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Scott Peterson's Lawyer Requests Change of Venue for Penalty Phase; Iraqi Prime Minister: Elections Will Succeed; Palestinian Authority Schedules January Elections for New Leader
Aired November 22, 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.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... for a new penalty phase, jury and a change of venue. He cited the mob scene that was outside this courthouse last week that applauded when they heard the verdict about Scott Peterson.
And he says the judge should not have released the jury into the community after that. It was applauding their decision and could affect their decision about whether Scott Peterson lives or dies. He wanted a change of venue with a brand new jury panel.
The judge said there is no place you can go, it seems like, in the world right now that has not heard of this case. He says he gets e-mails and letters from people in Florida and Alabama, that his wife was in Rome, Italy, and actually heard the verdict live on the radio in Rome, Italy.
He said there is just no place they can go. He believes that this jury still can be impartial in this case. However, he is not going to start the penalty phase until next Tuesday.
In court today was Dennis Rocha, Laci's father, and a couple of her friends that were all ready to go, but this isn't going to happen until next week -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: All right. One more week to go. Rusty Dornin, it's already been, what, five months? I guess we can wait another week for this.
DORNIN: Right.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, now to the future of Iraq and Middle East peace, both the focus of talks today and discuss new opportunities, new prospects and new hopes. Topping the agendas, upcoming crucial elections.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is in the middle of it all. Today he's meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials, and tomorrow he'll be in Egypt for a conference on Iraq. And that's where we're going to start now.
The two-day meeting began just hours ago at a Red Sea resort. And the list of attendees is pretty impressive. Representatives from 20 countries, the United Nations, the Arab League and the European Union are among those taking part. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Sharm El-Sheik with the latest -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra. This is the first major international conference on Iraq since the end of the war last year.
Now basically they're discussing ways to bolster the beleaguered interim Iraqi government. We know they're also discussing ways to help the United Nations organize the nationwide elections, which are scheduled to be held in January 30 of next year.
Now speaking earlier today, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said conditions are not ideal for those elections, but they will go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: Most of the country actually is conducive for election. I mean, out of 18 provinces, 15 or so are really -- you can have election today.
The difficulties are in certain provinces like Ramadi, for instance, Baqubah and maybe Mosul. Some parts of Baghdad could be problematic. But the other areas are safe for the election to take place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And of course, many of those areas he mentions actually compromise (sic) a large proportion of the Iraqi population.
And we do know that several Sunni groups have said they will boycott those elections, and that leading some Arab diplomats to say maybe conditions simply are not right at this time, Kyra, for those elections to go ahead.
Also discussed here, requests or demands by France and some Arab states for a firm date for an end to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq. The United States is shying away from making that sort of commitment, saying only that the occupation will not be open-ended.
Iraq is also to be requesting the assistance of neighboring states to secure its porous borders. Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi saying that some of those states are not doing enough in that regard.
Now, significant for their absence from this meeting here in Sharm El-Sheik, are Iraqi opposition groups that were not invited. They did, however, submit a statement to the conference.
In that statement they demanded an end to what they described as the genocide of Iraqis at the hands of U.S. occupation forces. They called for an end to that occupation, but they did say they agree in principle to the idea of free and fair elections -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much. And it's been an encouraging few days. And Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, says that U.S. and Iraqi forces are almost in complete control of Falluja.
Nineteen nations have agreed to write off much of Iraq's debt. And the date for the country's elections has been set as, we heard just now, January 30.
Our Karl Penhaul is in Baghdad, had a chance to speak with Mr. Allawi today. He joins us live to tell us how it went -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.
Yes, of course, over the weekend the Iraqi Electoral Commission fixing that January 30 dateline for nationwide elections here.
And talking to Mr. Allawi today, he certainly sees the offensive on Falluja, if not necessarily a turning point in the fortunes of the insurgency, certainly some milestone on the road towards greater democracy in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: The process of Falluja was overdue. I think it's broke the back of the insurgency, as well as terrorists. We have found evidence of a lot of murders that have been happening, sites, lots of caches of arms, explosives.
So really this was a very necessary step. I think this would pave the way significantly as we are proceeding in our political process to the -- to the elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now we know more than 200 political parties are now registered to vote for the January 30 elections, to take part in those elections. We've even seen the first few election posters begin to pop up around Baghdad.
And what in my conversations with Mr. Allawi, he made it clear that just as the Falluja offensive will have dented the military might of the insurgency, he believes the elections will go a long way to taking away the political oxygen from the insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAWI: Makes me very happy to see that Iraq is, for the first time, probably, in their recent history are engaged in healthy dialogue and looking forward to an election where the Iraqi people could have what they have been denied for many years, to exercise their very basic rights.
And this is going to succeed, and it is going to succeed. I assure you that it will spill over to the whole region and beyond. So building this and developing this in Iraq is going to be so important. And ultimately, it's not going to spill over and create peace, but it will also be a very useful tool against terrorism and against terrorists. This is -- in democracies, usually, terrorists are defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now Mr. Allawi told me that he would be standing in the upcoming leaks, that he would be running for office, but at the same time he really didn't seem to be bothered if he didn't retain his position as prime minister.
What he did say, though, was that what Iraq really needed from these elections was a strong leadership to emerge -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Did you get a chance to get personal with him at all, Karl? He talked a lot about the Iraqi people and the elections. But most recently, we can't forget the kidnapping of his family members.
Has that been a reality check for him about how dangerous it is to be prime minister?
PENHAUL: We certainly do know that -- it didn't come up in today's conversation, but we do know that that kidnapping of his family members has been a reality check for him, because these are problems ordinary Iraqis face every day, and he suffered that. Fortunately, yesterday, the last of his kidnapped relatives was released.
But I did talk to him about the immense job that he has on his hands, the amount of work. He's saying he's working 18-hour days right now. He's saying that even when he gets to bed, he still has to catch up on international news. He says he's reading "TIME" and "Newsweek" and "The Economist."
And then when he finally does drift off to sleep, he says he drifts off to sleep to the tune of Neil Diamond or Frank Sinatra. Those are the things right now that are helping him relax, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Well, he's got good taste in music. Karl Penhaul, thanks so much.
Well, it promises to be a remarkable January. Exactly three weeks before Iraqis go to the polls on the 30th, elections will be held in another global hot spot. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls it a moment of opportunity.
CNN's John Vause is in Jerusalem now and joins us with the details -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, after the death of Yasser Arafat, Palestinians are set to choose a new leader on January 9. And Colin Powell says the United States will do all it can to help on this, his first trip to the region in 18 months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE (voice-over): Eleven days have passed since the death of Yasser Arafat, and America's most senior diplomat was back, signaling a renewed U.S. commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
In the West Bank town of Jericho, Colin Powell embraced the new interim Palestinian leadership.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a moment of opportunity that should not be lost, and I think that what I have heard today suggests that the Palestinian Authority is committed to reform.
VAUSE: An opportunity, because both Israel and the United States refused to deal with Yasser Arafat. They accused him of being an obstacle to peace. Now he's gone. The Palestinians are preparing to elect a new leader early next year.
POWELL: I think we can make a pretty good case that this is the time to assist the Palestinians as they go forward.
VAUSE: It's what the Palestinians were hoping to hear.
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: In all matters that we discussed, there was positive response. I think this is a first step. It seems a significant improvement in bilateral American- Palestinian relations. And we want to make use of it to proceed with our election and to proceed with the return to the peace process.
VAUSE: Earlier, Secretary Powell met with Israeli leaders. They promised to ease travel restrictions and remove roadblocks in the Palestinian territory ahead of the elections. But Israeli is only willing to go so far.
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: While we are not going to do anything that might damage or harm the security of the people of the state of Israel.
VAUSE: This is likely to be Colin Powell's last visit here before stepping down as secretary of state.
MICHAEL OREN, SHALEM CENTER: The fact that he's a lame duck secretary of state does not impinge or impair in any way on the effectiveness of this trip. Powell represents the government of the United States. He represents the Bush administration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Both the Palestinians and the Israelis are now cautiously talking about a new era, a new chance for peace. But each side says the burden of responsibility is with the other to ensure that this opportunity is not lost -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Vause, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, unless you've been under a rock lately, you probably haven't seen this -- the fight that broke out at Pacers- Pistons game. Yes, you can say a lot of people are talking about it. Who might be charged and who has the right to sue? We're going to look at the potential legal fallout.
Also ahead, it happened 41 years ago today, the assassination of JFK. Wait until you hear how a video game company plans to commemorate it.
And we're going to take a few laps with NASCAR's Nextel champion, Kurt Busch. He joins me later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... from the scorer's table and is trying to get down to the bench! Artest is in the stands!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, when Ron Artest lost it Friday night, he lost out on an estimated $5 million in salary, as the NBA banned him from playing the rest of the season.
Fellow Pacers also taking some net losses, include Stephen Jackson, benched without pay for 30 games. Jermaine O'Neal, out for 25. The Pistons' Ben Wallace, who shoved Artest on the court before the fan fracas erupted, is out for six games. And there are lesser fines. A total of nine players are suspended without pay for some period of time.
And this morning, Sir Charles Barkley weighed in. The former NBA bad boy, who saw his fair share of notoriety during his 16-year career, took the side of Ron Artest on this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Any time a fan touches you, you have the right to beat the hell out of him. Forget -- we were -- I'm a man. I'm not going to let anybody disrespect me. I mean, I don't believe in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the NBA and Charles Barkley will not have the last word on this story. Police in Auburn Hills, Michigan, have promised a full criminal investigation. And there's also a pretty good chance civil litigation will follow.
Rob Becker is a sports columnist and an attorney. He joins us from our New York bureau as we open up this legal can of worms.
I guess my first question is, does Charles Barkley have it right, Rob, that any player has the right to beat the hell out of a fan if he ticks them off?
ROB BECKER, SPORTS COLUMNIST/ATTORNEY: No. And you know what? Charles Barkley put his finger on the very thing that's wrong. He has the exact opposite of the right view.
All these players think that if they're disrespected they can go after people. That's morally wrong. It has legally no significance whatsoever, and that's the very thing that David Stern is trying to change, is to teach these players the fact that you're dissed gives you no excuse to go into the stands and do anything. And that's the fundamental problem.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk now about legal actions that we could see come out of this. Obviously, anything is possible nowadays. From the players to the fans, to even the sports arena, can we hit on each one of those?
BECKER: Well, I mean first of all, we have to talk criminal and civil.
Criminally, I think that when Artest goes into the stands and punches a guy who's the wrong guy and he has no reason to believe he's the right guy, he can get assault, and there's no self-defense there.
Later, Artest, there's a fan who confronts him on the court. That's a maybe. Maybe Artest could say, "It was self-defense. I thought the guy was going to hit me."
You've got Stephen Jackson going in the stands, punching people. He has no excuse either.
Then you have Jermaine O'Neal -- this is the worst. Running -- a 7-foot man running at a guy who's just being raised off the floor and punching him in the face. No defense. That's assault. Criminal charges will be filed.
As to civil charges, all of these guys that we've a mentioned and more will file suits, and they will justifiably end up with money, either through settlement or through trial.
As to the palace, the Auburn Hills -- actually I have sympathy for them, because this was an unprecedented event. I don't think you can expect an arena to be prepared for something that's more than anything that's ever happened before. You have to be prepared for the norm and maybe something above that.
So they might have some civil liability. But I think they'll have some decent arguments.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's take a look -- I've really never paid attention to this. I don't know about you. But if you look at the back of your ticket, there are some pretty strict rules. And there's a lot of rights that you give up.
This is in the back of a Hawks ticket that we saw today. And just real quickly, it talks -- has a warning, a huge -- well, it's not huge. It's small print, but there, it's in bigger print about, "Pucks, hockey sticks, balls, bats, rackets, players and other objects flying into spectator area can cause serious injury, including before and after stoppage of play. The holder of the ticket voluntarily assumes all risk and danger." Blah, blah, blah. It goes on and on.
And then it talks about, "The holder voluntarily agrees that Atlanta Hawks, the NBA, et cetera, all their respective agents, officers, directors," et cetera, et cetera, "are expressly released by the holder from any claims arising from such causes."
Now, is that on -- OK. You're shaking your head. So that's...
BECKER: That's going to accidental acts like when that hockey puck unfortunately last year went into the stands and ended up killing a woman. That's accidental. That's not going to deal with intentional acts of players running into the stands.
And you know, maybe if you run on the court, that might be in some technical sense a trespass. But it certainly doesn't have anything to do with whether or not you've been assaulted. And no one can use that as a defense to an accusation of assault.
So you know, I think that that has -- the one thing that can flow from that is that can you have your season ticket taken away. And maybe if you sitting in a corporate seat, you'll be fired.
But really, it does not have a lot to do with either the criminal or civil charges that we're talking about.
PHILLIPS: There's an article back in the "USA Today" talking about last year, that New York City passed a law banning fans from disrupting sporting events. Could we see a domino effect? I mean, could we see this...
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Yes?
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Good idea?
BECKER: You know, I think more and more, why shouldn't more and more jurisdictions pass laws that say if you go, you know, on a stadium or on an arena that that's that crime? But it won't be anywhere near as big a crime as assault.
PHILLIPS: All right. Real quickly, two things I want to -- first of all, do you think Artest deserves such a harsh punishment?
BECKER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: He does?
BECKER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK. I mean you're -- obviously when it comes down to what you're setting an example, plain and simple. And I guess the NBA needs -- or I guess a number of people want to set an example through what he did.
But these suspensions, the NBA players union is set to appeal.
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Any chance that this could happen as we look at all these players and the games they're going to get benched for and the money they're going to lose?
BECKER: Maybe a few games might be slivered off the top, but I don't think it's really going to have much of an effect.
I mean, Artest -- remember, David Stern was clear that part of the reason for the size of his suspension is that he is a repeat offender. He's been suspended nine times in the past. He has two different incidents with fans, not with players, and one of them was in the stands. So that is really why he ended up with 73.
The worst one to date had been Latrell Sprewell, 68 games for trying to choke his coach. You know what? That's not really quite as bad.
PHILLIPS: Is there -- is there a set -- I just -- my final question, I promise. Is there a set of rules, a code of conduct, that when you reach a certain point, you know -- I don't know if you have to go all the way to murder until you finally lose your job as a professional athlete. But is there a code of conduct that is -- that is held to?
BECKER: Well, I mean, the code of conduct, as Stern said, is you don't go in the stands. And you know, this is now the worst thing ever, 73 games. I suppose in Ron Artest did this again, maybe he would be banned from the league forever.
But you know, we haven't really gotten to that point. Remember, this is the worst thing we've ever seen probably in terms of player- fan violence in the history of American sports.
PHILLIPS: So we can start to see new laws, rules. Who knows what could happen?
BECKER: I mean, sure. And greater security.
PHILLIPS: All right. Rob Becker, sports columnist, also an attorney. Thanks so much.
BECKER: You're welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, the tightest race for the top NASCAR title. Champion Kurt Busch joins us for the LIVE FROM interview.
Later on LIVE FROM, a life and death decision in the Scott Peterson case. What are the families going through? We'll talk with a mother whose son was convicted of murder.
And tomorrow on LIVE FROM, America's security. Congress fails to pass intelligence reform. Will politics keep it bogged down? We'll talk about it.
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PHILLIPS: This just in to CNN. We've confirmed this out of Houston, Texas. We're told that former President George Bush has suspended a trip to Ecuador, because the jet that he was going to use crashed today in Houston.
These are pictures that we just got in from our affiliate there. Evidently, this private jet clipped a light pole, and it crashed right near Hobby Airport. Nobody on board survived, we are told. Three crewmembers died in this accident, due to the foggy weather.
The plane is registered -- or the registered owner, rather, is Jet Place of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And we understand the former president, who you know lives in Houston, Texas, was scheduled to take part in a business conference in Ecuador.
Now canceling that trip, planning to go next month, due to this aircraft that crashed today that was supposed to take him there.
Well, here's a list that nobody wants to be on. That's for sure. According to a yearly ranking based on crime statistics, Camden, New Jersey, is the most dangerous city in America.
Detroit dropped down to No. 2 spot after topping the list last year. Atlanta, St. Louis and Gary, Indiana, finished out the top five most dangerous cities.
And if you're wondering, Newton, Massachusetts, was rated the safest city, while Amherst, New York, fell to third after topping the safe city list for four years in a row. The lists are compiled annually by the Morgan Quitno Company.
Well, just call it a happy new year. Economists are turning optimistic on next year's growth prospects.
Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for that report.
Hi, Rhonda.
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Aired November 22, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... for a new penalty phase, jury and a change of venue. He cited the mob scene that was outside this courthouse last week that applauded when they heard the verdict about Scott Peterson.
And he says the judge should not have released the jury into the community after that. It was applauding their decision and could affect their decision about whether Scott Peterson lives or dies. He wanted a change of venue with a brand new jury panel.
The judge said there is no place you can go, it seems like, in the world right now that has not heard of this case. He says he gets e-mails and letters from people in Florida and Alabama, that his wife was in Rome, Italy, and actually heard the verdict live on the radio in Rome, Italy.
He said there is just no place they can go. He believes that this jury still can be impartial in this case. However, he is not going to start the penalty phase until next Tuesday.
In court today was Dennis Rocha, Laci's father, and a couple of her friends that were all ready to go, but this isn't going to happen until next week -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: All right. One more week to go. Rusty Dornin, it's already been, what, five months? I guess we can wait another week for this.
DORNIN: Right.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, now to the future of Iraq and Middle East peace, both the focus of talks today and discuss new opportunities, new prospects and new hopes. Topping the agendas, upcoming crucial elections.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is in the middle of it all. Today he's meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials, and tomorrow he'll be in Egypt for a conference on Iraq. And that's where we're going to start now.
The two-day meeting began just hours ago at a Red Sea resort. And the list of attendees is pretty impressive. Representatives from 20 countries, the United Nations, the Arab League and the European Union are among those taking part. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Sharm El-Sheik with the latest -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra. This is the first major international conference on Iraq since the end of the war last year.
Now basically they're discussing ways to bolster the beleaguered interim Iraqi government. We know they're also discussing ways to help the United Nations organize the nationwide elections, which are scheduled to be held in January 30 of next year.
Now speaking earlier today, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said conditions are not ideal for those elections, but they will go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: Most of the country actually is conducive for election. I mean, out of 18 provinces, 15 or so are really -- you can have election today.
The difficulties are in certain provinces like Ramadi, for instance, Baqubah and maybe Mosul. Some parts of Baghdad could be problematic. But the other areas are safe for the election to take place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And of course, many of those areas he mentions actually compromise (sic) a large proportion of the Iraqi population.
And we do know that several Sunni groups have said they will boycott those elections, and that leading some Arab diplomats to say maybe conditions simply are not right at this time, Kyra, for those elections to go ahead.
Also discussed here, requests or demands by France and some Arab states for a firm date for an end to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq. The United States is shying away from making that sort of commitment, saying only that the occupation will not be open-ended.
Iraq is also to be requesting the assistance of neighboring states to secure its porous borders. Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi saying that some of those states are not doing enough in that regard.
Now, significant for their absence from this meeting here in Sharm El-Sheik, are Iraqi opposition groups that were not invited. They did, however, submit a statement to the conference.
In that statement they demanded an end to what they described as the genocide of Iraqis at the hands of U.S. occupation forces. They called for an end to that occupation, but they did say they agree in principle to the idea of free and fair elections -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much. And it's been an encouraging few days. And Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, says that U.S. and Iraqi forces are almost in complete control of Falluja.
Nineteen nations have agreed to write off much of Iraq's debt. And the date for the country's elections has been set as, we heard just now, January 30.
Our Karl Penhaul is in Baghdad, had a chance to speak with Mr. Allawi today. He joins us live to tell us how it went -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.
Yes, of course, over the weekend the Iraqi Electoral Commission fixing that January 30 dateline for nationwide elections here.
And talking to Mr. Allawi today, he certainly sees the offensive on Falluja, if not necessarily a turning point in the fortunes of the insurgency, certainly some milestone on the road towards greater democracy in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: The process of Falluja was overdue. I think it's broke the back of the insurgency, as well as terrorists. We have found evidence of a lot of murders that have been happening, sites, lots of caches of arms, explosives.
So really this was a very necessary step. I think this would pave the way significantly as we are proceeding in our political process to the -- to the elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now we know more than 200 political parties are now registered to vote for the January 30 elections, to take part in those elections. We've even seen the first few election posters begin to pop up around Baghdad.
And what in my conversations with Mr. Allawi, he made it clear that just as the Falluja offensive will have dented the military might of the insurgency, he believes the elections will go a long way to taking away the political oxygen from the insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAWI: Makes me very happy to see that Iraq is, for the first time, probably, in their recent history are engaged in healthy dialogue and looking forward to an election where the Iraqi people could have what they have been denied for many years, to exercise their very basic rights.
And this is going to succeed, and it is going to succeed. I assure you that it will spill over to the whole region and beyond. So building this and developing this in Iraq is going to be so important. And ultimately, it's not going to spill over and create peace, but it will also be a very useful tool against terrorism and against terrorists. This is -- in democracies, usually, terrorists are defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now Mr. Allawi told me that he would be standing in the upcoming leaks, that he would be running for office, but at the same time he really didn't seem to be bothered if he didn't retain his position as prime minister.
What he did say, though, was that what Iraq really needed from these elections was a strong leadership to emerge -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Did you get a chance to get personal with him at all, Karl? He talked a lot about the Iraqi people and the elections. But most recently, we can't forget the kidnapping of his family members.
Has that been a reality check for him about how dangerous it is to be prime minister?
PENHAUL: We certainly do know that -- it didn't come up in today's conversation, but we do know that that kidnapping of his family members has been a reality check for him, because these are problems ordinary Iraqis face every day, and he suffered that. Fortunately, yesterday, the last of his kidnapped relatives was released.
But I did talk to him about the immense job that he has on his hands, the amount of work. He's saying he's working 18-hour days right now. He's saying that even when he gets to bed, he still has to catch up on international news. He says he's reading "TIME" and "Newsweek" and "The Economist."
And then when he finally does drift off to sleep, he says he drifts off to sleep to the tune of Neil Diamond or Frank Sinatra. Those are the things right now that are helping him relax, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Well, he's got good taste in music. Karl Penhaul, thanks so much.
Well, it promises to be a remarkable January. Exactly three weeks before Iraqis go to the polls on the 30th, elections will be held in another global hot spot. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls it a moment of opportunity.
CNN's John Vause is in Jerusalem now and joins us with the details -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, after the death of Yasser Arafat, Palestinians are set to choose a new leader on January 9. And Colin Powell says the United States will do all it can to help on this, his first trip to the region in 18 months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE (voice-over): Eleven days have passed since the death of Yasser Arafat, and America's most senior diplomat was back, signaling a renewed U.S. commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
In the West Bank town of Jericho, Colin Powell embraced the new interim Palestinian leadership.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a moment of opportunity that should not be lost, and I think that what I have heard today suggests that the Palestinian Authority is committed to reform.
VAUSE: An opportunity, because both Israel and the United States refused to deal with Yasser Arafat. They accused him of being an obstacle to peace. Now he's gone. The Palestinians are preparing to elect a new leader early next year.
POWELL: I think we can make a pretty good case that this is the time to assist the Palestinians as they go forward.
VAUSE: It's what the Palestinians were hoping to hear.
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: In all matters that we discussed, there was positive response. I think this is a first step. It seems a significant improvement in bilateral American- Palestinian relations. And we want to make use of it to proceed with our election and to proceed with the return to the peace process.
VAUSE: Earlier, Secretary Powell met with Israeli leaders. They promised to ease travel restrictions and remove roadblocks in the Palestinian territory ahead of the elections. But Israeli is only willing to go so far.
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: While we are not going to do anything that might damage or harm the security of the people of the state of Israel.
VAUSE: This is likely to be Colin Powell's last visit here before stepping down as secretary of state.
MICHAEL OREN, SHALEM CENTER: The fact that he's a lame duck secretary of state does not impinge or impair in any way on the effectiveness of this trip. Powell represents the government of the United States. He represents the Bush administration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Both the Palestinians and the Israelis are now cautiously talking about a new era, a new chance for peace. But each side says the burden of responsibility is with the other to ensure that this opportunity is not lost -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Vause, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, unless you've been under a rock lately, you probably haven't seen this -- the fight that broke out at Pacers- Pistons game. Yes, you can say a lot of people are talking about it. Who might be charged and who has the right to sue? We're going to look at the potential legal fallout.
Also ahead, it happened 41 years ago today, the assassination of JFK. Wait until you hear how a video game company plans to commemorate it.
And we're going to take a few laps with NASCAR's Nextel champion, Kurt Busch. He joins me later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... from the scorer's table and is trying to get down to the bench! Artest is in the stands!
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PHILLIPS: Well, when Ron Artest lost it Friday night, he lost out on an estimated $5 million in salary, as the NBA banned him from playing the rest of the season.
Fellow Pacers also taking some net losses, include Stephen Jackson, benched without pay for 30 games. Jermaine O'Neal, out for 25. The Pistons' Ben Wallace, who shoved Artest on the court before the fan fracas erupted, is out for six games. And there are lesser fines. A total of nine players are suspended without pay for some period of time.
And this morning, Sir Charles Barkley weighed in. The former NBA bad boy, who saw his fair share of notoriety during his 16-year career, took the side of Ron Artest on this issue.
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CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Any time a fan touches you, you have the right to beat the hell out of him. Forget -- we were -- I'm a man. I'm not going to let anybody disrespect me. I mean, I don't believe in that.
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PHILLIPS: Well, the NBA and Charles Barkley will not have the last word on this story. Police in Auburn Hills, Michigan, have promised a full criminal investigation. And there's also a pretty good chance civil litigation will follow.
Rob Becker is a sports columnist and an attorney. He joins us from our New York bureau as we open up this legal can of worms.
I guess my first question is, does Charles Barkley have it right, Rob, that any player has the right to beat the hell out of a fan if he ticks them off?
ROB BECKER, SPORTS COLUMNIST/ATTORNEY: No. And you know what? Charles Barkley put his finger on the very thing that's wrong. He has the exact opposite of the right view.
All these players think that if they're disrespected they can go after people. That's morally wrong. It has legally no significance whatsoever, and that's the very thing that David Stern is trying to change, is to teach these players the fact that you're dissed gives you no excuse to go into the stands and do anything. And that's the fundamental problem.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk now about legal actions that we could see come out of this. Obviously, anything is possible nowadays. From the players to the fans, to even the sports arena, can we hit on each one of those?
BECKER: Well, I mean first of all, we have to talk criminal and civil.
Criminally, I think that when Artest goes into the stands and punches a guy who's the wrong guy and he has no reason to believe he's the right guy, he can get assault, and there's no self-defense there.
Later, Artest, there's a fan who confronts him on the court. That's a maybe. Maybe Artest could say, "It was self-defense. I thought the guy was going to hit me."
You've got Stephen Jackson going in the stands, punching people. He has no excuse either.
Then you have Jermaine O'Neal -- this is the worst. Running -- a 7-foot man running at a guy who's just being raised off the floor and punching him in the face. No defense. That's assault. Criminal charges will be filed.
As to civil charges, all of these guys that we've a mentioned and more will file suits, and they will justifiably end up with money, either through settlement or through trial.
As to the palace, the Auburn Hills -- actually I have sympathy for them, because this was an unprecedented event. I don't think you can expect an arena to be prepared for something that's more than anything that's ever happened before. You have to be prepared for the norm and maybe something above that.
So they might have some civil liability. But I think they'll have some decent arguments.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's take a look -- I've really never paid attention to this. I don't know about you. But if you look at the back of your ticket, there are some pretty strict rules. And there's a lot of rights that you give up.
This is in the back of a Hawks ticket that we saw today. And just real quickly, it talks -- has a warning, a huge -- well, it's not huge. It's small print, but there, it's in bigger print about, "Pucks, hockey sticks, balls, bats, rackets, players and other objects flying into spectator area can cause serious injury, including before and after stoppage of play. The holder of the ticket voluntarily assumes all risk and danger." Blah, blah, blah. It goes on and on.
And then it talks about, "The holder voluntarily agrees that Atlanta Hawks, the NBA, et cetera, all their respective agents, officers, directors," et cetera, et cetera, "are expressly released by the holder from any claims arising from such causes."
Now, is that on -- OK. You're shaking your head. So that's...
BECKER: That's going to accidental acts like when that hockey puck unfortunately last year went into the stands and ended up killing a woman. That's accidental. That's not going to deal with intentional acts of players running into the stands.
And you know, maybe if you run on the court, that might be in some technical sense a trespass. But it certainly doesn't have anything to do with whether or not you've been assaulted. And no one can use that as a defense to an accusation of assault.
So you know, I think that that has -- the one thing that can flow from that is that can you have your season ticket taken away. And maybe if you sitting in a corporate seat, you'll be fired.
But really, it does not have a lot to do with either the criminal or civil charges that we're talking about.
PHILLIPS: There's an article back in the "USA Today" talking about last year, that New York City passed a law banning fans from disrupting sporting events. Could we see a domino effect? I mean, could we see this...
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Yes?
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Good idea?
BECKER: You know, I think more and more, why shouldn't more and more jurisdictions pass laws that say if you go, you know, on a stadium or on an arena that that's that crime? But it won't be anywhere near as big a crime as assault.
PHILLIPS: All right. Real quickly, two things I want to -- first of all, do you think Artest deserves such a harsh punishment?
BECKER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: He does?
BECKER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK. I mean you're -- obviously when it comes down to what you're setting an example, plain and simple. And I guess the NBA needs -- or I guess a number of people want to set an example through what he did.
But these suspensions, the NBA players union is set to appeal.
BECKER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Any chance that this could happen as we look at all these players and the games they're going to get benched for and the money they're going to lose?
BECKER: Maybe a few games might be slivered off the top, but I don't think it's really going to have much of an effect.
I mean, Artest -- remember, David Stern was clear that part of the reason for the size of his suspension is that he is a repeat offender. He's been suspended nine times in the past. He has two different incidents with fans, not with players, and one of them was in the stands. So that is really why he ended up with 73.
The worst one to date had been Latrell Sprewell, 68 games for trying to choke his coach. You know what? That's not really quite as bad.
PHILLIPS: Is there -- is there a set -- I just -- my final question, I promise. Is there a set of rules, a code of conduct, that when you reach a certain point, you know -- I don't know if you have to go all the way to murder until you finally lose your job as a professional athlete. But is there a code of conduct that is -- that is held to?
BECKER: Well, I mean, the code of conduct, as Stern said, is you don't go in the stands. And you know, this is now the worst thing ever, 73 games. I suppose in Ron Artest did this again, maybe he would be banned from the league forever.
But you know, we haven't really gotten to that point. Remember, this is the worst thing we've ever seen probably in terms of player- fan violence in the history of American sports.
PHILLIPS: So we can start to see new laws, rules. Who knows what could happen?
BECKER: I mean, sure. And greater security.
PHILLIPS: All right. Rob Becker, sports columnist, also an attorney. Thanks so much.
BECKER: You're welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, the tightest race for the top NASCAR title. Champion Kurt Busch joins us for the LIVE FROM interview.
Later on LIVE FROM, a life and death decision in the Scott Peterson case. What are the families going through? We'll talk with a mother whose son was convicted of murder.
And tomorrow on LIVE FROM, America's security. Congress fails to pass intelligence reform. Will politics keep it bogged down? We'll talk about it.
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PHILLIPS: This just in to CNN. We've confirmed this out of Houston, Texas. We're told that former President George Bush has suspended a trip to Ecuador, because the jet that he was going to use crashed today in Houston.
These are pictures that we just got in from our affiliate there. Evidently, this private jet clipped a light pole, and it crashed right near Hobby Airport. Nobody on board survived, we are told. Three crewmembers died in this accident, due to the foggy weather.
The plane is registered -- or the registered owner, rather, is Jet Place of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And we understand the former president, who you know lives in Houston, Texas, was scheduled to take part in a business conference in Ecuador.
Now canceling that trip, planning to go next month, due to this aircraft that crashed today that was supposed to take him there.
Well, here's a list that nobody wants to be on. That's for sure. According to a yearly ranking based on crime statistics, Camden, New Jersey, is the most dangerous city in America.
Detroit dropped down to No. 2 spot after topping the list last year. Atlanta, St. Louis and Gary, Indiana, finished out the top five most dangerous cities.
And if you're wondering, Newton, Massachusetts, was rated the safest city, while Amherst, New York, fell to third after topping the safe city list for four years in a row. The lists are compiled annually by the Morgan Quitno Company.
Well, just call it a happy new year. Economists are turning optimistic on next year's growth prospects.
Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for that report.
Hi, Rhonda.
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