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Authorities Still Searching for Alabama Church Arsonists; Saddam Hussein Throws Tantrum at Trial; President Bush Speaks to White Sox

Aired February 13, 2006 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: No shortage of spectacle at the trial of Saddam Hussein. The ex-dictator showed up for court and immediately unloaded on the judge and President Bush, but at least he came fully dressed. CNN's Aneesh Raman saw it all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We saw more antics today. The chief judge, Ra'uf Abdul al-Rahman, though really making sure he is seen as the authority figure in court, not Saddam Hussein.

The big question before today's session was whether Saddam would show up. He's missed the two previous sessions. He did but against his will.

He was brought into court as you see there not wearing the suit we've seen him in up until now, instead wearing an overcoat. He shouted at the judge, "long live Iraq," "long live the Iraqi people," and then had some choice words for U.S. President Bush.

SADDAM HUSSEN, FORMER IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): Down with the traitor, down with the traitors, down with bush, long live the nation, long live the nation.

RAMAN: Now Saddam was the first defendant to walk in. There you see his half-brother Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti. Today he came in wearing as he says his pajamas, a long sleeve t-shirt, some loose pants.

At one point after yelling, you see the exchange here with the judge, he voiced or showed his protest with the court by sitting on the floor, pushing aside his chair, his back to the judge, staring directly at those of us in the media gallery. At times he would pinpoint each of us individually and stare at us 30 to 40 seconds. It was quite awkward sitting in the media gallery as he did that.

Saddam Hussein as well entered the courtroom not from the usual entrance, but from the side entrance. That brought him directly in front of us. He as well glared at all the members of the media as he walked by.

The chief judge really pushing ahead. We heard from two key witnesses today, not the victim statements we've heard before, but actual members of Saddam's former regime. The first was a former head of staff, for Saddam Hussein. The second was an intelligence officer. No bombshell testimony but they did provide direct links between Saddam Hussein and the case at hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, in the supermarket blast in Turkey. Several people were hurt in what may have been a bombing linked to the seventh anniversary of the capture of a Kurdish rebel leader. A Kurdish news agency reports a hard-line Kurdish militant group claims responsibility.

A Kurdish group also claimed responsibility for a bombing last week that killed one person and wounded 15 other people, including seven policemen.

Doctors feared he wouldn't live the weekend, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains in critical but stable condition after losing one third of his large intestine in an emergency operation on Saturday. A CT scan had turned up life threatening gangrene either from infection or poor blood circulation. Sharon has been in a coma since suffering a major stroke in early January. Doctors say the latest setback doesn't help his chances of waking up.

An inseparable team, partners in crime believed to be burning churches in Alabama. Investigators profile the suspects as a tenth church burns and the arsonists scatter clues but elude arrest. Our Bob Franken has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have determined this fire is the result of arson.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That was after investigators swarmed the gutted remains of the tenth Alabama Baptist church to go up in flames in ten days. Federal officials working with state and local, evidence experts, and behavioral experts have now come up with working profiles of two suspects, men they believe to be in their late twenties or early thirties.

JIM CAVANAUGH, ATF REGIONAL DIRECTOR: We think they are buddies, partners, an inseparable team. You know, when people see these two guys, they are going to say, you know, you always see them together. They are Frick and Frack.

FRANKEN (voice-over): Saturday's fire meant that one more Alabama Baptist congregation had to find a different place to worship. The members of Beaverton Free Will Baptist were given room to sing and pray in another sanctuary a mile away. The burnt out churches have been spread through several counties in the state. Some have had mainly White congregations, some African-American.

Officials say they don't understand the motives for these attacks. The lead agent here was among those involved three and a half years ago in the D.C. sniper case, and he's borrowed a page from that investigation. Special agent Jim Cavanaugh is calling on the suspects to contact authorities by phone, mail, or e-mail to explain plain themselves.

CAVANAUGH: We want them to call us. We want to listen. We want to hear what they have to say.

FRANKEN: Rewards are being offered while officials continue to look for leads. Investigators say they've already gotten some good ones from their detailed analysis at each burned out church and from witnesses who spotted two men at the scene of at least one church arson.

(on camera): It is like trying to put together a puzzle, they will tell you, while they are still trying to find all the pieces. Bob Franken, CNN, Beaverton, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight to the White House, president of the United States with but of course the Chicago White Sox. You may remember, we had to look it up. They won the World Series beating the Houston Astros sweeping the World Series four-zip. Let's listen in.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank you for that now that we have the team here. I know how much you love the game, and I know how much you love the Chicago White Sox, so it had to be a thrilling moment for you and Eddie and the owners that were patient for all those years you didn't win, and so I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and thank you for your friendship. It is great to see you.

I appreciate Ken Williams, a man who obviously knows what he is doing and was able to put a team together. It is easy to put the stars on the field. The hard thing about baseball is to put people who can play together. I congratulate you for being a great general manager.

I welcome Ed Farmer and the broadcasting team. Eddie, good to see you again. He'll remember you -- at least one person does. Good to be here with Bob DuPuy of baseball. I thought you were here to sign the lease, you know, but it's another subject.

I do want to thank the members of my cabinet who are here. It is great to see you all. I thought you all told me you were Red Sox fans. No. I want to thank Senator Durbin, Senator Obama from the great state of Illinois and Don Manzulla and Ray LaHood, thank you all for coming.

My question to most of these folks is, were you were you White Sox fans at the beginning of the season? No, I'm not putting you on the spot. I know one person elected official who was a White Sox fan at the beginning of the season. As a matter of fact, he was a White Sox fan at the beginning of his life. He's been a forever a White Sox fan. He is a great mayor of a great city, and that's the mayor, his honor, Dick Daley. Roland Hemond, it is good to see you Roland, just showing off my baseball knowledge. Anybody who knows Roland Hemond knows something about baseball. It is good to see Harold Baines and the other coaches. I understand Ozzy is on vacation which I fully understand. If he's a Caribbean guy, taking a look at the weather forecast up here yesterday would have made me not want to come as well.

I want to congratulate Ozzy Guillen as well as the team, the staff, the coaching staff and the managers and all those who worked hard to make these guys ready to play, and I want to congratulate Ozzy on being a great manager, manager of the year, as well as becoming a United States citizen earlier this year. We're proud to have him as an American citizen.

I don't want to bring up the Sosa trade, so I won't. I won't. But it's great to see that Harold Baines is one class act. I mean, that guy cannot only hit, but he brought a lot of class into the clubhouse. And I'm really proud to see you here, Harold. Congratulations to you and the buddies you are working with.

And to the players, congratulations. We are really proud to have you here at the White House. It means a lot for baseball fans, White Sox fans, all across the country that you would take time to come and be honored here at the White House. And it's my great honor to honor you. It is a big deal to have you here.

The amazing thing about this team is you went wire to wire, which is really hard to do. You went one nothing on opening day and like there in your rearview mirror for the rest of the season. It takes a lot to win 99 games and remain in the lead and not falter.

PHILLIPS: All right. I'm getting harassed because I can't name one player there, the Chicago White Sox. So I'm going to ask the guys in the control room to help me out here. Who are the star players that we see guys?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jermaine Dye.

PHILLIPS: Jermaine Dye. Tell me who else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paul Konerko.

PHILLIPS: Paul Konerko. All right. What position?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be first base.

PHILLIPS: First base. What about the other one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jermaine Dye is outfield.

PHILLIPS: Jermaine is outfield. I love it. So now I don't feel so bad because I have got about 20 people in the control room. My dear director was able to name two players. Thank you for saving me.

We will continue to monitor the live event there. You can also go to CNN.com/pipeline, as the president commends the Chicago White Sox, World Series champs, after they smoked the Astros four-zip. Last time they won, 1917. Can you believe that?

All right. Straight ahead, prison riots and what seems to be a growing racial divide behind bars. Will segregation stop the violence? We are going to take a closer look. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM right after this.

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PHILLIPS: Sweet home Chicago it is not. But the Cook County Jail is once again home to the six inmates who broke out Saturday after throwing hot soapy water in the face of the lone guard in a shower room.

One escapee gave up. Three others were caught yesterday. Two more holed up in suburban apartment with a woman and five children. Overnight they gave up too, police say, because they had nowhere to go.

In California the inmates aren't breaking out, but ferocious sometimes deadly violence is. Yesterday alone two more brawls between African-Americans and Hispanic inmates in a L.A. County lockup. Both were broken up with tear gas and pellet guns.

In another jail a black inmate was killed in a fight in a six- person cell. He is the second prisoner to die in a racially motivated violence this month.

Does a race based problem have a race based solution? L.A. County officials are segregating inmates, but some consider that a stop gap measure at best.

CNN's Peter Viles went inside to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After a week of race riots and violence inside the Los Angeles County jails, the sheriff tried something unusual. He bussed in the media and religious leaders and opened up the jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm saying is we have to work with what we've got and going this other way is going to work. We just need peace. We need to get word to your families that everything is peaceful. That's what we are talking about.

VILES: Inmates listened, but they also talked. The message from this inmate, blacks and Latinos cannot and will not get along.

ERNESTO MORALES, L.A. JAIL INMATE: Segregation is the answer. We're very calm here. The alarm is very quiet, you know. It is more peaceful this way.

VILES: And even the separation of black and Latino inmates has not stopped the violence. Not long after the cameras and the preachers left, fighting resumed. SAM JONES, L.A. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We are understaffed, as you can see. I mean, 70 deputies for 4,000 inmates, that's a terrible ratio. The violence is brought in the jail from the streets, animosity, overcrowding.

VILES: This dormitory style jail was not designed for violent criminals. But that's what it holds, and if the solution is more jails and more deputies, the public may not support that.

RAMONA RIPSTON, ACLU: We need a new jail. Is there political will to build a new jail? I don't think so. The public doesn't care. People who commit crimes are people that we don't care about.

VILES: Officials say the racial tension comes from the streets from rival black and Latino gangs. Whatever the cause, it is real. One inmate has died in the violence. Dozens have been injured. Lines have been drawn.

MORALES: Everybody has different rules. Everybody has different ways, you know. We don't accept no disrespect. We don't tolerate no disrespect.

VILES: Years ago in Los Angeles, Rodney King asked famously can't we all get along? As for this week in L.A. jails, no, we can't.

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Missing in Sacramento, investigators are sifting through the ruins of this home in search of a teenage boy who may have been inside when a stunt plane crashed into it. Both people in the plane were killed. Neighbors say the rest of the family who lived in the house was out of town.

Straight ahead, major Oscar buzz in Hollywood today.

Our Sibila Vargas joins us with a preview.

Hi Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kyra.

That's right. The countdown to the Oscars has definitely begun. I'm here full side at the Beverly Hilton where the Oscar luncheon is about to start. We'll have more on CNN's LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A special day for Academy Award nominees, with Oscar night still more than two weeks away. Time to do lunch right now. CNN's entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Are they pampering you with Mimosas and the like?

VARGAS: Yes, all of it. Right, not quite yet, but the Oscar countdown has definitely begun here at the Beverly Hilton. As you can imagine, we've got swarms of media just waiting for the nominees to pile in. Felicity Huffman has just arrived as well as George Clooney. Seventeen of the 20 nominees in the best acting category are expected, as well as some of the directors. In fact all of the directors are expected today. Certainly quite a day.

You know, as I said, it just launches the whole thing. Jon Stewart will of course be hosting the show on March 5th, which should be really interesting. It adds an interesting touch considering that most of these best picture nominees have definitely had some controversy, social commentary and definitely intrigued.

Starting with "Brokeback Mountain," a film that has gotten a lot of critical awards. The critics love this film. It has also been sparked with a lot of controversy and considering all the controversy that surrounded it, it has done very well at the box office. It's rolled out slowly in theaters, but has done extremely well.

Another film that a lot of people are talking about of course is "Crash." It won a SAG Award and people are anticipating that this could possibly be one of the strongest contenders against "Brokeback Mountain." The film of course dealing with racial tensions and prejudice. Certainly a hot-button issue these days, and just socially relevant.

Moving on to the best actress category, again Felicity Huffman making her way here. I'm going to try to score an interview with her, so let's cross our fingers for that. But Felicity Huffman, getting such tremendous kudos for her work in "Transamerica." She of course plays a man trying to get a sex change. And again, I say a man, extremely challenging role. But she does such a superb job in this film. And a lot of people are saying that she is one of the top contenders.

Reese Witherspoon though may give her some competition. Reese of course taking home a Golden Globe Award as well as a SAG Award. That really kind of puts her in the front as far as being a front-runner. She's done extremely well. "Walk the Line," of course, a film that did very well with the critics. People loved that movie. She did such a fabulous job as June Carter Cash. And she's gotten a lot of kudos for it. So it could be her year.

It really reminds me of last year of how Annette Bening and Hilary Swank kind of went at it. And this year seems to be one of those two that will probably take home the award. But they've got other strong women, Judi Dench and Charlize Theron also in that category.

Moving onto the best actor category. Philip Seymour Hoffman certainly seems to be the man -- swept so many awards as far as critical awards are concerned. This is the man who played "Capote," and he's up against Joaquin Phoenix who of course plays Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line." So we'll see what happens, Kyra. But it should be a very interesting award show indeed.

PHILLIPS: We'll be watching it all. Sibila Vargas, thanks so much. LIVE FROM has all the news you need this afternoon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Downhill to the half pipe. It's standing room only for winter sports fans. Many locals though can take it or leave it in Torino. Their first love is soccer. That sparked a whole new competition. CNN's Alessio Vinci is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The city of Torino is sparing no efforts in making the Olympics an unforgettable show. Award ceremonies include fireworks and concerts. And residents are warming up to the whole extravaganza.

It's the downhill ski race that catches the imagination of little Mateo (ph). But for all the glitz and glamour, when it comes to choosing between the Olympics and a decisive soccer game pitting home team Juventus against neighboring rivals Inter Milan, no one hesitates.

Forget soccer, pleads Giorgio Rocca, Italy's best hope for a gold in the slalom. The real game is RoccaLigety, he insisted, referring to his upcoming race against rival U.S. ski champion Ted Ligety. No way, say these soccer fans watching the game in a packed Torino bar, which only hours earlier was half empty when the Olympics were on.

"Juventus is Juventus," he says, "if I had to choose between a gold medal and winning the soccer game, well, I'd definitely pick the game."

VINCI (on camera): What do you prefer following, the Olympics or soccer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight, soccer.

VINCI: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tomorrow, Olympics.

VINCI: Olympics.

Most people here agree that hosting the Olympics is a once in a lifetime experience, but soccer, they say, is in their DNA. In fact, it is in the soul of this entire nation. So the games, if anything, just offer a welcome distraction. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Torino.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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