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Bin Laden Criticizes Saudis in Latest Tape; Army Steps Up Armor Production; Trials Begin for Terror Suspects Caught in Stings; Top 2004 Fashion Trends on Web

Aired December 16, 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, CO-HOST: We'd like to kick things off with a look at what's happening now in the news.
A new audiotape supposedly from Osama bin Laden has been posted on Arabic web sites. The tape blames the Saudi royal family for unrest and mentions the December 6 attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If the tape is found to be authentic, it would be the latest evidence that the al Qaeda leader is still alive and in hiding.

An official in the Iraqi interim government was killed today in Baghdad. We're told that the senior official in the Iraqi communications ministry was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad. The attack also killed one of his bodyguards and wounded two others.

The State Department is warning U.S. residents in Kuwait to be on the guard against a possible terrorist attack. The U.S. embassy in Kuwait says the U.S. has had credible information that terrorist groups are developing plans to attack unspecified targets in Kuwait. Americans are reminded to keep a low profile and exercise caution.

And this hour, the Mets are expected to officially announce a deal in the sports world, some are shaking their heads about this one. Looks like three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez will be wearing the uniform of the New York Mets next season.

There's word that the Mets have finalized their $53 million four- year contract with the ace pitcher that they hope will help take them to the World Series. And we hope to hear from Pedro a little bit later in the newscast.

It is 11 a.m., or just a minute past, on the East Coast, and just past 8 a.m. on the West Coast. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

RICK SANCHEZ, CO-HOST: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And we get started with this.

It is a new message of terror. Voice experts at the CIA are going to once again closely analyze this new audiotape today. It's thought to be from al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The recording turned up this morning on an Arabic web site. The voice praises the December 6 attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Five consulate employees, none of them American, were killed there.

Now experts who listened to the tape say the voice is indeed bin Laden, though the quality of the recording is fairly poor. The speaker bitterly criticizes the Saudi royal family as weak and as a puppet of the Bush administrations.

The rambling recording goes on for about 70 minutes. If authenticated, it will be the first word from bin Laden since he appeared on video in October.

Let's talk about all this now with CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. He is in Washington this morning.

Peter, first your take of the significance of this particular -- or this latest bin Laden tape?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, three things. This is the fastest turnaround that I can call from any bin Laden audiotape or videotape. I mean, he's reacting to events that happened 10 days ago, made the tape, got it out to his supporters and now on the Internet.

This is the fastest turnaround that I can recall of any kind of statement from bin Laden reacting to a news event. It indicates to me a certain degree of security. After all, the chain of custody of these tapes is the one way to find bin Laden. He obviously feels secure enough that he can release a number of these tapes.

Another thing I'd point out, Rick, is this, by my count, this is the 29th videotape or audiotape we've heard from either bin Laden or his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, since 9/11. It's extraordinary that the chain of custody of these tapes have not been traced back.

After all, they're releasing these tapes very frequently: on average, once every six weeks. Yet, it seems that American intelligence agencies and other intelligence agencies are not capable of tracing back the source of these tapes.

SANCHEZ: He seems to have his sights on creating some type of dysfunction within Saudi Arabia, with the people who live in Saudi Arabia. How effective can he be?

And is there already a -- is there already something going on in Saudi Arabia that maybe we don't know about because we don't have enough reporters there to tell us about it? You have a sense of this, Peter, do you?

BERGEN: Well, you know, we interviewed bin Laden on CNN in '97, and his principal gripe at the time was really the Saudi royal family. And he's been very consistent about it. His main political goal is overthrowing the Saudi royal family.

This tape is part of a pattern of other statements he's made. That project certainly has not been fruitful to date, but certainly bin Laden's followers have destabilized the kingdom. They've jacked up the price of oil, which is a major strategic success for them, by attacking Saudi oil installations and to some degree attacking oil installations in Iraq.

Certainly, his followers have created a great deal of instability. Now we've had something like 20 attacks from them, directed at Americans, westerners, oil workers, and also, of course, the Saudi security forces.

SANCHEZ: These latest incidents, the protests that we understand -- the protest march, in fact, that is planned and some of the incidents that we've been talking about in the last couple of days, where there have been shootings, is this part of what he's trying to do, or is he reacting to it? Which comes first?

BERGEN: Well, that's an interesting question. There are other opposition leaders, obviously, who are intent on overthrowing the Saudi government. One of them is based in London, Dr. Saad al-Fagih, who runs something called the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia. He has called for protests in the past in the streets of Riyadh, and those protests have happened.

If, indeed, these protests go forward today in Saudi Arabia, this is pretty extraordinary. Public demonstrations do not take place in Saudi Arabia. There are no rights for free speech or free assembly in the kingdom.

So all of this does not necessarily bode particularly well for the Saudi royal family.

SANCHEZ: Peter Bergen with his insight, following the story for many, many years now. Good enough to join us here and share some of that with us. Peter, we thank you for that.

BERGEN: Thank you, Rick.

KAGAN: Moving on to Iraq, the Bush administration is pressing the U.N. to send more election monitors to that country. The request came at a meeting between outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. chief Kofi Annan in Washington this morning.

Right now, the U.N. plans just about 25 election observers in Iraq. The small U.N. staff in Iraq is training several thousand Iraqi election workers.

The oil-for-food program for Iraq also came up today. It is under investigation for bribery and fraud. Some in Congress have called on Annan to resign over the scandal.

His trip today was designed in part to shore up U.S. support. But Annan noticeably did not get an invite to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: I don't feel snubbed. I will be seeing the national security adviser. And we have lots of technical issues to discuss.

And the president and I have met on many occasions, and we also do talk on the phone. And so I don't feel that if I come to Washington and we don't get the chance to meet, I should feel offended or snubbed. This is the nature of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Former fed chairman Paul Volcker is conducting an investigation of the oil-for-food scandal. Congress also has its own probe under way.

Saddam Hussein met with one of his defense lawyers this morning. That is the first time that has happened since U.S. troops captured him a year ago. Saddam is expected to face a war crimes trial sometime in 2005 or later.

Today's meeting with his counsel is said to have run four hours. In an interview last hour with CNN International, another Saddam attorney talked about his notorious client and his legal challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISSAM GHAZZAWI, SADDAM HUSSEIN'S ATTORNEY: President Saddam Hussein is still the president of Iraq from the legal point of view, because the war against Iraq is illegal and was -- that was announced by the secretary-general. And you know that.

And the war must -- would have been legal if Iraq attacked the United States and the United States retaliated. And that hasn't happened. The other case would have made the war legal is to have Security Council resolution under occupancy. That's what you didn't get from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Saddam Hussein's legal team is actually an Army of lawyers. There are 20 lead attorneys named by his wife. Fifteen hundred volunteer lawyers are also helping out his case.

SANCHEZ: Now to that equipment shortage we've been telling you about in Iraq and a senator who is now seeking clemency for two of the Army reservists there.

See, they were court-martialed and went to prison, in fact, for scavenging parts from vehicles to try and keep their unit moving to Iraq.

Chief Warrant Officer Darrell Birt was one of those punished. And now that lack of proper equipment for troops has made headlines. He says he wants his name cleared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL BIRT, U.S. ARMY: What we took was two trucks and two trailers, trailers to pull behind them, and a cargo. Just one that would carry stuff, which was eventually made into a gun truck for us. And we took one other truck, which was used for spare parts, because the supply system being broke the way it was, we weren't getting the spare parts to keep our vehicles on the road, which were on the road daily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Once again, because of that, Birt was dishonorably discharged and has lost his civilian job over the court-martial, as well.

And this, a third Republican senator is chiming in now with criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Maine's Susan Collins says that the lack of armored Humvees in Iraq is, in her word, "troubling."

She joins senators John McCain and Chuck Hagel, suggesting that Rumsfeld has mismanaged the war. Collins says it appears that the Pentagon failed to do everything it could to step up production.

And our own Barbara Starr is reporting now that the Pentagon is scrambling for a fix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By shifting funds around and accelerating some production lines, the Army hopes it now has a handle on the armor crisis, but officials are warning it will still take months to have a completed armored fleet of trucks and Humvees operating inside Iraq.

BRIG. GEN. JEFFREY SORENSON, DEPUTY FOR ACQUISITION: This is not Wal-mart. As we've gone through, this is a very detailed process in terms of trying to get this capability.

STARR: The current plan, to spend $4.1 billion over the next six to eight months to finish armoring 32,000 vehicles needed in the theater.

Officials insist they are working as fast as they can. For example, even if they manufactured armored bolt-on plates faster, workers can only install them so fast.

SORENSON: If we can get some of these vehicles sooner there to theater, whether it's a day, a week or two weeks, any additional more capability that we can get there will save more lives.

STARR: The Army says they are getting all the money they need.

SORENSON: Money has not been an object. Any time we've asked for money from either the Department of Defense, the Army or the Hill, it has not been an issue.

STARR: But almost two years after the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon now says just 60 percent of the vehicles in the country are armored. And an acknowledgement from a senior officer, again, that it is tough to counter the changing tactics of the insurgent's roadside bombs.

LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, CENTCOM DEPUTY COMMANDER: They may use doorbells today to blow these things up. They may use remote controls from toys tomorrow, and as we adapt, they adapt. And we have been hoping that our technology would be more effective than it has been.

STARR (on camera): The hope now: 98 percent of the Humvees will be armored by March; the truck fleet will be protected by early summer. But military officials are strongly emphasizing that there is no silver bullet against the changing tactics of the insurgency.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Lighter moment, we go to New York City, show you a live picture of the New York Mets holding a news conference to announce their latest team member. It looks like they have, indeed, struck a deal with Pedro Martinez.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner is on hand. We expect to hear from him in a moment.

We'll also talk about how, you know what, not everybody in the baseball world thinks that this is a great idea. That's coming up.

SANCHEZ: And most people thought if he was going to a New York team it would have been the Yankees, right?

KAGAN: Yes, but way to stick it to the Yankees.

SANCHEZ: They're usually the ones who steal star players.

We're going to be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: And we go live to New York. You are looking at the newest pitcher for the New York Mets, three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, inking a four-year deal worth over $50 million, leaving the world champion Boston Red Sox.

A lot of people thinking not the best deal. The Mets looking for some stars. They're starting a cable channel in a couple years, an so they're looking to kind of up their team. They haven't done very well at all the last few years, three years, in fact.

And Pedro was able to make this deal without taking an MRI on his shoulder, which if you listen to any sports talk radio, people think the Mets are nuts for doing that.

SANCHEZ: Well, you know what's interesting? He likes to throw the ball inside, right? And in the National League that means he has to hip mount. KAGAN: That's right. Because...

SANCHEZ: To put it inside.

KAGAN: Yes. Guess what? A little taste of your own medicine there.

Putting on the new uniform for the Mets, No. 45, the same number he had when he was with the Boston Red Sox. We were looking to hear a few comments from Pedro Martinez but...

SANCHEZ: But he's into picture taking.

KAGAN: It's all about the picture, telling a thousand words. And the smile on his face. The Mets look happy; he looks happy. We'll see if it all works out. Spring training, we'll have a pitchers and catchers report in, what, probably six weeks.

SANCHEZ: Spring is in the air.

KAGAN: In Florida.

SANCHEZ: Certainly have more on that if need be.

KAGAN: That we will.

Meanwhile, outgoing homeland security director Tom Ridge says that a national policy to protect the nation's cargo is a major priority. This morning, Ridge kicking off a two-day summit on cargo security in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ... terrorist might seek to exploit. These new defenses begin thousands of miles away before a container is even loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for our shores, from the 24-hour rule, that provides advance cargo manifests for all U.S.-bound containers, to the container security initiative that has U.S. customs and border inspectors stationed in 32 international ports.

These programs enable us to target and screen cargo and pinpoint any high-risk shipments before a ship ever leaves port.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: In the aftermath of 9/11, the government pushed hard to find the terrorists by any means possible. And that includes the use of confidential informants and string operations.

Several cases are making their way through the courts. As we hear from CNN's Deborah Feyerick, they are prompting some new questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The indictments read like a thriller.

In one case, a self-described arms dealer, Hemant Lakhani, smuggles a missile launcher into the United States. The target, American planes. The buyer, an FBI informant posing as a Somali terrorist.

In another case, a pizza shop owner, Mohammed Hossain, is given $50,000. He's told it's the proceeds from the sale of the missile launcher. His job, launder the money by writing checks from his business. The imam from his mosque allegedly witnesses the deal.

Says his lawyer...

TERENCE KINDLON, YASSIN AREF'S ATTORNEY: This case smells like a rat.

FEYERICK: Two plots, two strings, both orchestrated by the government using confidential informants. It's part of a growing pattern with experts predicting many more stings in the future.

Andy McCarthy, a former prosecutor, used a sting which helped convict terrorist sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman in the 1995 plot to blow up New York bridges and tunnels. McCarthy says, used right, stings are important law enforcement tools.

ANDY MCCARTHY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Anybody who says that they'll take money in order to facilitate these attacks is a dangerous person, you know, whether he's Osama bin Laden incarnate or he's a low level person.

FEYERICK: In the case of the alleged missile smuggler, Hemant Lakhani, New Jersey U.S. attorney called him a significant national arms dealer. The sting praised at the highest levels.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the fact that we're able to sting this guy is a pretty good example of what we're doing in order to protect the American people.

CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE, U.S. ATTORNEY, NEW JERSEY DISTRICT: The president has us mandated now to catch them before they commit the crime in the area of terrorism. So it's a whole new way of thinking and doing business.

FEYERICK (on camera): As for defense arguments, lawyers for each party say the stings are nothing more than entrapment. All parties have pleaded not guilty, and critics say the government is using these stings to go after easy marks.

LAURA MURPHY, ACLU: It doesn't make us safer. If the government is using this dragnet approach and not following tried and true law enforcement methods, they're spending less time following up on people who are actually terrorists.

FEYERICK (voice-over): A study by Syracuse University found of 184 terrorism prosecutions, the majority of defendants, 171, received a year or less in prison. MURPHY: The government is interested in ramping up the number of terrorism prosecutions it engages in without adequately figuring out whether these are legitimate terrorism prosecutions.

FEYERICK: A jury's now being seated to hear the case against the alleged missile smuggler. As for the pizza shop owner and the imam who allegedly laundered money, their trial is expected late next year. In the meantime, they're out on bail.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: There are some security concerns at one of the nation's largest airports.

KAGAN: A fake bomb managed to make it not only onto an airplane, we'll tell you where it ended up.

SANCHEZ: Also, an ancient source of healing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the medical benefits of the Dead Sea baths. That's right. Right here, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time to do the "Buzz on the Web." And there's plenty of it. It's all about the latest pop culture trends of 2004. No surprise that fashion and style are topping the list. AOL Online advisor Regina Lewis has a rundown of 2004's greatest hits.

And you know, as I was preparing for this segment, the one thing I couldn't wait to ask you is, what an Ugg is.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISOR: We'll get to that. Brace yourself.

But clearly the Internet is a lightning rod for trends. It makes the biggies bigger. And if you dig deep enough -- you're way behind on Uggs -- it can also tip you off to what's next. And who doesn't want to know that?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS (voice-over): Hot on the web in 2004? Cell phones remain on top of the must-have gadget list. And now, a new "Billboard" list for downloadable ring tones.

Good-bye film: digital cameras came in second, and iPods not just a fad. MP3s came in No. 3.

Those furry Uggs were the No. 1 fashion phenom. First the boots. Then the slippers and handbags.

Denim was big in 2004, and in the denim department the oldest jeanmaker, Levi's, came out on top, but it got a lot of competition from newcomers Lucky and 7. Fitting into those jeans, the duel of the diets, no carbs to low carbs, as the South Beach Diet, Atkins and Dr. Phil were the biggest gainers in the losing weight game.

And tattoos were hotter than hot. Designs and "I did it" photos making a permanent web mark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS: So you getting the Ugg thing now, Rick? You with us?

SANCHEZ: It's like an Eskimo boot, right?

LEWIS: They're shearling (ph) lined. Daryn, we've got to help him out like this. They're beautiful. They're selling out. You've got to put that on your Christmas list for your wife.

KAGAN: They live in Miami.

LEWIS: You know what, though? They're from Australia. They're from Australia. They started in Santa Barbara. Miami's not an issue.

KAGAN: OK.

LEWIS: But the tattoos was what struck me. You see a lot of those in Miami. People searching for tattoo designs. The most popular is tribal art. I did a little digging on that, thinking it must have some meaning. It's totally random. With a few exceptions, it means nothing. People just like the look.

And bubbling up, perhaps a precursor to 2005...

SANCHEZ: Don't tell me. Don't tell me: tattoo removal parlors.

LEWIS: Right. There you go. You made up for the Ugg thing.

SANCHEZ: Everything that's up goes down. Right?

KAGAN: Or comes off.

SANCHEZ: You're wonderful, Regina. Thanks for bringing that to us.

LEWIS: Sure.

KAGAN: We're going to check in on the headlines just ahead. Also a story to warm your heart.

SANCHEZ: We'll have it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone tried to do something destructive, but God has taken it and he's turned it into something very positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: This is a wonderful story. It's an amazing community response to a crime that literally threatened Christmas and the people affected by it. We're back with this and much more after just a little quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 16, 2004 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CO-HOST: We'd like to kick things off with a look at what's happening now in the news.
A new audiotape supposedly from Osama bin Laden has been posted on Arabic web sites. The tape blames the Saudi royal family for unrest and mentions the December 6 attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If the tape is found to be authentic, it would be the latest evidence that the al Qaeda leader is still alive and in hiding.

An official in the Iraqi interim government was killed today in Baghdad. We're told that the senior official in the Iraqi communications ministry was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad. The attack also killed one of his bodyguards and wounded two others.

The State Department is warning U.S. residents in Kuwait to be on the guard against a possible terrorist attack. The U.S. embassy in Kuwait says the U.S. has had credible information that terrorist groups are developing plans to attack unspecified targets in Kuwait. Americans are reminded to keep a low profile and exercise caution.

And this hour, the Mets are expected to officially announce a deal in the sports world, some are shaking their heads about this one. Looks like three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez will be wearing the uniform of the New York Mets next season.

There's word that the Mets have finalized their $53 million four- year contract with the ace pitcher that they hope will help take them to the World Series. And we hope to hear from Pedro a little bit later in the newscast.

It is 11 a.m., or just a minute past, on the East Coast, and just past 8 a.m. on the West Coast. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

RICK SANCHEZ, CO-HOST: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And we get started with this.

It is a new message of terror. Voice experts at the CIA are going to once again closely analyze this new audiotape today. It's thought to be from al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The recording turned up this morning on an Arabic web site. The voice praises the December 6 attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Five consulate employees, none of them American, were killed there.

Now experts who listened to the tape say the voice is indeed bin Laden, though the quality of the recording is fairly poor. The speaker bitterly criticizes the Saudi royal family as weak and as a puppet of the Bush administrations.

The rambling recording goes on for about 70 minutes. If authenticated, it will be the first word from bin Laden since he appeared on video in October.

Let's talk about all this now with CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. He is in Washington this morning.

Peter, first your take of the significance of this particular -- or this latest bin Laden tape?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, three things. This is the fastest turnaround that I can call from any bin Laden audiotape or videotape. I mean, he's reacting to events that happened 10 days ago, made the tape, got it out to his supporters and now on the Internet.

This is the fastest turnaround that I can recall of any kind of statement from bin Laden reacting to a news event. It indicates to me a certain degree of security. After all, the chain of custody of these tapes is the one way to find bin Laden. He obviously feels secure enough that he can release a number of these tapes.

Another thing I'd point out, Rick, is this, by my count, this is the 29th videotape or audiotape we've heard from either bin Laden or his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, since 9/11. It's extraordinary that the chain of custody of these tapes have not been traced back.

After all, they're releasing these tapes very frequently: on average, once every six weeks. Yet, it seems that American intelligence agencies and other intelligence agencies are not capable of tracing back the source of these tapes.

SANCHEZ: He seems to have his sights on creating some type of dysfunction within Saudi Arabia, with the people who live in Saudi Arabia. How effective can he be?

And is there already a -- is there already something going on in Saudi Arabia that maybe we don't know about because we don't have enough reporters there to tell us about it? You have a sense of this, Peter, do you?

BERGEN: Well, you know, we interviewed bin Laden on CNN in '97, and his principal gripe at the time was really the Saudi royal family. And he's been very consistent about it. His main political goal is overthrowing the Saudi royal family.

This tape is part of a pattern of other statements he's made. That project certainly has not been fruitful to date, but certainly bin Laden's followers have destabilized the kingdom. They've jacked up the price of oil, which is a major strategic success for them, by attacking Saudi oil installations and to some degree attacking oil installations in Iraq.

Certainly, his followers have created a great deal of instability. Now we've had something like 20 attacks from them, directed at Americans, westerners, oil workers, and also, of course, the Saudi security forces.

SANCHEZ: These latest incidents, the protests that we understand -- the protest march, in fact, that is planned and some of the incidents that we've been talking about in the last couple of days, where there have been shootings, is this part of what he's trying to do, or is he reacting to it? Which comes first?

BERGEN: Well, that's an interesting question. There are other opposition leaders, obviously, who are intent on overthrowing the Saudi government. One of them is based in London, Dr. Saad al-Fagih, who runs something called the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia. He has called for protests in the past in the streets of Riyadh, and those protests have happened.

If, indeed, these protests go forward today in Saudi Arabia, this is pretty extraordinary. Public demonstrations do not take place in Saudi Arabia. There are no rights for free speech or free assembly in the kingdom.

So all of this does not necessarily bode particularly well for the Saudi royal family.

SANCHEZ: Peter Bergen with his insight, following the story for many, many years now. Good enough to join us here and share some of that with us. Peter, we thank you for that.

BERGEN: Thank you, Rick.

KAGAN: Moving on to Iraq, the Bush administration is pressing the U.N. to send more election monitors to that country. The request came at a meeting between outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. chief Kofi Annan in Washington this morning.

Right now, the U.N. plans just about 25 election observers in Iraq. The small U.N. staff in Iraq is training several thousand Iraqi election workers.

The oil-for-food program for Iraq also came up today. It is under investigation for bribery and fraud. Some in Congress have called on Annan to resign over the scandal.

His trip today was designed in part to shore up U.S. support. But Annan noticeably did not get an invite to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: I don't feel snubbed. I will be seeing the national security adviser. And we have lots of technical issues to discuss.

And the president and I have met on many occasions, and we also do talk on the phone. And so I don't feel that if I come to Washington and we don't get the chance to meet, I should feel offended or snubbed. This is the nature of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Former fed chairman Paul Volcker is conducting an investigation of the oil-for-food scandal. Congress also has its own probe under way.

Saddam Hussein met with one of his defense lawyers this morning. That is the first time that has happened since U.S. troops captured him a year ago. Saddam is expected to face a war crimes trial sometime in 2005 or later.

Today's meeting with his counsel is said to have run four hours. In an interview last hour with CNN International, another Saddam attorney talked about his notorious client and his legal challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISSAM GHAZZAWI, SADDAM HUSSEIN'S ATTORNEY: President Saddam Hussein is still the president of Iraq from the legal point of view, because the war against Iraq is illegal and was -- that was announced by the secretary-general. And you know that.

And the war must -- would have been legal if Iraq attacked the United States and the United States retaliated. And that hasn't happened. The other case would have made the war legal is to have Security Council resolution under occupancy. That's what you didn't get from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Saddam Hussein's legal team is actually an Army of lawyers. There are 20 lead attorneys named by his wife. Fifteen hundred volunteer lawyers are also helping out his case.

SANCHEZ: Now to that equipment shortage we've been telling you about in Iraq and a senator who is now seeking clemency for two of the Army reservists there.

See, they were court-martialed and went to prison, in fact, for scavenging parts from vehicles to try and keep their unit moving to Iraq.

Chief Warrant Officer Darrell Birt was one of those punished. And now that lack of proper equipment for troops has made headlines. He says he wants his name cleared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL BIRT, U.S. ARMY: What we took was two trucks and two trailers, trailers to pull behind them, and a cargo. Just one that would carry stuff, which was eventually made into a gun truck for us. And we took one other truck, which was used for spare parts, because the supply system being broke the way it was, we weren't getting the spare parts to keep our vehicles on the road, which were on the road daily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Once again, because of that, Birt was dishonorably discharged and has lost his civilian job over the court-martial, as well.

And this, a third Republican senator is chiming in now with criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Maine's Susan Collins says that the lack of armored Humvees in Iraq is, in her word, "troubling."

She joins senators John McCain and Chuck Hagel, suggesting that Rumsfeld has mismanaged the war. Collins says it appears that the Pentagon failed to do everything it could to step up production.

And our own Barbara Starr is reporting now that the Pentagon is scrambling for a fix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By shifting funds around and accelerating some production lines, the Army hopes it now has a handle on the armor crisis, but officials are warning it will still take months to have a completed armored fleet of trucks and Humvees operating inside Iraq.

BRIG. GEN. JEFFREY SORENSON, DEPUTY FOR ACQUISITION: This is not Wal-mart. As we've gone through, this is a very detailed process in terms of trying to get this capability.

STARR: The current plan, to spend $4.1 billion over the next six to eight months to finish armoring 32,000 vehicles needed in the theater.

Officials insist they are working as fast as they can. For example, even if they manufactured armored bolt-on plates faster, workers can only install them so fast.

SORENSON: If we can get some of these vehicles sooner there to theater, whether it's a day, a week or two weeks, any additional more capability that we can get there will save more lives.

STARR: The Army says they are getting all the money they need.

SORENSON: Money has not been an object. Any time we've asked for money from either the Department of Defense, the Army or the Hill, it has not been an issue.

STARR: But almost two years after the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon now says just 60 percent of the vehicles in the country are armored. And an acknowledgement from a senior officer, again, that it is tough to counter the changing tactics of the insurgent's roadside bombs.

LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, CENTCOM DEPUTY COMMANDER: They may use doorbells today to blow these things up. They may use remote controls from toys tomorrow, and as we adapt, they adapt. And we have been hoping that our technology would be more effective than it has been.

STARR (on camera): The hope now: 98 percent of the Humvees will be armored by March; the truck fleet will be protected by early summer. But military officials are strongly emphasizing that there is no silver bullet against the changing tactics of the insurgency.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Lighter moment, we go to New York City, show you a live picture of the New York Mets holding a news conference to announce their latest team member. It looks like they have, indeed, struck a deal with Pedro Martinez.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner is on hand. We expect to hear from him in a moment.

We'll also talk about how, you know what, not everybody in the baseball world thinks that this is a great idea. That's coming up.

SANCHEZ: And most people thought if he was going to a New York team it would have been the Yankees, right?

KAGAN: Yes, but way to stick it to the Yankees.

SANCHEZ: They're usually the ones who steal star players.

We're going to be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: And we go live to New York. You are looking at the newest pitcher for the New York Mets, three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, inking a four-year deal worth over $50 million, leaving the world champion Boston Red Sox.

A lot of people thinking not the best deal. The Mets looking for some stars. They're starting a cable channel in a couple years, an so they're looking to kind of up their team. They haven't done very well at all the last few years, three years, in fact.

And Pedro was able to make this deal without taking an MRI on his shoulder, which if you listen to any sports talk radio, people think the Mets are nuts for doing that.

SANCHEZ: Well, you know what's interesting? He likes to throw the ball inside, right? And in the National League that means he has to hip mount. KAGAN: That's right. Because...

SANCHEZ: To put it inside.

KAGAN: Yes. Guess what? A little taste of your own medicine there.

Putting on the new uniform for the Mets, No. 45, the same number he had when he was with the Boston Red Sox. We were looking to hear a few comments from Pedro Martinez but...

SANCHEZ: But he's into picture taking.

KAGAN: It's all about the picture, telling a thousand words. And the smile on his face. The Mets look happy; he looks happy. We'll see if it all works out. Spring training, we'll have a pitchers and catchers report in, what, probably six weeks.

SANCHEZ: Spring is in the air.

KAGAN: In Florida.

SANCHEZ: Certainly have more on that if need be.

KAGAN: That we will.

Meanwhile, outgoing homeland security director Tom Ridge says that a national policy to protect the nation's cargo is a major priority. This morning, Ridge kicking off a two-day summit on cargo security in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ... terrorist might seek to exploit. These new defenses begin thousands of miles away before a container is even loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for our shores, from the 24-hour rule, that provides advance cargo manifests for all U.S.-bound containers, to the container security initiative that has U.S. customs and border inspectors stationed in 32 international ports.

These programs enable us to target and screen cargo and pinpoint any high-risk shipments before a ship ever leaves port.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: In the aftermath of 9/11, the government pushed hard to find the terrorists by any means possible. And that includes the use of confidential informants and string operations.

Several cases are making their way through the courts. As we hear from CNN's Deborah Feyerick, they are prompting some new questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The indictments read like a thriller.

In one case, a self-described arms dealer, Hemant Lakhani, smuggles a missile launcher into the United States. The target, American planes. The buyer, an FBI informant posing as a Somali terrorist.

In another case, a pizza shop owner, Mohammed Hossain, is given $50,000. He's told it's the proceeds from the sale of the missile launcher. His job, launder the money by writing checks from his business. The imam from his mosque allegedly witnesses the deal.

Says his lawyer...

TERENCE KINDLON, YASSIN AREF'S ATTORNEY: This case smells like a rat.

FEYERICK: Two plots, two strings, both orchestrated by the government using confidential informants. It's part of a growing pattern with experts predicting many more stings in the future.

Andy McCarthy, a former prosecutor, used a sting which helped convict terrorist sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman in the 1995 plot to blow up New York bridges and tunnels. McCarthy says, used right, stings are important law enforcement tools.

ANDY MCCARTHY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Anybody who says that they'll take money in order to facilitate these attacks is a dangerous person, you know, whether he's Osama bin Laden incarnate or he's a low level person.

FEYERICK: In the case of the alleged missile smuggler, Hemant Lakhani, New Jersey U.S. attorney called him a significant national arms dealer. The sting praised at the highest levels.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the fact that we're able to sting this guy is a pretty good example of what we're doing in order to protect the American people.

CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE, U.S. ATTORNEY, NEW JERSEY DISTRICT: The president has us mandated now to catch them before they commit the crime in the area of terrorism. So it's a whole new way of thinking and doing business.

FEYERICK (on camera): As for defense arguments, lawyers for each party say the stings are nothing more than entrapment. All parties have pleaded not guilty, and critics say the government is using these stings to go after easy marks.

LAURA MURPHY, ACLU: It doesn't make us safer. If the government is using this dragnet approach and not following tried and true law enforcement methods, they're spending less time following up on people who are actually terrorists.

FEYERICK (voice-over): A study by Syracuse University found of 184 terrorism prosecutions, the majority of defendants, 171, received a year or less in prison. MURPHY: The government is interested in ramping up the number of terrorism prosecutions it engages in without adequately figuring out whether these are legitimate terrorism prosecutions.

FEYERICK: A jury's now being seated to hear the case against the alleged missile smuggler. As for the pizza shop owner and the imam who allegedly laundered money, their trial is expected late next year. In the meantime, they're out on bail.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: There are some security concerns at one of the nation's largest airports.

KAGAN: A fake bomb managed to make it not only onto an airplane, we'll tell you where it ended up.

SANCHEZ: Also, an ancient source of healing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the medical benefits of the Dead Sea baths. That's right. Right here, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time to do the "Buzz on the Web." And there's plenty of it. It's all about the latest pop culture trends of 2004. No surprise that fashion and style are topping the list. AOL Online advisor Regina Lewis has a rundown of 2004's greatest hits.

And you know, as I was preparing for this segment, the one thing I couldn't wait to ask you is, what an Ugg is.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISOR: We'll get to that. Brace yourself.

But clearly the Internet is a lightning rod for trends. It makes the biggies bigger. And if you dig deep enough -- you're way behind on Uggs -- it can also tip you off to what's next. And who doesn't want to know that?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS (voice-over): Hot on the web in 2004? Cell phones remain on top of the must-have gadget list. And now, a new "Billboard" list for downloadable ring tones.

Good-bye film: digital cameras came in second, and iPods not just a fad. MP3s came in No. 3.

Those furry Uggs were the No. 1 fashion phenom. First the boots. Then the slippers and handbags.

Denim was big in 2004, and in the denim department the oldest jeanmaker, Levi's, came out on top, but it got a lot of competition from newcomers Lucky and 7. Fitting into those jeans, the duel of the diets, no carbs to low carbs, as the South Beach Diet, Atkins and Dr. Phil were the biggest gainers in the losing weight game.

And tattoos were hotter than hot. Designs and "I did it" photos making a permanent web mark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS: So you getting the Ugg thing now, Rick? You with us?

SANCHEZ: It's like an Eskimo boot, right?

LEWIS: They're shearling (ph) lined. Daryn, we've got to help him out like this. They're beautiful. They're selling out. You've got to put that on your Christmas list for your wife.

KAGAN: They live in Miami.

LEWIS: You know what, though? They're from Australia. They're from Australia. They started in Santa Barbara. Miami's not an issue.

KAGAN: OK.

LEWIS: But the tattoos was what struck me. You see a lot of those in Miami. People searching for tattoo designs. The most popular is tribal art. I did a little digging on that, thinking it must have some meaning. It's totally random. With a few exceptions, it means nothing. People just like the look.

And bubbling up, perhaps a precursor to 2005...

SANCHEZ: Don't tell me. Don't tell me: tattoo removal parlors.

LEWIS: Right. There you go. You made up for the Ugg thing.

SANCHEZ: Everything that's up goes down. Right?

KAGAN: Or comes off.

SANCHEZ: You're wonderful, Regina. Thanks for bringing that to us.

LEWIS: Sure.

KAGAN: We're going to check in on the headlines just ahead. Also a story to warm your heart.

SANCHEZ: We'll have it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone tried to do something destructive, but God has taken it and he's turned it into something very positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: This is a wonderful story. It's an amazing community response to a crime that literally threatened Christmas and the people affected by it. We're back with this and much more after just a little quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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