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Bradley Manning To Learn Fate; Propane Tanks Explode In Florida; Intelligence Material To Be Declassified; Comey Confirmed As FBI Director; Explosions At Florida Propane Plant; Biggest Home Price Gain In Seven Years; Bradley Manning Not Guilty Of Aiding Enemy; Explosion in Florida; Hillay 2016 Buzz

Aired July 30, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: -- classified information in U.S. history will learn his fate.

It sounded like bombs going off. Multiple explosions at a propane plant just outside Orlando, Florida injured eight workers. We're taking a closer look at what investigators think may have happened.

Green paint splattered on monuments around Washington, D.C. A woman is arrested in two cases. Who's behind this terrible defacing and why doesn't security stop them?

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.

He's accused of biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history. Critics call him a traitor. Supporters say he's a hero. Any minute now, we will learn the verdict and the court-martial of Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. If convicted on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, Manning could be sentenced to life in prison. We'll have the verdict from Fort Meade, Maryland as soon as it's handed down.

Let's bring in our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. She's been reporting on this. Also, the Military Legal Analyst Eugene Fidell a professor at Yale Law School. All right, this leak involved 750,000 classified pages of documents and videos. Barbara, first to you, walk us through when are we going to precisely learn the verdict, what Manning is facing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the court has been called back into session at this hour. We do expect it at any minute. CNN has people in the courtroom. As soon as it's read and military security allows them to leave the courtroom, we will get the information and we will bring it to our viewers immediately.

As you say on the table, Bradley Manning, 25 years old, Private First Class in the Army. This young man could be facing, in the next few minutes, learning that he will spend the rest of his life in jail if he is convicted of aiding the enemy. He has already pled guilty to some lesser charges that could get him a sentence of 20 years. The judge will -- would have to accept that as well. All of us are waiting to hear the latest details and what the judge has to say -- Wolf. BLITZER: And he's 25 years old right now. Professor Fidell, the most serious charge, charge number one, that he gave intelligence to the enemy through indirect means and that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He did give this information to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks put it out there. What is your take on this?

EUGENE FIDELL, CNN MILITARY LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's a very serious charge and, as you know, he does stand a chance at least of getting a maximum punishment of life in prison. In fact, the statute permits a capital sentence, a death sentence but the government took that off the table. It'll be very interesting, to me, to see what the Judge Denise Lynn, who is an Army colonel, says when she announces her verdict in the case.

BLITZER: How important is this notion that some are saying, you know, he's a whistle blower and he was trying to help the country. He was well intentioned. He was naive. The prosecution, on the other hand, basically suggesting that he's a traitor who is seeking to hurt the United States. That, basically, is the main -- the main arguments that the two sides, lawyers have been making.

FIDELL: Well, I hate to sound salomonic about it, but I wouldn't have said either what the government said or what the defense said. As far as whether Private Manning is traitor, that is a word that should not be band aided back. It's the only crime specifically referred to in the U.S. Constitution. It has a unique stigma to it. And unless somebody is going to prosecute him for treason, he shouldn't be called a traitor.

On the other hand, I think the claims that he is a whistle blower are really off base. And he may have had what he considers good intentions but, at the end of the day, it's not open to every citizen to decide whether to share the country's crown jewels with others.

BLITZER: Well, that raises the question, crown jewels. Barbara, I don't know you've done a lot of reporting. 750,000 pages were handed over in videos, handed over to WikiLeaks and a lot of that -- obviously, all of that basically posted on the Internet. But a lot of it was classified secret. It wasn't classified top secret. It wasn't classified CSI secure compartmented information which is a higher classification. The question is this. Based on everything you've heard, Barbara, how much real damage to U.S. national security was done as a result of this?

STARR: Well, this has been the debate all along and it continues to be the debate in the Snowden case as well. How much damage? People will tell you that Bradley Manning leaked a lot of information but that it was information intelligence at a point in time. Something that happened in Iraq. Something that happened in Afghanistan. A diplomatic cable. And they will tell you that that information was rapidly out of date by the time it was published and did no real harm -- no real harm to national security.

But to go to the Professor's Fidell's point. In this country, no member of the U.S. military, certainly a private first class, has permission to decide what classified information at any level they can just download and distribute to the public. It's a crime. The question will be how hard will the judge come down on Bradley Manning? It may be the same question that Edward Snowden faces someday in a U.S. civilian court. Both of these men downloaded information that was classified, stated what they said their intentions were, but nobody so far has been able to say that they did not violate the law -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I assume the judge, Professor Fidell, will get a classified report, a damage assessment report from the Pentagon on how much damage they believe he made. And that presumably would have an impact on the sentence, right?

FIDELL: Well, yes. I assume that will be one of the issues in the sentencing phase of the case. Viewers should understand that a court martial has two phases. The first has to do with whether the individual is guilty or not guilty of the charges against him or her and the second has to do with the sentence. What's going to happen today is we're going to finish phase one and move into phase two. And we know we're going to have a phase two, Wolf, because Private Manning has already pleaded guilty to a number of offenses. What's --

BLITZER: But he --

FIDELL: -- on the table right now is those offenses he has not pleaded guilty to.

BLITZER: Yes, but he's pleaded guilty to lesser offenses that don't carry life in prison. They carry maybe a maximum of 20 years in prison but not life. The much more serious charges, especially the first charge, gave intelligence to the enemy through indirect means, that's the one that carries the life in prison. And, obviously, we don't know if charge number one, he's innocent, guilty or not guilty. But we should know in the next few minutes.

I want both of you to stand by. We're going to continue the breaking news coverage. As soon as we get word from the court of Fort Meade, Maryland, we'll have it right here on CNN. So, stand by, Eugene Fidell, Barbara Starr, we'll get back to this story as soon as we get word from the courthouse.

The U.S. intelligence community plans to declassify additional information, meanwhile, about NSA surveillance programs and that may happen as soon as today. CNN has learned it would include information on the so-called white papers and previously undisclosed information about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Last night on CNN's "AC 360," the father of accused NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, told Anderson Cooper his son loves his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LON SNOWDEN: He's not living a comfortable life, at this point. He said he's an American, and he loves his country. I know my son. I know he loves his country. You know, what he believed is that this information, the American people needed to be aware of what their government was doing to them. Spying upon them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Edward Snowden is still believed to be in that airport in Moscow while he negotiates his -- his lawyers at least, his asylum, temporary one perhaps, in Russia.

It's official. The FBI now has a new chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFED MALE: On this vote, the yays are 93, the nays are one. Two senators responded present. The nominations --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Senate confirmed that James Comey to head the FBI. The 93 to one vote came after Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky dropped his filibuster of Comey. The senator had held up the nomination seeking more information about the FBI's use of drones. Senator Paul was the lone vote against President Obama's choice to take over the FBI. Senator Paul, by the way, will be joining me in the "SITUATION ROOM" later today.

Here is what we're working on for this hour. Right now, explosions at a propane plant in Florida injured workers overnight leaving behind this wasteland.

And also, hear what the fire chief thinks may have caused these tremendous fire balls.

Housing prices gain a lot of steam. The biggest year over -- the biggest year-over-year jump in seven years. We're looking at what this mean for you.

And a real New Jersey housewife in real trouble with the law and so is her husband. We'll take a closer look at the serious federal charges they face.

But first, we've got breaking news. Barbara Starr. Barbara, I think we've got the verdict in the Bradley Manning case?

STARR: We do indeed, Wolf. Our producer, Larry Shaughnessy, has just left the courtroom and called in this information. He tells us, Private First Class Manning has been found not guilty. Not guilty of aiding the enemy. And, of course, that is the charge that might have carried the maximum sentence of life in prison. He was found guilty of most of the remaining charges against him with the judge accepting some of the guilty pleas he had made to previous lesser charges.

The other charges against Manning had included wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet, transmitting national defense information, theft of public property or records. We will find out in the coming moments the actual details of what she has accepted in these other matters.

But the most significant for Bradley Manning found not guilty on the charge of aiding the enemy. I think it's very interesting because the prosecution had made the case that the information, some of it at least, most likely wound up in the hands of Al Qaeda. They made the case that even Osama Bin Laden, his files, his material was shown to have included, they believe, some of the information from WikiLeaks, the basis for his information having aided the enemy.

The government had -- the Pentagon had tried to make the case from the beginning that Bradley Manning's leaks harmed national security, that people could have been harmed by it, that people could have even died from his leaks of information. We will learn more about the judge's reasoning behind finding him not guilty of aiding the enemy. But it looks, at this point, like not all the points of prosecution tried to make on that were listened to by the judge.

Make no mistake, however, Bradley Manning found guilty on other charges, found guilty of down loading classified information and illegally giving it to the public -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, let's bring Eugene Fidell, the Professor of military law, our Legal Analyst into this conversation. I you surprised, Professor Fidell, that he was found not guilty of charge number one, giving intelligence to the enemy through indirect means?

FIDELL: I'm not really surprised. I was trying to figure out what was more likely and I think that was slightly more likely than a conviction. But remember, the burden of proof in a court-martial just like a regular criminal case in the civilian courts is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a very, very substantial undertaking by the government. And a lot of cases that can survive a motion, in other words, a motion to dismiss or in the military, a motion for finding of not guilty as this charge did, don't make it to the -- to the finish line. So, is it surprising? I'm sure it's a pleasant surprise for Private Manning, we'll put it that way.

BLITZER: And his supporters and his friends. But a quick question, a quick follow-up. If the argument, is there intent? Is that part of the -- in order to convict him of this first charge, aiding the enemy, if you will, by even indirect means, it has to -- the intent has to be proven, Professor Fidell, that he really wanted to aid the enemy as oppose to doing this for what he thought was a good cause for the United States?

FIDELL: Wolf, I think that's disputed territory. And for better or worse, we're not going to get a good answer on it because the case, that part of the case, is not going to go to the appellate courts, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. court of appeals for the armed forces. Had there been a conviction on that, we have learned a lot more about what Article 104 of the uniform code of military justice requires. We're not going to know that. It's going to linger as an area of potential uncertainty.

BLITZER: Well, so, the breaking news and let me repeat it for our viewers who are just tuning in. Private First Class Bradley Manning found not guilty. Not guilty on the most serious charge he was facing, charge number one, giving intelligence to the enemy through indirect means. Non guilty. That would have carried the maximum penalty of life in prison. He did plead guilty to several other charges potentially facing 20 years in prison, convicted of other lessor charges.

But the main charge, aiding, in effect, the enemy through indirect means, not guilty. Eugene Fidell helping us. Barbara Starr helping us. We'll stay on top of this story. We'll get more information from Fort Meade, Maryland from inside the courtroom. We have producers and reporters on the scene including our own Chris Lawrence who is inside that courtroom right now. We'll take a quick break. A lot more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Investigators are on the scene in Florida right now where a propane gas facility went up in flames sending several people to the hospital. The explosion shot 20 gallon propane tanks into the air. One resident said it felt like bombs were going off. CNN's Adriana Hauser is live in Florida. Adriana, tell us what we know about how this all started.

ADRIANA HAUSER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Wolf. We still don't have any conclusion as to what went on here last night. The scene here is very different from the scene we encounter d last night. The fire has been contained and put out. And what we saw when we waled into the facility were the thousands of canisters, of cylinders of propane that were involved in the explosion. We heard from Richard Keith, who is the fire chief of the city. He says the investigation is going on but there are some clues. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD KEITH, TAVARES FIRE DEPARTMENT: We don't think there was any act of sabotage or anything like that. We think it was an equipment failure with a combination of maybe human error from one of the staff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAUSER: Wolf, Blue Rhino confirmed there were 24 workers inside the plant at the time of the explosion. All of them were accounted for. Eight workers were injured and taken to hospitals in the area. Some of them were flown by helicopter. We don't know the extent of the injuries. We just know that they're in local hospitals. But authorities are calling it a blessing. The fact there were no fatalities given the circumstances. We know this through Richard Keith, the fire chief that employees were actively manipulating thousands of cylinders of propane that were inside the facility.

We know the facility has been shut down, but it's functional. So, I guess that as soon as the investigation ends they will try to think about reopening. As of now the plant is shut down. There were no fatalities. The community here is relieved to learn there's no fatalities. People are still in the hospital and we're trying to find out the extent of those injuries. But we don't have that information yet. We're trying to find out what started this massive fire and explosion.

BLITZER: Adriana Hauser reporting for us from the scene. Thanks very much.

Let's go to Philadelphia where eight people are recovering after an explosion on Monday destroyed three row houses. Authorities say natural gas set off the blast. Here is what one boy saw at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCGRAW, JR., WITNESSED BLAST AFTERMATH: A saw a fireman. This dude was burnt up. They were hosing him down with a fire hose. They threw a baby out the window because the girl was on fire and the fireman had to catch the baby and all.

END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Fire chief says a contractor was rehabbing a vacant home when it exploded. Neighbors reported feeling the blast several blocks away.

Authorities have nabbed the person they say is responsible for throwing green paint inside the National Cathedral. The police chief here in Washington, D.C. says the recent acts appear to be connected. Over at the cathedral, paint was splattered on an organ, the floor, and even a mural.

Police say the paint was still wet when the vandalism was discovered. This came days after the green paint was found splashed on the Lincoln Memorial and a statue outside of the Smithsonian. A 58-year-old woman is now in custody. The police chief said earlier today that they are quote "looking at this as a possibly linked to three other incidents. They certainly seem to be."

We're on stand by for any new developments involving the Yankee player Alex Rodriguez. He's accused of using performance enhancing drugs and is awaiting word from Major League Baseball as to whether he will be suspended from the sport and if so, for how long. Some reports say the punishment could be enough to end his career. Perhaps even a lifetime ban. Rodriguez turns 38 on Saturday. He's the highest paid player. He's still owed $28 million this year alone. Right now he remains on the disabled list playing with the Yankees' minor league team in Tampa.

Divers have recovered the body of a former Major League Baseball player who drowned in a lake near Phoenix. Fank Castillo was boating with his family on Sunday when he slipped beneath the surface during a storm - a swim I should say. Castillo played for half a dozen teams over 13 years in the majors. He was 44 years old.

President Obama's about a half hour away from giving another major speech on the economy. This time, he's proposing what he calls a grand bargain to lower taxes on corporations in exchange for middle class jobs. Top Republicans aren't going in for it. At least not yet. We're taking a look at the president's proposal and the reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just two friends sitting down over scrambled eggs, or was this morning's breakfast between Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden preview of the 2016 presidential race? It's the second high powered meal for Clinton in as many days. Yesterday she had lunch with President Obama over at the White House. There's a nice picture of them enjoying the meal. On the Republican side a different situation unfolding.

You have Senator Rand Paul, the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, they are trading jabs. By the way, Senator Paul will join me in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today, 5PM eastern.

Let's bring in our chief political analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, what does this mean? The internal sort of bickering on the Republican side, the sort of nice good will at least for now on the Democratic side. What does it mean for 2016?

GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, at least for now, which is a key phrase, it looks like the Democrats are getting along a little bit better, not forming those circular firing squad that we're used to see Democrats form.

Hillary Clinton was in Washington. And look at it this way, she was meeting with a couple of her old colleague who are very important to her who happen to be the president and vice president. We're told these meeting were pre-scheduled. You can imagine what was on the agenda, Mideast peace talks, the question about Syria.

But of course with Joe Biden -- you look at Hillary Clinton meeting with Joe Biden, these are two people who ran against each other in 2008, but they have been colleagues in this administration. We have been talking over the last month that it seems pretty clear that if Hillary Clinton were to run for the presidency that Joe Biden might decide he would not and step aside.

We don't know whether that came up at lunch, at breakfast. I tend to doubt it. The Republicans on the other hand are competing for a vision. They're kind of out in the wilderness right now. And so they are trying to figure out what their party stands for because it didn't work so well for them in the last election.

BLITZER: You don't think the vice president said that at some point when the two of them were by themselves, Hillary are you going to run for the Democratic nomination? He didn't ask her that blunt, direct question?

BORGER: Knowing Joe Biden as you and I do, I wouldn't rule anything out. Because of course as you know he tends to be very direct. I do think it's a little premature for either one of them to be doing this dance now. He doesn't have to ask her directly. I bet at a certain point when she makes her decision he would be one of the first people she calls.

BLITZER: I'm sure you're right on that. At to top of the hour the president's going to deliver another in a series of economic speeches. This one in Tennessee. He's giving the Republicans at least a little bit of an olive branch by proposing some major corporate tax reform, meaning lower taxes for corporations but he wants them to reciprocate. What's going on?

BORGER: Well, what the president is saying is that he's going to want to lower corporate tax rates, which by the way is nothing new. He's always talked about doing it, Republicans have talked about doing it, but in exchange he says he wants to use the one time revenue wind fall you would get from doing that to create more middle class jobs by fixing the nation's infrastructure, for example.

The Republicans already have said this isn't a grand bargain in any way, shape, or form, because it's not part of an overall tax reform scheme. And they don't think it's any kind of a bargain either because they don't want to spend this money.

They're dismissing it as dead on arrival. You see what the president is going with all of these economic speeches. He's putting Republicans on notice that as far as raising the debt ceiling is concerned and the budget fight is concerned he's going to be aggressive and not going to hang back and he's going to put his ideas on the table and like to hear from them to figure out a way forward if there is a way forward.

BLITZER: We'll see what the president has to say in Chattanooga, Tennessee right at the top of the hour. Thanks very much. I just want to remind our viewers that Rand Paul, the senator from Kentucky will join us in "THE SITUATION ROOM" 5:00PM eastern.

Houses are starting to sell again big time. The market is hotter than in years. We'll tell you how much more your house could be worth. That's coming up.

You may know them as Joe and Teresa on the reality show, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." But now they are also known potentially criminally facing serious charged to defraud lenders, illegally obtain mortgages. We're taking a closer look at how they got into this mess.

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