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American Morning

Ohio Terror Arrests; Brutal Beatings; Hi-Ho Silver

Aired February 22, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. A nice little view outside of our window. You see the joggers there taking off as the light changed. Good for them.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: It's finally warming up to actually go running in Central Park.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. Finally.

Coming up this morning, we're going to talk about this very odd story coming to us out of the Toledo area. You heard Alina Cho a moment ago reporting. Three arrests now. Three suspects arrested in the Toledo area indicted, charged with recruiting and training people for a jihad against the United States. This morning we're going to talk to the prosecutor in the case and also one of the special investigators from the FBI.

Also, the homeless beating. Remember we talked about this story?

MARCIANO: Yes, down in Florida.

O'BRIEN: Oh, just brutal. January 12th. This is the videotape where they beat and, in one case, killed a homeless man. Oh, absolutely horrific. In court now. And some interesting twists in this case. We're going to get to that this morning as well.

MARCIANO: And some connections, as well possibly, to (INAUDIBLE).

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Kelly Wallace, though, first. She's got a look at some of the top stories making news today.

Hey, Kel.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

And hello, everyone.

We're following a developing story out of Iraq. Protesters taking to the streets after an attack on a religious site. Officials say men dressed as Iraqi police stormed the Golden Mosque in Samarra setting off explosives. The Shia holy site was heavily damaged. And that attack triggering protests around the country, as well as assaults on two Sunni mosques in Baghdad. The debate over a controversial port deal intensifies with President Bush warning that he'll use his veto power for the very first time to kill any bill that tried to block the agreement. In the meantime, President Bush is getting ready for an upcoming trip to India and Pakistan. He'll be speaking at the Asia Society in Washington later this morning.

The movie is months away, but already there's a backlash against the new James Bond. Fans of the spy movie have launched a website protesting Actor Daniel Craig as the new 007. The group says Craig isn't the tall, dark, handsome bond they've come to expect and so they're asking Bond fans to boycott the movie, "Casino Royale," when it's released in November. And here's the website. It's called craignotbond.com.

And the last to start but the first at the finish. American's Sasha Cohen won the figure skating short program Tuesday, putting her in position to win Olympic gold. But Cohen faces some tough competition in Thursday's free skate. Russian World Champion Irina Slutskaya is trailing her by only 300ths of a point.

Soledad, it couldn't get any closer, could it?

O'BRIEN: Yes, that is definitely someone breathing down you back, right?

WALLACE: It sure is.

O'BRIEN: Three hundredths of a point.

All right, Kelly, thank you.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: We've been talking, actually for a long time now, about this alleged terror cell broken up in Ohio. Federal prosecutors charging three Muslim men with planning attacks on troops in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: These defendants have been living in the United States where they have been engaging in weapons training and seeking to provide help in order to kill people abroad, including our troops. Further, as alleged, all three defendants discussed training, making or manufacturing or using improvised explosive device, or IED.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The three suspects -- oh, we should mention, one of the suspects also charged with threatening to kill the president. For more on the government's case now, let's get to Cleveland. Ted Wasky is the special agent in charge of the FBI's Cleveland office. Greg White is the U.S. attorney in the case.

Gentlemen, good morning. And I thank you for talking with us. GREG WHITE, U.S. ATTORNEY: Good morning.

TED WASKY, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's name the three suspects first. Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum. What are you alleging that these three men did?

WHITE: Well, the three of them are charged with account of plotting to kill U.S. citizens overseas, particularly our troops in the Middle East. They're also charged with providing material support to unnamed coconspirators in the Middle East for that purpose. Mr. Amawi is then charged with having a -- downloading a video for making a suicide vest and two counts of threatening the president.

O'BRIEN: So they were planning attacks on troops. How far along were these attacks? How far along were the plans?

WHITE: Well, we really can't get into all the details about that. You know, we try to maintain the indictment, the charges that are against the folks in terms of what we're saying. But, you know, they took many steps towards that process and, obviously, we had the ability to monitor and watch what they were doing and keep track of it.

O'BRIEN: We'll get to the monitoring in a moment because I think it's pretty interesting these intercepted e-mails. But I want to ask just one more question about these alleged attacks. Was there any information that they intended to launch attacks here in the United States?

WHITE: Well, what we have here was a confidential informant that is identified as "the trainer" in this indictment that was able to keep track of what their activities were. And to the extent that we were able to monitor that, we were able to control those individuals and -- in case there was any overaction taken towards committing an act of violence here or taking an action against the president pursuant to the threat. So -- but most of the activities that were planned here were planned overseas.

O'BRIEN: Ted, let me ask you a question about the intercepted e- mails. And I know you can't show the e-mails because that's sort of the legalities of the case at this time. But give me a sense of, you know, where there code words used? What were the e-mails talking about? How did you know -- I assume they weren't laying out the plans clearly. They were somehow hiding their intent, right?

WASKY: The FBI was able to insert a cooperating witness into this group. And this cooperating witness was able to observe the e- mail traffic as alleged in the indictment. And the necessarily the -- not the intercepted, but he was able to see exactly what they were doing and he was shown how it was to be done. And they did use certain code words to disguise their activities.

O'BRIEN: There was this, as you guys well know, some arrests at KindHearts, that Ohio Muslim group. It's a charitable organization. And that was raided in Toledo over the weekend. Any connection, gentlemen, between this indictment and this charitable group?

WHITE: Well, they are two separate investigations. I think we made that clear yesterday when we were addressing these issues. They were coordinated in order for one investigation not to compromise the other. But we want to make it clear, they are separate investigations. And there were no arrests made of anyone associated with the KindHearts organization.

O'BRIEN: We'll be watching this case very closely, of course. FBI Special Agent Ted Wasky talking to us this morning. Also U.S. Attorney Greg White.

Gentlemen, I thank you for talking with us.

WASKY: Thank you.

WHITE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Rob.

MARCIANO: In court today, three Florida teenagers charged with savagely beating three homeless men, one of them to death. CNN's John Zarrella is live from Ft. Lauderdale. He's live at the courthouse.

Good morning, John. What do you know?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.

Well, those three teenagers have spent the last month in jail now. They are charged with first degree murder in the beating of one of the homeless men, and they are charged with attempted murder for the beating of two others on that same night in January. The arraignment this morning is expected to last no more than about 10 minutes and all three teens, according to their attorneys, are expected to plead not guilty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA, (voice over): A surveillance camera at a downtown Ft. Lauderdale college campus captured the attack. Two teenagers wielding bats, repeatedly hit Jacques Pierre, a homeless man. Two other men also were beaten that night. Norris Gaynor died on the park bench where he was sleeping.

ERIC WILLIAMS, WITNESS: He was slumped over and all you seen was a pool of blood. You know, and just sitting there. No one was around. Anything.

ZARRELLA: Raymond Perez woke up as he was being pummeled outside a church.

RAYMOND PEREZ, BEATING VICTIM: I was sleeping with -- my body was covered up with a blanket. And they woke me up hitting with bats and everything.

ZARRELLA: Within hours of the January 12th attacks, the video was released and the teens identified. Thomas Daugherty, 17, and Brian Hooks, 18, turned themselves in and were charged with murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Hooks, you're charged with a new substantive offense of premeditated murder. You're also charged with a warrant for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

ZARRELLA: A third teenager, not seen on the video, 18-year-old William Ammons, is charged with the same crime. Advocates for the homeless were outraged by the attacks, but not surprised.

MARTY FOREMAN, CO-OP FEEDING PROGRAM: This is not something new to them. Every night it's, where you going to go, who's going to watch your back, who's going to ruff you up in the middle of the night?

ZARRELLA: Of the three teens, only Ammons had any real trouble with the law before this. A robbery charged that was dropped. Daugherty's attorney paints his client as a troubled young man who bounced back and forth between his mother's home in Tennessee and his father's home here.

MICHAEL GOTTLIEB, THOMAS DAUGHERTY'S ATTORNEY: He comes back here and he's just trying to find a crowd to fit in with. I think that, you know, a lot of this activity was based on peer pressure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now, if convicted, Daugherty, who is a minor, faces possible sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether Hooks and Ammons will face the death penalty.

Rob.

MARCIANO: John, I understand police are looking into other attacks of other homeless people in the area. Is there anything connection?

ZARRELLA: Well, police here in Ft. Lauderdale put out the word after these beatings to see if anybody would come forward. And, in fact, they have five other potential crimes that they believe, beatings, very similar mo's, young white males involved in attacks, and they believe that those five may be linked. Again, that's police saying may be linked to some or all of these three boys.

Rob.

MARCIANO: I guess we'll find out more as we go. John Zarrella live for us in Florida. Thanks, John.

O'BRIEN: Oh, brutal, brutal story, isn't it.

Time to take a look at the weather at 41 minutes past the hour. Bonnie's got that for us.

Hey, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT) MARCIANO: What's going on, bud?

O'BRIEN: Yes, let's talk business news. Are you a little more comfortable about that?

SERWER: Yes, let's do business. I do.

Let's see here. The IRS may owe you $2 billion.

O'BRIEN: Yeah.

SERWER: That will be the collective "you." We'll tell you how maybe to get your hands on some of that.

Plus, the latest on the Blackberry wars. Serwer to litigants, just end it already. Thanks. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Oh, we know what these pictures are of, of course, Hurricane Katrina. Six months later now, of course, since Hurricane Katrina.

SERWER: Six months.

O'BRIEN: Six months, can you believe it? It's decimated the Gulf Coast and starting Monday we're going to come to you live from the Gulf Coast. We're going to bring you special coverage on Mardi Gras on Tuesday. But also we're tackling some of the really key issues and the key problems that face New Orleans and the entire region. AMERICAN MORNING coming to you live from the Gulf Coast beginning on Monday morning.

Turning to business news now. Let's talk money.

MARCIANO: Hi, Andy.

SERWER: Hey, yes, let's talk about found money, right?

O'BRIEN: Let's talk lots of money. Yes.

SERWER: Yes. And this is a great thing. We hear about these stories from time to time. But this is for real. $2 billion sitting in the IRS coffers just waiting for you to claim it.

O'BRIEN: How do you figure out if some of it's yours?

SERWER: All right. Well, here, it's a very specific piece of business here. If you didn't file a tax return in the year 2002, OK, and you feel that you were owed money, there is a three year statute of limitations. After this April 15th, the money goes to the U.S. Treasury and you can't claim it anymore where presumably they will buy $700 toilet seats.

O'BRIEN: Isn't it weird, a three year statue of limitations?

SERWER: Yes, on these kind of -- these kinds of items.

O'BRIEN: You should hold on to your tax documents for five years because they can always audit you.

SERWER: They can always go back the other way.

MARCIANO: Yes, any time.

O'BRIEN: All right. All right.

SERWER: Right. But this is for -- so 2002, we're coming up on the deadline. April 17th, you need to file your return, $2 billion. They say half of the people, what is it about 1.7 million Americans are owed this money. Half of them are owed more than $570. You won't be assessed a penalty if they owe you money. Of course, if you owe them money and you file a return . . .

MARCIANO: Keep running.

SERWER: Yes, keep going. Keep going.

O'BRIEN: Ixnay (ph) on filing your return now.

SERWER: Right.

MARCIANO: Yes.

SERWER: Right. Yes. But isn't it amazing that 1.7 million Americans who were supposed to file returns didn't.

O'BRIEN: And would have gotten their money back.

SERWER: Right. Yes. It's amazing.

O'BRIEN: That is crazy.

SERWER: All right. You want to talk about the Blackberry case here a little bit? Go on and on.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, only if it's good news.

MARCIANO: Did they shut it down?

SERWER: No, it's not good news, but it's fun news. So here's what's going on. The latest. The judge has rejected a request by the Justice Department to hold special hearings that would exempt the government if there is a Blackberry shutdown. And I think that's a good thing because the government should suffer along with all the rest of us.

O'BRIEN: It might move things along a little faster.

SERWER: I think that's right. And then why is the government any more important than say healthcare workers? So some low level person in the Justice Department gets their Blackberry but your surgeon doesn't? MARCIANO: Right.

O'BRIEN: You're so bitter because you're worried about your . . .

SERWER: I just don't like this thing. I just don't like this thing.

O'BRIEN: It's like -- this is so personal for you.

SERWER: It's just driving me crazy. Just end it, pay some money, and then shut that racket NTP, that company down that doesn't actually make any devices. The whole thing is ticking me off big- time.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it clearly is.

SERWER: It's just ridiculous.

O'BRIEN: You know, speaking of e-mailing. Not necessarily on your Blackberry, but just e-mailing. Do you ever fire off an angry e- mail, didn't think about what you were doing?

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Oops. Well, there's a new case of it today to tell you about. We're going to get a little advice on that e-mail etiquette from the great grandson of Emily Post.

Also this morning, Olympic Silver Medalist Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Look at the - - oh, the team was just beautiful. They're going to join us live. They are the first American ice dancers to medal in 30 years. One of them needed a little help from Congress, though, so she could skate for the U.S. Got that story just ahead.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: One of the biggest U.S. success stories of these Olympic games has been the ice dancing pair of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. They won the silver medal and, with it, the first ice dancing medal for the U.S. in 30 years. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto join us from Torino, Italy, live this morning.

And we, you know, we figured you would be smiling. Congratulations to both of you.

TANITH BELBIN, OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST: Thank you.

BEN AGOSTO, OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST: Thank you very much.

MARCIANO: Ben, has it sunk in yet?

AGOSTO: It's getting there. It's been pretty surreal since the whole thing happened. And we've been running around doing a whole media whirlwind. And it's been a lot of fun, but it's just been such an incredible honor to be here at the Olympic games. And then to skate as well as we did and come away with a medal, is just phenomenal.

MARCIANO: Well, we're very proud of you. You represented the U.S. extremely well.

Tanith, you just became a U.S. citizen. Congratulations on that front. That just happened in December. You had some hurdles to jump over, didn't you?

BELBIN: Yes, absolutely. It was a long process and the citizenship issue wasn't the only problem that we faced this season. Ben, unfortunately, had a quite serious groin injury which kept us out of a lot of our major events leading up to these Olympic games. And then dealing with that, along with the citizenship, there were a lot of ups and downs. It was a very emotional season but we're so happy that we can now top this off with a medal and head to the world championships hopefully to win the gold.

MARCIANO: Well that would be terrific.

Ben, with all those obstacles, injuries, citizenship problems, I mean how did it feel to put that Olympic medal around your neck?

AGOSTO: Wow, it was amazing. And finally, to be here, it almost took the pressure off of us. With all the things we went through leading up to it. When we got here, we had so much fun and we were so happy just to be here with this opportunity. And I think it actually took a lot of pressure off of us and really allowed us to enjoy this experience and to really take it all in and take advantage of it.

MARCIANO: Ben, help us out here. A lot of folks more familiar with figure skating, pairs figure skating. Maybe they get a little bit more of a spotlight. Explain to me and our viewers the difference between pairs figure skating and ice dancing.

AGOSTO: Well, there's a few slight differences. In ice dancing, I'm not allowed to lift her above my head. And we focus a lot on trying to show the emotion of our music and really, with intricate foot work and a lot of different changes of hold and trying to express different rhythms of dance and things like that. And it's gotten very exciting. I don't know if you guys caught the original dance, but it was pretty hit and miss and I think everybody was wondering what was going to happen next.

MARCIANO: Well, I think that's a misconception. You know, just because you can't lift each other or lift Tanith over your head doesn't mean it's not dangerous.

BELBIN: That's right. That's right.

MARCIANO: Tanith, there were some nasty spills in this competition. Do you think it's because you're just better than everybody or was the ice, the condition of the ice a little bit more difficult, or was it just nerves? Why do you think so many people took so many spills?

BELBIN: I think that at the 2002 Olympic games we saw kind of the same thing. There were a lot of big falls in the final, in the free dance portion as well. And I think that it's just a matter of the Olympics adding pressure and everybody's trying to do something special. They're trying to give that extra special performance when it counts, and so you add a little more into your performance. Maybe not what you're used to when you're on practice and things kind of happen unexpectedly.

So we just wanted to go out there. We had heard the crowd ewing (ph) and awing, so we were aware of what was going on. And we had a lot of control with our skating on Sunday night and we tried to just stay focused, stay calm and do it like we do at home.

MARCIANO: Well, you did great and we're very proud of you. Congratulations on your silver medal. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto from Torino. Good luck in the world championships.

BELBIN: Thank you.

AGOSTO: Thank you very much.

MARCIANO: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Oh, I love them.

MARCIANO: I knew you would.

O'BRIEN: I'm so happy. I do. And I'm so happy for them. And they did. They, you know, when she said how excited they were to be there, they were smiling really so happy through their whole performance and now that they sort of explained it, they were just so glad to be there. It makes a lot of sense.

MARCIANO: Good goes around.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. They did great. I love them.

Let's talk about e-mail. You know, you might want to think twice before you fire off an angry e-mail at work. You might never know who's going to read it eventually. We've got some tips this morning on e-mail etiquette. That's coming up.

And, oh, oh, it is getting nasty between The Donald and Martha Stewart. They go at each other in the press and it is ugly. Details ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Miles is on a little vaca but Rob Marciano's been helping us, in for Miles.

Thank you very much.

MARCIANO: Glad to be here. I think he's back tomorrow.

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