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CNN Live Saturday
U.S. Officials Will Monitor N. Korean Missile Test For Possible Threat to America; Current Legal Cases Debated; Miami Terror Arrests
Aired June 24, 2006 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITEFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SATURDAY: Now in the News: They may not have been armed but they were dangerous. That's what the government is saying about the Miami-based terror suspects arrested this week. Six of the seven suspects appeared in court yesterday. We'll have a live report coming up.
Vice President Cheney says it's absolutely essential for the government to keep track of international financial transactions as part of the war on terror. He's criticizing the media for revealing that the government has been monitoring records from a Belgium-based bank clearinghouse.
The Pentagon says it's transferred 14 Saudi nationals from U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba back to Saudi Arabia. About 450 detainees remain at the facility where the U.S. holds suspected foreign terrorist.
She was one of the central figures a never-solved mystery. Patsy Ramsey has died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49. Her six-year-old daughter Jon Benet was murdered at the family's house in Boulder, Colorado, back in 1996.
The battle against major wild fires goes on today across the Western U.S. Among the biggest this, blazes near Sedona, Arizona. It has scored more than 4,000 acres. Right now it's only 20 percent contained. Hundred of homes in the area are still evacuated.
Now let's check in with bone Schneider who is in the Weather Center.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
WHITFIELD: We update top stories every 15 minutes. Your next update is coming up at 2:15 Eastern.
And welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
Ahead this hour, he created some of your favorite TV shows. How did Aaron Spelling know what you wanted to watch?
The U.S. government has laid out its case against seven terror suspects. Just how strong is it? We'll ask our legal experts, but first to our top story.
They had no weapon, no supplies, and no money and some claim they were only terrorist wanna-bes, but they allegedly hoped to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower. And prosecutors say the arrest of seven Miami- based terror suspects this week may have headed off a future 9/11. CNN's Kyung Lah joins us now from Washington with the latest -- Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, at best, it was just talk. That's what the attorney for one of the defendants says. Five of the seven suspects appeared in a Florida courtroom Friday, a sixth in a Georgia court.
Most of them will have to be assigned a public defender because they can't afford attorneys. One public defender asked how could someone like that possibly wage war against the U.S.?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY HARDY, PUBLIC DEFENDER: Those are only charges. It's up to the government to prove that he's guilty of it. And we have to find that out after the government put up their evidence. Right now we have an innocent man who the government alleged attended a meeting, where evidently the only person connected with Al Qaeda was the informant for the FBI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: But the government calls the seven defends part of a homegrown terror cell that they just broke up just in the nick of time. The indictment states the men tried to acquire weapons and bombs and wanted to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and government offices in five cities.
The attorney general says they wanted to wage war against the U.S. in an act as damaging as 9/11. Federal agents raided the Miami warehouse in an impoverished neighborhood of the city on Thursday. Agents did not find weapons or bomb-making materials at the warehouse.
The men called their group the Seas of David, according to a member. A regimented group that avoids meat and alcohol and tries to better themselves. But the U.S. attorney general says there are they're a group who plotted to kill fellow Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: These individuals wished to wage a, quote, "full-ground war against the United States." That quote is from the investigation of these individuals who also allegedly stated the desire to, quote, "kill all of the devils we can". They hoped for their attacks to be, quote, "just as good or greater than 9/11."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Federal officials do describe the group's plans as aspirational rather than operational, but the attorney general says that is the time to break up these terror cells. Arraignment is set for June 30th -- Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much in Washington. And as Kyung was explaining, all but one of the seven accused terror conspirators appeared in court yesterday. The one who didn't, Stanley Grant Phanor was taken into custody three days ago, on a concealed weapon charge. His mother insists he is innocent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZENE PHANOR, MOTHER: My son never did nothing. Nothing! I have 63 years I have now. My son never make nothing wrong. My son just go to work, after that every Friday he have the money, he just gives it to me to pay to eat, to pay insurance, to take care of self.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Elizene Phanor, talking about her son in an interview with CNN's Drew Griffin. We'll have a full report from Drew coming up at the half hour.
Intelligence analysts are poring over the latest videotaped message from Al Qaeda's number two man. In the tape, Ayman Al-Zawahiri suggests that President Bush is a liar and a coward. As CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor explains, it's not just what Al- Zawahiri says, it's how he says it, that may be the most telling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: On a slickly produced tape, with a photo of Al Qaeda's dead leader in Iraq behind him, Al Qaeda's deputy leader expressed grief over Abu Musab Al Zarqawi's death in an American air strike and called him the prince of martyrs. Ayman Al-Zawahiri warned Americans that killing Zarqawi and the like will not stop attacks on the West.
AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIR (through translator): Bush is lying to you when he tells you that you will win when you kill Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and the members of Al Qaeda and Taliban. He is hiding a lot behind his lies. He is hiding the true catastrophe that you're facing.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The tape looks to me like an attempt by Zawahiri to remind the world that Al Qaeda central is still in charge. This is the third tape in a month, and for the first time Zarqawi is no longer dominating the headlines.
ENSOR: McLaughlin and other analysts point to the letter captured by U.S. intelligence written by Zawahiri to Zarqawi in which he advised him to stop beheading foreigners, too bloody, and especially to stop killing fellow Muslims. The latter advice Zarqawi ignored.
MCLAUGHLIN: In fact, if you could put one of those sort of subliminal bubbles over his head, like in a cartoon, it would probably say good riddance.
ENSOR: But Arabic translators say they were struck by the anger and frustration they heard in Zawahiri's voice, anger at the U.S., frustration, perhaps, that all he may be able to do from hiding is issue tapes. David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And remember to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
And this just in. Look at these new pictures. Not exactly the images that the folks of the World Cup wanted people to see, but now it turns out there have been some clashes between police, there in Germany, and fans of both the German teams as well as the English teams. Apparently several fights have broken out between the English and German soccer fans in Stuttgart.
And police had to move in to break up the violence and that's when apparently things got even uglier. You are seeing right there the images of people throwing chairs and bottles at each other. Several fans were hurt and police have made numerous arrests. More on that when we get it.
Now, a U.S. soldier has died today in Iraq. The military says he was killed in a bomb explosion while on a foot patrol south Baghdad. His death brings to seven the number of U.S. troops who have died this week alone in Iraq.
The North Korean missile threat could come to a head this weekend. Military sources tell CNN that weather conditions, right now, provide an excellent window for Pyongyang to launch a long-range ballistic missile and Washington is poised to shoot the missile down if it comes anywhere near the U.S. soil. Details from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The U.S. military believes North Korea has completed preparations for the test launch of its Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile.
The Pentagon has completed its preparations as well. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signed orders detailing how the U.S. would try to shoot down the missile if it appeared on an attack trajectory for the U.S.
U.S. spy satellites and radars are already watching. If there say North Korean launch there will be just minutes to tell President Bush.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The president will make a decision with respect to the nature of the launch whether it was threatening to the territory of the United States or not.
STARR: The president will have to almost instantly decide whether to order a shootdown. The U.S. has 11 missiles it could use to try to intercept the Taepodong. Only North Korea knows if it will conduct the launch, and whether the missile will carry a warhead.
In a CNN interview Vice President Cheney offered a clue that the missile might have enough boosting power to launch a satellite. DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first test of this particular Taepodong-2 missile. We believe it does have a third stage added to it now, but again we don't know what the payload is.
STARR (on camera): The Bush administration has drafted three versions of a public statement to be used if there is a North Korean missile launch. One says there was a launch and it was just a test. Another statement says there was a launch. It was an attack and the U.S. felt it had to shoot the missile down. The third statement says there was a launch. It was an attack and the U.S. failed to shoot it down. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: It is another hot weekend in the Southwest. We'll get an update on wildfires in the region and check your weather forecasts.
And she was at the center of one of the most intensely covered news stories ever. Patsy Ramsey's attorney talks about her death straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A developing story out of Germany where World Cup soccer fans clashed with police. A big crowd is gathering there in the town of Stuttgart. Several fights apparently broke out between English and German fans a short time ago.
You're seeing the result of that fighting right now, with chairs being thrown as well as bottles. And when police moved in to try to break up this violence, apparently things got even uglier. They're trying to contain the situation right now.
Police have already made numerous arrests and they're still trying to clear out the crowd. We'll try to get a live update from the scene in just a moment. By the way, Germany won their soccer match against Sweden earlier today, 2-0.
More aspirational than operation, those words from the FBI concerning an alleged terror plot uncovered in Miami. Seven men now face charges in the case. They're accused of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government, but the indictment says the suspect his no money, weapons or supplies to carry out the plans.
Iran is responding to an incentives plan aimed at getting it to give up its enrichment of uranium. After a meeting in Germany, Iran's foreign minister says the plan has positive points, but he said other points are still unclear. The incentives package was put forth by the U.S. and several of its European allies, plus China and Russia.
President Bush is pushing for more power to deal with budget matters. Today another call for Congress to give him line-item veto power. Earlier this week the House passed a watered-down version of the sweeping line-item veto law struck down by the Supreme Court eight years ago. Anna Nicole Smith says she has no comment about the death of her late-husband's son. E. Pierce Marshall battled the actress and former Playmate for years over the oil fortune of his father, J. Howard Marshall. The younger Marshall has died unexpectedly at the age of 67.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVCE SATURDAY. The next update is at 2:30 Eastern.
Raging wildfires still on the move in Western U.S. Among the biggest, this blaze near Sedona, Arizona. Pictures you're about to see, it has scorched about 4,000 acres and right now it's only 20 percent contained. Hundreds of homes in the areas are still evacuated. Firefighters are hoping a fire break near those homes will help protect them.
Let's check in again with Bonnie Schneider where it is painfully dry out West.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
WHITFIELD: The murder of her daughter, Jon Benet Ramsey, 10 years ago kept her in the legal spotlight. Today, Patsy Ramsey is dead at the age of 49. She died this morning after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Earlier on CNN we heard from her attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIN WOOD, PATSEY RAMSEY'S ATTORNEY: Think over the last -- at least two or three years have I think come to understand that there's been a shift in the public opinion about the death of Jon Benet. And I think people realize now that this family was very much victims of that murder and have suffered greatly because of it in terms of the false accusations made against them.
But again, they have shown great dignity and courage to deal with the situation. A very difficult situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The body of six-year-old Jon Benet Ramsey was found in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colorado. She had been strangled and beaten. The case still unsolved.
This developing story, we continue to watch out of Germany which is hosting the World Cup soccer. We're hearing of, and seeing, clashes between the fans of the German teams and the English teams. These clashes have gotten pretty violent there.
A number of arrests have taken place, after you see video like this. A lot of chairs being thrown, bottles thrown, as well.
Diego Bustes is a CNN reporter and he is actually in Germany, not quite in the area of Stuttgart, where we're seeing these clashes, but what's your understanding of what took place here, Diego?
DIEGO BUSTES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredericka. Nice to hear you. Nice to say hello to you.
We are here in Lepzieg, about to see a different kind of clash, a sport one, between Argentina and Mexico, in the beginning of the second round of Germany 2006.
But as you said, in Stuttgart, thousands of fans of England and from Germany also have clashed. And the police had to get in between just trying to spread (ph), many of them were arrested, many of them were injured in their heads and their bodies because -- the won the game, Germany, (INAUDIBLE) was ended peacefully. Obviously, ticketless fans and all of a sudden they began to throw each other chairs and any kind of objects and obviously, not only the riot police but also street dress police had to intervene just to get everything peaceful back again -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Diego Bustes, thanks so much for that update out of Germany, certainly not what the hosting nation of the World Cup wanted to see, certainly since already the past week and a half it's been very peaceful with all of these tournaments being able to take place, with everyone being able to get along, but not today.
And, of course, we continue to try to get more information as to what exactly sparked such a clash between the English and German fans there in Stuttgart.
Meantime, you could say his career was a television dynasty. Straight ahead, we'll look at the impact that Aaron Spelling had on your television viewing habits.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: He was the force behind a "Dynasty" in more ways than one. Aaron spelling created "Dynasty," "Charlie Angels," "Beverly Hills 90210" and too many other TV hits to list. He also was the father of actress Tori Spelling. At 83, Aaron Spelling has died several days after suffering a stroke. CNN's Brook Anderson has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOK ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONENT: "Charlie's Angels", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Melrose Place", "The Guinness Book of World Records" cites Aaron Spelling as the most prolific producer ever, with more than 200 television series and moves to his credit during his 50 years in the business.
AARON SPELLING: I used to think I really wanted to do movies and we did 11 movie from "Mr. Mom", to "Night Mother" and I thought -- wow, movies -- and "Soap Dish" was our last one. And I said, I just want to do movies and I'm tired of television.
Boy, it took so long to make moves. I couldn't wait to come back to television. I love television.
ANDERSON: And television loved him. He was nominated for seven Emmy awards and won two. Spelling's own story went from rags to riches, Texas to Tinseltown, where he lived with his sprawling mansion with his wife, Candy, daughter, Tori, son Randy, 123 rooms and a bowling alley.
Spelling was born in Dallas, in April 1923, the son of Polish and Russian immigrants. The former roadie for a band started in show business by writing and producing plays. He even worked briefly as an actor appearing on "Gunsmoke" in 1955.
While Spelling often joked about his acting, he got serious with producing. In 1968 he scored his first hit as a producer with "The Mod Squad". Three hip cops, who lasted five years. Spelling shows often seemed to jump from picture to favorites to pop culture phenomenon. "Charlie's Angels" at first passed on by ABC, brought sex appeal to prime time, and made stars of Farrah Fawcett, Jacquelyn Smith, among others.
TV viewers worldwide cruised on Spelling's "Love Boat". Cheered and jeered at the rich and infamous of "Dynasty". Road along with "Starsky & Hutch", and escaped to "Fantasy Island."
ACTOR: The plane! The plane!
ANDERSON: "Beverly Hills 90210" seemed to find exactly the right time slot and demographic, young viewers. Spelling launched the popular high school drama in the early '90s. It was partly inspired by his daughter, Tori, who also starred in the show.
SPELLING: The most exciting is to have a hit. And I guess it's like hitting a home run in a baseball game. I don't think you ever get used to it.
ANDERSON: Spelling routinely hit the type of primetime grand slam that set trends, both on and off-screen. Brook Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Half past the hour. Here's what's happening "Now in the News." The FBI says an alleged plan to blow up the Sears Tower and other buildings was more aspirational than operational. Seven men allegedly involved in the plot are in custody. Family members insist the men are not terrorists.
Guantanamo detainees: The Pentagon said today it has transferred 14 detainees from Saudi Arabia back to their home country. About 450 detainees remain at the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. About 310 have been released.
In Iraq today, a U.S. soldier was killed when a bomb exploded while he was on a foot patrol south of Baghdad. His death brings to seven the number of U.S. troops killed this week alone in Iraq.
For World Cup fans, a day marred by violence. Several fights broke out between English and German soccer fans a short time ago in Stuttgart, Germany. When police moved in to break up the violence, fans started throwing chairs and bottles at each other and at police. Several fans were hurt. Police made numerous arrests and they're still trying to clear the crowd right now.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Your next update is coming up at 2:45 Eastern.
Now back to this week's terror suspect arrests. Authorities say the seven suspects were plotting war against the U.S. government and hoping to stage attacks as deadly as 9/11. The families of the suspects tell a very different story.
CNN's Drew Griffin reports from Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If they were homegrown terrorists, they grew up here on this Miami street. Stanley Phanor was born in this house. Lyglenson Lemorin moved in across the street with his mom when he was just six. And today the two mothers, both Haitian, told us in disbelief, there were no terrorists raised on 45th Street.
ELIZENE PHANOR, STANLEY PHANOR'S MOTHER: My son never did nothing wrong. He never drank. He never smoked. He never (INAUDIBLE).
GRIFFIN: Elizene Phanor says her son is a single man, a construction worker, who did have trouble with the law and went to prison for concealing a weapon. But he's been out of trouble since joining a religious prayer group, a Christian group that devotes itself to the Bible.
PHANOR: My son never did nothing wrong. My son just go to work, go read Bible, after that every Friday he has the money, he just give it to me (INAUDIBLE). You see that?
GRIFFIN: Distraught with news her son is being accused of terrorism, she brought us into her home to show us the home improvements that her son did for her, the furniture he bought for her, even his work clothes and his well-worn Bible.
PHANOR: They have this evidence (INAUDIBLE). He have this.
GRIFFIN: Raised Catholic, she says her son would never hurt anyone and would never plot against a country they both love.
PHANOR: President Bush, help me please. (INAUDIBLE) about my son. My son is good for your country.
GRIFFIN: Across the street Lyglenson Lemorin's mother, who barely speaks English, could only say, through her daughter-in-law, her son is innocent.
(CROSSTALK)
JULIAN OLIBRICE, LYGLENSON LEMORIN'S MOTHER: He never been to jail. They're calling him an illegal immigrant on TV.
GRIFFIN: So how can their alleged involvement be explained? How can the FBI seem to have so much information that two men from this low income immigrant neighborhood were plotting to blow up buildings? Sylvain Plantin is Stanley's Phanor's cousin. He says the religious group deeply devoted in studies practiced abstinence from drinking and sex and even curse words. The group's devotion to self-control may have been taken the wrong way.
SYLVAIN PLANTIN, STANLEY PHANOR'S COUSIN: When the people seen that they was doing self-defense things, they thought they were a part of al Qaeda. They have no -- they're from down here. They ain't got no business in al Qaeda.
GRIFFIN: Did they dress in long ...
PLANTIN: They dressed in black dickey uniforms with a patch of star of David. That's why they call it the Seas of David.
GRIFFIN: Plantin, who calls his cousin Sunni, also says one man in the group, the so-called leader, was a mystery. No one knew much about him. He suspects neither did his cousin. You think these guys were brainwashed.
PLANTIN: No, they wasn't brainwashed because Sunni would never do anything to harm anybody.
GRIFFIN: So you think he didn't know about it?
PLANTIN: He didn't know anything about this.
GRIFFIN: Both mothers say they're now relying on the legal system to free their sons. But they're worried because they say the same legal system somehow arrested the wrong men.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So did these week's arrests head off another 9/11 attack or was this a case of questionable tactics used to catch some small-time terrorist wannabes? CNN Chief National Correspondent John King did some asking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To prosecutors a textbook post-9/11 sting operation.
ALEXANDER ACOSTA, U.S. ATTORNEY: Our mission, given to us by President Bush is to prevent terrorism.
KING: To others, though, an indictment that raises fresh questions about aggressive administration tactics in the war on terror.
PAUL CALLAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I would have expected to see a lot more meat in this indictment.
KING: The indictment runs just 11 pages and acknowledges those charged did not have the necessary tools or money to launch bombing attacks. And it concedes they had no contact with al Qaeda, meetings and offers of help instead from an FBI operative posing as an al Qaeda representative.
CALLAN: He agrees to supply machine guns, boots, and other equipment to these conspirators. He's really involved in every aspect of the crime, and you know that gives rise to the possibility that these men will have a good entrapment defense.
KING: The government says the case is solid.
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: They did request equipment. They did request funding. They took an allegiance -- swore allegiance to al Qaeda.
KING: Intent is key to the government's case. The indictment says the alleged ringleader, Narseal Batiste, first decided to bomb the Sears Tower and other targets, then went looking for al Qaeda help.
CLARK KENT ERVIN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: That's not an entrapment issue. The intent was pre-existing. It was simply a questions of means.
KING: The Miami case came on the same day of other news that stoked one of the country's most polarizing post-9/11 debates; where to draw the line between aggressive law enforcement and civil liberties like free speech and privacy.
COREY SAYLOR, COUN. ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: They are casting a very wide net and seeing what falls into it. Most of what falls into it are innocent people.
KING: Other controversial administration terror tactics include the aggressive holding of prisoners, sometimes without charges; Patriot Act provisions allowing more wiretaps and surveillance; the National Security agency's domestic eavesdropping program; and the newly disclosed database of international banking transactions.
The administration approach reflects the post-9/11 mindset of a president and a vice president who favor strong executive powers.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's important to remember how significant 9/11 was. We are now engaged in a constant effort, obviously, to protect the nation against further attack. That means we need good intelligence. It means there have to be national security secrets. It means we need to be able to go after and capture or kill those people who are trying to kill Americans. That's not a pleasant business. It's a very serious business.
KING (on camera): But the administration makes no apologies for its aggressive tactics and insist in this latest Miami case, being aggressive kept threats from turning into attacks. John King, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So the government says its case is solid, but what do our legal experts say about this indictment? Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor. Good to see you, Avery.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Nice to see you.
WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney. Good to see you as well.
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.
WHITFIELD: You're not even in Florida this time, Richard.
HERMAN: New York City, New York.
WHITFIELD: Of all the weekends to be in Florida.
Let me begin with you, Richard. Is this a case of entrapment?
HERMAN: It will be a close call on this. I disagree with the CNN analyst earlier. I'll tell you, Fred, as Americans we pump our chests up, we're so happy these guys were indicted and arrested and we've already convicted them. No bombs, no bomb making material, no weapons, no money, no communications with al Qaeda, and the entire government case arrests on a snitch, a government informant who somehow infiltrated. I don't know. It looks like a rough case for me, Fred, for the prosecution, I got to tell you.
WHITFIELD: Avery, in your view, is the evidence there, meaning that there was conversation, was there conspiring, allegedly, according to the government, and that Batiste, the alleged leader of this group, would swear allegiance to al Qaeda. The government says that's enough.
FRIEDMAN: It is enough. Under the criminal conspiracy statute, that is what's required. There's no obligation to fulfill the crime. The fact is that the intent of Narseal Batiste and his colleagues reflected behavior -- it didn't reflect speech, it didn't reflect thought. And that's where there's a violation of the criminal statute. You don't have to have --
WHITFIELD: But does it seem like it reflects behavior of all of them and not just Batiste?
FRIEDMAN: That will be sorted out, Fredericka. We don't know the answer to that. But what's really important is that it's important not to confuse planning an act. We are talking about a war, a jihad, that was expressed specific cites of where this is supposed to take place. So these defendants have a great deal of trouble. The argument is that maybe the government pulled the trigger too quickly, but for purposes of what Congress intended under the statute, it is a criminal conspiracy. WHITFIELD: So I guess, Richard, what seems troublesome about this whole thing is, at least from the information all of us are hearing publicly, is that there was this informant that apparently planted or may have planted the seed of this kind of conspiring of blowing up buildings, et cetera. So therein lies the suspicion of, whose idea was it? Was it this group, these alleged suspects, or was it the idea of the informant? And if so, is that fair?
HERMAN: Fred, you have to join my firm, because you've hit the nail on the head.
WHITFIELD: Sign me up!
HERMAN: That's the argument, right there. These guys had no connection at all to al Qaeda. The government brings this guy up. Who knows what his criminal history is. He's probably facing tremendous amount of time in prison. He comes in and tries to entrap these guys, he sets them up, he plants these seeds in their minds. To get all of them involved in a conspiracy based on this one informant without tapes and videos everything, it's going to be virtually impossible. It's a very tough case here.
FRIEDMAN: You don't know that.
WHITFIELD: All right, quickly, Avery -- respond to that?
FRIEDMAN: You don't know that. I mean, you don't know if this is an FBI agent, a contractor or convicted felon. You are calling him a snitch. You have no idea right now. There's a great deal of discovery that remains to be done. A lot of the expression about the sites, where it's going happen and what they're going do, occurred before the involvement of this undercover agent, and the allegiance to al Qaeda. The defendants didn't know the guy was an undercover guy. The question is what they did, here.
So all of this is going to come out. But there is no evidence that the undercover agent is a snitch. No way.
WHITFIELD: I know, gentlemen, we'll be talking about this case again, because it is just the beginning. But we do want to talk about some other cases after the break.
Namely, her crime shocked the nation. She was convicted. But now, Andrea Yates is back in court. Avery and Richard will be looking at her retrial, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
Seven men allegedly planning to blow up the Sears Tower and other buildings are in custody. The FBI says the men didn't have any explosives an had little money.
Live pictures from Stuttgart, Germany, now, where fights broke out between English and German World Cup soccer fans a short time ago, and police moved in to break up the violence. Fans started throwing chairs and bottles at each other and at police. Several fans were hurt, and several arrests were made. And as you can see, police are still working to clear out that crowd.
Patsy Ramsey, the mother of JonBenet Ramsey, died today in Atlanta. Her lawyer says her death was due to ovarian cancer. She was 49. JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the family's Boulder, Colorado, home back in 1996. JonBenet's death remains unsolved.
Martin Luther King's papers will stay in his hometown. Just days before they were supposed to go on the auction block, a group of Atlanta business and civic leaders purchased the late civil rights leader's papers and books. The collection will be turned over to King's alma mater, Atlanta's Moorehouse College.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Your next update is coming up at the top of the hour, 3:00 Eastern.
More legal briefs right now. Avery Friedman and Richard Herman are back with us.
Gentlemen, three big cases in the headlines this week. Just one question, for a short answer, per topic. First, the retrial of Andrea Yates. Five years ago, she drowned her five children in the bathtub. She was convicted, but that was overturned. Opening statements now set for Monday in her retrial.
So Richard, without a change of venue, might the result be the same this time around?
HERMAN: You know, Fred, because the first jury rejected the death penalty, if she's convicted of capital murder here, she gets life in prison -- that's it. The case boils down to a battle of the experts again, the psychological experts, and the jury's understanding of what the jury instructions will be in this case, however, in the insanity defense. But I've got to tell you, this Park Dietz, the government's lead expert witness is an abomination. They'll put him on the stand again. I think the jury will reject this case this time.
WHITFIELD: Avery? You agree with that? Because wasn't that the psychiatrist that -- apparently his testimony wasn't quite solid?
HERMAN: He lied!
WHITFIELD: Would he be called back?
FRIEDMAN: Dr. Dietz is an enormously respected guy who honestly screwed up. He is not an abomination. He is a respected guy who knows his stuff. I think the jury is actually going to convict anyhow, but all the defendant's going to face is life in prison. She's clearly mentally ill, there's no question about it.
WHITFIELD: The Duke rape case now. A newly-released police report reveals the woman who claims to have been raped at a party by members of the lacrosse team changed her story several times, according to the report. Is this trouble for the defense, Avery?
FRIEDMAN: For the defense -- it's great for the defense. It's terrible for the prosecution.
WHITFIELD: Really?
FRIEDMAN: Nifong's case continues to deteriorate and deteriorate. Every time there's a development, there's more information provided to the defense, this case is getting worse and worse for the prosecution.
WHITFIELD: Richard?
HERMAN: You know, Fred, the case, the jury will be instructed to weigh the credible evidence for this case to convict. There is no credible evidence in the Duke case. There is not one solitary iota piece of credible evidence supporting this claim. This thing should be turned down. This prosecutor should end this case yesterday. Each day it goes on, it's a travesty.
WHITFIELD: The third topic -- third and final topic -- as we mentioned earlier, E. Pierce Marshall, the man who fought former Playmate Anna Nicole Smith over his father's oil fortune, has died. The legal battle over this estate went all of the way to the supreme court. So, now what, Avery?
FRIEDMAN: Now the case is going to settle. E. Pierce Marshall is no longer around. He testified before. He can't go back and testify. The case has to resolve by way of settlement.
WHITFIELD: So, Richard, she'll get what Herman Marshall wanted her to have?
HERMAN: I don't think she's going get that, but I agree with Avery, there is going to be a settlement here. I don't think the family -- his kin will now take over and stand in his shoes, but I don't think that they may have the same fierce feelings that he had, and I agree with Avery. I think this case is going settle.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. Thanks so much, Avery Friedman, Richard Herman. Always good to see you gentlemen. Glad we got it all in. There was a lot, this Saturday.
FRIEDMAN: Rapid fire, right. Got it done.
HERMAN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Have a good weekend.
Sacrifices remembered: Straight ahead, find out what inspired a young artist to capture the faces of those who have died serving our nation in Iraq.
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WHITFIELD: They are portraits of sacrifice. A young man from Illinois is using his artistic talent to honor the memory of troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN's Jonathan Freed first reported the story for CNN'S AMERICAN MORNING.
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JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are the hands of a 22-year-old college student, sketching the portrait of a soldier killed in Iraq. Cameron Schilling has made it his mission to draw every fallen soldier from his home state of Illinois. It's a mission motivated by a sense of duty and a measure of guilt.
CAMERON SCHILLING, ARTIST: These are guys that could be doing exactly what I'm doing. They could be going to class. They could be living a normal life in their hometowns, but they're in a foreign country, sacrificing a lot.
FREED: So Cameron is sacrificing his time and giving his sketches to the soldiers' families.
SCHILLING: I started posting on different websites that this is what I want to do. I just got some responses back. They'd send me a picture and I'd draw the picture and send it to them in the mail. That's how the first six of them got done.
FREED: But the project grew from six to 126, at last count, once Illinois' lieutenant governor discovered Cameron's work and invited him to sketch all of the state's fallen soldiers. Cameron had to post the soldier's names on his wall to keep track of his work.
(On camera): Is it difficult for to you come in here and look at that list?
SCHILLING: It's difficult to see it grow.
FREED (voice over): The state displayed the portraits at a Memorial Day event in Chicago. More than 30 families were there.
Marine Lance Corporal Sean Maher was killed in an ambush in February, 2005.
(on camera): When you look at the sketch, is it giving you something from your son that you didn't have before?
DANIEL MAHER, FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER: Comfort. The fact that you could see his eyes, the fact that he was looking at you, even though it was a sketch and it wasn't in color, it was a warm feeling, the sketch itself. And --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For someone who didn't know him.
SCHILLING: His eyes are covered a little bit by his hat. I kind of moved him up a little to show more of his eyes, because that is the most important part of the sketch.
MAHER: He's staring right at me. Telling me not to worry about him. SCHILLING: He was just, I think, a couple years younger than I was, so it's kind of just hard to, you know, grasp that.
FREED: Cameron feels his sketches highlight what he calls the definition of sacrifice. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Charleston, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Those powerful images coming to us from AMERICAN MORNING. Join Soledad and Miles, weekday mornings, bright and early 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
Straight ahead on CNN, Miles O'Brien looks at what's ahead in our lives in a special report, "WELCOME TO THE FUTURE."
And ahead at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, find out why thousands of librarians may hold an important key to the future of New Orleans.
A check of the day's headlines is next, and then "WELCOME TO THE FUTURE."
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