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Scooter Libby Gets Prison Sentence; Bush Addresses Conference on Democracy and Security

Aired June 05, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Time to learn his punishment. Scooter Libby in court right now. He's being sentenced for lying in the CIA leak probe. We'll bring you the judge's decision.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And no decorum, no diploma. Five seconds of early celebrating penalizes a high school grad.

It is Tuesday, June 5th, and you are in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: President Bush due to give an important speech just minutes from now. The planned topic, democracy. But he is also likely to address new tensions with Russia. At issue, U.S. missile defense plans and a Russian threat reminiscent of the Cold War. CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president, joining us now from Prague, in the Czech Republic.

Ed, is this morning's speech likely to escalate tensions between President Bush and Putin?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, the president's speech will be about democracy. And I think you'll hear based on the previews we've gotten that the president will have at least one swipe at Russia on the issue of democracy. This controversy over Vladimir Putin, his so-called -- his back-sliding in terms of democratic reforms. Progress no longer being made in Russia towards those democratic reforms.

That's another poke in the eye of Mr. Putin. He doesn't like that, obviously, when the U.S. points it out. But the U.S. does wants to point it out because it fits into what the president calls his "freedom agenda", trying to spread democracy around the world. That obviously hasn't worked so well, so far, in Iraq, but the president is continuing to try to hammer that theme nevertheless. And when he brings up Russia, in this context today, you can bet that's a line that won't sit well at the Kremlin, Heidi.

COLLINS: And President Bush scheduled to meet with President Putin on Thursday. What does he hope to accomplish in those talks?

HENRY: These will be in the sidelines at the G8 Summit. You'll have all eight leaders, of course, talking about climate change, and trade, and other big issues. But on the sidelines, with Mr. Putin, I think the most important goal for Mr. Bush is he wants to try to calm all this down.

The White House frankly was caught off-guard by how much Mr. Putin has ratcheting up the rhetoric in the last couple days. It's impossible to overestimate and over-do exactly how serious this is, when Mr. Putin the last couple days warned if the U.S. goes ahead with this missile defense, he may point nuclear weapons at our allies in Europe. That obviously raises the stake in a dramatic, dramatic way, Heidi.

COLLINS: Certainly. What other issues, though, Ed, are we likely to hear about by way of discussion at the summit?

HENRY: As I mentioned, climate change will be another big one. Even if the U.S./Russia relationship ends up dominating the agenda, if you will. There still will be other issues, and climate change clearly an important one. The controversy there will rest on the fact that the hostess of this summit, in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, has been pushing hard for major nations like the United States to take the lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S., though, wants to take a different approach, not really have that quick action instead, and not a one-size-fits-all approach all around the world, and wants to do it their own way. That's not sitting so well with some of our European allies. You can bet there will be controversy there as well, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, we can bet, certainly. All right, Ed Henry for us. Ed, thanks so much.

HARRIS: Lewis Scooter Libby getting set to find out whether he'll have to spend time in prison. Sentencing for the former top aide for Vice President Cheney now underway. CNN's Brianna Keilar is covering the story in Washington.

Brianna, good to see you this morning. What's happened in court so far?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, Tony, court has convened for about 30 minutes or so. And right now it's just arguments over the sentencing guidelines. The two sides arguing what Judge Reggie Walton should take into consideration, or should not take into consideration when he hands down a sentence against Scooter Libby.

Now, before court began, my colleagues reported seeing Harriet Grant, the wife of Scooter Libby. She hugged Mary Matalin, former vice presidential aide and she was actually crying before court even began.

It's very probable that Scooter Libby will be sentenced to prison time. Experts are expecting that he'll get about two to two and a half years. The government, of course, is asking for a little more. They say he hasn't expressed any remorse for his conviction of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury.

No surprise, the defense would like to see no prison time. They would like probation with community service. Tony, it could be a couple hours, as these proceedings go on before we find out what Libby's sentence will be -- Tony. HARRIS: This could take some time. Brianna, if Libby is sentenced to prison time, will he likely go immediately straight to prison?

KEILAR: Probably not. It would be highly unusual in a case of someone like Scooter Libby, high profile, especially not considered a flight risk, to go directly to jail. Generally people like him are given time to get their personal affairs in order before reporting to prison.

But another question is, if there is an appeals process, if he is sentenced to prison time will he go to prison during that appeals process? It would be up to Judge Reggie Walton, but if he allowed Scooter Libby to post bail, then Libby's lawyers -- this is the best- care scenario, according to experts -- than if Libby's lawyers were to exhaust the appeals process, let this drag out for a while, and hopefully if President Bush upon leaving office were to grant him a pardon, then it's possible that Libby could not serve any prison time. But according to legal experts, that would be a best-case scenario for Libby.

HARRIS: CNN'S Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Brianna, thank you.

COLLINS: Trying to make waves in a New Hampshire pond. Some GOP candidates have it easier than others. CNN's John King has a preview of tonight's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The second tier means smaller crowds.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The war is not something we can simply walk away from, and say, OK, we're finished.

KING: But former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is banking on New Hampshire rewarding a guy doing it the old-fashioned way. Wishful thinking perhaps, but Huckabee says his one handshake at a time approach will ultimately win more votes than the Hollywood script of former Senator Fred Thompson.

HUCKABEE: It's what we call the Mighty Mouse candidacy. You know, here I come to save the day. And in the end, voters are not necessarily looking for Mighty Mouse to fly in. They're looking for somebody to stand the ground and goes the distance.

KING (on camera): Senator Thompson won't be here when 10 republicans share this stage Tuesday night. The basic framework of their race and the stakes of their debate, not unlike the early Democratic lineup.

(Voice over): Like Clinton, Obama and Edwards on the left, Giuliani, McCain and Romney are the early leaders on the right.

ANDREW SMITH, U.N.H. POLLING DIRECTOR: We have well-funded and well-known candidates and a number of other people who are trying to rise to that top level.

KING: The issues debate is very different for Republicans. President Bush remains relatively popular with core GOP voters. So, as Romney adviser Tom Rath puts it, the 2008 candidates need to show they would be different, but without being too critical.

TOM RATH, ROMNEY ADVISER: I think the biggest problem for everybody in the field is deciding how much latitude you have in describing your vision of the where the country will be four years from now, or eight years from now, if you're the president. We have a Republican president who is still quite popular in the base here.

KING: University of New Hampshire Polling Director Andrew Smith believes the longer shots have the most at stake. For them the challenge is as much paying the bills as it is winning votes.

SMITH: They have to be able to demonstrate to people who are willing to give them money, that they are serious candidates and they'll be credible candidates at the end of the campaign.

KING: Senator Thompson is due to join the race full time next month. This weekend's speech in Virginia, part of his warm-ups.

FRED THOMPSON, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: America is calling for us to provide them again. My friends, we must answer that call.

KING: New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen says Senator Thompson is more than welcome, but plays down the idea that GOP voters don't like their choices so far.

FERGUS CULLEN, N.H. REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: I'll bet at this time in 1979, Republicans were gathering saying, you know this Ronald Reagan fellow, he's been around the track before, I think his time has passed.

KING (on camera): Thompson advisers dismissed Governor Huckabee's Might Mouse label as cute. And looking to be part of the political buzz, even though he's not here to be part of the debate, the Thompson camp made it know, that presidential nephew George P. Bush is supporting Senator Thompson and distributing an e-mail helping his campaign raise money. John King, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Right now the president of the United States is on the stage. The president ready now to outline his democratic vision and view of the upcoming G8 Summit, all of that in a speech to the Conference on Democracy and Security in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

(APPLAUSE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This conference was conceived by three of the great advocates for freedom in our time. Jose Maria Asnar, and Vaclav Havel, Natan Sharansky. I thank you for the invitation to address this inspiring assembly. And for showing the world that an individual's moral clarity and courage can change the course of history.

It is fitting that we meet in the Czech Republic, a nation at the heart of Europe and of the struggle for freedom on this continent. Nine decades ago, to Tomas Masaryk proclaimed Czechoslovakia's independence based on the ideals of modern democracy. That democracy was interrupted, first by the Nazis, then by the Communists, who seized power in a shameful coupe that left the foreign minister dead in the courtyard of this palace.

Through long darkness of the Soviet occupation, the true face of this nation was never in doubt. The world saw it in the reforms of the Prague Spring and the principal demands of Charter 77. Those efforts were met with tanks, and truncheons, and arrests by secret police, but the violent would not have the final word.

In 1989, thousands gathered in Vaclav (ph) Square to call for their freedom. Theaters like Magic Lantern became headquarters for dissidents. Workers left their factories to support a strike, within weeks the regime crumbled. Vaclav Havel went from prisoner of state, to head of state, and the people of Czechoslovakia brought down the Iron Curtain with a Velvet Revolution.

Across Europe similar scenes were unfolding. In Poland, a movement that began in a single shipyard freed people across a nation. In Hungary mourners gathered at Heroes Square to bury a slain reformer, and buried their Communist regime, as well.

In East Germany, families came together for prayer meetings and found the strength to tear down the wall. Soon activists emerged from the attics and church basements to re-claim the streets of Bulgaria and Romania and Albania and Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved peacefully in this very room. After seven decades of oppression, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

(END LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

HARRIS: Later in the speech we expect the president to mention Russia, as we have discussed here this morning here in the NEWSROOM, North Korea, Cuba and Burma. We'll take you back to Prague for those remarks from the president.

COLLINS: For now, though, we want to head over to Betty Nguyen who is in the NEWSROOM for us with some breaking news -- some interesting, actually horrendous developments coming out of Maryland.

A hit and run situation, Betty?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Right, it's near LaPlata Elementary School. And we understand that at least three children have been struck in what sheriff deputies are calling a hit-and-run at this point. It happened around 8:30 this morning when those children were hit by a vehicle there. Now, two of them had to be sent by helicopter to a hospital, so that kind of gives you an idea of the extent of those injuries. One was transported by ambulance. These children were not far from the Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School in LaPlata -- LaPlata, I'm being told -- when they were struck around 8:30 this morning.

Again, they're looking for the person who hit these three children. At this point it looks like it is a hit-and-run situation. But again three children' injured. Two had to be medevaced by helicopter to a nearby hospital, another one taken by ambulance.

As soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Betty, thanks so much.

Well, the TB traveler, is he contagious or not? A crucial test for tuberculosis patient Andrew Speaker. We'll have details for you coming up in just a moment.

HARRIS: The immigration issue --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Pandering for votes on this issue, while offering no solution to the problem, amounts to doing nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Senator John McCain, criticism aimed at some of his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Just out of prison, will Jack Kevorkian perform more assisted sue sides? He talks about his plans with CNN's Larry King, ahead.

HARRIS: And he's known on Capitol Hill as "Dollar Bill." Now he's accused of taking more than half a million in bribes. Details on a lengthy indictment; how about 94 pages? That story is ahead for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Very quickly, we want to get been back to Betty in the NEWSROOM. Betty following what looks to be a pretty horrible story at this point, in LaPlata, Maryland. That's about 20, 25 miles southeast of downtown Washington, D.C.

Betty, what's the latest?

NGUYEN: Yes, its definitely not what parents want to hear as they drop their kids off to school, or as those kids are headed to school.

I understand that three children have been struck by a hit and run accident there, two of them had to be sent to the hospital via helicopter. We have more information on that. Those two include a four and nine-year-old, both flown to children's hospital in Washington, D.C., suffering from leg injuries.

Now, a nine-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital via ambulance, to a nearby hospital there. We have also learned that a 17- year-old boy was treated and released at the scene.

Again, they're saying this was a hit-and-run accident in La Plata near the Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School there. Earlier we were saying they were searching for that driver. We do know now according to our affiliate WJLA, that the female driver has been found and arrested about a half hour after this accident there. And so obviously authorities are on that.

But right now the focus is on the four-year-old and the nine- year-old who had to be flown to Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. because of leg injuries. And then another nine-year-old rushed by the ambulance to a nearby hospital. As soon as we get more information on that, we'll bring it to you. But the driver has been found and arrested.

HARRIS: Appreciate that, Betty. Thank you.

COLLINS: An anxious wait. An Atlanta lawyer with a hard-to- treat form of tuberculosis is awaiting the results of a crucial third test. It could determine whether he's a danger to others. The first two tests, on Andrew Speaker, turned up negative for the bacteria in his saliva and phlegm. A third negative, and doctors say he would be considered relatively non-contagious. That would mean he could be allowed to make brief trips outside his Colorado hospital room.

HARRIS: Dr. Jack Kevorkian says he will refuse if he's asked to help more people end their lives. Just out of prison for helping a terminally ill Michigan man commit suicide, Kevorkian talked last night with CNN's Larry King. He said assisted suicide is widely misunderstood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK KEVORKIAN, ASSISTED SUICIDE ADVOCATE: It's not to help them die, see? Everyone has this backwards. It's to relieve them of their intolerable and unending suffering. The patient's wish, see? That is not my wish. I've got to do what the patient requires, so I always felt that their wish comes first, no matter what.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Kevorkian says he will abide by the conditions of his parole, and if he's approached by someone who's suffering, he will refer them to a pain clinic.

COLLINS: Chad Myers is joining us now to take a look at the weather situation all across the country.

(WEATHER REPORT) COLLINS: A new e. Coli warning, ground beef that's not good for dinner. We'll tell you all about this, coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We want to check those numbers for you once again. Ouch. I shouldn't say ouch, it's all relative, because we are sitting at 13,603, but the Dow industrial averages are down about 72 points this morning. S&P I think I saw down 8, Nasdaq is down -- tell me again, sorry, Sarah -- Nasdaq is down 14. So we'll continue to watch those numbers for you and cover some of our business stories. Coming up shortly here in the NEWSROOM

HARRIS: A setback for the Bush administration to tell you about, but before we get to that, let's get you back to President Bush speaking before the Conference on Democracy and Security in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

BUSH: ... forum for the future. We're cooperating side by side with the new democracies in Ukraine and Georgia, and Kazakhstan. We congratulate the people of Yemen on their landmark presidential election, and the people of Kuwait, on elections in which women were able to vote, and run for office for the first time.

(APPLAUSE)

We stand firmly behind the people of Lebanon and Afghanistan and Iraq, as they defend their democratic gains against extremist enemies.

(APPLAUSE)

These people are making tremendous sacrifices for liberty. They deserve the admiration of the Free World, and they deserve our unwavering support.

The United States is also using our influence to urge valued partners like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to move toward freedom. These nations have taken brave stands and strong actions to confront extremists, along with some steps to expand liberty and transparency. Yet they have a great distance still to travel.

The United States will continue to press nations like these to open up their political systems, and give greater voice to their people. Inevitably, this creates tension, but our relationships with these countries are broad enough and deep enough to bear it. As our relationship with South Korea and Taiwan during the Cold War prove, America can maintain a friendship, and push a nation towards democracy at the same time.

(APPLAUSE)

We're also applying that lesson to our relationships with Russia and China. (APPLAUSE)

The United States has strong working relationships with these countries. Our friendship with them is complex. In the areas where we share mutual interests, we work together. In other areas, we have strong disagreements. China's leaders believe they can continue to open the nation's economy without opening its political system. We disagree.

In Russia --

(APPLAUSE)

In Russia, reforms that were once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development. Part of a good relationship is the ability to talk openly about our disagreements, so the United States will continue to build our relationships with these countries, and we will do it without abandoning our principles or our values.

(APPLAUSE)

We appreciate that free societies take shape at different speeds, in different places. One virtue of democracy is that it reflects local history and traditions, yet there are fundamental elements that all democracies share -- freedom of speech, religion, press and assembly; rule of law enforced by independent courts, private property rights, and political parties that compete in free and fair elections.

(APPLAUSE)

These rights and institutions are the foundation of human dignity, and as countries find their own path to freedom, they must find a loyal partner in the United States of America. Extending the reach of freedom is a mission that unites democracies around the world. Some of the greatest contributions are coming from nations with the freshest memories of tyranny. I appreciate the Czech Republic's support for human rights projects in Belarus and Burma and Cuba. I thank Germany and Poland and Czech Republic and Hungary, and Slovenia and Georgia and Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia for contributing the new United Nation's Democracy Fund.

I'm grateful for the commitment that many new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe are making to Afghanistan and Iraq. I appreciate that these countries are willing to do the hard work necessary to enable people who want to be free to live in a free society.

In all these ways, the Freedom Agenda is making a difference. The work has been difficult, and that is not going to change. There will be triumphs and failures, progress and setbacks. Ending tyranny cannot be achieved overnight, and, of course, this objective has its critics. Some say that ending tyranny means imposing our values on people who do not share them. Or that people live in parts of the world where freedom cannot take hold. That is refuted by the fact that every time people are given a choice, they choose freedom. We saw that when the people of Latin America turned dictatorships into democracies, when the people of South Africa replaced Apartheid with a free society, and the people of Indonesia ended their long authoritarian rule. We saw it when Ukrainians in orange scarves demanded that their ballots be counted. We saw it when millions of Afghans and Iraqis defied the terrorists to elect free governments.

At a polling station in Baghdad, I was struck by the words of an Iraqi. He had one leg, and he told a reporter, I would have crawled here if I had to. When democracy -- was democracy -- I asked, I asked the critics, was democracy imposed on that man? Was freedom a value he did not share?

The truth is that the only ones who have to impose their values are the extremists and the radicals and the tyrants. And that is why the communists crushed the Prague Spring (ph) and threw an innocent playwright in jail and trembled at the sight of a Polish pope. History shows that ultimately, freedom conquers fear, and given a chance, freedom will conquer fear in every nation on earth.

Another objective -- objection is that ending tyranny will unleash chaos. Critics point to the violence in Afghanistan or Iraq or Lebanon as evidence that freedom leaves people less safe, but look who's causing the violence. It's the terrorists, it's the extremists, it is no coincidence that they are targeting young democracies in the Middle East. They know that the success of free societies there is a mortal threat to their ambitions and to their very survival.

The fact that our enemies are fighting back is not a reason to doubt democracy. It is evidence that they recognize democracy's power. It is evidence that we are at war, and it is evidence that free nations must do what it takes to prevail.

Still, some argue that a safer goal would be stability, especially in the Middle East. The problem is that pursuing stability at the expense of liberty does not lead to peace. It leads to September the 11th, 2001. The policy of tolerating tyranny is a moral and strategic failure. It is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.

Others fear that democracy will bring dangerous forces to power, such as Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Elections will not always turn out the way we hope, yet democracy consists of more than a single trip to the ballot box. Democracy requires meaningful opposition parties, a vibrant civil society, a government that enforces the law and responds to the needs of its people.

Elections can accelerate the creation of such institutions. In a democracy, the people will not vote for a life of perpetual violence. To stay in power, elected officials must listen to their people and pursue their desires for peace, or in democracies, the voters will replace them through free elections.

Finally, there's the contention that ending tyranny is unrealistic. Well, some argue that extending democracy around the world is simply too difficult to achieve. That's nothing new. We've heard that criticism before throughout history. At every stage of the Cold War, there were those who argued that the Berlin Wall was permanent and that people behind the Iron Curtain would never overcome their oppressors.

History has sent a different message. The lesson is that freedom will always have its skeptics, but that's not the whole story. There are also people like you, and the loved ones you represent. Men and women with courage to risk everything for your ideals, and as first address as president, Vas Lahalo (ph) proclaimed, "People, your government has returned to you."

He was echoing the first speech of Tomas Mazeri (ph), who was in turn quoting the 17th century Czech teacher, Komenias (ph). His message was that freedom is timeless. It does not belong to one government or one generation. Freedom is the dream and the right of every person in every nation in every age.

The United States of America believes deeply in that message. It was the inspiration for our founding when we declared that all men are created equal. It was the conviction that led us to help liberate this continent and stand with the captive nations through their long struggle. It is the truth that guides our nation to oppose radicals and extremists and terror and tyranny in the world today, and it is the reason I have such great confidence in the men and women in this room.

I leave Prague with a certainty that the cause of freedom is not tired, and that its future is in the best of hands. With unbreakable faith in the power of liberty, you will inspire your people, you will lead your nations, and you will change the world.

Thanks for having me, and may God bless you.

HARRIS: President Bush speaking before the conference on democracy and security in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the president saying expanding freedom is more than a moral imperative, it is the only realistic way to protect our people. The president also adding the United States is committed to the advance of freedom and democracy as the great alternatives to repression and radicalism, and this nice applause line, "Freedom is the dream and the right of every person in every nation in every age."

Mr. Bush will end the day in Germany where he, along with the other G-8 leaders arrive to begin the G-8 summit, the summit kicking off tomorrow.

COLLINS: Sentencing for the vice president's former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing a federal judge's decision this morning. The very latest on the story, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A one-time key player in the Bush administration is about to find out whether he will be heading to prison. Sentencing for Lewis "Scooter" Libby taking place right now in Washington. Libby was convicted in March, found guilty of perjury and obstruction in a probe into the leaking of CIA Operative Valerie Plame's identity. The former top aide to Vice President Cheney still says he is innocent. He plans to appeal the verdict. Meanwhile, prosecutors are pushing for a prison sentence of up to three years. Libby's defense team argues he shouldn't have to serve any time behind bars. They are asking for probation.

HARRIS: Immigration will likely be a contentious topic at tonight's Republican presidential debate, but one candidate isn't waiting until tonight. We get more from CNN's Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, part of the best political team on television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In truth, John McCain has to defend the Immigration Bill he helped put together. The Arizona senator ripped into unnamed presidential candidates who read polls, take, "cheap shots" and offer no alternatives.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ): Pandering for votes on this issue, while offering no solution to the problem, amounts to doing nothing, and doing nothing is silent amnesty.

CROWLEY: A source confirms McCain's target is Mitt Romney, who today called his criticism of the Immigration Bill a principal disagreement. Romney has repeatedly been critical of the bill, always careful to link McCain with the legislation's chief sponsor.

MITT ROMNEY, (R-MA): McCain-Kennedy, what it did is said that people who are here illegally get a special pathway. They're not like all the other immigrants in the world that want to come to this great country.

MCCAIN: We impose fines, fees and other requirements as punishment. And if the path to citizenship we offer them is special, it's because it's harder, longer, and more expensive than the path offered to those immigrants who come here legally.

CROWLEY: To understate the problem, McCain's immigration views are a bit of a barrier along the road to the White House.

DANTE SCALA, SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE: It's a marker for a lot of -- or a flash point for a lot of Republican voters. And I think it's just one more thing where conservatives say aha, that's the real John McCain, that's the one we were worried about.

CROWLEY: The speech was part of a full-court press. McCain has talked to reporters and taken his cause to conservative voters via bloggers and talk TV and radio.

VOICE OF MIKE GALLAGHER: This is a dumb question, but do you hear the anger in people's voices around the country?

MCCAIN: Oh, yes. Oh yes, my friend Jon Kyl and I are feeling that very intensely.

CROWLEY: Defense of the Immigration Bill is pretty much a solo mission for the senator, as one campaign source put it, we knew we weren't going to get a substantial level of air cover, so we figured we'd do it ourselves.

MCCAIN: I'm not running to do the easy things, so I defend with no reservation, our proposal to offer the people who harvest our crops, tend our gardens, work in our restaurants, care for our children, and clean our homes, a chance to be legal citizens of this country.

CROWLEY: Say this for John McCain -- if he goes down, it won't be without a fight.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Here's a look at where the GOP candidates stand when we average the latest national polls. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani still leads the pack with 30 percent support in May, that's down from 37 percent in March. Senator John McCain coming in second, with 22 percent support, and former senator and actor Fred Thompson gets 12 percent, even though he hasn't officially entered the race, remember that point? And former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney stands at 10 percent.

Tonight, the Republicans are up to bat on CNN. Their debate is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Our primetime coverage begins at 6:00 p.m.

HARRIS: A setback for the Bush administration's plans to try terrorist suspects in military courts. Charges against two detainees at Guantanamo Bay thrown out, back-to-back decisions by military judges. They ruled the U.S. failed to establish jurisdiction under new rules set by Congress. The government can refile charges against the two suspects. One of them is a Yemeni man who said he was once Osama bin Laden's body guard and driver. The other, a Canadian man accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where stocks are under pressure and so are airlines after the latest report on on-time arrivals. I'll have the scorecards next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A food warning for people in ten states. Pre-packaged ground beef is being recalled over fears it may be tainted with E. coli. The meat was sold at some Albertson's and Sav-A-Lot stores in the west. Parent company Super Value Foods says the effected ground beef had sell-by dates between April 20th and May 7th. Most of it was sold under the Moran brand name.

HARRIS: If you are among the 200 million travelers planning to fly this summer, make sure you charge a cell phone, bring more than one magazine for your wait at the gate. Oh, there will be a wait at the gate.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange. And tell everyone why, Susan?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: We're going to take you a moment to now give you more information regarding Virginia Tech and some developments that are going on there.

Betty Nguyen is in the NEWSROOM with us.

It looks like this is a positive development, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it is, but I guess it depends on who you speak with, because there's been a lot of concern over what is going to happen to Norris Hall. That is the area where 31 people were killed, including the gunman, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. There's a picture of Norris Hall. Well, it appears that the university has decided to do a phased reuse of this building, which will begin on June 18th. They say the building will be dedicated to offices and laboratories for the engineering science, and mechanics, and civil and environmental engineering departments, which had used this prior to the shooting.

But what they are going to do is in light of the trauma experience with the university community following the shooting, they are not going to have any more general assignment classes in Norris Hall, but they have to keep the engineering, science, mechanics, all of that division there, because they say there's sophisticated equipment, expensive laboratories that just cannot be moved. And this thing is, what, 70,000 square feet, Norris Hall, and it represents a significant resource to the university, so they had they want to do a phased reuse of that building to begin on June 18th.

But as you know, Heidi, especially in light of the fact that 31 people, including the gunman, were killed inside that building, it may not rest well with everybody to know the building will be in use, starting, at least parts of it, on June 18th. So it's something that this university is obviously going to have to deal with as they continue to heal.

And just a reminder, in all, 33 people were killed in that shooting, again, making it the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

COLLINS: All right, Betty Nguyen, thank you.

HARRIS: And, Heidi, the sentencing hearing for Lewis Scooter Libby under way right now in Washington, D.C. Our Brianna Keilar joins us now with breaking developments -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Tony.

Inside the court, prosecution and defense going over sentencing guidelines with Judge Reggie Walton, what the judge should consider and should not consider as he hands down the sentence of Scooter Libby. What we have seen is a concrete sign, the first concrete sign, that Libby will receive a prison sentence. In discussing the sentencing guidelines for obstruction of justice, which was the major charge that Libby was convicted of, the prosecution said that because he obstructed the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative, perhaps some things would have come out of this investigation, and because he obstructed it, we will never know what could are come out of that investigation.

On the flip side, the defense said this was an investigation where no one was charged, no one pleaded guilty, and so the obstruction charge shouldn't be treated that weightily, but the judge in this case agreeing with the prosecution. So again, Tony, the first concrete sign that Libby will face a prison sentence, but at this time we don't know exactly what that will be.

HARRIS: OK, Brianna, if you would, let's get an update from you at the top of the hour on this story.

Brianna Keilar for us in Washington, D.C.

COLLINS: Talking god and religion on the campaign trail. What do the Democratic candidates have to gain? Our faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The military says the search will go on. This despite a purported insurgent video saying two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq have been killed. The video shows what appear to be the pair's military I.D. cards and other personal items. CNN cannot independently verify the video, intercepted by terrorism expert Laura Mansfield.

U.S. troops have been combing a region south of Baghdad since the two disappeared last month. A third soldier, who also went missing, was later found dead.

Suicide bombings foiled in Baghdad -- Iraqi police say they shot a woman rigged with explosives today. She blew up right in front of them. Three police officers were hurt. It happened at a checkpoint near a police recruiting center in the Sadr City neighborhood. Farther south in the Babil province, a leader of Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's political movement was shot and killed.

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