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Military Prosecutors Will Seek Death Penalty Against Six Terror Suspects; Warning That Artificial Sweeteners Could Jinx Your Diet; Representative Tom Lantos Dead at 80

Aired February 11, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Monday morning, February 11th. Here's what's on the rundown.
Terror charges for high-profile Guantanamo detainees. The Pentagon announcing today it wants six chief 9/11 suspects executed, if convicted.

And the presidential candidates hunting votes today across Virginia, Maryland and D.C. More than 300 delegates up for grabs in the Potomac primary.

And no calorie sugar substitutes. Can they actually make you fat? This hour news about artificial sweeteners in the NEWSROOM.

Big developments to report this morning in the 9/11 attacks. At some time today the government is expected to announce death penalty charges against six terror suspects now housed as Guantanamo Bay.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been working her sources and has all of the new developments.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi. It was just announced a few moments ago -- here at 11:00 this morning an announcement will be made here in the Pentagon in the briefing room announcing criminal charges are being announced against six of the most high-value detainees at Guantanamo Bay including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said by the U.S. to be one of the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks.

Officials are indicating now that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others will be charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder and attacking civilians. There will be a 90-page document released, Heidi, of these charges and the expected request for the death penalty, all of that will go to the so-called convening authority, essentially a judge in charge ever the entire matter who will have to accept the charges and the request for death penalty, or send it back to prosecutors for more work.

That 90-page document, Heidi, is expected to be quite an extraordinary document. We are told the last 30 to 40 pages of it, Heidi, will list by name all of the victims that were onboard the planes that crashed on that terrible morning, and all told, the document will say that they're being charged with the murder of 2,973 Americans and, of course, being announced here in the Pentagon, one of the places that was attacked on that morning -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Right. Boy, and that judge certainly has a big job cut out for her. One issue in all of this, confessions by the detainees especially Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. In fact, on Capitol Hill last week, as you know, the CIA director Michael Hayden talked about waterboarding. There's been a lot of talk about waterboarding, in fact, suggesting it might not be legal now.

Let's listen for a moment to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR: We use it against these three high-value detainees because of the circumstances of the time. Very critical to those circumstances was the belief that additional catastrophic attacks against the homeland were imminent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So Hayden did confirm that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was actually one of those people subjected to waterboarding. How big of a part do you this issue would play, and the confessions as well, in these upcoming commissions?

STARR: Well, you know, that's going to be a very key issue. Were the confessions, were any admissions achieved under interrogation method of duress such as waterboarding?

Now General Hayden laid the framework last week when we did not even know that these charges were forthcoming. Openly admitting that it happened, making the case that it was both legal and limited at the time it happened several years ago. Perhaps General Hayden knew that these charges were coming this week and was laying that framework saying, OK, you know, we've admitted to it, we move on.

But I think it can be very clear that there will be two major issues in play here with any defense counsel for these men. One would be waterboarding and the second, of course, would be the death penalty. That is likely to set off a real storm of controversy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Barbara, we know you'll be following it for us from the Pentagon there in Washington. Thanks so much, Barbara Starr this morning.

Meanwhile, who is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed? Well, here's a quick sketch now of the man accused in one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history. He was born in Kuwait, but carried a Pakistani passport. He claims to have been the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and both that he personally beheaded Wall Street reporter Daniel Pearl.

Almost five years ago Mohammed was arrested in a raid in Pakistan. He's been linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 attack on a night club in Bali.

Perils and pitfalls of the case against the 9/11 suspects. Will it be the military commission on trial? Our legal experts are going to be taking a closer look coming up at the bottom of the hour. So stay with CNN throughout day now for updates on this still developing case.

For the candidates to get out there left before the next round of important presidential contest. Tuesday, it's the Potomac primaries. That's Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For Democrats, Barack Obama's momentum is building after a weekend sweep. In fact, he went 5 for 5 winning the Louisiana primary by double digits. Also earning decisive caucus victories in Maine, Nebraska, Washington state, and the Virgin islands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won by a sizable margin in Maine, and I want to thank the people of Maine. We have now won on the Atlantic Coast. We won in the Gulf Coast. We won on the Pacific Coast and we won in between those coasts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As for the Republicans, Mike Huckabee has put the brakes on John McCain's momentum. Huckabee won in Louisiana and Kansas. He's contesting McCain's micro-slim win in Washington state as well.

Huckabee is still well behind McCain where it matters, in the delegate count, of course.

CNN Dana Bash is with the McCain campaign today in Annapolis, Maryland and joins us now by phone.

So Dana, McCain is expected to speak actually in a few minutes here?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I'm actually with Senator McCain in Annapolis, Maryland. He's going to be speaking any minute now. And Maryland, I should say, is one of the three so-called Potomac primaries you were just talking about and, you know, in the McCain campaign points -- they point to polls that show him well ahead in all of these primaries. And you know what? That is absolutely critical for him, Heidi, because of what you just talked about, because of what happened this past weekend.

The fact of the matter is John McCain, you know, ended last week -- making the case that he is the presumptive nominee, making the case that he is now going to pivot to the general election. He was doing that both in his tactics and also in sort of his rhetoric, and focusing a lot more on the Democrats. But what happened this weekend in two in the three contests, he lost, and he lost to Mike Huckabee. And Kansas, in particular, he didn't just lose, he got absolutely crushed, crushed by Mike Huckabee. So, you know, in talking to McCain campaign officials over the weekend, the say, you know, really didn't - they tried to downplay, if you can imagine, Heidi. They didn't really expect to the do very well in those states. Talk to me if we lose some of the next big primaries and it's become a primary. So That's why John McCain is making one stop where I am in Maryland. He's going to make another stop later on in Virginia trying, kind of trying to do a delicate dance here, and certainly wants to campaign and not look like he is not competing, since Mike Huckabee is still in the race, but also not competing too hard since he is trying to have an air of inevitability here.

COLLINS: Yes. I'm sure he feels a little bit like home territory, too, with the naval academy resting right there, his home in Annapolis, Maryland.

Huckabee, though, confess contesting some of these numbers, right, Dana?

BASH: Yes. He's - what he's contesting specifically is what happened in Washington state over the weekend. He and his team are very, very upset because they say that there were still about 1,000 votes left to the counted and he was only down by about 200 and the state party chair simply called the race. So they're very, very unhappy about that.

The bigger picture, you know, Heidi, Mike Huckabee says over and over again that he thinks it is, this is the way the game should be played. That if somebody wants to run for president, they shouldn't just step aside just because somebody else seems to be well ahead. So that's why he said he insists he's continuing to campaign. He says he will until one of them gets to that magic 1191 delegates needed to get those nominations.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Dana bash with the McCain campaign, coming to us from Annapolis, Maryland.

Also, Hillary Clinton changing campaign managers after a string of disappointing losses. Moving in is longtime Clinton aide Maggie Williams. She was chief of staff for Clinton during most of her time in the White House. The Clinton campaign is also hoping to bring someone else on board, John Edwards. The campaign says Clinton went to North Carolina to speak with Edwards last week.

Barack Obama is expected to meet with Edwards today. Edwards suspended his campaign just before Super Tuesday. He hasn't endorsed either candidate.

Strong winds, blinding snow, a travel nightmare in the northeast, but it's a little bit better this morning. All land of Interstate-81 in eastern Pennsylvania are open again. But yesterday, look at this. Just a mess. Sixty-eight cars and trucks involved in a pileup. One woman killed. Dozens of people hurt.

And in New York, this chain reaction pileup blamed on blowing snow. More than 35 vehicles I-39 near Rochester involved were involved. A teenager was killed there. And look at this i-Report picture. Ryan Loy sent it to us. He shot it from an exit ramp overlooking the crash site. It looks like an absolute parking lot there.

Ryan, thanks for that picture.

Meanwhile, Rob Marciano is standing in the weather center now to talk more about this. It is cold and blowing, and not much else to say about those parts.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: The Grammys, the big winners and the stunning surprise, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to give you some news into the CNN NEWSROOM now regarding Yahoo! and Microsoft. Remember, we were telling you about this last week. Well, Yahoo! has formally rejected Microsoft Corporation's $44.6 billion takeover bid. They're saying according to the Associated Press that it's inadequate. So what does that mean? They want more money. Some of the analysts are saying that Microsoft could raise its offer now by another $5 billion to $12 billion to take over Yahoo.

So we'll see what happens. Very, very interesting. We'll continue to follow this and we're going to bring up Ali Velshi here in a little while to talk more about it, because he's been following the story very, very closely. Two of the world's most prominent technology companies. We all know them well. So we'll see what happens. Again, we'll bring up Ali in just a couple minutes.

Meanwhile, on to the Grammys now, otherwise known at the Amy Winehouse/Kanye West show. That is until the shocker for album of the year.

CNN's Kareen Wynter is in Hollywood for us this morning.

Kareen, everybody wondering, in case they didn't stay up late to the see it, what was the surprise?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my gosh. I was blown away, Heidi, for album of the year. OK, everyone thought it was either going go to Amy or Kanye, right? It was their night after all. Huh-uh. Herbie Hancock, I mean, not that we weren't happy for Herbie Hancock, like come on, he won the big award of the night. But there are also quite a few memorable performances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (voice over): It was an evening mixing the old with the new. The classic with the modern. All in celebration of 50 years of Grammy. Rihanna took us back to the '80s in her duet with the Time. And Tina Turner showed us she can still roll it down the river with Beyonce. While musical legends dominated the night, it was a new artist who won big.

It was all nods for British retro-soul singer Amy Winehouse who walked away with five Grammys including record of the year, song of the year and best new artist.

AMY WINEHOUSE, WON FIVE GRAMMYS: To Ma (INAUDIBLE), to my mom and dad.

WYNTER: Rap artist Kanye West took home four trophies and took a moment to remember his mother, who died late last year.

KANYE WEST, WON 4 GRAMMYS: And mama, all I'm going to do is keep making you proud.

HERBIE HANCOCK, WON ALBUM OF THE YEAR: What a beautiful day this is in Los Angeles.

WYNTER: And the biggest surprise of the night, jazz veteran Herbie Hancock's win for album of the year. It marked the first time in more than 40 years that a jazz artist walked away with the top prize.

HANCOCK: I'd like to thank the academy for courageously breaking the mold this time.

WYNTER: A night filled with celebrations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER: And Heidi, you know, we have to throw a little bit of politics in there for you. Right? He wasn't there to accept the big award. But guess what? Barack Obama actually won a Grammy last night. That's right. The Democratic presidential -- he ended it, actually beat out two presidents. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter for best spoken word. How about that?

COLLINS: All right. Yes. Definitely a night of surprising. A lot of people still scratching their heads this morning. But good for him. First time in 40 years. Boy, that's pretty cool.

WYNTER: Yes.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Kareen Wynter...

WYNTER: Absolutely.

COLLINS: ...coming to us from Hollywood this morning.

Also want to take a moment now, some other things going on across the country. Talking about politics as Kareen was, here's John McCain addressing some of his supporters in Annapolis, Maryland.

Let's go ahead and listen in for just a moment.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Warner and a number of other Republicans and -- who are highly regarded and highly respected, who are in support of my candidacy. With that I'd like to say again it's great to be back in Annapolis where I had the opportunity of spending four years at, and I'm not sure that the taxpayers got a complete return for their investment, given my conduct in scholastic record but I hope that I can compensate them for - but I did help out with the local economy on many occasions.

So I, again, grateful to have the opportunity to be back and obviously I'm proud to have a son who is a fourth generation in my family who is attending the United States Naval Academy. With that, I'd like to answer any questions. Kelly?

KELLY, REPORTER: Good morning, Senator. Can you (INAUDIBLE).

MCCAIN: Well, you know, we've always -- I congratulate Governor Huckabee on his win in Kansas and in Louisiana. We've always had some problems in some caucuses, as you know, and I'm confident that we have and will continue our path towards getting the prerequisite number of delegates, glad we have the support that we have, an increasing financial as well as political support from around the country.

As I've always said, I respect Governor Huckabee, and I've always admired his principles and his campaign, and so -- and we do have differences, but we'll maintain that respectful relationship that we have, I am sure.

KELLY, REPORTER: Can you support the recount (INAUDIBLE)...

MCCAIN: I think that there has to always be a reason for that in any of these things, and I'm not familiar enough. I think it's pretty clear that we won, and some of these are close. There was a couple of close races we had with Governor Huckabee, and -- but -- he certainly has the right to challenge, if he chooses to, but I -- I honestly don't know enough about details, except that I know that state parties declare elections when they have sufficient evidence as to who has won and who's lost. That's not unusual in any way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, the governor of Texas -- according to Governor Huckabee...

MCCAIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...asked him to withdraw (INAUDIBLE). That (INAUDIBLE)

MCCAIN: Oh, no. That certainly was not done on behalf of our campaign. I'm pleased to have the endorsement and support of a very popular and effective governor of the state of Texas, along with Phil Gramm and so many other distinguished people from Texas, and John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchison and others, but I certainly am not in any way, had anything to do with that phone conversation...

COLLINS: All right. Just giving you a little bit of the flavor of the speech there to -some of the press and some supporters in Annapolis, Maryland by Senator John McCain specifically talking a little bit more about his opponent Mike Huckabee contesting some of these numbers from over the weekend. We will continue to follow that story and, of course, Dana Bash Is following the McCain campaign.

Meanwhile, your favorite TV shows may be back on the air pretty soon. Details of a deal in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Covering the angles, uncovering the details, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: What can $44.6 billion buy you these days? Well, apparently it's not enough for Microsoft to buy Yahoo. Why the battle that dominates Internet search could be heating up. Boy, that's for sure.

Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."

So they're holding out, they want more money.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, listen. I'll take $44.6 billion for anything. But Yahoo! apparently is taking a firmer stand on this. Last week, Microsoft bid $44.6 billion for -- $32 a share for Yahoo. Yahoo! has just now responded by saying, not interested, in a press release they've just put out. They say after careful evaluation they believe Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo.

Now it comes out to 44 -- you said $44.6 billion or $32 a share. Yahoo! saying they think anything below $40 a share is too little money, that would be about $58.5 billion, Heidi. The irony is that, when Microsoft made the offer Yahoo! shares were at $19 billion -- $19 a share, and Yahoo! hasn't been able to get it back up to that price. So it's kind of interesting.

There are also reports that Yahoo! is in discussions with, or maybe talking to, AOL, whose parent company is Time Warner, just like CNN, about preparing some sort of a response to this offer. So for most people, Heidi, probably isn't going to make a difference here, Internet experience, this is mainly for investors and for advertisers, and about the future, being able to make money off of search and Internet portals.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean they're just going to take the highest bidder when it all comes down to it. It sounds like it.

VELSHI: Exactly. Why not? More money.

COLLINS: But what happens -- isn't there a possibility that Microsoft could actually go directly to Yahoo! shareholders? What if they negotiated that way?

VELSHI: Yes. Well, in the end, I mean companies can come up with ways to sort of deflect a bid but the shareholders would like the most money they can get. And in Yahoo's case, they've been sitting around waiting for that company to do better. I mean, it's one of these ironic situations. Yahoo! is such a popular site, and group of sites. In fact, the most popular on the Internet, and yet it has not translated into ways to make money, enough money for that company.

So yes. Microsoft or anybody wants to sweeten the pot on this. Well, why not a whole bunch of Yahoo! and shareholders might just say, yes, go ahead, take it over. So this is going to be one to watch.

The interesting thing here is that back in the late '90s, early 2000, people were bidding any amount of money for Internet companies. No amount of money was too much to pay. I think in 2008, while Yahoo! is a very valuable property to own and a very valuable brand to own, investors might want to be a little more careful, particularly to Microsoft investors. How much is it worth? Good question, though.

COLLINS: Yes. And Yahoo! is very proud of their product so.

VELSHI: Yes.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning. Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: OK.

COLLINS: The 9/11 attacks, new developments, new charges now. And the threat of government executions for those accused of playing key roles. New information coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Striking writers are picking up their pens again. They'll vote this week on whether to end the three-month-old strike and then they'll vote on a new deal to boost their paychecks. Union leaders are claiming victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK VERRONE, WGA WEST PRESIDENT: It was arguably the most successful strike in American labor movement in a decade. Certainly the most important of this young century. It is not all that we hope for and it is not all we deserve, but as I told our members, this strike was about the future, and this deal assures for us and for future generations of writers a share in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Our Lola Ogunnaike has the details now. So Lola, oftentimes, I guess, people in situations like this think, yes, we deserved more. What's the bottom line here?

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line is that the strike is tentatively over. The, you know, the two sides have been meeting for weeks now. They finally managed to come through with an agreement. The big sticking point, here, was new media. The writers wanted a cut of all the Internet revenues. They managed to secure that So they're fairly happy and looking forward to getting back to work.

Tomorrow they'll have a vote to decide whether or not they will go back to work immediately or wait until the contract is ratified before they go back to work. I suspect that they'll go back to work immediately which means that writers could be back by as early as Wednesday.

COLLINS: OK. So they go back to work on Wednesday, do we get shows Wednesday night?

OGUNNAIKE: Well...

COLLINS: Maybe not.

OGUNNAIKE: Well, what you will get immediately, actually, is the late-night talk shows like your Jon Stewart, your Colbert, your Lenos. They will have their writers. They were the first to go, so they'll be the first to return. You won't get your sitcoms just yet. You'll probably have to wait about four to six weeks to see your "Ugly Betty's," your "30 rocks" and your "Offices," and you'll probably have to wait about eight weeks to see your dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives."

But by the spring, things should look relatively normal.

COLLINS: Yes. Dance Force with Bruno, I guess, that's kind of nice to fill-in.

OGUNNAIKE: That's been your guilty pleasure, huh?

COLLINS: Yes, that is. It doesn't need a script, (INAUDIBLE).

All right. CNN's Lola Ogunnaike, thanks so much for that. We'll be continuing to watch this, a lot of people interested in when it's all going to get worked out. Appreciate that.

OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. 9:30 Eastern Time now. I'm Heidi Collins.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today backing the idea of a pause before deciding on more troop withdrawals in Iraq.

Our Jamie McIntyre with the latest now from Baghdad.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Gates's visit here to Baghdad was a short one. In fact, he's already on his way back to Washington. At the top of his agenda was a meeting with his top commander, General David Petraeus, to discuss the prospect for further U.S. troop draw downs once the troop surge ends in July.

Secretary Gates has said publicly he hopes there can be further troop reductions by the end of the year, but he left Baghdad without giving any indication of whether that would be possible. Up to now, whenever he was asked, Secretary Gates has said he hasn't had a chance to talk to his top commander, General Petraeus, about the prospects for a troop drawdown. Once he gets back to Washington, he won't be able to say that anymore.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to wiggle out of a few calories? Pour on the no-cal sweeteners, right? But our sugar substitute is actually making you fat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: There you have it. The Monday morning opening bell, New York Stock Exchange. As we look at these numbers today. Obviously, we're hoping the same thing we always hope, that they will be to the positive.

But on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial average was down, 64 points or so. Right now, this morning, down 30 points. So we will keep our eye on that number for you and have all business headlines for you in just a few minutes.

Quickly though, to this developing story, breaking this hour. In fact, a big announcement expected in the 9/11 terror attacks. CNN has learned military prosecutors will seek the death penalty against six terror suspects now held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. That is expected to be announced at 11:00 Eastern along with the charges.

CNN, of course, will have live coverage of the Pentagon briefing regarding all of this. The suspects include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He is the former al Qaeda operations chief, who's described himself as the mastermind of those attacks. Those strikes killed almost 3,000 Americans.

Seeking the death penalty will draw more international attention, of course, and anger to the case. The Military Commission has been a lightning rod of controversy since it was established just two months after the attacks.

A military official reviewing the case can accept or reject the death penalty request. And it is worth noting. The Military Commission faces a lot of legal and political land mine. We want to talk more about it and try to make it a little bit clearer for everybody. So the man to do that is CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Jeffrey, nice to see you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Heidi.

COLLINS: Hi. First, let's talk about this Military Commission System, because there may be many people out there who really have no idea what we're talking about and then you can tell us about all the controversy with it.

TOOBIN: Well, the military commissions are kind of a hybrid between a regular criminal trial and a military court-martial. Congress set it up just last year, after the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's earlier attempts to set up a system for trying the people at Guantanamo Bay.

It's important to recognize that there hasn't been even one Military Commission trial completed yet. The system is still pretty new. There are a lot of legal challenges. So it is true, apparently, that the Bush administration is going to seek the death penalty against these six, but...

COLLINS: Right.

TOOBIN: But the system is really not yet up and running. So we'll have a long way.

COLLINS: In fact, they haven't even started any of that. Right?

TOOBIN: No. There are some pre-trial hearings going on at Guantanamo Bay right now, in some earlier cases that don't involve the death penalty. But you're right. There has not even been a completed Military Commission case yet. Not even one.

COLLINS: Where would it all take place? The Military Commissions, I mean?

TOOBIN: Well, the initial trials, it looks like, will be at Guantanamo, which is the Naval Base on Cuba, where so many of the detainees have been held. About 250 people have been held there.

Interestingly, I was at Guantanamo a few years ago. I'm going again later this month. And one of the questions people always ask, it's the question that I ask is, is there an execution chamber here at Guantanamo?

COLLINS: No.

TOOBIN: And the answer is no. They did not set up a procedure for executing anyone at Guantanamo. So if several years down the line there is a death sentence and if it's upheld by the courts, they will have to figure out a way to get the prisoners to a place where they can be executed. But needless to say, that's a very premature issue.

COLLINS: Sure, it is premature. But you know, it's interesting to point out. I mean, the U.S. Military hasn't executed anyone. I don't know when the last time...

TOOBIN: I think it was 1961. It's a very long time ago. But again, this wouldn't be a court-martial. That person was executed in a court-martial. This is an entirely new set of procedures for dealing with people in the war on terror. So not even the one from '61 as the president. I mean, this is really a completely new system.

COLLINS: Right. In fact, let's talk about that judge who is going to either accept or reject this decision. What are the chances that the prosecutors are actually going to get the death penalty and this whole thing will stick? TOOBIN: Well, you know, it's hard for me to imagine that a system that has a death penalty is not going to give it to someone who is involved in killing 3,000 people. I mean, if you're going to have a death penalty. It's hard to imagine someone who directly or indirectly killed 3,000 people wouldn't get it.

However, there are so many complications here. And just think of one. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, allegedly the mastermind. It's been pretty convincingly established that he was waterboarded in the course of his interrogation. So what happens to any confession he made? Is it something that this Military Commission will throw out? What are the political consequences? The international consequences? Of executing someone who has been tortured? Which is what I think most people regard waterboarding as being.

I mean, again, that's why -- this isn't just the legal story. It's not just political. It has tremendous international ramifications and one thing is for sure, it's largely going to be dealt with by the next president. There's no way this system can establish. It can complete a trial by next January.

COLLINS: Right. Yes. It sounds very complicated, especially when you have all of these different angles to look at. It's going to take quite some time, it sounds like. But we will continue to watch it and appreciate your help this morning with this one.

TOOBIN: OK, Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Thanks, Jeff.

Quickly, we want to give you live pictures to you now. Pretty cool. You can see that they break up just a little bit here and there. But you know why? It's space. So sometimes that happens, obviously. This is NASA video coming in to us that we wanted to show you, because shuttle "Atlantis" are doing this space walk now.

There was possibly going to be some changes here, but, in fact, that is not the case. There were sort of a last-minute switch in the crew that was going to go out and do this work, because someone got ill. I believe it was the German astronaut. And so they ended up having to find a replacement for that astronaut.

But just to let you know, the primary purpose here is installing the European Lab "Columbus." Of course that is the lab that "Atlantis" brought to the International Space Station. So they're trying, as you can see there, to hook things up. And we always love to bring you those live pictures coming from space.

Rob Marciano standing by now back here on earth to talk more about, boy, freezing rain in the central and the southern plains states.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: A sweet deal turns sour. A warning today that artificial sweeteners could jinx your diet. You want to stay tuned for this. We'll talk more about it in just a little while.

Meanwhile, falling stock prices and talk of recession have some people looking for different ways to invest now. In this week's "Right on Your Money." We hear from a man who turned his love of super heroes and monsters into big bucks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN FISHLER, PRESIDENT METROPOLIS COLLECTIBLES: My name is Steven Fishler. I own Metropolis Collectibles in New York City.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 50 years ago they sold for loose change. Now comic books, movie posters and other vintage collectibles are big business.

FISHLER: This is worth about $75,000.

ROMANS: But Fishler didn't just suddenly cash in on this hot trend. It's a lifelong investment.

FISHLER: I started collecting comic books when I was about 4 or 5 years old and in the early '80s, I turned it into a business.

ROMANS: It's a business that could be a solid investing alternative to the Wall Street weary.

FISHLER: There are people who may have been burned by the stock market and they feel that they want to diversify rare comics and vintage movie posters. There certainly options for them.

ROMANS: Fishler says some rare blue chip comics have outperformed blue chip stocks. The first-ever comic book featuring Batman sold for 10 cents in 1939. A mint condition copy today is worth $485,000.

FISHLER: This is called our comic vault. There's probably 200,000 books in this room.

ROMANS: But keep in mind, only a handful of these comic books can fill your bank account faster than a speeding bullet.

FISHLER: If people were to get into the buying and selling and investing comic books today, I would not suggests to jump into the market. I would take six months to a year to sort of bring yourself up to speed.

My secondary advice is buy what you like. Buy what you appreciate. Buy what you enjoy and if it turns out to be an investment, so much the better.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Some news to give you now regarding Representative Tom Lantos of California. Unfortunately, he has passed and just as reminder as to his point in history, the only holocaust survivor to ever serve in Congress. He was 80 years old and passed away at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, of course in suburban Maryland.

He was the Democratic chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and just said last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. So unfortunately, sad to report, House Representative Tom Lantos of California is dead. Again, 80 years old in Bethesda, Maryland. We'll continue to watch this one for you. Hoping to talk with some more people about his life and what he meant to this country.

Meanwhile, chances are, you remember actor Roy Scheider as a beach town police chief in the movie "Jaws." Well, Scheider died Sunday in Little Rock, Arkansas. He had been battling cancer. Scheider appeared in dozens of movies, television, and stage production.

He was nominated for Academy Awards for roles in "The French Connection" and "All That Jazz," but "Jaws" is the one that brought him enduring fame. His line, "You're going to need a bigger boat," is on the American Film Industry's list of Best Movie Quotes. Scheider was 75.

On to this story now. Are no-calorie sweeteners a diet buster? Well, researchers are making a connection between sugar substitute and weight gain. Believe it or not.

Medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here now to talk more about this.

A lot of people are going to be surprised here, Elizabeth. What are the researchers say?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was one of this, who would have thunk it? I mean, who would have thunk that by using something that's no calories, lead to substituting to had no calories would make you gain weight? But that's what happened with rats. And we want to be clear, that we're talking about rats.

COLLINS: More rats.

COHEN: More rats.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: More rats. But when the researchers took rats, divided them in two groups, then one group of rats got to eat yogurt with sugar and the other group of rats ate yogurt with saccharin, also known as Sweet 'N Low, the ones who ate the saccharin actually ended up over time consuming more calories.

They kind of went on a bit of a binge, I guess could you say. They gained more weight. The ones who ate the saccharin and they put on more body fat. This is very interesting. Researchers say they're findings are solid. Now, the folks who make Sweet 'N Low had some interesting thoughts for us. They weren't so crazy about this study.

COLLINS: I can imagine.

COHEN: As you can imagine. So I'll read you some of the things they said. It's actually a little bit humorous. Just because a rat eats something doesn't mean it is going to happen to people. It is complete nonsense. They should take that money used for this waste of time study and help the poor or find a cure for cancer.

I do have to say, though, when I ran this by a doctor, he said -- well, you know, these artificial sweeteners have been around for decades. And are we getting any skinnier? Well, we're not.

COLLINS: Yes, that's a good point and it's hard to know, though.

COHEN: Of course. There's so many variables. Absolutely. And how much but they didn't solve the problem. We should put it that way.

COLLINS: Yes. You know -- in this study, anyway, the exact opposite would happen. So what's going on?

COHEN: Right. Exactly. Well, we asked someone from the American Dietetic Association that question. We said how could this be true? And she said our bodies want sugar. We crave sugar. And so when we don't get it, when we get something else, we just want to eat and eat and eat until we get that sugar fix. That was her theory. She thinks this makes sense and she thinks these findings would be true if the rats ate any kind of sugar substitute, not just saccharin.

COLLINS: Boy, I totally buy that. I really do. I mean, because I'm a person who craves sugar. So I just have to get it.

COHEN: Right. Exactly. You do whatever it took.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, are you supposed to stay away from the sugar substitutes? Is it always better to have real, plain old sugar?

COHEN: No. I mean, this is a study in rats. And you don't want to make any decisions based on what happened with rats. But certainly, if you're using a sugar substitute and you're gaining weight -- you know, one doctor said, just why not? Go and try something else. You know, go ahead and use sugar instead of saccharin in your coffee and see what happens. This is not going to hurt you.

COLLINS: Yes, because like you were saying in the break. You know, if you're using it in your coffee and a little bit on your cereal, how much is it really?

COHEN: Right. How much could that possibly be? And if it makes your body happier, and you eat less throughout the day, maybe that's the way to go.

COLLINS: Don't you feel like my dad, he used like four packs of a sweetener -- I mean, for one cup of coffee. Oh!

All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. It's an interesting study. We'll keep our eye on that one.

The influence of the youth. Will they make a difference in the presidential race? Our Veronica De La Cruz takes a look at how the Internet is changing politics. Coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: I want to give you this news that we were talking about just a moment ago, in case you missed it. Unfortunately, we are reporting the death of Representative Tom Lantos -- you see his picture there, of California.

He was someone that many people know as the only holocaust survivor to serve in Congress. He was 80 years old and died at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland. You see him there with Nancy Pelosi.

Someone who knows him very well is on the line with us to talk a little bit more about his life and his impact. And that is Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate. And as I mentioned, very good friends with the Representative Tom Lantos.

Mr. Wiesel, tell us a little about Representative Lantos and your relationship with him.

ELIE WIESEL, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE: We have been friends for many years. Since President Carter created the President's Commission on the Holocaust, and I was chairman of that. He was immediately involved in all of our work with passion, with greatness and with imagination. And especially, of course, with faith.

He was one of those spokesmen in Congress whose voice is needed. Whenever he spoke, people lived, and whenever he spoke, it was always for the victims. Victims of injustice, victims of forgetting, victims of diseases, victims of dictatorship and totalitarianism.

We were allies and passed in so many battles and sometimes we lost. It didn't matter. Occasionally, we won and then he was happy. And his happiness was contagious. Oh, I will miss him terribly.

COLLINS: I know you will. And our condolences go out to you for your loss. I know that you were great friends. There's so much to talk about with Representative Lantos' life. Tell us, if you would, a little bit about his survival from the Holocaust. I know that he escaped two different times, did he not? From a Labour Camp?

WIESEL: Yes. He was not in the Concentration Camp. He was not in Auschwitz but he went in with so many other camps and he was in two of them, I think, and he escaped. He's one of the young. He was courage and imaginative. And therefore, he managed to escape and somehow he was -- people identified without pain. He identified without solitude. He was able to demand that the (INAUDIBLE) in Congress speak for us and he was always there. He never thinks (INAUDIBLE), almost, 30 years ago. He never disappointed us.

COLLINS: In fact, one of the things I'm reading here is that I know the timing of the diagnosis of his cancer was apparently very difficult, because he had just taken over this Committee Chairmanship just a year earlier, when he actually learned that he had cancer.

He said something about, this seemed to be his whole life was in preparation for this particular job, and I know you talk a lot about him being the one who had so much courage to really say what was on his mind at every chance he had.

WIESEL: Yes. Again, but even when he was sick, actually, he went on fighting. And the last time that he believed, (INAUDIBLE), of course what it all meant to us. (INAUDIBLE) while still alive. Now that he's no longer here, I had hope that he would have time still to write his memoirs and -- so that people would learn from his life. Maybe he has. But he's made so many speeches. And I know, (INAUDIBLE), his speeches and I know, whenever I spoke anywhere, publicly, (INAUDIBLE). So that was his journal.

COLLINS: Well, we certainly appreciate you coming on and spending some time with us today to talk about Representative Tom Lantos, who unfortunately is dead now at the age of 80.

Nobel Peace Laureate, Elie Wiesel, and a very good friend of the Representative. Thanks so much.

And now a deadlocked Democrats. Senator Clinton cleans house but Senator Obama is the one sweeping up. State of the race in the NEWSROOM.

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