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Saudi Arabian Government Has Arrested Hundreds of Terror Suspects; Supreme Court Decides Rapists Cannot Be Sentenced to Death; Election in Zimbabwe Will Continue with Morgan Tsvangirai on the Ballot

Aired June 25, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF JOE APRAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: I don't care who they are and I just said it again, just recently, for the same word I fired a deputy sheriff cadet. So if I fire him, I want my badges back from Shaq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The sheriff made O'Neal a special deputy in 2006. Later that year, he promoted him to Colonel in a ceremony. O'Neal said he was just freestyling in the video and it was all done in fun.

Good morning once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. You'll stay informed all day at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here's here's what's on the rundown -- "Issue number one" on your doorstep. New numbers on home sales due out any minute now.

COLLINS: At the Supreme Court, major rulings possible this hour on gun rights and the death penalty.

HARRIS: President Bush welcomes the Iraqi president into the Oval Office in minutes. A long-term security deal on the table today Wednesday, June 25th. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And once again, we are awaiting some important decisions from the Supreme Court this morning. The death penalty for child rape in one case and a ruling that may clear up the years-long, decades-long debate over the Constitution's fundamental right to keep and bear arms. Those rulings could come any minute and we'll have it for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, we are following breaking developments from Saudi Arabia. The government there says it has arrested hundreds of terror suspects in the past year, their alleged plan to attack major oil installations in Saudi Arabia.

Joining us now from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is our Wilf Dinnick. And Wilf, if you would, bring us the very latest on this story. WILF DINNICK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry announcing today that they had made 701 arrests over this last year. They said they've done the sweeps in a six-month period. Now, of those in custody, they say there's still 502 remaining in prison here.

Now, the allegations are quite severe, what they say is that these people were raising money. That they were publishing Al Qaeda- like literature and as well bring foreigners into Saudi Arabia to train them to attack government buildings here, not just oil facilities but security headquarters and things like that. So, some serious allegations here now. Of course, they're saying that these people were Islamist, that they had Al Qaeda-like philosophies or they were Al Qaeda like groups. This is not the first time the government here has made sweeping arrests.

In April of last year, there has been a 172 people they accused of being militants, Islamic militants, but also they were going to hit oil refineries and oil fields as well. They even accused some of those people of several jihadist plots to even use planes to make those attacks. Now, just how widespread this problem is it's always hard to tell here in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They don't have the same due process laws, the same sort of access to information here. So, Tony, very difficult to see just how widespread this really is.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Wilf Dinnick for us in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Wilf, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Wall Street opened for business now. And unfortunately, more bad news on the home front. Plus, investors are awaiting an important decision from the Federal Reserve this afternoon.

Let's head over to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange for an early look at those numbers. What's the dealing here, Susan?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the deal is we're seeing more pain in the housing market. These numbers came out just in the last few minutes. New home sales for the month of May declined 2.5 percent, even as median, the median price of homes continues to decline. The good news here is that the decline in home sales was actually not as bad as expected. This comes on the back of the separate report we had yesterday. We talked a lot about that, home prices that showed a 15 percent year over year decline and declines in all 20 metro areas surveyed.

This is important because this is on the day that the Federal Reserve is going to make a decision on interest rates. Policymakers have to decide what is more important, the steep decline in housing or the relentless rise in oil prices? That decision or that meeting is already under way this morning. There are a couple of other reports from policymakers to consider. I'll mention them very quickly.

We got a report earlier this morning on big ticket items, factory orders are big ticket times, virtually unchanged following two months of decline. There was strength in demand for aircraft but weakness just about everywhere else. And at the bottom of the hour, we get the weekly inventory report on oil. And there is an expectation of a decline there. And Heidi, you know what happens when you're seeing a decline in supplies. You know what typically happens to oil prices.

Anyway, we'll bring that to you as it happens. Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good, Susan. We appreciate that. We'll check in later.

HARRIS: The death of a pregnant U.S. soldier described as suspicious. 23-year-old Megan Lynn Touma was a dental specialist with the Army's 19th replacement company. Her body found over the weekend at a motel in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Investigators still trying to determine the cause of death. They say Touma was seven months pregnant. She had had arrived at Ft. Bragg from a base in Germany less than two weeks ago.

Six people killed at a workplace shooting that happened overnight at a plastics plant in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say the shooter had an argument with the supervisor. Witnesses saw the two walked outside together, heard a gunshot then saw the shooter come back inside and fired at co-workers. Police say the shooter turned the gun on himself. We don't know right now if the supervisor was among those killed. And police haven't said how or when the shooter got the gun.

COLLINS: We want to let you know this fact just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. We've been telling you there are some pretty major Supreme Court decisions expected today. And we have the first of those right now. The case against Exxon regarding the Exxon-Valdez, I'm sure you remember the case back in 1989.

Apparently, the whole thing has been thrown out. Obviously that means Exxon basically winning this case. I'll give you a little bit of detail there as you can see on the screen. Eleven million gallons of crude oil spilled in Alaska's Prince William Sound, as I said, in 1989. Ran aground on an offshore reef, which soaked about 1,200 miles of coastline.

I'm sure you remember all of those pictures as well. It was a $2.5 billion I believe punitive damages case. So once again that case, Exxon Shipping versus Baker to be specific, has been thrown out. So there is the ruling so far on that. We're going to be talking about several of these other decisions coming down the pipe today as they happen.

Speaking of oil, paying the price for that devastating oil spill, the U.S. Supreme Court, as we just said, has ruled on this $2.5 billion damage award. So, we are going to continue to follow that story for you. We're going to talk with our Jeffrey Toobin coming up in just a few minutes. We want to get back to Exxon Valdez because apparently we have a story that gives you a little bit more on the history there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A paradise of sea water and marine life. That's the way it was for centuries in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The Sound also was generous, providing a good life for commercial fishermen, Alaskan natives and businesses.

All that changed on March 24, 1989. The supertanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in the sound spilling 11 million gallons of oil. 1,200 miles of shoreline were soiled, hundreds of thousands of birds and other marine animals were killed, evidenced during an 83-day trial in 1994, revealed that the Valdez' Captain Joseph Hazelwood had left the ships' bridge just before the giant ship had to make a difficult turn.

The jury found Hazelwood and Exxon reckless and awarded $287 million in actual damages and $5 billion in punitive damages. A federal appeals court later cut that assessment in half. According to a federal study released last year, an estimated 85 tons of crude linger in the sound.

Environmentalists say numerous species have not recovered to pre- spill health and abundance. Exxon has paid $3.5 billion in environmental cleanup costs, fines and settlements of private claims. The company says that claims that the spill continues to damage Prince William Sound are simply untrue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Very quickly, let me turn to the computer for just a second here because we have another decision from the Supreme Court on a case that we have been watching. The U.S. Supreme Court rejects, again, rejects the death penalty for raping children. OK and we don't have the count on the ruling, how many for, how many against. Five- four. Thank you, Joe. A 5-4 ruling. Justice Kennedy, the swing vote. More and more, Justice Kennedy is becoming the swing vote on these cases. The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the death penalty for raping children.

CNN's Kelli Arena has the background on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: He's not a killer but Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to die for his crime. The New Orleans native sits here on death row at Louisiana's maximum security prison. Unlike the more than 3,000 inmates facing execution nationwide, Kennedy is unique. He is the first prisoner in decades to face death for a crime other than murder. Kennedy brutally raped a child in this house. The victim? His eight-year-old stepdaughter.

KATE BARTHOLOMEW, ORLEANS PARISH SEX CRIME PROSECUTOR: In my opinion, the rape of a child is more heinous and more hideous than a homicide because the child survives with what has happened.

ARENA: But death penalty opponents argue a death sentence could give attackers a reason to murder their victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they're going to face the death penalty for raping the child why would they live a living witness?

ARENA: Louisiana is the only state actively pursuing lethal injection for raping children. In 1977, the Supreme Court banned execution for rape but Louisiana lawmakers say the ruling only applied when victims were adults. And in 1995 passed a law allowing execution for the rape of children under 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we look at unusualness, whether it means to be cruel and unusual, this is exactly the kind of unusualness that raises these serious concerns about the constitutionality of Mr. Kennedy's death sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And that is our Kelli Arena reporting.

And in just a couple of moments I believe we are going to get an opportunity to speak with our Kelli Arena, our Kelli Arena and our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Following the Supreme Court today and decisions coming down from the court. As you just heard in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejects the death penalty for raping children.

Again, as you just heard a moment ago -- I'm pausing just a moment here, maybe we'll get Kelli up to talk more about the case and Justice Kennedy providing the swing vote here. Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to death in 2003 for brutally raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter in her bed. And Louisiana prosecutors said the attack caused -- and this was brutal -- internal injuries and breeding to the child.

Now for 18 months -- Kelli's ready. OK. I'll let Kelli tell us more about this case and the ruling from the Supreme Court. Our justice correspondent, there she is, Kelli Arena, for us. It's good to see you, Kelli.

ARENA: I ran out as fast as I could.

HARRIS: No, that's great. It's great to see you. Thank you for bailing me out on this. A very important decision here obviously for the Supreme Court. Let me have you sort of work through the decision. We understand it was a 5-4 decision.

ARENA: Yes. Very close. Justice Anthony Kennedy serving as the swing vote once again for this decision, siding with the majority here. The Supreme Court basically ruled that it's unconstitutional to put somebody to death for raping a child.

As you know, this was a really emotional, horrible crime that the justices were dealing with. It involved a man named Patrick Kennedy who raped his eight-year-old stepdaughter while she lie in her bed. Louisiana said that this was definitely on par with one of the worst possible crimes a human being could commit and so sentenced him to death. Nobody's been put to death for rape if the United States since the 1960s so this was obviously monumental. Justices today saying no, absolutely not. This is not -- this does not qualify for a death sentence. And obviously, it will affect some other states with similar laws and those include Florida, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, even Texas. They just recently enacted a law allowing the death penalty for child rape. So you will see the legal repercussions of this decision ripple throughout the nation.

HARRIS: And the thought before this decision is, would this decision from the court allow for a broader range? I know this is one of the questions, would it allow for a broader range of crimes becoming death penalty eligible? And I know that was one of the considerations going into this case.

ARENA: Well, you know, the court so far has been pretty much in line, I mean, they banned execution for people who are mentally retarded. They banned execution for people who are underage killers. They banned execution for people who did not get an adequate defense at trial. So there is a definite theme that is emerging here. There seems to be a legal limiting of who can be put to death in this country.

HARRIS: OK. And, Kelli, we are awaiting one more big decision.

ARENA: We are. I don't know what's going on. We're waiting for the gun decision. This place is stacked with people waiting from both sides of that issue. I ran out before I heard what the next ruling was. I doubt we're going to get that today, but you know, I've been wrong before but we'll see.

HARRIS: OK.

ARENA: Possibly tomorrow. We'll see.

HARRIS: And if you get a heads-up on that, just let us know.

ARENA: Oh, I'll be here.

HARRIS: And as soon, we'll talk to you. Kelli Arena, our justice correspondent for us. Kelly, great to see you. Thanks.

ARENA: Good to see you.

COLLINS: Missing in the mountains since Saturday. The search for 11 hikers, most of them are teenagers. The latest coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Once again, we just received a couple of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. In one case, Kennedy versus the state of Louisiana, it's a death penalty case, the death penalty for child rape. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty should not apply to a man convicted of raping a child, saying that capital punishment only applies to murderers. Again, this is in a 5-4 decision with Justice Kennedy providing the swing vote. Again, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty should not apply to a man convicted of raping a child, again, saying that capital punishment only applies to murderers.

COLLINS: A little bit more information as well on the other decision that came down just a little while ago from the Supreme Court regarding the Exxon Valdez, the accident back in 1989 and apparently what exactly happened here is that the high court reduced that huge punitive damages award which was $2.5 billion, down to what they he agreed -- 8-0 was the decision by the way, that those damages should actually match the damages from the environmental disaster that were roughly estimated at $507 million.

Again, the high court reducing that punitive damage award from $2.5 billion down to $507 million, just ruling that that award would have been excessive. So, there you have the latest from the Supreme Court.

HARRIS: More rain in the forecast for the Midwest, making a bad situation there potentially worse. Well check in with Jacqui Jeras in just a couple of moments. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Wee want to take you to the New York Stock Exchange right now for a look at the big board. Inside the first hour of the trading day, the Dow is up 23 points. The NASDAQ, tech heavy NASDAQ, up 21 points. In fact, all of the major indices are up this morning in spite of some troubling news on the housing front.

What does it all mean as we get predictions that world energy use will surge in the immediate future? We're going to check the markets with Susan Lisovicz coming up in just a couple of minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Mystery in the wilderness, 11 members of an outward bound group are missing in California Central Sierra Nevada. The group of two adults and nine teenagers never met up with the hiking leader on Saturday. That adult leader had split away from the group to scout another location. The area where the hikers are believed to be is at an elevation of 10,000 feet. No cell phone service is available. The hikers who had gone on the mission did have a satellite phone and called authorities. And right now a search and rescue team is in the area there, now using a helicopter in that search as day breaks.

The battle against raging wildfires in California intensifying today. Fire crews from Nevada and Oregon are joining the effort to put out more than 800 wildfires scorching northern California. We've been following this story for a couple of days now. So far, tens of thousands of acres have burned and hundreds of people forced from their homes. Thick smoke from the flames is darkening the skies over San Francisco and the Central Valley. Officials have issued air quality warnings. The fires were set off by lightning strikes. HARRIS: And excruciating waiting game in the Midwest. Hundreds of people in the town of Winfield, Missouri nervously watching the flood swollen Mississippi today, hoping more of it won't end up in their homes. The river is cresting there today and the water will stay for several more days. The town protected by only an earthened levee in that county that hasn't been swamped yet, but the condition of that barrier so uncertain that only National Guard soldiers and firefighters are allowed to stack sandbags.

The officials warn volunteers that heavy equipment could actually sink. In St. Louis, the river isn't expected to recede until Thursday night. And forecasters say the last point on the Mississippi to crest will be 80 miles south of the city. That is expected to happen on Friday.

COLLINS: Let's take a moment now to head over to Jacqui Jeras, standing by in the weather center with more on all these rain that I guess people in those really flooded areas are going to be getting.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it's been a lot of rain. In fact, we've got some flooding going on the Salt River in Shelbyville in Shelby County, which is in north central part of Missouri. The rain has been so heavy there.

And you know, you don't even want to breathe or even put a foot in the water. You're just afraid. Any little tiny impact could be a problem. You know, Winfield, Missouri, and the levee that's still ongoing, the problem there, they've been sandbagging. They had to stop that effort briefly this morning because of the lightning. So you know, you can sandbag in the rain but you can't really sandbag when there's an actual thunderstorm going on. This rain finally starting to pull out of here for a little bit now.

There's Quincy. And there you can see Springfield, Illinois. That rain is starting to push eastward. Some of the rainfall totals have really been impressive with this. And we'll start to see the heavier amounts across northern parts of Illinois and Indiana in the upcoming hours throughout the afternoon. Some of these storms could be on the severe side.

We're watching an area through the Dakotas on through the plain states and over into the Great Lakes, places like Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee. Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Sioux City could see large hail and some damaging winds as a result of that cold front pushing on through here.

Let's look at some of the rainfall totals. These have just been incredible. Keep in mind this is in north central Missouri, so this is on the Mississippi River but some of this could drain off into that area. Linneus, Missouri, nearly 8.5 inches, Atlanta, Missouri, not Georgia, 5.9, nearly six inches there, Novelty, Missouri, Browning, about 4.5, and about 3.5 in Trenton, Missouri. So certainly, we don't want to see that kind of rain in those areas. We don't want to aggravate it. We think it's probably not going to be enough to make the river go up any longer but it could be enough to kind of hold it there a little bit longer. Right now, we're thinking it's going to stay really high throughout the rest of the week, guys. In fact, most of those cities now, you know. within two-tenths of a foot, probably of their absolute peak crest, but it's going to come stay at that level throughout that week.

We've got airport delays here behind me, too. It's kind of bothering a few people. But everybody is under an hour, you know.

COLLINS: Relax.

JERAS: Under an hour.

COLLINS: Yes. I'm going to change my tune from yesterday and many other days. Relax. It will get better. I'm sure.

JERAS: Get a coffee.

HARRIS: Don't worry, be happy? Why did I go there? That song is in your head now.

COLLINS: Moving on.

HARRIS: I'm sorry.

COLLINS: Thank you, Jacqui.

HARRIS: A big rulings from the Supreme Court this hour. Should child rape be a capital crime? A stepfather on death row for raping his stepdaughter. We hear from both sides.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Supreme Court deciding just moments ago convicted rapists cannot be sentenced to death. The Court said it violates the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

CNN's Sean Callebs looks at the case that lead to the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eye for an eye. Legally, it has come to mean the punishment must fit the crime. And for at least the last 50 years, U.S. courts have executed only those who committed murder. In other words, a life for a life. Until perhaps now, here in Louisiana.

BILLY SOTHERN, KENNEDY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: When we look at unusualness, what it means to be cruel and unusual, this is exactly the kind of unusualness that raises these serious concerns about the constitutionality of Mr. Kennedy's death sentence.

CALLEBS: Mr. Kennedy is his client, Patrick Kennedy, 6'4, 300 pounds. Five years ago, a jury convicted and sentenced him to death, not for murder but because Kennedy committed an unthinkable crime. LYNN, VICTIM'S AUNT: He's a huge man. A person would never imagine how a man that size and an eight-year-old girl, you know, could even think towards that -- being in that situation.

CALLEBS: The victim is his stepdaughter.

LYNN: She would get ready for school and she would say he would come in the bathroom basically in the morning and rape her.

CALLEBS: But Kennedy wasn't discovered until an incident where he so brutalized the little girl that she went to the hospital for emergency surgery, a horrible crime. Yet, no one died. The fact is, had Kennedy committed the assault in any other state, he would not have received the death sentence. In 1995, Louisiana became the first state to make child rape a capital crime.

KATE BARTHOLOMEW, ORLEANS PARISH SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: A lot of people think that there should not be the death penalty because the child survives. In my opinion, the rape of a child is more heinous and more hideous than a homicide.

CALLEBS: Kate Bartholomew is a sex crimes prosecutor in New Orleans.

BARTHOLOMEW: It takes away their innocence, it takes away their childhood. It mutilates their spirit, it kills their soul. They're never the same after these things happen.

CALLEBS: Billy Sothern is the deputy director of the Capital Appeals Project in New Orleans. His office is handling Kennedy's case and handles the appellate process for all inmates who receive the death sentence in Louisiana.

SOTHERN: I think that for the crime of rape, it sends the wrong message to society to say that if someone is raped, you need to kill that person who did it.

CALLEBS: Kennedy's defense sounds simple.

(on camera): This is the cemetery in Angola, a grim reminder that this facility houses the worst of the worst in Louisiana: killers, rapists, men sentenced to at least 50 years behind bars. So in all likelihood, Patrick Kennedy is in Angola to stay, even if his death sentence is overturned.

SOTHERN: In Louisiana, life means life. So, I think that people who are concerned about law and order, people who are concerned about the possibility of someone who committed a child rape getting out and doing this again, in Louisiana, that's not going to happen.

CALLEBS (voice-over): Kennedy also has what may appear an unlikely ally, the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assaults. Its director says testifying in a death penalty case is traumatic for a child and there's more.

JUDY BENITEZ, LOUISIANA FDN. AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULTS: If they're going to face the death penalty for raping the child, why would they leave a living witness?

CALLEBS: Louisiana's prosecutors believe the state legislature extended the death penalty to include child rapists for good reason.

BARTHOLOMEW: Louisiana has been a pro-death penalty state for a very long time. And I think a lot of people probably agree with the death penalty for this type of a case here in our state.

CALLEBS: Kennedy was convicted and sentenced to death unanimously by a jury of 12 of his peers. But his attorney says --

SOTHERN: It is precisely the role of the United States Supreme Court to determine when and when not a state, a state legislature, a state Supreme Court, has gone too far.

CALLEBS: The young girl at the center of this attack is now in college and wants to be a lawyer. And yet, her family says, like any other young victim, she's been scarred forever and that they believe her rapist deserves the punishment handed down by the court.

LYNN: It's going to be justice. It's going to be -- it's going to be a lot of things. It's going to be that she can look forward, not backward, and happen to look over your shoulder and one day look at him or see him or see him coming after her.

CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And just to update you quickly, that breaking news we've been telling you about this morning, the rulings from the Supreme Court regarding child rape, now they have ruled that executing in Louisiana child rapist would be unconstitutional, concluding that capital punishment is reserved for murderers.

I want to take a moment to bring in CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on this one because boy, this is a huge decision here, Jeff. What do you make of it?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it was just high drama in the court today. It's always dramatic at the end of the Supreme Court term. But here, of course, it was literally life and death, one of the big open questions in Constitutional law about the death penalty: can you execute someone for a crime other than murder?

Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote on so many cases, decided this case, it was 5-4, and he said no, you can't execute someone for other than rape. He didn't diminish the seriousness of the crime, but he said the risks of expanding the death penalty are simply too great. He pointed out that there are more than 5,000 child rapes every year in the United States. All of them would raise the possibility of the death penalty.

There are only a handful of states, I think it was six ...

COLLINS: Yes. TOOBIN: ...that allow the death penalty for child rape. Forty- four states and the federal government say no. He said there is a national consensus that this is not an appropriate punishment. So, this really rules out not just the death penalty for child rape, but any crime other than murder. So it's a major, major decision.

COLLINS: Yes, a national consensus except for those six states. I mean, it's interesting when you look at the court of public opinion, you know, how do you think this decision is going to go down in public?

TOOBIN: Well, I think -- it's a tough call because support for the death penalty nationwide in the past 10 years has actually been going down. But child rape is such a horrendous crime and all of us have such a natural revulsion towards it that you're never going to get a lot of support for any sort of reduction in sentence.

COLLINS: Sure.

TOOBIN: But I think, given the fact that this is a Supreme Court that said no death penalty for murderers under 18, no death penalty for the mentally retarded, this decision is consistent with a certain restriction on the death penalty, which is reflected in the court but also in a kind of national change that's going on.

COLLINS: Yes, and in Sean Callebs piece that we had, I'm not sure if you were able to hear it there, Jeffrey, but ...

TOOBIN: I saw it, yes.

COLLINS: ...you may have seen it before. Well, the one woman who actually brought up a very interesting point, when you think about all of this and you think about the child, the victim. She said, you know, if they know they're going to die for this crime, why would they leave a living witness?

TOOBIN: Justice Kennedy made precisely that point in the opinion. He said, allowing the death penalty here would create a perverse incentive for child rapists to murder their victims. He also pointed out what a difficult moral choice it would put child victims in testifying, they would -- giving children literally the power of life and death in their testimony over their attackers. That is something that he wanted to relieve children of, that burden. So, that point of ...

COLLINS: Will they always have to testify?

TOOBIN: Yes, pretty much. I mean, there have been rare examples of -- if a child, for example, is simply too young to testify, you know, there are horrible cases of rapes of babies and things like that. But by and large, there has to be some sort of testimony from a child. It can be in a non-courtroom setting. It can be sort of in a deposition, in a ...

COLLINS: Sure.

TOOBIN: ...not in front of the jury.

COLLINS: Yes.

TOOBIN: But you do have to have the child testify.

COLLINS: OK, yes. It's just such a tough decision all around, 5-4 on that one, very interesting. Quickly, before we let you go, Jeffrey, I know you know about the Exxon Valdez decision that was also today, 8-0 on that one about punitive damages. Originally, this was an award of $2.5 billion. Now, they have said, no way, that was too much.

But the $507 million that was the estimate from the actual damages, now, just clear this up for me quickly, if you could, will they go back to court and kind of start all over to try and get that $507 million, or what happens next?

TOOBIN: Yes, the Supreme Court said that 19 years is not long enough to have litigation in this case. There's got to be more litigation, that ...

COLLINS: Is that a joke?

TOOBIN: No, no, I mean, but that -- in effect, that's what they said because the issue of punitive damages which had been $2.5 billion, it can't be that. Basically, what Justice Suitor's opinion said is that it can't be more than the actual damages.

COLLINS: OK.

TOOBIN: So, punitive damages it appears are capped at about 500, so Exxon won about a $2 billion judgment today ...

COLLINS: Yes, yes.

TOOBIN: ...which is a good day for them.

COLLINS: Yes, it is a good day for them.

All right, we sure appreciate you sticking around, standing on the steps of the Supreme Court there. Our CNN senior legal analyst ...

TOOBIN: It's always good to be on the steps of the Supreme Court.

COLLINS: Jeffrey Toobin, good to have you, my friend. Thank you.

TOOBIN: All right, see you.

HARRIS: All right, let's check in at the gas pump right now. Our daily look at prices, the latest numbers from AAA, the national average dropped overnight two-tenths of a penny per gallon. Compared to a month ago, that's still an increase of more than 13 cents. And compared to a year ago, we're paying $1.09 more for each gallon. You probably think whenever you pull up to the gas pump, there's got to be a better way. This morning on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are asking just how bad is it? And are there alternatives to our oil addiction?

CNN's Kate Bolduan joins us from Washington. Kate, good to see you this morning. Anything being suggested so far to maybe help us in the short term, which is what we really care about right now?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: The short term is something that everyone wants to hear about. But they're really looking short and definitely long term. But this morning the question is, are high oil and gas prices a passing economic phase or a reality that's here to stay? That's what the Joint Economic Committee is trying to answer today on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), JOINT ECONOMIC CHAIRMAN: I think that everyone would like to believe that high oil prices are a bubble, that you burst the bubble and the price will come down and stay down. We all hope that's the case, but it may not be so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Senator Charles Schumer is speaking right there, he says that the committee, they really want to get to the root cause of today's energy situation and the hearing is all just getting under way right now. Lawmakers are hearing from one of the nation's best- known energy experts, Daniel Jurgen. Jurgen's appeal (ph) as a prize- winning author on the oil industry.

He says the concern over oil speculators that we've really been talking about a lot recently, it's a real concern, but it's not the whole story. He says today's energy situation is a result of several factors converging at the same time. Supply is down while world demand is up, especially in rapidly developing countries like China and India. At the same time, he says countries like Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq and Mexico are pumping out less oil. Jurgen also says that the weak dollar is at play here.

And while it's unclear what conclusions the committee will reach, Jurgen makes one thing very clear, what he calls the either/or energy debate in Congress isn't working. He argues it's not a choice of more -- drilling or more alternative energies that will help the situation. He says it may be a combination approach, Tony.

HARRIS: Put everything on the table, we've heard that a lot recently.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HARRIS: Kate Boduan for us in Washington. Kate, great to see you. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Tony.

COLLINS: The government's annual energy outlook is just now out, and we all want to know what are oil prices expected to do? CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix now from New York.

Hi there, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Heidi.

Well, yes, that report showing a bit of a boost in supplies here in the U.S. in terms of domestic crude. So, oil prices falling just slightly. Now, prices may dip in the next few years, but don't expect too much relief over the long term because of surging demand.

In its international energy outlook which extends to the year 2030, the government says global energy use will jump 50 percent. The reasons: population growth and strong demand in developing countries, think India and China. Now, as a result, prices are expected to range between $113 and $186 per barrel for oil.

That's a range we're in right now, with the current price just around $134 a barrel today. But the government's projections, keep in mind, Heidi, are based on 2007 prices. And as everyone knows, oil has nearly doubled since then, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Poppy, we sure do appreciate that. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow standing there dry (ph) at the Energy Fix Desk. Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Sure.

HARRIS: The housing crisis deepens. Fewer buyers get the keys to new homes. New numbers in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: The nation's mortgage crisis, one state taking the matter to court. The Illinois attorney general filing a lawsuit today against Countrywide Financial, the country's largest mortgage lender. The claim Countrywide offered risky loans, used misleading sales tactics and rewarded brokers for selling questionable loans. The company says it won't comment on a pending lawsuit. Illinois wants Countrywide to pay restitution to consumers who lost their homes or loans.

All right, let's take a look at the big board now. Seventy-eight points to the good right now, a positive territory. We've been that way most of the morning in spite of some difficult news here on the housing front. But a nice jump ahead of the Fed's decision today on interest rates. We are going to check in with Susan Lisovicz in just a couple of minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Still to come, fearing for his life, Zimbabwe's opposition leader seeks refuge, again, amid escalating election violence. A live report from our International Desk.

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HARRIS: Well, fast changing developments in Zimbabwe, a country racked by violence as an election looms. And just minutes ago, the country's Election Commission issued controversial ruling.

CNN's Isha Sesay joins us from our International Desk. You know, I half want to say, oh brother, what now?

Isha, good morning.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Let's get right to a journalist that we have on the line who actually attended that meeting held by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. He's asked us not to name him for fear of reprisal.

I want to thank you so much for joining us on CNN today. Can you hear me? We appear to have lost that journalist who we had on the line to tell us what had happened at that meeting held by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

But Tony, just to set the scene, it turns out that that election will go ahead on Friday. We will try and get that journalist back and get his description of the events and what exactly was said. But what we are hearing at this point in time is that the Electoral Commission say they do not recognize Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition, his decision to withdraw from Friday's vote -- Tony?

HARRIS: Yes, so the runoff election will go forward on Friday, according to this ruling from the Election Commission, so that means this runoff will go forward without the opposition leader on the ballot.

SESAY: Absolutely, in speaking to this individual, he explained to me that, you know, the Zimbabwean Constitution doesn't have provisions -- in fact, Tony, let me just cut myself off.

We have that journalist on the line. Let me get straight to it. Can you tell us exactly what happened at the meeting?

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: OK, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said that the withdrawal by the MDC is unacknowledged (ph), so the election is going ahead as planned on Friday.

SESAY: With that decision, let's just be absolutely clear. Morgan Tsvangirai has said that he will not participate because he doesn't want to endanger his supporters. Are you saying that the Electoral Commission will still put out ballot boxes, his name will still be on the ballot paper?

UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: Yes, the commission says the ballot paper (INAUDIBLE) various polling stations across the country and Morgan Tsvangirai's name is on those ballot papers. So in other words, it's not a one-man race as we are led to understand, so the commission said.

SESAY: OK, just for any viewers just joining us here on CNN, we have a journalist on the line that attended a meeting by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Just to bring you up to speed, the Election Commission says the vote will go ahead on Friday. They do not recognize Morgan Tsvangirai's decision to pull out of the runoff election.

Give me some sense of the reaction in the room when that announcement was made.

UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: It was a bit expected because last night, President Mugabe indicated that the election was going to go ahead. That brings in the -- impartiality of the commission, so to speak. When Mugabe say something about the election, in that case, that he wants it to happen (ph). So in this case, it was something we sort of expected.

SESAY: Alll right, though we must leave it. But I want to thank you for coming on to CNN to tell us about what happened at that meeting. I'm going to wrap up with you.

And Tony, there you have it.

HARRIS: Yes.

SESAY: The vote as it stands now according to the Election Commission and according to Mugabe will still go ahead on Friday.

HARRIS: All right, and when we talk to you next hour, let's wrap up what has been a very eventful day for Morgan Tsvangirai.

SESAY: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Isha Sesay for us from our International Desk. Isha, great to see you. Thank you.

COLLINS: Which is more important, rising inflation or declining home prices and an overall economic slowdown? While the Federal Reserve considers its options, Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watching all of the market reaction.

And not a whole lot going on, at least from what we've seen so far in those numbers, right, Susan?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: And big decisions this morning from the Supreme Court. Those decisions and some analysis coming up for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: I want to get you to the Oval Office now. President Bush meeting with Iraq's President Talabani.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...the Iraqi government. We talked about elections and different laws that have been passed. I did compliment the president on working hard to see to it that the legislative session this year has been very successful. We talked about the fact that the economy is improving and that the attitude of the people there has improved immeasurably over the years.

And so, I welcome you here, I'm proud of what you've done. And I thank you for the tough decisions so that the people of a free Iraq can realize hopes and dreams. Welcome.

JALAL TALABANI, IRAQI PRESIDENT: I am proud to have the honor of meeting President George Bush whom we consider a liberator of Iraq from the worst kind of dictatorship as a great friend of Iraqi people. I am grateful for what he said about me. But I agree with him that we are going to work together for having this agreement, certain (ph) agreement between United States and Iraq and also to continue our cooperation in our hurdle (ph) against terrorism and for promotion of democracy in Iraq and the Middle East.