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Is Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan?; Roman Polanski on House Arrest
Aired December 04, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Making news right now: an Osama bin Laden spotting. A captured Taliban member says bin Laden is back in Afghanistan. He tells who met with -- quote -- "the sheik," as he calls him, just this year. Could American drones be used to take him out?
Why is accused child rapist Roman Polanski getting house arrest? Can he, will he, skip town again?
And you're not going to believe the confrontation with Jesse Ventura, as close to the brink of losing it as it gets. And you will see it.
Our newest way of connecting with you, Rick's Twitter list, where you will hear what newsmakers are saying about these stories as we report them, a new era in news.
Your national conversation for Friday, December 4, 2009, begins right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. It's a conversation, not a speech, and it's your turn to get involved.
We're going to begin today with a report coming from the BBC that Osama bin Laden has been spotted, not in Pakistan, but rather in Afghanistan. And that, in and of itself, would be new and extremely important for U.S. intelligence officials.
The BBC has interviewed a Taliban detainee. I'm going to take you through this. That man, who has not been identified, says that, early this year, he met with a Mehsud tribesman who was responsible for setting up meetings with Osama bin Laden.
What's more, that tribesman says that he had just come back from a meeting with bin Laden. And he says the meeting took place in the mountainous Ghazni Province of Eastern Afghanistan.
His quote, I will read it to you. "That's where the sheik was." The sheik is how they refer to bin Laden. Why would bin Laden be in Afghanistan? According to this captured Taliban, it's because of the U.S.' drone attacks in Pakistan. And there's news on that front as well as we begin this newscast.
Listen to this. CNN has today confirmed that the White House will now expand its use of drones to attack suspected al Qaeda and Taliban operatives along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Using Rick's List, which we have introduced to you this week, which we have been using as well today to reach out on Twitter to many military and international affairs experts, we will bring you their take on this news, and we will have that for you in just a moment.
But, first, I want you now to understand just how it is that we use these pilotless warplanes that we're talking about that are in the news as of the last hour, and also this, how these drones are being received overseas, not by Americans, but for example by Pakistanis and Afghanis.
Here now is our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Watch these two men in Iraq. They have no idea they're being hunted by a deadly UAV. It is following their every move -- even recording them fire their weapons. They have no idea their insurgent activities have been spotted and no idea the UAV operator, thousands of miles away, is about to fire a missile at them. It's what makes UAVs, or drones, a must-have for the U.S. military.
GEN. DAVID DEPTULA, U.S. AIR FORCE: The real advantage of unmanned aerial systems is they allow you to project power without projecting vulnerability.
ROBERTSON: This is Creech Air Force base, where drone pilots remotely fly missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. These pilots saw a surge in mission requests from frontline commanders after weapons were first installed on drones.
COL. CHRIS CHAMBLISS, U.S. AIR FORCE: When we put Hellfire missiles on the Predator, now you've got these airplanes that are capable not only of providing the pictures -- the full motion video that you need, but now they're also capable of taking out targets where there may not be any other assets available.
ROBERTSON: An estimated 40 or more countries -- including China, Russia and Pakistan -- are also developing drones. Even Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based political party and paramilitary group, has used them against Israel.
No one feels the urgency of staying ahead of the competition more than the personnel at Creech Air Force Base.
CHAMBLISS: Right now, we're hanging onto everybody in the system. We've mobilized the international guard, mobilized the reservists. If you are assigned to Creech right now, we don't allow you to move out.
ROBERTSON: Already, commanders are considering ways to cut out pilots altogether.
DEPTULA: We're looking at a future where we can program unmanned aerial vehicles to operate autonomously and within groups among themselves.
ROBERTSON (on camera): With weapons?
DEPTULA: With weapons or without weapons.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Unimaginable a few years ago, new weapons appeared destined to work with less and less human input.
PETER SINGER, AUTHOR, "WIRED FOR WAR": There's nothing that's a technologic barrier to using armed autonomous systems. And there's -- we think about it as a never, ever, ever thing and yet, it's not the technology that's holding us back. It's trying to figure out the applications of it.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Unmanned technology is here to stay. Wars will never be the same again. If ever there's a moment to borrow a line from a science fiction movie, now is it. Mankind is boldly and irreversibly going where man has never been before -- toward an uncharted era in warfare.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: There's some more information I want to share with you now about this. It's important.
Since President Obama took office, there have been reports of more than 40 attacks by Hellfire missiles fired from these drones that you just saw in Nic's reports. That's a substantial increase over the approximately 30 Hellfire missile strikes launched in 2008. That was during the Bush administration.
As I promised you, with something that I have started now where I don't only tweet with everything who's out there, all 116,000 of you, but every day I specialize on something called Rick's List, where I seek out people who are relevant to the stories we're doing that day.
Today's Rick's List includes two prominent people who understand foreign affairs. We have asked them about this particular story involving Osama bin Laden and these drones.
Let's start now with Lorelei Kelly. She is a national security policy adviser to members of Congress and the Senate. Here's what she's telling us on Rick's List today.
"Power today is deal-making, not rule-breaking. Drones is a short-term fix, long-term peril in world where street credibility is vital." Again, that's Lorelei Kelly. Let's go to the next one now. This is Kim Barker. Kim Barker is with the -- Edward R. Murrow press fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations. So, she studies this daily. She says: "Stop the presses. While in South Asia, I lost 45 meals to where's Osama rumors. Suits Pakistan to put this out anonymously."
So, what she's saying is that this report may very well be something that's orchestrated by the Pakistanis to take the heat off of them from people who say they're responsible for not finding Osama bin Laden -- two interesting perspectives.
By the way, if we can, Eric, let's show Rick's List in its entirety just to show people how they can go to it themselves. There's our Twitter list, there's Rick's List, and those are all the people that we collect on any given day. Sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's 20, depending on the news story. And throughout this newscast, we will be checking back into our Rick's List's for other stories as we follow them.
Now this: as people line up for her signature, author Sarah Palin questioning the president's citizenship. We have got the video for you. And within the last few hours, she's commented on the comment that she made about President Obama. That's why she's also on Rick's List today.
And we're also standing by for a verdict today, an American college student on trial in Italy for allegedly killing her roommate. That could happen any second now. And as soon as it does, I'm going to bring to it you.
And don't forget the other way you can participate in our national conversation. You can always call us in the United States, and that number is 877-742-5751.
Stay with us. I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I'm constantly looking for ways to use today's technology and trends to better tell you the news by making you a part of it and by connecting you. Let me show you what we have been doing so far this week. We feel pretty good about it, actually.
These are lists of relevant people to relevant stories that we have done this week. Go ahead and get a shot of that, if you possibly can. There you see, throughout the week, we have had these lists. There you see the one from Friday. There you see another list that we created. And you can go to these, by the way, by just going to my tweet site.
There's the one on homeland security. There's the one on Tiger Woods, another one on Afghanistan. And then we have put together one on celebrities who have been following us and following the stories that we have been covering this week. So, these are lists of relevant individuals to each particular story. It's called Rick's List. We're just starting that this week.
Now this. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is distancing herself from birthers today. Those are the people, as they are often called, who suggest that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, despite his birth certificate and birth announcements in Honolulu papers, which would seem to indicate that.
Here's Palin's Facebook page from today -- quote -- "At no point, not during the campaign and not during recent interviews, have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States."
Again, she just said -- quote -- "not during recent interviews." I want to direct your attention now to an interview as recent as yesterday.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah Palin here on "The Rusty Humphries Show."
One of the questions Jason asks is, would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think enough members of the electorate still want answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it's a fair question to be looking at?
PALIN: I think it's a fair question, just like I think past associations and past voting records, all of that is fair game.
I got to tell you, too, I think our campaign, the McCain/Palin campaign, didn't do a good enough job in that area. We didn't call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were and perhaps what their future plans were. And I don't think that that was fair to voters to not have done our jobs as candidates and as a campaign to bring to light a lot of the things that now we're seeing made manifest in the administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That was Palin yesterday saying it is rightful for her supporters to question whether Barack Obama was born in America. Palin also criticizes the McCain campaign for not making candidate Obama's nationality a bigger issue during the campaign.
Once again, for the record, we did fact-check during this hour President Obama's birth certificate and can report unequivocally that all available information that we saw suggests that he was born in Hawaii, and not born in Kenya. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBIE NADEAU, "NEWSWEEK": Before the trial started, the portrayal of Amanda Knox was that of an angel-faced killer, this blue- eyed girl, this American assassin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: An American assassin, that's the word you just heard. We're waiting for a verdict in trial of a college student allegedly caught up in a world of drugs and sex and now an international jury. Let me tell you, we're live in Italy for this story. Any moment now, any second now, we could get a decision from this jury. And, as soon as it happens, we're going to bring to it you.
Also, we will break down the very latest going on with Rick's List and all the comments that we're getting today. That's going to happen in the after-show on CNN.com/live. Stay with us. I will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Once again, let's start with Rick's List. My access becomes your access, and that's what I want to do. I want to connect you with people who are relevant to particular stories.
Let's go back to what I showed you just a little while ago. Remember this comment from Kim Barker? She said: "Stop the presses. While in South Asia, I lost 45 meals to where's Osama rumors."
She's obviously implying that these stories about Osama bin Laden come out all the time.
"It suits Pakistan to put this out anonymously."
So, then I asked her -- this is from me to her. "So, you don't think this spotting is legitimate? Could he be in Ghazni, Afghanistan?"
And she responds to me: "He could be anywhere, and any rumor should be investigated. But doubt he's in Ghazni. Too many U.S. soldiers. Pak likelier."
So, there you go, information for you from people who are studying this for years. As we get it, I share it with you.
Now, as I bring you the news, right now there is a jury deliberating the fate of an American woman accused in a bizarre sex- laden murder case in Italy. You have heard about this one, no doubt. American college student Amanda Knox studying overseas is accused in a case that's been lurid from the start.
Keep in mind, Italian law is very different from ours. The prosecutor has called Knox the devil in open court. Again, the verdict could come in at any moment.
Here is our own Paula Newton to tell us really what this case is all about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Amanda Knox abandoned the poise and calm the jury is used to seeing to make one last impassioned plea. In Italian, her voice trembling, she told the jury she was frightened, terrified, of losing her way.
"I'm afraid of having the mask of an assassin forced on me," she said.
The yearlong trial of Amanda Knox is supposed to answer the question who killed promising British student, Meredith Kercher. She was found dead in November 2007, sexually assaulted, her throat savagely slashed. The 21-year-old left to bleed to death in the home she shared with Amanda Knox.
EDDA MELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: We have to continue to hope that, you know, this -- that she is going to get a fair trial. You know it looks like the judge and the jury are really paying attention and so we have to hope.
NEWTON (on camera): For more than two years here in Perugia, investigators have been picking apart this case, bringing in forensic experts, criminologists, psychologists. And yet those close to the investigation tell CNN they are still no closer to knowing the truth.
(Voice-over): That doesn't stop anyone from having their own opinion as to how these four young lives converged. Kercher allegedly murdered in her bed during a sex-fueled sadistic attack. Rudy Guede has already been convicted of the murder and sentenced to 30 years, but the prosecution accuses Knox of masterminding the crime, exacting revenge on a housemate she hated, so much so, the prosecution claims, Knox slit Kercher's throat, as her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, held her down and Guede sexually assaulted her.
Journalists Barbie Nadeau has been covering every development in the case.
BARBIE NADEAU, "NEWSWEEK": Especially at the very beginning, before the trial started, the portrayal of Amanda Knox was that of an angel-faced killer, this blue-eyed girl, this American assassin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: I'm just wondering. Paula Newton is good enough to join us now from Perugia, Italy.
If she were not American, would she have been treated differently during this trial, Paula?
NEWTON: You know, Rick, sometimes, it doesn't have anything to do, I think, with the fact that she's American. It had to do with a lot of social factors as well. And I think that many people here in Italy have been questioning her lifestyle. And that's borne out in newspaper articles and television reports over the last two years. And what I mean by lifestyle is a free spirit. She was living her life the way many people do back home.
Having said that, Rick, I mean, look, there are stacks of competing forensic and circumstantial evidence right here. And whatever you know about covering court cases back home -- and I know you have done your fair share -- just...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NEWTON: ... put it all out of your mind. This has been a completely different type of thing.
Starting point is that the jury that's deliberating right now has never been sequestered, other than the last nine hours. Rick, they have heard every rumor and speculation out there...
(CROSSTALK)
NEWTON: ... all these books written, documentaries in the works.
SANCHEZ: And this is huge in the tabloids, right? I have read that this story has captivated, made headlines on a daily basis. So, if these people aren't sequestered, they're going home every day and reading everything you could possibly -- every detail about this woman, I imagine, right?
NEWTON: And more than that, Rick, there are people coming up to them in the street saying, hey, what do you think? Is she guilty? Is she not? Everybody's talking to this jury.
There is a certain sacredness about the way juries are treated. Now, having said that, to give them their fair shake, the prosecution says: Look, they will get a fair trial. We do have two professional judges, jury here, eight people, two professional, six from the public. They will still get a fair trial.
Amanda Knox's parents have told me: Look, we still pray that she can get a fair trial.
And yet on the other hand a lot of people questioning really from the start, with a lot of the rumor and speculation, is that true? Now, we have to remember, though, Rick, that there is a family here, the family of Meredith Kercher, the woman who was murdered.
They're just innocent victims in all of this.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NEWTON: And the whole circus around the story, I can't imagine how tough that is for them to take right now, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Circus, I think, is, as an old professor in college would have said, W.C., good word choice.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: My thanks to you, Paula, for bringing us up to date on that story. Let us know if anything happens right away. We will get right back to you.
NEWTON: Any minute, any minute.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE VENTURA, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA: The 9/11 conspiracy simply that the government hasn't been truthful with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Jesse Ventura has long believed in conspiracy theories. Now he's got his own show to prove it. But when he went on the radio to plug a new gig, things got completely out of control. I have got that video. I'm going to share it with you in just -- it's -- it's amazing to watch. Talk about a lean-in factor, as my executive producer, Angie, always says.
All right, Rick's List is how we get immediate reaction from newsmakers. And I welcome you to it every day about this time. We're obviously going to have a list where we will involve -- or include, I should say, some of the folks who are reacting to this Jesse Ventura video.
But, first, I need to show you the video. So, stay right there. You will see it in just a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the world headquarters of CNN, I'm Rick Sanchez, where we are taking news to the next level, with things like Rick's List, where we connect you in the moment with people who are relevant to particular stories like those lists you see there that we have compiled just over the past five days, when we first initiated this.
That's what it looks like, different lists with all people that we collect. If you make Rick's List, then that means you are relevant to a story and we want to connect you to the rest of our viewers.
All right, most people my height certainly would not mess with a guy built like Jesse Ventura, even if he's not a professional wrestler anymore. But I have got some video here. It's not just a physical altercation, so as it is a battle of wills, of beliefs.
I want you to stick around and watch this with me, and then tell me if you agree or don't agree that Jesse Ventura in this case maybe was hounded, maybe he was poked like a dog to try to get him to fight and bark. This was an amazing tongue-lashing. It's -- I will tell you, it's tough to watch. Stay right there. You will see it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): License plate roofs, picture frame ceilings, wine cork floors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels really good. It's really cushy.
LAVANDERA: Those are a few of the quirky in-home treasures Dan Phillips is designing from trash.
DAN PHILLIPS, FOUNDER, THE PHOENIX COMMOTION: I always suspected that one could build a house out of whatever went into the landfill.
LAVANDERA: Now Phillips is turning that hunch into a business.
MARCIA PHILLIPS, RETIRED ART TEACHER: I think it's definitely worth trying.
LAVANDERA: His wife Marcia, a retired art teacher lends a creative hand. The ply and stones have much to say. The designs grow primarily from the building materials.
PHILLIPS: They can't say, I would like to have the bathroom pink. You don't get that unless you found some pink paint in the dumpster.
LAVANDERA: It's a creative equation that keeps costs way down. Phillips who has to have all his projects approved by state inspectors, builds exclusively for artists, low income families, and single moms, and he encourages many of his tenants to be to help construct their future homes.
PHILLIPS: You know how to maintain it because you built it yourself, in the first place. You protect it because you know how many times you hit your thumb and how dirty and sweaty you got.
LAVANDERA: Kristie Stevens and her two sons helped remodel this 900-square-foot home. Now, they are living in it, paying $368 a month.
KRISTIE STEVENS, HOMEOWNER: I'm very, very proud of this work. It's probably the hardest work I have ever done.
LAVANDERA: Phillips only builds in Texas, but his model is spreading quickly. He says a group in Australia is now working to bring his novel recycling idea down under.
Ed Lavandera, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I want to show you a comment that just came in moments ago. This is about the Jesse Ventura fight. And we understand that a lot of the times when we bring you information, you have already seen it. That's what the Internet is for. And many of you are watching us right now with your laptop on your lap and your iPhone in your hand. So it's the three-screen experience. We recognize that.
So given that, listen to what this person says, this tweet. He says: "Jesse wasn't ganged up on as you imply. He was presented with a relevant point and when he refused to answer it, he left." Is that what you think?
All right. Let's get back to the Jesse story now. And we'll all decide together, how's that? Have you seen this? Well, you've got to watch it. Let me set it up for you real quick here before we do. It's Jesse Ventura, a former Minnesota governor, obviously, one-time pro wrestler. He is making the rounds. He's plugging his new show "Conspiracy Theory" on truTV, which, like CNN, full disclosure here, is owned by Time Warner.
The former governor goes on a radio show earlier this week and he spars with one of the shock jocks there, which is, in and of itself, probably not a smart move on his part, but I digress. I want you to watch now what happens as Ventura is all but assailed on the radio. But it just so happens to also be captured on video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM NORTON, "THE OPIE & ANTHONY SHOW": ... did it to me, you said I don't believe in the Constitution.
JESSE VENTURA, FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Bye, guys.
NORTON: Bye, Jess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor...
NORTON: What is his sulk and walk away, why? You put words in my mouth.
(CROSSTALK)
VENTURA: ... (expletive deleted) guy here telling me I've got to schedule (expletive deleted).
NORTON: ... dirty language...
VENTURA: Yes.
NORTON: Yes.
VENTURA: Bye, tough guy.
NORTON: Bye, tough guy.
VENTURA: And thanks for your service to our country.
NORTON: You're welcome. Thanks for touching me with you (expletive deleted) stupid Riff-Raff from (expletive deleted) from "Rocky Horror" hairdo.
(LAUGHTER)
NORTON: You're bigger than me and stronger than me, so what? I don't give a (expletive deleted). You want to beat me up? Go ahead. I'm not going to fight a guy like you. That means nothing to me.
I argued with you, you put words in my mouth and you didn't like when I did it to you. You put words in my mouth saying I didn't believe in the Constitution, and that's (expletive deleted). That's not true. I don't agree with abusing it.
VENTURA: Thank you for your service.
NORTON: Oh, you're welcome, you're a bigger patriot than me, Godspeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Jesse Ventura was invited to that show. It's like a pit-bull being poked with a stick, isn't it? And it continues. Last night that shock jock visited with Joy Behar on HLN to explain his version of how things got so out of control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORTON: The reason I insulted him like that was because, you know, he had cursed at me, I had cursed to him. And then he patted me. He goes, all right, well, thanks for your patriotism. And he patted me. And when he touched me, it's like, that raises it, because I'm not going to get up and touch him back.
JOY BEHAR, HOST, "THE JOY BEHAR SHOW": Yes, yes, yes.
NORTON: I'm not stupid. I mean, I've got a big mouth and a microphone, but I'm not going to challenge an ex-wrestler, he would have punted me through the wall.
BEHAR: Exactly. Well, he's a lot older than you, though. You might have been able to take him.
NORTON: He's an older gentleman, hopefully he'd have a Viagra heart attack. But there's nothing else I can do to combat Jesse Ventura. So I just insulted him. But people made more out of it. It was like, look, we're both guys, we had a fight, he's a combative guy, I'm a combative guy, I'm glad he didn't punch me in the face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Because we know this has gone viral and we knew many of you would be talking about it, we reached out and put the folks from "Opie" on our list -- "Rick's List," that is. So let's go to that, now, and her is the response. This is on Opieradio at Orbitcast, it says, for "Jesse Ventura walks off 'Opie & Anthony' and helps the show go viral." If you're familiar with these shows -- these shock jock shows, that is their whole intent, is to go viral on any given day. They were expecting it would and it did.
All right. Now I want you to check something else out. Check this place out, tough place to be under house arrest, for Roman Polanski? Hmm. Here's the question, how will we and authorities know if he slips away, say, again to France? We'll have that for you, that's next, stay with us, I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. We asked you just a little while ago for your reaction and we showed you that video of Jesse Ventura and that confrontation with the shock jock. And a lot of you are responding. Let's go right to that, if we possibly can. These are folks just watching our newscast right now. We're interested in your take.
He says: "He's lucky Jesse Ventura didn't slam that microphone into his head." And there's another one, I think, just like this one that says what? Let's check that out and see if we can get it back to -- is that -- no, the one right under that. There you go. Cameron Frye (ph) was saying: "With Jesse Ventura on CNN, Jesse Ventura, all I see is a shock jock being a jerk."
It's the third one right there, Robert. "All I see is a shock jock being a jerk and Ventura calmly listening while being insulted." So there you. We've got different perspectives from different people. We invite you if you want. We're going to try and put it up. You can see it yourself or you can see it, of course, on the Internet.
Up next, Roman Polanski, under house arrest at his Swiss chalet. OK. The key words here are "under house arrest." If he's a convicted child rapist, why is he under house arrest and not in prison? We'll answer that. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. We have been telling you what's going on with the Amanda Knox case. And we have just received information that authorities in Italy are now expecting the jury's verdict in this case at 6:00. We're not sure if that means that the jury has already reached a decision, they have collected the information, but they're not going to announce it until 6:00.
In other words, the court is not going to announce it until 6:00 or that they're actually saying they expect the jury to come back at 6:00. Maybe they asked them to take a lunch break or a dinner break or something, that could possibly be a possibility as well. So the upshot here seems to be that we're going to have a jury verdict on the Amanda Knox case at 6:00 p.m. tonight and obviously CNN will bring it to you as it comes in.
Now to another story that we're following out of Europe, the story of a convicted sex offender. His name is Roman Polanski, in Gstaad, Switzerland, way up in the Alps, pretty place, pretty pricey. Stars hang out here, big names, Travolta, Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, used to visit. So did Princess Diana. It takes a lot of money to play Gstaad. That's where convicted sex offender, Roman Polanski, the movie director, who gave a 13-year- old girl a California champagne and a Quaalude and then raped her is now hanging out. Yes, raped her. He left the U.S. before a judge could throw him in jail. That was back in 1978. He has been there ever since. Polanski lived really, really well in France until this year.
The Swiss grabbed him when he went to Zurich to pick up an award at a film festival. Well, the U.S. wants Polanski back so he can finally do time for raping a 13-year-old girl. A court in Switzerland is thinking about it. Today a judge has ordered to set Polanski free and this motorcade that you're looking at right there took him to his luxury chalet in Gstaad to wait it out. It cost him $4.5 million bail, by the way.
We told you Gstaad takes a lot of money. He's not exactly a free man. He does have to stay in his house and wear an ankle bracelet that will alert the cops if he tries to run back to France. But, remember, this is a man who raped a 13-year-old girl.
The question is, will they be able to stop him in time if he does head to France? And then how long before they will be able to get another crack at him? The question to you.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OPERATOR: Sterling Heights 911.
CALLER: Yes, there's a high-speed chase and there's an armed robbery in progress, somebody just got shot, it's at 18 just west of Vandyke.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What you just heard is the 911 equivalent of a kid saying, but mom, he's doing something bad too. We'll explain that to you, stick around for the after-show as well. I'm going to be getting your feedback on "Rick's List." You should be on the list, by the way. I want to know, we put our list together every day of people who are relevant, you tell us. I'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez, the last living American-born veteran from World War I. Plus an update on a convenience store's dog clerk and another in our long list of stupid criminals. Let's do "Fotos."
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OPERATOR: Sterling Heights 911.
CALLER: Yes, there's a high-speed chase and there's an armed robbery in progress, somebody just got shot, it's at 18, just west of Vandyke? (END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Michigan, that 911 call you just heard was not placed by a frantic witness to a crime, it was placed by the guy in a stolen pickup, leading police on a high-speed chase. He hoped the nonexistent crime that he called in would divert them and give him a chance to slip away. But police didn't fall for their ruse, no, they arrested him after his truck crashed and flipped. What was he thinking?
Clearwater, Florida, now. You remember this guy? That is Cody (ph), that is the dog/clerk at a convenience store, despite his popularity, he has now been banned from the store. The state health department came in, isn't this shame? They said that it's unsanitary to have Cody near all that food. Yes, like those wrapped Snickers bars.
Anyway, rules are rules, right? I guess somebody else is going to have to bark out the orders here now.
That man right there, he's the last surviving American born veteran from World War I, which ended in 1918, at 108 years old, Frank Buckles is embarking on one final military campaign. He went to Capitol Hill to support legislation for a World War I memorial honoring fellow soldiers of that battle. Buckles is hoping he lives to see the day that the memorial is built. And you know what? So do I.
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MARC MORANO, CLIMATEDEPOT.COM: You could go outside and spit and have the same effect at doubling CO2.
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SANCHEZ: Passionate views on climate change. And next week, the top scientists are saying it is real. We'll join forces in Copenhagen. You may have heard our president's stopping there. That's why it's news today, but what's all of this fuss about the planet's temperature and ice melting and hacked e-mails? That may perhaps prove that some of the folks who have been telling us about global warming are maybe not being real or honest. All of that coming up.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Wouldn't we all like to shed a couple of pounds? I know I would, and in today's "Fit Nation," Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how the pros do it.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no question, for NFL player Kerry Rhodes, fitness is a job. On the field...
KERRY RHODES, NEW YORK JETS: I'm big on the fruit...
GUPTA: Off the field. Even on Twitter.
RHODES: A lot of people have been asking me on Twitter to give them workout tips and what do I do? What do I eat? The Real P Nasty (ph) says I'm looking to lose approximately 25 pounds over the next three months. That right there is just -- that's setting you up for failure because you are trying to do too much.
GUPTA: Rhodes tip number one, map out a fitness plan.
RHODES: I usually do three sets of 10.
GUPTA: And start slow.
RHODES: Work your way up and take your time to get to that point where you can do more.
GUPTA: He says it's all about setting reasonable goals and keeping your routine interesting.
RHODES: Do creative things to not get tired and not get you just doing the same thing over and over.
GUPTA: During the off-season, a typical meal for Rhodes, an early morning snack, banana or granola bar, oatmeal and toast for breakfast; a high-protein lunch like a lean hamburger patty; and for dinner, a chicken salad. Also he loads up on things like water, fruit, green tea or energy drinks to help stay full throughout the day.
RHODES: I just want to get at least four meals in your system, whether that be a snack for one meal or an energy drink for one meal.
GUPTA: His advice for fans who tweet him and to kids who are obese, make fitness a priority.
RHODES: Put on paper what you want to do. Just overall where you want to be at the end of the day. But just be active, and that's the biggest thing.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
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SANCHEZ: Now to this, that hacked e-mail controversy involving British scientists is giving rise to doubts about global warming. The left says all this is is another attempt to Swiftboat science. The right says no, it is a legitimate gotcha. Take a look at those pictures right there. One scientist is saying those pictures prove the Earth is in fact melting -- or the snow caps are, and that the water will soon be rising.
Well, the other side says, look, if we're warming up, no, that's not true, it's nothing but a natural thing and anyone who believes otherwise is playing with the data for political reasons. I have spoken with two men who represent two opposing views on this. Their conversation continues online. Here now that debate between James Balog of the Extreme Ice Survey, and Marc Morano, editor of climatedepot.com.
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JAMES BALOG, DIRECTOR, EXTREME ICE SURVEY: I was a skeptic originally, but when I first learned how clear the evidence was embedded in the ice, the ice of Greenland, Antarctica and all of the Alpine glaciers, I realized climate change was real. This is a fact.
SANCHEZ: What is that ice telling us, before we go over to Marc and let him question your assertions? What does the ice...
BALOG: Please, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Specifically, what is it telling us?
BALOG: The key fact is that we've got a record of global temperature variation that goes back 850,000 years now, and it shows a very clear cycling between warm and cold periods as caused by astronomical variations in the relationship of the Earth and the sun.
The natural processes generated 280 parts per million maximum in that whole period of nearly a million years. We are now at 387 parts per million in the atmosphere, and all of that rise, from 280 to 387 has just happened in the past 200 years as a consequence of carbon fuel, carbon -- sorry, carbon fuel burning.
So, you know, this is...
SANCHEZ: Yes. Which creates a greenhouse effect -- which creates a greenhouse effect which warms the planet.
BALOG: Which creates the greenhouse effect, yes. Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Final question for you before I go over to Marc. Do you feel like the grand consensus of scientific communities agree with what you just said?
BALOG: Absolutely, positively. That -- that record has been worked over and chewed over and vetted, studied every which way. These guys in the science community are unbelievably cautious, skeptical and conservative by nature. They don't jump to fast conclusions as the right wing is trying to paint them right now.
They are -- they are very meticulous, self-critical kinds of people.
SANCHEZ: OK. Let's get Marc...
BALOG: And all of a sudden -- yes.
SANCHEZ: Let's give Marc a shot at that.
BALOG: Go ahead. SANCHEZ: These are self-critical people who are very meticulous and they're very careful with their science and they are not going to go off on tangents or make stuff up. Marc, you respond to that.
MORANO: Well, first of all, the climategate e-mails reveal the upper echelon of United Nations scientists fretting over the lack of global warming, being unable to explain it, talking about geoengineering, it won't work because they can't explain the climate system enough, saying it's a travesty they can't explain the warming, trying to keep skeptical papers out of the peer review process, basically doing what they could to keep the grand narrative of man driving global warming.
I have to laugh, this CO2. We've had ice ages with many times higher CO2 than we have today. We've had warm periods much warmer than today with many times lower CO2. So the idea that CO2 is driving the warming, and if you look at the ice core data, a temperature goes first followed by CO2.
And, you know, the bottom line is there are hundreds of factors that influence global temperature, from the tilt of the Earth's axis, clouds, sun, solar system, ocean cycles. You can't narrow it down.
SANCHEZ: Is that -- hold -- let me...
MORANO: They're scared to...
(CROSSTALK)
MORANO: ... peer-reviewed studies.
SANCHEZ: Let me just -- let me just stop you on one point. Is that true, James? I mean, he makes an interesting point. Look, yes, maybe we're going through one of these phases in our planet right now that we've gone through before. Maybe we went through a bunch of them before we started recording this kind of stuff. Could he be right?
BALOG: Yes -- sure he could be right. And candidly, when I started on this Extreme Ice Survey project, I wondered exactly the same thing. But what I learned as I opened myself to the facts that were coming in from the field and from all of the measurements is that Earth is far outside the natural bounds of natural behavior.
Again, nature naturally, all of those processes that Marc is talking about have created no more than 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide, and usually far, far, far, far less. But we are way beyond that. We're more than 100 parts per million beyond what nature has naturally done in the past million years. That's a big, big field.
MORANO: And you know what?
BALOG: Because you can't change the physical chemistry of the atmosphere.
MORANO: The father of climatology, Reid Bryson, who just died last year, a pioneer, said you could go outside and spit and have the same effect as doubling CO2.
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SANCHEZ: And there you have it. We're going to leave it for you to chew on, that debate. More on the conversation. You can see the whole thing, by the way, if you want to see it from beginning to end on my blog at cnn.com/ricksanchez, the global warming debate picked apart. Tell me what you think, by the way.
All right. Here's somebody who probably should be on "Rick's List" as well. Here now "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, thanks very much.
