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CNN Live Today

President Bush Will Try to Convince Voters His Administration Making Steady Progress in Fighting Terrorism; Fate of Filipino Truck Driver Captured in Iraq Remains Unclear

Aired July 12, 2004 - 11:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's not waste any time. The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
Happening right now in the news -- President Bush lands in Tennessee. He is there to get a look at nuclear weapons material turned over by Libya. Mr. Bush speaks out at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in about 25 minutes. You'll see that live right here on CNN. He'll talk about the administration's efforts in the war on terror.

A hearing for a female soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners is set to begin in about two hours. The hearing for Private First Class Lynndie England focuses on procedural matters. She was seen posing with naked Iraqi detainees in some of the photos from Abu Ghraib Prison.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issues a warning to rebels in his Likud Party, support the governments plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank or he will consider calling early elections. In a meeting this morning Sharon invited opposition Labor Party leader Shimon Peres to join a new unity government. Peres did agree to talk.

The wife of former Enron executive goes to prison. Lea Fastow has turned herself in. About an hour ago it happened. You're looking at the pictures. She will begin serving a one year sentence. She pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor tax crime. She admitted helping husband Andrew Fastow hide money in Enron financial schemes.

Let's check the clock. It is 11 a.m. in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 11 p.m. in Manila.

From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

And up first this hour on CNN -- the war on terror and the battle for votes. In a speech this hour, President Bush will try to convince voters that his administration is making steady progress in fighting terrorism on many fronts. He is visiting Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. And that is where we find Kathleen Koch who is traveling today with the president. Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

As you may know, this laboratory the Oak Ridge national laboratory, is a repository for some 525 plus tons of equipment from Libya's dismantled nuclear program, a commitment that it made back in December to give up that program.

And President Bush is coming here in part to tout that turnaround as one of the major accomplishments of his administration. The president will also be discussing how the administration's strategy in the fight against terrorism has really changed the world scene over the last three years, transforming countries like Iraq, and Afghanistan's, and persuading nations like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to become more committed to allies in fighting terrorism.

We're told Mr. Bush will also tout accomplishments on the domestic scene, outlining how the Patriot Act has helped keep the country safer, also a better sharing of intelligence between law- enforcement -- how important that has been -- and also how important the new focus of agencies like the FBI on fighting terrorism, how important that is to making America a better and safer place from terrorism.

Now as we speak, the president is right now getting a tour of some of the seized equipment from Libya's nuclear program. He's seeing everything from seized centrifuges to frequency converters, tons and tons of equipment that Libya managed amass secretly on the black market, that is now here being examined and, we are told, eventually will be destroyed.

Now this is the first visit by a president to Oak Ridge national laboratories in the last 12 years. The last president to visit here was George Herbert Walker Bush, the president's father, who was here for a signing ceremony for a new research agreement.

Now this is President Bush's 10th visit to the state of Tennessee, an important state for him this election here, one that he won a very important, symbolic victory in back in 2000 when he won it just by three percentage points over native son Al Gore -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Kathleen Koch live from Tennessee. We expect the president to speak within the half-hour. When he does, you'll see it live right here on CNN.

It has been just days since the Senate report condemning flawed intelligence in the lead up to the Iraqi war. The two senators who headed the investigation say that they're looking into whether the Pentagon knowingly withheld information from the CIA. And the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee expressed doubts that Congress would have voted to go to war had such information been available at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), CHAIRMAN, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The weapons of mass destruction and posing an imminent threat to our national security, that would not have been part of the debate. And I am not sure the votes would have been there to take that kind of military action. SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: In my judgment, based upon the intelligence, and based upon the various factors that were used to justify the war, we should not -- we should not be there. And we would have saved ourselves all of the problems which we're going to be facing for generations, or at least many of them, had we not done so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: There could be other signs of trouble for the nation's intelligence gathering network. Former chief weapons inspector David Kay says that the Senate intelligence report shows a fragmented intelligence community failed to connect the dots that led to the terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KAY, FORMER CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Well, this report documents pretty directly what happened. There was an abuse of authority at the very top.

That is the Director of the Central Intelligence George Tenet withheld information from other elements of the intelligence community. It's particularly true in the nuke area, but also true with regard to biological weapons -- withheld information from policymakers and, quite frankly, didn't come clean with Congress.

It's a broken culture, bad trade craft, no collection that really -- no human intelligence collection in Iraq at all after '98.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Kay says the entire intelligence community should be overhauled, a view that is held by many in Washington.

In the march to war what mattered most -- preconceived political decisions or sound intelligence? That question will likely find its way into a British report to be released on Wednesday.

The Butler report could be damaging to Tony Blair's government as it hopes to explain why there is such a gap between the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq and the lack of evidence that actually was found there.

House majority leader Tom DeLay is reportedly being investigated for possible corporate funding raising violations.

"The Washington Post" reporting that documents from Enron show that DeLay pressed the company for an additional $100,000 donation. The money was to be spent on redistricting efforts in Texas. That redistricting helped Republicans take control of the Texas house for the first time and 130 years.

The problem is Texas law bars corporate financing of state legislative campaigns. And a Texas criminal prosecutor is looking into that matter. That money did go into DeLay's political action camp committee and not directly to his campaign.

And now to developments in Iraq. Interim President Gazi Al-Yawar today threatened to use a very sharp sword in the fight against insurgents. He warned those eligible for amnesty that this is their last chance.

Coalition officials say that one person was wounded in a mortar attack on the Abu Ghraib Prison. Last night's attack was the sixth time that insurgents have struck the prison. And that's just since April 20th when a mortar attack killed 22 detainees.

France today restored diplomatic relations with Iraq. France broke off those ties with Baghdad 13 years ago during the Gulf War after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The American Marine once listed as captured is offering few details about his ordeal in Iraq. Wassef Ali Hassoun has told military officials that he was abducted from his highly secured base in Iraq last month. But he has not yet said how he got from Iraq to Lebanon where he was later found. The U.S. military is investigating Hassoun's story. He's currently at an army base in Germany and could return to the U.S. within days.

The fate of a Filipino truck driver captured and Iraq remains unclear today. Some reports say that deadlines imposed by his captors have come and gone, but a high level Filipino diplomat tells CNN that he has been assured that Angelo de la Cruz is still alive. Here is Maria Ressa in Manila.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Forty-six year old Angelo de la Cruz took a job as a driver in Iraq so he could send money home to his wife and eight children.

Contract workers like him are the Philippines top dollar earner, nearly one in 10 of the country's 80 million people work overseas, at least 4,000 of them in Iraq.

On Thursday, de la Cruz was kidnapped by Islamic militants who threatened to behead him if the Philippines did not pull its 50 soldiers and police out of Iraq. His wife's appeal for his life strikes a deep chord in the Philippines where Catholics and Muslims united in calling for his release.

ARCENIA DE LA CRUZ, HOSTAGES WIFE (through translator): I appeal to our Muslim brothers around the world, please help us. Don't hurt my husband. Have pity on our children.

RESSA: On Saturday, it seemed her prayers were answered. The family celebrated after his wife said president Gloria Arroyo had assured her de la Cruz was safe. But it soon became clear he had not been freed.

A fax allegedly written by the kidnappers was sent to Al-Jazeera. It set a new demand that the Philippines pull out its troops within 10 days and demanded a response by Sunday.

The Philippine cabinet met for more than five hours before it rejected the demand.

DELI DOMINGO-ALBERT, PHILIPPINE FOREIGN SECRETARY: We reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on 20 August 2004.

RESSA: The government says it will fly de la Cruz' wife and brother to Iraq at the family's request.

(on camera) Cabinet members say they've decided not to speak to the press to minimize any further confusion. Meantime, the Filipino team in Iraq says it's doing all it can to work for de la Cruz' safe release.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Scott Peterson's other woman -- what will she have to say on the witness stand? Amber Frey gets ready to talk. That story is coming up next.

And we are standing by, waiting for remarks by President Bush. He is in Tennessee today talking about the war on terrorism. More on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange where technology shares are putting pressure on the overall market. That after Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation on the semiconductor sector.

Chip giant Intel is the Dow's worst performer. Shares are down more than 2.5 percent on those Merrill comments. And the Dow is down 31 points right now. Tech-heavy Nasdaq losing more than 1 percent.

That's the latest from Wall Street.

LIVE TODAY continues right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are standing by waiting to go live to Tennessee. President Bush is visiting there today. He's expected to talk about the war on terrorism. You'll see those comments live, when they begin, right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, let's fit in some legal news.

Singer Bobby Brown is free right here in Atlanta after posting a $2,000 bond. He is charged with hitting his wife, Whitney Houston, in the face earlier this year. The simple battery charge carries a possible sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. About two hours from now, the Scott Peterson double murder trial is scheduled to resume in Redwood City, California. Amber Frey, one of the most anticipated witnesses in the case could take the stand this week. Prosecutors allege that Peterson's affair with Frey led him to kill his pregnant wife and their unborn son.

Frey was meant to testify last week. Instead, the prosecution showed the jury some graphic pictures of Laci Peterson's remains. To analyze the trial so far, former U.S. attorney and CNN analyst Kendall Coffey joining us from - we usually find you in Miami, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yes. Beautiful here today.

KAGAN: Yes.

COFFEY: It's a little hot.

KAGAN: Glad to bring you inside into some A/C for a moment.

Let's talk about the Peterson trial. Amber Frey, why haven't we heard from her so far, do you think?

COFFEY: Well, I think the prosecution wanted to do sort of a methodical, chronological, build the base first before getting to somebody that's going to be considered to be their star witness.

But a lot of critics have look at this prosecution case so far, Daryn, and say they are sputtering. They are stumbling. They may be losing this jury. So time to get their star witness on and maybe Amber Frey can turn this case around for the prosecution.

KAGAN: Do you think that she can? And what does she need to produce in order to help the prosecution?

COFFEY: Well, I think it's going to be more than showing that he had an illicit relationship. In fact, there's been testimony in the trial so far painting Scott Peterson as an unmitigated sleazoid.

KAGAN: Is that a technical, legal term, Kendall?

COFFEY: Yes, I think it's in -- Yes.

KAGAN: Yes.

COFFEY: It's Latin, I think.

KAGAN: OK. Good. Just checking.

COFFEY: Back in medieval times.

But what I think is critical is not just to show that he's a scoundrel, but to show that there's this cold blooded dark side, a deep villainy in him that no one saw before.

And what the prosecution hopes to do is take days and evenings when half of Modesto was out looking for Laci Peterson and her unborn child, while showing that during those same hours, Scott Peterson was on the phone with his illicit girlfriend having various conversations, all about Amber Frey, how much he loved her, how much he wanted to see her.

That kind of thing could be appalling enough to get the jury to think that maybe this guy could be a murderer after all.

KAGAN: And of course the defense will argue that just because you're a scumbag husband does not make you a murderer.

COFFEY: The defense would be, maybe he's that, but not a murderer.

Where's the clear theory of how he did it or why he did it. That's still something that the prosecution needs to do work on.

KAGAN: Let's talk about another tactic the prosecution used last week, showing that a pregnant woman could fit in the toolbox of the truck and fit in parts of the boat. But still a controversial move with how they do it.

COFFEY: It was controversial. They got a member of the district attorney's office who was about the same height, about the same stage of pregnancy.

But apparently it works, Daryn. This is one of the few times where a defense theory, the theory being that there's no way that Laci could have been fitting inside that boat and not seen blew up in the face of the defense. The prosecution showed that it could have happened just the way the prosecution said it did.

They've still got a long ways to go in this trial, but last week was - especially compared to the previous weeks, a pretty good week for the prosecution.

KAGAN: All right. We will be watching more from Redwood City, California. Kendall Coffey, thank you for your insight today.

COFFEY: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: We are within a couple minutes of hearing President Bush. That is just ahead.

Also, parts of Florida going up in flames. Will Mother Nature finally bring relief from the brush fires. Details coming up.

And the NAACP, speaking of President Bush, has invited President Bush to their convention. He says no. Why is that? That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The smoke from wildfires is beginning to clear in South Florida. And traffic is flowing again on the Florida turn bike -- pike. Flames closed about 10 miles of the highway yesterday. Hundreds of acres of dry grass and trees have burned in the Everglades, about 15 miles west of Miami.

More on Florida and the weather across the country. Jacqui Jeras is here.

(WEATHER BREAK)

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 July 12, 2004 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's not waste any time. The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
Happening right now in the news -- President Bush lands in Tennessee. He is there to get a look at nuclear weapons material turned over by Libya. Mr. Bush speaks out at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in about 25 minutes. You'll see that live right here on CNN. He'll talk about the administration's efforts in the war on terror.

A hearing for a female soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners is set to begin in about two hours. The hearing for Private First Class Lynndie England focuses on procedural matters. She was seen posing with naked Iraqi detainees in some of the photos from Abu Ghraib Prison.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issues a warning to rebels in his Likud Party, support the governments plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank or he will consider calling early elections. In a meeting this morning Sharon invited opposition Labor Party leader Shimon Peres to join a new unity government. Peres did agree to talk.

The wife of former Enron executive goes to prison. Lea Fastow has turned herself in. About an hour ago it happened. You're looking at the pictures. She will begin serving a one year sentence. She pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor tax crime. She admitted helping husband Andrew Fastow hide money in Enron financial schemes.

Let's check the clock. It is 11 a.m. in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 11 p.m. in Manila.

From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

And up first this hour on CNN -- the war on terror and the battle for votes. In a speech this hour, President Bush will try to convince voters that his administration is making steady progress in fighting terrorism on many fronts. He is visiting Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. And that is where we find Kathleen Koch who is traveling today with the president. Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

As you may know, this laboratory the Oak Ridge national laboratory, is a repository for some 525 plus tons of equipment from Libya's dismantled nuclear program, a commitment that it made back in December to give up that program.

And President Bush is coming here in part to tout that turnaround as one of the major accomplishments of his administration. The president will also be discussing how the administration's strategy in the fight against terrorism has really changed the world scene over the last three years, transforming countries like Iraq, and Afghanistan's, and persuading nations like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to become more committed to allies in fighting terrorism.

We're told Mr. Bush will also tout accomplishments on the domestic scene, outlining how the Patriot Act has helped keep the country safer, also a better sharing of intelligence between law- enforcement -- how important that has been -- and also how important the new focus of agencies like the FBI on fighting terrorism, how important that is to making America a better and safer place from terrorism.

Now as we speak, the president is right now getting a tour of some of the seized equipment from Libya's nuclear program. He's seeing everything from seized centrifuges to frequency converters, tons and tons of equipment that Libya managed amass secretly on the black market, that is now here being examined and, we are told, eventually will be destroyed.

Now this is the first visit by a president to Oak Ridge national laboratories in the last 12 years. The last president to visit here was George Herbert Walker Bush, the president's father, who was here for a signing ceremony for a new research agreement.

Now this is President Bush's 10th visit to the state of Tennessee, an important state for him this election here, one that he won a very important, symbolic victory in back in 2000 when he won it just by three percentage points over native son Al Gore -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Kathleen Koch live from Tennessee. We expect the president to speak within the half-hour. When he does, you'll see it live right here on CNN.

It has been just days since the Senate report condemning flawed intelligence in the lead up to the Iraqi war. The two senators who headed the investigation say that they're looking into whether the Pentagon knowingly withheld information from the CIA. And the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee expressed doubts that Congress would have voted to go to war had such information been available at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), CHAIRMAN, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The weapons of mass destruction and posing an imminent threat to our national security, that would not have been part of the debate. And I am not sure the votes would have been there to take that kind of military action. SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: In my judgment, based upon the intelligence, and based upon the various factors that were used to justify the war, we should not -- we should not be there. And we would have saved ourselves all of the problems which we're going to be facing for generations, or at least many of them, had we not done so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: There could be other signs of trouble for the nation's intelligence gathering network. Former chief weapons inspector David Kay says that the Senate intelligence report shows a fragmented intelligence community failed to connect the dots that led to the terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KAY, FORMER CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Well, this report documents pretty directly what happened. There was an abuse of authority at the very top.

That is the Director of the Central Intelligence George Tenet withheld information from other elements of the intelligence community. It's particularly true in the nuke area, but also true with regard to biological weapons -- withheld information from policymakers and, quite frankly, didn't come clean with Congress.

It's a broken culture, bad trade craft, no collection that really -- no human intelligence collection in Iraq at all after '98.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Kay says the entire intelligence community should be overhauled, a view that is held by many in Washington.

In the march to war what mattered most -- preconceived political decisions or sound intelligence? That question will likely find its way into a British report to be released on Wednesday.

The Butler report could be damaging to Tony Blair's government as it hopes to explain why there is such a gap between the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq and the lack of evidence that actually was found there.

House majority leader Tom DeLay is reportedly being investigated for possible corporate funding raising violations.

"The Washington Post" reporting that documents from Enron show that DeLay pressed the company for an additional $100,000 donation. The money was to be spent on redistricting efforts in Texas. That redistricting helped Republicans take control of the Texas house for the first time and 130 years.

The problem is Texas law bars corporate financing of state legislative campaigns. And a Texas criminal prosecutor is looking into that matter. That money did go into DeLay's political action camp committee and not directly to his campaign.

And now to developments in Iraq. Interim President Gazi Al-Yawar today threatened to use a very sharp sword in the fight against insurgents. He warned those eligible for amnesty that this is their last chance.

Coalition officials say that one person was wounded in a mortar attack on the Abu Ghraib Prison. Last night's attack was the sixth time that insurgents have struck the prison. And that's just since April 20th when a mortar attack killed 22 detainees.

France today restored diplomatic relations with Iraq. France broke off those ties with Baghdad 13 years ago during the Gulf War after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The American Marine once listed as captured is offering few details about his ordeal in Iraq. Wassef Ali Hassoun has told military officials that he was abducted from his highly secured base in Iraq last month. But he has not yet said how he got from Iraq to Lebanon where he was later found. The U.S. military is investigating Hassoun's story. He's currently at an army base in Germany and could return to the U.S. within days.

The fate of a Filipino truck driver captured and Iraq remains unclear today. Some reports say that deadlines imposed by his captors have come and gone, but a high level Filipino diplomat tells CNN that he has been assured that Angelo de la Cruz is still alive. Here is Maria Ressa in Manila.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Forty-six year old Angelo de la Cruz took a job as a driver in Iraq so he could send money home to his wife and eight children.

Contract workers like him are the Philippines top dollar earner, nearly one in 10 of the country's 80 million people work overseas, at least 4,000 of them in Iraq.

On Thursday, de la Cruz was kidnapped by Islamic militants who threatened to behead him if the Philippines did not pull its 50 soldiers and police out of Iraq. His wife's appeal for his life strikes a deep chord in the Philippines where Catholics and Muslims united in calling for his release.

ARCENIA DE LA CRUZ, HOSTAGES WIFE (through translator): I appeal to our Muslim brothers around the world, please help us. Don't hurt my husband. Have pity on our children.

RESSA: On Saturday, it seemed her prayers were answered. The family celebrated after his wife said president Gloria Arroyo had assured her de la Cruz was safe. But it soon became clear he had not been freed.

A fax allegedly written by the kidnappers was sent to Al-Jazeera. It set a new demand that the Philippines pull out its troops within 10 days and demanded a response by Sunday.

The Philippine cabinet met for more than five hours before it rejected the demand.

DELI DOMINGO-ALBERT, PHILIPPINE FOREIGN SECRETARY: We reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on 20 August 2004.

RESSA: The government says it will fly de la Cruz' wife and brother to Iraq at the family's request.

(on camera) Cabinet members say they've decided not to speak to the press to minimize any further confusion. Meantime, the Filipino team in Iraq says it's doing all it can to work for de la Cruz' safe release.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Scott Peterson's other woman -- what will she have to say on the witness stand? Amber Frey gets ready to talk. That story is coming up next.

And we are standing by, waiting for remarks by President Bush. He is in Tennessee today talking about the war on terrorism. More on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange where technology shares are putting pressure on the overall market. That after Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation on the semiconductor sector.

Chip giant Intel is the Dow's worst performer. Shares are down more than 2.5 percent on those Merrill comments. And the Dow is down 31 points right now. Tech-heavy Nasdaq losing more than 1 percent.

That's the latest from Wall Street.

LIVE TODAY continues right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are standing by waiting to go live to Tennessee. President Bush is visiting there today. He's expected to talk about the war on terrorism. You'll see those comments live, when they begin, right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, let's fit in some legal news.

Singer Bobby Brown is free right here in Atlanta after posting a $2,000 bond. He is charged with hitting his wife, Whitney Houston, in the face earlier this year. The simple battery charge carries a possible sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. About two hours from now, the Scott Peterson double murder trial is scheduled to resume in Redwood City, California. Amber Frey, one of the most anticipated witnesses in the case could take the stand this week. Prosecutors allege that Peterson's affair with Frey led him to kill his pregnant wife and their unborn son.

Frey was meant to testify last week. Instead, the prosecution showed the jury some graphic pictures of Laci Peterson's remains. To analyze the trial so far, former U.S. attorney and CNN analyst Kendall Coffey joining us from - we usually find you in Miami, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yes. Beautiful here today.

KAGAN: Yes.

COFFEY: It's a little hot.

KAGAN: Glad to bring you inside into some A/C for a moment.

Let's talk about the Peterson trial. Amber Frey, why haven't we heard from her so far, do you think?

COFFEY: Well, I think the prosecution wanted to do sort of a methodical, chronological, build the base first before getting to somebody that's going to be considered to be their star witness.

But a lot of critics have look at this prosecution case so far, Daryn, and say they are sputtering. They are stumbling. They may be losing this jury. So time to get their star witness on and maybe Amber Frey can turn this case around for the prosecution.

KAGAN: Do you think that she can? And what does she need to produce in order to help the prosecution?

COFFEY: Well, I think it's going to be more than showing that he had an illicit relationship. In fact, there's been testimony in the trial so far painting Scott Peterson as an unmitigated sleazoid.

KAGAN: Is that a technical, legal term, Kendall?

COFFEY: Yes, I think it's in -- Yes.

KAGAN: Yes.

COFFEY: It's Latin, I think.

KAGAN: OK. Good. Just checking.

COFFEY: Back in medieval times.

But what I think is critical is not just to show that he's a scoundrel, but to show that there's this cold blooded dark side, a deep villainy in him that no one saw before.

And what the prosecution hopes to do is take days and evenings when half of Modesto was out looking for Laci Peterson and her unborn child, while showing that during those same hours, Scott Peterson was on the phone with his illicit girlfriend having various conversations, all about Amber Frey, how much he loved her, how much he wanted to see her.

That kind of thing could be appalling enough to get the jury to think that maybe this guy could be a murderer after all.

KAGAN: And of course the defense will argue that just because you're a scumbag husband does not make you a murderer.

COFFEY: The defense would be, maybe he's that, but not a murderer.

Where's the clear theory of how he did it or why he did it. That's still something that the prosecution needs to do work on.

KAGAN: Let's talk about another tactic the prosecution used last week, showing that a pregnant woman could fit in the toolbox of the truck and fit in parts of the boat. But still a controversial move with how they do it.

COFFEY: It was controversial. They got a member of the district attorney's office who was about the same height, about the same stage of pregnancy.

But apparently it works, Daryn. This is one of the few times where a defense theory, the theory being that there's no way that Laci could have been fitting inside that boat and not seen blew up in the face of the defense. The prosecution showed that it could have happened just the way the prosecution said it did.

They've still got a long ways to go in this trial, but last week was - especially compared to the previous weeks, a pretty good week for the prosecution.

KAGAN: All right. We will be watching more from Redwood City, California. Kendall Coffey, thank you for your insight today.

COFFEY: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: We are within a couple minutes of hearing President Bush. That is just ahead.

Also, parts of Florida going up in flames. Will Mother Nature finally bring relief from the brush fires. Details coming up.

And the NAACP, speaking of President Bush, has invited President Bush to their convention. He says no. Why is that? That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The smoke from wildfires is beginning to clear in South Florida. And traffic is flowing again on the Florida turn bike -- pike. Flames closed about 10 miles of the highway yesterday. Hundreds of acres of dry grass and trees have burned in the Everglades, about 15 miles west of Miami.

More on Florida and the weather across the country. Jacqui Jeras is here.

(WEATHER BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com