A year of news in review
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Scott Peterson is led into Stanislaus County Superior Court in this April 2003 file photo.
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From the "Wolf Blitzer Reports" staff in Washington:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The year 2003 was ushered in at a time of uncertainty. The security threat level was on its way to orange (high), the markets were down and the drumbeat to war was getting louder.
As January begins, a pregnant woman in California is missing and her family is desperate to find her.
"My confidence is so high that Scott had nothing to do with it. I'm not really that concerned. It's not bothering me that much," Brent Rocha, the missing Laci Peterson's brother, says of her husband, Scott Peterson.
Later that month in another case, a child is found dead in a Newark, New Jersey, basement.
"It's easy to make a child, the real question is can you take care of the child," says Newark Mayor Sharpe James.
And Saddam Hussein says he's ready for war saying, "The people and the leaders of Baghdad have resolved to compel the Mongols of this age to commit suicide on its walls."
Ten days later, a United Nations report indicates Iraq has hidden chemical weapons.
The first day of February sees a setback for exploration as the shuttle Columbia breaks up over the Southwest.
With the country still mourning the loss of Columbia's crew, the president gives what many think is a final warning to Saddam Hussein and a standby to America's troops.
In a televised address to the nation, President Bush announces, "Saddam Hussein will be stopped."
Just days later another of America's adversaries urges Muslims to fight. On February 13, al Jazeera airs an audiotape said to be the voice of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
On March 12, Elizabeth Smart -- snatched from her home in the dead of night and missing for 10 months -- is found alive.
But soon, our attention is riveted by events thousands of miles away as the skies over Baghdad are once again illuminated.
On March 20, CNN's correspondents report war is breaking out.
From CNN's David Ensor in Washington: "CIA Director George Tenet was able to report to the president that intelligence officials believe that the cruise missile and bomb attacks that started the war did kill some top Iraqi leaders U.S. officials say were sleeping in the compound that was attacked, but not apparently Saddam Hussein."
From CNN's Walter Rogers in Iraq: "The U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry has had its first hostile contact with the Iraqis on the other side of the border."
And from CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Kuwait: "You can hear the sirens, the horns going off ... We're going to go put our stuff on and get into the bunker."
Days later, the first pictures of American soldiers killed and captured in Iraq are received. CNN makes the decision not to show the video of those killed.
The Iraqi information minister offers an interesting perspective on events: "We besieged them and we killed most of them. We will finish them soon. Those invaders, their tombs will be here in Iraq."
On April 9, U.S. forces take Baghdad and Saddam's regime is overthrown.
"It isn't a complete success," says Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "We've got a lot of difficult work yet to do. Today is a very good day, it's wonderful to see the faces of people who have been liberated."
That same day, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations is asked about the situation with Saddam. His reply: "I don't know. I have no relationship with Saddam."
On May 1, 43 days after the opening night of the war, Bush declares an end to major combat.
Then, insurgents in Iraq prove they can do as much harm as Saddam's army.
Multiple insurgent attacks do significant damage in June -- making some of the days as bloody as those that came before Bush declared the end to major combat.
Also in June, America's domestic diva Martha Stewart, is indicted on charges of insider trading.
NBA star Kobe Bryant is charged with sexual assault in Colorado in July.
Two rampage shootings leave four dead. One of the shootings occurs inside New York City's city hall -- the other in San Antonio, Texas.
The guerrilla war in Iraq continues. Saddam's sons die in a fierce gunbattle with U.S. troops in Mosul. Their bodies are offered as proof to uncertain Iraqis.
In August, the city that never sleeps goes dark. A massive blackout strikes huge sections of the U.S. East and Midwest and Canada. The cause of the crisis that left 50 million in the dark: A computer glitch at an Ohio utility plant that sets off a chain reaction.
In mid-September, Hurricane Isabel threatens to terrorize the East Coast -- and inflicts more than a billion dollars in damage.
In October, Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy is mauled by a tiger onstage during a performance.
And the people of California vote to recall their governor and replace him with a movie star. Late in the month, fires rip through the state.
In November, the man dubbed the "Green River Killer" admits to murdering 48 women and avoids a death sentence.
Michael Jackson posts $3 million in bail after being booked on charges of child molestation in California.
And justice for Washingtonians -- a year after the nation's capital reeled with fear, this time from domestic terrorism, the sniper suspects are brought to trial and convicted. John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to die. The following month, Lee Boyd Malvo is sentenced to life in prison.
Then, the most stunning image of the year: Saddam Hussein is captured.
The U.S. Civil Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, keeps the announcement short and sweet: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."
Now, as we march into a new year -- a husband on trial for the murder of his wife and unborn child and a world famous pop star accused of heinous acts -- share an attorney.
Democratic presidential candidates jockey for votes.
And just as the president takes pride in the year's progress -- an improving economy, the capture of Saddam Hussein -- the United States is again on high alert.
