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American Morning

Trial of Martha Stewart; Interview with Representative David Dreier

Aired March 02, 2004 - 09:31   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All righty, welcome back. Final 30 minutes here, and a lot to cover, too, in the final 30 minutes. One of the biggest decisions yet in the Kobe Bryant case. But is the judge having trouble making it? We'll talk to a reporter out of KOA Radio in Denver, Colorado about whether or not Bryant's accuser will have to testify about her own sexual history. A story that continues today. We'll get to it in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And another legal case we're talking about this morning. Jeff Toobin's going to joins us. He is across town waiting for the Martha Stewart trial to heat up. The lawyers are almost done now. The jury's about to get its work under way. We'll talk to him.

HEMMER: All right, first from overseas, and a bloody day. Some say the bloodiest day in Iraq since the end of mayor combat. A coordinated series of explosions killing at least 143 in the towns of Baghdad and Karbala, the holiest Shiite day of the year. For 30 years, Shiites were not able to observe this day under the rule of Saddam Hussein. That changed this year, and the change for the worst today with the violence.

Military sources say a suspected suicide bomber has been arrested in Baghdad, a handful of people apprehended in Karbala. Iraq's Governing Council has announced a three day period of mourning, a developing story that we will not go far from today here on CNN.

Another developing story, former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers expected to be indicted on criminal charges. The Associated Press reporting that he has already been indicted. The Attorney General John Ashcroft heading to New York to announce charges that will include securities fraud and conspiracy. Ebbers resigned from the company back in 2002 amid an accounting scandal. More on this again throughout the day here.

More than 1,000 Democratic delegates at stake today at Super Tuesday. Ten states holding primaries, one caucus today. Polls show the front-runner, John Kerry, holding big leads in almost every state. Senator John Edwards says he will stay in the race, though, even if he does not win a single state.

More U.S. Marines now being sent to bring order in Haiti. As many as 2,000 could eventually be deployed there, this according to the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Meanwhile, rebel groups are in the capital city of Haiti just days after the resignation of President Jean Bertrand-Aristide. They were greeted as heroes in Port-au-Prince yesterday. The former Haitian president claims rebels and the U.S. forced him out in a coup de tat, his words from yesterday.

The FDA's pulling the plug on a large study looking at the effects of estrogen. The hormone replacement now appears to have no effect on heart disease and may increase the risk of stroke. That trial carried out by the National Institutes of Health.

9:34 now here in New York City.

O'BRIEN: It's confusing when information for women who take hormone replacement therapy.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: The trial of Martha Stewart and her former broker is at a pivotal stage. The case against Martha Stewart and codefendant Peter Bacanovic is expected to be in the jury's hands sometime tomorrow.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin joins us from the courthouse in lower Manhattan this morning.

Hey, Jeff. Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it. The prosecution, the pressure there of course is to sum up the case, a relative confusing case coherently, cohesively. Give me a sense how you think Michael Schacter did?

TOOBIN: I thought he did superbly. This was a really outstanding summation, especially because, as you say, there are so many disparate facts involved, and the evidence came in not necessarily in a straight line. Let me give you one fact that Michael Schacter pointed to that certainly -- I mean, I sat in the courtroom the whole time. I missed it. And I think the jurors might have missed it.

Remember, the defense in this case is that Martha Stewart sold her stock, because she had an agreement with her stock broker to sell when the stock hit 60. OK, that's a basic fact of the case. But what Michael Schacter pointed out using records that had been introduced during the trial, that was when Peter Bacanovic, the stock broker, called her to sell the stock, the stock was at $61.52. It wasn't at $60. Very strong evidence against Martha Stewart, because it suggests that she was really selling because she was tipped that the Waksals, the CEO of the company, was selling. That's the kind of thing that Michael Schacter brought together. I thought it was an excellent summation.

O'BRIEN: Peter Bacanovic's lawyers, a guy named Richard Strassberg (ph), and he said -- he basically called the prosecution's case a house of cards. How compelling do you think his side of the story has been for the jurors? TOOBIN: Well, I thought Rich Strassberg made some mistakes yesterday, particularly when it comes to timing. He has about three hours. The judge has given him that long. He has spent 2:15 disparaging Douglass Faneuil, Bacanovic's former assistant and the chief witness against him, but that's all he's done. He really -- as he admitted to the judge at the end of the day yesterday, he lost track of the time. He thought he had almost two hours left. He's got less than an hour. He's got a lot to deal with.

And I thought there's a lot of verbiage in his summation -- house of cards, the case makes no sense. But in terms of actual pointing to the evidence, I thought it was kind of weak.

O'BRIEN: Robert Morvillo had sort of an interesting strategy, I thought. It sounds like he's going to argue to the jurors, well, the reason we didn't see Martha Stewart on the stand, it's all my fault. How do you think that's going to go over with a jury?

TOOBIN: I'm not even sure he's going to be allowed to make that argument, because one of the things, lawyers are not supposed to do in the courtroom is be a witness, to talk about their own feelings, their own behavior, and that comes awfully close to making Morvillo a witness in the case, as opposed to just a lawyer. It'll be interesting to see whether that argument is allowed. I don't know -- I don't think it will make a terribly big difference one way or another. My sense is the jury will make it's decision based on the evidence that's in front of it, not based on evidence they didn't hear.

O'BRIEN: Well, I know you've got about 90 seconds to get on in that courtroom.

Jeff Toobin, thanks for being with us.

TOOBIN: That's right, I'm don't want to lose my seat.

O'BRIEN: Exactly, so don't do that. We'll check in with you tomorrow.

In Eagle, Colorado, this is supposed to be the day when Kobe Bryant and the woman accusing him of sexual assault will come face to face for the first time since their encounter in a Colorado hotel room. That is not happening on account of the judge's decision.

Reporter Alex Stone of radio station KOA has been following the case. He joins us this morning from Eagle, Colorado.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

Let's get right to it.

Her appearance has been essentially delayed. What's the reason behind it?

ALEX STONE, KOA REPORTER: Well, it was somewhat of a surprise last night, Soledad. It was pretty late in the day when we got word that the testimony from the alleged victim was going to be delayed. The judge says because he wants to review a decision he made yesterday about limiting the questions. He said he would not limit the questions that could be asked of the accuser. Now he' revisiting that. He's looking at it today. He says he'll make a decision today. But that also means the accuser will not testify today either.

O'BRIEN: So how long does that delay everything for? Just a day?

STONE: No. It's going to be almost a month. The end of this month is the next motions hearing in this case. That means it will be probably the next three weeks or so, unless another date is scheduled, which is very unlikely, before she will be brought in. We know she was flown in from somewhere by the defense to testify.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about this audio tape that was recorded during an interview that Kobe Bryant had with police. Of course the defense is challenging that. Give me the essence of, one, what we know and to be on the tape at this time, and, two, what legal grounds are they challenging it on?

STONE: Well, we know they will be talking about that tape today. Since she will not be testifying, they will be talking about that, debating it, if it will be allowed into evidence, or if it will be tossed out. We know the tape was taken in the parking lot at the spa Acordiera (ph) the night before Kobe Bryant was arrested. And this was before he was officially arrested, when Kobe Bryant's lawyers say he thought he was in custody, he should have been read his Miranda Rights, they shouldn't have been taping it, they should throw it out. The prosecution says no, he knew he wasn't in custody, he was talking on his own free will, talking about that night. What's on it, we don't know. What the prosecution has said, it's highly embarrassing to Kobe Bryant.

O'BRIEN: The Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert (ph) got a little bit of a slap from the judge yesterday about turning over evidence. Explain some of that to me.

STONE: Yes, the judge, Terry Ruckregal (ph) really came down pretty on Mark Hurlbert hard yesterday. When Mark Hurlbert refused to turn over evidence, two pair of underwear in the case, the young woman's underwear, he didn't want to turn over samples to the defense for DNA testing, and he never really gave a reason in the courtroom of why he didn't want to hand it over, except for convenience, although everything else in the case was handed over for DNA testing, the judge came down very, very hard, at times leaning back in his chair, he has an office chair in the courtroom, throwing up his arms saying, you know what, you got to hand that over, and he was visibly frustrated there yesterday in the court room.

O'BRIEN: We will see what happens today. Alex Stone, joining us this morning from KOA Radio. Thanks, Alex. Nice to see you.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Soledad, back to politics. If John Kerry is the nominee, how will Republicans challenge him? We'll talk with one of them in a moment here. O'BRIEN: Plus a big indictment in the WorldCom case. Will the dominoes continue to fall? A look at that is ahead. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, Back to politics. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Edwards broke with something of a campaign habit earlier today. Edwards made a brief stop in Atlanta, at a polling station there, meeting some voters, but staying away from reporters. He did not take any questions there. Edwards likely to face a lot of pressure possibly to drop from the race if he does not beat Senator Kerry in one of the ten nominating contests today.

Meanwhile, what are Republicans thinking about today's vote.

California Republican Congressman David Dreier is here to talk about that. Nice to see you, live down in D.C.

REP. DAVID DREIER (R), CALIFORNIA: Nice to be back, Bill. Thanks.

HEMMER: Let me put "L.A. Times" poll on the screen here, John Kerry against John Edwards today. Prepolling before the vote today up by 32 points. This reflects the trend we're seeing across the country in nine other states, where John Kerry is ahead of John Edwards. Senator Edwards says he's a good closer.

For the sake of our discussion here, do you believe President Bush will face off with John Kerry this November?

DREIER: Well, the Democrats are going to make that decision. I think today will be a decisive moment in that quest.

But, yes, I mean I think that John Kerry is going to be the president's opponent. It appears that way. And I will tell you that tomorrow we're going to see unveiled very positive commercials that are going to be coming from the president's campaign.

And I was rather saddened. I mean, today marks the first anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. We got the very tragic news, Bill, of the over 100 deaths at the Shiite shrines in Karbala and in Baghdad.

And yesterday in a speech, John Kerry said that this administration has had an arrogant and inept foreign policy, and he went on to say something that just I could not believe. He said this administration has created terrorists where they did not exist. You know, and there was Saddam Hussein who was clearly underwriting those who were attacking the Israelis, by paying $25,000 to those responsible, and then we see the terrorist attacks that took place this morning in Iraq. It's just, to me, incomprehensible that he would stoop to that level, attacking the president on these issues, especially on the fact that he voted for a $1.5 billion cut in human intelligence, which was very important during the 1990s, and continued to vote against defense weapons systems. We all are proud of his great service in Vietnam, but his voting record is very, very suspect. Then for him to say the things as he did yesterday, I think are just beyond the pail.

But it does appear that he'll be the nominee. And in just a few minutes, the polls in California are going to be opening. And I hope very much our friend Governor Schwarzenegger is hoping to get the economic engine of California moving again on all 12 cylinders, and passage of proposition 57 and 58 are very important in that quest so that we can move ahead.

HEMMER: If I could move ahead here for a little bit, Senator Kerry earlier today on our program criticized, again, the White House for its current policy in Iraq. In addition to that, there was a spot that is running right now. I'd like to play a portion of it and get your response to it. Senator Kerry now attacking the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We make a pledge, we mean it. We keep our word.

We keep our word.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president who's on your side. I'm John Kerry, and I approved this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: You've heard the message before. Your response to it.

DREIER: You know, I will tell you, it's interesting to see an ad like that, Bill, when beginning on Thursday, we're going to see an advertising campaign which is going to focus on education, which was criticized there. We've had a 49 percent increase in the funding for education in the last few years. It is -- there is a focus on the positive vision, that George W. Bush has for Americans.

And I believe that that positive hope with the very, very good news we've been getting on the economy, the 4.1 percent growth in the last quarter. I don't understand how these guys can talk down the economy. I have been talking to people in the last few days throughout California, and we've seen increase in experts, an increase in jobs and a wide range of areas. And the Bush policies, with the tax cuts and opening up new markets around the world, have really laid the ground work for that.

HEMMER: I have about 15 seconds. As part of this campaign tomorrow, how much personality will play to this campaign? How much will you try and put your man, George Bush, against John Kerry and compare the personalities of the men? Will that be part of it?

DREIER: George W. Bush has a great record, Bill, and we're very proud of what he's been able to do for this country. John Kerry is doing nothing but trashing George Bush. With that advertisement, with the speech that he gave yesterday, and I don't believe the American people are going to buy that at end of the day.

HEMMER: I'm out of time. David Drier, thanks for your time.

DREIER: Always good to be with you. Thanks.

HEMMER: In Washington D.C. You got it.

Stay tuned to CNN, complete coverage later today and throughout the day on Super Tuesday. Wolf kicks off our show later tonight, primetime coverage at 7:00 Eastern, also Aaron Brown will follow that later in the evening, and in-between time, we'll cover the country coast to coast.

Also here's Aaron Brown right now with a preview of what's happening on "NEWSNIGHT" later this evening -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

Later on a special Super Tuesday edition of "NEWSNIGHT," 10 states, more than 1,000 delegates. How did it all shake out? We'll have the final numbers for you, plus all the day's news, morning papers and the rest. A special late, late, late edition of news night. 1:00 to 2:00 Eastern Time, a special treat for the night shift -- Bill.

HEMMER: Aaron, thanks. We'll see you a bit later.

Now Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, there's been a major indictment in the WorldCom scandal. Will others follow? A look at that is just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some major news this morning about former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. Andy Serwer's got that, plus the market open, with "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Let's check in on the markets first of all. Stocks pulling back a little bit after yesterday's big gains. Dow down 21 points. One stock moving southward is Marble, entertainment company. They're saying their merchandising is a little bit weak.

But let's turn to the big story, which is WorldCom. And this one really kind of surprising people, kind of coming out of left field here this morning. Apparently Attorney General John Ashcroft will be announcing in a 1:00 press conference here in New York City, criminal charges will be filed against former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, the architect of that giant firm, of course, which crumbled in the wave of corporate scandals, an $11 billion accounting fraud, you may remember. The company is bankrupt currently. At 11:00 or 11:30 this morning, Scott Sullivan, the former chief financial officer of that company, is expected to plead guilty, apparently cooperating in that investigation. The AP is reporting right now, as a matter of fact, just crossing the tape, that, in fact, Ebbers has already been charged with securities fraud. So that is happening right now, and I'm sure we'll be following that today. You know, what's interesting to me, Soledad, just quickly, is we're really entering the phase now with all these scandals -- Enron, HealthSouth, Adelphia, Tyco -- where we've moved into the trial phase, and they're pretty much all these guys have either been charged, or are already in jail or are facing indictment, or have been indicted now.

O'BRIEN: We were talking about that the other day, how so many of those trials are going on in New York City, all at the same time.

SERWER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: Question of the day, and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

The question of the day is what to do about the gay marriage dilemma. They're performing them in New Paltz. They may start in Ithaca, New York. They've been doing them in San Francisco. Here's what some of you have written.

Mike in Spokane: "When we look back at the struggle for women's or blacks' rights, don't we always say to ourselves, what were we thinking? In 30 years, we'll be saying the same thing about this. Gays and lesbians are human beings who deserve the same rights as straight human rights. These marriages don't hurt anybody, and should be allowed."

Tom in Knoxville, Iowa: "The answer is to have the government enforce its laws. If an overwhelming majority of the people vote to make a law, the government is obligated to enforce it. If the laws are changed so that gay marriage is legal, fine. But until that happens, people who break the law should be arrested and charged, no matter who the are."

Richard in Phoenix, "If you look at all the companies on the Fortune 500 that offer same-sex partner benefits, it's very clear that same sex marriage is not far behind."

And Teresa from Kingston, New York: "Regarding the New Paltz mayor, who's 26 years old, the mayor is a prime example of what happens when kids watch too much television, play too many video games and don't have enough parental guidance."

O'BRIEN: They became mayor of a neighboring town. Kingston is right around the corner from New Paltz.

HEMMER: Anyone here go figure that? I don't think so. Thank you, Jack. Let's get a break here.

Next hour on CNN, President Bush speaks about homeland security. It has been one year since the new cabinet post was created. Daryn has that next hour. We are back on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Hey, we got to run. Thanks for making us part of your morning. Same time, same bat station.

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David Dreier>


Aired March 2, 2004 - 09:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All righty, welcome back. Final 30 minutes here, and a lot to cover, too, in the final 30 minutes. One of the biggest decisions yet in the Kobe Bryant case. But is the judge having trouble making it? We'll talk to a reporter out of KOA Radio in Denver, Colorado about whether or not Bryant's accuser will have to testify about her own sexual history. A story that continues today. We'll get to it in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And another legal case we're talking about this morning. Jeff Toobin's going to joins us. He is across town waiting for the Martha Stewart trial to heat up. The lawyers are almost done now. The jury's about to get its work under way. We'll talk to him.

HEMMER: All right, first from overseas, and a bloody day. Some say the bloodiest day in Iraq since the end of mayor combat. A coordinated series of explosions killing at least 143 in the towns of Baghdad and Karbala, the holiest Shiite day of the year. For 30 years, Shiites were not able to observe this day under the rule of Saddam Hussein. That changed this year, and the change for the worst today with the violence.

Military sources say a suspected suicide bomber has been arrested in Baghdad, a handful of people apprehended in Karbala. Iraq's Governing Council has announced a three day period of mourning, a developing story that we will not go far from today here on CNN.

Another developing story, former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers expected to be indicted on criminal charges. The Associated Press reporting that he has already been indicted. The Attorney General John Ashcroft heading to New York to announce charges that will include securities fraud and conspiracy. Ebbers resigned from the company back in 2002 amid an accounting scandal. More on this again throughout the day here.

More than 1,000 Democratic delegates at stake today at Super Tuesday. Ten states holding primaries, one caucus today. Polls show the front-runner, John Kerry, holding big leads in almost every state. Senator John Edwards says he will stay in the race, though, even if he does not win a single state.

More U.S. Marines now being sent to bring order in Haiti. As many as 2,000 could eventually be deployed there, this according to the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Meanwhile, rebel groups are in the capital city of Haiti just days after the resignation of President Jean Bertrand-Aristide. They were greeted as heroes in Port-au-Prince yesterday. The former Haitian president claims rebels and the U.S. forced him out in a coup de tat, his words from yesterday.

The FDA's pulling the plug on a large study looking at the effects of estrogen. The hormone replacement now appears to have no effect on heart disease and may increase the risk of stroke. That trial carried out by the National Institutes of Health.

9:34 now here in New York City.

O'BRIEN: It's confusing when information for women who take hormone replacement therapy.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: The trial of Martha Stewart and her former broker is at a pivotal stage. The case against Martha Stewart and codefendant Peter Bacanovic is expected to be in the jury's hands sometime tomorrow.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin joins us from the courthouse in lower Manhattan this morning.

Hey, Jeff. Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it. The prosecution, the pressure there of course is to sum up the case, a relative confusing case coherently, cohesively. Give me a sense how you think Michael Schacter did?

TOOBIN: I thought he did superbly. This was a really outstanding summation, especially because, as you say, there are so many disparate facts involved, and the evidence came in not necessarily in a straight line. Let me give you one fact that Michael Schacter pointed to that certainly -- I mean, I sat in the courtroom the whole time. I missed it. And I think the jurors might have missed it.

Remember, the defense in this case is that Martha Stewart sold her stock, because she had an agreement with her stock broker to sell when the stock hit 60. OK, that's a basic fact of the case. But what Michael Schacter pointed out using records that had been introduced during the trial, that was when Peter Bacanovic, the stock broker, called her to sell the stock, the stock was at $61.52. It wasn't at $60. Very strong evidence against Martha Stewart, because it suggests that she was really selling because she was tipped that the Waksals, the CEO of the company, was selling. That's the kind of thing that Michael Schacter brought together. I thought it was an excellent summation.

O'BRIEN: Peter Bacanovic's lawyers, a guy named Richard Strassberg (ph), and he said -- he basically called the prosecution's case a house of cards. How compelling do you think his side of the story has been for the jurors? TOOBIN: Well, I thought Rich Strassberg made some mistakes yesterday, particularly when it comes to timing. He has about three hours. The judge has given him that long. He has spent 2:15 disparaging Douglass Faneuil, Bacanovic's former assistant and the chief witness against him, but that's all he's done. He really -- as he admitted to the judge at the end of the day yesterday, he lost track of the time. He thought he had almost two hours left. He's got less than an hour. He's got a lot to deal with.

And I thought there's a lot of verbiage in his summation -- house of cards, the case makes no sense. But in terms of actual pointing to the evidence, I thought it was kind of weak.

O'BRIEN: Robert Morvillo had sort of an interesting strategy, I thought. It sounds like he's going to argue to the jurors, well, the reason we didn't see Martha Stewart on the stand, it's all my fault. How do you think that's going to go over with a jury?

TOOBIN: I'm not even sure he's going to be allowed to make that argument, because one of the things, lawyers are not supposed to do in the courtroom is be a witness, to talk about their own feelings, their own behavior, and that comes awfully close to making Morvillo a witness in the case, as opposed to just a lawyer. It'll be interesting to see whether that argument is allowed. I don't know -- I don't think it will make a terribly big difference one way or another. My sense is the jury will make it's decision based on the evidence that's in front of it, not based on evidence they didn't hear.

O'BRIEN: Well, I know you've got about 90 seconds to get on in that courtroom.

Jeff Toobin, thanks for being with us.

TOOBIN: That's right, I'm don't want to lose my seat.

O'BRIEN: Exactly, so don't do that. We'll check in with you tomorrow.

In Eagle, Colorado, this is supposed to be the day when Kobe Bryant and the woman accusing him of sexual assault will come face to face for the first time since their encounter in a Colorado hotel room. That is not happening on account of the judge's decision.

Reporter Alex Stone of radio station KOA has been following the case. He joins us this morning from Eagle, Colorado.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

Let's get right to it.

Her appearance has been essentially delayed. What's the reason behind it?

ALEX STONE, KOA REPORTER: Well, it was somewhat of a surprise last night, Soledad. It was pretty late in the day when we got word that the testimony from the alleged victim was going to be delayed. The judge says because he wants to review a decision he made yesterday about limiting the questions. He said he would not limit the questions that could be asked of the accuser. Now he' revisiting that. He's looking at it today. He says he'll make a decision today. But that also means the accuser will not testify today either.

O'BRIEN: So how long does that delay everything for? Just a day?

STONE: No. It's going to be almost a month. The end of this month is the next motions hearing in this case. That means it will be probably the next three weeks or so, unless another date is scheduled, which is very unlikely, before she will be brought in. We know she was flown in from somewhere by the defense to testify.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about this audio tape that was recorded during an interview that Kobe Bryant had with police. Of course the defense is challenging that. Give me the essence of, one, what we know and to be on the tape at this time, and, two, what legal grounds are they challenging it on?

STONE: Well, we know they will be talking about that tape today. Since she will not be testifying, they will be talking about that, debating it, if it will be allowed into evidence, or if it will be tossed out. We know the tape was taken in the parking lot at the spa Acordiera (ph) the night before Kobe Bryant was arrested. And this was before he was officially arrested, when Kobe Bryant's lawyers say he thought he was in custody, he should have been read his Miranda Rights, they shouldn't have been taping it, they should throw it out. The prosecution says no, he knew he wasn't in custody, he was talking on his own free will, talking about that night. What's on it, we don't know. What the prosecution has said, it's highly embarrassing to Kobe Bryant.

O'BRIEN: The Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert (ph) got a little bit of a slap from the judge yesterday about turning over evidence. Explain some of that to me.

STONE: Yes, the judge, Terry Ruckregal (ph) really came down pretty on Mark Hurlbert hard yesterday. When Mark Hurlbert refused to turn over evidence, two pair of underwear in the case, the young woman's underwear, he didn't want to turn over samples to the defense for DNA testing, and he never really gave a reason in the courtroom of why he didn't want to hand it over, except for convenience, although everything else in the case was handed over for DNA testing, the judge came down very, very hard, at times leaning back in his chair, he has an office chair in the courtroom, throwing up his arms saying, you know what, you got to hand that over, and he was visibly frustrated there yesterday in the court room.

O'BRIEN: We will see what happens today. Alex Stone, joining us this morning from KOA Radio. Thanks, Alex. Nice to see you.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Soledad, back to politics. If John Kerry is the nominee, how will Republicans challenge him? We'll talk with one of them in a moment here. O'BRIEN: Plus a big indictment in the WorldCom case. Will the dominoes continue to fall? A look at that is ahead. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, Back to politics. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Edwards broke with something of a campaign habit earlier today. Edwards made a brief stop in Atlanta, at a polling station there, meeting some voters, but staying away from reporters. He did not take any questions there. Edwards likely to face a lot of pressure possibly to drop from the race if he does not beat Senator Kerry in one of the ten nominating contests today.

Meanwhile, what are Republicans thinking about today's vote.

California Republican Congressman David Dreier is here to talk about that. Nice to see you, live down in D.C.

REP. DAVID DREIER (R), CALIFORNIA: Nice to be back, Bill. Thanks.

HEMMER: Let me put "L.A. Times" poll on the screen here, John Kerry against John Edwards today. Prepolling before the vote today up by 32 points. This reflects the trend we're seeing across the country in nine other states, where John Kerry is ahead of John Edwards. Senator Edwards says he's a good closer.

For the sake of our discussion here, do you believe President Bush will face off with John Kerry this November?

DREIER: Well, the Democrats are going to make that decision. I think today will be a decisive moment in that quest.

But, yes, I mean I think that John Kerry is going to be the president's opponent. It appears that way. And I will tell you that tomorrow we're going to see unveiled very positive commercials that are going to be coming from the president's campaign.

And I was rather saddened. I mean, today marks the first anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. We got the very tragic news, Bill, of the over 100 deaths at the Shiite shrines in Karbala and in Baghdad.

And yesterday in a speech, John Kerry said that this administration has had an arrogant and inept foreign policy, and he went on to say something that just I could not believe. He said this administration has created terrorists where they did not exist. You know, and there was Saddam Hussein who was clearly underwriting those who were attacking the Israelis, by paying $25,000 to those responsible, and then we see the terrorist attacks that took place this morning in Iraq. It's just, to me, incomprehensible that he would stoop to that level, attacking the president on these issues, especially on the fact that he voted for a $1.5 billion cut in human intelligence, which was very important during the 1990s, and continued to vote against defense weapons systems. We all are proud of his great service in Vietnam, but his voting record is very, very suspect. Then for him to say the things as he did yesterday, I think are just beyond the pail.

But it does appear that he'll be the nominee. And in just a few minutes, the polls in California are going to be opening. And I hope very much our friend Governor Schwarzenegger is hoping to get the economic engine of California moving again on all 12 cylinders, and passage of proposition 57 and 58 are very important in that quest so that we can move ahead.

HEMMER: If I could move ahead here for a little bit, Senator Kerry earlier today on our program criticized, again, the White House for its current policy in Iraq. In addition to that, there was a spot that is running right now. I'd like to play a portion of it and get your response to it. Senator Kerry now attacking the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We make a pledge, we mean it. We keep our word.

We keep our word.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president who's on your side. I'm John Kerry, and I approved this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: You've heard the message before. Your response to it.

DREIER: You know, I will tell you, it's interesting to see an ad like that, Bill, when beginning on Thursday, we're going to see an advertising campaign which is going to focus on education, which was criticized there. We've had a 49 percent increase in the funding for education in the last few years. It is -- there is a focus on the positive vision, that George W. Bush has for Americans.

And I believe that that positive hope with the very, very good news we've been getting on the economy, the 4.1 percent growth in the last quarter. I don't understand how these guys can talk down the economy. I have been talking to people in the last few days throughout California, and we've seen increase in experts, an increase in jobs and a wide range of areas. And the Bush policies, with the tax cuts and opening up new markets around the world, have really laid the ground work for that.

HEMMER: I have about 15 seconds. As part of this campaign tomorrow, how much personality will play to this campaign? How much will you try and put your man, George Bush, against John Kerry and compare the personalities of the men? Will that be part of it?

DREIER: George W. Bush has a great record, Bill, and we're very proud of what he's been able to do for this country. John Kerry is doing nothing but trashing George Bush. With that advertisement, with the speech that he gave yesterday, and I don't believe the American people are going to buy that at end of the day.

HEMMER: I'm out of time. David Drier, thanks for your time.

DREIER: Always good to be with you. Thanks.

HEMMER: In Washington D.C. You got it.

Stay tuned to CNN, complete coverage later today and throughout the day on Super Tuesday. Wolf kicks off our show later tonight, primetime coverage at 7:00 Eastern, also Aaron Brown will follow that later in the evening, and in-between time, we'll cover the country coast to coast.

Also here's Aaron Brown right now with a preview of what's happening on "NEWSNIGHT" later this evening -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

Later on a special Super Tuesday edition of "NEWSNIGHT," 10 states, more than 1,000 delegates. How did it all shake out? We'll have the final numbers for you, plus all the day's news, morning papers and the rest. A special late, late, late edition of news night. 1:00 to 2:00 Eastern Time, a special treat for the night shift -- Bill.

HEMMER: Aaron, thanks. We'll see you a bit later.

Now Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, there's been a major indictment in the WorldCom scandal. Will others follow? A look at that is just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some major news this morning about former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. Andy Serwer's got that, plus the market open, with "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Let's check in on the markets first of all. Stocks pulling back a little bit after yesterday's big gains. Dow down 21 points. One stock moving southward is Marble, entertainment company. They're saying their merchandising is a little bit weak.

But let's turn to the big story, which is WorldCom. And this one really kind of surprising people, kind of coming out of left field here this morning. Apparently Attorney General John Ashcroft will be announcing in a 1:00 press conference here in New York City, criminal charges will be filed against former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, the architect of that giant firm, of course, which crumbled in the wave of corporate scandals, an $11 billion accounting fraud, you may remember. The company is bankrupt currently. At 11:00 or 11:30 this morning, Scott Sullivan, the former chief financial officer of that company, is expected to plead guilty, apparently cooperating in that investigation. The AP is reporting right now, as a matter of fact, just crossing the tape, that, in fact, Ebbers has already been charged with securities fraud. So that is happening right now, and I'm sure we'll be following that today. You know, what's interesting to me, Soledad, just quickly, is we're really entering the phase now with all these scandals -- Enron, HealthSouth, Adelphia, Tyco -- where we've moved into the trial phase, and they're pretty much all these guys have either been charged, or are already in jail or are facing indictment, or have been indicted now.

O'BRIEN: We were talking about that the other day, how so many of those trials are going on in New York City, all at the same time.

SERWER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: Question of the day, and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

The question of the day is what to do about the gay marriage dilemma. They're performing them in New Paltz. They may start in Ithaca, New York. They've been doing them in San Francisco. Here's what some of you have written.

Mike in Spokane: "When we look back at the struggle for women's or blacks' rights, don't we always say to ourselves, what were we thinking? In 30 years, we'll be saying the same thing about this. Gays and lesbians are human beings who deserve the same rights as straight human rights. These marriages don't hurt anybody, and should be allowed."

Tom in Knoxville, Iowa: "The answer is to have the government enforce its laws. If an overwhelming majority of the people vote to make a law, the government is obligated to enforce it. If the laws are changed so that gay marriage is legal, fine. But until that happens, people who break the law should be arrested and charged, no matter who the are."

Richard in Phoenix, "If you look at all the companies on the Fortune 500 that offer same-sex partner benefits, it's very clear that same sex marriage is not far behind."

And Teresa from Kingston, New York: "Regarding the New Paltz mayor, who's 26 years old, the mayor is a prime example of what happens when kids watch too much television, play too many video games and don't have enough parental guidance."

O'BRIEN: They became mayor of a neighboring town. Kingston is right around the corner from New Paltz.

HEMMER: Anyone here go figure that? I don't think so. Thank you, Jack. Let's get a break here.

Next hour on CNN, President Bush speaks about homeland security. It has been one year since the new cabinet post was created. Daryn has that next hour. We are back on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Hey, we got to run. Thanks for making us part of your morning. Same time, same bat station.

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David Dreier>