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CNN Live Saturday

Private Papers of Martin Luther King Jr. Saved; First Convention Since Katrina Comes to New Orleans; Family of Sears Tower Seven Claims Government Set Up

Aired June 24, 2006 - 18:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN SATURDAY and I'm Carol Lin. Straight ahead in this hour, Martin Luther King's legacy could have ended up in somebody's basement or hidden away in a vault. Could have but won't. We're going to explain.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say any convention group thinking about coming back to New Orleans, now is the time to come and to be part of this great rebuilding effort.

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LIN: First steps for the convention business today in New Orleans. "Operation Company's Coming" begins.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I'm able to vote. That's one of the most important things, one of the most important things that I can do now.

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LIN: They've already fought for their country. You're going to hear from some of the newest citizens of the United States.

In the meantime, here's what's happening right now in the news. Fourteen Saudi detainees released today from Guantanamo Bay. All are being returned to Saudi Arabia.

And the FBI found out about a plot to blow up the Sears Tower and other buildings by an informant these guys tried to recruit. Authorities say the suspects didn't have enough money and never actually did get any explosives. Is this just a government smokescreen? Well, I'm going to talk with a former FBI agent this hour.

A roadside bomb kills a local intelligence chief in northern Iraq. Two American soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad after four American deaths on Friday. Now, in about 30 minutes, were the two U.S. soldiers who were brutally murdered abandoned by their fellow troops? Well, I'm going to talk with Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks.

Howard Dean called today for troop withdrawals to begin by the end of the year. The Democratic leader says that the Bush administration's Iraq policy is a failure.

And President Bush wants a line item veto. In his radio address, the president said he could cut the bloated federal budget if given the power to eliminate pet spending projects.

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer today. She will be buried next to her daughter Jonbenet, who was just six years old when she was murdered in 1996. That case has never been solved.

And Andre Agassi says he's retiring. First he is going to compete at Wimbledon, where he made his announcement today. His final competition, this year's U.S. Open.

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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., DECEASED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: Let the nation know and we must let the world know that it is necessary to protest this threefold evil.

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LIN: An American treasure now safe and secure. Coming up, the deal that spared Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" from being hawked to the highest bidder.

But first I want to give you a preview of the other top stories we're following tonight. Terror arrests. Authorities say they are homegrown terrorists. Family members say they're the victim of a setup. At 6:10 Eastern, reaction from the suspects' family and friends.

Right after that, al Qaeda's number two tells Americans to dream on about being safe.

And a mom sneaks her desperately sick nine month old out of a hospital in a diaper bag hours before the surgery. Police call it kidnapping. What's going on? The story of little Riley Rogers at 6:18 Eastern.

Up first this hour, the deal that saved the dream, the inside story of the civil rights movement is safe and sound tonight, preserved for generations to come. The auction of the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King is officially off.

Now, a coalition of donors agreed to purchase the writings for ten of millions of dollars. Now, had the papers gone to Sotheby's auction, the public might have lost them forever. But instead they will go to Dr. King's alma mater, Morehouse College in his native Atlanta. Andrew Young helped spear the deal. He is the former Atlanta mayor, former UN ambassador and was one of King's top lieutenants.

And Dexter King is one of the slain leader's sons. He's in Santa Monica, California. Good evening, gentlemen.

ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER UN AMBASSADOR: Good evening. LIN: Mr. Ambassador, let me begin with you. How much was this deal?

YOUNG: I really don't know.

LIN: We're hearing $32 million.

YOUNG: It was priceless, though, for Atlanta. This was Atlanta's heritage, this was our legacy for nonviolent social change.

And I was just thrilled that the mayor was able to get such a broad base of business leaders to buy into it and preserve it, because this is the reason they are as wealthy as they are. Without Martin Luther King, it wouldn't be that way.

LIN: Absolutely. How did those conversations go down? I mean the Sotheby auction was imminent. These papers it looked like were going to be leaving Atlanta forever.

YOUNG: Well, I went to the mayor and I said that it is possible, if we can put together a team of contributors, that will head this off, that she should talk with Phil Jones and Dexter King and see if they would receive an offer before the auction.

And evidently, it went well, because Mayor Franklin has a background in intellectual property rights from her experience with her husband in the music business. And so the issues that complicated the deal for many other people were not issues for her. And she also had an understanding that this was not about paper. This was about a legacy, that Atlanta needed to buy into at this moment.

LIN: Absolutely. Dexter King, answer this question that still hasn't been answered in media reports. Why did you and your siblings want to sell these papers, have them auctioned off? Was it for the money?

DEXTER KING, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S SON: No. When my mother was living, it was always her dream to see the papers at a place that would be an appropriate custodian. In fact, my father during his lifetime had talked about Morehouse being a custodian. But because the South at that time was very dangerous, it was probably not feasible. So in more recent times there had been talk -- and we were approached by major institutions about acquiring the papers. So we really had to start thinking about it more seriously.

LIN: Right. Including the Library of Congress, which balked at the price. Was the price important to the family?

D. KING: Well, I don't know that they balked at the price. In fact, when we first met with them, they were very receptive. We didn't even focus on price. It was actually a congressional appropriation issue that became politicized.

LIN: Why not donate the papers, then?

D. KING: That's a good question. I can't speak for all of the family. I can simply say that if someone approaches you to purchase an asset that you own, you have to deal with all of the requirements that go along with that.

LIN: So, Mr. Ambassador, who will actually get a chance to see these papers? I mean, we've shown some on the screen. It even has Dr. King's own handwriting in the notations.

YOUNG: Martin kept magnificent notes. He had notes of just about every sermon he preached at Dexter Avenue as well as Ebenezer. He had his blue books from college. You could see the papers that he wrote as a student had some of the ideas that later became the march on Washington speech or the Nobel Prize address.

The reason these were important to Atlanta is these were ideas that came from Morehouse College, from Booker T. Washington High School and from Ebenezer Baptist church on Auburn Avenue. They were ideas that came from his father and his father's relationship with the white business community. And Martin Luther King had a very privileged upbringing. He was exposed to the best that America had to offer. And he gave back America the best. And he didn't leave his children even the proverbial pot.

The mother had a house that he paid $40,000 for. And that was all. There was an insurance policy on his life that Harry Belafonte took out, that would help the children with their education. But I don't think any of them was even a teenager when their father was killed. Now, this is the only legacy. We wouldn't go to Bill Gates' children or Wal-Mart's children and say, why don't you give all of your family legacy? We let them distribute it and manage it so that it continues to participate in realizing the dreams that their father shared that are still not fully realized.

LIN: I understand. Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. Dexter King, if we could learn one thing about your father from the notations in these papers, what do you think it would be?

Well, first, I just want to say, again, thanks -- big thanks to Atlanta, the community, particularly to Mayor Franklin and Ambassador Young for their efforts for making sure that generations yet unborn will have a chance to see this written legacy.

And I think the -- I can't say the most poignant part of his collection, because it's all so fascinating. The fact that every opportunity he got to jot down his thoughts, he would. And you see things on programs, pieces of paper, any and everywhere, legal pads. A very prolific writer.

But I would say the most important thing would be the unpublished sermons that were found in his own hand, probably about 100 sermons that are written that he never delivered. And so that's going to be a real treasure trove to hear about when scholars research them. And hopefully maybe someone will get to deliver those sermons one day.

LIN: And now they will have the opportunity.

Dexter King, we're going to have to leave it there. Mr. Ambassador, I'm sorry. We're going to have to leave it there for this hour. But we appreciate both of your times. Appreciate it.

YOUNG: Thank you.

LIN: Well, in New Orleans they're desperate for money, tourist money. The city is going to great lengths to roll out the welcome mat to its first post Katrina convention.

Sean Callebs reports.

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SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It will be hard to replace the images of the suffering at the convention center following Hurricane Katrina. But this weekend, New Orleans is trying to put a new face on one of its most recognizable symbols. The city is hosting its first convention since the storm. So far, so good.

AMY ROSENBAUM, CONVENTIONEER: As I walk up and down the streets, are you with the American Library Association, welcome, thank you for coming. We've never been welcomed like we've been welcomed here.

CALLEBS: Amy Rosenbaum is one of 18,000 librarians who have come to the Crescent City for the American Library Association convention. You can't overstate how important their arrival is to the city.

STEPHEN PERRY, PRES., CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU: This is a very magical week for New Orleans because it's the relaunching of a multi-billion dollar part of our economy.

CALLEBS: This convention alone is expected to bring in $25 million. Very little when compared to the $3 billion the city lost in convention business when Katrina hit. But it's a first step. Tourism officials say two more conventions will be held this week alone. And the books are filling up with plans for the fall.

LESLIE BURGER, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: I would say to any convention group that's thinking about coming back to New Orleans, now is the time to come and to be part of this great rebuilding effort. CALLEBS: A lot of hard work and cold cash went into getting the convention center ready for this weekend. Nearly $70 million in restoring and renovating so far. And the work is only about 75 percent complete. At the same time, tourist areas of the city were spruced up as part of a campaign called company's coming. And then there's the question of security. The city was worried about its national image on the heels of five teenagers being shot and killed and the mayor calling in the national guard to help curb the violence.

PERRY: The timing could have been better. But the reality is that fighting crime is good business, it's good for tourism and it's good for the social fabric of the city.

BURGER: If anything, I think it may have reassured our members that things were under control. Did we have some questions? Absolutely. But we were very quick to talk to the city and talk to the Convention and Visitors Bureau about why that had happened and to get a message out to our members immediately. CALLEBS: And that's the message the city hopes to get out as it launches its first major conference, that New Orleans is not on the brink of falling apart, but a city slowly but surely putting itself back together. Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.

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ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.

LIN: Severe because it is so dry out in Arizona right now. You are looking at a wall of smoke and fire blanketing one of Arizona's most scenic canyons. Today firefighters reinforced lines around that 4,200-acre wildfire in Sedona. It's just one of several fires out West.

Many are fueled by extremely dry conditions and the west is not alone. In fact, much of the country is in the middle of a big drought. So is there any relief in sight? Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has been looking at this at the CNN weather center. Bonnie, it's going to be another record season.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think so for hot and dry conditions, certainly. We're seeing temperatures above normal in the desert Southwest. This is the way it's checking in at this hour. Las Vegas 105, 103 in Phoenix. And we're not even at the high temperatures of the day. We're expecting them to warm up further than what you see here.

Now we mentioned some of the dry weather across the country. Believe it or not, there are places that are getting rain that just don't need it. We have a flood threat for a good portion of the Northeast down through the Mid-Atlantic. You can see areas in the darker green, well that's indicating where we have flood warnings right now.

We're getting reports of flooding in the Baltimore area up towards Philadelphia because of the heavy rain and the flood threat will also continue for the Northeast, including Boston, as we work our way into the evening hours all the way until 5:00 in the morning, a flood watch continues for this part of the country as we work our way towards Sunday morning.

Now we're not only watching for the heavy rain to increase over the Mid-Atlantic but another ingredient that will be adding to the play and bringing some of this wet weather in, enhancing it, is a tropical system likely to bring the chance for more enhanced rain coming into the forecast by the time we get to tomorrow. You can see the moisture coming in offshore for Florida. And this feature will be something to watch as it drifts westward for today and into tomorrow.

Carol?

LIN: Good to have you on the team, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you. LIN: Thank you.

Now, in our CNN "Security Watch," talking terror. FBI agents are investigating what they say is a home grown terror cell. The seven subjects allegedly conspired to grow up Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings but were short on cash and did not have explosives. Now, the FBI says the group was more talk than action. Now, here's what attorney general Alberto Gonzales said just yesterday.

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ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We felt that the combination of the planning and the overt acts taken were sufficient to support this prosecution. And that's why we took this action. There is no immediate threat.

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LIN: Well, neighbors and family members are speaking out about the arrests. Relatives describe the men as deeply religious with no connection to terrorism.

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MARLENE PHANOR, SISTER OF SUSPECT STANLEY PHANOR: The leader, I never know where he came from, who he was. Actually, my brother doesn't even know where he come from, but he came positive to them. He came to them where he can help them and help the community and humble their minds and humble their souls and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think these guys were brainwashed?

SALVAIN PLANTIN, STANLEY PHANOR'S COUSIN: No, no, no. They were never brainwashed because sonny would never do anything to harm anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think he didn't know about this.

PLANTIN: He didn't know anything about this.

LIN: Well, another court hearing on the case is scheduled for next week.

But the latest taped message from the top al Qaeda man has sparked an intriguing debate. Actually, he's the number two guy, Ayman al Zawahiri warns that America is not safe. But Arabic translators say they were truck by the frustration in his voice. Is it because he's been reduced to issuing taped threats? Well, some analysts say it's a sign of al Qaeda's strength that its leaders are still getting the message out.

Remember to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Hey, look at this. A daring rescue. It took a passerby, a kayaker, and some firefighters. How these three got in the river. And what it took to get them out.

And on the front lines, they are soldiers defending America. But now they're celebrating something special, American citizenship. Their story ahead.

Hey, he was one of the creative geniuses behind some of TV's most popular shows. Next, remembering the life of Aaron Spelling.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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LIN: Aaron Spelling, one of television's busiest producers, has died. Now, over the course of 40 years, Spelling was known for his hits like "The Love Boat" and "Charlie's Angels" and "Beverly Hills 90210." The 82-year-old died last night from complications of a stroke he had last weekend.

In news across America, a trip they will never forget. Three men are plucked from the roof of a van stuck in a raging river in Idaho. The fourth swam to safety. Police are trying to find out how the van ended up in the river.

Now, in Maryland, a piece of America's slavery legacy opens to the public. Uncle Tom's Cabin is the former home of slave Josiah Henson. Henson's autobiography was the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous book.

And police recover a missing nine-month-old and arrest her mom for kidnapping. She's accused of hiding her baby in a diaper bag and sneaking him out of a Seattle hospital. Gary Chittim of affiliate KING has more.

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DEP. CHIEF CLARK KIMERER, SEATTLE POLICE: We are very pleased to have recovered Riley and returned him to the medical care that he desperately needs.

GARY CHITTIM, KING CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Family members provided KING 5 news with these photos of Riley in the days before the abduction. He was described as being in good physical condition when detectives found him in a vehicle they stopped early this morning in Yelm.

SGT. DEANNA NOLETTE, SEATTLE POLICE: At the time of the recovery, we also arrested his mother, the suspect. She will be booked on a $500,000 warrant for kidnapping in the second degree.

CHITTIM: Thirty-four-year-old Tina Marie Carlson is described as an advocate of natural medicine, opposed to conventional treatments like the one ordered to save her son. She allegedly hid the boy in a diaper bag and illegally took him from Children's Hospital Thursday morning. That set off the Amber alert and a massive search made even more tense by the boy's fragile medical condition. Indications at this point are he was found in time. NOLETTE: My understanding is that Riley is in good shape physically. We're making arrangements to have him transported from the hospital that he's being evaluated at back to Children's for medical care.

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LIN: That report from affiliate KING. Now police found little Riley after pulling over a vehicle near a home they had staked out.

Well, they have fought for their country, but now they can vote. One very special naturalization ceremony in three minutes.

And at 6:43 Eastern, emotions on the edge in Miami. We're going to hear from the mothers of two men who now face terror charges. And one of them is calling on President Bush for help.

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LIN: Every week, we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines. And today we're going to bring you the story of a special group of U.S. soldiers. They've proven themselves on the battlefields in Iraq and now they have a new honor. They become U.S. citizens. Craig Lucy from our affiliate KTBC reports from Ft. Hood, Texas.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you newest citizens of the United States of America.

SGT. JORGE CASTILLO: I feel so happy. Besides the day that I married my wife is the happiest day of my life.

CRAIG LUCY, KTVC: Sergeant Jorge Castillo and his family share the same feeling as 40 other foreign soldiers. Many have fought for freedom for over four years. They themselves say they were never free until now.

CASTILLO: Now I'm able to vote. That's one of the most important things, one of the most important things that I can do now is be able to vote. And there is a lot of things that I would like to do in the army, which now without citizenship I wasn't able to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a great day to be an American and I think this is what America is all about. The fact that you've got men and women in uniform who are willing to fight and die for their country, a country that they can't even vote in because they're not citizens, that speaks volumes about the patriotism of the immigrant.

LUCY: The U.S. citizenship and immigration services director is one of several dignitaries offering their congratulatory remarks including Congressman John Carter and Commander Raymond Odiarno (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you walk out of this room today, you can look any human being on earth in the eye and say, I'm an American and I'm proud of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most important thing about being an American citizen is sacrificing and participating for your country. You've all already done that.

LUCY: But one woman's husband already paid the ultimate sacrifice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's happy. He's happy.

LUCY: Amapola Garcia lost her husband to the war in Iraq in January. She says by becoming an American citizen, it's her way of honoring him.

AMAPOLA GARCIA, HUSBAND DIED IN IRAQ: I'm happy to become a citizen now, to be naturalized citizen. I think my husband's happy right now for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just thrilled to death that she's here and we're able to do this. It is something that doesn't happen very often. I think it's the first time in the San Antonio district of USCIS where this is happening. It's a very special for us and for her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Our thanks to Craig Lucy from our affiliate KTBC for bringing us that story.

All right. What went wrong? Were the deaths of three American soldiers retaliation for targeting al Zarqawi? I'm going to talk to retired General "Spider" Marks next.

And you say you would go the extra mile to help fight pollution. But would you do it by bike or on foot? We found one family that is. And you'll meet them. Find out which ones straight ahead. CNN LIVE SATURDAY comes right back.

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SCHNEIDER: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. We are tracking a tornado warning in Wisconsin, in Calumet Cpunty, that's in east central Wisconsin south of green bay. This was reported by local law enforcement just to the south, 11 miles of Appleton, Wisconsin right here. And the tornado is moving slowly at about 11 miles per hour. But this tornado warning goes in effect for another 15 minutes until 5:45 p.m. Central time. Stay tuned. We'll have another check of headlines and your weather forecast. That's coming up next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

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LIN: Now in the news. Firefighters in Arizona say they have partially contained a 4,200 acre wildfire. They do expect to have it fully under control by Wednesday. Some evacuees are now being allowed to return to their homes after nearly a week away. And families of seven men charged with an alleged terror plot are speaking out. Hear what they have to say in just a few minutes.

Fourteen Saudi Arabian detainees have been moved from Guantanamo Bay prison back to their home country. The Pentagon says another 120 prisoners could soon be transferred out. More than 400 prisoners are still being held there.

Eight U.S. soldiers from the same division in Baghdad have died this week. In the latest incident, this morning, a soldier died after being injured in a bomb explosion. U.S. and Iraq forces are trying to restore security to Baghdad as part of Operation Together Forward.

But in Oregon, hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil last night for Private First Class Thomas Tucker. Tucker was one of the soldiers who disappeared during an insurgent attack at Iraq last week. Their bodies were later found badly mutilated. There are still lots of questions surrounding that attack. Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie Mcintyre has the story.

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JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Military sources could not say how or exactly when Privates Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker died. The bodies were found in early evening along a road in an isolated area near Yusufiyah, the same village where the soldiers were captured three nights earlier when they came under attack while guarding a bridge over a canal. Local Iraqis spotted the bodies and tipped the U.S. military, warning the remains could be booby-trapped. The recovery took nearly 12 hours because the bodies had in fact been rigged with explosives and the main route to the site lined with IEDs. In what the U.S. military says was a clear attempt to target the recovery team.

MAJOR GEN. BILL CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: We secured the area with a fairly large group of soldiers last night so as to protect that and allow nobody either to enter or exit that location. And then at first dawn brought in explosive ordinance and other assets and went in and recovered what we believe to be our two American soldiers.

MCINTYRE: One IED exploded but nobody was hurt says a military spokesperson. It was the same tactic used last April when insurgents posted this video after claiming to have shot down an Apache helicopter also in the vicinity of Yusufiyah. In that case U.S. military now says 19 IEDs have been planted near the wreckage, slowing the recovery of the remains of two pilots for half a day. A radical Islamist website that usually carries messages from the insurgency, boasted that al Qaeda's new leader in Iraq, believed to be Egyptian Abu al Masri, personally killed the soldiers.

The posting said, in part, we executed God's will and slaughtered the two crusader animals we had in captivity. The U.S. military said it could not verify the claim. For the families, agonizing questions, such as why the usual practice of not deploying soldiers in such small numbers appears to have been ignored. MARIO VASQUEZ, KRISTIAN MENCHACA'S UNCLE: I think they should protect them more. They should send more soldiers when they go to checkpoints and check everybody.

MCINTYRE (on camera): U.S. military is disputing reports that the soldiers may have made a critical mistake by splitting up after coming under attack, leaving the three man team vulnerable to a follow-up attack. Military officials insist there was only one attack. That still leaves open the question of why the three soldiers were essentially alone in such a dangerous part of Iraq.

Jamie Mcintyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So many questions. We're going to go to CNN's military analyst retired General Spider Marks. How did these men get abandoned? I'm using that word. That's my word here. Why didn't they have backup?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES SPIDER MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, Carol, I appreciate the fact that you've just qualified the use of that verb abandoned. The soldiers weren't abandoned. What we don't know is why they were alone at that checkpoint, if in fact they were. There is in fact an investigation that's ongoing. And it will determine what took place. But clearly there is a force protection posture that is always maintained by military personnel that are on the ground. That could be two vehicles. It could be four vehicles. But essentially you always have a buddy. So if you have one vehicle, you have another vehicle that's with you. So we need to determine what really happened.

LIN: So three men alone, that's not enough to defend themselves, clearly, in this situation.

MARKS: Clearly, it's not. And, clearly, what occurred is a tragedy. But as I said, we need to let the investigation determine what took place. Let's honor these two great patriots. Let's grieve with their families, embrace them and move forward but we have to learn from this. Clearly the military will conduct an after action review and determine what happened.

LIN: I know, small comfort for the families who are trying to cope with their loss. The prospect of retaliation. We revisit the battle of Fallujah back in 2004. That effort to suppress insurgent activity that had gone out of control in that Iraqi city. Why would not the same policy apply in Yusufiyah where these men were killed?

MARKS: Well, we don't know that there won't be a very aggressive effort. In fact, let me stop. There is a very aggressive effort to try to determine what took place and who were the criminals that were behind this activity. Retaliation is not a military mission. So soldiers and marines, service members don't talk about retaliation. It's not a mission set. And you need to remain, not you, but we need to remain somewhat agnostic about this and objective and look at it very, very precisely and find out what went wrong so that the military can conduct operations to blanket Yusufiyah, go very precisely where they need to go.

You can't assume everybody is guilty and everybody is bad. But you've got to work with the Iraqis, local Iraqis.

LIN: Who actually tipped them off in this case and helped them find the bodies.

MARKS: Carol, the local Iraqis came forward and said, I think we've got something that will help and they identified the bodies. So, you need to take that and expand that, work from the inside to uncover as best you can that intelligence that's going to help. Consider this a crime scene, work the forensics, then go after it very, very precisely. And, look, this is a battle of ideology. It's a theological battle. There are either good guys that are going to help or there are bad guys. And if they are bad guys, they must be killed and must be killed very aggressively so we can put a stop to this.

LIN: James Spider Marks, thanks so much.

The Miami Seven, who are they? And why their families are saying that they are victims of a setup. That story in five minutes.

Later this hour. Sure, you'd like to do your part to help the environment. But would you be willing to give up your wheels? We'll introduce you to one family who did just that.

First Miles O'Brien looks for answers to the question can we get the House to do household chores.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight, nine hours of the day is consumed with doing chores.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish someone would clean my coffee maker and make my coffee for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would love to have an automated oven with the meals prepared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Self cleaning toilet. That's the grossest job in the house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something when you walk out of the bathroom sanitizes your bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some sort of machine or a piece of technology that zoomed around my house and picked up all the toys.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: You can do your chores and still be paid by parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd love an automated world, allowing me to spend more time with my family. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our homes are our castles but these days we want more than four walls and a roof. We want it to do some course so we can kick back in the barko lounger and have more quality time with the kids.

(voice-over): With a quick palm scan at the front door, Jonathan Cluts of Microsoft, enters the software maker's prototype home of the future. The home, otherwise known as Grace, greets Cluts and reads off his schedule.

JONATHAN CLUTS, MICROSOFT: Grace, What's up.

GRACE, AUTOMATED HOME: You're meeting with CNN today.

O'BRIEN: With a push of a button, Grace sets the temperature, opens the blinds and starts playing some of his favorite tunes.

CLUTS: Every family member can have it work just the way they want it to.

O'BRIEN: The kitchen comes equipped with an interactive screen for scheduling baby sitters and a virtual bulletin board that helps coordinate invitations and notifies you of specials? How about a microwave that can scan bar codes to find exact cooking instructions for a product?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we are in my daughter's room.

M. O'BRIEN: In the closet, a mirror uses radio tags embedded in garments to pick out your outfits. Cluts says the goal of all these technologies is making life easier for families.

CLUTS: It's going to be a really great time saver for people, and also basically a real stress saver.

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LIN: Right now we're just going to get under the skin of this big story of this alleged terror plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. Relatives of two of the men accused in that alleged homegrown terror plot are rushing to their defense. They say the suspects were studying the bible and not trying to blow up anything. CNN's Drew Griffin talked with two of the suspects' mothers in 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)

LIN: All right, so what kind of a case does the FBI really have against these young men? Foria Younis is a former FBI agent. She has worked on some pretty big operations, including investigations after 9/11 in New York.

Foria, good to have you.

FORIA YOUNIS, FMR. FBI AGENT: Hi, Carol, how are you?

LIN: When you take a look at this situation, these arrests, they were characterized later in the day yesterday at a big news conference as Islamic extremists. But no weapons found. No real connection to al Qaeda, except for the FBI informant who posed as an al Qaeda representative. So how strong a case does the FBI really have?

YOUNIS: Well, a lot of this information will definitely start coming out, especially in court. Between these extremist violent groups, what you have is, you have a thinking phase. Then you have the talking phase, which obviously, these suspects were in the talking phase. Then you have what are called overt acts. Overt acts is when you start taking steps and actions towards a plan. These people were in between the talking and overt acts phase. That's what the indictment shows. And I believe evidence will come out in court based on that.

LIN: But the FBI already admits there were no explosives. I mean, they hadn't gotten past the talking point. The defense of this was that during these news conferences, the attorney general and the FBI director said, We had enough evidence to make an arrest. Why not, with an FBI informant in this group, allow the plot to at least evolve into something more concrete than just bluster?

YOUNIS: You don't have to have explosives, necessarily, to have a good case and I don't think the government is ready to go that far to have explosives in the hands of suspects like these. You can make an arrest and you can have a good case, even before the suspects get any explosives in their hands.

LIN: But at this point we're really taking the FBI's word that this indeed was a serious terrorist plot, as they characterized it in the media yesterday, bigger than 9/11.

YOUNIS: Obviously, until you go to court, that's what you have. We have a justice system here that allows the government to make an arrest. And then when you get to court, these suspects will have defense attorneys who can do a motion for discovery, and the defense attorneys can see exactly what the government has. The government is not in an ability to show their cards at the beginning of the case at this stage, but they will show their cards when the case goes to trial.

LIN: But a lot of questions at these news conferences about the timing of it, how much evidence do you guys really have? In this environment, Foria, where in the same week there were charges filed against Marines for abusing civilians in Iraq, you had two U.S. soldiers who were brutally murdered on the battlefield out there in Iraq. Suddenly, the focus now by the administration on homegrown terror, where something perhaps can be perceived as being controllable. Is the FBI in these prosecutions subject to the political environment, in a sense?

YOUNIS: Well, I don't think that it's a sudden step that the government has taken to focus on these groups. Even when I was with the FBI, we were focussing on homegrown terrorists back then. So this is something that's been emerging over the last two years and is definitely not something suddenly. Other acts going on in Iraq are separate and different and this is ...

LIN: This is not a smoke screen, you think, for those events?

YOUNIS: I don't think it is, no.

LIN: Alright Foria Younis, thank you so much.

YOUNIS: Thank you. Pleasure, Carol.

LIN: Fighting pollution, lose weight, get in shape, sounds great, right? But what if that means giving up your car? Would you do it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, sure you'd like to do your part to help the environment. But would you actually be willing to give up your wheels, your car? Randi Kaye found a family that is so ease eager to help reduce pollution that they decided to go carless in Seattle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAN DURNING, GAVE UP HIS CAR: I'll see you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See ya.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See ya.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Allen Durning is on his way to work. No suit, just spandex. Three months ago the Durning family of Seattle gave up their wheels to help save the planet.

(on camera): As one family having given up one car, do you really believe that you can make a difference?

DURNING: Absolutely. I mean, we're making a quantifiable difference because we're not burning anywhere near as many gallons of gasoline.

KAYE (voice-over): If Allen's math is correct and in one year cars emit their own weight in pollution, then he's saving the environment about 4,000 pounds of pollution.

DURNING: Snow packing in the last 50 years in the Cascade Mountains just to the east of us here in Seattle has diminished by about 50 percent.

KAYE: As temperatures rise in this part of the country, more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, which would last longer. And if the warming trend continues, a lack of water could, in theory leave much of Seattle in the dark, since about 90 percent of its power comes from hydro-powered dams. So after the Durning's oldest son Gary totaled the family car, they decided to stop spewing greenhouse gases and cut a deal with the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we did not get a car then we'd get cell phones. And for me, that was just like, oh, my gosh, that's so awesome.

KAYE: But given Seattle weather, Allen's carless commutes aren't always easy.

DURNING: Driver, I'm going to use the rack, all right?

KAYE: Amy walks most places and a few hours a month she rents a hybrid car.

(on camera): A lot of people would say you're crazy with three kids to give up your car. Do you feel like you're crazy?

AMY DURNING, GAVE UP HER CAR: No, absolutely.

KAYE: One advantage, Amy says, the kids argue less.

GARY DURNING, SON: The arguing hasn't stopped since we got rid of the back seat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got rid of the whole car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we didn't just get rid of the back seat.

KAYE: The Durning's call this baby stroller their minivan. It has carried groceries, even their son, Peter, to the doctor.

(on camera): Without a car, Allen and Amy now figure they walk about a mile and a half every day. Not only is that good for the planet, but it seems to be benefiting them, too. Together they believe they've lost nearly ten pounds. And they've gained more of what they call walking-around money. The carless life-style saves them $200 a month. Not much compared to what they hope to be saving the planet. But they'll take it. Randi Kaye, CNN, Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Up next, WELCOME TO THE FUTURE, CNN's Miles O'Brien and a lively group of thinkers take on the future of transportation, the workplace and family.

Then the interview that made headlines all week. Angelina Jolie talks to Anderson Cooper about her fight for refugee relief and how motherhood has changed her life. That's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And then Hoodia, the weight loss supplement. Can it kill you? We've got more on that at 10:00 p.m. Eastern in our prime time show. A check of the hours headlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: I'm Carol Lin. Now in the news, the Pentagon has released 14 Saudi detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Transferring them home to Saudi Arabia. Now officials say another 120 are also eligible.

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