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Baby Kidnapped From Texas Hospital; Gen. Petraeus Tours Anbar; Poppy Production Up in Afghanistan; U.S. and Colombia Fight Cocaine Production; Captain America Assassinated

Aired March 10, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Caught on camera. A woman walked out of a hospital after kidnapping a newborn baby. The desperate search continues right now.
Plus: Call to duty. We'll talk to the new man in charge of U.S. troops in Iraq. It's a CNN exclusive.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news unfolds this Saturday, March 10. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our top story, a desperate search for a Texas newborn. The girl, just 3 days old, was snatched from a Lubbock hospital by a woman. The suspect, described as an African-American woman in her early 20s, apparently posed as a hospital worker. She is shown here in a surveillance video. Police say the baby's family and hospital workers have looked at the video but they do not recognize the woman. As the search drags on, the situation gets more critical. The baby girl has jaundice and needs immediate medical attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. SCOTT HUDGENS, LUBBOCK POLICE: If the person that has this baby is listening, I would just implore them, please, take them to someplace safe, drop them off if need be. And that's our main concern right now, is the safety of this child. There is some medical conditions that we're concerned about, and we just really would like to get that child back so it can get the proper care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So just how life-threatening is the baby's condition? With me now, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, a clinical assistant professor at Emory University's medical school. Good to see you, Doctor.

DR. SUJATHA REDDY, OB-GYN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So how touch-and-go might it be when we talk about jaundice and 3-day-old baby?

REDDY: Well, you know, jaundice is actually very common. And as long as it's not very severe and the bilirubin level is not very high, the baby should do well. If the baby was under bilirubin lights, which are those ultraviolet, purple lights to break down the bilirubin, then it could be more serious. And on the most severe cases, jaundice, if untreated, can actually lead to mental retardation and maybe even death.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so what about the potential dangers of removing a 3-day-old baby, still getting acclimized, you know, in its at least medical environment and now being taken out into the elements? What would be your concerns?

REDDY: Well, if it's a normal, healthy baby, it really shouldn't have any problem. The problem's going to be if the bilirubin -- if the bilirubin is mildly elevated, the infant should do just fine, as long as you take care of it like you would any newborn. But if they're going to have problems with the bilirubin, that's going to be the issue. But if it's a normal, healthy baby, fed and clothed, and you know, covered properly, it should do fine.

WHITFIELD: And what about dehydration? What about feeding this baby? What are your concerns?

REDDY: Well, again, if it's a healthy baby, it really should do fine with regular formula. Or I think another issue is that we don't know if this baby or the mom had any medical problems. And if they did, then that could be even more serious. But again, if it's a normal, healthy baby and whoever has it knows how to take care of a baby as far as clothing, care, you know, nutrition so it doesn't get dehydrated, it should be OK.

WHITFIELD: How does this story strike you, given that so many of us are familiar with new security measures put in place in maternity wards? Because this seemed to have happened a lot during the '80s, but it seemed to kind of quiet down quite a bit in terms of babies being taken out of the maternity ward. You know, what are your concerns as a medical professional about how something like this can even happen?

REDDY: Well, what I could think of there was -- I don't know how this happened because the security around newborn nurseries (INAUDIBLE) is incredible. It's Ft. Knox, trying to get near a baby. So I thought this must be have been something that was totally pre- planned or maybe someone on the inside because it is very difficult to get to a baby if you're not supposed to be there, and to remove a baby.

WHITFIELD: And while we want this baby to be returned by this suspect, if perhaps this suspect is listening and perhaps needs some guidance on what to best do for this baby right now, what would be your medical advice?

REDDY: This baby needs, you know, to be covered. It needs to have its temperature regulated by blankets, being kept warm and being fed properly. And if the bilirubin is high -- and we don't know -- putting the baby actually in a window for the sunlight to get to it may help a little. But it's not nearly enough if it's high, like we would need to have it in the hospital.

WHITFIELD: That might help save some time. But really, we know that this baby needs to get back to the hospital facility and returned to its parents. Dr. Sujatha Reddy, thanks so much. Good to see you. REDDY: Thank you. Good to see you, too.

WHITFIELD: Well, take a look at this little guy right here. He is now the focus of a search in southeast Georgia. The Glynn County police and other law enforcement agencies are looking for Christopher Michael Barrios, Jr. He was last seen sitting on a swing in a mobile home community. This was Thursday before nightfall. When he didn't come home, his parents called the police.

And now four people are dead after an early morning apartment building fire in Chicago. Flames raced through a three-story brick building on Chicago's North Side, about a block from Wrigley Field. The fire was contained to the second and third floors, and the bodies of three of the victims were found in a single apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY LANGFORD, CHICAGO FIRE DEPT.: This is a bad one. These people inside, it looks like they never had a chance. The fire spread very rapidly. Our firehouse -- the closest one here is about three blocks away. They were here in under three minutes, and they were already deceased when they got on the scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One man survived the fire by jumping from a third floor window. He is in stable condition. The arson squad has started a routine investigation.

And looking for answers, with the new man calling the shots for U.S. troops in Iraq. General David Petraeus is just back from touring the volatile Anbar province. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston was with him and joins us now live from Baghdad. And what did you see?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. General David Petraeus, just one month into his job as commander of multi- national forces, today on his first trip to Iraq's restive western al Anbar province, a major front in the fight to secure Iraq.

Now, we travelled to the town of Hit, a Sunni stronghold along the Euphrates River, once the domain of al Qaeda in Iraq, a town that had been a war zone on and off for the last three years, a town that was also very hostile to American forces who patrolled this area.

And that seems to have changed recently. Why? Well, General Petraeus says it's twofold. The American approach to securing this area has changed, he said. Instead of engaging insurgents, clearing out areas and moving on, the United States, alongside with Iraqi police and the army, set up semi-permanent bases, showing the local population their efforts to bring security to the town are genuine and long-term.

And that led to the second aspect of Hit security, building trust among the powerful tribes that have ruled this province for centuries. Once they knew that the Americans were here to stay, they urged the local population to turn in foreign fighters, their sympathizers and weapons caches and bombmaking materials that streamed across the border from nearby Syria and ended up in major cities, like the capital here in Baghdad. He called instability in this region a dagger pointed at Baghdad. And the only way, he said, to secure the capital city is to stabilize al Anbar.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jennifer Eccleston, thanks so much -- with her tour with General Petraeus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than 90 percent of the world's heroin comes from here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Heroin from Afghanistan, cocaine from Colombia, where the war on terror and the war on drugs meet. We take a closer look.

And to have and to hold. Should your government restrict your right to have guns in your home? A new court decision stirring a debate.

And the death of an American icon -- comic fiction or a political statement? We look at the murder of Captain America.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The United States is fighting drug wars in two countries it calls "narco-states." That's Afghanistan and Colombia. The Bush administration says the Taliban and FARC are terror groups flush with drug cash. Here are some stats from the U.N. Afghanistan exports nearly $3 billion worth of opium every year. Ten percent of the population, some two million people, take part in opium production in Afghanistan. Colombia produces 70 percent of the world's cocaine, and much of it finds its way into the United States. Cocaine experts from Colombia amount to about $1 billion every year.

Two reports. First here's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Every year, when the opium harvest comes in, there is a moment of truth in Afghanistan. Has more or less of the narcotic poppy that makes heroin been grown than during the previous year? Is the country simply turning into a narco-state?

More than 90 percent of the world's heroin comes from here, and most years in the past 10, I've been here to report on it. This year, I'm learning from the counter-narcotics minister, the outlook is bad.

HABIBULLAH QADORI, MINISTER FOR COUNTER-NARCOTICS: Unfortunately, this year there has been 165,000 hectares of poppy grown in Afghanistan. It is shocking (ph) for the Afghan government, for the Afghan people that there is about 60 percent increase in the poppy.

ROBERTSON: On a map, he shows me where the growth has grown up most, in the south, where the Taliban is strongest. Poppies are worth a staggering $3 billion to this impoverished country.

QADORI: More than 50 percent of the GDP of Afghanistan...

ROBERTSON (on camera): Is from opium poppies.

QADORI: It's just from opium poppies. It's 50 percent of the GDP of Afghanistan.

ROBERTSON: That's incredible.

QADORI: That's -- certainly. That's not easy to remove all this -- 50 percent of the economic of this country. This country will collapse, in any case.

ROBERTSON: After talking to the minister, I'm realizing the magnitude of the scale of the problem here. It's massive. And despite all their efforts so far, they still haven't caught any of the major drug barons behind the production.

(voice-over): Over the past 10 years, the only effective poppy ban I've seen was implemented by Taliban. A year before 9/11, they took me to their heartland so I could witness them torching a morphine lab as part of their crackdown. On pain of death, they made farmers plant rice instead.

But in Afghan drug markets, traders showed me the meager amounts of opium they had for sale and complained to me the Taliban was cynically banning poppy to drive up the price.

(on camera): And how much is this now?

(voice-over): Across the border in Pakistan, drug traders showed me they still had plenty of opium for sale. At the time, I was meeting the Taliban foreign minister on a regular basis. He admitted to me they got their cut of the poppy profits in a religious tax.

COL. JOHN NICHOLSON, U.S. ARMY: The drug production really exposes the hypocrisy of our enemies. You know, when the Taliban was in charge here, they outlawed drug production. Now that they are on the outs and they're trying to regain a foothold in Afghanistan, they suddenly welcome drug production and encourage drug production as a means to undermine the stability of the government.

ROBERTSON: In 1997, I even watched a farmer teach his son how to grow the poppy. The problem then, as it is now -- grinding poverty.

(on camera): No one knows for sure just how much money the Taliban are making from opium poppies. One informed source, who would lose his job if he appeared on camera, told me it could be as much as a billion dollars. What is for sure is that the money they are making is making them stronger.

(voice-over): At the top end of the problem today, high-level government corruption and an intimidated and disillusioned eradication agency. Cracking the corruption problem is the biggest battle Minister Qadori says he faces right now, and he's not sure that's a battle he can win.

QADORI: If it becomes a failed narco-state, it will affect everybody in this country.

ROBERTSON: And not just Afghanistan. The cost of failure would be global. The country would return to being a narco-terror state. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And now on to Colombia and cocaine. President Bush will be in that country tomorrow, drugs certainly one of the topics he'll discuss with Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe.

Here's CNN's Carl Penhaul in Bogota.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a war, and the enemy is cocaine. Helicopter gunships guard planes dumping toxic chemicals on plantations growing illegal drugs. Missions like these often take fire from communist guerrillas, groups the U.S. and Colombia call narco-terrorists, groups tied to the drug trade. Washington finances Colombia's war on drugs and guerrillas, spending about three quarters of a billion dollars a year since 2000. That's what the U.S. spends in Iraq in just three days.

Without U.S. support in the drug war, the world would be flooded with cocaine and other drugs, Colombia's interior minister says. But a leading Colombia analyst says the fight cannot be won with the current strategy. Nobody is winning the drug war because the problem isn't one of fighting of war but of carrying out reforms to attack the reasons why this illegal industry exists, he says.

United Nations narcotics experts say many cocaine plantations have been destroyed. But still, the amount of cocaine remains close to its all-time high, thanks to more productive strains of coca bush and more efficient processing.

SANDRO CALVANI, UNITED NATIONS: So we can now safely say that there are 750 tons, metric (ph) tons, of cocaine being produced in Colombia.

PENHAUL: Much of Colombia's cocaine finds its way to the U.S., shipped through Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The trail starts here, with impoverished peasant farmers like these producing a not so refined form of cocaine. It's then sold at secret markets like this one deep in the jungle. Traffickers test the purity of the powder and pay cash, around $900 a kilogram. On the streets of the U.S., that same kilo will fetch around $100,000. When I talked to this drug trafficker three years ago, he predicted the U.S.-funded drug war in Colombia would not wipe out cocaine. They haven't been able to wipe out coca here because instead of investing in weapons and warplanes, they should be giving peasant farmers aid and loans, he said.

Since 2000, more than 80 percent of U.S. aid to Colombia went to the military. Both governments justify that, saying the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- FARC for short -- now controls up to 90 percent of the cocaine trade. The U.N.'s drug expert here says much more must be done to help poor peasant farmers switch from cocaine to legal crops.

CALVANI: It is necessary to balance this kind of repression, rule of law, with other measures, like socioeconomic measures.

PENHAUL (on camera): But with such colossal spending on its war on terror, Washington's offering little prospect of boosting help to wage the war on drugs. Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And coming up in the NEWSROOM, a pair of legal decisions this week resonating far beyond the courthouse. One could send the vice president's former chief of staff to prison, the other could put more guns in the households in the nation's capital. Scooter Libby's fate and why the NRA is smiling. That's all ahead in the NEWSROOM.

But first...

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A violent and strange end for an American icon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: He has symbolized our country for more than 60 years. So what is the meaning behind the murder of Captain America?

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So this is pretty shocking. What kind of man beats up on a 101-year-old woman? Well, you are looking at it right now, all caught on security camera. Watch this man as he smacked around this centenarian, snatched her purse. And then it wasn't enough to leave her standing there with her walker, he had to take her down with a hard punch to the face. Absolutely disgusting. The woman suffered a fractured cheekbone and bruises. The robber is suspected of mugging an 85-year-old woman, as well, a short time later, stealing just over $30 each time from each woman. Pretty disgusting. Hopefully, somebody will find him.

Well, say it isn't so. An all-American icon meets a strange and violent demise. Our Ali Velshi is at the drawing board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the comic, Captain America, war hero, secret agent, the man behind the mask, is to stand trial. His crime? Defying a new law calling for those with superpowers to register with the U.S. government, a law that came into being after a superhero's tragic mistake caused a fictional 9/11.

DAN BUCKLEY, PRES., MARVEL COMICS: 9/11 every child knew about from -- if you could see a TV, he knew what 9/11 was, just part of story telling. Every popular fiction story telling thing (ph) does reflect these things.

VELSHI: The storyline was intentionally written as an allegory to current issues like the Patriot Act and the war on terror. Captain America -- or Steve Rogers (ph) -- eventually surrenders to police, but he's mortally wounded as he climbs the courthouse steps, a violent and strange end for an American icon.

Captain America first appeared in 1941 as America entered World War II. He was a symbol of American strength and resolve in fighting first the Axis powers and later communism. So if the current storyline is an allegory for the post-9/11 political situation, what does the death of Captain America represent?

JOE QUESADA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MARVEL COMICS: There's a lot to be read in there, but I'm not one that's going to tell people this is what you should read into it because I can look at it and say, No, I can read several different types of messages.

VELSHI: One clear message, Captain America is dead. Or is he?

QUESADA: There was a period in comics when characters would just die and then be resurrected. And the death had very little meaning, or the resurrection had very little meaning. So when I took over the helm, there were certain characters that were death that had meaningful deaths, and all I ask of my writers is, first of all, if you're going to kill a character off, please let that death have some meaning.

What happens with Cap, more importantly, what happens with the costume and what happens to the characters who were friends and enemies of Cap? You'll have to read the books to find out.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, he died on Christmas Day, now James Brown has been laid to rest, at least for now. The Associated Press reports that Brown's body was placed in a crypt at Beech Island, South Carolina. One of Brown's daughters lives near by. Squabbles over Brown's estate and whether he was legally married have stalled the burial for two-and-a-half months now. A source tells the AP the crypt will likely not be Brown's final resting place. A newborn baby kidnapped from her mother's arms. We'll go live to Lubbock, Texas, for the latest details.

And for decades, courts have upheld gun control laws, so what's going on in the nation's capital? Our legal experts will have a high- caliber discussion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Amber Alert for a newborn. The search continues at this hour for a kidnapped baby and a suspect. Also, presidential pardon or a prison sentence, what's next for Scooter Libby? We'll ask our legal experts.

Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A newborn baby snatched from a hospital in Texas, the alleged abductor caught on tape. A desperate search is now under way.

Live to reporter Joe Walker of CNN affiliate KLBK in Lubbock, Texas. Any leads, Joel?

JOEL WALKER, KLBK-TV: Good afternoon, Fredricka. The news on this situation is that there's no news right now. The search is still ongoing for little baby Mychael, frantic searching from the sheriff's department and the police department and anyone in -- anyone in earshot of the Amber Alert.

WHITFIELD: So what about any security measures that were in place at the hospital, Joel?

WALKER: Well, Gwen Stafford (ph) with Covenant Hospital told us that Covenant Lakeside, which is a branch of the main hospital, has a very advanced security system, that the baby was actually wearing a bracelet that could identify the baby and not let the baby get past a certain point in the hospital without a licensed nurse or someone who works there. Apparently, the person who stole the baby actually cut that security bracelet off and then walked the baby out of the hospital. So the security system is there, but the person who took it obviously found a way to get around it.

WHITFIELD: So is it the feeling that this person, this suspect, was a fairly familiar face around the hospital, that she had been there before, had gotten some familiarity with the security system in place in order to carry this out?

WALKER: You know, we haven't had any word from anyone who works at the hospital that has been able to identify the person. But when you're in a hospital at 1:30 in the morning and someone is walking around in scrubs, like this woman was, sometimes people just don't take the time to stop and question.

Also, she was wearing a forged ID badge. And when you don't look closely at one of those, obviously, it can -- I guess it can be a little easy to look right past it.

WHITFIELD: So Joel, what about the parents? They just must be beside themselves.

WALKER: Absolutely. You know this isn't the first time in the last 12 months this happened in Lubbock. This actually also happened back in June a baby was stolen from a woman's home. Those parents, we're trying to get in touch with them now to find out exactly what they must be going through. The parents of baby Mychael have not talked yet, but this obviously is a heartbreaking, heart wrenching experience and everyone in Lubbock, including the law enforcement are doing everything they can to find this baby.

WHITFIELD: It is heartbreaking. Well let's hope for the best that this little baby will be returned to her parents. All right, Joel Walker, thanks so much of KLBK in Lubbock, Texas. And anyone with information on the whereabouts of little Mychael Darthard is asked to call Lubbock County Sheriff's Department, the number is right here on your screen, 806-775-2788. Here is a drawing of the suspect, she's described as an African-American, early 20's, auburn hair, she was driving a red dodge pickup truck.

Gunfight in the nation's capital, Washington Mayor Adrian Fentley says his city will keep enforcing its handgun ban while it fights to overturn an appeals court ruling. The court ruled D.C. citizens have a constitutional right to keep handguns in their homes. Gary Nurenberg joins us now with the story. Gary?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good afternoon Fredricka. This is a second amendment question about whether it is constitutional for cities or states to say you cannot have a gun in your home. D.C.'s law does prohibit guns in homes and a panel of federal appeals court judges now says that law goes too far, that it does violate the constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG (voice-over): If someone breaks into George Lyon's home in Washington, D.C. he's not exactly convinced that little Yonto is going to be an effective deterrent. He sued the city saying its ban on guns in homes is unconstitutional and didn't prevent the city last year from having 137 gun-related homicides.

GEORGE LYONS: I want, for myself, the right to protect my home and my family in the event of violent attack.

NURENBERG: Shonda Smith lost her 19-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter when they were shot to death on city streets 14 years ago. Her son trying to protect his little sister.

SHONDA SMITH: You know he got shot in his hand, throwing his hand up because his sister was sitting right in the car next to him.

NURENBERG: She says she was insulted by the court's decision to allow citizens to have guns in homes and says more guns mean more kids will die.

SMITH: What's going to happen to the kids, mothers are going to be lined up in the cemeteries putting flowers on their children's graves.

NURENBERG: The National Rifle Association says the ruling is limited in scope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the ruling itself does deal with just guns owned in the home. This not about right to carry, this is not about carrying outside of your home. This is just about the god-given right that people have to defend their homes and their families from criminals, armed criminals who attack them.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: As Fredricka said, the city's mayor Adrian Fentley is furious at the decision and says he will appeal to the full circuit court of appeals. If that full court does agree with this panel of federal judges who says the law is unconstitutional, legal analysts say it is likely it will end up in the supreme court, possibly affecting gun laws nationwide.

WHITFIELD: All right, Gary Nurenberg, thanks so much, from Washington. Well the appeals court decision is the first case in nearly 70 years to address the second amendment scope. Let's take a look at the legal issues involved now as well as how likely this case is to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Our legal experts are, as every weekend, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, good to see you Avery.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney. Good to see you as well Richard.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right Richard, let me begin with you. So does this mean that no jurisdiction can outlaw guns in the home?

HERMAN: Not yet, Fred. But that's what they'd like. You know it was only a 2-1 decision and it's got to be upheld on the next level. Then absolutely this case will go to the United States Supreme Court. And as you said just now, the last time it went before the Supreme Court was in 1939 in the case of U.S. v. Miller, where the Supreme Court hinted that the citizens should have the right to be able to bear arms. The interpretation of this will go to the Supreme Court and, Avery, as a constitutional expert you've got to weigh in on this.

WHITFIELD: All right, go ahead, Avery, your turn.

FRIEDMAN: It's never going to get there. Let me tell you why.

WHITFIELD: Really?

FRIEDMAN: Never going to get to the supreme court.

WHITFIELD: But the mayor is really holding fast on taking this case to the next level.

FRIEDMAN: Well, let's ask what the next level is. The next level is through a petition to seek the entire D.C. court of appeals. This was a 2-1 decision, Richard's right. The dissent essentially identified the issue that that 1939 decision did not permit a -- an unfettered right to have guns in your home. Rather, the entire U.S. court of appeals for the District of Columbia Fredricka, will consider the case and they will reverse this 2-1 decision, meaning that they will join nine other federal courts of appeals in affirming this legislation. It will never get to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WHITFIELD: Oh interesting. In affirming this decision, in fact, that people would be allowed to bear arms in their homes?

FRIEDMAN: No, no, no. It will reverse.

WHITFIELD: The opposite?

FRIEDMAN: It will reverse the 2-1 decision this federal appeals panel, which is likely to grant the petition for the whole appeals court to hear it, will reverse that decision. And as I say, the D.C. court of appeals will join nine other federal courts of appeals in affirming the right of the District of Columbia to ban handguns in homes.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So in a way, the mayor would be winning his argument without having to take it to, say, the supreme court because he's saying, essentially, that if you allow this new appellate court decision, it means that more bad guys out there, you know will get guns or feel that there is some, I guess, legal leg to stand on to have guns in their homes and, thereby, causing further detriment to an already growing crime rate which D.C. thinks they have gotten a hold of lately.

FRIEDMAN: Sort of, because this is a bill that governs the right to have a gun of people who conduct themselves legally. The people who kill people generally are those people who do not have guns legally but the issue of gun control, this opinion, which was rendered 24 hours ago, is really a perversion, an aberration, as Richard indicated, 70 years of precedent it's going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: All right quickly Richard.

HERMAN: It's not a free-for-all. There are still restrictions. You have to be licensed, you have to have it in lock boxes. It's not a free-for-all for everyone to go out and get handguns and keep them in their houses. So, I'm not so sure that this case is not going to be upheld on (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right Richard Avery, we're not done with you because we've got another case that we want to delve into. The White House facing questions now about a pardon. What else? Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The verdict is in but the jury is out on what will happen now. Our legal experts will be back to explore what could be next in that case. And how do you preserve cultural traditions you know nothing about. That's a question facing many people adopting foreign children. We look for answers straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Sentencing for Lewis "Scooter" Libby set for June. Libby was found guilty of perjury in the CIA leak trial. He's trying to get a new trial or appeal the verdict. Our legal experts will discuss those possibilities in a moment. But first, CNN's Tom Foreman looks at another way Libby could stay out of prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the vice president's former confidant Scooter Libby awaiting sentencing, the White House is being pushed around like a monopoly piece on the question of whether Libby will get out of jail free under a presidential pardon. The president says he respects the court, is sad about the conviction but --

BUSH: There's more legal procedures to take place. And at this time it's inappropriate for me or the administration to be issuing comments about this serious matter.

FOREMAN: George Washington pardoned the man who led the whiskey rebellion and ever since presidents have pardoned or commuted the sentences of dozens of people often because they believe the prosecution was political. Democrats said that about Bill Clinton's friend Susan McDougal who went to jail over white water.

SUSAN MCDOUGAL: I was pardoned on the last day of Bill Clinton's presidency.

FOREMAN: But some Democrats think Libby is just the fall guy for dirty dealings at the White House and is a potential witness against the vice president himself in the quest to find out who exposed Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC NATL. CMTE. CHAIRMAN: Scooter Libby didn't do this all by himself. The best way that the president has to shut Scooter Libby up before sentencing is to pardon him.

FOREMAN: George Bush as a governor and president has granted pardons less often than others have.

(on camera): But this is not just about the president anymore. Sure, some Republicans see Libby as a political martyr who deserves saving even as he works on his appeal. But others are painfully aware that ethic scandals have rocked their party.

MIKE ALLEN, THE POLITICO: The dilemma for the president is, he's known for loyalty. His friends say that's his best quality and yet you have the presidential candidates in the Republican Party saying hey, it's not just about you now. We have an election in '08. We can't afford to have the Republican brand stained with something that the American people feel was not fair.

FOREMAN (voice-over): In bitterly partisan Washington, many complain manners have all but vanished. But the hottest game in town now is guessing what the White House will do if Scooter Libby says, pardon me. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So does Scooter Libby have a good chance of getting a new trial or winning an appeal or that pardon? Let's ask our legal experts. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor, back with us and Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney. All right Avery, let me begin with you. So if he does appeal, how much time does he buy before the president could potentially pardon him, if that indeed is an option?

FRIEDMAN: Well he's got plenty of time Fredricka. He will ask for a new trial. Ultimately that will be denied. And like the gun case, it will then go to the court of appeals and a petition, if he's not successful, for the whole panel to hear it and then a petition to the supreme court.

WHITFIELD: So we're talking months.

FRIEDMAN: Well no, no, more than that. By the time the process is done, you're really estimating February or March of 2009.

WHITFIELD: And the president could pardon at any point from here on out or does it have to be in his final days of the presidency?

FRIEDMAN: He can pardon as late as the 19th of January, 2009. So he's got plenty of time. There's no petition. But you know, I want to make clear what this case is about is very simple and I'm not sure it's really been explained. Very simply Scooter Libby knew about Valerie Plame in mid June. The second the jury heard that Scooter said it was in mid July from Tim Russert, he was as trapped as Sonny Corleon in a toll booth. That case was over on facts alone. This case is likely to be affirmed by the court of appeals.

HERMAN: Fred, here's the situation here. Really quick, here's the situation. If he does not get the new trial and the reversal remanded on appeal, he will 100 percent be pardoned by George Bush. You can take that to the bank. Now, the problem here is all that's a knee-jerk reaction for a defense attorney to say we're going to appeal, we're going to appeal after they lose. There are a series of appellate issues in this case. For instance, the judge prohibited any cross examination of Russert on expressly documented memory lapses in his life. The entire case rested on his memory and the judge precluded cross-examination on known memory lapses by Russert. To me that's outrageous. The judge let in inflammatory newspaper articles that were not accurate. And in addition, they precluded the defense from showing taped televised statements made by Russert where he was commenting on the case before he testified, which would go to bias and prejudice of him. It's outrageous.

WHITFIELD: So he has a pretty good chance on this appeal.

HERMAN: The real chance on this appeal. You know, Fred, this was a four-year multi-million dollar investigation. And everybody is singing praises to this prosecutor. Let me tell you, after four years there was no conspiracy shown, there was no felony committed here, there was no evidence that Valerie Plame was a covert agent entitled to protection under this little known intelligence identities protection act.

FRIEDMAN: No, no.

WHITFIELD: This prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says, case closed.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: However, we're hearing, Avery, in Tom Foreman's piece that potentially there could be a case against the vice president later and that Scooter Libby might potentially be subpoenaed in that. So do you see that kind of potential that perhaps there would be another case despite what the prosecutor says?

FRIEDMAN: You know Fredricka, I don't see it. The fact is that Patrick Fitzgerald did it exactly correctly, the way this case was handled, the jury paid attention to a very narrow line. It had nothing to do with the identities act, nothing. That's what was the start of the investigation. The bottom line, Fitzgerald did it right. The jury was satisfied that the evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt four of the five counts.

WHITFIELD: So quickly yes or no, jail time, Avery, jail time Richard?

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely not. No jail time. Not going to happen.

HERMAN: Pardon, pardon, pardon.

FRIEDMAN: A little jail time before the pardon?

HERMAN: Perhaps. The pardon is going to come before he goes to jail.

WHITFIELD: Ok, so many options. All right gentlemen, I appreciate it. Good to see you. Have a great weekend.

Cultural traditions, parents pass them down to their children. But with foreign adoptions, is it that simple? One family's story of blending two worlds, when the NEWSROOM continues.

And at 3:00 p.m., they stormed a house looking for insurgents and found they had walked into a trap. It turned into the ambush at the river of secrets. CNN's special investigation unit begins at 3:00 p.m. eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hundreds of American couples go through an amazing amount of paperwork and red tape to adopt children from other countries. Now many of those couples are helping their adoptive children uncover their cultural roots. Our Jill Dougherty explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The music is Chinese. The children from around the world. But they and their adoptive parents are all Americans. At this heritage celebration in New York held at Spence-Chapin Adoption Agency, parents learn how to blend cultures, how to love their children for who they are and where they came from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that?

DOUGHERTY: Since she was a little girl, Sean Axelbank has known exactly where she came from, South Korea. The 17-year-old high school student was adopted as an infant by Suzanne and Gary Axelbank. They have a home movie of that day in 1989 when they, along with their biological son Evan, first held little Hayu, better known as Sean.

SUZANNE AXELBANK, ADOPTIVE MOTHER: When the social worker came out carrying two babies in their arms like this and one was all hairy and one was bald. And we said, oh, my god, that bald one, look at her, that's our baby.

DOUGHERTY: Sean's not bald anymore. Her bedroom is filled with souvenirs of the things she loves, baseball and Korean culture, like this traditional dress.

SEAN AXELBANK: And I'd put it on and I'd come into class and all the children would say, like oh, show and tell.

DOUGHERTY: It's Korean.

SEAN AXLEBANK: Yeah it was like show and tell.

DOUGHERTY: Suzanne Axelbank owns a store, Gary's in public relations. They say they wanted Sean to know and respect Korean culture.

SUZANNE AXELBANK: In our country you are Korean-American, you are Italian-American. People take pride in that. And that's part of your child's pride, too.

DOUGHERTY: The Axelbanks are Jewish. That's part of Sean's heritage, too. She even celebrated her bat mitzvah.

(on camera): The Axelbanks say they soon realized that becoming a part of a new culture goes both ways. Sean slowly became part of American culture and they were gradually exposed to the richness of Korean culture.

GARY AXELBANK, ADOPTIVE FATHER: I'm a Jewish-American man who has adopted a Korean daughter. And as a result of that in a way I have adopted Korean culture and engrained it into our family.

DOUGHERTY: Last summer Sean and her parents flew to South Korea on a roots discovery tour. There she met the Korean foster mother who took care of her for the first six months of her life.

SEAN AXELBANK: It was just like, wow, they're all Korean, they all look like me.

DOUGHERTY: Spence-Chapin Agency says knowing your roots gives adoptive children from other countries a crucial sense of belonging.

RITA TADDIONIO, SPENCE-CHAPIN ADOPTION AGENCY: They're still going to face racism somewhere but they'll have a solid feeling of who they are, ethnically and culturally so that they can deal with it.

DOUGHERTY: Sean Axelbank says knowing where she comes from is helping her to find her identity as she grows up. She wants to see Korea again. After all, she says, they love baseball. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield, a look at the top stories coming up next, including the latest from Lubbock, Texas, where a newborn baby was kidnapped from her mother's arms. Then CNN's special investigation's unit takes us to Iraq. It was a raid gone bad. It turned into the ambush at the river of secrets.

And at 4:00 eastern, a look at your sleep. How do you get enough when the clock changes? You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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