to be here.
[Whitfield:] All right, well, this conversation is one that you are committed to take on for about a year, I believe, right? And, already, are you getting both condemnation and support for what you all are calling the hypersexuality of the portrayal of women?
[Davis:] Yes, the "Essence" Take Back the Music Campaign is a year-long initiative where we will roll out different feature-length articles, action, steps, to help our readers organize their concerns and give voice to their opinion. And so far, the support has been overwhelmingly the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. There have been so many men, women, children, all ages, all races, feeling concerned. And we've just opened up the conversation in a very safe, but a very directed way, for them to speak.
[Whitfield:] And when you say supportive, supporting of the notion of this conversation, or supportive of the images that are being portrayed?
[Davis:] Supportive of the conversation. I think that across the board, even though we do have varying degrees of concern, everyone's really concerned. Everyone that has responded to us has been a voice of concern about the disproportionate images that objectify women, particularly black women, particularly young women of color. So the support has really been in the name of the campaign, in the name of finding some balance in the way that we're portrayed in mainstream pop urban media.
[Whitfield:] So what do you then do with this dialogue? Is the objective to put the onus on someone, whether it's the industry, whether it's the artist, whether it's the women who are allowing themselves to be portrayed this way in some of these videos?
[Davis:] Well, "Essence" has a really rich history in inspiring, educating, and empowering women, and black women particularly. So that's really the heart of this program. It's more like an intervention, as if we had a loved one that has a problem that we have to address. So we're not pointing any fingers. We're not taking up any picket signs. We're not targeting any artist or any particular record company or executive. However, we are going to direct our readers to take action that they will be able to follow in the magazine and on the Web site, at how to inspire, educate and empower themselves to make a change.
[Whitfield:] All right, let's examine some of the responses that you've already received in your first issue. And this coming from a student, a senior at Spelman College. Moya Bailey writes, for black women especially there are not as many choices out there to counteract the video images. I think it's deliberate. She believes that this is intentional, these images. Is it an issue of intent, or is it an issue of acceptance?
[Davis:] Well, it's a very complicated issue. And we really know that, and a lot of folks come from very different angles. And Spelman College, as you may have known, or maybe some of your audience knows, took a real stand in disinviting Nelly to a concert that they had scheduled, because of a "Tip Drill" video. And some people come from a very political point of view, a historical point of view. They think that it may be some conspiracy theories. Some people are very emotional about it. So we respect Moya's point of view. However, there's no data that shows it's really deliberate or a conspiracy. However, we're clear that it's mostly black women that are shown in this light. We are clear that it's mostly young women of color. We are clear that it is targeted who these images, who these objectified women are.
[Whitfield:] And Michaela, before we run out of time, you've really heard from quite a variety of people in this issue. The artist Ludacris says that the women dancers are mostly to blame. And he puts it this way, "I don't mean to depict women in a certain way. The ones who want to shake what their mama gave them are going to do that, whether they're in the videos or not." And then you mentioned Nelly, the artist. He puts it this way, "I respect women and I'm not a misogynist. I'm an artist. Hip hop videos are art and entertainment. Videos tell stories. Some are violent, some are sexy, some are fun, some are serious. As for how women are shown in the videos, I don't have a problem with it because it's entertainment." So these artists, at least, in particular, are saying the women who are involved are just as guilty as those who are producing or directing these videos.
[Davis:] Well, you know, that's a very elementary point of view, and particularly coming from young men and that's really who enjoys most of these images, to say things like that. Certainly, there's always been a small number of women, strippers, exotic dancers, in the culture, black, white, whatever. And so what we have a problem with is that it's such a narrow view of women of color. Certainly there are some women that have been doing that. However, there are no other images to balance that in the video culture, which is not as controlled as other art forms. Certainly there are films, certainly there are works of arts in galleries and museums, with a controlled kind of environment. The environment in which something is set really sets the tone. And any child can turn on the TV and see this.
[Whitfield:] All right, Michaela Angela Davis, executive editor of "Essence" magazine. Thanks so much for hoping to open up a pretty riveting dialogue you all will be doing for the next year. And I understand you're also commissioning a study to see just how these kinds of videos just might impact young girls who watch them. Thanks so much for taking time out from New York.
[Davis:] Thank you.
[Whitfield:] All right Miles.
[O'brien:] All right. A couple things to keep you abreast of. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger taking aerial tour right now over Ventura County, specifically that part of Ventura County that we've been focusing so much on, La Conchita, where that terrible mudslide occurred the other day. Ten people are still considered missing. The death count now at ten. There is still hope that there are little air pockets and voids beneath all of that mud, which would allow people the opportunity to survive. Rescuers continue their effort. More than 600 rescue personnel from 20 different agencies are taking part in that search. It is a 30 foot mound of mud and beneath it lie 15 homes. There, as we say, is some hope. And they continue those efforts. Schwarzenegger taking an aerial tour of that particular disaster site as we speak. Also as we speak, other side of the country, that's Cape Canaveral Air Station, launchpad 14B. That's a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. At the top of it is a spacecraft known as Deep Impact. Deep Impact on its way, in little more than five minute's time, on a 240 million mile journey and ultimately a colossal, celestial train wreck, and it's all on purpose. We'll explain, stay with us.