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American Morning

Saddam Hussein on Trial; Securing the Border; Tornado Damage; Holiday Shopping Surge?; Trapped in Limon

Aired November 28, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Soledad O'Brien.
A developing story in Iraq where the trial of Saddam Hussein is back on, the former dictator already challenging the presiding judge. We're going to take you live to Baghdad for complete coverage of this morning's proceedings.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Those proceedings have adjourned for an hour. We'll get right back to them in just a little bit.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

President Bush is done with his Thanksgiving break, and now it's time to talk tough about immigration and border control. We'll have a live preview of the president's speech a little later today.

S. O'BRIEN: And severe weather has us on alert this morning. From twisters tearing through the south and the Midwest to snow in the mountains and across the plains, thousands of travelers are stuck. We're going to tell you what you can expect on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: It's kind of early, isn't it? Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome, everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: I think my vacation was one hour short.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it was, in fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Matter of fact.

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome. We are coming to you an hour earlier than usual, because AMERICAN MORNING, starting today, begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. So, no, your clocks are not wrong.

M. O'BRIEN: We're glad you are with us. And we'll see you every day, every morning at 6:00 a.m.

A truly remarkable scene under way in Baghdad, they have just adjourned in that courtroom in the Green Zone, but the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others under way once again, charge of crimes against humanity.

Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad. He's been watching it for us.

Aneesh, a remarkable scene. ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some incredible images, Miles, this trial. This second session began some two hours ago. A defiant and confident Saddam Hussein again appearing in court. The eight defendants were brought in one by one.

Aside from Saddam Hussein and one other defendant, all are wearing the traditional Arabic headscarves. On October 19 that was a point of contention. The defendants requested that. The judge conceded that point.

They entered the courtroom and then they went through procedural issues. The first was adding on Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. Attorney General, on to the defense team. That sparked a heated exchange between Saddam Hussein and the chief judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADDAM HUSSEIN, DEPOSED IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): Mr. Judge, I don't want you to (INAUDIBLE). I want you to order -- I want you to order them. They are in our -- on our land. I will -- you have the servants, you are an Iraqi and there are foreigners and occupiers and invaders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: And alluding there, Saddam Hussein, to what we can expect in future defense statements, questioning the legitimacy of the court by questioning the occupation, the invasion back in 2003. Now Ramsey Clark was eventually sworn in.

We also saw a moment of pause for the two defense lawyers who had been killed, assassinated in the six-week period between the first trial session and today.

And then we heard the first witness testimony from a man named Wadah al-Sheikh, a former high level intelligence officer under Saddam Hussein. He began in detail explaining what happened on July 8, 1982 when Saddam survived that assassination attempt, laying blame so far only to Awad Bander, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court. That witness has since died. He was critically ill, which is why they took that testimony in the interim period.

We're in a break now. We're expecting the video feed on a half- hour delay, Miles, to begin shortly.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, a couple of things. First of all, Ramsey Clark, what's his role there? Is he actually a defense attorney or is he an advisor or sort of both?

RAMAN: It seems, at the moment, he'll be a bit of both. He's been advising this defense team from back in the U.S. for some time. He arrived in Baghdad yesterday. The only stipulation in the statute of the Iraqi High Tribunal is that the lead defense attorney has to be an Iraqi, so any of the others can be non-Iraqi. So he has been sworn in, it seems, as a lawyer. The statements he made preceding his arrival here were that he would be dealing specifically with the security situation, questioning whether this trial can go forward given what the situation here is on the ground. But he does, of course, bring a sense of international credibility to a defense team that had long said they did not have equitable training to the prosecution in terms of how to try an international case in this Iraqi court -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, Aneesh, we've been concerned an awful lot about security here. Two defense attorneys have been assassinated since that first trial some five weeks ago. And now we know about this plot focusing on one of the leading judges in this tribunal. Tell us what we know about it this morning.

RAMAN: Iraqi police saying they brought in to custody, after some surveillance, a former member of Saddam's Mukhabarat, the intelligence service. They had been following him. They found on him, they say, evidence that he was planning some sort of plot to kill Raad Johi, the chief investigative judge of the Iraqi High Tribunal, currently the spokesman.

They have also arrested five other men. They say those men, though, could be released as early as today. But it does signify, perhaps, that other plots have been in the works, not just to kill the defense lawyers, as you say two of them assassinated in this six-week period, but also now the judges involved -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman who is watching it for us in Baghdad.

As we say, about an hour recess. And as soon as that trial gets back under way we'll begin sharing it with you as that happens.

Morning -- Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Yes, I'm still here.

M. O'BRIEN: You're still here.

COSTELLO: Don't worry, I am.

M. O'BRIEN: It's early and she's here.

COSTELLO: As always.

All right, good morning, everyone.

President Bush is talking borders this week. He heads to Tucson, Arizona today where he'll give a speech on immigration, border security and enforcement. He'll also talk about a temporary worker program allowing illegal immigrants to obtain legal status. We're going to take you live to Washington and Bob Franken for more on that in five minutes.

Jose Padilla could be arraigned in a Miami, Florida courtroom today. The Bush administration labeled Padilla an enemy combatant three years ago. That designation denied him normal access to the nation's courts. Padilla is now facing charges he trained as a terrorist.

Another trial of high interest, Joseph Smith, the man convicted of killing an 11-year-old Florida girl will be back in court today. Smith was convicted of abducting, raping and killing Carlie Brucia. Video of her abduction caught by security camera was shown to the jury during Smith's trial. The jury will hear arguments to decide whether to recommend Smith be executed.

It's a lot of drivers -- driver fatigue and it's being cited as the likely contributor to a Greyhound bus crash in Santa Maria, California. Two people killed, one of them a pregnant woman, several other passengers injured. The driver could face charges.

And get ready to go shopping again with your mouse this time. It is Cyber Monday. This is a big day for online shopping. National retailers estimate that about 40 percent of consumers with access to the Internet will be searching for online holiday bargains. Last year more than 11 million workers went online on the Monday after Thanksgiving to look for that something special. We'll have much more on this with Carrie Lee just ahead.

And I said workers. That means people were shopping at work.

S. O'BRIEN: Well you know you wonder why Monday?

M. O'BRIEN: Just (ph) (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Your Internet connection is so much better at work than at home, come on.

COSTELLO: Exactly. It's faster.

S. O'BRIEN: Please.

M. O'BRIEN: High speed access, yes.

COSTELLO: And what better thing to do in between the times that you have to work.

S. O'BRIEN: But you'd think -- but you know today they have the most men. It peters out over to Christmas.

COSTELLO: I'm going to go shop right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Go to -- here, don't go, here you just use this.

COSTELLO: Sit here and shop.

M. O'BRIEN: I just want to know where my Xbox 360 is, that's all I want to know.

S. O'BRIEN: We got, Carol and I,...

M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to be online all day today to have one.

S. O'BRIEN: Carol and I hooked you up. M. O'BRIEN: You did?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: We waited in line for hours at Best Buy.

M. O'BRIEN: You did not.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: At 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time we were out there.

S. O'BRIEN: No, you're right, we did not.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to other stories this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We've been talking about the president. He's on the road today in Arizona discussing what has become an emotional issue for many Americans, immigration and border security.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is live for us in Washington, D.C. this morning.

Hey, Bob, good morning to you. Why the focus on the border security today?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it's an emotional issue, as you point out, particularly for those in the more conservative wing of his own party. The president, of course, has recently realized the potency that that particular wing of the party can have.

But in any case, he wants to reassure people that he's going to be tough when it comes to immigration. At the same time, coming up with programs that please business. He's going to be speaking in Tucson, rather. He's going to talk about a program that would include the use of technology to secure the borders, new technology. Also, an effort to return illegal immigrants to the Interior of Mexico, not along the border.

And then that temporary worker program. That is the one that has so many conservatives in an uproar. It would create a three-year visa for people to work. Then it could be extended for three years. And then the person would have to go back to his home country before applying again. There are many who believe that is far, far too lenient. And that is the problem that the president has -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that is the one I thought you were going to say that is the most controversial point that the president is making, right?

FRANKEN: Yes, exactly. That is the one that the conservatives say allows too much latitude and also is going to provide all kinds of security risks. The president will point out that he just signed a homeland security bill that provides for 1,000 new border patrol agents.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning. Bob, as always, thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check the weather now, Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Center with the latest on that.

Good morning -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Jacqui Jeras, you want to listen up to this next report. The holiday weekend came to a close with severe weather all throughout the south and Midwest. A line of tornadoes ripping through eastern Kansas and Arkansas. At least one person dead this morning.

Michelle Rupp of our affiliate KATV joining us live now from Morrilton, Kansas. That's about 50 miles from Little Rock.

Michelle, what's the scene there this morning?

MICHELLE RUPP, KATV-TV REPORTER: Hi, good morning, Miles. We are, we're just west of Little Rock.

And we are in front of a lumber company here, Hickson (ph) Lumber Company. And obviously as we get closer to daybreak and get some daylight, we'll be able to really see the impact of the damage. But there is twisted metal, power lines, insulation, lumber all over the place. It's just been completely destroyed here one of their buildings. They actually had three employees inside the building at the time the twister hit. They are fine, did not receive any injuries. But some of the managers here at the lumber yard actually said that they described hearing the proverbial freight train and they knew exactly what it was and tried to take cover.

As you mentioned, there was one reported or one confirmed death. Evidently, when this twister hit, police are telling us that it blew debris across Interstate 40. At the time there was a vehicle that was traveling on Interstate 40 and much of the debris slammed into that vehicle and unfortunately one person that we know of right now has been confirmed dead. We do not have any reports of anyone missing in the immediate area.

Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, that's Michelle Rupp from our affiliate KATV. Of course we know that's Arkansas, not Kansas.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: From geography lesson Monday back from vacation, Arkansas from Kansas.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to need a couple of passes this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

S. O'BRIEN: It's hard to spend all that time on a beach and have your, you know...

M. O'BRIEN: It's tough. It is so tough.

S. O'BRIEN: ... brain still working.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. Must have got some sand in my ears.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the man who helped bring New Orleans back from the brink. We're going to talk with General Russel Honore this morning. It's an interview you're only going to see here on CNN.

M. O'BRIEN: So don't put the remote down now.

Also, is there an exit strategy for Iraq? New talk about a plan to start bringing some troops home for Christmas.

S. O'BRIEN: And big spenders heading to the malls and the shopping centers this holiday weekend. We'll get the full outlook for retailers and the economy too just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us, we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: It's just dark.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's Monday.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

It's 6:16 here on the East Coast, and that's because AMERICAN MORNING starts an hour earlier. Welcome, everybody.

Lots to tell you about the Saddam Hussein trial. We are following this. The case resumed today. The trial resumed today for Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants. Lots happening, in fact. Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. Attorney General, has been added to the case. And we heard some testimony as well.

Let's get right to Carol Costello. She's monitoring this for us.

Good morning.

COSTELLO: I am indeed. As you said, the first witness is taking the stand this morning in the Saddam Hussein trial. The proceedings against Hussein and his seven co-defendants resumed just about three hours ago. That happened after a five-week delay. The trial just adjourned for about an hour. And of course we'll bring you much more when the trial picks up again at 7:00 Eastern.

An American is believed to be among four aid workers taken hostage in Iraq, two others are from Canada, another is from Britain. It's not clear which agency they were working for, but apparently they went missing on Saturday. And we'll bring you details on this when we get them in.

A search-and-rescue operation after a strong earthquake in southern Iran, authorities say at least 10 people are dead, several villages have been flattened. Helicopters and military personnel have been deployed.

And the former so-called enemy combatant Jose Padilla could appear in court today. You'll remember Padilla, he was suspected of plotting to set off a radioactive dirty bomb. The Justice Department charged him last week three years after his arrest. He could face arraignment in a Miami courtroom later today.

President Bush is heading back to work after a holiday weekend with the family. The president will leave his Crawford ranch today for Tucson, Arizona where he is expected to give an address on illegal immigration. Aides say the speech will focus on three areas, border security, enforcement and a temporary worker program.

And some drivers finally heading home today. Doesn't that look terrible? Their Thanksgiving travel was delayed by a giant snowstorm. Blizzard-like conditions and freezing rain hit Interstate 70 this weekend from outside of Denver to the Kansas line. Parts of the highway were absolutely shut down. As many as four -- as much as four inches of snow made driving very difficult. There were reports of some accidents, but everyone appears to be OK.

Jacqui Jeras, they're just stuck, a lot of them in Limon, Colorado, where there's not much.

JERAS: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: At least we all are sharing in the misery.

JERAS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Well, thank you, Jacqui.

Back over to you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thanks a lot.

We were watching the shoppers on Black Friday. So how did retailers do over the weekend's shopping extravaganza?

Carrie Lee is joining us this morning. She's got the financial update.

Good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad, thanks.

Well shoppers opened their wallets as reliably as ever this Thanksgiving weekend, sales up 22 percent over a year ago, according to the National Retail Federation, to just under $28 billion. Online sales the day after Thanksgiving alone also gaining 22 percent to just over $300 million. Discounters did very well moving things like electronics and home retail -- home furnishing items. Also, some luxury goods retailers, the names like Coach (ph), Saks Fifth Avenue have reported strong sales as well.

Now one bit of dissension here, there's a company called Shopper Track and they look at all the stores and strip malls and chains, things like that. They actually reported sales down almost 1 percent, but they exclude big names like Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is saying that November sales so far right in line with expectations about 4 percent. So, so far, looking pretty good.

S. O'BRIEN: So good news for retailers.

LEE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Carrie, thank you very much.

LEE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll check in with you again.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Carrie.

We are of course watching the Saddam Hussein trial. There was some talk just not too long ago that the defense team would boycott, but they are there in the courtroom. The trial, once again, under way. In a break right now. As soon as it gets back going, we have got to be careful, because we're on a 20-minute tape delay here, but we will let you know when it's back under way. And we'll bring you those pictures as they happen.

Then we'll ask the question, is it time to cut and run in Iraq? Some would say so, but the person you're about to meet, kind of an interesting person to say so, a former Army lieutenant general has some harsh words for the White House. He says, yes, now is the time to cut and run.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(THE BOD SQUAD) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We have interesting musicality here on the new additional hour of AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: I love that.

M. O'BRIEN: We're glad of that.

Hey, you know did you notice something different coming out of Baghdad today on the Saddam front?

COSTELLO: About the cage?

M. O'BRIEN: The cage. Let's look at the cage. How about this morning's cage first?

S. O'BRIEN: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. This morning's...

S. O'BRIEN: Talking about the trial of Saddam Hussein.

M. O'BRIEN: We're talking about the trial -- yes, thank you. Thank you for...

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Now you notice this guy kind of a brownish thing going on there with the cage thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And you could call that a railing. It's really not a cage, obviously. Now let's go back to the previous, there was a white. Now that looked a little more cage-like.

S. O'BRIEN: Sure did. And one has to wonder, gee, why would people want to go ahead and paint that?

M. O'BRIEN: Or is it a crib, we wonder? But the point is a new veneer to this trial at the very least.

COSTELLO: Yes. And what point that makes, we don't really know, but we'll try to find out.

M. O'BRIEN: No, makes no point whatsoever.

COSTELLO: In fact, we're talking to Aneesh Raman all morning long live from Baghdad.

But it is time for the "Coffee Talk" segment. There's a new feature here on AMERICAN MORNING, so let's get right to it.

Imagine this, Thanksgiving is over and it's time to get back to work and school, so you pack the kids into the minivan or the SUV and away you go, or so you think. Instead, you hit this, a blizzard in the Midwest stretching from Kansas into Colorado. Now you and several dozen of your new best friends are stranded.

And that's where Woody comes in. Woody McClendon is the manager of the Best Western Limon Inn in, of course, Limon, Colorado.

Hey, good morning, Woody. Woody, are you awake?

WOODY MCCLENDON, MANAGER, BEST WESTERN LIMON INN: Yes.

COSTELLO: I hear Woody now. Shoot, that scared me. A lot of people are stuck in Limon and Limon is not a very big place, so are you booked to capacity?

MCCLENDON: Yes, we are.

COSTELLO: Yes, we are. Anybody sleeping in the lobby?

MCCLENDON: No, not this time.

COSTELLO: Actually, that's because Limon, the town of Limon, plans for this. And actually a lot of people, when the hotels get filled up, they move on to churches. Tell me about that.

MCCLENDON: Well we have a group of churches and their organizations called Ministerial Alliance. And they just take turns opening their doors to stranded travelers.

COSTELLO: And I think that's terrific. And thank you for hosting so many people trapped in Limon today. And to the churches, if anybody is watching, and do churches have TVs now? I bet they do.

S. O'BRIEN: Sure.

COSTELLO: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course they do. They're all...

COSTELLO: So there are all those people sleeping on the pews.

M. O'BRIEN: Good. Absolutely.

COSTELLO: It'll be over very soon.

Here is an immigration issue President Bush may want to address today. It seems that the uniforms worn by the Border Patrol are made in Mexico. These are worn by the guards on the U.S. side of the border. One Texas congressman says that would be the perfect disguise for border jumpers coming in from the south. So now other lawmakers want to make it a law to buy American-made uniforms.

S. O'BRIEN: Still think something Lou Dobbs should be covering, if you ask me.

M. O'BRIEN: I think there will be a special hour tonight on Lou Dobbs.

COSTELLO: I know, exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.

M. O'BRIEN: Broken borders, broken uniforms.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, he was the man that New Orleans turned to for results. But what's General Russel Honore up to now? We check in with him exclusively on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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