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American Morning
Weekend Suicides of Three Detainees at Guantanamo; Cutting-Edge Cheats
Aired June 12, 2006 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Weekend suicides of three detainees at Guantanamo are highlighting problems at the detention center. Captain James Yee saw firsthand the conditions at Gitmo. He was a chaplain for a Muslim detainee there for 11 months. Captain Yee joins us this morning. He's in Seattle, Washington.
Captain Yee, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.
CAPT. JAMES YEE, FMR. U.S. ARMY CHAPLAIN: It's my pleasure.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. You were the U.S. Army chaplain at Guantanamo. You were arrested in September of 2003, and you were charged with -- accused rather of espionage and also mutiny and sedition, and the criminal charges were dropped against you in March of 2004. And you were cleared completely, and you received an honorable discharge in January of 2005.
Bring everybody up to speed with your knowledge of what was going on and what is going on at Gitmo. Were you surprised to hear about the three suicides over the weekend?
YEE: My initial reaction really was, it was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen. And I recall when I first arrived at Guantanamo in November of 2002, the chief medical officer at that time, Captain Shimcus (ph), briefing the former commanding general, Major General Jeffrey Miller, that he expected within two years a prisoner was going to die at Guantanamo. And it didn't happen within two years, but it came to pass this weekend sadly enough.
S. O'BRIEN: Did you know the three men who committed suicide?
YEE: The names that I saw which were made public I didn't recognize offhand, but more than likely I had direct contact with these individuals, because they were in general population, and I had unauthorized escorted access to all of the prisoners in general population.
S. O'BRIEN: The three dead detainees are these men: Ali Abdullah Ahmed (ph), believed to be a mid to high-level al Qaeda operative. He took part in a hunger strike that ended in May. And he was noncompliant, it was described, and hostile to the guards. Amanni Al Harvadi Al Utebe (ph), a member, apparently, of a banned Saudi militant group that recruited for al Qaeda. He was the guy who was going to be recommended for transfer to an unspecified country, another one. And Yasser Talal Al Davrani (ph), a front-line Taliban fighter, apparently helped procure weapons for the Islamic militia in Afghanistan. Why do you think the three of them would kill themselves?
YEE: Really, I think the suicides this past weekend really is an indication of the dire conditions that these individuals were suffering through. When I was down there, the conditions were already quickly deteriorating, and now they're well into the fifth year of detention, in which they are being held indefinitely without charges, without due process, with very limited access to their families and restricted access to their attorneys.
S. O'BRIEN: The man who is the commander of the joint task force at Guantanamo, Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris said this. He said, "I believe this was not an act of desperation" -- as you're in fact describing -- "but rather an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us." In other words, sort of a P.R. attack against the bigger and more powerful United States. What do you make of that comment?
YEE: I think any mental health professional will tell you that any suicide is an act of desperation. It's, in my view, rather disturbing that suicide is characterized in this way, especially when in our own country we have 30,000 people alone in our country fall victim to suicide every year. And the thousands of families who lose loved ones to suicides I think would be very offended by this characterization of suicide.
S. O'BRIEN: Three successful suicides over the weekend. There have been reports that there have been 40 attempted, though unsuccessful. Do you think the number sound highs, or low or just about right?
YEE: These numbers are very low. When I was down in Guantanamo, what happened was the command changed the terminology of suicide attempt to self-injurious behavior, and gave a much more restricted definition to what exactly suicide attempt would be. The number of self-injurious behavior was well over 300 in just the year 2003 alone. So really the numbers are serious suicide incidences is really much higher.
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is talked about closing down Guantanamo. Do you think that would be the right thing to do?
YEE: It would be a great first step gesture in a positive way. But I think really the big issue is whether or not the United States and the military is going to be more transparent to convince the international community that the United States just very well may be treating these prisoners humanely.
S. O'BRIEN: Chaplain James Yee joining us this morning. Thanks for being with us.
YEE: My pleasure.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, a major milestone for Senator Robert Byrd. He's the longest serving senator in U.S. history. Talks to CNN about his greatest achievements and his biggest mistake. AMERICAN MORNING going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Comedian Robert Klein used to say on a true-false test, you have about a 50 percent chance of getting the answer right. But if you have a long neck and good eyes, you raise that chance to 75 percent of getting it right. He's talking about cheating, of course. And these days cheating is going high tech.
CNN's Kareen Wynter on how college students are now cutting some corners on their exams.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some call it the best-kept secret on college campuses across the country. It's a new high-tech twist on an age old practice -- cheating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pretty common.
WYNTER: UCLA students Laura Gordon and Katie Nelson have seen it firsthand.
KATIE NELSON, UCLA STUDENT: It pissed me off.
WYNTER: Students sneak in portable e-mail gadgets like these popular sidekicks to ace exams, jamming class notes on a tiny screen that fits in the palm of your hand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people like to keep it in their lap.
NELSON: You can see they're - they're looking at it and like just writing what they had on the e-mail.
WYNTER: With just a few discreet clicks ...
JUSTIN SMILTH, UNLV STUDENT PROCTOR: You can actually just be sitting here with a pencil in hand looking like you're pondering on the question, and underneath the desk you can just be texting away.
WYNTER: This student proctor at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada showed us some of the devices tech cheats are using. Camera cell phones, calculators, BlackBerries.
SMILTH: It's just a button click away from sending it to a friend who's maybe sitting with the textbook and can text message you the answer back.
WYNTER: With students using sidekicks, BlackBerries, and other handheld devices to cut corners in the classroom, some academic experts are wondering what's next and if they'll ever be able to keep up with technology.
Ronald Yasbin, a dean at UNLV, says they cracked down on college cheats by implementing a new proctoring policy where trained students monitor exams. That change was triggered after a student used a cell phone to copy and transmit a test question to another classmate, who text back the answer.
RONALD YASBIN, UNLV DEAN: This level of sophistication really concerns me. It's - because they're so smart.
WYNTER: Yasbin says it had more than 100 cases of academic dishonesty so far this year, many involving electronic devices. Experts say it's not just high-tech gadgets that's aiding the cheaters.
JOHN BARRIE, ACADEMIC ANALYST: You have students using the Internet like an 8 billion-page searchable cut and pastable encyclopedia. I think you have students listening to their parents who are telling them, look, do whatever it takes to get into Harvard and to get into Stanford.
YASBIN: High-tech or not, educators say the lessons for cheaters remain the same -- they'll eventually get caught.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm not buying that.
S. O'BRIEN: I cannot believe that last guy said blame the parents for their high expectations of the students. No, it's easier to e-mail your friend to get the answer than to stay up and study for the test, whether you get into Harvard or anywhere else.
M. O'BRIEN: In our day, we walked barefoot in the snow to cheat, you know? We had to write on the heels of our feet and all that.
S. O'BRIEN: Anyway. Anyway.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, coming up next, actress Kyra Sedgwick will join us in the studio. No cheating there. She's the real thing. We'll ask her about tonight's season premiere of "The Closer." And with this, I became a couple of degrees close tower Kevin Bacon. We'll explain, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Actress Kyra Sedgwick is back for the second season as the star of TNT's hit series "The Closer." Season one produced both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for her role as the CIA-trained deputy police chief Brenda Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA SEDGWICK, ACTRESS: Lieutenant Tell (ph)? I need to start this interview and if you don't finish, I could be up a nasty smelling creek with no paddle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just go slow. As soon as the match comes through, I will bring it directly to Gabriel. Here. For all our sakes, please.
SEDGWICK: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Now, why are you doing that? You kind of -- you don't like watching?
SEDGWICK: No, I don't mind watching. I don't know why I do that.
M. O'BRIEN: Anyway. Kyra Sedgwick joining us now, cringing as she ate the doughnut there. It's kind of a "Steel Magnolia"-type role, isn't it? You know, you're hard and you're Southern.
SEDGWICK: I mean, yes she is from the South, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: What about this role? I know your husband, Kevin Bacon, encouraged you on this one. Did you see it as being the thing to do?
SEDGWICK: You know, I mean, I thought the script was amazing. I knew that there was no question about that. There was a question about, you know, how it would work into our lives.
M. O'BRIEN: You live in New York. You have two teenage kids and you shoot in L.A.
SEDGWICK: L.A., yes.
M. O'BRIEN: So that poses a little bit of a challenge for a mom.
SEDGWICK: Yes, definitely. I mean, I miss them a lot, and they miss me. But they come every other weekend and we have, you know, vacations together. So we do what we can.
M. O'BRIEN: What is it about this role that you think is different than other police dramas?
SEDGWICK: Well, I think it -- what makes it different is that it's really a character-driven piece. It's really about the characters. It's less about, you know, the plot. And while the plot and the mysteries are always interesting, it's always the interplay with the characters that, to me, keeps people coming back.
M. O'BRIEN: It's all about characters, isn't it?
SEDGWICK: I think so.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, let's take a look at another clip.
SEDGWICK: OK. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEDGWICK: Commander, (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got an appointment with the attorney this morning. I'm not even sure he knows we have an officer down. But I spoke to the captain of Central.
SEDGWICK: Well, I would like to speak to the captain, as well, but I don't need his entire division here on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of their own is lying dead in that warehouse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of our own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe if you let us clear Detective Martin's remains...
SEDGWICK: I haven't examined them yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that, but when an LAPD officer dies in the line of duty, we never leave him lying next to the scumbag we kill.
SEDGWICK: That's because when an officer is murdered on the job, you usually find them in minutes, not two days after the fact. Now I have a lot of questions about what happened here and I don't need this crowd trying to bully me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: You know, you don't sound like you're from New York there, do you?
SEDGWICK: I hope not.
M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about the accent. Was that hard to do?
SEDGWICK: You know, it's something that you have to stay diligent about. It's something that you really have to stay on. You know, it's an art like any other part of it, I think.
M. O'BRIEN: You got a movie coming out, directed by Kevin.
SEDGWICK: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: What's that like working with him? Tell us about "Loverboy."
SEDGWICK: It's wonderful working with him. I think he's an incredible director, especially for actors.
M. O'BRIEN: What else can you say, though?
SEDGWICK: Well, especially for actors. Because we have a lot of other actors in the film. We have Sandra Bullock, Marisa Tomei, Oliver Platt, Campbell Scott, Matt Dillon. And everyone is really incredible. And I think that -- I mean, they're great actors anyway, but I also think they bring something really special and different to the movie than you would expect. So I think that that really says a lot about the director. And I think it's just -- I think he has a fresh voice, I really do. I love it. I'm really proud of it.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. It was good working with him?
SEDGWICK: Oh, it was great working with him.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. "Loverboy" is coming out soon.
SEDGWICK: Uh huh.
M. O'BRIEN: And of course...
SEDGWICK: It's actually coming out on the 16th.
M. O'BRIEN: Sixteenth, all right. And, of course, "The Closer."
SEDGWICK: Next Friday.
M. O'BRIEN: "The Closer." Thanks for coming in. The season two of "The Closer" premieres tonight, 9:00 p.m., on TNT with a commercial-free episode. Excellent.
SEDGWICK: What could be better than that?
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for dropping by.
SEDGWICK: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: What could be better than that? Up next, Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
M. O'BRIEN: That could be better.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: It could be. It might not be.
S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Andy. Good morning.
SERWER: OK, inquiring minds want to know. With the "National Enquirer" go public? Plus, I know you've been waiting all weekend for this. The behind-the-scenes story of the photos of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie Pitt. We'll bring that to you, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, thank God. I was hoping we'd talk about her today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES) M. O'BRIEN: All right, coming up at the top of the hour. High level, high stakes. President Bush heading to Camp David, convening a war council on Iraq. We'll have live coverage for you.
Plus, crime in America on the rise. We'll tell you where the gangs are going. That's ahead on "CNN LIVE TODAY." More AMERICAN MORNING after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: He's been serving West Virginians in the Senate since the Eisenhower administration. Today is day 17,327 for Senator Robert Byrd, surpassing a record that was held by Strom Thurmond. The West Virginia Democrat is a master of Senate rules, history and good old-fashioned pork barrel spending.
He talked with CNN's Dana Bash about his remarkable career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporter: How does the longest-serving senator in U.S. history celebrate his milestone?
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I'm going to run again.
BASH: How else? After nearly a half century in the Senate, plotting to win reelection in November.
BYRD: I may be an old man in years, that's all right. So is Moses quite an old man, I suppose.
BASH: Robert C. Byrd is 88, to be exact. The son of a coal miner, he served six years in the House and then moved to the Senate in 1959 and became a master of its arcane rules. His longest filibuster 1964, 14 hours and 13 minutes, against the Civil Rights Act.
(on camera): Is that something you regret now?
BYRD: I do regret my vote against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And it was that southern atmosphere in which I grew up and with all of its prejudices and its feelings.
BASH (voice-over): Those prejudices led to what he calls his albatross, briefly joining the Ku Klux Klan.
BYRD: I've never hesitated to say that was the greatest mistake of my life. It will always be there. And it will be in my obituary.
BASH: He spent more than 50 years steering project after project to his impoverished state. His nickname, "King of Pork."
(on camera): You wear that as a badge of honor don't you?
BYRD: I do. My memory is as good as it ever was. And it's stock full of recollections about the poor people of West Virginia, how they were laughed at. They were a laughingstock, yes. I'm a hillbilly, proud of it.
BASH (voice-over): A hillbilly turned passionate orator.
BYRD: The freedom flag...
BASH: A self-educated man who peppers his speeches with poetry and the classic, know to wave the Constitution he keeps in his breast pocket. Eleven presidents have now heard his reminder that the legislative branch is mentioned first.
BYRD: I am a champion of the constitution.
BASH: His Capitol office is a museum. He points to this 2002 tally sheet, recording his vote against the Iraq war.
BASH: Of all of the 17,000-plus that votes you cast...
BYRD: ... is the greatest vote I ever cast.
I'm ashamed that the Senate on that occasion shifted its power to declare war to one man.
BASH: He's not just a senator, but the embodiment and enforcer of its storied traditions. Even wrote four books on its history.
So what will history say about Robert C. Byrd?
BYRD: The chapter isn't written yet, the last chapter. And there may be several chapters ahead.
BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Got to love that. Many chapters ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: I like the way he's thinking. That's all from us for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Daryn is at CNN Center to take you through the next couple of hours.
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