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American Morning

Closing Arguments in Moussaoui Death Penalty Case; 9/11 Film Actor Barred; 'Hot Topics'; Money in the Tank

Aired April 24, 2006 - 06:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Top stories this morning.
President Bush in California. He had lunch with Marines at a military base on Sunday. Today, he's talking immigration and pushing his temporary guest worker permit plan.

A White House spokesman says the U.S. intelligence community believe the latest audiotape airing on Arab TV networks is indeed Osama bin Laden. The voice on the tape says the opposition to the Hamas government in the Middle East by the U.S. is proof of the crusade against Muslims.

And in Riverton, Kansas, five teenagers due in court today for a bond hearing. They're suspected of planning a Columbine-style attack at their high school.

Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

In a CNN "Security Watch," we are one step closer to finding out the face of Zacarias Moussaoui. Closing arguments this morning from attorneys in the death penalty case, and then jurors will decide if Moussaoui lives or dies.

CNN's Kyung Lah is live outside the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.

Good morning, Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

This morning, each side will get one hour for its closing argument, and then it goes to the jury. It will decide if Moussaoui should receive the ultimate penalty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice over): Defense and prosecution get their last shot in closing arguments to convince a jury whether or not Zacarias Moussaoui deserves death. Prosecutors are expected to remind jurors of the emotional testimony from relatives of 9/11 victims urging death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put him to death, regardless of what he wants.

LAH: While the defense is expected to rely on others asking they spare his life. Alice Hoglan lost her son Mark Bingham on Flight 93 when it crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

ALICE HOGLAN, LOST SON FROM FLIGHT 93: I think that we as a compassionate people have a responsibility, a duty, an opportunity now to demonstrate that we have more of reverence for life than this man has for life.

LAH: Moussaoui showed no sadness as recordings of the cockpit tape and 911 calls played in the courtroom. On the stand, he expressed no regret over September 11th, a problem for the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Him testifying that he was personally responsible, personally responsible and personally involved in the September 11th attacks is the greatest obstacle for them to overcome.

LAH: Defense attorneys tried to portray Moussaoui as a schizophrenic, and through taped testimony from family members, a troubled soul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Now, the jurors say and the analysts say the primary problem with the government's defense may be the lack of its own evidence corroborating what Moussaoui has said. The jury is expected to begin deliberations this afternoon -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Kyung Lah in Alexandria, thank you very much.

That controversial new movie about 9/11 -- "United 93" it's called -- set to premiere tomorrow here in New York. But one of the lead actors likely won't be there. And it's not that his invitation got lost in the mail.

Carol Costello in the newsroom with more on that.

Hello, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No, it's not because his invitation got lost in the mail. He desperately wants to come.

As you said, the movie will premiere tomorrow. And one of the primary actors in the film will not be there. His name is Lewis Alsamari. He plays one of the hijackers in the movie.

He now lives in Britain. He figures the United States turned him down because he once served in the Iraqi army. He said he was forced to under Saddam Hussein. Back in the early '90s, he escaped to Britain, where he was granted asylum. He does remain an Iraqi citizen, too.

Now, he says he's very disappointed. He has not seen the movie, and he wants to because making this film was intensely emotional.

During the filming, the actors playing the hijackers were segregated from the actors playing the passengers. It made for some very real feelings of dislike between the two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIAN CLEMENSON, ACTOR, "UNITED 93": For two weeks, I could not treat them as human beings. Even when we were off the set, I -- there was a wall between us that I didn't want to bridge. And it just took -- you know, eventually, you have to see them as people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In fact, one of the other hijackers who played the lead hijackers in the film described it this way -- there's a quote in "USA Today" about this. He said, "There would be times where you'd be introduced to someone as a hijacker. You shake a hijacker's hand somewhat differently. It is a very uncomfortable thing."

It took all of these actors weeks to get over this film. That's how intensely emotional it was.

As for Alsamari, he says he's still fighting. He hopes he'll be granted a visa sometime today, but doesn't know for sure.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll keep you posted on that one.

Thank you very much, Carol.

You can hear more about "United 93." Lewis Alsamari will be a guest tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Let's check the forecast once again. Chad Myers in the weather center -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Enough weather here, Miles, in the Northeast to make airplanes slow this morning

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Chad.

Still to come this morning on the program, a shocker in Maryland. A domestic dispute turns deadly. And now a 12-year-old is under arrest for allegedly pulling the trigger. We'll have the latest on that.

Plus, McClellan out, Card out. Who's next in the White House shuffle?

And Congress back from spring break. Will lawmakers focus on immigration finally? We'll look at the political week ahead.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America," a shocking case in Maryland to tell you about. Police holding a 12-year-old in the deaths of two people. The victims, a 9-year-old boy and a 31-year-old woman. The calling it a domestic dispute but haven't said how the three might be related.

Police in San Diego still on the lookout this morning for two escaped inmates. One other escapee was captured just a few hours after the men broke through the fence surrounding the jail's exercise yard. One inmate was being held on two murder charges. The other is charged with child molestation.

And in New York, union leaders are going to march with the head of the New York Transit Union today. Roger Toussaint is going to turn himself in. He'll serve 10 days for that illegal strike that crippled the city for three days in the run up toward Christmas.

Let's talk politics this morning.

And then there were two in New Orleans. We'll handicap the race there.

Congress is back in session. We'll see if they're going to get around to immigration reform.

And what's going on at the White House? What's the next in the shuffle?

To do all this, we're going to go to an expert, John Mercurio, senior editor at "The National Review's Hotline" joining us from Washington.

John, good to have you with us this morning.

JOHN MERCURIO, SR. EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Thanks, Miles. Good to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Ray Nagin. A lot of people would have said he would not be at the top of the tally after that election that we saw over the weekend. Are you surprised?

MERCURIO: You know, I am a little bit surprised at how well he did, although I think he had a base. He has a base in this city, and I think they were motivate by a few things.

I think -- some of the voters I talked to said, look, this is a mayor who was there during the crisis, it's not a good idea at this point in the middle of a state of emergency to sort of trade horses. I think, you know, much in the same way that a lot of American voters voted for Bush in 2004, in the middle of this war on terrorism, people in New Orleans said, look, we need to -- we need to stay with this mayor, at least through this emergency.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about what's next, though. May 20th is when he will square off against Mitch Landrieu. How would you handicap that race? Some would suggest that in a two-way race, Landrieu might have some advantages.

MERCURIO: Yes. I would be one of those people who would make that suggestion, yes. I think as well as Nagin did this weekend, I think that Landrieu is definitely favored going into this runoff.

Look, it's never a good thing historically for an incumbent to be forced into a runoff, especially as Nagin was below 40 percent. I think you have to expect that Landrieu is going to get the significant number of the voters who voted for the other 20 or so candidates, which would definitely put him over 50 percent.

M. O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see, too -- a lot of people went to great lengths, of course, to vote there -- what the turnout will be on May 20th, to have to kind of repeat getting on, you know, buses to get into New Orleans to vote.

All right. Let's move on though and talk about Congress.

Back in session. Do you think that immigration, they'll come to terms on this? You've got a House bill that's way over on one side of the spectrum, a Senate bill that's on the other side. Very difficult to come up with a compromise at this point.

MERCURIO: And the compromise is exactly what they need. We saw last week the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, saying that he's committed to get a bill to the president's desk by Memorial Day Weekend. That gives him about a month.

What he needs to do -- it's not a question of policy differences within the Republican conference. It's a question of getting the Democrats, who derailed the bill before they went on recess, on board in the Senate.

Look, he needs to go to Harry Reid and say, "Look, there will be a fair conference. It will be a conference with Democrats and Republicans," and that Democrats don't need to worry, Democrats in the Senate, that the end result, the bill that the president gets, will look too much like the one in the House, which I think a lot of Republicans in the Senate are also worried about.

M. O'BRIEN: It sure will be an interesting conference committee if what exists is what they go in with, because finding common ground is going to be very difficult.

Let's go to the White House quickly. What do you expect next? Our understanding is that the reshuffling is not over. What do you think?

MERCURIO: Oh, that's definitely true. From all I hear, there are several more shoes to drop.

Look, I think that Josh Bolten is looking at several different areas. Obviously, the Office of Congressional Affairs, which is headed by a woman named Candida Wolff, is high on his target list.

I know that John Snow, the Treasury secretary, is talking about leaving. And I'm hearing rumors about at least one other cabinet secretary who may step down in the next one or two months.

The thing is, it's not so much the people who are going to be leaving, it's who the president replaces them with that I think people need to be focused on that. He's on a lot of pressure to bring in outsiders, new faces, fresh ideas to this White House, something he's resisted doing so far. So, instead of focusing, I think, on who these people who are leaving are, I think we need to be talking a lot more about who he'll be bringing in for the next two and a half years of this administration.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and, of course, worth pointing out to folks that Josh Bolten is an administration insider, was before he was elevated to this position. And so we haven't seen that new blood, have we?

MERCURIO: Exactly. That's what I was going to say. So far, we really haven't seen that at all. And if Tony Snow replaces Scott McClellan, he will be -- he will be someone who's also been very close with the Bush White House in the past.

M. O'BRIEN: Tony Snow, the FOX commentator.

All right. John Mercurio, thanks very much. We'll try to do this once a week. How about Mondays?

MERCURIO: Sounds great.

M. O'BRIEN: You'll be back Monday?

MERCURIO: I'd love it.

M. O'BRIEN: Pencil it in. Put it in your Palm.

MERCURIO: Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. John Mercurio, senior editor for "The National Review's Hotline."

Always a pleasure -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a deadly mystery. A sinkhole that literally has swallowed one man alive in his own home. We'll tell you why authorities believe that the home was actually on shaky ground on this Monday edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A look at the top stories this morning.

A rare press conference in a little more than just an hour from now from the president of Iran. His government said it will not back off its nuclear program. The U.N. has set a Friday deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium.

Reaction to the latest tape thought to be from Osama bin Laden. Pakistan says they don't know where he is, but the U.S., Afghans and Pakistani troops just announced they're going to hold joint exercises in the area where they believe he might be hiding.

And oil prices fell in overnight trading. Worries though about Iran are still keeping the price between $74 and $75 a barrel.

M. O'BRIEN: And, of course, that means it's going to still cost you plenty to fill your gas tank. You don't feed to hear that, do you? But, sorry, we are the bearer of bad news this morning.

The price per gallon is up 25 cents in the last two weeks. That's according to the Lundberg Survey, the definitive one. As of Friday, the national average, $2.91 for self-serve regular. Pretty soon, we're going to be talking about some real money here.

The U.S. may use a quarter of all the world's oil, but the pinch at the pump is a global issue. Let's take a look what they are paying on three other continents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Karl Penhaul in Bogota.

Prices at the pumps here in Colombia are running at around $2.40 for a gallon of regular gas and up to about $3.25 for a gallon of premium. That means that you can fill up this Chevrolet car for around $26. Or if you want to use the top grade, it will cost you around $36.

Now, there's not too much seasonal price fluctuation in Colombia. Parts of the country still besieged by communist rebels. That means that a summer driving season is neither viable nor popular.

Now, Colombia is self-sufficient in oil, but production here is nowhere near the levels that it is in Venezuela. That's just next door. There, prices at the pumps are running at an incredible 16 cents a gallon. That means you could fill up this car for less than $2.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: This is Jaime Florcruz in Beijing, where more and more residents are riding cars instead of bicycles. These car users now pay the equivalent of $2.26 per gallon. Roughly the same as in the U.S., but very expensive if you keep in mind that a typical Beijing resident earns only about $5,500 a year.

The government heavily subsidizes the price of oil to keep it down and to ease the pain on Chinese consumers. Still, the price of gas has gone up 20 percent in the past year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ben Wedeman in Cairo, where gas prices are pretty low and have been that way for years. A gallon of gas here will cost you only around 70 cents. Egypt is self-sufficient in oil, and the government has kept fuel prices steady for years.

Now, 70 cents a gallon may seem cheap to someone in the U.S., but to the average working Egyptian who only earns about $300 a month, filling your tank can still burn a hole in your pocket. Egyptians may not be paying the same prices as in the U.S., but they still feel the same pain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Ugly everywhere I think is the -- is the wrap-up from that one.

Let's talk business news.

What's coming up this morning, Andy?

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Soledad, TV on your cell phone finally breaks out -- of prison.

Plus, you'll never guess where Bill Gates was sightseeing over the weekend.

We'll tell you all about that coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, a show just for your mobile phone is getting a little bit of a sponsor.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

SERWER: Good morning, Soledad.

These mobisodes and TV shows made for...

M. O'BRIEN: Mobisodes?

SERWER: Mobisodes.

S. O'BRIEN: I like that.

M. O'BRIEN: Mobisodes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Mobisodes are TV shows made for your cell phone. Actually, it's a trademarked word by FOX. FOX trademarked that word.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a good one.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, so you owe them some money right now.

SERWER: Yes -- no, I don't owe them anything. (LAUGHTER)

SERWER: And these shows have been -- they've been doing them, Kiefer Sutherland's "24". They started that up. But this is the first one where FOX is teaming up with Toyota to have a specific sponsor.

And they're going to be making little episodes of the hit show "Prison Break," proof of Innocence, two-minute shows with a 10-second sponsor of Toyota's Yaris.

I'm not too familiar with "Prison Break." Apparently, there's a guy in prison, his brother commits a crime to get in so he can help him get out. A big hit for people a little bit younger than me, I suppose.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting strategy.

SERWER: It is. And, you know, it's all about changing the way companies are advertising on TV.

M. O'BRIEN: So, will people watch ads on their phone, do you think?

SERWER: Yes, because they're going to get exclusive content. And it's going to be a buzz thing...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: ... "Did you see it? Did you get it?"

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: I mean, it's all about...

S. O'BRIEN: Who would have thought people would pay for a ring tone.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And yet they do, and a lot.

SERWER: They really do.

S. O'BRIEN: So, I believe it.

SERWER: I believe it, too.

All right. Let's talk about Bill Gates.

Guess where he was sightseeing over the weekend? Vietnam. Bill Gates goes to Vietnam.

Thousands of Vietnamese climbing up trees, on roofs, buildings to see him. This is him with some senior officials there. But he was treated like a pop star.

I mean, you know -- and it's interesting the richest man in the world in one of the most impoverished nations in Asia. And they also have an extremely high piracy rate. I mean, apparently, people just don't buy software in Vietnam.

And so he was there trying to talk that up. And -- but Vietnam wants to join the WTO. So, they've got to get on board with certain business practices.

And Mr. Gates was there to help them get there, also doing a little bit of sightseeing. His first trip to Vietnam.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, we hope he had a good time.

SERWER: Apparently he did.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Thank you very much, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: See you in a little bit.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: As we approach the top of the hour, let's get the forecast. Chad's here with that.

Hello, Chad.

MYERS: Hi, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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