Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Hack Attack; Asylum Dilemma

Aired May 10, 2005 - 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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And taking no chances in Miami Lakes, Florida. Look at this. There it goes. A little while ago, a team from the Miami-Dade Police Department detonated a white cylinder on suspicions that it might have been a pipe bomb. After reviewing the remains, investigators say it was probably an air filter. The Florida Highway Patrol temporarily shutdown north and southbound lanes on the busy Palmetto Expressway. The road, though, is now reopened.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and European authorities are on the trail of a hacker, or group of hackers, who may have breached security at sensitive government, military and corporate computer systems. "The New York Times" reporting today the security holes have been plugged, but it is unclear what was stolen in the so-called Trojan horse attacks. But once again, we are reminded of the vulnerabilities of the digital age.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg live now from Washington with more on this -- Daniel.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's right, the details of this case are still unfolding in bits and bite, as it were. There's a lot that we don't know at this point.

But here's what can tell you, about a year ago, there was some theft of code from Cisco Systems. What is Cisco Systems? Well, they're a company that's responsible for a lot of where the Internet traffic go. They make routers and programs that help that sort of thing.

So when authorities discovered that this code had been taken, they took steps to try to track down who did it. Now this investigation started to expand out, and that's the details we're learning in the last couple of days or so. Because what they found was they believe that this 16-year-old in Sweden, this 16-year-old hacker, was not only responsible for the Cisco System code, but also for thousands of other computer systems that are connected to the Internet -- government agencies, laboratories. That he was able to these different outfit, including one of them mentioned in "The New York Times" article is White Sands Missile Range.

I did speak with someone from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, yesterday, and what he said was they do acknowledge there was a break-in or a breach about a year ago, April 2004. He says that it wasn't considered all that serious at the time, because the information they got was not considered classified or sensitive. It was weather-forecasting data that they need for missile testing. That does not mean that all the information that was obtained or accessed by the hacker is not all that important. We don't know yet how much information was stolen, where it has been distributed to on the Internet, and as you pointed out, Miles, whether or not he has any accomplices as well in all of this. That is a very important part of this investigation.

O'BRIEN: One of the most difficult things about these cases are the jurisdictional issues. If in fact it traces back to Sweden, it makes it very difficult for any investigation to proceed, doesn't it?

SIEBERG: Absolutely. It not only makes it difficult in terms of tracing the person back over the Internet -- you know, it's a global property, where you're trying to track someone down through their digital footprints, in a sense.

But of course the laws that apply, whether they're in the U.S. or in Sweden, may vary. We have a statement from the FBI who's part of this investigation, and as part of this, they're saying, "In this case, we have been working closely with our international partners to include Sweden, Great Britain and others. As a result of recent actions, the criminal activity appear to have stopped." Now appears to have stopped is different from has stopped. So there is the possibility this could continue on further.

And really, Miles, as you pointed out at the beginning, this illustrates the vulnerability of all of these computers that are connected to the Internet, and a lot of questions being raised today about whether these government agencies and others had their systems as protected as they needed to be, because this is setting off a lot of alarm bells today.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, what does your gut tell you? Is this one of these cases where you have a young hacker who fancies himself in the Robin Hood mode? In other words, exploiting security holes just for the sake of exposing them for what they are without any further malicious intent?

SIEBERG: And that's quite possible, because within the hacking community, there's sort of a strange hierarchy that goes on. Some do it because they can. Why climb Mount Everest? because it's there. Some hackers do it just simply because they can. They want -- why climb Mount Everest? Because it's there.

And some of these younger hackers, they've got an amazing amount of computer skills to do this type of thing. Maybe they're board. Maybe they want to brag about it online, not necessarily with malicious intent, but that's certainly, and that's something we just don't know at this point.

You know, I was talking with Kevin Mitnick today. You might remember he was back in the mid-'90s a very well known hacker, and he says this guy may have been fairly clever in terms of getting all this information, but it wasn't all that sophisticated an attack. So really that in itself is a little bit scary, that this type of thing can be done, and by this 16-year-old who's in Sweden.

O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Daniel Sieberg. And we should point out, Kevin Mitnick will be our guest in the next hour of CNN's "LIVE FROM." Kevin Mitnick is among the more well known -- infamous, could be the word that applies -- among the hackers of the world, and we'll get his insights on what he thinks about this apparent security breach. And of course, in the meantime, always, stay tuned to CNN for the latest information on your security, 24/7 -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: He was a tireless firefighter, against one of the United States most bitter enemies. But now a man who battled the Castro regime for decades is getting a lot of resistance in his bid for asylum here. Some say he is a terrorist.

CNN's Susan Candiotti looks at the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To some Cuban exiles, Luis Posada Carriles is a legend, for making a career of crisscrossing Central America since the 1960s, devoted to bringing down Cuba's communist president, Fidel Castro.

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, POSADA SUPPORTER: He has been social -- a guiding light for people and that are fighting Castro.

CANDIOTTI: But Posada's critics, including Castro himself, call Posada a terrorist. Posada, now in his late '70s, is a former CIA operative hiding in Miami after sneaking across the Mexican border. Why is he in hiding? Posada and his supporters say he has to worry about Cuban spies in Miami who might kill him.

These pictures were taken three years ago, in Panama. After helping to organize the failed Bay of Pigs operation to oust Castro in 1961, Posada received explosives and sabotage training from the CIA. He says he stopped working for the CIA in 1968. But in the 1980s, helped the U.S.-backed secret Contra supply network in Central America.

A senior official familiar with Posada's career says the CIA considers him, quote, "radioactive," and that he is no longer linked to the agency.

And now, after four decades of his self-styled crusade against Castro, Posada has asked for political asylum to live among supporters in Miami, rather than be forced back to Cuba.

EDUARDO SOTO, ATTY. FOR POSADA: It is my just most and absolute belief that should Mr. Carriles be extradited from the United States that he will be found dead.

CANDIOTTI: "Miami Herald" columnist Jim Defede opposes asylum for Posada.

JIM DEFEDE, "MIAMI HERALD" COLUMNIST: If Posada were to be granted asylum, it would betray a double standard that the United States would be ridiculed for around the world. CANDIOTTI: Why a double standard? Critics point to Posada's past. He was accused of, but always denied, committing multiple terrorist acts. Venezuela, 1976. Charged with blowing up a Cuban airliner. The attack killed 73 people. Posada denied involvement, and was never convicted, but was jailed for nine years in a Venezuelan prison until he escaped.

Now that Posada is in Miami, the Venezuelans want him back, call him a terrorist, and plan to seek his extradition for a retrial.

Then there's Cuba, 1997: Havana hotels are bombed. One Italian tourist was killed. Posada later claimed responsibility in interviews with two American newspapers.

Still later, he put on a disguise to declare that confession a lie, and deny he was involved.

Panama, 2000. Posada and three Cuban exiles are accused of plotting to assassinate Castro during a visit to the country. Posada was convicted in Panama, but later received a presidential pardon.

Regardless of the consequences, Posada defends his ongoing battle against Castro.

"Never," Posada says, "have we taken terrorist actions against civilians."

But his statements have not convinced his critics.

DEFEDE: No matter who you're trying to unseat, no matter what your end result is, the tactics do have to matter.

CANDIOTTI: Cuba's communist leader also wants the United States to hand over Posada.

"The monster is there," says Fidel Castro, a terrorist, he says, should be turned over to the Cuban authorities to pay for his crimes.

ALVAREZ: Posada really is not a terrorist. Posada really is a freedom fighter, and he's being singled out by the Castro regime.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Freedom fighter or terrorist? For some, the answer might depend on whether you're in Miami or Havana.

If you're wondering why Posada hasn't been picked up by homeland security, law enforcement officials tell CNN they don't know where he is, and there is no warrant for him in the United States or elsewhere.

(voice-over): But if and when Posada shows up for an asylum interview, authorities say they'll have plenty of questions for him.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: All right, President Bush getting some cheers from huge adoring crowds, and yet not a single one of them voted for Bush in the last election. These are Georgia voters, but it's a former red state,not the current red one. What did the president say that makes him so popular there? Stay here and find out.

O'BRIEN: And a nation faces up to its role in one of the history's darkest episodes. It's the location of this Holocaust Memorial that makes it so very significant. We will have that story next, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: President Bush is on his way home from Europe. His trip to some old Iron Curtain countries underscored the shifting nature of alliances. The president meeting with old foes and new friends, celebrating some past victories and encouraging burgeoning democracy.

CNN's John King is with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Tbilisi was the grand finale of a trip designed both to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II and to celebrate young democracies in what was once the Soviet Union. A crowd the government said numbered more than 100,000 crammed into Liberty Square, site of the Rose Revolution here just 18 months ago, to hear the president say the reformers who toppled that corrupt government are now an inspiration around the world, not only, he said, in former Soviet republics, but also as far away as Iraq and Lebanon.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now across the caucuses in central Asia and the broader Middle East we see this same desire for liberty burning in the hearts of young people. They are demanding their freedom and they will have it.

KING: Mr. Bush did not mention that regime change in Iraq came at the hands of U.S. and other coalition troops, not in a peaceful revolution like here in Georgia. Nor did Mr. Bush weigh too deeply into still-festering disputes between Georgia and Russia, though he did say he expected Moscow eventually to keep a promise to shut down two Soviet aeromilitary bases it still maintains here in Georgia.

BUSH: The territorial and sovereignty of Georgia must be respected by all nations.

KING: A president who often sees protest when he travels was clearly thrilled at the warm welcome. Georgia's president called Mr. Bush a freedom fighter and said the huge crowds were a demonstration of how grateful people here are at the steady U.S. support, despite frequent complaints from Russia that Mr. Bush is meddling in its backyard.

MIKHAIL SAAKASHIVILI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: This is not North Korea here. You cannot tell people to go out unless they don't feel like this.

KING: The White House believes the powerful images here go hand in hand with Mr. Bush's second term focus on promoting freedom and democracy and perhaps might help convince Russia's Putin that the spread of democracy in his neighborhood is irreversible and that he should embrace it, not resist it.

John King, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Time for us to take a break. Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: President Bush took time during his trip to Europe to mark the anniversary of Germany's surrender in World War II. In Germany today, a somber remembrance unveiled to the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis.

CNN's Chris Burns tells us about the nation's new controversial Holocaust memorial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stone's throw from the buried ruins of Hitler's bunker, Berlin's newest and most powerful reminder of his final solution. Near the Heistag (ph) and Brandenburg Gate, it ensures that on no day will the six million European Jews murdered by the Third Reich be forgotten.

Under tight security, German and Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors joined in inaugurating it.

WOLFGAN THERSE, PRES., GERMAN BUNDESTAG: Today, we open a memorial that recall Nazi Germany's worst, most terrible crime, the attempt to exterminate an entire people.

BURNS: From outside, the 2,711 dark gray slabs form a gentle wave, ankle high in some places, the Holocaust's so-called banality of evil.

(on camera): As you go deeper, there's a sense of groundlessness, of instability, a loss of orientation. Something like how it must have felt in a Nazi death camp, exactly how its creator wants you to feel.

(voice-over): The architect is both Jewish and American, Peter Eisenman. He says even though the memorial will be open around the clock, he's not worried about graffiti. Eisenman even opposed an official decision to coat the slabs with a chemical, making it easier to remove any tagging, and not because the chemical was made by the Degussa, makers of Zyklon B, used in the gas chambers, a controversy in itself. PETER EISENMAN, ARCHITECT: I didn't want the graffiti coating because I think vandalism is an expression of the city. We have it in American cities. And I think in a certain way it's positive. It's an outlet.

BURNS: Under the memorial are the stories of Holocaust victims, like the Habermann (ph) family from the Polish city of Barwice (ph). The mother, Sela (ph), died in the Belzec concentration camp. The father, Fisil (ph), and their children sent to a labor camp, most of them murdered. But one, Sabina, survived.

SABINA VAN DER LINDEN, HOLOCAUST SURVIOR: For I am the voice of six million murdered Jews, of which one and a half million were children.

BURNS: Critics of the long-debated project say the memorial should be for all victims of the Third Reich, not only Jews, but the designer disagrees.

EISENMAN: They were the only people singled out for extermination. There was a plan to exterminate the race.

BURNS: Now, 60 years after Germany's Jewish population was virtually eliminated, their memory has a clear and indelible mark on the country's heart.

Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Know what that sound means. Time to take a quick look at what's hot on our Web site now.

And Veronica De La Cruz at the CNN.com desk with the pick of the click litter today.

Hi, Veronica.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Betty.

And a pick of the click litter it is. Well, it seems that even Jesus Christ can't get around certain rules to get a driver's license in West Virginia. Born Peter Robert Phillips Jr., the man changed his name after expressing his faith and love for Jesus Christ. He has a U.S. passport, a Social Security card, and a Washington D.C. License bearing the name.

However, West Virginia won't give him a license, because Jesus Christ is not the name on his birth certificate.

Now also receiving a lot of clicks at CNN.com, oops, the rock system -- the rock band, System of a Down, let one slip. The band performed over the weekend on "Saturday Night Live." They had five scripted expletives in one of their songs that NBC was able to bleep out. Unfortunately a sixth unscripted expletive slipped through. And needless to say, I can't exactly tell you guys what it is. Maybe after the show.

And finally, the wedding of Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney. The lovely couple were married on Sunday in the Virgin Islands last night after meeting back in January at a tsunami-relief benefit. It's been reported that Zellweger was once involved with others in the music industry, singer Damien Rice and the lead singer of the White Stripes, Jack White. But it appears that no one was able to sing her a love song like country singer Kenny Chesney has.

Now to find these most popular stories, go to our main pain, click on the icon "most popular," on the right-hand side of your screen, and you can or type in CNN.com/mostpopular.

And those are just a few examples of what is hot on the Web now. I'm Veronica De La Cruz for the dot-com desk.

More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, This is CNN Week on "Jeopardy." Each day, the game show will have one category with the answers read by CNN personalities. Monday's clues were read by CNN's Nancy Grace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN, $1,200.

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY": Take a look.

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Nancy Grace with CNN Headline News.

As a former Fulton County prosecutor, I went to the scene in this city to cover the deadly shootings in the same courtroom where I prosecuted felony cases.

TREBEK: Michael?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is Atlanta?

TREBEK: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN 16.

TREBEK: Take a look.

The Bay Area was hit by a quake whose aftermath is seen here named for the mountain near the epicenter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is Loma Preata (ph).

TREBEK: That's it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN for 400.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: I could have told you that. "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" a little while ago, and he talked about the idea behind CNN Week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREBEK: "Jeopardy's" been on the air now 21 years. You guys have been on 25. And in two of our celebrity tournaments, our power player's week tournament that we have done in Washington D.C., we've had a number of your CNN cohorts as contestants on the program, and they have all done pretty well. So it was a natural combination for us to want to do this, to help you guys celebrate 25 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right, also coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, we all misplace things from time to time. But what happens when the misplaced item is a Kentucky Derby betting slip worth a cool $800,000? It is a race to the wire. Our photo finish. We'll tell you about that as well. We will visit the winner's circle when LIVE FROM's hour of power begins after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 May 10, 2005 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And taking no chances in Miami Lakes, Florida. Look at this. There it goes. A little while ago, a team from the Miami-Dade Police Department detonated a white cylinder on suspicions that it might have been a pipe bomb. After reviewing the remains, investigators say it was probably an air filter. The Florida Highway Patrol temporarily shutdown north and southbound lanes on the busy Palmetto Expressway. The road, though, is now reopened.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and European authorities are on the trail of a hacker, or group of hackers, who may have breached security at sensitive government, military and corporate computer systems. "The New York Times" reporting today the security holes have been plugged, but it is unclear what was stolen in the so-called Trojan horse attacks. But once again, we are reminded of the vulnerabilities of the digital age.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg live now from Washington with more on this -- Daniel.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's right, the details of this case are still unfolding in bits and bite, as it were. There's a lot that we don't know at this point.

But here's what can tell you, about a year ago, there was some theft of code from Cisco Systems. What is Cisco Systems? Well, they're a company that's responsible for a lot of where the Internet traffic go. They make routers and programs that help that sort of thing.

So when authorities discovered that this code had been taken, they took steps to try to track down who did it. Now this investigation started to expand out, and that's the details we're learning in the last couple of days or so. Because what they found was they believe that this 16-year-old in Sweden, this 16-year-old hacker, was not only responsible for the Cisco System code, but also for thousands of other computer systems that are connected to the Internet -- government agencies, laboratories. That he was able to these different outfit, including one of them mentioned in "The New York Times" article is White Sands Missile Range.

I did speak with someone from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, yesterday, and what he said was they do acknowledge there was a break-in or a breach about a year ago, April 2004. He says that it wasn't considered all that serious at the time, because the information they got was not considered classified or sensitive. It was weather-forecasting data that they need for missile testing. That does not mean that all the information that was obtained or accessed by the hacker is not all that important. We don't know yet how much information was stolen, where it has been distributed to on the Internet, and as you pointed out, Miles, whether or not he has any accomplices as well in all of this. That is a very important part of this investigation.

O'BRIEN: One of the most difficult things about these cases are the jurisdictional issues. If in fact it traces back to Sweden, it makes it very difficult for any investigation to proceed, doesn't it?

SIEBERG: Absolutely. It not only makes it difficult in terms of tracing the person back over the Internet -- you know, it's a global property, where you're trying to track someone down through their digital footprints, in a sense.

But of course the laws that apply, whether they're in the U.S. or in Sweden, may vary. We have a statement from the FBI who's part of this investigation, and as part of this, they're saying, "In this case, we have been working closely with our international partners to include Sweden, Great Britain and others. As a result of recent actions, the criminal activity appear to have stopped." Now appears to have stopped is different from has stopped. So there is the possibility this could continue on further.

And really, Miles, as you pointed out at the beginning, this illustrates the vulnerability of all of these computers that are connected to the Internet, and a lot of questions being raised today about whether these government agencies and others had their systems as protected as they needed to be, because this is setting off a lot of alarm bells today.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, what does your gut tell you? Is this one of these cases where you have a young hacker who fancies himself in the Robin Hood mode? In other words, exploiting security holes just for the sake of exposing them for what they are without any further malicious intent?

SIEBERG: And that's quite possible, because within the hacking community, there's sort of a strange hierarchy that goes on. Some do it because they can. Why climb Mount Everest? because it's there. Some hackers do it just simply because they can. They want -- why climb Mount Everest? Because it's there.

And some of these younger hackers, they've got an amazing amount of computer skills to do this type of thing. Maybe they're board. Maybe they want to brag about it online, not necessarily with malicious intent, but that's certainly, and that's something we just don't know at this point.

You know, I was talking with Kevin Mitnick today. You might remember he was back in the mid-'90s a very well known hacker, and he says this guy may have been fairly clever in terms of getting all this information, but it wasn't all that sophisticated an attack. So really that in itself is a little bit scary, that this type of thing can be done, and by this 16-year-old who's in Sweden.

O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Daniel Sieberg. And we should point out, Kevin Mitnick will be our guest in the next hour of CNN's "LIVE FROM." Kevin Mitnick is among the more well known -- infamous, could be the word that applies -- among the hackers of the world, and we'll get his insights on what he thinks about this apparent security breach. And of course, in the meantime, always, stay tuned to CNN for the latest information on your security, 24/7 -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: He was a tireless firefighter, against one of the United States most bitter enemies. But now a man who battled the Castro regime for decades is getting a lot of resistance in his bid for asylum here. Some say he is a terrorist.

CNN's Susan Candiotti looks at the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To some Cuban exiles, Luis Posada Carriles is a legend, for making a career of crisscrossing Central America since the 1960s, devoted to bringing down Cuba's communist president, Fidel Castro.

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, POSADA SUPPORTER: He has been social -- a guiding light for people and that are fighting Castro.

CANDIOTTI: But Posada's critics, including Castro himself, call Posada a terrorist. Posada, now in his late '70s, is a former CIA operative hiding in Miami after sneaking across the Mexican border. Why is he in hiding? Posada and his supporters say he has to worry about Cuban spies in Miami who might kill him.

These pictures were taken three years ago, in Panama. After helping to organize the failed Bay of Pigs operation to oust Castro in 1961, Posada received explosives and sabotage training from the CIA. He says he stopped working for the CIA in 1968. But in the 1980s, helped the U.S.-backed secret Contra supply network in Central America.

A senior official familiar with Posada's career says the CIA considers him, quote, "radioactive," and that he is no longer linked to the agency.

And now, after four decades of his self-styled crusade against Castro, Posada has asked for political asylum to live among supporters in Miami, rather than be forced back to Cuba.

EDUARDO SOTO, ATTY. FOR POSADA: It is my just most and absolute belief that should Mr. Carriles be extradited from the United States that he will be found dead.

CANDIOTTI: "Miami Herald" columnist Jim Defede opposes asylum for Posada.

JIM DEFEDE, "MIAMI HERALD" COLUMNIST: If Posada were to be granted asylum, it would betray a double standard that the United States would be ridiculed for around the world. CANDIOTTI: Why a double standard? Critics point to Posada's past. He was accused of, but always denied, committing multiple terrorist acts. Venezuela, 1976. Charged with blowing up a Cuban airliner. The attack killed 73 people. Posada denied involvement, and was never convicted, but was jailed for nine years in a Venezuelan prison until he escaped.

Now that Posada is in Miami, the Venezuelans want him back, call him a terrorist, and plan to seek his extradition for a retrial.

Then there's Cuba, 1997: Havana hotels are bombed. One Italian tourist was killed. Posada later claimed responsibility in interviews with two American newspapers.

Still later, he put on a disguise to declare that confession a lie, and deny he was involved.

Panama, 2000. Posada and three Cuban exiles are accused of plotting to assassinate Castro during a visit to the country. Posada was convicted in Panama, but later received a presidential pardon.

Regardless of the consequences, Posada defends his ongoing battle against Castro.

"Never," Posada says, "have we taken terrorist actions against civilians."

But his statements have not convinced his critics.

DEFEDE: No matter who you're trying to unseat, no matter what your end result is, the tactics do have to matter.

CANDIOTTI: Cuba's communist leader also wants the United States to hand over Posada.

"The monster is there," says Fidel Castro, a terrorist, he says, should be turned over to the Cuban authorities to pay for his crimes.

ALVAREZ: Posada really is not a terrorist. Posada really is a freedom fighter, and he's being singled out by the Castro regime.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Freedom fighter or terrorist? For some, the answer might depend on whether you're in Miami or Havana.

If you're wondering why Posada hasn't been picked up by homeland security, law enforcement officials tell CNN they don't know where he is, and there is no warrant for him in the United States or elsewhere.

(voice-over): But if and when Posada shows up for an asylum interview, authorities say they'll have plenty of questions for him.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: All right, President Bush getting some cheers from huge adoring crowds, and yet not a single one of them voted for Bush in the last election. These are Georgia voters, but it's a former red state,not the current red one. What did the president say that makes him so popular there? Stay here and find out.

O'BRIEN: And a nation faces up to its role in one of the history's darkest episodes. It's the location of this Holocaust Memorial that makes it so very significant. We will have that story next, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: President Bush is on his way home from Europe. His trip to some old Iron Curtain countries underscored the shifting nature of alliances. The president meeting with old foes and new friends, celebrating some past victories and encouraging burgeoning democracy.

CNN's John King is with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Tbilisi was the grand finale of a trip designed both to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II and to celebrate young democracies in what was once the Soviet Union. A crowd the government said numbered more than 100,000 crammed into Liberty Square, site of the Rose Revolution here just 18 months ago, to hear the president say the reformers who toppled that corrupt government are now an inspiration around the world, not only, he said, in former Soviet republics, but also as far away as Iraq and Lebanon.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now across the caucuses in central Asia and the broader Middle East we see this same desire for liberty burning in the hearts of young people. They are demanding their freedom and they will have it.

KING: Mr. Bush did not mention that regime change in Iraq came at the hands of U.S. and other coalition troops, not in a peaceful revolution like here in Georgia. Nor did Mr. Bush weigh too deeply into still-festering disputes between Georgia and Russia, though he did say he expected Moscow eventually to keep a promise to shut down two Soviet aeromilitary bases it still maintains here in Georgia.

BUSH: The territorial and sovereignty of Georgia must be respected by all nations.

KING: A president who often sees protest when he travels was clearly thrilled at the warm welcome. Georgia's president called Mr. Bush a freedom fighter and said the huge crowds were a demonstration of how grateful people here are at the steady U.S. support, despite frequent complaints from Russia that Mr. Bush is meddling in its backyard.

MIKHAIL SAAKASHIVILI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: This is not North Korea here. You cannot tell people to go out unless they don't feel like this.

KING: The White House believes the powerful images here go hand in hand with Mr. Bush's second term focus on promoting freedom and democracy and perhaps might help convince Russia's Putin that the spread of democracy in his neighborhood is irreversible and that he should embrace it, not resist it.

John King, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Time for us to take a break. Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: President Bush took time during his trip to Europe to mark the anniversary of Germany's surrender in World War II. In Germany today, a somber remembrance unveiled to the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis.

CNN's Chris Burns tells us about the nation's new controversial Holocaust memorial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stone's throw from the buried ruins of Hitler's bunker, Berlin's newest and most powerful reminder of his final solution. Near the Heistag (ph) and Brandenburg Gate, it ensures that on no day will the six million European Jews murdered by the Third Reich be forgotten.

Under tight security, German and Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors joined in inaugurating it.

WOLFGAN THERSE, PRES., GERMAN BUNDESTAG: Today, we open a memorial that recall Nazi Germany's worst, most terrible crime, the attempt to exterminate an entire people.

BURNS: From outside, the 2,711 dark gray slabs form a gentle wave, ankle high in some places, the Holocaust's so-called banality of evil.

(on camera): As you go deeper, there's a sense of groundlessness, of instability, a loss of orientation. Something like how it must have felt in a Nazi death camp, exactly how its creator wants you to feel.

(voice-over): The architect is both Jewish and American, Peter Eisenman. He says even though the memorial will be open around the clock, he's not worried about graffiti. Eisenman even opposed an official decision to coat the slabs with a chemical, making it easier to remove any tagging, and not because the chemical was made by the Degussa, makers of Zyklon B, used in the gas chambers, a controversy in itself. PETER EISENMAN, ARCHITECT: I didn't want the graffiti coating because I think vandalism is an expression of the city. We have it in American cities. And I think in a certain way it's positive. It's an outlet.

BURNS: Under the memorial are the stories of Holocaust victims, like the Habermann (ph) family from the Polish city of Barwice (ph). The mother, Sela (ph), died in the Belzec concentration camp. The father, Fisil (ph), and their children sent to a labor camp, most of them murdered. But one, Sabina, survived.

SABINA VAN DER LINDEN, HOLOCAUST SURVIOR: For I am the voice of six million murdered Jews, of which one and a half million were children.

BURNS: Critics of the long-debated project say the memorial should be for all victims of the Third Reich, not only Jews, but the designer disagrees.

EISENMAN: They were the only people singled out for extermination. There was a plan to exterminate the race.

BURNS: Now, 60 years after Germany's Jewish population was virtually eliminated, their memory has a clear and indelible mark on the country's heart.

Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Know what that sound means. Time to take a quick look at what's hot on our Web site now.

And Veronica De La Cruz at the CNN.com desk with the pick of the click litter today.

Hi, Veronica.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Betty.

And a pick of the click litter it is. Well, it seems that even Jesus Christ can't get around certain rules to get a driver's license in West Virginia. Born Peter Robert Phillips Jr., the man changed his name after expressing his faith and love for Jesus Christ. He has a U.S. passport, a Social Security card, and a Washington D.C. License bearing the name.

However, West Virginia won't give him a license, because Jesus Christ is not the name on his birth certificate.

Now also receiving a lot of clicks at CNN.com, oops, the rock system -- the rock band, System of a Down, let one slip. The band performed over the weekend on "Saturday Night Live." They had five scripted expletives in one of their songs that NBC was able to bleep out. Unfortunately a sixth unscripted expletive slipped through. And needless to say, I can't exactly tell you guys what it is. Maybe after the show.

And finally, the wedding of Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney. The lovely couple were married on Sunday in the Virgin Islands last night after meeting back in January at a tsunami-relief benefit. It's been reported that Zellweger was once involved with others in the music industry, singer Damien Rice and the lead singer of the White Stripes, Jack White. But it appears that no one was able to sing her a love song like country singer Kenny Chesney has.

Now to find these most popular stories, go to our main pain, click on the icon "most popular," on the right-hand side of your screen, and you can or type in CNN.com/mostpopular.

And those are just a few examples of what is hot on the Web now. I'm Veronica De La Cruz for the dot-com desk.

More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, This is CNN Week on "Jeopardy." Each day, the game show will have one category with the answers read by CNN personalities. Monday's clues were read by CNN's Nancy Grace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN, $1,200.

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY": Take a look.

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Nancy Grace with CNN Headline News.

As a former Fulton County prosecutor, I went to the scene in this city to cover the deadly shootings in the same courtroom where I prosecuted felony cases.

TREBEK: Michael?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is Atlanta?

TREBEK: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN 16.

TREBEK: Take a look.

The Bay Area was hit by a quake whose aftermath is seen here named for the mountain near the epicenter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is Loma Preata (ph).

TREBEK: That's it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN for 400.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: I could have told you that. "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" a little while ago, and he talked about the idea behind CNN Week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREBEK: "Jeopardy's" been on the air now 21 years. You guys have been on 25. And in two of our celebrity tournaments, our power player's week tournament that we have done in Washington D.C., we've had a number of your CNN cohorts as contestants on the program, and they have all done pretty well. So it was a natural combination for us to want to do this, to help you guys celebrate 25 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right, also coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, we all misplace things from time to time. But what happens when the misplaced item is a Kentucky Derby betting slip worth a cool $800,000? It is a race to the wire. Our photo finish. We'll tell you about that as well. We will visit the winner's circle when LIVE FROM's hour of power begins after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com