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Call for Clemency for Death Row Inmate; Patriot Act Provisions Renewed; Police Investigate Fatal Air Passenger Shooting; Training Helps Police Deal with the Mentally Ill

Aired December 08, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: From CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's the stories that we're working on for you right now.
We're starting with winter weather wallop, snow socking the Midwest and threatening the east. We're tracking it this hour.

A plea for mercy to Governor Schwarzenegger. Should a convicted murder and gang founder be executed in California?

And what led to this fatal shooting of an airline passenger? We'll hear from family members of the man shot by an air marshal.

All that and more, just ahead this hour. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Well, if you haven't been hit yet, get ready. With winter officially still two weeks away a major winter storm is moving across the country today. Forecasters say that storm that brought bitter cold and snow to the U.S. heartland yesterday is moving east with a vengeance.

Chad Myers and Dave Hennen watching developments from the CNN Weather Center. Hey, guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Chad and Dave, thank you.

Next week, Stanley "Tookie" Williams is set to be strapped into the gas chamber at California's San Quentin prison. And at this hour, his lawyers are trying to convince Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to keep that from happening.

In the '70s, Williams helped found the Crips street gang. He was sentenced to death for the 1979 shotgun murders of four people. Our Chris Williams -- or Chris Lawrence, rather, looks at the high-profile campaign to save Tookie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Actor Jamie Foxx is asking California's governor to spare the life of the man he played on screen.

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: I never backed down, never.

LAWRENCE: Stanley "Tookie" Williams co-founded the Crips street gang. He robbed and murdered. He was convicted of his crimes in 1981. But from his cell on Death Row, Williams spent years writing children's books and preaching against gang violence.

EDGAR MEDINA, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: And if he dies, some people are not going to have the opportunity to learn from his mistakes.

LAWRENCE: Edgar Medina read the books and says Williams convinced him to stay in school.

MEDINA: If I would have been in a gang right now, I would have probably be in jail, dead.

LAWRENCE: Instead, he's 15, on track to graduate and go to college.

WESLEY MCBRIDE, FORMER L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF: I heard one report where they say he saved 150,000 kids from joining gangs. That's absurd. How do you know that?

LAWRENCE: Retired sergeant Wes McBride worked the gang detail for 26 years in L.A. County.

MCBRIDE: Not against law to be a gang member. It's against the law to kill people. And that's what he's convicted of.

LAWRENCE: A witness says Williams robbed and executed a 7-Eleven employee, then made fun of the man as he died. He was also convicted of gunning down an entire family, father, mother, and daughter.

MCBRIDE: Writing a few books doesn't exonerate you from your crimes.

LAWRENCE: In Williams' case, it won't. On December 13, he's scheduled to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am, at this time, signing the warrant of execution.

LAWRENCE (on camera): Williams' books are a part of his legacy. So are the Crips. In 30 years, the gang has spread from California to just about every state in the country.

(voice-over) Fred Jackson works with kids who grow up surrounded by gangs. He says they really listen to Williams, don't tune him out like cops or counselors.

FRED JACKSON, WORKS WITH KIDS: To kids, saying, would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

LAWRENCE: Jackson says executing Williams sends the wrong message.

JACKSON: You would be telling those gang members, those wannabe gang members, don't care how you turn your life around. Once you are stuck, you are stuck.

LAWRENCE: No condemned murder has been granted clemency in California since 1968. The odds are against any man, even one like Tookie Williams, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

MCBRIDE: But he didn't win it, you know, and even if he did, does that mean you're forgiven for murdering a whole family? No, I don't think so.

LAWRENCE: Like his life, Tookie Williams' legacy will be complicated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We'll talk more with Chris Lawrence in the next hour on that story.

Meanwhile, the battle cry on Capitol Hill today, four more years. Not for any particular politician, but for three key provisions of the Patriot Act, provisions due to expire unless lawmakers act.

CNN's Carol Lin has more on this morning's breakthrough that averted a breakdown and months of negotiations -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, it means that two controversial provisions, one allowing roving wiretaps, as well as searches through business records and other private records in the search of terrorists, that has gone through, according to Senate and House negotiators.

Let's go to the Justice Department. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales talking about this very thing.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: ... this bill, and I would urge all members of Congress, Republican and Democrats, to support this bill, which if -- when passed, I believe, will be a win for the American people, and that it will result in continued security for the -- for the United States and also continued protection of civil liberties for all Americans.

With that I'm happy to take a few questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had argued that the uncertainties that come with sunsets can be a real problem or have a negative impact on investigators. Are you really disappointed with the shortening of the sunset provisions?

GONZALES: Our position's also been that we didn't think sunsets were appropriate. You don't have sunset provisions for virtually any other substantive criminal law provision.

We believe that Congress has the sufficient opportunities to conduct appropriate oversight over the work of the department that we don't need a sunset process in order for the Congress to conduct its oversight work. So in that respect, that's why we've always felt that sunsets were not appropriate. Also, there is now a track record. We've had the Patriot Act for four years. People have seen how the Department of Justice has been very responsible in exercising authorities under the Patriot Act. And for that reason, we've suggested that a sunset would not be appropriate.

Obviously Congress has -- members of Congress have disagreed, with respect to limited -- very limited number of provisions. And it's certainly something that we can support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney General, will the government seek to retry Professor Al-Arian, and if not, will you seek to have him deported?

GONZALES: Well, that is something that we're currently evaluating, whether or not a substantive retrial is appropriate.

I would just like to remind all of you that I gave a speech recently about the successes the department has enjoyed in prosecuting the war on terror. These are very, very difficult cases.

And obviously, we're disappointed in what happened in Tampa. We believe that this was a good case to bring. And we obviously will be meeting with the prosecuting team, evaluating where we stand, and then make the appropriate decision as to whether or not prosecution is the right thing to do in this case.

LIN: All right, the attorney general, talking about the case of a university of Florida professor who basically won his case against the Justice Department, not being prosecuted for terrorism charges. But also making a bid for the extension of three controversial provisions in the Patriot Act, a sweeping bill that was passed after the 9/11 attacks.

Kelli Arena standing by right now. Kelli, so a partial victory for the Justice Department in these extensions, but obviously some critics out there wishing that the extensions never happened.

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is true, Carol. You heard the attorney general call it a win for the American people. A lot of praise for the act. But opponents are seething.

The American Civil Liberties Union put out a statement immediately after that agreement was reached, calling it a sham. The organization went on to say that, "If the bill is adopted it would continue to permit the FBI to access the huge array of extremely private records of innocent Americans without having to demonstrate a connection between the records sought and a suspected foreign terrorist or terrorist organization."

Carol, the bottom line here is that two of the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act have been extended at least for the next four years. The rest of the act, as you know, has been made permanent.

Now this compromise agreement allows the government to continue to authorize what are called roving wiretaps. Now that basically means that law enforcement can tap any phone that a person use, with a court order. Opponents had argued that the power was just too broad.

Now, the other, best known as the library provision, that allows law enforcement to issue security warrants for records from businesses, hospitals and, of course, libraries.

Now there was a slight change to that provision. The new agreement requires a judge to review a statement of facts before a warrant can be issued. And the court has to agree that the records are relevant to a terrorism investigation.

There are some other changes that were made. These two, by far, the most controversial. The other having to do with a definition of a so-called lone wolf. There had been some discussion about trying to attach a person to a foreign terrorist organization for certain investigations to go forward, but that was not upheld.

And so when you have somebody like a Timothy McVeigh, for example, the government can pursue that person under a foreign intelligence surveillance act and not have to go through some other measures. So a little complicated, Carol, but the government looks like it got what it wanted.

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

ARENA: You're welcome.

LIN: That's the latest breaking news that we're covering for you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Carol Lin, thank you so much.

Coming up on LIVE FROM, more on that Miami airport shooting. We'll take you there live.

Also, was Rigoberto Alpizar's death a direct result of his mental illness? We're going to take a closer look at bipolar disorder and how it can affect everyone's behavior, next on LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: First a disturbance, then a confrontation. Moments later an airline passenger is dead.

Two air marshals shot and killed the man yesterday on American Airlines Flight 924 in Miami. It's the first time marshals have used their weapon since the program was bolstered after 9/11.

A day later, lots of unanswered questions. A marshal spokesperson says that Rigoberto Alpizar claimed to have a bomb, that he approached the marshals in an aggressive way. Witnesses describe Alpizar as nervous and agitated. One person told CNN that she heard Alpizar's wife say he was bipolar.

Let's get an update from CNN's Kathleen Koch. She's at the Miami airport.

Kathleen, let's talk about the difference between what passengers are saying and what the air marshals are saying.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it is very striking, because what the federal air marshals are saying is that Rigoberto Alpizar yelled while he was in the aisle that he had a bomb in his backpack. He used threatening words and he ran out onto the jetway.

They asked him to put down that backpack, which he was holding in front of him, and instead he reached his hand in, and that's why they shot him.

Now the passengers which CNN has interviewed, and we have not interviewed every single one, but every one we've talked to has said he said nothing when he was going down the aisle. One gentleman did mention, he said, "I've got to get off; I've got to get off." But not a single passenger we've talked to has said anything -- that he uttered anything about a bomb, about anything threatening.

Though when I spoke with Dave Adams, the spokesman for the federal air marshal service, he said, you know, under stressful situations people forget a lot, and they're really going with what their air marshals say happened.

PHILLIPS: Do we know anything about the air marshals, their backgrounds, how long they've been on the job, any more background with regard to their history, and also where the investigation stands at this point, if they're back -- going to be back on the job or be off the job for awhile?

KOCH: Well, Kyra, right now, it's standard operating procedure in virtually every law enforcement organization in the country that after a deadly shooting like this the law enforcement officer is placed on paid administrative leave. That's what's happened in the case of these two agents, these two air marshals.

But the federal air marshal service say that they had extensive law enforcement experience before they joined the air marshal service in 2002. One of them was a border patrol agent for four years. The other one was a customs inspector for two years. So they had a very unblemished record.

But again, this investigation is being conducted by Miami-Dade police, and until it's completed they will be on leave.

PHILLIPS: And do we know anything more about -- about the victim and the situation with being bipolar, his mental illness? And also, if indeed he was on medication, if he had taken his medication?

KOCH: What we're hearing, Kyra, is -- is some information now from family members. A cousin apparently saying yes he was bipolar. And we're also hearing word that's coming in from neighbors, from co- workers.

Alpizar, apparently he was a native of Costa Rica who had come to the U.S. in '86, became a citizen in 1999, worked at Home Depot, where his coworkers said he was the nicest guy and they are very shocked and saddened by what happened. And his neighbors described him as friendly, pleasant. They said he helped people around the neighborhood. So everyone is just simply stunned by what happened.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, on the story there at Miami International, thank you so much. Every year, law enforcement officers respond to thousands calls involving the mentally ill. Each time in a matter of moments they must size up a situation and make a life or death call.

CNN's Randi Kaye looks at a program used by police departments around the country that trains officers how to make those split second decisions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): August, 1999. Miami police officers shoot and kill a mentally ill machete-wielding man outside his home. The 59-year-old was shot through the heart after failing to surrender and swinging his machete at officers.

MAJOR SAM COCHRAN, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Oftentimes, the perception of people who happen to have a mental illness is perceived to be always violent, always dangerous, and always out to kill somebody.

KAYE: At the time, police weren't using what's commonly referred to as the Memphis model, techniques now used by as many as 500 police departments. Officers receive 40 hours of special training.

Major Sam Cochran with the Memphis Police Department helped create the model, an instant psychological evaluation.

COCHRAN: We have multiple courses that specifically target their verbal skills, their mannerism, in working with the individuals in crisis. The officers have to slow their speech down. They have to use a calm voice. They have to present themselves as one that's trying to help the individual overcome some of the fears that might be present.

KAYE: The Memphis model spread quickly to other states after a spate of fatal shootings of the mentally unstable.

March 2002. Six Minneapolis police officers fatally shoot a 28- year-old Somali immigrant who was mentally ill and wielding a crowbar and a machete. Officers fired when he refused to drop his weapon.

That same month, near Gainesville, Florida, deputies killed a man threatening them with a Samurai sword after he slashed one of them.

July 2003, Denver, Colorado, police fatally shot a mentally ill 15-year-old, after he refused to drop a kitchen knife. COCHRAN: The individuals that officers face oftentimes are experiencing -- experiencing a tremendous amount of fear and may not be perceiving the law enforcement officer as a law enforcement officer but as something that's not real and something very threatening.

KAYE: Cochran remembers the fear he felt when he was on the other side in these confrontations. Last year, the Memphis P.D. responded to over 12,000 calls involving individuals with mentally illness.

When a suspect is mentally unstable, officers are trained to back off and call in a crisis intervention team. Backing off a threatening individual is counterintuitive, but when police make the right assessment it can save lives.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than two million American adults have bipolar disorder, with a wide range of symptoms. Bipolar disorder can be difficult to diagnosis, but its affects can be profound.

Here's how one man described own experience to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BEHRMAN, HAS BIPOLAR DISORDER: My hallucinations were visual hallucinations, not audio hallucinations. And you have to understand in Latin the word hallucinations means wanderings.

I would imagine other people in the room who were not there. I would imagine, for example, a button on my shirt, a small button, becoming very, very large, and chasing me down the street. Often, I would look at people and their flesh would be melting off their face.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": And did that all stop with medication?

BEHRMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, more on the dramatic mood swings that are the hallmark of bipolar disorder, which is also referred to as manic depressive illness.

It typically develops in the late teens or early adult years and causes untreated patients to swing between manic episodes, or highs, and depressive episode. Along the way a person with bipolar often exhibits severe changes in energy levels, behavior and perception.

During a high, or what is call a manic episode, a person may be irritable, aggressive and show bad judgment. And during a depressive episode, a person may be restless and have suicidal thoughts. In extreme cases, such an episode may trigger a bipolar person to put herself or himself in life threatening situations.

With proper treatment, the severity and frequency of such mood shifts can be managed, but it's a long-term illness requiring long- term treatment.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMESH RAFNESAR, WORLD EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, in my mind, has had a significant impact on the way in which American foreign policy has changed direction over the last year.

In lot of ways, I think, the last 12 months have been the most productive period for American diplomacy probably since this president took office, and a lot of that is due to Secretary of State Rice who has reinvigorated the State Department. I think she's taken much more control over the direction of American foreign policy. She's repaired some of our relationships with our allies.

And in important areas, both in Iran and North Korea, two of the major crises facing the world, she has really put the United States firmly in the camp in terms of working with our allies to try to resolve those situations.

And in that sense I think she would be someone who you could make the case is the Person of the Year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Move over, Monte Hall. There's a new top trader who wants to turn a red paperclip into a house. How's he going to do it? We'll find out in just a few minutes, only here on LIVE FROM.

But first, if gas prices go up, NASCAR's new multibillion dollar TV deal should cover the higher cost. Three networks, FOX, TNT, and ABC/ESPN will split the 36-race NASCAR season starting in 2007, paying $4.4 billion for eight years of really fast left turns, or Carl Edwards' somersault there. That's more than $50 million a race. NBC, part of the current package, dropped out of the bidding.

More labor trouble -- labor trouble in the airline industry. Delta's pilots may be considering a strike. Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for that story.

Kathleen, we talked about this, this morning. You know, I know a lot of pilots that fly for Delta. They don't think they're going to strike. (STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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