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Live From...
Look at System Designed to Spot, Shoot Down Incoming Missiles Fired From Anywhere in World; Bush Signs Off on Tougher Penalties for Identity Thieves
Aired July 15, 2004 - 13:30 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Possible new cases of abuse of war prisoners by U.S. troops.
Senator John Warner emerged from a briefing with Pentagon officials just a short time ago. He says additional incidents requiring investigation were brought to his attention. Warner heads a Senate Armed Services Committee and is holding hearings into this issue.
The U.S. Marine first listed as missing in Iraq, then captured, then turning up at the home of relatives in Lebanon, is on his way back to the U.S. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun says that he was abducted from his base. Military officials say they're still investigating that.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we want to take a look at a key element of U.S. military defense planning. A system designed to spot and shoot down incoming missiles fired from anywhere in the world.
CNN's David Ensor begins a two-part report on this system, with a look at a crucial component now being built.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Simply put, the radar under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas is huge.
COL. MIKE SMITH, PROJECT MANAGER, XBAND RADAR: What you're looking at is the world's largest Xband phased-ray (ph) radar. It's 100 feet tall in its present condition, and it weighs about four million pounds.
ENSOR: Workers are racing to complete the radar this year, to become part of the multibillion-dollar missile defense that President Bush wants to deploy against ballistic missile attack by a rogue state, like North Korea. The radar's job, figure out which is the real warhead, so that missile interceptors can be launched to try to stop them.
LT. COL. RONALD KADISH, FMR. DIR., MISSILE DEFENSE OFFICER: This has that type of capability and would increase our overall confidence we're shooting at the right target.
ENSOR (on camera): And not a decoy?
KADISH: And not a decoy.
ENSOR: How good is the Xband radar? Colonel Smith says if slugger Barry Bonds could hit a baseball into space from Giants stadium in San Francisco and the radar were deployed near Washington, it would...
SMITH: Not just see the baseball, but detect the spinning motion on the baseball. That's how powerful this radar is, and that's exactly why it was developed.
ENSOR: The radar will soon be placed atop this platform, under preparation in Brownsville, Texas. It is a Norwegian-built oil drilling platform with four engines, which the Pentagon plans to deploy in the Pacific Ocean.
SMITH: The deck size here is large enough to hold an entire football field, with both endzones.
ENSOR (on camera): Once the radar is in place and has been tested, it will start its roughly six-month journey around Latin America, back up through the pacific ocean, to its future home port, which is an island in Alaska's Aleutian chain.
(voice-over): Based at Adak, Alaska, the giant radar vessel will have a crew of 62 and be provisioned to operate at sea for 60 days without new supplies.
(on camera): It's one thing walking up here now, but when it's rocking about in the Pacific Ocean, it might be a little tougher.
SMITH: Yes, that's correct. That's why it's a very hardy breed of people that do this kind of thing.
ENSOR (voice-over): The Xband radar vessel will be a strategic target for America's enemies. When at sea, officials say it will have protection from U.S. Navy ships and planes.
(on camera): In order to acquire its target, the Xband radar is on these giant wheels, which can rotate it 270 degrees on this track right here, and of course if they need to go further than that, they simply use the propellers in the water on the vessel.
(voice-over): Critics question whether the $815 million radar vessel will be able to survive the rigors of the Pacific.
PHILIP COYLE, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECY.: The issue is not simply the size of the waves, but whether or not all that salt water and spray will affect the highly sophisticated electronics.
ENSOR: But Pentagon officials say like other radars, the Xband will be covered, the circuitry is extremely robust, and it will sit on two massive pontoons.
(on camera): It's going to take a beating on the way around, isn't it? SMITH: It's going to take a beating, but it's built to withstand a beating, and that's exactly why we picked an oil drilling platform, the extreme stability.
ENSOR (voice-over): Built for stability and built to help stop a missile attack against the United States.
David Ensor, CNN, Corpus Christi, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now, military planners have batted around the idea of a missile defense system. In part two of his series, David takes a broader look at where the idea came from. So please join us for that tomorrow on LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: Identity theft -- authorities say it costs Americans billions of dollar a year and could present a national security threat as well. Today, President Bush signed off on tougher penalties for identity thieves.
For more on the new law, we're joined by Kathleen Koch from the White House.
Kathleen, tell us about it.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, identity theft is considered one of the fastest growing financial crimes in the country, affecting some 10 million Americans every year. The bill signed by the president today creates a new category of crime. It's called aggravated identity theft. It's basically the use of a stolen identity in the commission of a crime. Violators under this new law, signed by the president, would, for the very first time, face a mandatory two-year prison sentence. And if the identity were stolen for the reason of committing an act of terrorism, then that mandatory penalty would be boosted to five years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The law signed today will dramatically strengthen the fight against identity theft and fraud. Prosecutors across country report that sentences for these crimes do not reflect the damage done to the victim. Too often, those convicted have been sentenced to little or no time in prison. This changes today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The measure, signed by the president this morning, also directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to come up with tougher punishments for those who abuse a position of trust to commit insider identity theft. Experts who say that a large percentage of identity thefts are committed by insiders, often at health care and financial institutions.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft claims were up 25 percent last year alone, and the crime is a costly one to the U.S. economy, through fraudulent transaction, costing the U.S. economy nearly $50 billion every year -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, live from the White House. I was actually just getting word via e-mail that some of our employees had their Social Security number stolen. So it's interesting.
KOCH: Very pervasive.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.
Absolutely -- Carol.
LIN: Kyra, Scott Peterson's comments to journalists and a detective's account of a tip going back nine years are suddenly front- burner issues in CNN's murder trial.
CNN's Rusty Dornin fills us in from Redwood City, California.
Rusty, a lot to talk about today.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at least one of those issues, which is defense attorney Mark Geragos, filing a motion to have charges dismissed against Scott Peterson, won't really be heard in court for another two weeks. Now apparently Geragos is alleging that Detective Al Brochinni lied on the stand about a tipster, so that will not be brought into court until July 29th.
On the stand today, the cross-examination continues of Detective Dodge Handee. It's been an exhaustive questioning by Geragos about Handee's involvement in all the searches that were done in San Francisco Bay. Geragos has repeated once, twice, if not 10 times, so, the sum of the evidence you collected in the Bay was nothing relates to this case? And of course Handee would have to reply, that is correct. He finally moved on within the past half hour to the house, December 26th, two days after Laci disappeared, Handee's involvement in searching the nursery. Handee said that he did not find any forensic evidence in there whatsoever. They have just been talking too about these suspected blood samples that Handee did collect, but no results on that.
This afternoon, the jury will not be in the courtroom. The judge will be watching two taped interviews that were done with local reporters and Scott Peterson. One of those interviews was conducted by CNN's own Ted Rowlands sometime last year, in January. So the judge is going to be looking at that to see if, indeed, all those interviews, or just parts of them, will be admissible in court -- Carol.
LIN: Yes, we're going to talking to Ted in the next hour, because he may actually be subpoenaed to testify in the trial.
DORNIN: Well, he's not going to be actually subpoenaed, they're going to play the tape, so that's what's going to be happening. He won't have to answer questions about it at this point, we don't think.
LIN: OK, Amber Frey, testifying next week, is that right?
DORNIN: Maybe the week after, because Hendee will not be -- they'll finish with him this morning and extend him until Monday. So they'll also have this other hearing regarding the dismissal of charges and that sort of thing. So it's going to be another 10 days or so.
LIN: Yes, pretty busy. All right thanks very much, Rusty. Dornin, reporting from Redwood City.
Michael Jackson want to push back the start of his child- molestation trial. We don't know for how long or whether the judge and prosecutors will object. Now back in May, Judge Rodney Melville set a tentative trial date of September 13th, but acknowledged there could be delays.
Martha Stewart will be sentenced tomorrow, and it looks increasingly likely she is going to serve time. Today, her legal team lost its bid to declare federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional. Those guidelines are 10 to 16 months for Stewart's conviction. The lifestyle maven and her former Merrill Lynch broker Peter Bacanovic were found guilty in March of four felonies tied to Stewart's sale of ImClone system stock back in 2001.
CNN's live coverage of Stewart's sentencing starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific tomorrow.
Other news across America now, an aura in the atmosphere. NASA launched its new satellite aura from California today. The $785 million mission will use instruments to scan the atmosphere to study pollutants. Aura will also collect data on holes in the ozone layer.
Returning to detestation in Pennsylvania, residents in Campbelltown are surveying the damage. After powerful storms, At least 30 homes were leveled, twenty others were damaged in one subdivision. Some two dozen people were hurt.
Charred in California. Wildfires in the state have burned some 23,000 acres. Firefighters are trying to make some progress. The Lake Hughes fire in the Angeles National Forest is less than half contained now. That fire has gutted at least one home.
And in Florida, an escaped tiger brings possible punishment for this pig owner. Animal control in the West Palm area say this women who offered to use her pet pig to lure the tiger will be cited for animal cruelty. The missing tiger was actually shot and killed this week after lunging at a wildlife officer.
LIN: That story gets more bizarre by the day. Well, you won't be seeing Whoopi Goldberg telling you to Slim-Fast any more. Next on LIVE FROM..., why some of her comments were too hard for the company to digest.
PHILLIPS: Plus, will Donald Trump add an Emmy to his list of accomplishments? Find out who is in the race.
And later, Shaq says, hello, Miami.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: John Kerry may be coming to a neighborhood near you. After speaking to the NAACP, the Democratic presidential hopeful spoke at the civil rights group convention in Philadelphia today. President Bush declined an earlier invitation to speak to the NAACP. And Kerry told the crowd he will be the president who talks with everyone, even those who don't agree with him.
The senator used the speech to kick off his "Front Porch Tour" where he will be going to everyday American's homes. Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, making his first stop on the "Front Porch Tour." He's in New Orleans meeting with three families. Edwards will talk with them about middle class tax cuts to help pay for child care and college tuition.
LIN: In some celebrity news, talk is anything but cheap for actress Whoopi Goldberg. Her recent comments about President Bush have come with a hefty price. Slim-Fast has dropped the comedian as a spokeswoman after her sexually explicit words about the president.
Goldberg made the comments at a fund-raiser last week for John Kerry. Some conservative groups and GOP supporters have threatened to boycott Slim-Fast products if the company did not take action.
Now in response, Whoopi Goldberg says, and I'm quoting here: "I only wish the Republican re-election committee would spend as much time working on the economy as they seem to be spending trying to harm my pocketbook."
PHILLIPS: Two sitcom powerhouses did not get best comedy nods at the Emmy Award nominations today. "Friends" and "Frazier" did not make the list in the final seasons. HBO's "Sex & the City" did get a nod for its final season. "Arrested Development," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Will & Grace" also got nods.
Among the best drama nominations, "CSI," "The Sopranos" and "West Wing." And "The Apprentice" and "American Idol" were among the outstanding reality nominees. The Emmy Awards air in September and comedian Gary Shandling will host the show.
LIN: All right. We're going to make a turn here literally from the Emmy race to the Tour De France. Our daily update on Lance's chances when LIVE FROM... continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now for our daily update on Lance Armstrong's quest to win his sixth straight Tour De France. The defending champion finished ninth in today's 102-mile segment of the three-week race. He remains in sixth place overall.
Today was the final stage before the tour moves to the steep and strenuous roads of the Pyrenees Mountains. And many of the favorites were thought to be conserving their energy. Off the course, however, Armstrong had some controversy to contend with. He says members of the French media tried to break into his hotel room to look for evidence of doping.
And American swimmer Gary Hall will be competing at the Olympics in Athens next month. He qualified for a place on the U.S. team at the Olympic trials over the past several days. His father, Gary senior, was also a three-time Olympian.
Now our CNN producer Trisha Henry, caught up with Hall after the qualifier. She's a big fan. She asked him about performance- enhancing drugs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY HALL, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: It's so upsetting to me, drugs and sport. I believe that at the Olympic Games, if you make the finals, they have eight finalists in each event, we need to take blood, and it needs to be stored frozen, and it needs to be kept, and subject to future tests.
So right now, if the cheaters are one step ahead of the testers, well, this, you know, will create justice, even if it's retroactive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: As for Olympic security, Hall will be joined by his father in Athens. Gary Sr. says he expects it to be the, quote, "safest place in the world." But Gary Jr. concedes that the international political climate could make it difficult for American athletes.
The death of a dynasty? that's what some sports fans are already calling Shaquille O'Neal's trade to the Miami Heat. Shaq leave the L.A. Lakers with three championships. He also leaves behind a contentious relationship with Kobe Bryant. So what's next for them both?
CNN's Larry Smith takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, together they teamed up on the court to win three straight NBA championships. But off the court, their dislike for one another was well publicized and a constant source of distraction for the team.
On Wednesday, the Lakers traded O'Neal to Miami.
MITCH KUPCHAK, LAKERS GENERAL MANAGER: It's certainly a disappointing day, in a lot of ways, in Los Angeles. You know, I can't deny that. I can't deny the impact a player like Shaq has had on my life, the organization, the city here, for the last eight years.
SMITH: Although the Lakers were favored to win another title this year, Bryant let it be known he would become a free agent at the end of the season. He was reportedly unhappy with Phil Jackson as his coach and was tired of playing second fiddle to O'Neal.
When the team lost to Detroit in the NBA finals, the dismantling of the team began. Bryant's declare for free agency; Phil Jackson was not resigned; and O'Neal's request for a trade was granted.
Many have speculated that letting Jackson go and trading O'Neal remain an attempt to entice Bryant to resign with the team.
MARTY BURNS, WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": They knew the situation was coming. Kobe and Shaq just were not getting along. And I think the Lakers decided that it was in their best interests to build this team around Kobe. And so they took all these steps along the way to make sure that he had no reasons not to come back to L.A.
KUPCHAK: We have no idea that Kobe will come back. You know, we've made the decision independent of what Kobe will do. And we're hopeful that he will resign.
BURNS: If Kobe does not return, the Lakers are left with basically some role players, one blossoming All Star in Lamar Odom, but certainly not enough talent to compete for championships and to compete at a level that Laker fans have come to expect.
SMITH: That's not the Hollywood ending L.A. is looking for.
I'm Larry Smith.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BUSINESS UPDATE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, will the current V.P. be on the ticket this fall? Rumors are out today, suggesting a different scenario. We're explore that in just a few minutes. LIVE FROM's hour of power begins right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Vows to stop the violence. A new move to secure Iraq and stamp out terrorist insurgents. We're reporting for you from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's been very clear he doesn't want to break up the team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Will Vice President Cheney remain in the race? And his response to the rumors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even know where to start. I was trying to think of an order of which to start picking things up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Life after a devastating storm. One community's struggle just to keep going.
LIN: And who's more truthful, men or women? Bridging the gender gap in "The Truth About Lying."
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 15, 2004 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Possible new cases of abuse of war prisoners by U.S. troops.
Senator John Warner emerged from a briefing with Pentagon officials just a short time ago. He says additional incidents requiring investigation were brought to his attention. Warner heads a Senate Armed Services Committee and is holding hearings into this issue.
The U.S. Marine first listed as missing in Iraq, then captured, then turning up at the home of relatives in Lebanon, is on his way back to the U.S. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun says that he was abducted from his base. Military officials say they're still investigating that.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we want to take a look at a key element of U.S. military defense planning. A system designed to spot and shoot down incoming missiles fired from anywhere in the world.
CNN's David Ensor begins a two-part report on this system, with a look at a crucial component now being built.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Simply put, the radar under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas is huge.
COL. MIKE SMITH, PROJECT MANAGER, XBAND RADAR: What you're looking at is the world's largest Xband phased-ray (ph) radar. It's 100 feet tall in its present condition, and it weighs about four million pounds.
ENSOR: Workers are racing to complete the radar this year, to become part of the multibillion-dollar missile defense that President Bush wants to deploy against ballistic missile attack by a rogue state, like North Korea. The radar's job, figure out which is the real warhead, so that missile interceptors can be launched to try to stop them.
LT. COL. RONALD KADISH, FMR. DIR., MISSILE DEFENSE OFFICER: This has that type of capability and would increase our overall confidence we're shooting at the right target.
ENSOR (on camera): And not a decoy?
KADISH: And not a decoy.
ENSOR: How good is the Xband radar? Colonel Smith says if slugger Barry Bonds could hit a baseball into space from Giants stadium in San Francisco and the radar were deployed near Washington, it would...
SMITH: Not just see the baseball, but detect the spinning motion on the baseball. That's how powerful this radar is, and that's exactly why it was developed.
ENSOR: The radar will soon be placed atop this platform, under preparation in Brownsville, Texas. It is a Norwegian-built oil drilling platform with four engines, which the Pentagon plans to deploy in the Pacific Ocean.
SMITH: The deck size here is large enough to hold an entire football field, with both endzones.
ENSOR (on camera): Once the radar is in place and has been tested, it will start its roughly six-month journey around Latin America, back up through the pacific ocean, to its future home port, which is an island in Alaska's Aleutian chain.
(voice-over): Based at Adak, Alaska, the giant radar vessel will have a crew of 62 and be provisioned to operate at sea for 60 days without new supplies.
(on camera): It's one thing walking up here now, but when it's rocking about in the Pacific Ocean, it might be a little tougher.
SMITH: Yes, that's correct. That's why it's a very hardy breed of people that do this kind of thing.
ENSOR (voice-over): The Xband radar vessel will be a strategic target for America's enemies. When at sea, officials say it will have protection from U.S. Navy ships and planes.
(on camera): In order to acquire its target, the Xband radar is on these giant wheels, which can rotate it 270 degrees on this track right here, and of course if they need to go further than that, they simply use the propellers in the water on the vessel.
(voice-over): Critics question whether the $815 million radar vessel will be able to survive the rigors of the Pacific.
PHILIP COYLE, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECY.: The issue is not simply the size of the waves, but whether or not all that salt water and spray will affect the highly sophisticated electronics.
ENSOR: But Pentagon officials say like other radars, the Xband will be covered, the circuitry is extremely robust, and it will sit on two massive pontoons.
(on camera): It's going to take a beating on the way around, isn't it? SMITH: It's going to take a beating, but it's built to withstand a beating, and that's exactly why we picked an oil drilling platform, the extreme stability.
ENSOR (voice-over): Built for stability and built to help stop a missile attack against the United States.
David Ensor, CNN, Corpus Christi, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now, military planners have batted around the idea of a missile defense system. In part two of his series, David takes a broader look at where the idea came from. So please join us for that tomorrow on LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: Identity theft -- authorities say it costs Americans billions of dollar a year and could present a national security threat as well. Today, President Bush signed off on tougher penalties for identity thieves.
For more on the new law, we're joined by Kathleen Koch from the White House.
Kathleen, tell us about it.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, identity theft is considered one of the fastest growing financial crimes in the country, affecting some 10 million Americans every year. The bill signed by the president today creates a new category of crime. It's called aggravated identity theft. It's basically the use of a stolen identity in the commission of a crime. Violators under this new law, signed by the president, would, for the very first time, face a mandatory two-year prison sentence. And if the identity were stolen for the reason of committing an act of terrorism, then that mandatory penalty would be boosted to five years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The law signed today will dramatically strengthen the fight against identity theft and fraud. Prosecutors across country report that sentences for these crimes do not reflect the damage done to the victim. Too often, those convicted have been sentenced to little or no time in prison. This changes today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The measure, signed by the president this morning, also directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to come up with tougher punishments for those who abuse a position of trust to commit insider identity theft. Experts who say that a large percentage of identity thefts are committed by insiders, often at health care and financial institutions.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft claims were up 25 percent last year alone, and the crime is a costly one to the U.S. economy, through fraudulent transaction, costing the U.S. economy nearly $50 billion every year -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, live from the White House. I was actually just getting word via e-mail that some of our employees had their Social Security number stolen. So it's interesting.
KOCH: Very pervasive.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.
Absolutely -- Carol.
LIN: Kyra, Scott Peterson's comments to journalists and a detective's account of a tip going back nine years are suddenly front- burner issues in CNN's murder trial.
CNN's Rusty Dornin fills us in from Redwood City, California.
Rusty, a lot to talk about today.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at least one of those issues, which is defense attorney Mark Geragos, filing a motion to have charges dismissed against Scott Peterson, won't really be heard in court for another two weeks. Now apparently Geragos is alleging that Detective Al Brochinni lied on the stand about a tipster, so that will not be brought into court until July 29th.
On the stand today, the cross-examination continues of Detective Dodge Handee. It's been an exhaustive questioning by Geragos about Handee's involvement in all the searches that were done in San Francisco Bay. Geragos has repeated once, twice, if not 10 times, so, the sum of the evidence you collected in the Bay was nothing relates to this case? And of course Handee would have to reply, that is correct. He finally moved on within the past half hour to the house, December 26th, two days after Laci disappeared, Handee's involvement in searching the nursery. Handee said that he did not find any forensic evidence in there whatsoever. They have just been talking too about these suspected blood samples that Handee did collect, but no results on that.
This afternoon, the jury will not be in the courtroom. The judge will be watching two taped interviews that were done with local reporters and Scott Peterson. One of those interviews was conducted by CNN's own Ted Rowlands sometime last year, in January. So the judge is going to be looking at that to see if, indeed, all those interviews, or just parts of them, will be admissible in court -- Carol.
LIN: Yes, we're going to talking to Ted in the next hour, because he may actually be subpoenaed to testify in the trial.
DORNIN: Well, he's not going to be actually subpoenaed, they're going to play the tape, so that's what's going to be happening. He won't have to answer questions about it at this point, we don't think.
LIN: OK, Amber Frey, testifying next week, is that right?
DORNIN: Maybe the week after, because Hendee will not be -- they'll finish with him this morning and extend him until Monday. So they'll also have this other hearing regarding the dismissal of charges and that sort of thing. So it's going to be another 10 days or so.
LIN: Yes, pretty busy. All right thanks very much, Rusty. Dornin, reporting from Redwood City.
Michael Jackson want to push back the start of his child- molestation trial. We don't know for how long or whether the judge and prosecutors will object. Now back in May, Judge Rodney Melville set a tentative trial date of September 13th, but acknowledged there could be delays.
Martha Stewart will be sentenced tomorrow, and it looks increasingly likely she is going to serve time. Today, her legal team lost its bid to declare federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional. Those guidelines are 10 to 16 months for Stewart's conviction. The lifestyle maven and her former Merrill Lynch broker Peter Bacanovic were found guilty in March of four felonies tied to Stewart's sale of ImClone system stock back in 2001.
CNN's live coverage of Stewart's sentencing starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific tomorrow.
Other news across America now, an aura in the atmosphere. NASA launched its new satellite aura from California today. The $785 million mission will use instruments to scan the atmosphere to study pollutants. Aura will also collect data on holes in the ozone layer.
Returning to detestation in Pennsylvania, residents in Campbelltown are surveying the damage. After powerful storms, At least 30 homes were leveled, twenty others were damaged in one subdivision. Some two dozen people were hurt.
Charred in California. Wildfires in the state have burned some 23,000 acres. Firefighters are trying to make some progress. The Lake Hughes fire in the Angeles National Forest is less than half contained now. That fire has gutted at least one home.
And in Florida, an escaped tiger brings possible punishment for this pig owner. Animal control in the West Palm area say this women who offered to use her pet pig to lure the tiger will be cited for animal cruelty. The missing tiger was actually shot and killed this week after lunging at a wildlife officer.
LIN: That story gets more bizarre by the day. Well, you won't be seeing Whoopi Goldberg telling you to Slim-Fast any more. Next on LIVE FROM..., why some of her comments were too hard for the company to digest.
PHILLIPS: Plus, will Donald Trump add an Emmy to his list of accomplishments? Find out who is in the race.
And later, Shaq says, hello, Miami.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: John Kerry may be coming to a neighborhood near you. After speaking to the NAACP, the Democratic presidential hopeful spoke at the civil rights group convention in Philadelphia today. President Bush declined an earlier invitation to speak to the NAACP. And Kerry told the crowd he will be the president who talks with everyone, even those who don't agree with him.
The senator used the speech to kick off his "Front Porch Tour" where he will be going to everyday American's homes. Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, making his first stop on the "Front Porch Tour." He's in New Orleans meeting with three families. Edwards will talk with them about middle class tax cuts to help pay for child care and college tuition.
LIN: In some celebrity news, talk is anything but cheap for actress Whoopi Goldberg. Her recent comments about President Bush have come with a hefty price. Slim-Fast has dropped the comedian as a spokeswoman after her sexually explicit words about the president.
Goldberg made the comments at a fund-raiser last week for John Kerry. Some conservative groups and GOP supporters have threatened to boycott Slim-Fast products if the company did not take action.
Now in response, Whoopi Goldberg says, and I'm quoting here: "I only wish the Republican re-election committee would spend as much time working on the economy as they seem to be spending trying to harm my pocketbook."
PHILLIPS: Two sitcom powerhouses did not get best comedy nods at the Emmy Award nominations today. "Friends" and "Frazier" did not make the list in the final seasons. HBO's "Sex & the City" did get a nod for its final season. "Arrested Development," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Will & Grace" also got nods.
Among the best drama nominations, "CSI," "The Sopranos" and "West Wing." And "The Apprentice" and "American Idol" were among the outstanding reality nominees. The Emmy Awards air in September and comedian Gary Shandling will host the show.
LIN: All right. We're going to make a turn here literally from the Emmy race to the Tour De France. Our daily update on Lance's chances when LIVE FROM... continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now for our daily update on Lance Armstrong's quest to win his sixth straight Tour De France. The defending champion finished ninth in today's 102-mile segment of the three-week race. He remains in sixth place overall.
Today was the final stage before the tour moves to the steep and strenuous roads of the Pyrenees Mountains. And many of the favorites were thought to be conserving their energy. Off the course, however, Armstrong had some controversy to contend with. He says members of the French media tried to break into his hotel room to look for evidence of doping.
And American swimmer Gary Hall will be competing at the Olympics in Athens next month. He qualified for a place on the U.S. team at the Olympic trials over the past several days. His father, Gary senior, was also a three-time Olympian.
Now our CNN producer Trisha Henry, caught up with Hall after the qualifier. She's a big fan. She asked him about performance- enhancing drugs.
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GARY HALL, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: It's so upsetting to me, drugs and sport. I believe that at the Olympic Games, if you make the finals, they have eight finalists in each event, we need to take blood, and it needs to be stored frozen, and it needs to be kept, and subject to future tests.
So right now, if the cheaters are one step ahead of the testers, well, this, you know, will create justice, even if it's retroactive.
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LIN: As for Olympic security, Hall will be joined by his father in Athens. Gary Sr. says he expects it to be the, quote, "safest place in the world." But Gary Jr. concedes that the international political climate could make it difficult for American athletes.
The death of a dynasty? that's what some sports fans are already calling Shaquille O'Neal's trade to the Miami Heat. Shaq leave the L.A. Lakers with three championships. He also leaves behind a contentious relationship with Kobe Bryant. So what's next for them both?
CNN's Larry Smith takes a look.
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LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, together they teamed up on the court to win three straight NBA championships. But off the court, their dislike for one another was well publicized and a constant source of distraction for the team.
On Wednesday, the Lakers traded O'Neal to Miami.
MITCH KUPCHAK, LAKERS GENERAL MANAGER: It's certainly a disappointing day, in a lot of ways, in Los Angeles. You know, I can't deny that. I can't deny the impact a player like Shaq has had on my life, the organization, the city here, for the last eight years.
SMITH: Although the Lakers were favored to win another title this year, Bryant let it be known he would become a free agent at the end of the season. He was reportedly unhappy with Phil Jackson as his coach and was tired of playing second fiddle to O'Neal.
When the team lost to Detroit in the NBA finals, the dismantling of the team began. Bryant's declare for free agency; Phil Jackson was not resigned; and O'Neal's request for a trade was granted.
Many have speculated that letting Jackson go and trading O'Neal remain an attempt to entice Bryant to resign with the team.
MARTY BURNS, WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": They knew the situation was coming. Kobe and Shaq just were not getting along. And I think the Lakers decided that it was in their best interests to build this team around Kobe. And so they took all these steps along the way to make sure that he had no reasons not to come back to L.A.
KUPCHAK: We have no idea that Kobe will come back. You know, we've made the decision independent of what Kobe will do. And we're hopeful that he will resign.
BURNS: If Kobe does not return, the Lakers are left with basically some role players, one blossoming All Star in Lamar Odom, but certainly not enough talent to compete for championships and to compete at a level that Laker fans have come to expect.
SMITH: That's not the Hollywood ending L.A. is looking for.
I'm Larry Smith.
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(BUSINESS UPDATE)
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PHILLIPS: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, will the current V.P. be on the ticket this fall? Rumors are out today, suggesting a different scenario. We're explore that in just a few minutes. LIVE FROM's hour of power begins right after this.
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PHILLIPS: Vows to stop the violence. A new move to secure Iraq and stamp out terrorist insurgents. We're reporting for you from Baghdad.
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DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's been very clear he doesn't want to break up the team.
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PHILLIPS: Will Vice President Cheney remain in the race? And his response to the rumors.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even know where to start. I was trying to think of an order of which to start picking things up.
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PHILLIPS: Life after a devastating storm. One community's struggle just to keep going.
LIN: And who's more truthful, men or women? Bridging the gender gap in "The Truth About Lying."
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
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