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CNN Live At Daybreak

Judge Rejects 9/11 Conspirator's Guilty Plea

Aired July 19, 2002 - 06:04   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A judge has given Zacarias Moussaoui a week to reconsider his request to plead guilty to conspiracy charges surrounding September 11. As CNN's Skip Loescher reports, the judge wouldn't accept the plea right away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SKIP LOESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "I want to enter a plea of guilty," Moussaoui told the court, "because this will ensure it will save my life." Moussaoui has admitted to the court that he's a member of al Qaeda and has sworn a loyalty oath to Osama bin Laden. "I know exactly who done it," he says, "I know which group, and how it was decided."

Prosecutors claim he would have been in one of the hijacked airliners, but for the judge to accept his guilty plea on the conspiracy charges, Moussaoui will have to answer a lot of questions.

MARK HULKOWER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: And given this defendant's history, it seems unlikely that he's going to be able to answer in such a way that's going to establish both the legal and factual basis for a plea.

LOESCHER: The question now is whether Moussaoui is competent to represent himself. Moussaoui refuses court-appointed attorneys, claiming they and the federal judge, Leonie Brinkema, are out to get him.

Tuesday, the government asked for a third indictment, for conspiracy against Moussaoui, and a federal grand jury complied. It clears the way for Moussaoui to face the death penalty if he is convicted of any of the four capital crimes with which he is charged.

(on camera): Prosecutors now say they will accept a guilty verdict from Moussaoui if the court is willing to accept it.

In Alexandria, Virginia, I am Skip Loescher.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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