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CNN Live Saturday

Gas Tops $3 Gallon; New Orleans Goes to Polls; CIA Fires Veteran Officer for Leaking Information to the Media

Aired April 22, 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 now at our top stories. If you think you are paying a lot for gas, look at this station near Yosemite National Park in California. Nationwide the average is $2.88.
South of Baghdad, a scene of carnage. Four American soldiers lose their lives in a roadside bombing. The troops were on patrol when the bomb struck their vehicle.

Iraqi lawmakers are finally breaking an impasse and moving toward a unity government. In voting today, the Iraqi parliament has elected Jalal Talabani as president. Talabani is the current interim president, a number of other top positions are being filled, as well.

More unrest rocks the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. Protestors returned to the street today in their effort to drive the country's king from power. The pro-democracy protests are in their third week now.

In New Orleans right now, the first election since Hurricane Katrina. Voters are casting ballots for mayor and city council. Mayor Ray Nagin faces nearly two dozen challengers.

Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, it is April 22nd. Ahead this hour, a woman who was with the accuser is talking about the Duke rape case. We have convened our legal team to debate the issues, as well.

And later, one of New Orleans top musicians shares his thoughts as voters go to the polls in the Big Easy.

But first, to our top story. Just about everyone is feeling pressure at the pump and asking when will it end? Crude oil prices have broken through $75 a barrel and talk about sticker shock. The national average according to AAA is now $2.88 a gallon of regular unleaded.

But if you are in California or along the Northeast coast, you have already cracked that $3 a gallon ceiling. We'll have reports from both coasts. Let's begin right now in Los Angeles with CNN's Kareen Wynter.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred, well, $3.19 for unleaded regular here at this Los Angeles gas mart, but I have seen prices go as high as $3.25 in some locations. Now, some analysts say we haven't even scratched the surface, especially as the bigger summer driving season approaches. They say expect the price of gas to skyrocket even more.

So what is driving up these costs? Well, for starters, refineries making the mandatory changeover to cleaner burning ethanol. Experts say once the transition is complete, there will be more gasoline available. Also another factor, a lot of investors in the futures market buying oil and this is on speculation that prices will continue to go up.

Now, is there any relief in sight, especially here on the West Coast where there are fewer public transportation options available and people rely heavily on their vehicles?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL THORP, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CAL.: Right now everybody expects the gas prices will continue to go up for another couple of weeks which could even push it up to $3.20. Nobody knows for sure. But it is likely it will go there. But there is more gasoline expected to be on the market before Memorial Day, so you might actually see a dip in gasoline prices over Memorial Day. And then what happens after that is anybody's guess.

GEORGE DALZELL, MOTORIST: How can it curb anyone's habits? I mean, I have got to drive. I have to got to go to work. You know, I don't have any choice. So we're stuck. We're stuck. I was thinking when I got out of the car, when I was going into the gas station, I should tell the guy, you know, I'm really angry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: Now Fredricka, hybrid vehicles, more gas-friendly vehicles are becoming more popular on the roads here, especially on the West Coast. So we asked AAA if this is helping even a bit and they say they don't want to discourage consumers by this response. The short answer, no. But that's only because they say only a very small population of people statistically are driving them. So they say it will be quite exciting to track that over the next several years to see if it helps with the economy -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And, Kareen, about transportation options. Do a lot of folks in the California area, particularly Southern California, feel like they don't have a lot of options since there isn't the volume of public transportation like you would see in some of the East Coast cities? They are almost forced to drive their cars many miles on an average day.

WYNTER: Absolutely. They feel cornered. But you ask them, Fred, if there were more options, would you consider them taking the train? Taking the bus? And they say no. People here love driving. Just take a look around me on this very busy Saturday. So that's one of the things that they have to face right now, the fact that they love to drive. They will be feeling it at the pumps. So they are anxious to see how high it goes over the next several weeks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kareen Wynter, thank you so much. Well, several cities along the East Coast have joined that $3 a gallon club. CNN's Kyung Lau is feeling the pinch in Washington D.C. -- Kyung.

KYUNG LAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, here at the nation's capital they are seeing -- the drivers here are seeing some of the highest prices in the country. The prices here in just last month have gone up 40 cents on average. And take a look at this price right here at this gas station. That's a pretty typical sight here in the nation's capital, $3.09 for the cheap stuff, $3.23.

Now the D.C. area does have some of the highest prices in the country, but unlike Los Angeles, where you just saw Kareen, the drivers here do have some other options. There is a good metro system. The train system here is quite good. Also have buses traveling up and down some of the major streets here in the District.

A lot of the people we spoke with today say they leave their cars in their garages and they've turned into weekend drivers and they are just hoofing it during the week. D.C. though is known as a sprawling metropolis.

People do live outside the city. And they say if they have to drive, the way they are feeling now is fed up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if we're going to have to hit rock bottom until people kind of wake up and just say, you know, shout and holler and we have got to do something about this. I don't know. But it just seems like we're inching towards it and nothing is being done. But you know, I think we just have -- I don't know if we have to hit rock bottom or what before people get really, really upset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It jumped up to $3.09. It's amazing.

LAU: When did you pay $2.99?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like about Friday, yesterday.

LAU: Just a couple days ago it was $2.99?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, $2.99, maybe Thursday or Friday. We just can't afford this gas like this, I don't know if I'm going to make it through the summer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAU: Now D.C. is also a city of cab drivers. The cab driver we spoke to says he has to spend now two additional hours driving his cab just to make up for the high price of gas. And is this over in this city? Nobody we spoke to believes that.

Reporting live in Washington, I'm Kyung Lau, back to you, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung. And perhaps even for the cab driver you talked to, in addition to the extra two hours, did he say anything about what he expects this will do to his business overall? Does it mean that perhaps he won't be able to get to all of the fares like he would have wanted to because of the high gas prices?

LAU: Well, the fortunate thing for D.C. is that there is a steady group of tourists that do flood the city every single day. So the cab drivers say they still are seeing some pretty good business. They are just having to put in those extra long hours.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kyung Lau, thank you so much, from the nation's capital.

LAU: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps you feel like venting. You wouldn't be alone. We've been getting tons of e-mails on this very topic. Listen to what some of the viewers are telling cnn.com.

Toby in Minnesota says: "I plan to sell one of my vehicles. The money from that plus the amount save on insurance for it will buy gas for the other one for a couple of years."

Richard in California feels avenged: "Three years ago I bought a GEM electric car and was ridiculed for it. As they say, he who laughs last."

Well, Scott in Austin isn't laughing. "He writes: I tried saving gas by going without my air conditioning, a difficult thing to do in Central Texas where they have already had 100-degree temperatures."

You check out this interactive, calculate how much you will likely spend on gas in the year. And could corn be fueling your vehicle any time soon? (INAUDIBLE) make fuel alternatives being produced.

Perhaps you want to know more. Go to cnn.com/gas.

A storm-battered city looks to its future now. New Orleans voters are choosing their next mayor today. Nearly two dozen candidates are on the ballot, including the incumbent, Ray Nagin. And with more than half of the city's population still away from home, this election is a landmark event in that city's political history. CNN's Sean Callebs is with us now from New Orleans.

Still at one of the polling stations. How busy is it now?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's been packed here throughout the day. We got here, Fredricka, before 6:00 a.m., and before the doors opened there were I'd say 50 to 60 people standing in line just to give you an idea of how much interest there was.

Standing next to me a couple of people who actually made a very, very long bus drive, down from the city of Atlanta, about eight-and-a- half hours, to take part in today's election. And really, that is being played out a lot. People who have had to evacuate this region to Houston area, to Atlanta.

The Reverend Raphael Warnock from Ebenezer Baptist, thanks very much for joining us.

REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK, EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH: Good to be here.

CALLEBS: And Ms. Cyrus, Raquel Cyrus (ph), thanks very much for being here as well.

Reverend, I want to ask you first. There's been a great deal of discussion about is this enough to involve so many people who left? Because so many people had to evacuate, people of color, people who had been disenfranchised to a degree. But the secretary of state is confident that this democratic process is being very fair. Is it?

WARNOCK: We were happy at Ebenezer Church to organize the Freedom Caravan to bring evacuees back to New Orleans so that they could vote. We don't feel that the State of Louisiana has done all that it could. There were many that pushed for satellite stations outside of the State of Louisiana. That seems to make a lot of sense to me.

It isn't as if we don't know where these people are. They are displaced in some 44 states. We have got nearly 40,000 people in Atlanta alone. And so while I'm very happy that people like Raquel thought enough of this election to get on the bus, to ride eight-and- a-half hours in order to cast their ballot, I shudder to think about all of the people that couldn't make it.

CALLEBS: Ms. Cyrus, tell me about why did you make the trip, and you lived here for such a long time and you now say that you are not going to be able to move back but it is important for you to be here to choose the leader to see how this city is going to run for the next four years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is important for me to vote because I have family that will be here. I will not be here but they will be here living. And, you know, Martin Luther King, he did justice for us and we have to continue to fight and I want to bring all our New Orleans back so we can rebuild it. You know, we need this. And everyone needs to come back to do that.

CALLEBS: Reverend, quickly, there have been legal challenges led by the Reverend Jesse Jackson and others who say that the process simply wasn't fair, that it kept so many out. All of those had been rejected by the courts, but still you think there is reason to press on and continue this legal fight?

WARNOCK: Absolutely. Just several months ago during the Iraqi elections, we set up satellite stations here in the United States so that Iraqi citizens living in the United States could vote in Baghdad while living in the United States. We feel that whatever is good for Iraqi citizens certainly ought to be good for American citizens.

And so we were happy to organize the Freedom Caravan because we wanted to move as many displaced evacuees as we could back to New Orleans. But the fact of the matter is we shouldn't have to. We're trying to make the best out of a bad situation. We're here so that people like Raquel could vote but also we are here because we see a very disturbing pattern of voter disenfranchisement, not only in the State of Louisiana, but across the country.

In the State of Georgia there's an unnecessary voter ID law that's diluting the minority and poor people's voting pool, and so we have got to respond.

CALLEBS: The fight doesn't end here.

WARNOCK: Absolutely.

CALLEBS: Thanks very much for joining us here today. And enjoy your very warm, steamy day down in here. I'm sure it is great for you to be back home if even for a matter of hours.

And I should also point out that there has been an 800 hotline set up around this city so people could call in if they have concerns about where to vote, how to vote. And what we're being told is that number has simply been overwhelmed. They have had to add lines today, so the state may be saying it's doing everything it can to make sure people can get to the polls, but not everybody has been able to follow that advice as simply as the state thought -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sean Callebs, thanks so much, from New Orleans.

Well, as New Orleanians get out the vote today, I'll speak with a man who knows the city well, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis later on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

And President Bush is talking up alternatives to gas guzzlers. Straight ahead, we'll have a live report on his Earth Day message.

An employee of the CIA has been fired. What happened?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Bush says he feels your pain when it comes to fueling up, but he's not addressing the problem directly. He is focused on the future. And right now he's touting hydrogen fuel in California. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House right now -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, another visit focusing on the cutting edge technology today on this, the second day of President Bush's four-day trip out West. The president will be visiting with a consortium of some 31 companies that are working to promote the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

In his radio address today the president said that the fuel cells could really revolutionize the way we power our cars since they emit no pollution, and most importantly, they do not use gasoline. But such vehicles are years from widespread use. So President Bush on this trip has had to talk about spiraling gas prices that Americans are facing.

In an appearance Friday with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, President Bush discussed the importance of developing alternative energy sources as well as lessening Americans' dependence on oil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have got a problem when it comes to our dependence on oil. I know the folks here are suffering at the gas pump. Rising gasoline prices is like taking a -- it is like a tax, particularly on the working people and small business people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Democrats though have been critical of President Bush's energy plan. They insist that it focuses too much on drilling and not enough on conservation. President Bush faced some other critics in California, as well, on this trip, many of them anti-war protestors.

Yesterday when he was trying to make his way to Stanford University, a very large group actually blocked the route that the president had planned to take, so he ended up having to meet with Hoover Institute fellows at another location.

And then this morning another group of about 100 demonstrators turned out as Mr. Bush was leaving for an early morning Earth Day bike ride, but we are told that his cycling trip went off uninterrupted nonetheless -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch, from the White House, thanks so much.

KOCH: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Going global now. A political breakthrough in Iraq. The parliament today elected Jalal Talabani to another term as the country's president. He then named Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister- designate and asked him to form the next government. This ends an impasse that has dragged on for months.

Four Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. They died this morning when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb near Kandahar. That raises the number of Canadian military deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom to 15.

This was the scene in Nepal. Riot police attacked as 200,000 protestors marched toward the palace. Police fired rubber bullets, live ammunition and tear gas on the demonstrators, injuring many of them. The protestors are vowing not to back down until the king steps down.

Straight ahead we'll check with what's making news across America.

And later, our legal experts will spar over the latest developments in the Duke rape case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Stories "Across America" right now. A teenage suspect in an alleged terror plot made an initial appearance in federal court in New York today. The FBI says the 19-year-old and this other Atlanta man met with Islamic extremists in Canada to discuss possible terrorist targets in the U.S.

A court appearance in Appleton, Wisconsin, for a man accused of trying to sell his 18-month old daughter. Authorities say Danny Vu wanted $7,000 so he could make home improvements.

A man went to an Oregon hospital complaining about a headache turned out to have a dozen nails in his head. Doctors say he later admitted using a nail gun on himself during a suicide attempt. He's the first person ever known to have survived such an extensive injury.

Delta pilots will vote next month on a three-year contract deal. Union leaders have OKed the agreement to the deal, it includes a 14 percent pay cut and assurances the pilots union won't block efforts to terminate its pension plan. The pilots had threatened to strike over proposed cuts.

The CIA investigates one of its own. Find out what triggered the probe.

Also a taxi driver might have information that is important in the case of two Duke lacrosse players who are charged with rape. Coming up, our legal experts look in on that case.

And later, a New Orleans legend shares his thoughts on his hometown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. Four more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. The military says the troops died today when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb while on patrol south of Baghdad, 2,386 U.S. military personnel have been killed in that war. .

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is calling this a good day for Iraq. She's praising the Iraqi Parliament's decision to pick Jawad al-Maliki as its prime minister-designate. This election ends a political impasse that has dragged on for months now.

Gas prices are skyrocketing. The average price of gas is up another 3 cents today and many of you are paying well over $3 a gallon already.

New Orleans is holding its first mayoral election since Hurricane Katrina. This is one of the 76 polling stations. Mayor Ray Nagin has 21 challengers. And if no one wins a majority, there will be a runoff next month. Fired for leaking, the CIA has sacked a veteran intelligence officer for sharing classified information with the news media. CIA officials have not revealed the identity of the employee but the Associated Press reports she's Mary McCarthy. And she was assigned to the CIA's Office of Inspector General. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has more on the case.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The individual was fired Thursday, a CIA spokesman says, for leaking classified operational information to a journalist. Sources say Dana Priest of The Washington Post had more than 13 contacts with the individual while working on a story about secret prisons. Government officials say the Justice Department is initiating an investigation into whether the accused leaker should also face criminal charges.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, FMR. CIA DIRECTOR: It is unusual for someone to be fired for leaking. But it is illegal to leak information. That's what you sign up to when you join an intelligence service.

ENSOR: The firing came after the person failed a polygraph test being given to a wide range of intelligence officials, and then confessed. It came as U.S. intelligence and law enforcement try to figure out who leaked two major stories, stories for which only days ago the journalists who wrote them won Pulitzer prizes.

Sources say Dana Priest of "The Washington Post" had more than 13 contacts with the individual while working on a story about secret prisons. Government officials say the Justice Department is initiating an investigation into whether the accused leaker should also face criminal charges.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It is unusual for someone to be fired for leaking, but it is illegal to leak information. That's what you sign up to when you join an intelligence service. And so, in this case, I think the reaction is proportional to the crime.

ENSOR: The firing came after the person failed a polygraph test being given to a wide range of intelligence officials and then confessed. It came as U.S. intelligence and law enforcement tried to figure out who leaked two major stories, stories for which only days ago the journalists who wrote them won Pulitzer Prizes.

In "The Washington Post," Dana Priest reported that the CIA used secret prisons in Europe to hold and interrogate top al Qaeda prisoners, people like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. CIA officials say the leak investigation and another into a "New York Times" story about domestic surveillance are just beginning.

In recent testimony, CIA Director Porter Goss said he also wants to force reporters to name all their sources.

PORTER GOSS, CIA DIRECTOR: It is my aim and it is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present, being asked to reveal who is leaking this information. ENSOR: Another reporter, Judy Miller, formerly of "The New York Times," spent over 80 days in prison trying to avoid identifying her source to prosecutors investigating another CIA-related leak.

(on camera): Such a move against the reporters of the two major stories currently under investigation could have a powerful, chilling affect on the amount of information Americans get not only about the U.S. intelligence community, but other parts of the government, as well.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In Durham, it is class reunion weekend at Duke University in North Carolina. But this year's alumni gatherings are taking place under a cloud of controversy. Charges that members of the Duke lacrosse team raped a stripper at an off-campus party have ignited racial and legal discord.

CNN's Jason Carroll brings us up to date on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So far, most of the attention in this case has focused on three people: two lacrosse players who were arrested and charged with rape, and the exotic dancer who accused them of the crime.

But there were two dancers at the party where the alleged crime took place. Now the second dancer is going public. In an interview with the Associated Press, Kim Roberts says, at first, she was skeptical of the accuser's claim that she was raped by three players in a bathroom. But now Roberts says she isn't sure.

KIM ROBERTS, 2ND STRIPPER AT PARTY: I even hesitate to say that I didn't believe a rape occurred, you know? One of the reasons why I hesitated to say that is because I didn't want to make any -- you know, make anybody else biased. I didn't want to, you know, hurt the integrity of the case.

CARROLL: In the police affidavit, the accuser says the assault took place for an approximate 30-minute time period. It allegedly happened after the two women had finished performing.

ROBERTS: I was there from the beginning to the end. The only thing I did not see was the rape, because I was not in the bathroom at that particular moment. Everything leading up to it, I was there. Everything leaving from it, I was there. And, mind you, I believe I was the only sober person in the place.

CARROLL: Roberts says the accuser didn't mention the assault to her. She is quoted as saying that, despite her initial doubts, she now believes, in her words, "Somebody did something besides underage drinking, and I can't say which ones are guilty." (on camera): Kim Roberts is upset that defense attorneys responded to the allegations by leaking details about her criminal past to reporters.

(voice-over): She's also angry that pictures unknowingly taken of her and the accuser on that night of the party were leaked to the media, in effort, she says, to show the defendants were innocent.

ROBERTS: If they're innocent, they should have nothing to worry about. They should sit back, relax, brush their shoulders off, and feel good. They shouldn't have anything to worry about, if the truth was on their side.

CARROLL: But, privately, defense attorneys tell CNN, Roberts may be backing off her original statements to obtain favorable treatment on her own legal problems. These court documents obtained by CNN show Roberts was arrested after the alleged rape for violating her parole in an embezzlement case. One of her violations was leaving the state without prior approval. Bail was set this past Monday at $25,000.

But district attorney Michael Nifong approved an unsecured bond, essentially allowing Roberts to leave jail without posting bail. Her attorney told CNN, she's no longer a flight risk, because she's cooperating fully with the police and the district attorney in the Duke investigation.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It is a plausible theory that a witness was given special consideration in one case, in return for testimony in the really big Duke lacrosse case. The question here is, is anything she's saying ultimately all that incriminating, because she admits, she didn't see any rape.

CARROLL: The district attorney's office says bail issues are decided on a case-by-case basis. Kim Roberts, meanwhile, has considered hiring a public-relations firm.

She sent an e-mail to 5W Public Relations in New York City, saying, "I'm worried about letting this opportunity pass me by without making the best of it, and was wondering if you had any advice as to how to spin this to my advantage."

Roberts' attorney called the e-mail regrettable.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Durham, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So overall how does this case look so far?

Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor. Richard Herman is a criminal defense attorney. Good to see both of you ...

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Thanks, Fredricka.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred. WHITFIELD: ... today joining us from various Florida cities.

FRIEDMAN: On the opposite sides though.

WHITFIELD: OK, one east coast, one west coast. All right. Thanks very much.

All right. Well, Richard, let me begin with you, listening to Kim Roberts' story, how harmful or how helpful are her words?

HERMAN: Well, Fred, my head is still spinning because that word spin was so damaging. She's damaged goods. Her testimony absolutely crushed any attempt that the prosecution was going to use to use her. She claims that she wrote a letter, an e-mail to a public relations firm how she can spin this to her benefit. She doesn't want to lose this opportunity.

She was interviewed by defense counsel and investigators early on and she said she didn't believe any rape occurred. She didn't see any rape. Now all of a sudden she's claiming something might have occurred. That's because she was upset that defense counsel published certain photos that were taken at the scene and she didn't like the way the defense attorneys were posturing this case and trying to defend their clients. That's why.

WHITFIELD: Avery, do you agree?

FRIEDMAN: I hate to do it. I have to agree. The reality is that when this case -- before we even saw the first arrest, Michael Nifong had about 70 interviews with the media. Now everyone is concerned there that we're seeing a defense spin. And the latest, of course, involves Kim Roberts.

Actually, senior legal correspondent Jeff Toobin nailed it. The fact is, her information is of limited value, limited probative value anyhow. But at this point, this makes the Sam Sheppard case which dealt with pretrial publicity, look like nothing. This is going to wind up in the Ringling Brothers hall of fame. This is terrible.

WHITFIELD: Well, what about that pretrial publicity on the defense end? I mean, the defense attorneys have been coming out all week, laying out the timeline, et cetera. And this Kim Roberts makes a good point. If they are so innocent, then why don't they just sit back and relax and let the truth come to the top. Why go through all of this stuff?

FRIEDMAN: Wait a minute. Wait, wait. First of all, that's impossible. We're dealing with people who are under arrest who are facing charges -- serious criminal consequences for this alleged behavior. So they are stuck.

And when you couple that with the prosecution's blanket publicity about the case before anyone was even arrested, in all fairness they have a right of reply. But the thing is on both sides, both the prosecution, Fredricka, and the defense, this is way out of line. There is absolutely no control right now. WHITFIELD: So, Richard, is it in your view that the prosecution is to blame for allowing this to become a case that is now playing out so publicly?

HERMAN: Hey, Fred, the primary is next week. Two weeks from now is the primary. There was so much political pressure placed on Nifong. He's doing search warrants after the arrests which is incredible. He went ahead and got an indictment against two of these gentlemen. I don't believe he investigated this case properly.

This was based on political pressure being put on him by the public to come up with an arrest. And, you know, Fred, it is easy to say well, if they are innocent, they have nothing to worry about.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: These men are now scarred for life. The lacrosse coach quit. There is no lacrosse being played at Duke this year.

WHITFIELD: A lot of damage being done already.

HERMAN: Absolutely. And as far as I'm concerned, Duke abandoned them. They completely abandoned the players and coach without a resolution in this case. That's wrong.

FRIEDMAN: Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. We're not picking on the university.

WHITFIELD: Well, wait a minute. We've got to take a short break, and maybe we can talk a little bit more about that, your thought on that, Avery, on the Duke case.

But when we do come back, we want to talk about a couple of other cases, gentlemen. Jurors will soon be deciding the fate of Zacarias Moussaoui and our legal experts will be looking into the evidence on whether or not insanity will spare him from the death penalty.

And prosecutors say that Jeffrey Skilling left Enron because he thought it was a sinking ship. Skilling denies that. We'll look at the latest testimony in that case coming up as well. Hold tight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're back now with Richard Herman and Avery Friedman to finish up the last thoughts you may have had, Avery, on the Duke rape investigation. You were about to say before the break?

FRIEDMAN: There has been criticism of the university because these two students have been removed. The fact is there's a huge amount of confusion. Under the constitution, because this is not a public university, they are not entitled to due process meaning they are not entitled to full notice, full hearing and therefore while they have their own procedures, there is actually nothing illegal about Duke removing the students.

WHITFIELD: What else is outrageous, Richard I'm sure your point of view and maybe yours, too, on the Zacarias Moussaoui case. We have to move on to that case.

He is insisting that he's not crazy but his defense attorneys say that he is. They are trying to spare him from the death penalty. This week testimony focused on the sanity of the convicted al Qaeda terrorist. Richard, he said it in court, crazy or not crazy.

HERMAN: I think that this is going to be a very intelligent jury. I think this jury is going spare his life. They are not going to buy into that purchased testimony of the government's so-called expert who claimed that he was not insane.

I think they will buy into the fact that this guy is looking to become some sort of martyr to make himself bigger than he really is. I think they will look to punish this guy with life imprisonment. That's what he deserve the. I think that's what they are going to do.

WHITFIELD: Avery, did you see it as powerful testimony from that government doctor?

FRIEDMAN: I thought Dr. Patterson was the reason the government ended their case that way. I thought that testimony was very powerful. I thought the doctor was able to explain that this wasn't schizophrenia, remember this was the only expert that actually had the chance to examine Moussaoui not for one hour but seven hours.

The defense doctors only had one hour. I think the reason the government closed with him is the jury now understands that he knew what he was doing and I think he's facing the death penalty.

WHITFIELD: The Enron case, Jeffrey Skilling on the stand. It's done for him. Ken Lay is coming up next. Richard, real quick?

HERMAN: I think Skilling did a spectacular job. He's got three or four jurors on his side right now. Whether he'll get an acquittal, I don't know if he with get an acquittal but I think we're looking at a hung jury in this case.

WHITFIELD: Really? Even without hearing from what Ken Lay has to say next week?

HERMAN: I am supremely confident Ken Lay is going to do an outstanding job in the early part of next week.

WHITFIELD: Cool under pressure.

HERMAN: Professional. He's going push this jury over the edge. I'm telling you, these guys are not getting convicted.

WHITFIELD: Avery, real quick.

FRIEDMAN: He's wrong. What's going to happen here is very simple. The government's case is powerful. It shows he shouldn't be trusted and believed and that's what this case is about, the credibility of Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay. We got a long way to go.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Avery, Richard, thank you so much. Always good to see you. Enjoy sunny Florida.

A murder, a defendant named Hollywood and now a movie about the crime. All before the case even comes to trial. It's the story without a Hollywood ending as Brooke Anderson reporting for "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A grieving mother. A murdered teen. And a suspect on the lam.

SUSAN MARKOWITZ, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I would rather die. But hopefully before I do, I get to see Jesse James Hollywood caught.

ANDERSON: The case of Jesse James Hollywood, a San Fernando Valley man who fled the country after he was accused of murder, had all the makings of a Hollywood movie. And now, it is one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? Watch it. Tell me what it's like.

ANDERSON: But the movie "Alpha Dog" has been the subject of a legal battle itself, even before it hits theaters. The reason? The prosecutor in Hollywood's death penalty case was an unpaid consultant on the film. Santa Barbara County Assistant D.A. Ron Zonen turned over his whole case file to Director Nick Cassavetes to help get the film made.

JAMES BLATT, HOLLYWOOD'S ATTORNEY: When you give out police reports, rap sheets, names and addresses of witnesses, psych and probation reports, those are misdemeanors. They are violations of law.

ANDERSON: Hollywood's attorney, James Blatt, has petitioned the California Supreme Court to get Zonen kicked off the case. Arguing that by collaborating on the film, Zonen jeopardizes Hollywood's rights to a fair trial.

BLATT: It's not appropriate to make a motion picture where you present your concept of what the character is to the jury pool before we do the jury trial.

ANDERSON: Zonen insists he did nothing wrong. In a court declaration he said he decided to help on the film hoping it would lead to the capture of Jesus James Hollywood, who was still a fugitive when "Alpha Dog" started filming. Hollywood was later apprehended in Brazil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't just take a kid and have no one notice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I told you. Didn't I say that?

ANDERSON: Blatt says if his petition to remove Zonen fails, he still has another card up his sleeve. He could try to keep "Alpha Dog" out of theaters.

BLATT: We are seriously considering legal action to try to enjoin the distribution of the film.

ANDERSON: Director Cassavetes doubts that effort would succeed.

NICK CASSAVETES, DIRECTOR, "ALPHA DOG": I don't think that the movie gets in the way of Mr. Hollywood getting a fair trial.

ANDERSON: No date has been set for Hollywood's murder trial. "Alpha Dog" is due for release sometime later this year.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That story comes to us from "AMERICAN MORNING." Make sure to join Soledad and Miles weekday mornings bright and early, 6:00 a.m. eastern. Next, trumpet master Wynton Marsalis shares a little of what New Orleans means to him.

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WHITFIELD: New Orleans voters lined up before the polls opened this morning to cast ballots in the city's first post-Katrina mayoral election. Incumbent Ray Nagin faces 21 challengers and if no candidate wins a majority there will run off next month.

Elections today, next week is Jazz Fest. Another big musical event in New Orleans tomorrow. Jazzman Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra will perform "Congo Square" for the first time. That's the name of the song. New music named for the historic venue where the concert will actually take place. Part of their ongoing effort to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Wynton Marsalis was in Congo Square on Friday and I talked to him about the importance of bringing music back to New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTON MARSALIS, MUSICIAN: Well for all of us New Orleanians we do what we can in our field to help our city. I only speak on behalf of this in this specific tragic time to say that we love our culture and our music. We're going to be what it's about. We also are very grateful to people all over the country for the outpouring of love and support that they showed. Music is our souls and our heart. We produce so many great musicians from Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino. You could go on and on and on with the roll call, Mahalia Jackson. We act in that spirit today.

WHITFIELD: You got your trumpet there. You don't go far from the music. You even have written a new song in part or co-written a song that's significant in New Orleans right now called "Congo Square." Why?

MARSALIS: "Congo Square" is a whole piece. It is about two hours long. We came together with a master drummer from Ghana, Yakub Ahdi (ph), and we put together a type of music that has never existed before. It really brings the bowels of African music together with the bowels of jazz. "Congo Square" is the place in New Orleans where the Africans were allowed to retain their music and their culture and it was also a marketplace. We bring this music now to bring the feeling of community that we need now of and interrogation, that we still continue in the world to come together.

WHITFIELD: Can you give us a sample of what you got there.

MARSALIS: It's a lot of dancing and singing and chanting. I'm just going to play a little something. A couple notes here.

(PLAYING TRUMPET)

Just some Blues.

WHITFIELD: That's beautiful. Tell me about how challenging this has been for you given that a good part of your family still in New Orleans and you mostly living in New York and really around the world bringing music every where. How much of a challenge is it for you being worried about the city post-Katrina?

MARSALIS: I think for all of us and not just our immediate families, we're a whole community of people. From the very inception of this, been on the phone with each other and try to figure out what we can do to help our city. There's a feeling of helplessness that we have dealing with bureaucracies and the institutional fumbling that's taken place.

In terms of what we take away from this, the love that people have shown. People in Ohio. Ten year old kids having lawn sales, sending $600 down. People taking in families. Families staying up in people's churches all over the nation. We take away a feeling that people care about us and that our culture is worth preserving.

On one hand we have the frustration and the loss, but on the other hand we have a feeling that what we have achieved is of importance to the nation and we know that we'll come out of this. It is just a matter of how long it will take.

WHITFIELD: You are mixing music with politics. You talk about Lieutenant Governor Landrieu who is one of the many candidates running for mayor. How do you strike a balance here by being politically involved, but at the same time trying to do what's in the best interest of those in your community?

MARSALIS: Well I'm politically involved in that I have a voice as a citizen. My voice is one of integrity. I don't work for money, I don't owe anybody anything. When I speak, I speak with whatever level of information I have and I speak as honestly as I can speak. Now, I'm not an expert on a lot of those subjects. Sometimes, I'm asked things I really don't have any opinion on because I don't know.

I mainly like to speak about culture and what people feel. I speak from my experience. I work with Lieutenant Governor Landrieu. His father was mayor and gave my father a proclamation. I work with Mayor Nagin. The three of us sat down before Congress and gave a testimony. We were talking about how we were like three boys sitting there in front of Congress.

I look at it from a humanistic, basic view. I don't get involved. I have no aspirations to make money or exploit people. I'm a servant of the people and I speak with that type of voice.

WHITFIELD: We know you got a lot on your plate as always. We appreciate you taking the time put for us. As we say goodbye we would love to hear more of what you got there.

MARSALIS: Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much.

(PLAYING TRUMPET)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sounds so good. Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra play "Congo Square" in New Orleans tomorrow.

Stay with CNN. Up next "CNN PRESENTS: Immigrant Nation." And at 4:00 p.m., find out why some doctors are saying it may be a good idea to expose your children to pollen this allergy season. A check of the day's headlines straight ahead, then "CNN PRESENTS."

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