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CNN Live Saturday

A Head-Spinning Number of Investigations Into Top Republican Politicians and Operatives, on All Manner of Issues; Disasterous Earthquake Strikes Indonesia

Aired May 27, 2006 - 18:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED U.S. SOLDIER: I yelled twice: "We have friendlies on top." The crew must have not heard me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: What really happened when Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire? A CNN investigation uncovers details about the former NFL player's death.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tired of standing at long lines at the airport to check-in your luggage? One airport has come up with a solution to save you time.

LIN: It is going to surprise you. Checking bags and getting your airplane tickets at your hotel. It's convenient, but is it foolproof?

Susan Candiotti has more details.

Hello, I'm Carol Lin and this is CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Those stories straight ahead.

But first the headlines.

Today's big story, a powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia today, killing more than 3,000 people. More than 2,500 are injured. We've got an update on the rescue efforts in one minute.

In the meantime, a showdown in the offices of America's top cops. Sources tell CNN, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and FBI Director Robert Mueller came close to quitting. They didn't want to give up evidence collected from Congressman William Jefferson's office.

The president decided to seal those items for 45 days.

In Iraq, a desperate search to find two missing Marines after their Cobra helicopter crashed in Anbar Province. Another U.S. Marine was killed fighting in the same province yesterday.

At memorial services across America, the nation pauses to reflect today, to offer their respect to our fallen heroes. Now, this wreath laid at Arlington National Cemetery. And thousands of sailors are in New York City for Fleet Week. There was a service at the United War Veterans Memorial and a tug of war competition between the military and police and firefighters.

Pope Benedict XVI is hinting that sainthood could be in the near future for his predecessor and late friend, Pope John Paul II. Benedict toured John Paul's hometown of Wadowice in Poland today.

We begin tonight in Indonesia, a nation that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Tonight, Indonesia is coping with another natural disaster -- a massive earthquake that's killed more than 3,000 people. Hospitals are overwhelmed treating thousands of injured survivors.

John Lawrence has our report.

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JOHN LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The earthquake struck early Saturday in central Java, close to a historic city popular with tourists. Residents describing a terrifying scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I felt jolts. Buildings and houses collapsed.

LAWRENCE: Some were injured because they couldn't flee falling debris fast enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was trying to flee my house, but there was not enough time. I was hit by the collapsed roof.

LAWRENCE: Witnesses say damage is widespread, with many buildings leveled completely, and fear people could be trapped underneath the rubble. Many residents were worried the shaking could bring a tsunami from the nearby Indian Ocean and fled to reach higher ground.

However, meteorologists said the quake was too shallow to cause deadly waves.

Indonesia's president called for local officials to do everything they can to help.

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I call on all regional officials to bring out their resources.

LAWRENCE: Health care workers say they have been overwhelmed by the number of injured from the quake and the death toll is expected to rise. The region is also home to Mount Merapi, a volcano that has been on high alert for a major eruption.

John Lawrence, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And signs of a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan. Some U.S. commanders are worried Afghanistan could become another Iraq.

CNN's Barbara Starr reports from Kabul.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coalition forces conducted an air strike Friday night against a suspected Taliban training camp in southern Afghanistan, quite close to the Pakistan border, according to U.S. military officials here.

It is the latest operation against what some officials are saying is a regrouping of Taliban, both in eastern Afghanistan and down south.

In that strike, officials say, they believe they killed a number of Taliban and destroyed a facility they also believe was responsible for making some IEDs. It is that type of threat that U.S. forces are now seeing here in Afghanistan -- improvised explosive devices, suicide bomb attacks. It's not as bad as Iraq, but military commanders say there is a great deal of concern that they have about these pockets where they believe the Taliban is operating because, they say, the new Afghan national army, Afghan security forces and the U.S. military has not been operating in those areas. So in these rural areas there has been a bit of a vacuum.

Expect to see an increased number of U.S. and coalition military operations in the weeks and months ahead.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: Well, you take the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and 9/11, it made for a powerful message for President Bush as he gave the commencement speech at the U.S. military academy in West Point, New York. And he told graduates Islamic radicalism will be their biggest challenge.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first class to arrive at West Point after the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. Each of you came here in a time of war, knowing all the risks and dangers that come with wearing our nation's uniform and I want to thank you for your patriotism, your devotion to duty, your courageous decision to serve. America is grateful and proud of the men and women of West Point.

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LIN: Well, not everyone welcomed the president. A group of activists rallied outside the graduation, protesting his appearance.

All right, all presidents have their foes, of course. But when it comes to friends, one of President Bush's best is Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. Well, today we learned that Mr. Bush nearly lost him.

With the story from the White House, CNN's Kathleen Koch.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, Gonzales was not the only one. Three top administration officials nearly resigned this week and all, say sources, over a point of principle -- returning evidence in the bribery probe of a congressman.

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KOCH (voice-over): Two senior administration officials say a tipping point came as top Justice Department officials argued with lawmakers over material seized last weekend from Congressman William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office. Those officials, as well as two senior government officials and others, confirmed that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and FBI Director Robert Mueller indicated they would resign if forced to give the documents back.

One senior government official described the men as "very angry." A source familiar with the negotiations says the threats were not made directly to the president, but came in the midst of conversations and negotiations and were usually framed as hypothetical.

Still, a former White House insider says it indicates the gravity of the debate.

BRADFORD BERENSON, FORMER ASSISTANT COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT: And if they are talking about it or threatening it, they're doing it only because they believe that there is a matter of highest principle at stake. Judge Gonzales in particular loves his job. He loves President Bush. And nothing would pain him more personally than resigning. So if he is talking about that, he's doing it only because he feels it is of the utmost importance.

KOCH: A senior administration official says Vice President Dick Cheney met with President Bush on the issue and made the case that critics of the raid on Jefferson's office had points that needed to be considered. One political analyst sees irony in that, after constant administration isstc that intelligence agencies are not overstepping their bounds.

KEN RUDIN, NPR POLITICAL EDITOR: We now have the vice president's office complaining about FBI overreaching. I think that was a concern all of this year, all year long.

KOCH: But legal experts warn the vice president interceding on behalf of Congress does not mean it has a leg up in the debate over the seized material.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence is likely to be legal because, number one, a search warrant was executed. Remember that more Jefferson ignored a subpoena. There have been efforts for the past eight months to have him produce documents. Once they weren't, a federal district judge approved a search warrant.

(END VIDEO TAPE) KOCH: Now, Congress and the Justice Department have begun- meeting to try to end the stalemate. Another possible outcome, crafting ground rules for future searches like this. And, Carol, that's important because Congressman Jefferson, William Jefferson, the probe into the corruption probe that he is facing right now is not the only one that touches a member of Congress -- back to you.

LIN: All right, Kathleen, thank you very much.

As Kathleen just said, that Congressman Jefferson isn't the only one alone out there. Now, there are several members of Congress now under investigation for potential financial misdeeds.

And as for Jefferson, here's a CNN Fact Check.

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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): William Jefferson's district covers much of New Orleans. Just days after Hurricane Katrina, as some of the city's residents still clung to rooftops for safety, ABC News reported that Jefferson took a ride with a National Guard contingent and spent an hour inspecting his upscale home.

Even before that, his problems were under way. The government says he was videotaped last July taking what the government alleges was a payoff of $100,000. According to a government affidavit, numbers on bills recovered later from Jefferson's freezer matched numbers on the money the FBI says he accepted from an informant. Jefferson denies any wrongdoing.

Last September, Jefferson was cited by a nonpartisan watchdog as one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress. Others on the list include the now disgraced Randy "Duke" Cunningham and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

For Jefferson, things took a turn for the worse this month. On May 3rd, an official of a venture called iGate Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court to giving the eight term Democrat six figure inducements for help in getting business in Nigeria. And just last week, the House Ethics Committee announced it had opened investigations into Representative Jefferson and Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio.

The Capitol Hill corruption probe seems far from being over.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And here's CNN's Joe Johns with the GOP scandal score card.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A head-spinning number of investigations into top Republican politicians and operatives, on all manner of issues.

RANDALL ELIASON, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROSECUTOR: There is a definite flurry of high-level corruption cases that I don't think we've ever seen before.

JOHNS: Keeping them honest and keeping you up to speed, we'll break them down.

Category one, the guilty.

At the top of the list, not where you want to be, politicos who fought the law and the law won. Ex-San Diego Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a war hero turned top gun-on the take, currently cooling his heels in jail after receiving $2.4 million in bribes. He's up top with former super lobbyist Jack Abramoff, wheeler dealer felon, now convicted of conspiracy, fraud, tax evasion. Abramoff has already pleaded guilty and he's cooperating with prosecutors in a Washington, D.C. probe that's got a lot of people, shall we say, sweating it out. Former Federal Prosecutor Eliason spent 10 years rooting out corruption.

ELIASON: There already have been a number of guilty pleas and a number of more potential ones to come.

JOHNS (on camera): So that's the top of the list. Those lower down are in less trouble. In fact, the rest on the list have either denied wrongdoing or pleaded not guilty.

(voice-over): So on to category two, the indicted. Scooter Libby, former top assistant to the vice president, now charged in federal court with lying to a grand jury in connection with revealing the name of covert CIA employee Valerie Plame. And in Texas on a state charge of money laundering, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is waiting for his day in court, though he leaves office next month.

They could go to jail or they could get off, but the process is well under way.

Category three on our legal list , looks like trouble. That's Republican Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio, referred to in court filings as having traded favors for gifts in the Abramoff investigation. But Ney insists he was duped by Abramoff.

Category four, information please. Powerful Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has also come under scrutiny for stock deals, but the case has been quiet of late. Frist denies wrongdoing.

And last but not least, Presidential Adviser Karl Rove, who also denies wrongdoing, but has taken repeated trips to testify before a grand jury about the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame, same deal that got Scooter Libby into trouble.

That's the list, one that no one wants to be on top of. And one that no one in the Republican Party wants to see grow longer.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The FBI's raid of a congressman's office. Up next, a former counsel at the White House shows us what's at stake.

Now, he was killed in the line of duty two years ago. So why are there still questions about the death of former NFL player turned U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman? A CNN investigation.

And still to come, welcoming new life during a time of war.

You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: A showdown between the FBI and Congress. Sources say the attorney general and the FBI director were ready to quit if they were ordered to return items seized in a raid of the congressman's office.

Now, criminal defense attorney Brad Berenson, who was an associate counsel in the Bush administration, joins us on the telephone with more on this.

Brad, why do you say that Alberto Gonzales's potential threat to quit is not surprising?

BERENSON: Well, as attorney general, you have to back up your professional prosecutors and investigators when they have acted lawfully and come under fire politically. The single worst thing that most prosecutors can imagine is political interference in the course of a criminal investigation.

So, he would lose credibility and the Department would be completely demoralized if he didn't stand up for his agents and his prosecutors, who, after all, got both his approval and the approval of a federal judge before searching the congressman's office.

LIN: but do you think this has the appearance of the executive branch intimidating the legislature, the mere fact that the FBI served the search warrants and searched this office?

BERENSON: Well, obviously a congressional office cannot be a safe haven for evidence of criminality. But the Congress does have a point in that things like this have to be handled very, very delicately so that the potential for activities like this by the executive branch to intimidate the legislative branch are kept to a minimum.

I think, frankly, the congressmen are also worried about themselves politically. A third of the senators and all of the representatives are up for election just a few moments from now, in November, and a search of this kind is political poison.

So given the number of investigations that are going on, the Congress has felt the need to respond very strongly to this search, to try to make sure that the administration thinks very, very hard before doing it again.

LIN: Well, the FBI's defense is that they've said that they were in discussions with the congressman's people for as long as eight months. I mean, at a certain point, investigators want to get a hold of what they think is potential evidence.

Don't they have the right to raid that office?

BERENSON: Absolutely, they do. You know, if they did this, as they say, as a last resort, after giving the congressman eight months to comply with the subpoena and they got a valid warrant from a federal judge, I don't think there can be much of a serious argument but that they did, in fact, have the legal authority to do what they did.

But congressmen are entitled to what's known as speech and debate immunity for their legislative acts and that means a lot of the information in a congressman's office is privileged and shouldn't be seen and can't be seen by the executive.

So you have to use very careful procedures to make sure you're not invading that constitutional privilege that the congressmen have.

LIN: Well, how do you do that? I mean that has to be done within this 45 day cooling off period.

So what happens?

BERENSON: Well, what the Justice Department tried to do is use what they call a taint team. That is, they had the investigators who went into the congressman's office and searched around for evidence, key people who were not involved in the investigation of the congressman so that the people who are involved couldn't possibly be exposed to any of the privileged material.

In the 45-day cooling off period, I think what you're going see are some negotiations at a high level between the two branches of government designed to agree on a set of procedures that will both allow the executive to get evidence of criminal conduct by congressmen where appropriate, but also will better protect the Congress's legitimate interests and instantly prerogatives.

LIN: If, in fact, that incriminating evidence exists. We don't even know that yet.

BERENSON: That's right.

LIN: They haven't even had a chance to examine it.

Bradford Berenson, thank you so much.

BERENSON: You're welcome.

LIN: Wrapping other news around the world tonight, the military rulers of Myanmar have extended the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. They are defying international pressure to set the Nobel Peace Prize winner free.

And new neighbors on the global AIDS crisis. The United Nations says more than two million children under 15 years old have HIV. Almost all are sub-Saharan African. And most cannot get the medical help that they need.

Officials in Indonesia report a spike in human bird flu cases. So the World Health Organization has told the maker of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to be ready. The WHO says it is just a precautionary measure.

Michael Jackson makes his first public appearance since he was acquitted on child molestation charges. Jackson is in Japan to pick up an MTV Legend Award in Tokyo.

A holiday weekend, but there's nothing festive about remembering our fallen military men and women. One of their stories remains shrouded in questions -- Pat Tillman, the football star turned soldier, and his death in Afghanistan. We've been digging for details and uncovered more about his final mission. A CNN investigation, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: in News Across America, we begin in Maryland, where convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad says the case against him is all a government conspiracy. Maryland is trying Muhammad for six deadly sniper attacks in the D.C. area nearly four years ago.

A Colorado grandmother is jailed on kidnap and child abuse charges for allegedly locking up her 13-year-old grandson in a dog kennel. Police say 61-year-old, the 61-year-old locked up the boy when she went to work.

And a Texas convenience store clerk goes along with a robber's demands until he sees that the thief's gun-is fake. The clerk then pulls out a baseball bat and wham, the would-be robber quickly took off.

Now, signs of solidarity for Duke University's troubled lacrosse program. Last night, at the NCAA playoffs, the Duke women's team wore sweat bands with the uniform numbers of the three male players charged with rape.

Now, if you're flying this holiday weekend, you're going to want to hear this. Some air travelers are avoiding long airport lines because they're checking their baggage before anyone else.

CNN's national security correspondent -- national correspondent Susan Candiotti explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): If mom Tiffany Larsen, struggling with baby in tow, could avoid standing in line to check her luggage...

TIFFANY LARSEN: Oh, yes. For sure.

CANDIOTTI: She and a business traveler Hal Wheeler (ph) would jump at the chance.

HAL WHEELER: Absolutely, 100 percent.

CANDIOTTI: Now travelers at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas can check in their luggage at a hotel as early as 12 hours before a flight. The Venetian Hotel is the first to offer the service, called Speed Check Advance. A less secure service was offered prior to the 9/11 attacks.

PAUL PUSATERI, VENETIAN HOTEL: When this idea came across my desk, it was a no-brainer. We believe that this just provides another convenience for our customers.

CANDIOTTI: Guests can take the bags to a hotel kiosk, and at a cost of $20 for up to three bags, get baggage claim checks and a boarding pass.

(on camera): So someone uses the system, how will they avoid all of this?

RANDALL WALKER, MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AVIATION DIRECTOR: They won't have to come to this location at all.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Instead, travelers go straight to security and on to their gate. By that time, their bags have been taken from the hotel and loaded onto a truck. The truck is padlocked, sealed and driven to a cargo loading dock away from the main passenger terminal where those bags are X-rayed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the speed, 37 miles per hour.

CANDIOTTI: Each truck is tracked by global positioning satellites -- a green dot when the truck is moving; red when it isn't.

KEITH WIATER, BAGS TO GO: It will be tracked how fast it goes, what street is taken and when it gets to the facility. If the truck deviates, we can stop this truck.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): From a security standpoint, airport officials say, x-raying bags offsite is a plus, because if a piece of luggage is pulled aside as a risk, passenger terminal operations could continue without disruption.

WALKER: We actually think it's even more secure than the system that we have today.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): So far, only Southwest Airlines is on board. But other airlines and Las Vegas hotels are expected to join soon.

The Transportation Security Administration suggests it'd like to see the service in other cities.

KIP HAWLEY, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: We certainly want to make it easy for people to adopt it, because it helps us with our processing.

CANDIOTTI: And when travelers spend less time at the airport, hotels are convinced they'll spend more money with them. (on camera): What would you do with the extra time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spend it on the tables.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the plan, right?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Even in Las Vegas, that's a safe bet.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Arizona Cardinal to Army Ranger, Pat Tillman left NFL fame to go to war in Afghanistan. He returned wrapped in a flag. His final mission a mystery, until now.

CNN looked for answers and we found contradictions, pointed fingers and accusations of gross negligence.

What happened to Pat Tillman?

It's only on CNN and it's coming up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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