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CNN Live Today
More Fallout in Controversy Over Bush Administration's Domestic-Spying Program; A Report on Israel's Tough Security Measures
Aired December 28, 2005 - 11:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is more fallout in the controversy over the Bush administration's domestic-spying program. "The New York Times" says the defense attorneys in several major cases plan to file legal challenges over the program. At issue, whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps against suspects believed to have ties to Al Qaeda. The so-called Lackawanna Six case is among those that could raise a challenge. Three years ago, the information secretary gathered by the NSA led to the arrests of six New York men on terror-related charges.
President Bush acknowledged earlier this month he had secretly ordered the NSA to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mail of people in the U.S. with suspected terrorist links.
Steven Greenberg is with us from Chicago to talk about these possible legal challenges and the domestic spying controversy. He's a criminal defense attorney.
Steve, good morning.
STEVEN GREENBERG, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.:: Good morning. Happy holidays.
KAGAN: Thank you. To you as well.
You're hired to, let's just say, defend one of these suspects, would you be going after that same type of challenge, looking at challenging, legally, the wiretaps that was done by the NSA?
GREENBERG: Absolutely. We've got the Bush administration doing wiretaps without any court authorization, which is a clear violation of our constitution that applies to our citizens, that protects every one of us, and they do it under the guise of national security mechanism in place with this secret court where the Bush administration could have gone and asked for authorization of these wiretaps. It's the essence of our checks-and-balance system. They didn't do that. Why wouldn't they do it? It's a secret court. No one would know what was going on, and they would have gotten the permission they need. My guess is, because they didn't have the kind of specific information they need to get the authorization, so they just went ahead and did it.
KAGAN: OK, so President Bush has addressed this in a lot of speeches lately. He says he believes following 9/11 that he has the duty, he has been charged with the responsibility to protect the American people and he has the constitutional power to do what he has to do, including this program.
GREENBERG: Isn't that the same rational that dictators use and the third world nations when they want to do whatever they want to their people? In our system, we have courts, and the courts decide when they have what's called probable cause or reasonable suspicion to wiretap people. It's a very low threshold. I saw one statistic that this national security court, the secret court, had only rejected three requests out of tens of thousands of requests over the years. So if you have the goods, go to the courts, they oversee it, and they say you can do it. It's a very low threshold. But the administration shouldn't be able to do whatever they want whenever they want and claim it's for national security and everything else is a big secret.
KAGAN: Right, well, beyond debating the program on its merits, it's really interesting how the process might work as a defense attorney. As you go and you challenge this and you try to get more information, can't the government perhaps claim that they're dealing with national security again and sensitive material and making your job as a defense attorney even more difficult past that?
GREENBERG: Of course they're going to throw up road blocks. But what I believe is going to happen, given what's already been leaked, is that the judges in the cases are going to say to the government, show me the information. I will look at it in what's called an in- camera inspection, which means the judge goes in his chambers by himself, looks at the materials and decides whether or not they should be turned over, or whether or not, in fact, national security applies and they shouldn't be turned over. And the judge can evaluate on his own the legality of it. We have to have faith the judges are going to do the right thing under the circumstances.
KAGAN: We will be watching as it unfolds. Steven Greenberg, defense attorney out of Chicago. Steve, thank you.
GREENBERG: Thank you.
KAGAN: We'll have more CNN Security Watch now. Federal screeners at 40 major airports will get new psychological training next year. "USA Today" reports they'll be schooled to strike up a conversation with travelers. If the person responds in an odd, or nervous or evasive way, he or she will get extra screening, even face questioning by police. Five airports already use the technique. The ACLU is suing Massachusetts over a similar programs at Boston's Logan Airport. The organization claims the technique leads to racial profiling.
That beep, beep, beep of metal detectors beeping is a common sound in Israel. They're everywhere, from restaurants to hospitals.
Justice correspondent Kelli Arena travelled to Jerusalem with American law enforcement officials. Here now is another report in her series on Israel's tough security measures. It's a report you first saw on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This mall in Jerusalem may look like many in the United States, but just try getting inside.
GIDEON AVRAMI, JERUSALEM MALL SECURITY DIRECTOR: The major check is done here. And in the case something goes wrong, it will be out of the mall and not inside.
ARENA: The security is intense. Gideon Avrami, who is in charge of keeping shoppers safe, says there are armed guards patrolling the perimeter.
AVRAMI: One of the guards puts a binocular, watches the mountains around, the buildings around, mostly to be seen.
ARENA: Cars coming into the parking lot are searched, and shoppers go through metal detectors. It's all aimed at stopping suicide bombers.
Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle's police chief and a group of U.S. law enforcement officials that he traveled to Israel with got an up-close look at the security measures. Here, the private sector works hand in hand with Israeli police, a relationship Kerlikowske says should be emulated with businesses in his area.
CHIEF GIL KERLIKOWSKE, SEATTLE POLICE: I think I need to do a much better job of embracing them and going out to them, not waiting for them to knock on my door.
ARENA: Every attempt by a suicide bomber to get inside a mall in Israel has failed, although some have blown themselves up outside. Heavy security is just part of the offensive. Intelligence gathering is equally important.
AVRAMI: Once there is a knowledge or intelligence about a suicide bombing, it goes from the Israeli security services immediately to the police. From the police, it goes immediately to the private sector. When I say immediately, I'm saying minutes.
ARENA: The need to share intelligence was emphasized by Yoram Hessel, who met with the group for a closed session. He's formerly with Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad.
YORAM HESSEL, FORMER ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Good, reliable, timely intelligence can multiply your resources.
ARENA: Hessel says Israel has spent a lot of time developing informants, but also relies heavily on technology. Cameras are part of that anti-terror arsenal, like these in Jerusalem's old city.
(on camera): Right now, I'm on camera. There are more than 300 law enforcement cameras surveilling Jerusalem's old city, home to holy sites for Christians, Muslims and Jews. Israeli police are worried that religious extremists could ignite a potentially explosive situation here.
(voice-over): The public also plays a vital role. Israeli officials say they get hundreds of terror-related tips a week.
KERLIKOWSKE: It isn't just the security force that is being held responsible and accountable for security.
ARENA: The fight against terrorism encompasses nearly every facet of Israeli life, something experts here do not believe the U.S. is ready for.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: CNN security watch keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned ford day and night most reliable news about your security.
When we come back, the effort to save a little girl's life. How the soldiers working to help Baby Noor's family are getting a boost of their own from their mission.
First, a look at how you can help. CNN reflects on the events of 2005.
Here's Veronica De La Cruz at the dot-com desk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): From tragedies to triumphs, 2005 has been a year of remarkable news from around the world. CNN.com chronicles some of the year's top stories. From the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunamis to Hurricane Katrina, this timeline recounts major events as they happen month by month.
Relive the year's biggest moments by watching video clips from the breaking news stories that made history and changed lives. And as the world watched these events, you as citizen journalists helped CNN.com cover them by sending us your stories, pictures and videos. From Johnny Carson to Johnnie Cochran, read and remember a few of the important people that left us this year.
And what do you think were the major stories of 2005? You can rank the top ten of your choice in this poll. Log on to CNN.com/yearinreview for a look back at the most memorable moments in 2005.
For the dot-com desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: One baby can mean so much. We are closely watching the progress of an Iraqi baby known as baby Noor. She's going to a U.S. hospital for life-saving surgery. This is a story you will see only on CNN. It all started in Iraq with a routine search for insurgents. Instead of enemy fighters, U.S. patrols turned up baby Noor. She was born with spina bifida. Iraqi doctors gave her just 45 days to live. That's a fate her U.S. rescuers hope to change. Georgia Army National Guardsmen arranged for Noor to be taken to a U.S. military base, and they're waiting for visas so the military can fly her here to Atlanta so she can get a life-saving operation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. ARCHER FORD, GEORGIA NATL. GUARD: It's a tremendous boon for all of us. We go out and we see a lot of negative things, I mean, that's just unavoidable in any kind of a conflict you're in, and this is just helping us to try and return something to the community, to improve relations with the local people who are often fed false propaganda by the AIF forces in the area, and this is just helping us a lot as soldiers to make us feel like we're able to contribute something other than just a force of arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The doctor here in Atlanta will do the baby's surgery for free, but there will be plenty of other costs. If you'd like to help, you can log on to www.lifeover.org. And there's the information. It's Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church in Douglasville, Georgia that is helping out the baby.
KAGAN: We're going to check out weather and business next. Plus, you've got a cup of joe on the run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I passed two on my route to work. But this is more convenient, just to zip through the drive through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: So is it that we're lazy, or is America's favorite coffee chain just that smart? We'll take a look, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Want to show you pictures we're just seeing here at CNN for the first time out of Pennsylvania. It involves an overpass that collapsed on to I-70. This is about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. This is about 12 hours after an overpass collapsed on to the highway. They're still not really sure why it happened. Perhaps it was an overweight truck that was on the bridge there or something having to do with one of the mines beneath the bridge. But they are closed -- I-70, 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, closed due to the collapse of that overpass on to the highway.
Let's talk coffee. Starbucks is raking in the bucks by catering to the car crowd. The coffee chain, known for its kind of cozy sit and sip atmosphere, is taking a page from the fast food industry. More and more Starbucks are now offering drive-through service.
Details now from CNN's Ali Velshi in a report first seen on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those daily coffee runs have become coffee drives. Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, is making a killing on drive-by coffee drinkers. More than half of the stores it's opening this year will be places where you can buy a latte through a car window.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came to this Starbucks because it has the drive-through. I pass two on my route to work, but this is more convenient just to zip through the drive-through.
VELSHI: Just as some customers are attracted to Starbucks' cozy sit and sip cafes, others prefer to drink and run.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so easy just to go through a drive- through rather than going inside. It's just -- I know that I'm going to be in and out quickly so for the convenience itself is why I go to the drive-through.
VELSHI: When Starbucks expanded nationwide in the '90s, it lured coffee drinkers by offering a quiet space to enjoy the latest designer drink. Starbucks quickly moved into offices and airports and snapped up corner spaces on city streets. But in car-crazed communities like Southern California, drive-throughs raked in the cash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's usually faster. I've tried going in, and there's usually a huge line and you just have to stand there and wait as opposed to sitting in your warm car listening to the radio and wait.
VELSHI: Each week, 35 million people around the globe drink a Starbucks. It sells seven percent of all coffee in the United States. First year sales at stores with drive-in windows averaged about a million dollars compared to $715,000 at traditional stores.
One more note. Starbucks' biggest fans are visiting a Starbucks 18 times a month. That's a whole lot of coffee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: That is a lot of caffeine. Here are some more Starbucks numbers for you. The chain has locations in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and in 34 other countries. Wow.
(MARKET REPORT)
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY, with Jim Clancy and Colleen McEdwards. They will be with you after a quick break.
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