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Live From...
Charging Saddam; Army to Tap Rarely Used Reservists
Aired June 30, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He should be hanged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He doesn't deserve to face trial. Let him leave Iraq. That's good punishment for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraqi custody, what will justice for Saddam Hussein look like? In-depth on his legal future this hour.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Questions about the fate of an American soldier captured by Iraqi insurgents. We're expecting new information as the military holds a live news conference this hour.
PHILLIPS: Dusting off the uniforms for double duty, the Pentagon prepares to call up more soldiers on reserve.
WHITFIELD: And outrage revisited. Remember the Joel Steinberg case, the adoptive dad convicted of beating his little girl to death? Well, he gets out of jail.
PHILLIPS: From the CNN center in Atlanta, hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is on assignment.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It is June 2 -- not really, is it? Is it June 2?
PHILLIPS: No, it's not June 2. I don't know why you said that.
WHITFIELD: What day is it?
PHILLIPS: You know what? It's the 30th of June.
WHITFIELD: It's the 30th of June. There you go. We're all together now.
CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
WHITFIELD: A new era of diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States. You're looking at live pictures right now from Washington, where the incoming Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. today is hoisting the Iraqi flag over that nation's diplomatic offices. It's a huge moment. You see people there applauding as well. The Iraqi embassy itself had been closed since the Persian Gulf War. An Iraqi flag is now up and positioned over the Iraqi embassy there in the nation's capital.
PHILLIPS: Well, he's in the legal custody of his own people. Now Saddam Hussein will appear in an Iraqi court in about 13 hours to be formally charged. Iraqis will get their first look at their former dictator since he was captured in December. And they can hear from him as well.
CNN's Brent Sadler is live from Baghdad.
I think the whole world will be watching -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed what an appearance this is going to be, and there are going to be cameras inside. Not live, we understand, but recorded pictures we'll see later in the day.
And these will be the first steps that Saddam Hussein takes on the long road to justice. He is no longer a prisoner of war, protected by the Geneva conventions. Instead, he's subject to Iraq's own penal code.
What's expected in that court, in front of an Iraqi judge tomorrow, is that he will face charges, charges of crimes against humanity, including genocide, going back over 35 years of merciless rule as Iraq's dictator relating back to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Before that, the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. The gassing of the Kurds back in 1988. Many other crimes revolving around his leadership of this country.
And not just Saddam Hussein; 11 other of his former top officials will also be appearing at the same proceeding tomorrow. This is a kind of arraignment procedure. The bulk of the evidence against him is still being assimilated. That is going to take many months to put together before a special tribunal, probably not until next year, can formally bring a trial against Saddam Hussein.
Also involved in the proceedings tomorrow, expect to see Tariq Aziz, one of the best known faces of the old regime. He was the foreign minister and deputy prime minister. Also expect to see one of the most notorious ex-regimists, Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali, for his alleged role in the use of chemical weapons, again, against the Kurds back in 1988.
Now, Iraq's new national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, says there is literally a stack of evidence they've got against Iraq's former dictator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOUWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have a long, long, long list of crimes against Saddam Hussein, starting from the homicide to genocide, to using chemical weapons in Halabja, doing the -- hundreds of thousands people killed in the mass graves, tens of thousand of people executed in Abu Ghraib prison, starting three wars, two of them against our own neighbors. So, these are crimes against humanity, homicide, and genocide. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SADLER: Now, when Saddam Hussein himself appeared today for this handover of legal control to the Iraqis, he was said to be appearing somewhat shaken. He did say he wanted to ask questions. That request was denied.
Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, was said to be visibly shaking, and other members of the regime stood there to listen that they were now under the control of the Iraqis, although they will still be physically held by Americans in terms of their confinement -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brent, jut one question about the special Iraqi tribunal. This is going to be quite different from the previous Iraqi judicial system. How will members of this tribunal be selected? And how will we all know that they are not loyalists to Saddam Hussein?
SADLER: Well, this is all being put together right now. There is a U.S.-trained lawyer, Salem Chalabi, who is director of the special tribunal that's being set up to try these cases. You know, there is a mass of evidence to deal with here, literally miles and miles of paperwork to go through. But it will be a trial that everybody here is saying will be an open trial. They hope to get it televised. There are still pretrial negotiations going on as to whether it can be televised, whether or not Saddam Hussein can bring his foreign legal team inside the country to defend the former dictator, and also whether or not the death penalty can be legally reintroduced in Iraq. It was suspended when Paul Bremer, the ex-civil administrator, was here.
In terms of the legality and the opening of this trial, yes, the tribunal -- the head of that tribunal is insisting, as are members of the interim government, newly-empowered, that this will be a trial following all of the rules of how an international tribunal should work -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brent Sadler, live from Baghdad. Thanks so much.
We want to remind you, too, at the half-hour we are going to talk to a former federal prosecutor from the United States that was sent over to Iraq to help get the new Iraqi judicial system up and running. We'll talk to him about the tribunal and the judicial system coming up at the half-hour.
WHITFIELD: Well, Kyra, Saddam Hussein and the 11 other top aides will not likely go on trial until next year. The prospect of a war crimes trial is reviving painful memories for many Iraqis. As the process begins in Iraq, people there are showing a range of emotions already.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For 35 years, he destroyed this country and committed so many atrocities, from executions to unfair jailings and cutting hands off. The Iraqi street want to see him brought to justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He deserves to face trial, but it should be an Iraqi tribunal, without any foreigner's influence. His problem is with the Iraqi people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I for one oppose punishing him. He was nice to me and took care of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I believe the transitional government should pay attention to more pressing issues at the moment. They should work hard on rebuilding the infrastructure and providing security to the Iraqi people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He should be hanged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He doesn't deserve to face trial. Let him leave Iraq. That's good punishment for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Let justice take its course according to the constitution, our constitution being the holy Koran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, CNN will be there for Saddam's day in court for the arraignment. Stay with us throughout the night for our special live coverage of Saddam's arraignment. It begins at 2:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. Pacific.
PHILLIPS: Thousands of rarely-used reservists will be dusting off their uniforms. Many of them could find themselves in Iraq or Afghanistan very soon.
CNN's Barbara Starr is live from the Pentagon with more -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, hello to you.
Well, the Army has now made it official. About 5,600 members of the so-called Individual Ready Reserve are going to receive their mobilization notices and may be headed for combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a very specific group of people, the Individual Ready Reserve. These are people who have left military active duty service, but still owe some portion of their eight-year service commitment. So, they well know that this time could have been coming when they would be called to active duty, but perhaps they did not expect it.
This is the first time in 13 years since the first Persian Gulf War that the Army has relied on such a large number of these people to fill empty billets. Army officials are saying part of the reason they are having to do this is because the force, the Army is stretched thin because of its overseas deployment commitments.
These people will serve in specialties such as truck drivers, engineers, military police and in other support jobs. They are expected mainly to come from California, Texas, New York and Delaware. It is well known and well understood by the Army that many of these people may not be very happy to receive these notices that they are being called to active duty, but the Army says it simply has no choice -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon. Thank you -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And now a story of trauma, betrayal and kidnapping. Exactly how did Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun wind up in the hands of Islamic militants who now threaten to behead him?
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in West Jordan, Utah, where family members are anxiously awaiting word on Hassoun's fate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
Well, the U.S. military coming out yesterday and saying that Corporal Hassoun is now listed as captured by Islamic militants. But there is still an investigation ongoing into exactly just how Corporal Hassoun was able to get away -- or was taken away from a military base in Fallujah, near Baghdad.
Now, the investigation so far, what we've been able to gather, is that military officials, their present line of thinking at this point is that they do believe that Corporal Hassoun willingly walked away from this base.
There is a "New York Times" report out this morning -- this afternoon, suggesting, adding some more details to this story. The article quotes a Marine officer saying that Corporal Hassoun had befriended some Iraqis that were working on the base, that Corporal Hassoun had become traumatized by watching a fellow Marine killed in action, and that somehow he wanted to get to his family in Lebanon, and that Corporal e Hassoun befriended these Iraqis, and then they were able to help him get off the base. But it was after that, the report goes on to say, that he was -- these Iraqis turned on him and turned him over to the Islamic militants.
Now, family and relatives that live here in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, have had no comment on these reports so far. Last night, in a late-night press conference, they did ask the world to continue to pray for Corporal Hassoun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAREK NOSSIER, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: The Marine Corps have officially notified the family that Wassef's status of desertion is being revoked and has been changed to captured. Obviously, Wassef's capture is what has been destined upon us, and we accept it. Yet, we believe that our and your prayers will be answered. Please continue to pray for his safe release.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: We'll set the scene here a little bit here in West Jordan, Utah. Just a little while ago, three U.S. Marines showed up back here at the home of Corporal Hassoun as they continue to support and offer -- try to provide whatever kind of information they can to the family here in Utah.
And a short while ago as well, a local troop of Boy Scouts showed up, and you see the American flags flying in the front yard. These Boy Scouts had come by and placed 30 American flags. They said they had the support and full permission from the family to do that.
Neighbors around here are saying that they want to rally to the support of this family and know that they're not alone, as they wait to find out what happens to Corporal Hassoun -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera, thanks very much for that report from Utah -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: They didn't really have a specific plan for what to do case by case if we lost. That's what an unidentified senior defense official told the "L.A. Times" about Guantanamo Bay detainees and this week's Supreme Court rulings that have granted military prisoners access to U.S. courts. Now in anticipation of hundreds of lawsuits challenging those detentions, Gitmo prisoners may be moved off the military base in Cuba to prisons within the U.S.
WHITFIELD: Well, he was convicted of beating his adopted 6-year- old daughter to death. But today he left prison in a stretch limo. His case drew national attention to child abuse. A live report on what Joel Steinberg plans to do now, straight ahead.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Redwood City, California, where the woman who set up Scott Peterson with his former girlfriend, Amber Frey, is on the stand. More coming up.
WHITFIELD: And interest rates, if the Fed raises them today, how will it affect your bottom line? We're crunching the numbers straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It could be one of the most intriguing days yet in the Scott Peterson murder trial. The woman who introduced Peterson to his mistress, Amber Frey, is expected on the stand.
CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us from Redwood City, California, with the details -- Rusty.
DORNIN: Well, Kyra, you know, some of the testimony in this trial has been rather tedious, but the jury is certainly in rapt attention, as is the audience, as a woman on the stand is describing meeting a Scott Peterson who portrayed himself as single and who liked to attract a lot of women and who enjoyed one-night stands. Shawn Sibley met Scott Peterson at a convention. They went out to dinner with some other people. Apparently, Peterson did tell her that he liked women, wanted to go out with lots of women. He said he had lost his soul mate and wanted a meaningful relationship. He was then joking with her, asking her about her preferences for sexual positions.
But he kept coming back to the same topic that he wanted a meaningful relationship. Sibley then did decide to introduce him to her friend, Amber Frey, who she said had been through some troubling relationships. The two did get together.
And then Sibley found out that Peterson might be married. She confronted him with it on the phone. He lied to her, told her several times he was not married. She ended up telling Amber Frey, who also confronted Peterson. He did lie to her as well, telling her that his wife had died, that he was a widow.
And then it was in late December, after Laci Peterson disappeared, Sibley discovered that Scott Peterson was married to Laci. She told Amber Frey. And she was with Frey when Frey called police on December 30.
Now, Sibley is expected to be the last witness today. They are taking an extra long vacation break for the Fourth of July weekend. So, depending on how long the cross-examination is of her on the stand, we should be quitting early today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rusty Dornin live from Redwood City, California. We'll check in with you. Thank you -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: It was a crime that shocked and enraged New Yorkers back in 1987. In the end, Joel Steinberg was convicted in the beating death of his 6-year-old illegally-adopted daughter, Lisa.
Now, New Yorkers may be enraged all over again. State law grants automatic conditional release after an inmate serves two-thirds of a maximum sentence. So, this morning, Joel Steinberg left prison in a limo provided by his lawyer after serving just 16 years.
CNN's Jason Carroll is in Pine City, New York with more -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Fredricka, honestly it was a little odd to see a white stretch limo pull up to see -- to pick up Joel Steinberg. But there was really nothing ordinary about this case. He left the prison without saying a word about the conviction that landed him here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEDDA NUSSBAUM, LIVE-IN LOVER OF JOEL STEINBERG: She was congested and seems to have stopped breathing.
CARROLL (voice over): It was a 911 call that began a story that would shock the nation. It came on November 2, 1987, from Hedda Nussbaum. Her adopted daughter, Lisa, wasn't breathing. NUSSBAUM: I'm giving her mouth to mouth.
CARROLL: Nussbaum said Lisa had choked on food. Police found her naked, filthy and badly bruised. Later, doctors found old bruises on her tiny body. They also noticed obvious signs of abuse on Nussbaum, her face severely disfigured. Three days after arriving at the hospital, Lisa died. She was 6 years old.
Police charged Nussbaum and her live-in lover, Joel Steinberg, with murder.
JOEL STEINBERG, CONVICTED OF KILLING DAUGHTER: I do not hit, strike or use any form of force or discipline of any sort.
CARROLL: Steinberg denied claims he beat Lisa because she stared at him. What's undisputed: Steinberg and Nussbaum had illegally adopted Lisa at birth. Her teachers saw bruises over time. Neighbors heard screams from their West Village brownstone, but no one investigated.
Years later, Nussbaum explained how Steinberg controlled her.
NUSSBAUM: Because I was really brainwashed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is deserving of the maximum season.
CARROLL: A deadlocked jury reached a compromised verdict: manslaughter instead of murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not guilty.
CARROLL: After Lisa's death, New York state required anyone licensed to deal with children to take a course in recognizing abuse. Lisa's middle-class background also changed stereotypes of victims of child abuse.
DR. KATHERINE GRIMM, CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY GROUP: People who are poor and minorities are assumed to be the major group of perpetrators. Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic lines and all ethnic lines.
CARROLL: Steinberg served two-thirds of a maximum 25-year season sentence, not enough for one former juror.
JEREMIAH COLE, JUROR: I think justice would only be served if Joel Steinberg spent the rest of his life in some way trying to atone for what he did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And Steinberg planned to return to New York City. As part of his conditional release, he has to stay away from children. He also has to stay away from Hedda Nussbaum. She avoided prosecution by testifying against Steinberg.
Now, Fredricka, there have also been a few questions about what possibly Steinberg will do next. One possibility, he has been offered a job as an intern on a public cable access show -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Jason Carroll in Pine City, New York, thanks very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Is the Iraqi court system ready for Saddam Hussein? An American judge who personally checked out the situation in Iraq joins me to talk about it in just a few moments.
And, is it homeland security or discrimination against illegal immigrants? One state's plan for driver's certificates stirs a debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We want to take you straight to the White House now. Scott McClellan is taking questions from reporters, talking about Saddam Hussein, as he gets ready to begin facing justice. That's tonight. Of course, CNN will have live coverage. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, David, I noticed those articles earlier this week as well. I found them interesting. I don't have any update from our standpoint. But certainly, those articles were sourcing European intelligence officials, but did I find them very interesting.
QUESTION: On a related issue, has the president come to an independent determination about whether the mobile biological laboratories actually existed, based on the intelligence he's being given now? Or -- in other words, is he in agreement yet with his secretary of state?
MCCLELLAN: Well, as you are aware, we are learning more over time about the purposes of those labs. The last public comment I recall on this was by Director Tenet. But we have continued to learn more.
QUESTION: The last public comment was by Secretary Powell.
MCCLELLAN: In terms of the intelligence community and what they represented was by Director Tenet a few months ago. We have continued to learn more since that time. And I think you should address those questions to our intelligence community in terms of what the latest information we have about those laboratories.
QUESTION: You're not yet in agreement with your secretary of state?
MCCLELLAN: Like I said, as the secretary of state pointed out, we have been learning more about those mobile labs. But the last word from the intelligence community that was stated publicly was by Director Tenet, and so that's the last information I have.
QUESTION: We have been learning more. He said it was false and he regrets saying it, that he had been misled, I think was his phrase. MCCLELLAN: The last public comments he stated?
QUESTION: By the secretary of state was that he had been misled.
MCCLELLAN: No, by Director Tenet, the last public comments were that there were some differences of opinion about what they were for. But that's why I pointed out that we have learned more from that information. I'm not aware of any further public update from the intelligence community at this time. So that's the information that we go on at this point. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Scott...
MCCLELLAN: Well, like I said, we have been learning more since that time period. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Do you have any reaction to the Israeli agreement to redirect the 18 miles of fence? And with the World Court ruling expected this week, what is the current assessment of the security?
MCCLELLAN: Well, that, as you pointed, that was a decision by the high court in Israel. We have talked to Israel, the government of Israel about the security barriers that they have put in place and are putting in place. I understand the government of Israel has responded to their high court's ruling. And we will continue to discuss these issues with the government. I think also it's important to point out that we want to continue working with all parties to get them moving forward again on the road map and get them moving forward to prepare the institutions that need to be in place for a...
PHILLIPS: White House press secretary Scott McClellan addressing reporters there, talking about Saddam Hussein and the fact that he's getting ready for the first time to face justice since he's been taken in by coalition forces.
We want to remind you, CNN will have live coverage. That's tonight -- I guess you could say in the morning, 2:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. Pacific time Saddam Hussein in court. It will be the first time the world is actually going to get a glimpse, an inside look at the former dictator. CNN's special live coverage.
We'll be right back.
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Aired June 30, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He should be hanged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He doesn't deserve to face trial. Let him leave Iraq. That's good punishment for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraqi custody, what will justice for Saddam Hussein look like? In-depth on his legal future this hour.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Questions about the fate of an American soldier captured by Iraqi insurgents. We're expecting new information as the military holds a live news conference this hour.
PHILLIPS: Dusting off the uniforms for double duty, the Pentagon prepares to call up more soldiers on reserve.
WHITFIELD: And outrage revisited. Remember the Joel Steinberg case, the adoptive dad convicted of beating his little girl to death? Well, he gets out of jail.
PHILLIPS: From the CNN center in Atlanta, hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is on assignment.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It is June 2 -- not really, is it? Is it June 2?
PHILLIPS: No, it's not June 2. I don't know why you said that.
WHITFIELD: What day is it?
PHILLIPS: You know what? It's the 30th of June.
WHITFIELD: It's the 30th of June. There you go. We're all together now.
CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
WHITFIELD: A new era of diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States. You're looking at live pictures right now from Washington, where the incoming Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. today is hoisting the Iraqi flag over that nation's diplomatic offices. It's a huge moment. You see people there applauding as well. The Iraqi embassy itself had been closed since the Persian Gulf War. An Iraqi flag is now up and positioned over the Iraqi embassy there in the nation's capital.
PHILLIPS: Well, he's in the legal custody of his own people. Now Saddam Hussein will appear in an Iraqi court in about 13 hours to be formally charged. Iraqis will get their first look at their former dictator since he was captured in December. And they can hear from him as well.
CNN's Brent Sadler is live from Baghdad.
I think the whole world will be watching -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed what an appearance this is going to be, and there are going to be cameras inside. Not live, we understand, but recorded pictures we'll see later in the day.
And these will be the first steps that Saddam Hussein takes on the long road to justice. He is no longer a prisoner of war, protected by the Geneva conventions. Instead, he's subject to Iraq's own penal code.
What's expected in that court, in front of an Iraqi judge tomorrow, is that he will face charges, charges of crimes against humanity, including genocide, going back over 35 years of merciless rule as Iraq's dictator relating back to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Before that, the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. The gassing of the Kurds back in 1988. Many other crimes revolving around his leadership of this country.
And not just Saddam Hussein; 11 other of his former top officials will also be appearing at the same proceeding tomorrow. This is a kind of arraignment procedure. The bulk of the evidence against him is still being assimilated. That is going to take many months to put together before a special tribunal, probably not until next year, can formally bring a trial against Saddam Hussein.
Also involved in the proceedings tomorrow, expect to see Tariq Aziz, one of the best known faces of the old regime. He was the foreign minister and deputy prime minister. Also expect to see one of the most notorious ex-regimists, Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali, for his alleged role in the use of chemical weapons, again, against the Kurds back in 1988.
Now, Iraq's new national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, says there is literally a stack of evidence they've got against Iraq's former dictator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOUWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have a long, long, long list of crimes against Saddam Hussein, starting from the homicide to genocide, to using chemical weapons in Halabja, doing the -- hundreds of thousands people killed in the mass graves, tens of thousand of people executed in Abu Ghraib prison, starting three wars, two of them against our own neighbors. So, these are crimes against humanity, homicide, and genocide. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SADLER: Now, when Saddam Hussein himself appeared today for this handover of legal control to the Iraqis, he was said to be appearing somewhat shaken. He did say he wanted to ask questions. That request was denied.
Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, was said to be visibly shaking, and other members of the regime stood there to listen that they were now under the control of the Iraqis, although they will still be physically held by Americans in terms of their confinement -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brent, jut one question about the special Iraqi tribunal. This is going to be quite different from the previous Iraqi judicial system. How will members of this tribunal be selected? And how will we all know that they are not loyalists to Saddam Hussein?
SADLER: Well, this is all being put together right now. There is a U.S.-trained lawyer, Salem Chalabi, who is director of the special tribunal that's being set up to try these cases. You know, there is a mass of evidence to deal with here, literally miles and miles of paperwork to go through. But it will be a trial that everybody here is saying will be an open trial. They hope to get it televised. There are still pretrial negotiations going on as to whether it can be televised, whether or not Saddam Hussein can bring his foreign legal team inside the country to defend the former dictator, and also whether or not the death penalty can be legally reintroduced in Iraq. It was suspended when Paul Bremer, the ex-civil administrator, was here.
In terms of the legality and the opening of this trial, yes, the tribunal -- the head of that tribunal is insisting, as are members of the interim government, newly-empowered, that this will be a trial following all of the rules of how an international tribunal should work -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brent Sadler, live from Baghdad. Thanks so much.
We want to remind you, too, at the half-hour we are going to talk to a former federal prosecutor from the United States that was sent over to Iraq to help get the new Iraqi judicial system up and running. We'll talk to him about the tribunal and the judicial system coming up at the half-hour.
WHITFIELD: Well, Kyra, Saddam Hussein and the 11 other top aides will not likely go on trial until next year. The prospect of a war crimes trial is reviving painful memories for many Iraqis. As the process begins in Iraq, people there are showing a range of emotions already.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For 35 years, he destroyed this country and committed so many atrocities, from executions to unfair jailings and cutting hands off. The Iraqi street want to see him brought to justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He deserves to face trial, but it should be an Iraqi tribunal, without any foreigner's influence. His problem is with the Iraqi people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I for one oppose punishing him. He was nice to me and took care of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I believe the transitional government should pay attention to more pressing issues at the moment. They should work hard on rebuilding the infrastructure and providing security to the Iraqi people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He should be hanged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He doesn't deserve to face trial. Let him leave Iraq. That's good punishment for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Let justice take its course according to the constitution, our constitution being the holy Koran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, CNN will be there for Saddam's day in court for the arraignment. Stay with us throughout the night for our special live coverage of Saddam's arraignment. It begins at 2:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. Pacific.
PHILLIPS: Thousands of rarely-used reservists will be dusting off their uniforms. Many of them could find themselves in Iraq or Afghanistan very soon.
CNN's Barbara Starr is live from the Pentagon with more -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, hello to you.
Well, the Army has now made it official. About 5,600 members of the so-called Individual Ready Reserve are going to receive their mobilization notices and may be headed for combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a very specific group of people, the Individual Ready Reserve. These are people who have left military active duty service, but still owe some portion of their eight-year service commitment. So, they well know that this time could have been coming when they would be called to active duty, but perhaps they did not expect it.
This is the first time in 13 years since the first Persian Gulf War that the Army has relied on such a large number of these people to fill empty billets. Army officials are saying part of the reason they are having to do this is because the force, the Army is stretched thin because of its overseas deployment commitments.
These people will serve in specialties such as truck drivers, engineers, military police and in other support jobs. They are expected mainly to come from California, Texas, New York and Delaware. It is well known and well understood by the Army that many of these people may not be very happy to receive these notices that they are being called to active duty, but the Army says it simply has no choice -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon. Thank you -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And now a story of trauma, betrayal and kidnapping. Exactly how did Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun wind up in the hands of Islamic militants who now threaten to behead him?
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in West Jordan, Utah, where family members are anxiously awaiting word on Hassoun's fate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
Well, the U.S. military coming out yesterday and saying that Corporal Hassoun is now listed as captured by Islamic militants. But there is still an investigation ongoing into exactly just how Corporal Hassoun was able to get away -- or was taken away from a military base in Fallujah, near Baghdad.
Now, the investigation so far, what we've been able to gather, is that military officials, their present line of thinking at this point is that they do believe that Corporal Hassoun willingly walked away from this base.
There is a "New York Times" report out this morning -- this afternoon, suggesting, adding some more details to this story. The article quotes a Marine officer saying that Corporal Hassoun had befriended some Iraqis that were working on the base, that Corporal Hassoun had become traumatized by watching a fellow Marine killed in action, and that somehow he wanted to get to his family in Lebanon, and that Corporal e Hassoun befriended these Iraqis, and then they were able to help him get off the base. But it was after that, the report goes on to say, that he was -- these Iraqis turned on him and turned him over to the Islamic militants.
Now, family and relatives that live here in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, have had no comment on these reports so far. Last night, in a late-night press conference, they did ask the world to continue to pray for Corporal Hassoun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAREK NOSSIER, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: The Marine Corps have officially notified the family that Wassef's status of desertion is being revoked and has been changed to captured. Obviously, Wassef's capture is what has been destined upon us, and we accept it. Yet, we believe that our and your prayers will be answered. Please continue to pray for his safe release.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: We'll set the scene here a little bit here in West Jordan, Utah. Just a little while ago, three U.S. Marines showed up back here at the home of Corporal Hassoun as they continue to support and offer -- try to provide whatever kind of information they can to the family here in Utah.
And a short while ago as well, a local troop of Boy Scouts showed up, and you see the American flags flying in the front yard. These Boy Scouts had come by and placed 30 American flags. They said they had the support and full permission from the family to do that.
Neighbors around here are saying that they want to rally to the support of this family and know that they're not alone, as they wait to find out what happens to Corporal Hassoun -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera, thanks very much for that report from Utah -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: They didn't really have a specific plan for what to do case by case if we lost. That's what an unidentified senior defense official told the "L.A. Times" about Guantanamo Bay detainees and this week's Supreme Court rulings that have granted military prisoners access to U.S. courts. Now in anticipation of hundreds of lawsuits challenging those detentions, Gitmo prisoners may be moved off the military base in Cuba to prisons within the U.S.
WHITFIELD: Well, he was convicted of beating his adopted 6-year- old daughter to death. But today he left prison in a stretch limo. His case drew national attention to child abuse. A live report on what Joel Steinberg plans to do now, straight ahead.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Redwood City, California, where the woman who set up Scott Peterson with his former girlfriend, Amber Frey, is on the stand. More coming up.
WHITFIELD: And interest rates, if the Fed raises them today, how will it affect your bottom line? We're crunching the numbers straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
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PHILLIPS: It could be one of the most intriguing days yet in the Scott Peterson murder trial. The woman who introduced Peterson to his mistress, Amber Frey, is expected on the stand.
CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us from Redwood City, California, with the details -- Rusty.
DORNIN: Well, Kyra, you know, some of the testimony in this trial has been rather tedious, but the jury is certainly in rapt attention, as is the audience, as a woman on the stand is describing meeting a Scott Peterson who portrayed himself as single and who liked to attract a lot of women and who enjoyed one-night stands. Shawn Sibley met Scott Peterson at a convention. They went out to dinner with some other people. Apparently, Peterson did tell her that he liked women, wanted to go out with lots of women. He said he had lost his soul mate and wanted a meaningful relationship. He was then joking with her, asking her about her preferences for sexual positions.
But he kept coming back to the same topic that he wanted a meaningful relationship. Sibley then did decide to introduce him to her friend, Amber Frey, who she said had been through some troubling relationships. The two did get together.
And then Sibley found out that Peterson might be married. She confronted him with it on the phone. He lied to her, told her several times he was not married. She ended up telling Amber Frey, who also confronted Peterson. He did lie to her as well, telling her that his wife had died, that he was a widow.
And then it was in late December, after Laci Peterson disappeared, Sibley discovered that Scott Peterson was married to Laci. She told Amber Frey. And she was with Frey when Frey called police on December 30.
Now, Sibley is expected to be the last witness today. They are taking an extra long vacation break for the Fourth of July weekend. So, depending on how long the cross-examination is of her on the stand, we should be quitting early today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rusty Dornin live from Redwood City, California. We'll check in with you. Thank you -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: It was a crime that shocked and enraged New Yorkers back in 1987. In the end, Joel Steinberg was convicted in the beating death of his 6-year-old illegally-adopted daughter, Lisa.
Now, New Yorkers may be enraged all over again. State law grants automatic conditional release after an inmate serves two-thirds of a maximum sentence. So, this morning, Joel Steinberg left prison in a limo provided by his lawyer after serving just 16 years.
CNN's Jason Carroll is in Pine City, New York with more -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Fredricka, honestly it was a little odd to see a white stretch limo pull up to see -- to pick up Joel Steinberg. But there was really nothing ordinary about this case. He left the prison without saying a word about the conviction that landed him here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEDDA NUSSBAUM, LIVE-IN LOVER OF JOEL STEINBERG: She was congested and seems to have stopped breathing.
CARROLL (voice over): It was a 911 call that began a story that would shock the nation. It came on November 2, 1987, from Hedda Nussbaum. Her adopted daughter, Lisa, wasn't breathing. NUSSBAUM: I'm giving her mouth to mouth.
CARROLL: Nussbaum said Lisa had choked on food. Police found her naked, filthy and badly bruised. Later, doctors found old bruises on her tiny body. They also noticed obvious signs of abuse on Nussbaum, her face severely disfigured. Three days after arriving at the hospital, Lisa died. She was 6 years old.
Police charged Nussbaum and her live-in lover, Joel Steinberg, with murder.
JOEL STEINBERG, CONVICTED OF KILLING DAUGHTER: I do not hit, strike or use any form of force or discipline of any sort.
CARROLL: Steinberg denied claims he beat Lisa because she stared at him. What's undisputed: Steinberg and Nussbaum had illegally adopted Lisa at birth. Her teachers saw bruises over time. Neighbors heard screams from their West Village brownstone, but no one investigated.
Years later, Nussbaum explained how Steinberg controlled her.
NUSSBAUM: Because I was really brainwashed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is deserving of the maximum season.
CARROLL: A deadlocked jury reached a compromised verdict: manslaughter instead of murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not guilty.
CARROLL: After Lisa's death, New York state required anyone licensed to deal with children to take a course in recognizing abuse. Lisa's middle-class background also changed stereotypes of victims of child abuse.
DR. KATHERINE GRIMM, CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY GROUP: People who are poor and minorities are assumed to be the major group of perpetrators. Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic lines and all ethnic lines.
CARROLL: Steinberg served two-thirds of a maximum 25-year season sentence, not enough for one former juror.
JEREMIAH COLE, JUROR: I think justice would only be served if Joel Steinberg spent the rest of his life in some way trying to atone for what he did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And Steinberg planned to return to New York City. As part of his conditional release, he has to stay away from children. He also has to stay away from Hedda Nussbaum. She avoided prosecution by testifying against Steinberg.
Now, Fredricka, there have also been a few questions about what possibly Steinberg will do next. One possibility, he has been offered a job as an intern on a public cable access show -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Jason Carroll in Pine City, New York, thanks very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Is the Iraqi court system ready for Saddam Hussein? An American judge who personally checked out the situation in Iraq joins me to talk about it in just a few moments.
And, is it homeland security or discrimination against illegal immigrants? One state's plan for driver's certificates stirs a debate.
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PHILLIPS: We want to take you straight to the White House now. Scott McClellan is taking questions from reporters, talking about Saddam Hussein, as he gets ready to begin facing justice. That's tonight. Of course, CNN will have live coverage. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, David, I noticed those articles earlier this week as well. I found them interesting. I don't have any update from our standpoint. But certainly, those articles were sourcing European intelligence officials, but did I find them very interesting.
QUESTION: On a related issue, has the president come to an independent determination about whether the mobile biological laboratories actually existed, based on the intelligence he's being given now? Or -- in other words, is he in agreement yet with his secretary of state?
MCCLELLAN: Well, as you are aware, we are learning more over time about the purposes of those labs. The last public comment I recall on this was by Director Tenet. But we have continued to learn more.
QUESTION: The last public comment was by Secretary Powell.
MCCLELLAN: In terms of the intelligence community and what they represented was by Director Tenet a few months ago. We have continued to learn more since that time. And I think you should address those questions to our intelligence community in terms of what the latest information we have about those laboratories.
QUESTION: You're not yet in agreement with your secretary of state?
MCCLELLAN: Like I said, as the secretary of state pointed out, we have been learning more about those mobile labs. But the last word from the intelligence community that was stated publicly was by Director Tenet, and so that's the last information I have.
QUESTION: We have been learning more. He said it was false and he regrets saying it, that he had been misled, I think was his phrase. MCCLELLAN: The last public comments he stated?
QUESTION: By the secretary of state was that he had been misled.
MCCLELLAN: No, by Director Tenet, the last public comments were that there were some differences of opinion about what they were for. But that's why I pointed out that we have learned more from that information. I'm not aware of any further public update from the intelligence community at this time. So that's the information that we go on at this point. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Scott...
MCCLELLAN: Well, like I said, we have been learning more since that time period. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Do you have any reaction to the Israeli agreement to redirect the 18 miles of fence? And with the World Court ruling expected this week, what is the current assessment of the security?
MCCLELLAN: Well, that, as you pointed, that was a decision by the high court in Israel. We have talked to Israel, the government of Israel about the security barriers that they have put in place and are putting in place. I understand the government of Israel has responded to their high court's ruling. And we will continue to discuss these issues with the government. I think also it's important to point out that we want to continue working with all parties to get them moving forward again on the road map and get them moving forward to prepare the institutions that need to be in place for a...
PHILLIPS: White House press secretary Scott McClellan addressing reporters there, talking about Saddam Hussein and the fact that he's getting ready for the first time to face justice since he's been taken in by coalition forces.
We want to remind you, CNN will have live coverage. That's tonight -- I guess you could say in the morning, 2:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. Pacific time Saddam Hussein in court. It will be the first time the world is actually going to get a glimpse, an inside look at the former dictator. CNN's special live coverage.
We'll be right back.
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