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CNN Live Sunday
Fire Outside of London Continues 12 Hours After Explosion; Insurgents More Skilled at Deadly Bomb Making in Iraq; Major Speech by President Bush Tomorrow; Recreation Revived in New Orleans; No Decision by Schwarzenegger Today on Stanley "Tookie" Williams
Aired December 11, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll rises to 107 in the airline crash in Nigeria. Witnesses say the airplane exploded after crash landing, for reasons that are not yet known. The dead include 65 Catholic school students who were returning to their homes for the holidays. At the moment, there are three survivors.
And lawyers for L.A. gang founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams have appealed today to the California State Supreme Court for a stay of execution. Williams is set to die on Tuesday for the murders of four people. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to rule on possible clemency.
And a second strong earthquake in less than a week has shaken parts of Papua New Guinea. There are no current reports of damages, deaths or injuries. The quake had a magnitude of 6.5 when it struck early Monday in Asia.
More than 15 hours later, authors in England still say the blasts at a major fuel depot appear to have been accidental even though they followed a call by al Qaeda to attack oil installations. The explosions were immense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard a massive bang, like an explosion.
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And at this hour, massive orange fireballs light the night sky north of London. CNN's Becky Anderson is standing by live near the scene of the fire near England's Luton Airport. Becky?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And the investigation continues here. The police are saying that they do think this was an accident. But the anti-terror branch are involved in what will be a very long and torturous investigation. The flames that you see behind me here to my left shoulder are from a roaring inferno.
This as you say has been going on now for 12 hours at one of Britain's largest fuel storage sites. And the police have just told us here that they will begin to try and fight this fire at midnight tonight. That's about two hours from now.
They do think and they have been telling us that they thought that this would have to burn itself out effectively. There are some 72 million liters of diesel, unleaded petrol and various other types of fuel in the site, which is on fire.
At present now, three explosions ripped through this site at about 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Some 43 people have been injured, two still in hospital, quite fortuitous. But the timing of this was so early on a Sunday morning that this site which carries or stores at least 5 percent of the fuel that is used in the U.K. was pretty much empty because of the early hour on a Sunday morning.
Did speak to some people who said they saw tankers coming out of the site just after the explosion, which was scorched on their backs. So the tankers had been coming up. They'd been filling and they'd been leaving that site when this explosion happened. As I say, about 43 people injured, two of them still suffering from respiratory problems. And there's a huge plume of what looks like very toxic smoke still over this site. People 40 kilometers away heard the explosion down in London. Lisa.
SYLVESTER: Becky Anderson reporting with those incredible pictures. Thank you very much for that report.
The fates of four Western hostages in Iraq are still unknown at this hour. Their captors who made a video of the hostages had set a Saturday deadline for the release of Iraqi prisoners. Otherwise, they threatened to kill the four men. However, there's been no word from the abductors since that deadline passed. Last night, the daughter of one hostage issued this statement.
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KATHERINE FOX, HOSTAGE'S DAUGHTER: On November 26th, 2005, my father Tom Fox was taken hostage in Iraq. He is there as a representative of Christian peacemaker teams who was a long-standing guest of your country. Both my father and I believe that the Iraqi people have legitimate concerns regarding the U.S. government's occupation and presence in Iraq. We believe that these grievances however, will not be resolved by taking my father's life.
As he and our family have previously stated, my father is not willing to sacrifice his dedication to the Iraqi people for any armed assistance from the U.S. government. Our entire family is making a personal appeal to those who have taken him. Your recent extension of the time line verifies my father's belief that the Iraqi people are honorable and just.
This extension indicates a willingness to discuss the safe release of my father. In order to secure his release for which you are responsible, my family as well as Christian peacemaker teams are willing to discuss this matter at any time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVESTER: CNN will bring you any new developments on the hostages when more information becomes available. All of Iraq's borders have been sealed to incoming traffic and curfews are in effect along the borders. The increased security aims to minimize violence as Iraqis go to the polls this week at the country's next step toward democracy. Thursday's balloting will be to choose a permanent national assembly. It follows the ratification of a new constitution in October.
While security along the borders is a crucial precaution, the insurgents already inside Iraq are of the most concern. That's because their bomb making abilities have become more sophisticated and more deadly. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has an exclusive report.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When this vehicle was blown apart by an improvised explosive device, an IED, debris flew in every direction. IEDs remain the number one killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. But look at this picture provided to CNN by the army. It's one of the first images shown publicly of the damage caused by a new type of IED, a so-called explosively form projectile that can penetrate U.S. armored vehicles.
The energy of an EFP blast is focused in one direction, right at the vehicle, leaving the armor full of blast holes. In this case, four soldiers were badly wounded. Lieutenant General Russel Honore who trained soldiers headed for Iraq, is one of the few talking about this type of danger.
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, COMMANDING GENERAL, FIRST ARMY: When the energy is concentrated in a small area, it projects out that metal and that metal can be effective against almost any armor, including the M- 1 tank.
STARR: In this photo from May, two explosively formed projectiles hit the door penetrating the armor. The driver was killed instantly. Another photo shows an attack against a contractor's armored vehicle by two of the new types of bombs. Army documents accompanying the photos call these weapons an extremely serious threat. The technology has been available for decades. Much of the information exists on the Internet. But it is new to Iraq. Here is how they are made.
One end of a steel pipe is sealed with a plate. Then the detonation turns the plate into a lethal dart that travels at a rate of more than a mile per second. It can penetrate four inches of armor from a distance of more than 300 feet according to the army. U.S. and British intelligence believes Iran and Hezbollah has now provided expertise to the insurgents to make the weapons. These new bombs have even been packaged inside foam and painted gray to match concrete. And they are set off using infrared devices much like you might find on an automatic garage door.
(on-camera): Perhaps most frightening? The army says these new bombs can be set in place by insurgents in less than two minutes. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
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SYLVESTER: The Bush White House also has a lot riding on the Iraqi elections. For that, let's go to CNN's Kathleen Koch in Washington. Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lisa, Americans have been troubled by the on going violence in Iraq, so the White House does believe that a smooth and peaceful election there on Thursday would help prove that the president's policies in Iraq are working. Now, Mr. Bush will be outlining another pillar of his Iraq strategy tomorrow in a major speech.
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KOCH (voice-over): It is a critical week in President Bush's battle to win support for his Iraq strategy. Monday in Philadelphia, he'll tout the political advantage there. Polls show the president's two previous speeches on his plan for Iraq may be bearing fruit. Not only have his job approval ratings gone up, but so has polling on his handling of Iraq. Still, some 68 percent of those surveyed don't believe President Bush has a clear plan for victory there. Members of both parties are conflicted on the path ahead.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'd love to believe the president when he makes these speeches but they don't mesh with reality. And we are looking at problems every day in Iraq in terms of the military situation and the security and the number of Americans that are killed and wounded.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: There is no political consensus in this country. Democrats or Republicans are struggling. We've lost our national unity when it comes to Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong.
KOCH: Some Republicans though bristled at a blunt statement by Democratic party chairman Howard Dean, turning it into an Internet attack ad.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R) ALABAMA: The leader of the party making those kind of statements are very, very damaging. They make our soldiers at greater risk. They undermine our credibility and make it more difficult to establish a good and decent government in Iraq.
KOCH: And the White House is counting on peaceful parliamentary elections in Iraq Thursday to allay concerns about the ongoing conflict. Still one Democrat wants a delegation of retired military leaders sent to assess progress there, particularly in training Iraqi forces.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: How quickly can it happen? What's a realistic assessment? We've been hearing overly optimistic assessments about Iraqization for a long time. That's why this distinguished delegation, retired military people, people who have generally been supportive of the war, the people who I've mentioned, let them come back and give an independent assessment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: So though many believe -- excuse me, so the President Bush Bush's Iraq strategy speeches are beginning to bear some fruit. Many believe that it will take more concrete proof to persuade more Americans that the situation there is improving. Lisa.
SYLVESTER: Kathleen, any more word on -- we always hear talk of a timetable and to tell us how long will the troops be there. Any indication that the White House is any closer to giving us a definitive answer?
KOCH: No Lisa, they certainly aren't. A hard and fast timetable is something they are definitely staying away from, believing that simply tips the U.S. hand to the insurgents in Iraq. There is wide agreement that after these elections if they're successful, there will be some downturn, some taking down of the number of U.S. forces. But beyond that, there are no hard and fast timetables.
SYLVESTER: Kathleen Koch reporting from the White House, thank you very much for that report.
And tonight at 8:00 Eastern, "CNN PRESENTS" takes a look at the 1,000 days preceding Thursday's historic election in Iraq.
He once played Robert De Niro's son in "A Bronx Tale," and now this actor is facing charges in the fatal shooting of a New York police officer. The latest on this tragic story ahead.
Also, relatives waited for months and months for word about their loved ones. Now forensic identification of many Hurricane Katrina victims finally gets underway.
And how potential terrorists could use the so-called diploma mills to their benefit and why security might be at stake. A CNN investigative report coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYLVESTER: Other headlines making news across America, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist predicts the White House and Senate will reach a compromise resulting in a ban on torture. Frist says negotiators are grappling with details on the limits of interrogating suspects. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says the two sides still are not close. Vice President Cheney wants an exemption for the CIA.
Thousands of mobile homes meant to house victims of Katrina are going to waste in Arkansas. Of the 20,000 trailers similar to these that were ordered by FEMA, fewer than 1,000 are being used according to FEMA statistics. They were ordered at a cost of more than half a billion dollars and now the government is paying to store them.
And fans and fellow comedians are remembering Richard Pryor. Red flowers and handwritten notes were left at Pryor's star on Hollywood's walk of fame. The ground breaking comic died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 65.
The New York police department is mourning one of its own. A police officer was shot and killed while trying to stop an apparent burglary. One of the two men the D.A. plans to charge in the shooting had a role in the mobster series "The Sopranos." Reporter Ellyn Marks from CNN affiliate WPIX has the story.
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ELLYN MARKS, REPORTER, WPIX (voice-over): Black and purple bunting again drapes a New York City police precinct. Twenty-eight- year-old Daniel Enchautegui thought he was safe at his Bronx home until he tried to stop a burglary at his neighbor's house.
CHARLIE AUSPERGER, NEIGHBOR: I feel bad. I mean, he's a young man.
MARKS: One of the suspected burglars, 29-year-old Lillo Brancato Jr, who played a mob wannabe in the hit TV drama "The Sopranos." Police Commissioner Kelly says the off duty officer heard glass breaking just after 5:00 this morning in the house next door.
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: He called 911 and gave a detailed report to the operator. His landlord heard the officer yell twice, police, don't move and then a series of gunshots.
MARKS: The officer was hit once in the chest right below the heart and though mortally wounded managed to empty his pistol, hitting both suspects several times. Police don't think Brancato, seen here shooting up a rival mobster on "The Sopranos" was the gunman who shot the cop dead. Another man, 48-year-old Steve Armento was caught running from the scene with the alleged murder weapon. Brancato, who was arrested in June for heroin possession, was found bleeding by this Dodge Durango. He and Armento were taken to Jacobi Medical Center, the same hospital where the officer died.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: This is a devastating example of the bravery and dedication of this police officer who had just finished his shift a few hours earlier.
MARKS: Lillo Brancato got his first break in a 1993 film directed by Robert De Niro. "A Bronx Tale" tells the story of a bus driver's son attracted to a mafia life. Brancato then appeared in more than a dozen films including "Crimson Tide." His adopted father a contractor owns this home in Yonkers. This neighbor remembers Brancato a little wild growing up.
FRANK SARDO, BRANCATO'S NEIGHBOR: He told me when he became an actor, he says if I make it big, he's says I'm going to replace everything I broke.
MARKS: Just four days ago, the city buried another New York City officer, Dillon Stewart, who also found the determination to go after the suspect who fatally shot him. And even though Daniel Enchautegui was not wearing his uniform, the mayor says his death will be classified in the line of duty. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Prosecutors are charging both suspects with murder. Armento is facing a first-degree murder charge. Brancato will be charged with second degree murder.
More than three months after Hurricane Katrina and many people still have no official word on the fate of their loved ones. Ahead, state and Federal officials take fire for being too slow in the identification process.
And the clock is ticking for Stanley "Tookie" Williams and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Will clemency be granted for the Crips co-founder? We'll have a live report.
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SYLVESTER: Each week at this time, we like to bring you some of the highlights of CNN's reporting from the past seven days. Tonight, two stories of New Orleans after Katrina. The first is silent bones and coaxing hem to whisper their names. The second is the sound of lives being revived in 4/4 time. We begin with CNN's Keith Oppenheim.
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KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Baton Rouge, lab technicians are packing bones. The bone fragments in these boxes hold the DNA of Hurricane Katrina victims and maybe, the answer to the question that has been pressing since Katrina happened three months ago. Who were these victims?
LOUIS CATALDIE, LOUISIANA MEDICAL EXAMINER: Now the samples are literally in the mail and that's a relief.
OPPENHEIM: The relief comes after weeks of anguish as relatives of victims were waiting for identification of the dead. Susie Eaton lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her 79-year-old mother Viola was a resident of New Orleans's ninth ward. Now, this is all that's left of Viola's home.
SUSIE EATON: She has not been officially been dead nor has she officially been alive so I really don't know.
OPPENHEIM: Susie Eaton has been trying to find out if her mother is even in the state morgue. She's been hoping a sample of DNA from the family would make a difference.
EATON: I think there should definitely be a better system and I think they should get the DNA process -- they should get it on the ball.
OPPENHEIM: For weeks it seemed like no one was on the ball. State and Federal officials fought over who would pay for the testing and three months after the hurricane struck, it hadn't begun. Meantime, there were nearly 300 unidentified bodies at the state morgue. Finally a resolution, FEMA agreed to pay. But with the good news, state medical examiner Louis Cataldie cautioned that DNA testing doesn't hold all the answers. It's effective only when there is a sample of the victim or a relative and a match can be made. He says at the state morgue, there are more than 100 cases where officials have no idea who the dead could be.
CATALDIE: These are people who were found on the streets, floating on the streets or people who ultimately were found out in fields after the water had gone down, have no location or have no identifiers. We've got 4,000 people saying they have missing loved ones. So ultimately we can probably get some matches there. They'll definitely be people that we'll never match.
OPPENHEIM: Still, DNA testing could quickly resolve 121 cases.
CATALDIE: I've got two situations in which I had entire families drowned in their homes and if I have one identified, I can subsequently identify the others and make those IDs.
OPPENHEIM: For some devastated families waiting as of today, 100 days for answers, identifying more of Katrina's dead will give them closure and assurance that they can finally say good-bye. Keith Oppenheim, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Pretty amazing. Well, music is the soul of New Orleans. It pulses through the city in jazz and blues and swing. Three months after Katrina, the darkened nightclubs and dancehalls are beginning to glow with life again. Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Sunday night at the Jefferson Orleans dancehall. And Pat Barberot is back where he belongs, leading the band just like he always has since 1940.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really great to see you guys again. And we want to say welcome home.
LAVANDERA: Hurricane Katrina left his dancehall silent for more than three months, but the glitter and shine is back. The dancers don their finest attire and polish jewels. The sound of swing is sweet, especially now.
WILLIAM WALSTEN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: If this place disappeared, we'd really be devastated. We waited a long time. I talk to a lot of people. We've been waiting a long time for this night. And we really are going to appreciate it, really from the bottom of our hearts.
CORLISS SCHMIDT, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Everybody loves Pat's music. It's the 1940 music, which we all grew up with during the wartime.
LAVANDERA: But Pat Barberot needed a little push to get his band on stage again. PAT BARBEROT, BIG BAND LEADER: A good friend of mine since World War II days, he called me and he said, in fact, I'm going to tell this tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said you can't wait. You got to set a date and get the club open.
LAVANDERA: These friends are seeing each other for the first time since the hurricane. They share sad stories.
SCHMIDT: Well, to tell you the truth is that I have a 1993 Buick and a cell phone. I said, that's all I have.
LAVANDERA: Corliss Schmidt's home was destroyed by more than six feet of flood water and mold. But getting her through the loss was the hope of finding a dress and a night of dancing.
SCHMIDT: So many people our age, we have nowhere else to go.
BARBEROT: This is a home to them once a week. But they look forward to this night. I hear the people tell me that, Pat, don't ever stop doing this. I said, well, one of these days I'll have to stop.
LAVANDERA: These dancers know the music can end any day. Hurricane Katrina reminded them to cherish each Sunday night as if it were their last. Ed Lavandera, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Some outstanding reporting there. Well, a quick way to an easy diploma could also help would be terrorists sneak into the U.S. Drew Griffin investigates and then the story of one man who lost everything, but his hope for the future.
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SYLVESTER: After a huge early morning blast, firefighters say this massive fire outside London may keep burning for another day or more. The oil depot explosions happened around dawn, injuring more than 40 people. So far investigators say it looks like an accident.
A big deal in the entertainment world. Paramount Pictures has agreed to purchase DreamWorks SKG for more than $1.5 billion. The deal also includes DreamWorks film library which includes Oscar- winners "Gladiator" and "American Beauty."
And a socialist doctor named Michelle Bachelet has taken an early lead in her attempt to become Chile's first woman president with about 13 percent of the ballots counted she has about 45 percent of the vote. She needs 50 percent to avoid a runoff.
In our CNN "Security Watch," a closer look at the growing underground industry of online universities offering degrees for a price. Despite concerns about academic fraud, it's a loophole that could be exploited by potential terrorists that has law enforcement officials alarmed. CNN's Drew Griffin investigates in another of our best of reports.
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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Abu Salsabil Hasan Omar's (ph) Master of Science degree in chemistry from Rochville University. Who is Omar? The federal government says he's an explosives and chemical weapons expert for the terrorist group al Qaeda. So how did this alleged terrorist with a $5 million bounty on his head earn a masters in chemistry from this American university? Well, we earned it for him. With $500 and an Internet connection. And the United States district attorney in Spokane, Washington, says there could be thousands of potential terrorist who have done what we just did.
U.S. ATTORNEY JIM MCDEVITT, E. DISTRICT, WASHINGTON STATE: This is a concern to us because this is one, not the only one, but one of many kinds of documents or kinds of things that you can use to, you know, gain credibility, build up your portfolio and maybe gain access into the country.
GRIFFIN: This past October, McDevitt and federal agents broke up what they alleged could be one of the largest diploma mills in the country. They say a couple living in this home outside Spokane, Washington ran the operation which awarded thousands of fake degrees from legitimate sounding schools. St. Regis University, James Monroe University and several others. The diplomas like the one we bought Abu Salsabil Hasan Omar all look real. Some coming with bold transcripts and certificates of accreditation from what looks like a government agency.
According to the U.S. attorney, anyone could log on and buy what appears to be an advanced degree. It sounded like just another scam until McDevitt found out that almost half the bogus degrees were being purchased overseas and mostly from so-called students in Saudi Arabia.
MCDEVITT: Terrorists and let's say al Qaeda who have proven themselves to be very, very patient, very, very intelligent, and are willing to go to great lengths to -- to gain entry or to do harm to the country.
GRIFFIN: There is no evidence a bogus diploma has been used by a potential terrorist to gain access to the country but McDevitt fears it is possible. H-1-B visas can be issued to anyone who is highly skilled and can get a job in the U.S. McDevitt is concerned a phony advanced degree could be the first step for someone in a terrorist sleeper cell. And to prove just how troublesome the problem is, Secret Service agents did what we did. Bought their own degree for a perfect terrorist candidate although theirs was fictional.
Mohammed Syed was the applicant. No formal education but years of chemical training and chemical engineering with the Syrian army. The Secret Service even added to Syed's application that he needed a degree quickly so he could find employment and obtain an H-1-B visa, allowing him to stay in the U.S. In less than a month, the imaginary Syrian army expert was notified James Monroe University was awarding him three advanced degrees in engineering and chemistry. All for $1277.
(on camera): What is surprising is just how this potential hole in homeland security was discovered. It turns out the fake university selling fake degrees were done in by a real physics professor from the fully accredited University of Illinois who was conducting more of his own investigation than a research project.
PROF. GEORGE GOLLIN, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: What happened was we were getting so much spam on university computers that it was actually interfering with day-to-day operations.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Professor George Gollin didn't like all those computer emails and pop up ads offering his students prestigious degrees from legitimate sounding colleges so one day, he called one of those phone numbers.
GOLLIN: There was an answering machine there. Not a real person. And I left my contact information so I could take the head off of some telemarketer when the person called back. But someone called me a few days later and gave me a sales pitch.
GRIFFIN: Gollin was intrigued. He had spent years gaining his advanced education the hard way and the thought of pop-up ads offering an easy way out was more than a little annoying. So he began to dig in. And what he found was a network of universities wrapped around the Saint Regis name.
GOLLIN: This was actually a large business. It's a couple hundred million a year. And that this is not just a small isolated kind of thing that's going on.
GRIFFIN: He thought it was all just a big scam. Then this native New Yorker began to think about something else, 9/11.
GOLLIN: This is really scaring me because I had tended to think of diploma mills as more of a consumer protection problem and seeing that this was a much better developed organization with much more, a much wider spread infrastructure with much broader practices, aims, alarmed me.
GRIFFIN: With Gollin's information, the U.S. attorney's office and the Secret Service launched a multi-state investigation. Eight people have been indicted so far, all have pleaded not guilty. And the U.S. attorney in Spokane says one ring that pumped out thousands and thousands of fake diplomas a year is shut down. The problem is, there are plenty more diploma mills on the Web willing to graduate anyone with a credit card.
Remember the degree we bought from Rochville University for a wanted terrorist? We tried to find Rochville. Sent emails to the site and got an automated response telling us our student counselor would contact us soon. It never happened. The diploma itself was mailed from the United Arab Emirates. Rochville-related Web sites and emails have links to Karachi, Pakistan, Sarasota, Florida, a Web hosting site in Atlanta and a Web billing address in this largely abandoned building in Dover, Delaware. We couldn't find evidence of Rochville University at any of these locations.
(on camera): This is as close as we have come to finding the university. Its domain name is registered to Mr. Joseph Lee in this apartment building outside of Boston. Suite 401. The problem is, nobody we could find ever hear of the university ever heard of Joseph Lee, and the manager says there's not even a suite by that number. As far as we know, Rochville is still out there, still willing to award degrees to anyone willing to pay, even a suspected al Qaeda bomb maker named Omar. Drew Griffin, CNN, Malden, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
In California, lawyers for death row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams have asked for a stay of execution. It's one of his last legal avenues to avoid his scheduled execution just two days from now. Meantime, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering a request for clemency. CNN's Kareen Wynter is standing by outside San Quentin Prison with more. Kareen?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Lisa. We're in a waiting mode right now, waiting for a possible decision from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that should come at the top of the hour. The governor will either make announcement regarding his clemency request, Williams' clemency request, will he grant that request or will he say that tomorrow may be the day.
Now what will happen in about 30 minutes from now, we'll call into a special news line. On that news line will be a recording as mentioned regarding that decision now. If a decision is made, members of the media who signed up for a special email that's linked to the governor's office will receive a statement on that ruling. It won't be anything too in depth. It will simply say what that ruling is.
The governor isn't expected to hold a news conference but Williams' attorneys are expected to do so as well as the Save "Tookie" Williams Committee. One of the things they told us that they wanted to discuss later today is something that happened just yesterday involving Williams' legal team. They basically filed a petition challenging his 1981 conviction and also again requesting that stay of execution.
In the meantime, it's been business as usual here outside the gates of San Quentin. There have been cars go in and out all day long. But tomorrow, tomorrow morning, it will be completely a different picture. That's because they're going to be closing off, blocking off the gate behind me, and putting out officers in front.
So again, in about half an hour from now, we'll be waiting that ruling. The decision and we're hearing that the governor has not made a decision today. We were in the same position, Lisa, yesterday around this time. Anxiously anticipating that. No decision today which means the governor will ponder this all important issue tomorrow. Now, the governor has up and until the very last minute technically two minutes until the time of execution to make a decision. His press office has been saying all along that would be unlikely that he wanted to make a decision before Monday actually. But as it turns out, that will not be the case. So we'll be standing by. That's the latest here. Lisa?
SYLVESTER: Kareen Wynter thank you very much for that report. Just to reiterate what Kareen Wynter just told us, we're hearing the same word here in our studio, that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be making a decision today. So we will have to continue to check back with him on that.
Well, granting clemency case is very complicated. In fact, it's been decades since a California governor has decided to spare the life of an inmate. Our Daryn Kagan examines the clemency issue in this CNN "Fact Check."
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DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The last California governor to grant clemency was Ronald Reagan in 1967. And in that case, the inmate had been brain damaged. During that period, clemency was also much more common. Nationwide, more than 200 inmates were spared from death sentences between 1960 and 1970. While clemency has only been granted 63 times in the last three decades.
That's not including the 167 inmates whose death sentences were commuted by the governor of Illinois in 2003. That was the story unto itself. The State of California doesn't execute people very often. Despite having more than 600 inmates on death row, only 11 people have been executed in California since the death penalty was reinstated in the late '70s. The State of Texas has 400 inmates currently on death row and has executed 355 people since the death penalty was reinstated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: This week the people of Iraq go to the polls in a historic election, but getting to this pivotal day has not been easy. Coming up, the heavy price one man says he was willing to pay in order to see a better Iraq. His story of loss and hope for the future next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYLVESTER: Updating a story we have been following all day. We have just gotten word from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office that he will not make a decision today on whether or not to grant clemency to Stanley "Tookie" Williams. is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday. So again, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to put that decision off for at least one more day.
Later tonight on CNN, a special look at the fight for Iraq. "CNN PRESENTS" will examine the 1,000 days preceding Thursday's historic elections. In a preview of tonight's program, Jane Arraf tells us about a man who has lost so much but who still holds on to his dream of a free Iraq.
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JANE ARRAF, CNN SENIOR BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: In the heart of the Sunni Triangle, we ran across one of the most heartbreaking stories that I've seen, and there have been a lot of heartbreaking stories. This was a man, Latif Allo, who was the electricity minister in Diala (ph) province. He yearned for the day Saddam would be gone and Iraq would have a future and his family would have a life.
LATIF ALLO, LOST FAMILY TO AMERICAN FIRE: The area with the flowers. She dreamed that we someday Iraq would become as this picture.
ARRAF (voice-over): When fighting with insurgents broke out on June 24th, Latif sent his wife and six of their children to Baghdad in the car. Allo's nephew Ahmed was driving.
(on camera): He seems to take a wrong turn and he turns down the street where there are American tanks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently the driver may have been scared thinking it was insurgents firing at him.
ARRAF: So he had to speed up to go to the safety of the Americans. The tanks shot at the car and as that car was burning, his wife managed to escape. His wife managed to get out of that burning car where her children were burning and run to the American soldiers and say don't shoot us. And they shot her. We went to see the soldiers that did this, and they were so traumatized.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not a place that I will go for the rest of my life that I will not have a picture of Latif's family.
ARRAF: These were extraordinary children by any standards. They played music and they read poetry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't like the news that talks about death. I ask myself, why don't the grownups think to teach me instead of fighting?
ARRAF: Latif Allo, despite all this, seems to harbor almost no trace of bitterness. It's a tragedy. He believes it should not have happened. They should have been more careful, but he isn't bitter, and he actually says that the loss of his family is the price that he has been willing to pay for the future of Iraq. And absolutely extraordinary man.
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SYLVESTER: And tonight at 8:00 Eastern, "CNN PRESENTS" takes a look at the 1,000 days preceding Thursday's historic election.
We know you've been waiting for this all afternoon. So the CNN "Water Cooler" is up next. And then why you may do a double take the next time you hear your pooch panting. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. We'll be right back.
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SYLVESTER: Live from B control. The buzz at the CNN "Water Cooler" today. A reported jail break in France that could have been straight out of a movie. According to jail officials, a helicopter swooped out of the sky and landed in the prison yard where three inmates were waiting. The chopper then flew off and later landed at another location where the fugitives and two accomplices fled on foot. The helicopter had been hijacked from a nearby airport where it was preparing to ferry skiers into the Alps.
And do you just hate downer news? Well, Web site out there in Texas feels your pain for bad news. Happynews.com is nothing but feel good stories from a cadre of citizen journalists from around the country. And we couldn't help but notice they did include a link to CNN.com just in case you need a quick fix of the hard news.
Well, dogs love bones but do they have funny bones. You might want to call your pooch into the room to watch this next one by CNN's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you think dogs don't laugh, maybe you're just not in on the joke.
(on camera): Foster, did you hear the one about the two dogs -- did you hear about the two dogs passing a parking meter? Don't you want to hear a joke?
(voice-over): Dogs may not appreciate jokes but probably do laugh. We hear it as panting. Exhaling. But the exhalation seen here on the top line of this spectrograph show a broader range of frequency than the plain old panting you see underneath. Here's a dog yucking it up. This is how animal behaviorists interpret dog laughter.
PATRICIA SIMONET, ANIMAL RESEARCHER: The sound that means friendly greetings and I come in peace.
MOOS: Patricia Simonet's findings were first published in "Science News" a few years back. Now they're testing dog laugher on dogs.
SIMONET: Eighty four decibels.
MOOS: They've been playing dog laughter over loud speakers here at the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, a shelter and when they play it, yapping dogs get quiet. Really quiet.
NANCY HILL, ANIMAL SHELTER DIRECTOR: I was very surprised at the results. It was like am I in the right place? This is the wrong kennel. It was so quiet. It was almost night and day difference.
MOOS: The researchers themselves even managed to calm down dogs by imitating special panting. For some dog owners, this only confirms what they already knew.
(on camera): Do you think your dog laughs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dog totally laughs. It's like ....
MOOS: Does he pant a lot? Does he make any --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was as much of a laugh as you're going to get.
MOOS (voice-over): But dogs wouldn't be laughing over another piece of unrelated news. The New York City health department warns secondhand smoke is giving pets cancer. See Spot develop a spot on his lungs.
Pets living with smokers don't just inhale the smoke. It gets trapped on fur and injected when they lick themselves. What's next? Warnings on cigarette packs? Your smoking may be dangerous to Fido's health?
If dogs do laugh, how do we get a chuckle out of them. Maybe if we tickle.
(on camera): Did you hear about the two dogs going past the parking meters. One dog says to the other dog, hey, look, pay toilets.
(voice-over): Now every time they pant, we're going to have to worry they're laughing at us.
(on camera): This is pathetic. I'm having to pay dogs to laugh at my jokes. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Yeah, I think my dog laughs every now and then. Much more ahead on CNN. Fredricka Whitfield has more of CNN LIVE SUNDAY after this.
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