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CNN Live Saturday

Roof Collapse In Poland, Rescue Efforts Underway; President Bush Threatens To Cut Palestinian Aid Unless Hamas Renounces Violence; Profile Of Hamas, Fatah; President Bush Says Clinton A Formidable Presidential Candidate; Challenger Remembered; Fight Over Saddam Hussein Statues And Monuments; Red Cross Under Fire; Skilling And Lay On Trial; Black Market Breast Milk; Nuclear Energy Revival In France

Aired January 28, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Hopefully that Hamas, now that they are going to govern, will be motivated to renounce this commitment to the extinction of the State of Israel. Then we can do business again.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Straight talk for Hamas by U.S. Senator John McCain. But will the group that the U.S. considers a terrorist organization budge? Or will the already complex situation in the Middle East become even more complicated?

Also remembering the Challenger disaster. Twenty years ago today the nation watched in horror at what happened to the space shuttle 73 seconds after takeoff.

And he spent more than two decades behind bars before DNA evidence set him free. Now he's telling his story to CNN.

Welcome to CNN SATURDAY LIVE. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield. A busy hour ahead. Let's get started now with other headlines now in the news.

Rescue efforts continue in Poland after a roof collapse at an exposition hall. At least 30 people were injured. Several hundred were inside. Reports quote police as saying they believe heavy snow is to blame for the collapse. A report from Poland straight ahead.

As for the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, it suffers brutal cold with a limited natural gas supply. The country strikes an emergency gas deal with Iran. The first shipments could begin tomorrow. Last weekend an explosion destroyed a Russian pipeline that supplies gas to Georgia.

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush plan a big night out. They're scheduled to attend this evening's Alfalfa Club dinner in Washington. The guest list also includes some other political heavyweights. Including members of Congress, the Supreme Court and the president's Cabinet. The exclusive social club was founded 93 years ago. We begin with the developing story in southern Poland. A frantic rescue effort is under way at an exposition hall after the snow- covered roof of the complex collapsed. Hundreds of people were inside when the roof gave way. On the phone now from Warsaw, Polsat correspondent Hannah Smoktunowicz.

Hanna, what can you tell us about what's going on? We know you're not at the specific scene there. But do we know if people are still trapped inside?

HANNAH SMOKTUNOWICZ, POLSAT CORRESPONDENT (on phone): Yes. Hello, Suzanne. Unfortunately yes, there are several hundred people trapped inside but we don't really know their exact number. There are some estimates, optimistic estimates saying about 100 people. But unfortunately, the more realistic number seems to be around 500.

There was a pigeon exhibition being held inside this exhibition center when the roof collapsed. And so entire families with children came in to see it. It can now also to be confirmed that there are casualties. No word about their number. But unfortunately, yes, people have died there. And from what we know dozens have been taken to hospitals. More than 30 people taken to hospital now. And no word on their condition so far.

There are ambulances coming in and out of the place all the time. Two-hundred thirty police officers on the scene and 70 firefighter brigades working all the time. So it's really a tough and painstaking rescue operation. And the rescue groups here say this is going to last at least until the early hours of the morning.

MALVEAUX: Can you give us more details about how it happened. Are officials talking about that or is it too early?

SMOKTUNOWICZ: Excuse me. Can you repeat that?

MALVEAUX: Hannah, can you give us any more details about how this actually happened? How did it unfold?

SMOKTUNOWICZ: Well, from what we know now, this happened around 5:30 p.m. local time. That's about two and a half hours ago. There were, unfortunately, in this whole horrible accident, there were unfortunately people in the early afternoon hours apparently -- we had a really harsh winter. These past two weeks were terrible with freezing temperatures and first of all massive snowfall.

So the whole country is covered under snow. And from what they're telling us this roof just didn't -- couldn't take the weight of the snow on it. So it just collapsed. There were heavy metal brackets that just gave in. And there are people apparently under those brackets and there is heavy equipment coming in now.

But it's really hard to make one's way inside. So what's happening now is that there are still people trapped under those metal steel brackets. And paramedics are trying to release them in some way, ease their pain and wait until the heavy equipment can actually come in. Because as far as I know, up until now, it has been really impossible to get in the heavy equipment needed to take away those brackets that are lying all over the place and having people trapped underneath.

MALVEAUX: Hannah Smoktunowicz, thanks for following that for us. We'll be getting more details, of course. Thanks for following that for us.

And of course, shock waves also in the middle east. More fallout from the Palestinian election. Angry activists from the Palestinian Fatah Party stormed the parliamentary building in Ramallah. The party suffered stunning losses at the polls. Meanwhile, the victors, Hamas, stand firm. Leaders of that militant group say that the struggle against Israel goes on.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Gaza with the very latest.

We lost Ben Wedeman's report. We'll get back to that. In the meantime, in the United States, a warning for Hamas. President Bush threatens to cut off aid to the Palestinians if the militant group does not renounce violence. The United States has earmarked more than $340 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority this year.

The State Department also says it will review all money give to the Palestinians, including funds going through the U.N. and non- governmental groups. Hamas leaders are calling the threats aid blackmail. Now back to that piece -- we're going to move on here now.

Now a profile of the main parties in the Palestinian politics. Hamas is a party who some consider a radical extremist agenda. Of course, Fatah is an entrenched Palestinian party, an old boys club, if you will, seen by many as corrupt and ineffective. CNN's Zain Verjee takes a closer look.

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ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Yellow for the Fatah Party, founded as the Palestinian Liberation Movement nearly half a century ago by Yasser Arafat. It became the ruling party when the Palestinian Authority was founded in 1994 and wasn't seriously challenged in the last parliamentary election a decade ago. A year ago after Arafat's death, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian president by a landslide.

Fatah won popularity during what Palestinians call the armed struggle against Israel. But over the past decade it's participated in peace talks. Fatah's one party rule has now won it a reputation for corruption and mismanagement.

The green flags fly for Hamas. The Islamic Resistance Movement founded in 1987. Its covenant calls for the destruction of Israel. And it seeks a fundamentalist state. Its weapon of choice, the suicide bomber. Dozens of attacks have taken a heavy toll.

And Israel has struck back against Hamas leaders. But while Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the United States, it has long had a political wing, winning a reputation among Palestinians for its social welfare activities. Hamas campaigned on a clean government platform and won favor among many just by providing an alternative. Zain Verjee, CNN.

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MALVEAUX: We're going to try once more for Ben Wedeman in Gaza with the very latest out of the region, of course, on those developments. Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne. We've seen demonstrations throughout the West Bank and here in Gaza today. In Ramallah, Fatah gunmen ascended to the roof of the Palestinian parliament after taking over the buildings, fired shots in the air and, of course, voiced again the demand of many of these Fatah rank and file for the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Similar demonstrations also going on here in Gaza, as well, throughout the day.

What this really is about, among other things, is who's going to control the Palestinian security services, which until now, of course, are dominated by Fatah. And really the problem dates back to several years ago when the United States put pressure on the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to relinquish his control over those security forces to the Palestinian prime minister.

And of course now that the Palestinian prime minister could be a Hamas leader, they want to transfer, they want to make sure that the authority over these security forces remains in the hands or goes back to the hands of the Palestinian president who of course, is Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader. So a complicated situation. A real power struggle already emerging between Hamas and Fatah. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for joining us from Gaza.

Former President Jimmy Carter was among the international observers of the Palestinian elections. He'll join CNN's Wolf Blitzer on LATE EDITION to talk about this radical change in Middle East politics. That is tomorrow morning at 11:00 Eastern.

Now, turning briefly to politics now, President Bush called Senator Hillary Clinton formidable when asked about her potential as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. Mr. Bush commented last night during an interview on "CBS Evening News" but he refused to speculate about which Republicans might run for the White House.

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BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Looks like Senator Clinton's running pretty hard right now for the Democratic nomination.

GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: She's formidable.

SCHIEFFER: Who would you say at this point the leading Republican candidates for president would be? BUSH: It's hard to tell. And the minute I started speculating you'd make all kinds of news with it. And it would interject me in the race. I'm trying to figure out how to play this coming down the pike. For a political observer like yourself and political participant like me, this is an unusual year, because it's the first time there hasn't been a kind of natural successor in either party. It's two wide open primaries with no sitting vice president running in either primary. And so I can't remember a time when it's been this open.

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MALVEAUX: And President Bush said he might be interested in establishing a think tank on freedom and liberty once he leaves office and he said he doesn't think he would have become president if he hadn't been married to Laura Bush.

It's a day of remembrance at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Twenty years ago today NASA's teacher in space mission ended in disaster when the space shuttle Challenger blew up just 73 seconds into its flight. Where were you when you heard the news? Our own John Zarrella was right there covering the Challenger mission for CNN. He's covering today's events at the space center -- John.

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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at the Kennedy Space Center visitor's complex, completion of a memorial that lasted about an hour and a half of the Challenger crew. The Challenger 7.

(voice-over): The culmination of this memorial event, the laying of a wreath by June Scobee Rogers at the base of the astronaut memorial on which 24 names of astronauts are inscribed. Of course, it was 20 years ago today that the crew of Challenger headed out to the launch pad on a glorious morning, cold, 36 degrees. Challenger lifting off at 11:38 a.m. on a mission cut so drastically short. Just 73 seconds before the explosion of the shuttle Challenger.

Today during this ceremony, June Scobee Rogers talked about the risks that she and her husband often talked about.

JUNE SCOBEE ROGERS, HUSBAND OF DEAD ASTRONAUT: Without risk, there's no discovery, there's no new knowledge, there's no bold adventure. All of which help the human soul to soar. And the greatest risk is to take no risk. For the progress of our nation depends on the growth, fueling the engine of the economy for our nation. Moving forward as pioneers into the next frontier.

ZARRELLA (on camera): The Challenger mission was, of course, supposed to be one of NASA's crowning jewels. It was the teacher in space mission. Christa McAuliffe was going to teach two lessons in space. Of course, that never happened. Today we mark the anniversary of the Challenger accident. Next week it will be three years since the Columbia crew perished in that accident. John Zarrella reporting from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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MALVEAUX: And this program note. This weekend CNN PRESENTS the real story of Challenger astronaut and teacher Christa McAuliffe. For the first time her family reveals the private pain behind the public tragedy. Tune in tonight at 8:00 Eastern for CNN PRESENTS: "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars."

And coming up, as Saddam Hussein is tried for alleged crimes against the people of Iraq, what's being done about those statues of Saddam that were once very visible across the country?

And how could these women be jeopardizing some babies by breast feeding? That story still ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

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MALVEAUX: Two months after they were kidnapped in Iraq, four western hostages appear in a videotape aired by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. The network broadcast the tape earlier today, but CNN has not confirmed the date it was made.

In the broadcast, an anchor read an apparent message from the kidnappers. It threatens to execute the four if a last chance demand isn't met. That all Iraqi prisoners in American and Iraqi custody be released. The hostages include an American, two Canadians and a Brit. All of them work for the Chicago-based humanitarian group, Christian peacemakers.

As former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein stands trial, Iraq is trying to decide what to do with part of its history. Statues and monuments to Saddam Hussein once covered the country. Now there is a battle underway between those who want the monuments destroyed and those who want them preserved. CNN's Michael Holmes reports from Baghdad.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is perhaps the most famous image of the war, Saddam's statue pulled down by the Americans as they arrived in Baghdad. But there would be few world dictators who loved images of themselves more than Saddam Hussein. And they are or were everywhere. But, as reminders of him and his Baath Party are removed, what should be done with them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If a statue is specifically related to the former regime, may God's curse fall upon it. It should be destroyed.

HOLMES: Iraqi officials disagree and are now attempting to gather and preserve what they can for a museum. Even painful, ugly memories, they say, are history.

MAYSOON AL-DUMLUJI, IRAQI DEPUTY CULTURE MINISTER: Absolutely like Berlin. You find quite a few reminders of the Nazi era in Germany, for instance. And this is something that we mustn't forget. HOLMES: Around the capital empty pedestals where Saddam and cronies once stood. Political and religious posters there instead. Little evidence left where huge monuments once hung. But where are they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're made of bronze, weigh approximately about four tons apiece. There were four of them.

HOLMES: Two of four huge Saddam heads lay on the grounds of the U.S. embassy, which was once Saddam's main palace. Nearby, a statue of the founder of the Baath Party. Bronze reliefs that once adorned buildings lay in the corner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For some it could be a reminder and for others it could be a reminder of a very bad thing they don't want to be reminded of.

HOLMES: Sergeant Patrick McDonald (ph) came here to help with the elections, but this is his passion, studying the remnants of the Hussein days and preserving them for Iraqis to decide their fate. Here in the once grand Hall of Meetings, a mural on the ceiling. Propaganda at its best. Iraqi soldiers beating back the Americans in the First Gulf War.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tell you if they ever decide they want to destroy it or remove it, there's a lot of American military bases that would die to have this in their museum.

HOLMES: Nearby, a tribute to late to save. While down the corridor a bronze relief depicting Saddam as one of the great Arab leaders remains intact.

(on camera): This is just a small portion of the Saddam collection, for want of a better description. There's a lot more stuff, other statues, there's documents, clothing, even his watch. But most of that material is being kept in secure locations. Officials are worried that victims of Saddam's regime may want to steal that material or destroy it.

(voice-over): Some things are protected. The famous crossed swords, for example, a memorial to the Iran-Iraq war. The hands made from a mold of Saddam's own. For many Iraqis, remnants of a painful era in a museum is fine as long as they're off the streets.

ABIL ALI, GOVERNMENT WORKER (through translator): Any statue or anything that reminds a man of his wounds should be removed. We Iraqis are filled with wounds.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN Baghdad.

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MALVEAUX: And coming up, a lot of Americans trust the Red Cross to come to the rescue in times of need. Has Hurricane Katrina cost the charity its credibility? That story ahead on CLL LIVE SATURDAY.

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MALVEAUX: Time is running out for hurricane evacuees still living in hotels and motels. They have until Monday to request an authorization code that will extend their FEMA-paid stays beyond a February 7th deadline. That number is 1-800-621-FEMA. It is estimated that some 40,000 evacuees remain in federally subsidized hotel rooms.

The Red Cross is under fire from Washington to the Gulf Coast. It's response to Hurricane Katrina is being questioned. Congressional committees are probing the leadership and spending habits. CNN's chief national correspondent John King has more.

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JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is part cooking, part assembly line. Chili and boiled potatoes for 20,000. No short order. All handed off for delivery from the world's most recognizable disaster relief agency, the Red Cross, still on the ground in New Orleans and still very much under fire five months after Katrina.

This is the last Red Cross staging area here. Still bustling with a clear sense of urgency. And Pat Keena knows the response to what is his 30th disaster in 12 years has raised scathing questions about the organization's priorities and effectiveness.

PAT KEENA, AMERICAN RED CROSS: We do drop the ball. We're a large organization and that happens.

KING: The volunteers share a remarkable enthusiasm. And those with Red Cross horror stories like Bruce Efferson of Slidell's First Baptist Church are quick to separate the eager foot soldiers from a bureaucracy he says slowed critical emergency assistance.

BRUCE EFFERSON, SLIDELL FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: Layer upon layer upon layer, no communication and everybody thought they were really somebody.

KING: Among Efferson's complaints, the Red Cross wouldn't come to the church immediately after Katrina because it said the hurricane had left the area too dusty. Twice he says Red Cross managers complained about mosquitoes and threatened to close the only emergency kitchen for miles. Not to mention pallets of jalapeno peppers and other food shipments he found less than helpful at a time he was feeding 15,000 people a day.

EFFERSON: We ended up with 25 cases of fortune cookies. It is real humorous today. It wasn't humorous at all then. I'm trying to think how can I make a meal people out of 25 cases of fortune cookies.

KING: So many complaints that several congressional committees are conducting investigations. Among the issues -- why spending on hurricane relief seems to fall well below the more than $2 billion raised. Why so much management turmoil. The Red Cross has had four chief executives in six years. And why is the Red Cross still seeking Katrina contributions even though it stopped taking applications for emergency hurricane assistance back in December.

The Red Cross says more than 90 cents of every dollar it raises goes directly to disaster victims. Where it focuses that help is another pressing question. Bishop C. Garnett Henning who oversees 270 AME Churches in Mississippi and Louisiana is among the African American leaders who say that Red Cross resources often appeared in white communities well their theirs.

BISHOP C. GARNETT HENNING, AME CHURCH: They don't have enough people employed with them that look like the people they're trying to serve.

KING: Well, that's a color issue.

GARNETT: Yeah, it's a color issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pleased to see so many folks to come out and listen to what we have to say.

KING: Red Cross insists it gets the message. This presentation in Birmingham last week was the first time the organization has sent representatives to a major AME Church Convention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Roy Ward (ph) from New Orleans, Louisiana. What I hope to gain from this is to try to be prepared for the next one.

KING: What the Red Cross hopes to gain is that they're trying harder. Smyther Fallen was recently hired away from the NAACP to coordinate African American outreach.

SMYTHER FALLEN, RED CROSS: We're in the learning phase so that we can address concerns so we can learn from mistakes and so we can do better next time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a great day out there.

KING: Jorge Vallejo says some Red Cross drivers in New Orleans have been cussed and harassed in African American neighborhoods that believe help was too slow in coming. His route nowadays takes him past some of the worst destruction and into the city's Bywater section. There is water, snacks and a few hundred hot lunches.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

KING: Perhaps a down payment on repairing a tattered image. But even smiles like these won't end the scrutiny of red cross management fund-raising and a Katrina response many say took too long to reach those who most needed help. John King, CNN, New Orleans.

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MALVEAUX: Ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, a Florida man is free after more than two decades behind bars. Find out what he has to say about his new status. And as energy costs keep rising, one country is making a full scale commitment to exploring the possibilities of nuclear power. Have the safety questions been answered?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider with a look at your "Cold & Flu Report" for Saturday. As we check things out across the country, we can show you parts of the country reporting flu outbreaks so far this season.

You'll find widespread activity across the southwest. That includes Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Also regional outbreaks in parts of the southeast, sporadic reports of the flu so far for the Midwest and into North Carolina and up towards Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. No activity reported so far. That's good news for South Carolina. That's a look at your "Cold & Flu Report" for Saturday, I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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MALVEAUX: Disaster in Southern Poland. The roof of an exhibition hall collapsed, killing at least four people. Several hundred people were believed to be inside the hall attending a pigeon show. Police believe heavy snow caused the roof to collapse.

A warning from Iran. A leader in the country's Revolutionary Guard says Iran will respond with missiles if attacked by Britain and the U.S. Tensions have heightened between the west over Tehran's nuclear program.

NASA remembers one of its darkest moments. Commemorations were held at the Kennedy Space Center this morning, marking the day 20 years ago when space shuttle Challenger blew apart. All seven astronauts died in the accident. The ceremony was also held at Arlington National Cemetery.

President Bush is again pushing his Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. In his weekly radio address, the president described Alito as a man of great character and integrity. He also noted the support Alito has from former law clerks. Some Democrats are threatening a filibuster to block confirmation, but experts say that appears unlikely at this stage. The vote to cut off debate is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Final confirmation vote is planned for Tuesday morning.

Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling go on trial Monday in Houston, Texas. The case involves fraud and conspiracy. The former executives are the prosecution's top targets in a scandal that destroyed a company, left thousands out of work and sent a shudder through wall street. CNN's Miles O'Brien has more.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Was it really news to them? Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the men at the top of Enron, claim their underlings were cooking the books and they were clueless. But prosecutors say they knew full well the logo wasn't the only thing crooked at Enron.

Their star witnesses, several top Enron executives who have pled guilty and will testify against their former bosses.

JEFFREY SKILLING, FORMER ENRON CEO: I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling fine. Ready to go. Ready to go.

O'BRIEN: The Enron scandal erupted in December, 2001. The company was a high flying Wall Street darling that used seemingly innovative schemes to trade energy.

It became the seventh largest corporation in the country. But the company hid steep losses by keeping a separate set of books for subsidiaries. And eventually the financial house of cards fell down, leaving thousands jobless and wiping out billions of dollars of 401k nest eggs.

JACK BERKMAN: You really have to send a signal. That's it. This is the Godfather. You really have to send a signal with Ken Lay.

O'BRIEN: In all 16 former Enron executives have copped pleas, most recently and ominously for Lay and Skilling Enron's chief accountant Richard Causey. He was scheduled to stand trial with them, but instead now will testify against them.

BERKMAN: This is about accounting and finance. He is the chief accounting officer. You couldn't have a better star witness for the prosecution.

O'BRIEN: Another important witness, the former chief financial officer at Enron, Andy Fastow. Fastow pled guilty two years ago. He claims that Lay and Skilling knew full well Enron was breaking the law.

DANIEL PETROCELLI, SKILLING ATTORNEY: Mr. Skilling is ready. His lawyers are trying to get ready. Finally we're going to get into a courtroom and deal with some real facts and real evidence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: We will talk more about the upcoming Enron trial in our legal segment in just a minute. We also will explore the sad story of Alan Crotzer. Crotzer was released from prison this week. But he spent nearly two dozen years behind bars for armed robbery and rape, crimes he did not commit. DNA testing is being credited for his release. When I spoke with him earlier today here on CNN, Crotzer told me he's not bitter.

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ALAN CROTZER, WRONGLY CONVICTED: I always did believe and hope that I'd get out. But I didn't know that for sure. I thought I'd die in prison some time, sure. But to hear the judge speak the words and telling me I'm a free man, for the person that had that kind of power in my life and to release me like that, I was overjoyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Here with more on the upcoming Enron trial and the sad case of Alan Crotzer, our legal eagles, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman.

Let's start with the case of Alan Crotzer. Obviously, he served 24 years for a crime he did not commit. How common do you think it is that our criminal justice system that innocent people that are convicted. Let's start with you, Avery.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: I think it's very common. The exciting thing about this case -- and I saw that very compelling interview you did with Alan. It was I thing typical of many people who, in a case like this, this was a fellow that was very circumstantial evidence. In one hour, an all-white jury convicted him, even though the other defendant said it wasn't him.

Here's a guy that spent almost a quarter century in jail and it is astonishing without law students -- and that's what's going on here, law students all over the country are now going to examine these cases. We're going to see more and more cases like this.

MALVEAUX: Richard, do you agree, do you believe that this is pretty common? And what kind of legal recourse does he have now for compensation for the time he spent in prison?

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Suzanne, as a defense attorney, obviously, I believe this happens every day throughout the courts in the United States. The public pressure for closure and to punish someone and end an investigation is overwhelming on law enforcement. I believe shortcuts are taken.

That combined with perhaps some incompetent defense counsel leads to results like this. But as far as the state of Florida goes, recently the state of Florida, the legislature in the state of Florida awarded two million dollars to an individual, Wilton Dodge, who was incarcerated for 22 years and exonerated by DNA evidence. So I think the legislature is going to get their checkbook out for this gentleman.

FRIEDMAN: They may or may not. Let me mention that. I agree with Richard in that respect. There are only 14 states that have mechanisms to create compensation for innocent people who have been jailed. Now, Florida is actually one of them.

But there's another important thing to mention. And that is this July the opportunity for innocent people to use DNA evidence is going to expire. And there's a big battle going on in that issue. The question is should the legislature expand the deadline so that innocent people can get out of jail.

MALVEAUX: That brings me to my next question, of course. What is the purpose of this deadline to begin with?

HERMAN: The deadline is ridiculous, Suzanne. They have to extend it. This is outrageous. It's outrageous for an innocent person to be indicted because throughout the United States, when people hear the word indictment, they already perceive it as a conviction and a bad person, let alone getting wrongfully convicted at trial. This man lost 24 years of his life on a wrongful conviction. It's just outrageous.

FRIEDMAN: Well, but I think if a policy perspective, here's a different perspective, I think. As Americans, we are a good and just people. And it strikes me that for good and just people, we want to see a process so that for those people who are guilty, they have to be accountable.

But for those people who are innocent, Suzanne, there should be a process. So Governor Bush is actually working in conjunction with the state legislature in Tallahassee to extend that deadline, and it's something that I think we're going to see here.

MALVEAUX: Let's move ahead here to the Enron trial. Of course, the two charged in this case, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling -- basically, what do we expect from this trial? Are they -- are we going to hear the same kind of defense, I simply didn't know what was going on -- Richard.

HERMAN: Well, Suzanne, what they're going to say is 16 executives have already pled guilty here, including Fastow, the chief financial officer; Causey, the chief accountant; and Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm. They're going to put the blame on these guys, 16 of them, who have all said they committed crimes A through Z -- financial crimes -- and that they hid the truth from them.

These individuals will be brought in by the government to testify. They will be government witnesses. They will be -- their testimony will be purchased testimony. If they come in and if they satisfy the prosecutors ...

MALVEAUX: Avery, do you agree?

HERMAN: ... then they will get a reduction in their prison terms. That's why they're coming in.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, that's the criminal defense spin. Every one of them is a lying witness for the government. In fact, these are people who are intimately familiar, Suzanne, with the operations of Enron. And they work directly with Jeff Skilling. They worked directly with Ken Lay.

And of all the people, the chief accounting officer, Rick Causey, and the chief financial officer, this is going to be -- this is the Super Bowl. It's a week early of the Super Bowl as far as legal circles are concerned. It kicks off on Monday.

And for the next four months, we're going to see powerful testimony that will be -- contrary to general belief, will be very exciting because the defense will want to make it confusing, but the prosecution will be very direct about this.

MALVEAUX: But, Avery, let me ask you this. Why should any of us care? What kind of impact will this ultimately have, the fallout of the Enron case?

FRIEDMAN: Oh, my goodness. There were billions of dollars of retirement money affecting everyday people that were thrown away because of what these individuals did. If there's any integrity in the process at all, major corporations have to be no less accountable.

And by the way, after this trial, Suzanne, there are going to be individual trials which follow this to make these people accountable for stealing money. And that's exactly what happened here.

HERMAN: Suzanne, one of the major problems here, like we heard in the Causey case, an all-white jury deliberated for one hour and convicted. Here this trial's going to be in Houston.

And Ken Lay's attorney was on CNN Friday morning saying that the jury pool is so tainted in that jurisdiction that he is going to try to pick a brave, impartial and a jury strong enough and willing to issue an unpopular verdict. And that's going to be the biggest test for the defense. There's two ...

MALVEAUX: I've got to let it go at that moment. We're running out of time. But thank you very much, both Avery Friedman and Richard Herman. Thanks again.

HERMAN: Have a nice day.

FRIEDMAN: Good to see you. Take care.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

Now, why are so many American mothers braving the black market? Find out just ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

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MALVEAUX: Well, we have heard for years that breast milk is the most nutritious thing a mother can feed her young child. But what do you do when you can't breast feed? Well, if you're like hundreds of women across the country, you buy and share breast milk on the Internet.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes a closer look at this growing and sometimes risky trend.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jenn Connel's son Grayson has nursed at the breasts of four different women; Kelly Faulkner recruited 20 women to give breast milk to her baby, Loren (ph); and Cathy Lundgren's daughter, Hannah (ph), drinks the milk of six women, some of it shipped from nearly 1,000 miles away.

Breast milk, the stuff of life, that bond between mother and child, has become a commodity on a mother's milk black market, to be sold and shared, not one mom for one baby, but, sometimes, as many as 20 mothers for one baby.

It is called milk sharing. And, in this world, Jenn Connel is known as a founding mother, of sorts.

JENN CONNEL, FEEDMYBABY.COM: Children that are breast-fed are healthier, are smarter, have less ear infections, have less problems with gastrointestinal problems, less problems with allergies. Why wouldn't I want to breast-feed my child?

COHEN: But Jenn couldn't. She lost both her breasts to cancer three years ago.

CONNEL: And that was most difficult part about my surgery, was not really losing the breasts. It was losing the ability to feed.

COHEN: So, when Jenn gave birth to her son Grayson a year later, she started this Web site, feedmybaby.com, explaining her plight. The responses poured in. In all, 35 women donated milk to her sons.

DR. LAWRENCE M. GARTNER, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: There is a real risk involved when somebody simply takes milk from another mother. The biggest risk is for HIV, the viruses, and the bacteria that may get into the milk.

COHEN: The American Academy of Pediatrics says mothers who can't breast-feed should use milk banks, where mothers like Mary Anna Goran (ph) donate milk that has been tested, pasteurized, and sold for $3 to $4 an ounce. The pediatricians strongly discourage unsupervised milk sharing.

COHEN: But women who take milk from others say they get to know their donors.

Kelly Faulkner, who is raising her son Loren on donated milk, didn't just screen her 20 donors. She got to know the ones who live nearby, like Kim and Lauren (ph). And she talks on the phone to Lilly (ph) and other donors who live far away. The women try to build a community, a throwback to the days when women nursed each other's children or even hired wet nurses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get a hug?

COHEN (on camera): But how can you really know 30 different women?

CONNEL: I can't. How I can know 30 different cows?

COHEN: Jacquie (ph) Gilstrap had so much extra milk for her daughter Holly (ph), she and her husband, Jason, went on the Internet trying to sell it.

JASON GILSTRAP, WIFE SOLD BREAST MILK: When I first typed in "breast milk for sale" or "selling breast milk," there was literally thousands of, you know, hits for that.

COHEN: We found trails of moms selling, sharing, swapping on craigslist, the La Leche League bulletin board, mom chat groups, dad chat groups, sex sites and parent blogs. Inspired that others people were making money, the Gilstraps put ads on a half dozen Internet site, and sold several bottles for large sums of money. Then they saw an e-mail from Cathy Lundgren, who was looking for breast milk from her baby, adopted from Guatemala.

CATHY LUNDGREN, USED DONATED BREAST MILK: Hi, pretty girl.

COHEN: Profit turned to charity. Jacquie and others stepped up.

(on camera): Six different women gave your baby breast milk. How did you know that they were all healthy?

CATHY LUNDGREN, USED DONATED BREAST MILK: That's just a risk that I was willing to take because I know -- I felt the benefits of the milk far outweigh the risks.

COHEN: A risk to get baby Hannah what Cathy can't provide, milk from a mother. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Lakeville, Minnesota.

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MALVEAUX: And just ahead, paying the price for energy. What choices are you willing to make?

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MALVEAUX: Almost 20 years after the political fallout from the devastating nuclear reactor explosion at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, nuclear energy is going through a sort of revival in France. Where residents rely more on atomic energy than any other country. CNN Correspondent Jim Bittermann explains.

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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For his New Year's wish list, the French president made his very clear -- Jacques Chirac wants his country to plunge head-long into 15 years of intense research in order to construct, by 2020, a new model for nuclear power reactors. The so-called fourth generation of nuclear power.

Reactors that are meant to go a long way toward answering ecologists concerns about nuclear energy.

(on camera): In France, a nuclear powered future is more sure in part because of the past. For decades now, between 70 and 80 percent of the nation's electricity has been generated by nuclear energy with virtually no negative experience.

(voice-over): At least none originating in France. But the explosion and meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear plant 20 years ago this spring left hundreds of French insisting they are victims of a nuclear power accident.

Josaphina Couseau (ph) is one. She and her family were on vacation in the east of France when Chernobyl took place, eating fresh milk and food products. Today she suffers from thyroid cancer. And her daughter 21 year old daughter has had lumps on her thyroid.

The government never warned the French that radioactive clouds from Chernobyl were a danger. Despite that episode, so much has been committed to nuclear power here and the track record of the French reactors has been so spotless, that surveys indicate that most French have no fear of nuclear power. And as oil and gas prices continue to rise in a country which has little of either, the argument for nuclear power is a strong one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had sufficient amount of fuel for 5,000 years.

BITTERMANN: Go for a visit to a French nuclear center and the scientists will tell you that even before Chirac's speech, planning had already begun on Generation Four reactors, not only here but in nine other countries as well.

The scientists say, unlike fossil fuel generating stations, nuclear powered plants do not belch carbon dioxide and thus don't contribute to the greenhouse effect and climate change.

In many of the biggest industrial countries, members of the OECD, political leaders are showing renewed interest in nuclear power.

LUIS ECHAVARRI, OECD NUCLEAR AGENCY: Nuclear is already providing a lot of electricity. In fact, 24 percent of OECD countries say what is the problem.

BITTERMANN: But at Greenpeace France, the activists question why the government is spending so much to developed undiscovered technologies instead of investing in the known ones, like wind and solar power.

HELENE GASSIN, GREENPEACE ENERGY CAMPAIGNER: We have them, let's start now with good solutions and don't waste the dreams of the nuclear scientists.

BITTERMANN: Still, increasingly, there are scientists and now political leaders who are dreaming big about the nuclear power plants that will follow this one.

With climate change and high energy prices, even the countries that were opposed to it or uncertain about it, a nuclear revival is under way. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

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MALVEAUX: And there's more ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. At 4:00 p.m. eastern, on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I'll speak with director whose movie at the Sundance Film Festival has a controversial twist.

Coming up right after this, "CNN PRESENTS: CHRISTA MCAULIFFE: REACH FOR THE STARS."

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