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CNN Live Saturday
IAEA Reports Iran To U.N. Security Council; Fire Broke Out On Ferry Before It Sank In Red Sea; Coretta Scott King Lies In State; Danish Embassy In Syria Set On Fire Over Cartoon; Alternatives For Oil; Family Of Wounded Iraq Veteran Demanding The Deputy That Shot Him Be Arrested; Excessive Force Used In St. Louis?; La Nina Systems Forms In Pacific
Aired February 04, 2006 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at our top stories. A showdown over Iran's nuclear program ratchets up. Earlier today the International Atomic Energy Agency referred the matter to the U.N. Security Council. In retaliation, Iran says it will resume full nuclear enrichment activities, a step necessary in weapons production.
Tehran's latest act of defiance is stirring a strong response from Washington. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the world must work together to prevent a nuclear Iran. Senator John McCain said possible military action against Iran cannot be dismissed. We'll hear more from Senator McCain later on this hour.
This hour, in Atlanta, Coretta Scott King lies in state inside the state Capitol. It's an honor denied to her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was killed back in 1968. In fact, Mrs. King is the first woman and the first African American to be given the state honor. We'll have a live report straight ahead.
Muslim protesters outraged by caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad have set fire to the Danish embassy in Damascus, Syria. There are no reports of injuries and firefighters put out the flames within about an hour. The cartoons that have triggered international protest were first published by a Danish newspaper.
In Egypt, grief stricken people seek answer from a tragedy that may have claimed 1,000 lives. Rescue crews have plucked nearly 400 survivors from the Red Sea. Witnesses say the ship capsized after an onboard fire forced it to turn around in high winds. A live update also straight ahead.
This hour, can ethanol really be the cure for America's oil addiction? An alternative fuel reality check straight ahead. Plus check out that blue patch on your TV screen. We'll explain why that little formation could mean trouble for America during this year's hurricane season.
Another look at our top story. Iran reacts to growing international pressure to temper its nuclear program. At least one U.S. senator says a military option should remain on the table and some would argue the world appears another step closer to a nuclear standoff. In Vienna, Austria, the International Atomic Energy Agency has voted to report Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, this has been a critical day of international diplomacy and it's marked a significant shift as well towards unity when it comes to Iran's controversial nuclear program.
The board of governors here in emergency session at the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog voting for a resolution with a big majority to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council where it could eventually face, of course, punitive measures.
The resolution, though, holding back on asking the U.N. Security Council to take any action at the moment saying instead, it wants the Security Council to wait at least a month until after a conclusive report by the IAEA on the extent to which Iran has fulfilled its obligations under its various treaties and satisfied the international community and the IAEA that it is not intent on building nuclear weapons.
Iran, of course, says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. Nevertheless, the involvement of the Security Council at this stage has provoked a harsh response from Iran. It says it will curtail all its voluntary cooperation with IAEA inspectors on the ground. It also says it will resume uranium enrichment activities is what the chief Iranian negotiator had to say to CNN earlier.
JAVAD VAEIDI, CHIEF IRANIAN NEGOTIATOR: Before this resolution, three paths were opening. The first, the oil diplomacy with the EU3 and the second, considering -- considering that the Russian proposal or other proposals and the third, to full cooperation with the agency, exactly about voluntary implementation, additional trustco (ph).
CHANCE: Javad Vaeidi there referring to a Russian proposal, that has now emerged as the only diplomatic initiative on the table to try and bring a negotiated settlement to this crisis, that proposal, of course, Russia's offer to enrich uranium for Iran on Russian soil, nevertheless, some questions marks over those negotiations, there are meetings scheduled to be healed on February 16th in the Russian capital, Moscow. But what will become of this plan is uncertain in light of this report to the United Nations Security Council.
Matthew Chance, CNN, at the IAEA in Vienna.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Senator John McCain told CNN this morning that a military option should remain on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran. McCain calls the current crisis the most serious the U.S. has faced since the end of the Cold War with the obvious exception, the war on terror. More of that CNN interview is coming up in about 20 minutes.
Violence in southern Afghanistan continues this weekend. In one village, hundreds of people fled their home after a major battle between Taliban insurgents and American and Afghan forces. Militants have launched a series of attacks in the region. At least 38 deaths are reported in two days of fighting.
A deadly stampede this morning in the capital of the Philippines. More than 70 people were killed and hundreds of others injured. The incident happened at a stadium in a Manila suburb. Thousands of people had lined up outside a stadium to see a popular game show. They began running after someone screamed there was a bomb.
New details are emerging from the Red Sea ferry disaster. Egyptian authorities say a fire broke out on the vessel before it sank. And as the hours go by, hopes of finding any more survivors are fading. It's now feared that 1,000 people may have lost their lives. The latest now from CNN's Ben Wedeman in Safaga, Egypt. Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. According to Egyptian officials, they believe more than 400 people have been rescued between Egypt and Saudi Arabia since that ferry went down almost 24 hours ago. That means that 1,000 are unaccounted for.
Some bodies have been found but the problem here in Safaga is that thousands of people, relatives and friends of those who survived and those who are still missing have come here, demanding answers, trying to find out what has happened to their loved ones earlier today. Tempers flared as people rushed the riot police who were stationed in front of the port.
Rocks and bottles hurdle at the police. The police hurled them back. According to the Egyptian minister of transport, who I spoke with this morning, they're working on the theory the ship went down when it was turning around, back to the port in Saudi Arabia, after a fire broke out in the hold of this area. He said, the transport minister told me, he thinks a truck caught fire. This ferry, of course, carried vehicles as well as passengers. And that's what he believes was the cause for that ship to go down. Fredericka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.
Well, Coretta Scott King lived with grace and dignity, working hard to preserve the legacy of her late husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This hour, Mrs. King is lying in state at Georgia state Capitol, an honor denied her husband after his 1968 assassination. CNN's Drew Griffin is outside the Capitol rotunda in Atlanta -- Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this is a day for the citizens of Georgia and the country to pay their respects. And there are thousands in this orderly line, have been there since early this morning, and are now filtering into the Capitol, pressed into two different lines as they move forward to pay their last respects to Coretta Scott King, who is a woman who continues to break down racial barriers in our country, even in death, Fred. When they brought her body in by carriage and then up the steps of this Capitol building this morning, just about 20 minutes before 12:00, she became the first African American and the first woman to officially lie in state in the State of Georgia.
As you said earlier, that was an honor that was denied her husband, when he was assassinated back in 1968, the governor actually shunning any kind of public demonstration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King back then. A totally different story today as Governor Sonny Perdue escorted the body into the rotunda.
We have live pictures from inside the rotunda where people are passing by on each side of Mrs. King's casket, paying their last respects, many of them have been carrying American flags and signs and pictures of both her and Dr. Martin Luther King.
The funeral will be Tuesday. Then, her body will be laid to rest at the King Center, near her husband's body temporarily, and next to her husband's body permanently, when a permanent tomb can be made. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Drew Griffin, thank you so much. In the state Capitol in Atlanta.
This footnote. In lieu of flowers, the king family wants well- wishers to send donations to the Coretta Scott King Scholarship Fund, Antioch College, 795 Livermore Street, Yellow Springs Ohio, and the ZIP code is 45387.
Well, what do you think? Is this a case of police brutality or officers rightfully doing their job? We'll hear from both sides of the legal spectrum at the bottom of the hour. And Senator John McCain reacts to today's developments in connection with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Find out what he has to say about America's possible military options.
And next, kicking America's oil addiction. Are alternative fuels a realistic choice?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Protests in Damascus, Syria are intensifying, the explosion and fires being set to the Danish embassy in Damascus, Syria, all taking place because of such outrage over caricatures, cartoons published in various European newspapers, depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Syrian TV's executive producer Nidal Kabalan is on the phone with us now. And Nidal, give me a sense as to what the latest on these fires that have taken place involving the Danish embassy and also the Norwegian embassy, right?
NIDAL KABALAN, SYRIAN TV (on phone): Yes. that's right. Well, things are pretty quiet this evening after the demonstrations earlier on in the afternoon. The latest development is that both the Grand Mufti of Syria, Mr. Fasoun (ph) and the minister for religious affairs, Mr. Ubi (ph), have appeared on national television in the last 30 minutes calling for self-restraint, denouncing the actions that were taken by some demonstrators against both the Danish and the Norwegian embassies and while they said they both understand the sentiments of anger and sadness over these cartoons that were published by the "Jyllands- Posten" and then by a number of European newspapers, they called people to demonstrate in a civilized manner and not resort to violence against western embassies or western nationals.
WHITFIELD: And Nidal, this anger has been percolating for some time, has it? I mean, last fall, some of these images were published for the first time for Danish newspapers and then again, more recently. Have people been outraged, feeling like they want to do something on this scale that's kind of (ph) something else that kind of triggered today's outburst?
KABALAN: ... but when this matter was raised in the last week or so, and a number of European newspapers reprinted the cartoons, I think this is probably what has sparked off these feelings of anger. I am a little bit surprised that, you know, this sort of violence has taken place on the streets of Damascus, one of the most secular Arab capitals, rather than the fundamentalist or religious.
But I think it's probably a combination of anger towards the cartoons and the feeling of the general ordinary Syrian that they've been bombarded with accusations for the last few months since the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, it's a combination of feelings of anger, of being victimized, etc that might have sparked off what took place today.
But officially, Syria has denounced the actions taken by the demonstrator, called them to have self-restraint and said we will punish anyone who violates the rules for demonstrating on the streets of Damascus.
WHITFIELD: All right. This perhaps being the result of what has been percolating a long time. Syrian TV executive producer Nidal Kabalan. Thank you so much.
KABALAN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, concern over something else, what should the U.S. do about Iran's nuclear ambitions? One of America's most powerful senators give us his opinion next.
And we had a record hurricane season for 2005. What might be on the books for 2006? Still ahead, how activity this winter in the Pacific Ocean could stir things up this summer in the Atlantic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Cars, factories and homes consume 20 million barrels of oil a day in this country and the federal government says we could cut that by a quarter if we on a large scale embrace alternative fuels. The catch phrase from this week's State of the Union address, "America is addicted to oil."
President Bush wants to cut Middle East oil imports dramatically over the next 20 years. Here is part of what he said Tuesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: America is addicted to oil which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Practically speaking alternative energy right now means ethanol blended gasoline. Ethanol production has more than doubled since 2002. And with oil at near record levels, ethanol is now cost competitive. CNN's Frank Sesno looks at ethanol other alternative fuels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First hydrogen vehicles. In Detroit, I saw GM Sequel, amazing piece of technology, no internal combustion engine, hydrogen generates power to turn an electric motor. But it would cost you a million dollars today and hydrogen isn't close to commercially available so this is way down the road.
Better bet, fuel from plants, leaves and agricultural trash, this is cellulose ethanol. We saw it a making from wheat straw at a demonstration plant we visited in Canada, and not made in the U.S. yet but there is promise here and Detroit is actually making some flex fuel vehicles to run on a mix of 85 percent ethanol, just 15 percent gasoline.
Plug-in technology could take hybrids to maybe 100 miles a gallon. The rechargeable battery takes you the first 35 miles or so then regular hybrid technology takes over, it's not available yet, the batteries need work and hybrids are more expense it.
By the way, there is new oil out there, unconventional oil it's called. I visited Canada's oil sands, they have 57,000 square miles of them, putting Canada right behind Saudi Arabia in oil. They don't pump this stuff, they mine it and then extract it from the sand. A million barrels a day. It could be 3 million a day in ten years. But here's some perspective, world demand, driven by the U.S. and now China and others is predicted to leap by 30 million barrels a day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Frank Sesno reporting on alternative energy.
Well, let's talk about alternative fuels. Csaba Csere is editor in chief for "Car and Driver" magazine. He joins me in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Good to see you.
CSABA CSERE, "CAR AND DRIVER": Good afternoon. WHITFIELD: All right. We saw some of the options. So how real, how possible is it alternative fuels would become mainstream when it comes to driving our vehicles?
CSERE: Well, the E-85, the ethanol fueled vehicles are eminently practical, in fact, there's 5 million on the roads today, they're available in a lot of showrooms. It's only a few hundred dollars for the flexible fuel options and also burn straight gasoline so you don't have to be restricted where you drive them and can find ethanol or not. But that's the problem, there just isn't enough ethanol available now to fuel all these vehicles.
WHITFIELD: And there are some critics who say ethanol really is a biofuel delusion, that really, in order to produce ethanol it means expending more energy than it can actually produce. How real a concern is that?
CSERE: Well, I think it is a real concern. And that's where the federal government is investing money to determine what the most efficient way of producing ethanol is. Because one of those issues are that it does take a lot of fuel to gather the crop or to farm it and convert this crop product into ethanol.
The other are part is really the cost because most of the ethanol is heavily subsidized and made from corn. Without a subsidy, it wouldn't be on the market at all. And people don't know what this prairie gas made ethanol could cost. If it's $3 a gallon, it's a non- starter against gasoline unless it also is subsidized.
WHITFIELD: So ethanol being an alternative fuels. When we talk about alternative fuel vehicles we really talk about fuels that can be powered by anything except gasoline. So let's talk about what flexible fueled vehicles mean.
CSERE: Well, with the ethanol vehicles they tend to be flexible fuel vehicles in that they can burn this E-85 or gasoline or anything in between. There's actually a sensor on the vehicle that can tell what proportion of ethanol is there in the fuel and adjust the engine accordingly. And it's one of the key things to think about in alternative fuel because whatever alternative fuel you pick, nobody is going to buy the alternative fuel vehicle if they can't drive across the country from gas station to gas station.
WHITFIELD: Right. A hundred miles will not be attractive to a lot of people. So when we talk about hybrid vehicles, a lot of Americans like what they seeing so far but you're also dealing with the issue whether you can afford to buy the vehicle and if you can afford to maintain it at the same time.
CSERE: That's right. Hybrids work very well, of course they're not really alternative fuel. Hybrid vehicles gasoline but burn it more efficiently, they get more miles to the gallon, you pay a cost increment up front on the order of $3 to $4,000 to get a hybrid.
Now the recent energy bill had a federal tax credit. And it's kind of complicated because it only goes up to so many vehicles per manufacturer. But if you get that tax credit, that will largely offset the price increment for a hybrid so that makes it very attractive to a lot of people.
WHITFIELD: So it really is a work in progress when we talk about the president talking about saying somewhere in the next 20 years or at least the hope is in 20 years people will be a lot less dependent on gasoline and they'll be more interested in alternative fuel type variations like we just discussed. Do you see that as a real possibility, somewhere within the next 20 years?
CSERE: Well, it is a possibility. But it is going to take a push. It's not an accident we use gasoline. We use gasoline because it's a terrific fuel. A relatively small tank holds a huge amount of energy, it's not really expensive. It doesn't freeze in the winter.
It works year round, it doesn't have to be stored under pressure. And the reason we're using gasoline, it's the best fuel out there. And we're really going to have to invest in technology to come up with a better fuel. Either that or we are going to have to tax gasoline or subsidize the alternative. But gasoline has won now because is simply the best fuel.
WHITFIELD: And people love their cars. All right. Csaba Csere, editor in chief for "Car and Driver" magazine. Thanks so much.
CSERE: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Well, one of the biggest corporate corruption scandals in history now before a jury. How did the Enron lawyers handle their first week in court
Plus a violent confrontation with Missouri police officers and suspect caught on tape. Was it justified or over the line? Our legal experts weigh in on those two cases when CNN LIVE SATURDAY returns.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider with a look at your cold and flu report for Saturday. As we check things out you'll find cases of the flu pretty much coast- to-coast. Sporadic outbreaks in Louisiana and local activity across much of the northern tier of the country. One state reporting no activity, South Carolina, is now reporting regional cases so far this season.
You'll find local activity also across the Midwest including Illinois Indiana. That's a look at your cold and flu report for Saturday. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Here's what's making news right now. Mourners have gathered here in Atlanta to pay their respects to Coretta Scott King, the body of the civil rights matriarch is lying in state at the Georgia Capitol. Mrs. King, the widow of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died Monday. She was 78.
Anger turns to violence in Syria's capital as protesters set fire to the Danish embassy. Protesters also set fire to Norway's embassy in Damascus. The anger stems from published cartoons in Denmark depicting the Prophet Mohammed. One drawing pictures Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.
The standoff with Iran over its nuclear ambitions reaches a serious new stage. The International Atomic Energy Agency voted today to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. Iran's state-run TV is now reporting that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered an end to snap inspections of the country's nuclear activities and Iran will begin enriching uranium.
In Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is now meeting with leaders of the militant group Hamas. That word from Palestinian sources. The meeting follows last week's election victory which gave Hamas a majority in the Palestinian parliament.
The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into last Sunday's shooting of Senior Airman Elio Carrion in Chino, California. The videotaped incident shows Carrion being shot three times by a Sheriff's Deputy Ivory Webb following a brief high speed chase. Webb is on administrative leave but the family of the wounded airman is demanding Webb's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERIELA CARRION, ELIO CARRION'S WIFE: My family is outraged because this man hasn't been arrested. He's on paid leave. What he did is wrong us to. Nobody ever deserves to be treated that way, especially Elio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Deputy Webb's father says his son fired because he felt threatened when Carrion began to get up from the ground. The FBI is also investigating the forceful arrest of a suspect near St. Louis Monday morning. Police were seen on live television kicking and punching the suspect after a long and dangerous car chase.
CNN's Jonathan Freed reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The burning question in St. Louis right now is whether you're watching a case of excessive force by local police. The man on the ground is Edmon Burns. This incident ended a high speed chase that started around 7:00 Monday morning in the city of Maplewood, just west of St. Louis.
Police thought Burns was acting suspiciously outside a convenience store. They ran the plates of his van and discovered they weren't on file with the state. Burns took off and the chase lasted 10 miles, weaving through streets during the morning rush hour, passing school buses along the way and ending up in St. Louis.
CHIEF JIM WHITE, MAPLEWOOD POLICE, MISSOURI: On at least four occasions on the audiotape, the vehicle being pursued attempted to run the police car off the road.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the fishtail maneuver.
FREED: Police rammed Burns' van but he still wouldn't stop. When they finally cornered his vehicle, Burns took off on foot. That's when three Maplewood police officers wearing the light blue uniforms and one St. Louis cop subdued him.
Burns' lawyer says his client suffered a cut to the head, requiring stitches, fractured ribs, and a spinal injury.
DONELL SMITH, EDMON BURNS' ATTORNEY: Mr. Burns is in great pain. Police abuse remains one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States.
FREED: Adding to the controversy, the suspect is black, as is the St. Louis officer. But the three Maplewood officers are white.
ZAKI BARUTI, COALITION AGAINST POLICE CRIMES: The attack and use of excessive force by Maplewood and St. Louis police officers represent the kind of Ku Klux Klan mentality that our community experiences on a daily basis.
FREED: The three Maplewood officers suffered injuries including a broken wrist and a separated shoulder. The St. Louis officer was not hurt. The Maplewood police chief said they later discovered there were warrants out for Burns' arrest for traffic violations and --
WHITE: He has a lengthy arrest record including interfering, resisting and assaults.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Here to talk about the videotaped arrest and what constitutes excessive force when police deal with law breakers, our own legal eagle, Avery Friedman and Rich Herman. Good to see both of you.
When we hear officers say one of the justification is that this person has a lengthy prior record, how much of a difference does that make when you look at the videotape, when you look at the sequence of events that took place from the chase to the running, to the apprehension, to the punching, et cetera?
Do the police have good justification for the way things were carried out, Avery?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The question was, given his criminal record, to that fact, the answer is that the officers at the time, Fredricka, had no idea what his criminal record was. The fact is, I've watched this tape a number of times. Here's the rule.
Once the suspect is under control and down, that's when the force has to stop. You know what, to me, it strikes as excessive force, as a violation of federal civil rights laws, but the question is what do you do? What's happened here, as of yesterday, it's been referred to the FBI for investigation. That's exactly what should have been done.
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: All this gentleman, all Mr. Burns had to do was pull his car over when the police came up beside him at 7:00 in the morning. That's all he had to do. Instead of doing that he engaged in a ten mile high speed chase, putting the public at risk. He rammed his car into a police car and could have had a murder charge had he killed him.
Then he flees, he runs, they get him in the corner. I looked at the tape over and over again. It's not fair just to look at the eight second tape and make a decision, you have to look at the whole situation. Also understand that two police officers in the last two years have been killed trying to arrest people in this jurisdiction.
I don't think it's going to be excessive. I don't think there will be criminal charges brought against the officers.
WHITFIELD: Richard, even when you take into account the sequence of events, everything that took place prior to when they actually got him, tackled him, I lost count of how many officers were involved in that particular image that we were able to see from that helicopter view. Four.
They all have him down, well, the two officers have him down right there, but immediately starts swinging, then that fourth officer comes in and starts kicking, how do you justify any of that? Doesn't that seem excessive by any standard? They have him down.
HERMAN: I think that last kick that we're seeing, aye I think that might have gone over the edge. I got tell you something, Fred, this happens so quickly. They have to get this guy under control and prevent him from resisting.
WHITFIELD: That's what the argument is really about, it's not whether they had justification to stop him, pursue him, car chase, etc. It's what happened in the end here, as they had their man and how much further do you take it?
HERMAN: That's a question of fact. That's what the FBI will be looking into. If there's litigation, that's what juries and judges will make decisions about. They didn't know if he had a gun or weapon on.
FRIEDMAN: Wait a minute. Once he's under control, that's the end of it.
HERMAN: That's a question of fact. Was he under control.
FRIEDMAN: You're talking about a police chase. Talking about other issues that had nothing to do once the suspect was under control. That's the only issue.
HERMAN: This was a very quick scenario. That whole tape was seven, eight seconds, it happened very quickly. WHITFIELD: It will take much longer for them to figure out in the end how to render this?
Let's move on to the Enron case. Surprisingly, the jury was seated very quickly and very quickly we started listening from witnesses, particularly from Mark Koenig who, in fact, quite pointedly implicated Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay as conspiring to manipulate Enron's earnings.
Do you think that this is a case that will move rather speedily and we may just find the jurors will be in a position of making a decision, deliberating rather soon.
HERMAN: They're not going to be deliberating soon but this case is on a lightning pace. To pick a jury in eight hours on a case like this, where the company is in Houston where all these stealth jurors could be siting there trying to get on this jury is just devastating to the defense, very, very dangerous.
I look at the first witness he put on, he did not, Fred, with all due respect to you, he did not directly implicate Skilling and Lay. He did not do it. To me, that's very significant. In a case like this, the prosecution would want to open up with their great strong witness and bury Lay. They couldn't do it with this guy.
WHITFIELD: Avery?
FRIEDMAN: Couldn't disagree more. This opening statement by the...
(CROSSTALK)
It is very powerful in setting up Koenig as the chief investor relations guy. What that do is that now crescendos into the chief accounting officer, the chief financial officer.
We're going to be weeks in trial. I think the government has handled this case perfectly. U.S. District Judge Tim Lake is handling this case sufficiently well. It's been an excellent start. We kick off on Monday, however, with Dan Petrocelli's the cross-examination of the investor relations guy.
WHITFIELD: Avery, I wonder, some of these eyewitnesses, their credibility is on the line as well. Koenig, he is hoping to perhaps get a more lenient sentence from his plea deal, in cooperation with testifying. Don't jurors have to wonder about the motivation of anything said by some of these eyewitness who in the end might be rewarded with a lesser sentence.
FRIEDMAN: Absolutely. These witnesses are motivated to cooperate with the government. Does that mean they will lie? Not necessarily. I understand the defense line that we're going to hear from Richard that they're lying in order to get reduced sentences.
The fact is they know the facts. The jury has to decide whether or not they're overstating, embellishing or weather they're really hearing the truth here.
HERMAN: This is purchased testimony. The government makes a deal with them. If you make us happy, we'll write a letter to the judge. Can you imagine if the defense put on a witness and the witness testified he was -- he'd be rewarded with a financial reward if he did well on his testimony. It's outrageous and hopefully this jury will be smart enough to see through these guys. These are what's known in the defense community as rats. That's who the government is putting on right now.
WHITFIELD: Richard, Avery, thanks so much. Always good to see you guys.
ABC releases new video of their anchor, Bob Woodruff, in Iraq moments before his near-fatal bombing attack. We'll have the details coming up next.
Still ahead, how temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could spell trouble for the already water-logged Northwest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Continuing a major story we're following today, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the entire international community is concerned about Iran's nuclear program. Reaction has been pouring in since the Atomic Energy Agency decided to report Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council. Iran reportedly reacted by renewing its nuclear program and banning any snap inspection.
Meanwhile. Senator John McCain told CNN's Rick Sanchez that a military option concerning Iran must remain on the table. Here's more of that interview this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: What I'm saying is that there's an option out there of military action, but that can't be taken off the table, but we have a myriad of options to explore before that. One of them we're about to do now, that is go to the United Nations Security Council.
It's a very bad option, the worst of all options except for allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons which would destabilize the entire Middle East. By the way, maybe help them fulfill their commitment to the eradication of the state of Israel. It's the last option, but cannot be taken off the table, but I emphasize last.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I misspoke when I said nuclear. I meant military. Let me ask you this question, now that they are warned, Senator, it will be another 30 days until March until the rest of the U.N. Security Council actually gets in to either do inspections or continue this process. That's 30 days. That's an awful long window. A lot of things can happen there.
Are you concerned now that they feel threatened by this warning that they will proliferate in some way, form or fashion?
MCCAIN: Well, we're keeping an eye on that. Also, I hope it convinces them that we are serious, that the United States is working closely with our allies, particularly the Europeans, to try to diffuse this situation, to persuade them that they cannot continue down this path.
It's very clear now that the United Nations Security Council will have to take up this issue. What is the dilemma? What will Russia and China do? I hope the Russia and China, at the United Nations Security Council level will understand that we have to impose sanction or the Iranians stop this effort.
SANCHEZ: Do we have a credibility issue here on the international front, given our dealings with Iraq, as a result do you recommend that we allow the U.N. to take a lead on these negotiations?
MCCAIN: The U.N. is in the lead. I think we don't have a credibility gap because the agency that monitors this has come to the conclusion, with definitive evidence, not just the United States, but the IAEA, has come to definitive conclusion that Iran has embarked on this effort and is well down the road. Now, it is being referred to the United Nations Security Council. The United States, I do not believe, certainly not at this time, is not contemplating any unilateral action.
SANCHEZ: Senator John McCain, thank you for talking to us all the way from Munich, Germany, this morning on such an important issue.
WHITFIELD: The ABC television network has released video of anchor Bob Woodruff moments before he and cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously wounded by a roadside bomb last Sunday just north of Baghdad. The video aired on ABC World News Tonight.
ABC said the explosion likely knocked out the two cameras Woodruff and Vogt were using. Neither device recorded the actual blast. Both men were flown back to the United States within days and are now recovering from their wounds in at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. ABC says Woodruff and Vogt continue to improve.
From Washington State to Arizona to Florida, everything in between, 2006 could be a rough year weather-wise. The Pacific Ocean may be to blame. We'll explain all of that straight ahead.
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WHITFIELD: Let's get a look at the national weather picture with Monica McNeal in the weather center. Hello, Monica.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.
Well, it is back. A La Nina weather pattern has formed in the tropical Pacific. What does that mean for our planet? CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wildfires, floods and hurricanes -- we've seen them all in recent months, and we could see more of them in months to come.
ED OLENIC, NOAA: Anytime there's a La Nina, this kind of thing tends to happen.
FOREMAN: Based on cooler than normal temperatures in the Pacific off of South America, government weather experts say we're now in a La Nina cycle. That means we can look for wetter than normal weather in the Pacific, bad news for Seattle which already saw nearly 30 straight days of rain this winter.
But the Southwest, already plagued by dry conditions and grass fires, will likely see less rain than normal. Those dry conditions are forecast to stretched through the Gulf Coast all the way to Florida.
La Nina is expected to bring warmer temperature to the Mid- Atlantic region, too, and increased precipitation to the Ohio River Valley.
The phenomenon is also known to fuel Atlantic hurricanes, ominous in light of last year's record season.
OLENIC: There's a fairly strong relationship between La Nina and an enhancement in the number and strength of hurricanes and tropical storms that occur in the Atlantic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His majesty, King Philip!
FOREMAN: But for now, Punxsutawney Phil says we'll have to bundle up for a bit longer. He saw his shadow on this Groundhog Day and predicted six more weeks of winter.
Tom Foreman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So bundle up.
"CNN PRESENTS: HOMICIDE IN HOLLENBECK" is coming up next.
Then, at 4:00 Eastern, by land and by sea, we'll show you the international effort behind extensive Super Bowl security.
Going inside the mind of a suicide bomber, I'll speak with a documentary filmmaker who sat down and interviewed more than a dozen would-be terrorists. That's coming up at 5:00 eastern.
And at 6:00 eastern, identifying the missing from Hurricane Katrina. We'll show you the painstaking science behind the mission. A check of the hour's headlines coming up next, followed by "CNN PRESENTS."
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