Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Verdict Expected in Conrad Black Fraud Trial; Vitter Scandal; Iraq's Benchmarks; Beckham in the U.S.
Aired July 13, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, we are getting word there is likely to be a verdict very shortly, about 15 minutes or so, in the trial of Conrad Black. He is a media mogul.
There are 16 counts, 42 charges, four different defendants. And today, the 12th day of deliberations.
We want to bring in our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. He's joining us by phone this morning to tell us a little bit more about this case.
Hey there, Jeff. Do me a favor and just break this down for us. It's a pretty complicated case.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It is, but the gist is fairly straightforward. Conrad Black was a Canadian mogul, a media mogul, as you said, who owned many properties in Canada, as well as some in the United States. He's best known probably for owning the "Chicago Sun-Times".
During the last 10 years, his media business collapsed under the weight of this investigation. And the gist of the charges is that Black and his colleagues looted the business for their own gain, that they basically took assets of the company and transferred it illegally to themselves through sort of phony non-compete agreements and whatnot. And that's what they're on trial for.
COLLINS: This was something like $60 million.
TOOBIN: Sixty million dollars.
His former top aide flipped, went over to the government's side, pleaded guilty, and was the main witness against him. And the -- that was the sort of dramatic high point of the trial.
The defense in this case is that, in fact, all of these transactions were not only legal, they were disclosed to the board of directors. And frankly, Conrad Black had a pretty good defense in this case, because the board of directors had to admit, in sometimes embarrassing testimony for them, very prominent people like Jim Thompson, the former governor of Illinois, Marie-Josee Kravis, who is the wife of a famous financier here in New York City, had to admit that they didn't pay a lot of attention to their duties as members of the board of directors and they didn't read everything that was given to them.
So I think one reason the deliberations have gone on so long here is that there was a real defense in this case.
COLLINS: Well, and as I look at this, we mentioned earlier 16 counts, 42 charges. They're saying he could face -- Conrad Black, that is -- almost 100 years in prison and possibly a $70 million fine.
What are the chances of that happening?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, we live in a very different era for white collar sentences. People like Bernie Ebbers are going -- you know, went to jail for 20 -- you know, received a 20-year sentence.
COLLINS: Right.
TOOBIN: People receive long sentences in white collar cases, and the way it's determined is by the amount of the loss in the case. And here, with $60 million at stake -- and Conrad Black could go to jail for a very long time. So the stakes are way more than financial and very high.
COLLINS: All right. Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on the line with us this morning, as we wait for that verdict to come in. We're expecting it around 11:15 or so. If that should happen, we'll certainly let you know what the decision is.
Jeff, thanks so much for that.
And new developments this in a Washington sex scandal, the one involving Louisiana Republican senator David Vitter. He admitted being on the phone list of the alleged D.C. madam.
With the latest now from Washington, CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.
Good morning to you, Dana, once again.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
And, you know, since that admission on Monday, Senator David Vitter has disappeared from the Senate, really disappeared in general. No one has heard from him at all until now.
Our own Ted Barrett just spoke with one of Senator Vitter's good friends here, fellow conservative, southern conservative, Senator Jim DeMint, who has been communicating with the senator, with Senator Vitter, by e-mail. And the headline, according to Senator DeMint, is that Senator Vitter is not quitting Congress and he does actually plan to return sometime next week, probably early next week, in time for the first Senate vote. Again, Senator Vitter has missed all of the votes this week.
And I'll read you a quote from what Senator DeMint told our Ted Barrett about the communications he's had.
He said, "We've traded some e-mails. Obviously, he has a whole lot of remorse and wants to put this behind him. He seems to be handling it in a very responsible way." "He is saying he was wrong. He made terrible mistakes. He is not trying to diminish the problem."
Now, DeMint says he doesn't know any details about what exactly that "problem" is that they're discussing. Obviously, as you mentioned, Heidi, what Senator Vitter did on Monday is admit that he made some sins in his past for which he is completely responsible. That after his phone number was found on the list of phone numbers that the D.C. madam had. But the details even Senator DeMint doesn't know.
But the headline is, we haven't seen him for a week. He says we do expect to see him early next week, back in Washington at least.
COLLINS: Interesting. Dana, I do wonder what people on the Hill are saying about Senator Vitter's political future. He's getting some support, is he not?
BASH: Well, at least from Senator DeMint, who, as I said, is a very good friend of his.
It's been really interesting. Nobody, as you can imagine, Heidi, has wanted to say a word about this all week long. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, was asked about it on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning and he just had nothing to say at all.
What Senator DeMint said is actually very interesting about his colleague, Senator Vitter. I'll read this quote also.
He said, "It's my hope he can work through this, keep a low profile for a while. But there are many senators out there on the Senate floor who have had moral disasters in their past and have weathered it and have been here for decades, and we might want to remember some of those."
Sort of a veiled illusion or maybe even a threat, a reminder to some senators. Unclear who he's talking about, but that's a quote from Senator DeMint to our own Ted Barrett. Very interesting.
And again, the first communication that we have even seen or heard over the past week with Senator David Vitter.
COLLINS: All right.
From Capitol Hill this morning, Dana Bash.
Dana, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
COLLINS: A suspected serial killer in custody this morning. Tennessee police now trying to trace his travels across a number of states. The suspect is a long-haul truck driver.
We get the very latest from reporter Amy Rao of CNN national affiliate WTVF.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMY RAO, REPORTER, WTVF (voice over): Since June 26th, veteran homicide detectives knew they had only struck the tip of the iceberg.
SGT. PAT POSTIGLIONE, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE: It's evidence that I won't go into dictated to us this is just not a normal, if there is such a thing, a normal homicide.
RAO: Twenty-five-year-old Sara Nicole Hulbert found shot to death at the TA truck stop on North First Street. That's exactly where detectives found Mendenhall again.
In this exclusive video, you see Mendenhall moments after they searched his truck. Detective Pat Postiglione says he was going to the truck stop for further investigation when he spotted the mustard- colored truck they'd been looking for for weeks.
POSTIGLIONE: And almost immediately I saw a truck coming toward me that looked very much like the truck that we'd been discussing for the last two days.
RAO: Detectives say Mendenhall was nervous but cooperative. He let detectives inside the cab of the truck, where they found blood spots in the door and inside. They say they implicated himself in Hulbert's murder, the murder of Samantha Winters at the Pilot truck stop in Lebanon, as well as a murder in Alabama, Georgia and two in Indiana. And there could be more.
POSTIGLIONE: I would say that's probably a pretty good possibility.
RAO: Now in an orange jumpsuit in this exclusive video, Mendenhall will spend hours talking to police, they hope leading them to other victims. Mendenhall said nothing in night court as he was charged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's all? Thank you.
RAO: Leaving even more questions for police to answer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, he's a laid back, easy going guy. I mean, it just floors me.
RAO: Amy Rao, News Channel 5.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Still ahead, the White House report on Iraq. Looking between the lines. A retired brigadier general breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly.
Also, vanished on the Fourth of July. The search for a missing Washington State girl comes to a tragic end.
And the mentally ill behind bars. Should they be in prison or in a hospital?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE STEVEN LEIFMAN, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT: This is the largest psychiatric facility in Florida. There's five times more people here with mental illness than any state people.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But this is a jail. This is not a psychiatric facility.
LEIFMAN: It is not. Unfortunately, it's become one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Soledad O'Brien will join us to preview her Special Investigations Unit report, "Criminally Insane".
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The White House report on Iraq. Fewer than half the benchmarks are met.
So what are the encouraging signs and what are the most troubling?
Here with some answers for us, retired Brigadier General James Marks. He is our CNN military analyst.
Hi there to you, Spider. Thanks for being with us today.
BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to start with Anbar province. Let's listen together to President Bush from his news conference just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our forces are going into parts of Anbar where they couldn't operate before. With the help of Iraqi and coalition forces, local Sunni tribes have driven al Qaeda from most of Ramadi. Attacks there are now down to a two- year low.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Actually, we wanted to hear a little bit more about Anbar and talking about the Sunni tribes and how they used to be fighting alongside al Qaeda. But now the president had said that they are actually fighting along coalition forces against al Qaeda.
If we determine that that is success in Anbar, can it, Spider, be used as sort of an example to other parts, other provinces in Iraq?
MARKS: Heidi, it sure can. What's unique about Anbar is that there is, for the most part, ethnic purity. Most of that is Sunni.
So what you've determined -- or what has been determined in Anbar is that those that want to make a difference and move forward and realize that the future exists with some degree of pacification, some agree of economic advancement, the tribal, kind of the homogeneous nature of that, versus siding with al Qaeda, you can achieve some success in Anbar. And that's exactly what's happening right now and what has been determined, again, by the troops on the ground and what has existed for some time.
So, taking that model and moving that elsewhere is a little more problematic because there are ethnic fault lines when you get into places in the vicinity of Baghdad and North, where there isn't that homogenous nature of the tribal mix.
COLLINS: Sure. And I think there's a whole other level, too, when we talk about actually having Iraqi security forces work independently.
I mean, we are saying that, yes, in Anbar province they are working along side the coalition forces. But what about that next level which was actually given an unsatisfactory mark of the Iraqis working independently to defend their country?
MARKS: Again, it's a mixed bag. With the military forces, I would say that the advancement and the growth has been essentially uneven, but progressing well. Now, that's got news.
The police force, again, some more problems with that. But in both of those forces, whether it's military or security forces in the form of police, you have to establish a professional core, an element that has -- that will be allowed to grow and establish the professional ethos.
Heidi, that only take place over time, and that's the challenge.
COLLINS: You know, it was interesting. Just a few moments ago we spoke with General Van Antwerp. He is the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and talking a little bit about some of the progress by way of reconstruction.
And one thing he mentioned to us, Spider, was, you know, we have really reached some of our goals. One of them, we needed to build 1,000 schools. We built 1,000 schools. But then my question was, well, are there any children in them? Is it safe enough for those kids to go to school?
MARKS: Yes. The challenge really is, you can build the school, will they come? And in this -- and in many cases the answer is yes, because the parents want to have some degree of normalcy.
But you have to drop this cone of security around every neighborhood. And that's the key.
You make the -- you can define success in an insurgency and the type of violence that you see in Iraq as a result of success locally, and you hope that that would spread out. So how the moms and dads and how the families define success really is very, very local.
Not unlike politics here in the United States. But it's very short term. Can you achieve success, can you achieve security so your kids can go to school, so you can access the markets, so you can get to your mosques?
COLLINS: All right.
So we had this interim report that came out just yesterday. We know that we are expecting another report that we've been talking about for a very long time to come in September.
What do you see that report looking like?
MARKS: Well, the real issue, I think, is that you look at the interim report, you look at the report in September, you look at the vote in Congress yesterday. There really is a rush to judgment. Sadly, the one ingredient that I don't think America is willing to allow the forces and our national policy to take place in Iraq to have any more of, and that's called time.
Even in the report that came out yesterday, and in the president's teleconference this morning to the provincial reconstruction teams and those brigade combat teams, you know, those PRTs are advancing and forward-deploying into Iraq, discontinuous with the surge. The surge forces, the military forces, are in place right now. They need to be given time, but the PRTs won't be at full strength until December.
COLLINS: Right.
MARKS: So it seems like in military terms we're shooting behind the target. Those two need to be synchronized, but we need to give them an opportunity to succeed.
COLLINS: All right. General Spider Marks, we certainly appreciate your time, as always, here in the NEWSROOM.
MARKS: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thank you.
And still ahead this morning, the threat of a dirty bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were able to beat the system with a basic ruse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Plugging gaps in the shield against terrorism.
And it's called the forgotten floor. There you'll find the mentally ill. Not a hospital, but a jail. The "Criminally Insane". Our special investigations goes inside. A preview just ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: When patients are inmates. CNN's Special Investigations Unit has a new documentary on the criminally insane.
Our Soledad O'Brien gives us a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): It's called the forgotten floor. At the Miami-Dade County pre-detention facility, the entire ninth floor houses prisoners with the most serious mental illnesses. They're warehoused here before being taken to court, or, in rare cases, before being sent to a state hospital or other mental health facility.
LEIFMAN: This is the largest psychiatric facility in Florida. There's five times more people here with mental illness than they state hospital.
O'BRIEN (on camera): But this is a jail, this is not a psychiatric facility.
LEIFMAN: It is not. Unfortunately, it's become one.
O'BRIEN (voice over): Miami-Dade county court judge Steven Leifman has made the forgotten floor and its mentally ill residents his personal crusade, providing me with a tour of its deplorable conditions.
LEIFMAN: Sometimes when it gets overcrowded in here you may see two people kind of spooning in this metal shelf, and one or two on the ground and one waiting their turn to sleep. It's very difficult.
O'BRIEN (on camera): This is how inmates on the ninth floor of the jail live, a small space. Sometimes there's two, three, four, inmates sharing this cell. The light's on 24 hours a day.
This wrap is the only clothing they wear. And you'll notice there's no mattress on the bed. Both those things to keep mentally ill inmates from harming themselves.
(voice over): Most of the inmates are brought in for drug possession, assaulting an officer, or resisting arrest. But they can remain here for an average of six to nine months. Sometimes up to a year. Or even longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So, Soledad, tell us, what happens to a person then with mental illness who ends up on the forgotten floor? What's the typical next step?
O'BRIEN: The typical next step is a cycle, actually. It's a circle they tend to cycle through.
Often they'll send them to a mental hospital in order to stabilize, because, remember, these are people who are going to trial. They need to have a certain stability before they can actually sit before a judge.
So they try to stabilize them. Then they'll bring them back in. If they have to wait before they go to the judge, sometimes they're back on that floor. The lights on, Heidi, 24 hours a day, the noise, the screaming in the cells next to them, often a mentally ill patient/person who's about to go to trial can start disintegrating again. Falling apart again.
So they'll do this cycle, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. So their next step is sort of being caught up in this current that doesn't take them anywhere certainly to getting better.
COLLINS: Well, I know the judge in your piece, Steven Leifman, is trying to reform that system. How does he expect to be able to do that? Did he share his plan?
O'BRIEN: Yes. A couple of things he's doing.
First of all, they're going to -- they're going to put this mental hospital in. That's actually going to help bring patients into that area. So they're not in the jail, they're not stuck on this forgotten floor. They actually have a place where they can go and get real treatment.
The other thing they're doing is trying to change the first interaction that mentally people often have with the police. Sometimes family members will call and say, my brother, my sister, my friend is a harm to himself.
And so what he's doing is -- Miami is one of a number, hundreds of cities that now have these officers who are specifically trained to deal with mentally ill people in the hopes that they don't arrest them and put them into the system. That, in fact, they get them treatment or keep them out of the system all together.
They don't go to jail in the first step. They get some kind of treatment. These officers will negotiate, interact, help really protect -- often mentally ill people are the victims themselves -- help them avoid going into jail.
So those are a couple of the things that he is working on. He has become the champion of the cause, certainly in Miami.
COLLINS: All right. I'm sure you'll continue to follow up with him. It's a very disturbing story, without a doubt.
And we just to remind everybody, too, you can watch CNN Special Investigations Unit called the "Criminally Insane," this Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m., right here on CNN.
Soledad, thanks for that.
And warnings of a long, tough fight ahead in Iraq from the man issuing the orders to U.S. troops. General David Petraeus on the war. Also, that yellow big rig. Police called it a crime scene. A trucker suspected of killing six women in his travels.
And you'd think it would be a severe storm, right? But it's not. The weather, in fact, didn't have a thing to do with this flood. We'll show you more of it, coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody, it is 11:30 Eastern time. I'm Heidi Collins, Tony Harris is off today.
Tennessee police believe they have a serial killer on their hands today. Detectives say this truck driver may have left a trail of six bodies. Fifty-six-year-old Bruce Mendenhall (ph) charged in one killing so far. Police say he's implicated himself in half a dozen murders.
The killings took place in Indiana, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The big break, a national detective went to the truck stop where a woman was killed a few weeks ago. He says Mendenhall grew nervous under routine questioning and blood stains were spotted in the cab of the truck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. PAT POSTIGLIONE, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE: I asked if I could get up inside the cab to have a visual look around, and he said, OK. At that point, we got a consent to search. I got up inside the vehicle and I saw some more evidence that I considered incriminating at that time. And then we stopped at that point and we felt very strongly that we were probably in the right truck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Police are now trying to unravel Mendenhall's background. He is described as an independent trucker, and for the past year, he's been driving for an Illinois-based company.
Abducted from behind her home on the Fourth of July. Tacoma, Washington police now say they have found the body of Zena Linnik (ph). Information from a man being held on an immigration violation led police to the body. That man, a Thai national is a convicted sex offender.
Zena Linnik was one of eight children. Her family moved from Ukraine ten years ago.
The voting to bring troops home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill is passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: The House of Representatives passing a bill to pull most U.S. forces out of Iraq by April. The vote mostly along party lines. It comes as the Senate considers a similar timetable to a Pentagon budget bill. That vote expected next week, but it has little chance of passing. And even if it does, President Bush says he will veto any effort to put dates on a pull-out.
Fighting insurgents in Iraq is a long-term endeavor. That warning reportedly from the man calling the shots for U.S. troops. This week, General David Petraeus told the BBC, American troops are engaged in a "tough fight," which he says will get harder before it gets easier.
In the BBC interview, Petraeus compares it to Britain's decade- long struggle in Northern Ireland. His sobering assessment comes as President Bush urges Congress and the country to wait for a September report from General Petraeus before calling for the pull-out of U.S. forces.
And we could learn more about U.S. plans for Iraq later today. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace plan a news conference 1:45 Eastern at the Pentagon, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And want to let you know about a story we've been following just a few minutes ago. We are now learning guilty verdict coming in in the Conrad Black trial.
Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is joining us now by phone.
I believe I'm hearing, Jeffrey, two counts of mail fraud that he has been found guilty of. And not guilty on one other count. There were so many charges and counts in this whole thing. Can you tell us what you are hearing?
TOOBIN: Well, I'm mostly hearing the same that you are.
COLLINS: OK.
TOOBIN: It does sound like convicted on some counts and acquitted on others. But, you know, white collar crime case, if you're convicted on any count, you are looking at big, big trouble. So, this will be clearly seen as a victory for the government. This -- Conrad Black will complete a remarkable fall from grace. He will certainly be sentenced to prison, perhaps for a considerable period of time. And the government wins, Black loses, end of story.
COLLINS: Yes, in fact, I am getting a closer look here now at some of these. I just want to give them to you. You can tell us a little bit more about them if possible. Jury finding Conrad Black not guilty on racketeering charge and also finding him -- let's see, I got a couple more here -- guilty of obstructing justice. I'm just kind of getting it all in right now, so bear with me.
But overall, the jury is finding Conrad Black guilty on four of the 13 charges. And as you say, this is a victory for the government? TOOBIN: It is. It will be some consolation that the most serious charge, racketeering, that Black was acquitted. That will probably keep him from getting a very, very long prison sentence, like in the nature of ten years. But this conviction on four counts -- did you say four?
COLLINS: I did say four -- convicted, as you said, guilty of mail fraud. It's just one of the 13 counts. And then we also have not guilty on racketeering but guilty of obstructing justice. Those are the two of the four that I have right now. We're just kind of getting it in ...
TOOBIN: Right.
COLLINS: ...as we go. This is all according to the Associated Press at this time, so.
TOOBIN: This is -- this is a guaranteed prison sentence for Conrad Black, if this conviction is upheld on appeal. It's not as long as it might be, but certainly the government will view this as a victory.
COLLINS: All right, well we continue to watch this one as we get more information on that verdict. But we are hearing at least at this point, Conrad Black guilty four of 13 charges.
Again, we will continue to watch that, all according to the Associated Press at this time.
Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for that.
Lighting up the night sky across Phoenix, Arizona. A spectacular blaze at a company that manufactures wood products. Stacks of wooden pallets up in smoke. Flames stretching some 50 feet into the air, spreading to a nearby row of semi-trailers.
The fire chief there says it took 90 firefighters two hours to get it under control. No reported injuries, though. A blown transformer is the possible cause.
And drying out in Michigan this morning. After big water and long delays, a four-foot-wide water main broke, tying up traffic north of Detroit for hours. It happened under a service road alongside I- 96. East-bound lanes flooded up to four feet deep. Some motorists actually forced to the roofs of their cars and traffic backed up for miles. Five people, in fact, had to be rescued from their cars. Six vehicles towed, and this morning, it's all back to normal. The cause of the break still, though, a mystery.
The southern Japanese islands of Okinawa in the eye of a powerful typhoon. Thousands of people have been evacuated, hundreds of flights canceled. And this video shot by Robert Abbott, who is a U.S. marine based in Okinawa. Robert captured video in a CNN i-Report.
Chad Myers has been watching this for us at least since yesterday. And boy, he definitely weathered the storm on this one. I think you said wind gusts up to about 105 miles per hour?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Meanwhile, our Fredricka Whitfield is in the NEWSROOM following a -- I think it's a huge fire, is it not, Fred, in South Carolina?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is, in Anderson, South Carolina, off I-85, not too far from Clemson University. Well (ph) -- look at the live pictures right now, a pretty sizable fire which we believe to be, according to sources, an old mill. We don't know if this was an abandoned structure, or if this was one where real business was taking place.
But we know that it is being described as an old mill there in Anderson, South Carolina. Lots of flames, and you can see huge plumes of smoke there. It is not a remote area, you can see all the other standing structures around it. So it is a fairly populated location.
And here now are other pictures that we have gotten in within the past few minutes of this fire that has taken over what's now being called the Old Anderson Mill.
COLLINS: Wow.
WHITFIELD: We'll try to find out a little bit more about what took place at the Old Anderson Mill. But a bad fire. Firefighters are on the scene, they're doing their best but pretty dramatic pictures.
COLLINS: Yes, very dramatic pictures. Gosh, I mean, it is just going up really, really fast. More live pictures coming in.
WHITFIELD: And there again, those live shots.
COLLINS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And you can see the firefighters on the ground there, using their trucks to try to put out these flames. But this is an aggressive fire, well, and it's also a pretty large structure. So, they got a long way to go there.
COLLINS: Yes, they certainly do.
All right, Fred, thanks so much. Those pictures coming in from our affiliate WYFF. Again, Anderson, South Carolina. Fred, we'll check back with you a little bit later on on that one.
WHITFIELD: OK (ph).
COLLINS: Meanwhile, teenagers and sex, a new report on some old problems. We'll tell you all about it.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Becky Anderson in Los Angeles where David Beckham hopes that he can raise the game of soccer from a game for kids to a game for grownup men. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to give you a little bit more information about the trial for Conrad Black there, former media mogul. He has been found guilty, four of 13 charges. Convicted today of mail fraud and concealing documents from an official proceeding. But the jury there did acquit him of wire fraud, racketeering and several other counts. This information coming in via the Associated Press.
Today was the 12th day of deliberations. That verdict coming in, sort of a mixed verdict, if you will, just a little while ago. We'll continue to follow that one for you.
Meanwhile, we are also following this story. Live pictures now coming in from Anderson, South Carolina, our affiliate there, WYFF. This is a huge fire from what we can determine of an old mill in Anderson, South Carolina. You see all the fire crews on the scene, and that smoke just wafting out of there. Looks like it might be a little bit windy by the way that that smoke is blowing.
So it looks like Fredricka has been following this for us in the NEWSROOM. And as she said, looks like a lot of work to be done until that is contained. We'll continue to watch that one for you.
Surprising new information this morning about teenagers and sex. A government study finds teens are having less sex and more are using condoms, the birth rate among teens dropping to a record low. The stats from several federal agencies, they show 47 percent of high school students were having sex in 2005. That's down from 54 percent in 1991. One official says it appears education campaigns started years ago are now having an effect.
To get your daily dose of health news online, logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. The address: CNN.com/health.
Soccer is the game, David Beckham is the name. But, can the English star kick a mostly kid-focused U.S. sport into the American main stream?
CNN's Becky Anderson weighs in on Beckham mania.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): This academy for kids of all ages is run by a star from L.A. Galaxy, and the air of anticipation ahead of David Beckham's arrival is palpable.
(on camera): How's David Beckham going to help do you think?
BLANE SHEPARD, L.A. GALAXY SPECIAL OPS. DIR.: Gosh. He's just -- it's so great, and we're so excited, from the staff, the coaching staff to the players, you know, what a great timing. And I'm not going to say that, you know, he's the savior but, gosh, everybody in the United States is talking about David Beckham. And we just can't wait for him to start.
ANDERSON: Whoa, a play, a tallus (ph)!
When we were growing up in the U.K., this was all we cared about, be girl or boy, this was the only game in town. And I guess here in the States, they're hoping to match that sort of enthusiasm.
Guys? Yes? Whoa!
(voice-over): One of Beckham's stated ambitions is to encourage even more American kids to take an interest in the round ball game. Current squad members already play an active role.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the ball? Always under control, always close to his body, right?
ANDERSON (on camera): How do you prevent this drift away into other sports for teenagers?
CHRIS KLEIN, L.A. GALAXY PLAYER: Well, you know, I think that you really have to manage it. And I don't think it's a huge problem because kids have to love the game. And you know, when I was growing up, I played all different kinds of sports. And now you have kids who can look up to a league here and to a star like David Beckham, who can say, I want to be him, I want to do that, because you have your Michael Jordan, or Kobe Bryant and they can relate to that.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Chris plays in a similar position to Beckham. And he's learning that among the other younger fans, Becks' arrival is already being keenly debated.
KLEIN: Who's your favorite player in the league?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably you and David Beckham.
KLEIN: Yes? There you go, that's what I like to hear.
ANDERSON: Football here in the U.S. is often seen as a game for girls and boys, something they grow out of. Galaxy and the MLS hope that with the arrival of an icon, it'll be seen as a game for men.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Becky Anderson joining us now from the stadium where David Beckham will be playing his home games, again for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Becky, David Beckham, he's an icon in the soccer world, but what is the main reason, best you can tell, that he actually decided to come play in a country where, let's face it, soccer is just not that big of a deal.
ANDERSON: Well, it depends who you ask, I guess. If you ask David Beckham, he says he is here to play soccer. If you ask most other people, they'll say, oh, $250 million over five years, and only $32.5 million of that is for the soccer, there's an awful lot of other money around for other things. So, that's the deal.
I mean, a lot of people are saying basically he's a star light, and don't forget, he's a football (ph) and fashion icon. He's a British celebrity and he's trying to make it big over here.
So, it is a very good question. We won't know today, certainly when they unveil David Beckham behind me in just over an hour's time, it's heating up here. I mean, it's hot here, and the owners of the Galaxy Club are really hoping that they can bank on Beckham, as it were. And they're hoping they've got this white-hot product that they can really sell.
They're not just a football team, L.A. Galaxy, they're a big franchise. AEG have got their fingers in an awful lot of pies. And that includes the entertainment business. So, I will use that cliche, hack me phrase, time will tell.
COLLINS: Love it.
ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE), I'm sorry about that.
COLLINS: It's true, though.
ANDERSON: That is the deal.
COLLINS: It is, it is.
ANDERSON: That is the deal.
COLLINS: We're going to have to leave ...
ANDERSON: That's the way it is at the moment.
COLLINS: All right, Becky Anderson, thanks so much for that.
And meanwhile, soccer great Jim Clancy joining us now from "YOUR WORLD TODAY," coming up in just about 10 minutes.
I know you're going to be covering this story, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Oh, we're going to be all over this story. But you know, it is not about soccer, it's about celebrity. And the question is, these two arrive in Los Angeles, really, amid a nuclear explosion of flash bulbs from the scenes that I saw. You have David Beckham and his wife, Victoria of the Spice Girls.
And the question: can he rebuild the image of soccer in the U.S.? Well, that's just one side of it. She's also wondering, can she rebuild her own Spice Girl image among fans old and new? How will the celebrities play out? We'll have more on that.
Plus, Conrad Black, the publisher of "The Jerusalem Post," the "Chicago-Sun Times" and London's "Daily Telegraph," well, he's in the flash bulbs, found guilty of fraud and obstruction of justice in a case that accused him of siphoning off millions and millions of dollars from his media empire.
Plus, Pope Benedict XVI on a conservative push. Is he taking the Roman Catholic Church backwards or simply including and accommodating the more conservative elements of his church that have long resisted the advance of liberal ideas?
All of that, and much, much more, coming up at noon Eastern on "YOUR WORLD TODAY, Heidi. Hope we see you.
COLLINS: You bet. All right, Jim, thank you.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange. The bulls came charging back on Wall Street yesterday. So are they out to pasture today or were they still stampeding around here today? We take a look at that.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Records broken, gains like we haven't seen in years.
Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with a look at yesterday's rally and a check on whether investors are keeping the momentum going today.
It looks like the place to be, Stephanie.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: And meanwhile, her crown is safe. We'll tell you why Miss New Jersey almost lost it all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to show you these pictures one more time before we go here today. Live pictures coming in WYFF, our affiliate. Anderson, South Carolina, we are looking at a huge fire that has erupted at a place known as the Old Anderson Mill.
All we are able to determine at this point from the South Carolina Fire Department is that it's a mill that's not in use anymore, so at least that is a good sign. Hopefully no injuries and all that.
But boy, look at those flames. They continue to rage there. We will watch those pictures as they develop throughout the day here.
Also, Miss New Jersey -- well, she can feel free to reach for the tiara now. Amy Polumbo gets to keep her title. Internet photos suggest unlady-like behavior. The pageant board says the pictures were in poor taste, but don't warrant stripping the 22-year-old from her crown.
Polumbo says she's relieved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY POLUMBO, MISS NEW JERSEY: Obviously, I'm very happy about this decision, and I look forward to resuming my agenda as Miss New Jersey. I want thank the board for their amazing support and I also want to apologize for all the trouble that this has caused.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The pictures came from Polumbo's Facebook page. It's since been taken offline.
And on that note, CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next.
I'm Heidi Collins, have a good day everybody.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
