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Casey Anthony Competent to Stand Trial; Amanda Knox 'Shocked' During Appeal; Flooding Causes Concern at Nuclear Plants; Blagojevich Verdict Shortly; Limiting Homework's Impact; Capping Effect of Homework
Aired June 27, 2011 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And this video just in to CNN. Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich leaving his house heading to court. We're following his car there, where we expect any minute now a verdict in his corruption trial. These are live pictures.
Our Ted Rowlands is at the courthouse, and as soon as that verdict comes in, we will bring him in and will give you that verdict live right here. As you know, charges against Blagojevich include trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had belonged to Barack Obama before he resigned to become president. He's also charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, and solicitation of a bribe, just to name a few.
So, once again, we are watching Rod Blagojevich as he makes his way to the courthouse in Chicago to learn his fate. And we'll bring it to you live right here, just minutes away, on CNN.
Guilty or not? Prison, death row or freedom? All of that will be decided by a jury. But 29 days into the first-degree murder trial of Casey Anthony in Florida -- live pictures here -- one verdict is clear, and it came from court-appointed experts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: The court ordered that the defendant be examined by three psychologists to determine her competency to proceed. Based upon the reports that the court has reviewed, the court will find that the defendant is competent to continue to proceed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Anthony's accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, back in 2008 and could face the death penalty if convicted.
I want to bring in Holly Hughes. She's a former prosecutor here in Atlanta and now a criminal defense attorney, and one of our go-to experts on the Anthony case.
Holly, I want to first talk to you about the timing of this question of competency. You think, as you told me, that it might be related to some emotional testimony from the end of last week. HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I really do, Randi, because up until now, what we've seen is the defendant, Casey Anthony, sitting there, and she's stoic, she's disinterested. It's almost like this is just a huge inconvenience. You know, she'd rather be at the club, which we know she likes from the photographs in evidence, than be here on trial for the murder of her little girl.
And she doesn't -- even when they were showing pictures of the baby's skulls, and there's vines growing through the eye holes, she's just sitting there like mm-hmm. She picks up a tissue and pretends to be crying, but the tissue is not wet. So we see this flat affect.
Friday was the first time that I think we saw real, true emotion out of this woman. And it happened when her older brother, Lee Anthony, took the stand.
And he was talking about how he had felt so left out, they wouldn't even let him know that she was pregnant, even when he asked direct questions about it. And they didn't tell him about the baby shower. He wasn't told when she was giving birth at the hospital.
So he is on the stand and he is really pained by this, and especially when you think of it in light of the fact that if the little girl continued to live and grow up, Randi, he probably wouldn't be focused on that. He's looking to the future.
But when he sits there that day, last Friday, he's not going to have any of those opportunities. So he's looking back and he's looking at the missed opportunities, and he's saying they didn't think it was important enough to include me. And it's breaking his heart.
And that's what got Casey upset. That's when we finally saw that she had some real emotional reaction. And I've got to wonder, does it make her feel guilty about what she's doing to her family? Is that why all of a sudden, we're questioning her competency? Is she falling apart?
KAYE: Yes. So they looked at her over the weekend, three experts, and she was certified to be competent that she can stand trial.
HUGHES: Competent to proceed, yes.
KAYE: It's sort of odd that they're looking at again at this point in the trial, but that's whole other issue.
Meanwhile, today, now, they're back to duking it out.
HUGHES: Yes.
HUGHES: The defense is trying to discredit many of the prosecution's witnesses. Any headline?
HUGHES: Well, right now, the biggest thing again is that on-running problem that the state has had with the defense saying, hey, another discovery violation, the very thing that Judge Belvin Perry tried to avoid by signing that order in February of 2011 saying, hey, guys, come on, you all both play fair. If your expert is going to testify to it, put it in a report, tell us what the opinion is, tell us what it's based on, and give to it the other side.
Once again, we see a defense expert on the stand. And before he can finish testifying, prosecutor Jeff Ashton says, hey, guess what, Judge? Outside the presence of the jury, we've got to have another hearing because I think he's in contempt again. He didn't tell us his expert was going to testify to this.
And then they put the expert on and the judge says, how do you know this stuff? Oh, well, I looked on Google.
Seriously, dude? I mean, you're an expert in a death penalty case and you're going to say, my expert opinion is that when I read it on Google, they agree with me? Oh, come on, Randi.
KAYE: That's not good.
So do we still think -- I mean, the prosecution, it took them a while certainly to present their case. Do we still think the defense is going to be done by the end of this week?
HUGHES: Well, they indicated that last week. Judge Perry talked to them Friday about timing. He said, I want to be on schedule. Are you all going to finish? Wednesday or Thursday of the week.
So, even if we count last Saturday as a lost day, they're still saying -- what does that mean? Thursday or Friday. Then we have to see what the state puts up in rebuttal, because that's going to be some fireworks.
KAYE: Well, and we also have to see if they do end this week, will they put Casey Anthony on the stand before Friday or maybe on Friday?
HUGHES: No, that's the $64,000 question if you're old enough to remember that.
KAYE: Would you?
HUGHES: No way. I would not let her anywhere near the stand.
Number one, what that's going to do is, toward the very end of your case -- you know, in the law, we talk about the laws of privacy and recency. People tend to remember the very first thing they heard that opening and the very last thing they heard. Those are the things foremost in their mind.
Do you really want the last thing to be that your defendant is a proven liar, she's a party animal? Even if her baby girl drowned like they're trying to say, do you want the jury to see that she's out there partying and groping other women and getting tattoos and stealing her best friend's money? Is that the last impression you want to leave with them?
If she was my client, no, I'd tie her to the chair -- Randi. It wouldn't happen. KAYE: Oh, boy. Well, we'll see if Jose Baez has the same thinking as you do. I don't know if he'll tie her to the chair, but he might not put her on the stand.
HUGHES: Let's hope not.
KAYE: All right. Holly Hughes, appreciate it. Thank you.
HUGHES: Thanks.
KAYE: Well, this hour's "Sound Effect" is a trick question. The U.S. men's soccer team plays Mexico in California. Who has the home field advantage?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a score! The U.S. is on the board!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The U.S. scores. The crowd goes wild. What do you expect, right? But keep listening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming off, you think that's tactical or a way to -- a quick shot taken. And there's Mexico. They're back in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The visitors weren't exactly on unfriendly turf in Saturday's Gold Cup Final at the Rose Bowl. In fact, Mexico's team has such a big fan base in and around L.A., it's almost never scheduled to play there. That's out of respect for the U.S. team.
Here's how the rest of the game went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ropes the shot! Blocked! It's a goal for Mexico! They've tied it at 2!
He scores again! Mexico leads. He's in trouble now. The net is empty. He'll float it in. Mexico has taken over!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Oh, yes, that's how it all ended. Mexico wins the game and a spot in the Confederations Cup Tournament in 2013.
In other news, the Supreme Court has thrown out a California law against selling violent video games to children. In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that the law violence First Amendment rights. The ruling is a victory for the video game industry, which argued that its voluntary rating system is a sufficient warning for parents. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The charge is crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. The court also issued arrest warrants for one of Gadhafi's sons and for Gadhafi's head of intelligence, who is his brother-in-law.
Prosecutors say Gadhafi has used widespread and systematic attacks on civilians in his attempts to put down a popular uprising that began in February. Libya is not expected to honor those warrants.
With a crucial deadline just over one month away, President Obama jumped into deficit reduction talks today. He met with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid this morning. The White House says both men are confident that a significant deal remains possible.
Later today, the president will meet with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Treasury Department says the United States will hit its current debt limit August 2nd. And unless that limit is raised, the government will no longer be able to pay its bills in full. The Obama administration wants Congress to raise the debt limit, but Republicans say no, not unless the administration agrees to major spending cuts.
She's made it no secret, but today she made it official. U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. She made the announcement in Iowa, the state where she was born and the home of the Iowa caucuses, one of next year's first presidential contests.
A Tea party favorite, Bachmann claimed that President Obama has been a failure. She promised to rein in waste and corruption with a smaller federal government and a lower federal deficit.
The drama of American student Amanda Knox and the murder of her roommate, the latest twist that Knox says shocked even her and what her dad says about what happened. That's next.
And we are waiting for a verdict in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial. You're watching him in his vehicle make his way to the courthouse to learn his fate. He is facing numerous charges, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that once belonged to Barack Obama.
We have a reporter there at the courthouse. We'll bring you the live verdict when it happens. So keep it here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: And this is happening now, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. This is Rod Blagojevich in his vehicle heading to court.
We are expecting a verdict to be read very shortly here. We'll bring it you live. As you may recall, charges against Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, include trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had once belonged to Barack Obama. He's charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, solicitation of a bribe. He has denied any intention of bribery.
He's facing 20 public corruption related counts in all, and this is not the first time that he's had to court to hear his fate. After a two-month trial in August, 14 days of deliberation, jurors deadlocked on all but one of the counts. They found him guilty on one count of lying to FBI investigators.
So we will continue to watch his car as he makes his way to the courthouse. We have our Ted Rowlands there at the courthouse, and we will bring you that verdict as soon as we get it, right here on CNN.
Meanwhile, four years after her roommate's murder and two years after she was convicted of killing her, American student Amanda Knox is still fighting to prove her innocence in Italy. But her appeal took an unexpected turn today.
Rudy Guede testified during Knox's appeal hearing, and Knox says what he said "shocked" her. You'll remember, Guede, a drifter, is a key player. In addition to Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Guede is the third person who was found guilty of murdering Meredith Kercher. Kercher was found dead with her throat slashed at the Italian house she had shared with Knox in 2007.
All right. So now fast forward to today. Knox still insists that she's innocent.
I spoke with her father earlier. We'll hear from him in just a moment.
But first, let's get straight to our Dan Rivers, who is inside the courtroom in Italy. He joins us now.
Dan, Guede was called as a witness to talk about something that he told another inmate, that Knox and her boyfriend were not involved in this murder. But that isn't exactly what happened.
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Just to put viewers in the picture, Rudy Guede has already been convicted of killing Meredith Kercher, along with the other two. His appeal process has been exhausted, and he's now being called as a witness by defense lawyers for Amanda Knox and Rafaelle Sollecito to try and overturn their convictions.
They were hoping that under cross-examination, under this immense pressure, that he would sort of crack and admit that he had done on his own, or with someone else, that Amanda Knox had nothing to do with it. In fact, the exact opposite happened.
In fact, Rudy Guede said that he always thought that Amanda Knox and Sollecito were guilty, and that's exactly what he said in court today. Really quite a dramatic day, because it's the first time since the very beginning of this court process, the preliminary hearings, when all three of them have been in the courtroom together.
And Amanda Knox was clearly very nervous. You could see it in her demeanor as she entered court today.
And there was also a dramatic moment when she made a statement after Guede saying she was shocked by what he had said. She said that Guede knew that they weren't in the house on the night of the murder, she didn't know what happened. And she was regretful that she was unable to sort of question Guede herself.
KAYE: And we spoke with Amanda's father, Curt Knox, earlier, Dan. I asked him about Guede and his claims. And I want you to listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURT KNOX, AMANDA KNOX'S DAD: It's very disappointing that he will not own up to his responsibility in this particular crime. We're actually looking forward to the independent forensic expert report that's actually due out on Thursday of this week which we believe is really going to be the turning point to help bring Amanda home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Certainly, Dan, the turn of events in the courtroom today was disappointing for her family. What was Amanda Knox's reaction in court?
RIVERS: Well, you could see she was obviously disappointed. She was pretty sort of impassive while Guede was being questioned. But when she made her statement, she faltered halfway through with emotion, almost sort of crying. So you could tell how charred she felt and how emotional she felt.
Her then boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, was much more composed when he spoke. But he again reiterated what Amanda Knox said, that Guede was unreliable, he's changed what he had been saying, that they had been in jail for four years, that their lives had been ruined, effectively all because of what Rudy Guede had said.
KAYE: And Dan, very quickly here, how important is this forensic test? And if we do learn the rules on Thursday, what might we learn from this? I mean, could this free Amanda Knox?
RIVERS: Well, I think this will be the key turning point if there is one in this appeal. They now have to rely really on this forensic and DNA evidence. The two key pieces really are DNA evidence from the knife and from the bra that Meredith Kercher was wearing.
Now, the defense lawyers seem to be very confident about this, that there is going to be nothing in there that is going to be damning for Amanda Knox. And that will -- the methodology that was used in the previous trial will also be scrutinized later on in July. So I think this whole thing now is going to get very scientific and it's really all going to come down to the forensics.
KAYE: Dan Rivers there watching that case for us.
Very interesting case in Italy. Thank you, Dan.
And one of the most famous celebrated professional sports teams filed for bankruptcy this morning. We've got the details for you right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The time right now, about 20 minutes past the hour. And it is time to check in on some top stories that we are following.
The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection today, a move they are blaming on a failed multibillion-dollar TV deal with Fox. By filing for bankruptcy, the Dodgers organization bides itself some time to seek a media deal and to find a solution to its financial troubles. The move will not disrupt day-to-day operations of the organization for the time being.
The headline from Wimbledon is who's out. That would be both Williams sisters. Here you see -- well, you saw Serena there, and the defending champion, losing in straight sets to Marion Bartoli of France. There she is. Venus Williams, her sister, lost today as well.
And the number one women's seed, Caroline Wozniacki, a three-set victim of Dominika Cibulkova.
And there was a super awkward moment at last night's BET Awards. Trust me, it's never a good thing when the info in your hand and the info on the teleprompter don't match.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANY GREENE, FAN PRESENTER: We are here to announce the winner of the Coca-Cola Viewers Choice Award.
And the winner is -- Chris Brown. I'm sorry, Rihanna, "What's My Name?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, this is awkward. It's OK. The winner is Drizzy Dre.
Come on over here, Dre.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Oh, man. That certainly was awkward. Don't want that to happen here.
Well, talk about a close call, an asteroid about the size of a house passed within 8,000 miles of Earth today, a distance that is inside the orbits of many communication and spy satellites. NASA says there was never any risk of impact, but it was close enough for Earth's gravity to alter the asteroid's trajectory.
Two nuclear power plants in Nebraska surrounded by rising water from the Missouri River. How serious is the threat? Details next.
And once again we can update you on the Rod Blagojevich case. He has now arrived at court in Chicago. We are waiting to hear the verdict read in this case.
These are live pictures there at the courthouse. He's facing about a 20 public corruption related counts, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that once belonged to Barack Obama before he resigned to become president. He faces a long time in prison if convicted today, charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, and solicitation of a bribe.
We have our Ted Rowlands there in the courthouse, and we'll bring you the verdict as soon as it comes in. So keep it here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: And we have some new video here just in to CNN. These are pictures. You can probably see him there -- there he is, clearly -- the former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, making his way through security there, and on his way into the courtroom, where he will hear the verdict read in this case of bribery and public corruption.
Facing about 20 counts, including wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat when he had resigned to become president. You may recall the first trial for the former governor deadlocked on 23 of the 24 counts, but did find Mr. Blagojevich guilty on one count of lying to the FBI.
We have our Ted Rowlands there in the courthouse in Chicago waiting for this verdict to be read. And we will bring that to you live right here. We're probably just minutes away from that, so please do keep it here on CNN.
Meanwhile, more now on the flooding causing big headaches in Nebraska. Two nuclear power plants sit right near the Missouri River. The Fort Calhoun plant, shut down since April for refueling, is already dealing with two feet of water. The other plant, Cooper Nuclear Station, sits on higher ground and continues to operate.
Our Patrick Oppmann is live at the Fort Calhoun facility.
Patrick, from your vantage point, any immediate danger there?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Randi. As you noted, this plant has been shut down. But even though it's been shut down the last two months, they were refueling the plant and saw the floodwaters coming in and decided they would take the plant off line. They still need to have power to this plant to keep the spent reactor fuel cooled down, make sure it doesn't get overheated and cause an event like we saw in Japan after the tsunami there.
Yesterday, the floodwaters were rising, got near transformers, and plant officials became concerned enough that they actually went to plan B, which was go to one of those larger diesel generators they have. They have three. They only need one to keep the plant on line. And they did that for several hours. And then once they determined the flooding wasn't going to be a problem for this plant, they went back on the grid late yesterday. But, again, it just illustrates how these things can be a domino effect.
Not sure when we're going to get a break from the flooding here, all part of that system that is affecting really the entire Midwest. But, as well, the Cooper Station Plant, it's still on line. But the water there is about 10 feet above normal. If it gets another three feet, they are required to go off line.
That would be Nebraska's only two nuclear power plants that would not be up and running. That would have an effect on consumers across the state of course -- Randi.
KAYE: And Patrick, any word on evacuations there?
OPPMANN: No. We've heard some because of flooding, but for right now, officials are saying that they don't recommend that anybody evacuate because of any kind of nuclear threat that might exist or not. They're being very cautious to spread the word that there's really nothing to be afraid of, that even with these plants facing historic flooding, there really are so many fail-safes they say in place, so many thing that they can fall back on that, no matter what happens, even if flooding does enter some of these plants, there will not be any kind of nuclear even, any kind of radiation release. They're very, very confident of that -- Randi.
KAYE: And just very quickly, how confident are people who live in that area about that? Do they trust that word?
OPPMANN: Much less so, Randi. As you would imagine, people here are very concerned.
Many of them that we've talked to live in the shadow of these plants. They've sort of taken them for granted. And now they don't know what is here (ph).
The plant I'm standing across the street from, the Fort Calhoun plant, it's under two feet of water. The only reason it's not completely soaked is because they have all these berms and levees. And until yesterday, they had a huge inflatable tube around the plant.
Well, that was another problem they had. That was punctured. They're trying to repair that. But again, one -- they're still keeping the water out even though there's two feet of water surrounding this entire plant.
KAYE: Patrick Oppmann in Nebraska for us.
Patrick, thank you very much.
So why was there such an abrupt recess in the Casey Anthony murder trial this weekend? Well, we'll tell you in just one minute.
And we're also watching another case, the case of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, making his way there into the courthouse in Chicago, waiting to hear the verdict in the case of about 20 public corruption-related counts that he's facing, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had belonged to Barack Obama. This all goes back to 2008 when he was taken into federal custody on corruption charges. He says that he denied any intention of bribery and has done nothing wrong.
We'll bring you the verdict from our reporter in the courtroom there as soon as we get it. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A recent string of cyber attacks on comp - oh. Once again these are live pictures of Rod Blagojevich heading into court in Chicago. Facing charges, including trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat when he resigned there to become president.
We have a reporter there, as you may recall. Blagojevich is charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiratcy, solicitation of a bribe. He's denied any intention of bribery.
It was back in 2008, December 9 that he was taken into custody on corruption charges. He's already been through one trial. 23 of the 24 counts against him in that case were thrown out except one, lying to the FBI. So, we will bring this verdict to you as soon as we get it.
Now, to a recent string of cyber attacks on companies such as Sony, CitiGroup and NASDAQ. Organizations that you'd hope would know something about data security has spotlighted the vulnerability of personal information that could be used to steal your identity. But if some of the world's largest corporations can't manage to keep your personal and financial data safe, is there anything you can do to protect yourself? And what should you do if your data is exposed?
Paul Stevens, director of policy and advocacy with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse spoke with CNNmoney for answers to today's "Taking the Lead."
First, if your Social Security number has been exposed, check your credit reports regularly. In place of fraud alert or perhaps a security freeze on your credit report. Stevens recommends starting at AnnualCreditReport.com, the official site to get a free credit report from each of the country's major consumer credit report agencies: Equifax, Experien, and TransUnion.
If information about your debit or credit card is stolen, you should immediately cancel the account and carefully monitor your financial statements to make sure your information is not being misused. This is particularly true if it's information about your debit card, since they offer consumers fewer protections against misuse.
Compared to a compromised credit card number or Social Security number, an exposed e-mail address may not seem like much. But if compromised, be on the lockout for what is called spear-fishing: targeted e-mail that poses as a legitimate message to solicit even more information. Stevens said, quote, "Unless you're 100 percent certain that an e-mail is legitimate, don't respond to it."
As for protecting yourself in advance, the most important thing to do is use different passwords for every account since hackers who have your password for one Web site can easily test to see whether it works for similar user names on other Web sites. Unfortunately, though, nothing is foolproof.
So, the most important thing is to be smart and share your information with as few people as possible.
All right. Time right now, coming up on 35 minutes past the hour. Here's a look at some of the stories that you may have missed. Now, checking some headlines.
The Casey Anthony trial, these are live pictures from that. As you can see, it's back on today after Casey was found competent to proceed by three psychologists over the weekend despite wrangling between the attorneys. Jurors are hearing testimony from chemist Kenneth Furton on alternative explanations for bad smells in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car.
And this just in: Casey Anthony's defense attorneys have filed a motion asking judge Belvin Perry to declare Florida's death penalty law unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court handed down two separate decisions today relating to campaign finance in video games. In a five-to-four majority, the court decided to toss out an Arizona law that provides extra taxpayer- funded support for politicians who are outspent by privately funded opponents or by independent political groups. The court decided in a seven-to-two ruling against California's proposed ban of sale of violent video games to children.
Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann formally announced her candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination today. She made her announcement during an appearance in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa where she briefly addressed the issues of health care, the national debt, jobs, housing and foreign policy. Bachmann joins former governors Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman and former House speaker Newt Gingrich in the race to become the Republican nominee for president.
A New Zealand surgeon has carried out a two-hour operation to save the life of the Emperor penguin that landed nearly 2,000 miles from its home in Antarctica. Many of you have sent me tweets asking about this penguin, so here's your answer. The penguin who's been dubbed Happy Feet was taken to the Wellington Zoo after it fell ill from eating sand and sticks. Sean Wyatt, the head of gastroenternology at the city's hospital, carried out the procedure in which he emptied out about half the animal's stomach and inserted a tiny camera. He hopes the procedure will allow Happy Feet's stomach to start functioning on its own.
An international court has issued an arrest warrant for Moammar Gadhafi. Will that have any effect on the fighting in Libya? we have a correspondent standing by in Tripoli. And we're also standing by for a verdict to be read in the case against former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Those are pictures of him entering court to hear that verdict read. Facing about 20 public corruption-related accounts. We'll get that verdict and bring you right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: And once again, we want to take you back to Chicago. These are live pictures of a whole lot of folks, you can see there, gathered at the courthouse in Chicago, waiting for the verdict to be read in the case against former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
Just checking "The Chicago Tribune," want to share this with you, it says he was quoted when he left his house as he made his way to court to hear the verdict read, quote, "My hands are shaking, my knees are weak," as he left the family's home there just outside Chicago.
So we will, of course, be watching this and we will bring you the verdict once it's read. Our Ted Rowlands is there in the courtroom. He's facing about 20 counts of corruption-related charges, including fraud, bribery. He has certainly denied any intention of bribery. If you've been paying as close attention to this as we all have here at CNN, you may recall he was taken into custody, federal custody, on corruption charges back in 2008.
And he went on to have a pretty big book deal. He signed on to "Celebrity Apprentice" done all kinds of things since then. But we'll wait for the verdict to be read and bring to it you as soon as we get it right here on CNN.
"Globe Trekking" now begins with news of a warrant for the arrest of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The international criminal court in the Hague issued the warrant today, accusing Gadhafi of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. It also issued similar warrants for one of Tadhafi's sons and Gadhafi's head of intelligence, who also is his brother-in-law.
Our David McKenzie is on the phone with us from Tripoli? No, we have him live. That's even better. David, is there any reaction to this warrant yet from the Libyan government?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, in the past, the Libyan government has kind of dismissed the international criminal court of the Hague, saying effectively they're going to ignore all of this. But we will have a press conference soon here with the foreign minister.
Certainly it doesn't have any major practical implications right now. Libya isn't on the ICC's list, it's not part of the Rome Statute. So, it cannot actually be beholden to sending people to the Hague, other than should the rebels push into Tripoli, say, and take Gadhafi or should he end up going to another country that is part of the Hague group of countries.
But certainly we've seen some angry demonstrations at the courthouse in Tripoli in response to the ICC rulings, and generally quite a tense atmosphere here in the capital, politically towards foreign journalists in the last few days. And particularly as the rebels are pushing ever closer to the capital, certainly from the southwest. Randi?
KAYE: And, David, what is the status, if you can bring us up to date, on the fighting at this hour in Libya?
MCKENZIE: Sure. Well, in the east, it's relatively a stalemate. We have fighting going on east of here in towns near Misrata. They're fighting between the rebels and the government forces, and certainly NATO has helped to stop rebels from pushing into the areas where the uprising began earlier this year.
Now, Randi, on the other side, southwest of here, in that direction from me, the rebels are fighting more aggressively as it were, pushing towards Tripoli. Now, they don't have any chance of pushing on to the capital any time soon. But what is significant, Randi, is that they could be moving towards a town east of here. If they join up with rebels in that town, effectively, they could cut off Tripoli from the border, from Tunisia, stopping a vital lifeline from Tunisia to the Gadhafi regime. And that would an effective siege of Tripoli.
Nothing at that stage just yet. But I assure you the Gadhafi regime is watching those fighters very closely as they inch towards the capital. As we will, of course. Randi?
KAYE: And David, just before we let you go, I want to get back to that warrant. Just one moere question. Some people are saying that this will just give Gadhafi more of an incentive to fight to the bitter end. Is that the general feeling there?
MCKENZIE: Well, the ICC hearings or the ICC arrest warrant by the chamber will mean that at the very least, the noose, the (INAUDIBLE) noose is tightening around Moammar Gadhafi.
Now, the rebels have always said they're not going to talk with the Gadhafi regime with any preconditions that it could be -- retire and not face some kind of justice. What it does is paint the Gadhafi regime into a corner, as it were, making, some would say, more difficult to have effective negotiations with the rebel side.
But I can tell you, there are small but significant diplomatic steps from the African Union, from countries in Europe, to try and form discussions between the Gadhafi regime and the rebels through third- party countries. Now, should those make some kind of step forward, we could see a political solution to this crisis and not a military one.
But certainly any major significant developments or moving forward, we just haven't been seeing that. People are continuing to die on the front lines. This crisis is effectively in a stalemate. And what was thought to be a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two, when the NATO campaign started is looking like it might drag on for a really long time now. Randi?
KAYE: All right. David McKenzie for us with the update. David, thank you.
We want to remind you, once again we're waiting for the verdict to be read in the case against former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. This is video from earlier when he arrived at the courthouse in Chicago to learn his fate. Charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, solicitation of a bribe. We'll bring you that verdict, just moments away here on CNN.
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KAYE: And once again, we want to show you these pictures here. This is video in earlier to CNN. Rod Blagojevich, former Illinois governor, at the Chicago Courthouse awaiting the verdict on the charges of corruption and intention of bribery that he faces.
This is the second time around that a trial for him and the second verdict to be read. I want to bring in our Holly Hughes, former prosecutor who's been watching this case for quite some time, along with the rest of us.
Holly, first of all, just looking at the charges and if he is found guilty, he was certainly accused of many things, among them trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat there in Illinois. He could go away for a very long time here.
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, he could, Randi. And the important thing to remember is this is the federal system and there is no parole in the federal system. There are mandatory sentencing guidelines that if he is convicted, the judge is going to have to follow those.
He can't just say, you know, I like you and I think you did some good work prior to these charges so I'm going to give you straight probation. Two most important things, mandatory sentencing guidelines and no parole.
So if in fact he's convicted and gets a sentence, he's going to have to serve that sentence.
KAYE: So the judge has no discretion? That's what you're saying here.
HUGHES: They have very little discretion. There will be a range that they can fall into and of course, they will take other things into consideration, prior public service.
You know, his attorneys will do a presentencing report and put up all the things. You know, all the things that he should be given credit for essentially.
But the judge is hemmed in, in the federal system within certain guidelines. So he's going to have a range to play with, but not a lot.
KAYE: Very quickly, real quickly, why do you think so many people are angry about this case? HUGHES: Randi, this goes to the very heart of what this country was founded on. When you try to sell a Senate seat, you are stealing the people's power, the power of the people in a democracy to elect their own officials.
That's why we form this had country. We didn't want a dynasty. We didn't want a royal family saying, do, do, do, this is the person in charge.
We wanted to come here, we wanted to have our say, vote for our own politicians. And when you try to sell President Obama's former Senate seat, you take away the power of the people. And that's why they're so mad.
KAYE: All right, Holly Hughes with some insight for us, thank you.
Changing home lives and changing attitudes about homework. One major school district is limiting how much homework really counts. A good idea or a bad idea? We'll put it to our stream team that's next.
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KAYE: And once again, we would like to remind you to keep it here on CNN because we are waiting along with you for the verdict to be read in the case of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
He is facing many charges, about 20 charges, including public corruption. He's charged with wire fraud, solicitation of conspiracy, trying to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. We are waiting for that verdict.
Ted Rowlands is there in the courtroom waiting for it as well. And we will bring that verdict to you live right here on CNN as soon as it happens. We should be just moments away from it.
In the meantime, homework is a fact of life for millions of students, but it doesn't get the same attention from all of them. Some have after-school jobs or they play sports. Others have living situation that is may make it a little bit harder to concentrate.
It is these types of situations that has led the Los Angeles Unified School District to de-emphasize homework. Starting July 1st, teachers cannot count homework as more than 10 percent of a student's grade.
The district says limiting the weight of homework gives a truer picture of the student's knowledge. This is from the memo sent to teachers, varying degrees of access to academic support at home, for whatever reason, should not penalize a student so severely that it prevents the student from passing a class nor should it inflate the grade.
So the second largest school district in the country has decided to limit homework's influence. So we're putting to question to our stream team. How much should homework count?
On the team today is XMSirius radio personality and mother of two, Jennifer Koppelman Hutt and CNN education contributor, Steve Perry. I'll ask both of you. But start with Jennifer here, how much should homework count, do you think?
JENNIFER KOPPELMAN HUTT, ATTORNEY: I think 10 percent is fair. Any more than that I think is too much. The kids have so much homework, it's impossible to get it all done. I think actually we need to limit how much homework is given.
KAYE: Steve, what do you say to that?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I think that's a joke. I think when you have a teacher who has an expertise in which they understand what the children didn't accomplish for today and what they need to accomplish for tomorrow.
And the teachers are being held accountable for what the people know then we need to begin to let the teachers lead. We say we want the most from our children yet our country's schools are in the bottom quartile and answer to that is to give children less homework?
HUTT: Hold on a minute, you're saying that the teachers are worrying that they're going to be held accountable for what the kids are learning or not learning and therefore the children should do more homework?
I've got to disagree with you there, Steve, respectfully, because I think the important learning should go on during the day in the classroom and if a little homework can reinforce that learning, terrific.
But the amount of homework that's given, these kids are working themselves to the bone having very little time for just decompression, which many kids need.
My almost - well, he's 12-1/2. He is so studious and so diligent and he works so hard. He stays up so late just doing his work, I have to put the kid to bed. He gets no time for extras, for relaxation or fun. How helpful is that? He's tired the next day.
KAYE: Steve, you want to respond? You have about 15 seconds.
PERRY: Simply being upset doesn't make you right respectfully. The fact is the reason why the L.A. Unified School District said for 694,000 children that they're not going to continue the expectation. It's not because it doesn't work.
Simply because they feel some kids' lives are too tough at home. They have too many responsibilities at home. These are the low expectations of soft racism that someone like George Bush talked about.
We're not going to expect you to do it because we know you can't. That's not the answer.
KAYE: All right, we are out of time. I'm sorry we've had some news that we've following this hour. So it was quick stream team, but we do appreciate both of you coming on.
What's better than dinner with the president? How about the vice president for dessert? You're CNN "Political Update" is next.
And of course, we continue to watch as we await word here for the verdict in Chicago. Former Illinois governor facing corruption charges, we'll bring that verdict to you in just moments.
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KAYE: Welcome back, once again. We want to remind you that we are awaiting the verdict to be read in the case against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He is at the Federal Courthouse in Chicago, left his home just a while ago.
He's facing about 20 public corruption-related counts. He stands to go away to prison for a very long time. We will bring that verdict to you as soon as we get it in here to CNN.
Meanwhile, it's time now for a CNN "Political Update." CNN's Joe Johns joins me from Washington. Joe, the Obama campaign is asking guess who else is coming to dinner. What's that about?
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, you remember when the vice president got caught off mic dropping the "f" bomb last year right after health care reform.
Biden got a little over exuberant telling the president what a big deal it was. Now it's turned into a running political joke and actually made its way into the Obama-Biden re-election campaign.
The president dialed up a little reference to this in a web video when he announced that Biden is going to join him in a contest for an all- expenses paid dinner for the winner fundraising sweepstakes. Listen to what the president said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Hi, everybody. I have a pretty big announcement about that contest the campaign is running where you can join me for dinner. We're sitting another place at the table for Joe Biden. He wants to join us. So this isn't so much dinner with Barack anymore as it is dinner with Barack and Joe. And to use one of his favorite expressions, that's a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: So obviously, this is a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" kind of deal. And the campaign clearly thinks adding Biden to the ticket is going to gin up some more interest -- Randi, back to you.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Joe, thank you very much.
Your next update from the best political team on television is just an hour away. And CNN NEWSROOM continues right now, though, with Brooke Baldwin.
Hi there, Brooke.
