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Moussaoui Denies Part in 9/11 Hijackings; Controversy Surrounds Release of September 11th 911 Calls; Portland Prison Stands Empty

Aired March 27, 2006 -   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Just in case you haven't noticed filling up your gas tank is getting even harder on your wallet. The good news is getting the details from Susan Lisovicz doesn't cost any more than usual. What's the deal, Susan?
SUSAN LISCOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL REPORTER: The deal is that wages aren't keeping pace with energy prices, Kyra. Gas prices are shooting up nearly 15 cents over just the past two weeks to an average of two and a half dollars per gallon of self-serve regular, that according to the latest Lundberg survey, driving the increases of recent uptick in crude oil prices along with this year's new regulations affecting gas recipes.

Since bottoming out in December, the price at the pump has jumped 37 cents a gallon. As usual, drivers in Hawaii are paying the most to fill up $2.80 per gallon. Gas stations in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the other hand, are charging the lowest prices in the country.

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PHILLIPS: You've heard our Kelli Arena call it stunning. Zacarias Moussaoui taking the stand at his sentencing trial and dropping bomb shells never heard before about 9/11.

Our Bob Franken joins us now outside the courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia. Were you as surprised, Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, quite a bit of surprise and certainly big disappointment for the defense, by the way there is construction noise going which is what you will hear sporadically.

In any case, inside there was a bombshell as you pointed out from Moussaoui, pointing out among other things that contrary to what he said before, he was involved in all of this. He was to be the pilot, he says, of a fifth airplane that was to be flown into the White House. That was the original plan.

Among those who would participate with him, the now infamous shoe bomber Richard Reid. The defense attorneys are going to be trying to say that that is just poppycock, that he is just now embellishing his testimony. Nevertheless, he goes on to say that he did know about at least part of the attacks, the ones on the World Trade Center, although not the Pentagon. He did not know the exact date, he said when he was sitting in August a month before the attacks in August in a Minnesota jail. That's key because the prosecution is saying that, had he been forthcoming with an FBI agent at the time, perhaps the government would have been able to take actions that would have prevented the September 11 attacks. But because he lied, the government's theory is, he now deserves the death penalty.

Did he lie? He was asked, he said yes, he did. He did lie to the FBI agent who was questioning him, but, the agent, he said did not ask the right questions. Had he ever met Osama bin Laden? Yes, he had. So he is very much involved himself in al Qaeda and according to his testimony, had some knowledge of what was going on in this particular attack, but not the specifics, saying he did not know the date, did not know the exact things that were going happen that he learned about them as he sat in jail.

PHILLIPS: Bob Franken live outside the courthouse. Thanks so much, Bob.

Desperate cries for help, emotional last words, the horrors of September 11 preserved on tape as victims in the blazing twin towers called 911. New York City is now making some of those tapes public and some family members aren't happy. Our Chris Huntington has the story.

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CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The terrifying sounds of 9/11 at Ground Zero will never be forgotten. Later this week, a more personal and potentially more painful soundtrack is expected to be released, partial and, in some cases, complete recordings of 911 calls from more than 100 people trapped inside the twin towers.

Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son Christian on 9/11, helped secure the release of the 911 recordings by joining other firefighters' families and "The New York Times" in winning a lawsuit against New York City last year.

SALLY REGENHARD, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is no reason to secrete it and to hide the really truth about the valiant effort that people made to save their lives to get out of the buildings and to help other people. However, you know, since shortly after 9/11, the Giuliani administration, the port authority and the governor of New York had a vested interest in suppressing the real true facts about what happened in those buildings on 9/11.

HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN that of the more than 130 911 calls, 28 callers have been positively identified, one of whom survived. For that caller and the families of the 27 who died, the city will turn over complete and unedited recordings of their 911 calls. The public versions of the recordings will only have the dispatcher's half of the call. The callers' voices and all names, numbers and identifying information will be deleted. On Friday, the city sent letters to the surviving caller and the families of 24 of the victims, notifying them that the recordings would soon be available. To some, the official six-page letter was a shock.

BILL DOYLE, 9/11 VICTIMS ACTIVIST: I had one family call me today. She was hysterical. She actually fainted. She opened it up in an elevator and she couldn't believe it because she never heard from her husband that morning, but apparently he called 911.

HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN they meant to send out a preliminary e-mail, but because of miscommunication that notification never went out.

REGENHARD: Why wasn't this made known to the families in the last four and a half years? It's really very discouraging.

HUNTINGTON: A spokesperson for New York City's Department of Law explained the timing. "There was a decision to not release the 911 call recordings until we knew the identities of as many callers as possible. That work was only completed earlier this month. We did not want to create false hope nor expectations."

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

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PHILLIPS: An inmate is let out early to make room for other prisoners only to be arrested again, this time on murder charges. All the while jail cells, hundreds of them, sit empty a few miles away. How can such a thing happen? You'll see when LIVE FROM returns.

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PHILLIPS: All right, you do the math. Hundreds, maybe thousands of inmates, are turned loose early every year because there's not enough jail and prison space to hold them all, yet a brand new prison sits empty, untouched, never used, in Portland, Oregon. It doesn't add up. And CNN's Dan Simon reports, the reason, why else? Money.

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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They built it, but no one came. This is Portland, Oregon's new $58 million jail. The Wapato Facility, as it's called, was completed nearly two years ago, and was ready to take in bad guys and ease jail overcrowding. But this place has sat empty. The bunks, the bathrooms, the basketball court haven't been touched.

BERNIE GIUSTO, MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OREGON, SHERIFF: This is a prime example of why government lacks the confidence of the people it serves.

SIMON: Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto is responsible for Portland's jails, three, including Wapato. He calls the place a $58 million echo chamber... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really does echo.

SIMON: ... and a national embarrassment.

GIUSTO: We're not here because we're looking good. We're here because we have become the laughing stock of this country.

SIMON: The problem: money -- voters approved the funds to build the jail. But the county, in the face of shrinking taxes, didn't have the funds to operate it, and still doesn't. Not surprising it has become a political hot potato for local officials who have to make the tough budgetary choices.

Politicians here, when faced with either funding jails or classroom, have chosen the latter.

Still, Diane Linn, who heads the county commission, has vowed to get the place open.

DIANE LINN, CHAIRWOMAN, MULTNOMAH COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: As of today, I'm making my personal pledge to open the Wapato jail and treatment facility in fiscal year '06.

SIMON: No one else, however, expects the 525-bed jail to open, even partially, until at least early 2007, three years after it was completed.

(on camera): While the purpose of this place is to lock people up, the sheriff was so anxious to have it used, used for something, that he actually offered it to the victims of Hurricane Katrina as short-term housing. The Red Cross nixed that idea, but it showed the level of frustration some people have about having a perfectly good facility sit empty.

(voice-over): But there's an even greater concern. The county's two other jails are maxed out with inmates. As a result, the sheriff's department is having to release large numbers of accused criminals, because there's no room.

Last year, it let out more than 4,500 inmates due to overcrowding, most before they have ever even seen a judge. But they're still expected to show up for court. But authorities say many don't. And others simply have their jail time shortened.

GIUSTO: Burglars, auto thieves, identity thieves, people who are -- use methamphetamine.

SIMON: Among those released early, 45-year-old Richard Koehrsen -- police arrested him in January for trespassing and drinking in public. After only 24 hours in custody, he was let out. The sheriff's department says it needed space for suspects accused of more serious offenses. Two days later, Koehrsen was arrested for murder, accused of stabbing a man in the neck. He pleaded not guilty. His attorney had no comment. And a trial date has yet to be set.

SERGEANT JESSE LUNA, MULTNOMAH COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It's really hard to say, hey, this guy is going to do it.

SIMON: Sergeant Jesse Luna oversees the unit that decides which inmates walk free when the jails get full. Koehrsen was deemed to be a low risk.

LUNA: I mean, we're talking someone that drinks in public. And he -- this is -- unfortunately, it -- it happened.

SIMON: He says, just this month, at least 65 other inmates got their get-out-of-jail-free card -- the irony of an empty jail not lost on the sheriff.

GIUSTO: I -- I avoid this place. I come to -- I have people come to make sure it's standing. But I avoid this place, because I don't have -- I don't have -- every time I come here, it's just a sense of frustration about how government gets here.

SIMON: And with county funds not likely to increase any time soon, the Wapato jail is expected to collect even more dust.

Dan Simon, CNN, Portland, Oregon.

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PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, she's no jarhead. At 78, she's enjoying retirement, but this grandma is still ready to serve her country. Just ask her. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.

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PHILLIPS: We continue to follow protests across the country regarding immigration legislation. Betty, what's new?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, we saw it last week and we saw it over the weekend and we're seeing it again. Let's go to Los Angeles. Looking at live pictures from KTTV. People marching in the streets.

Earlier there were students and now it seems like some other folks have joined in that. It looks like several hundred out there already. We're getting a close look at this right now.

Today, in fact, is Cesar Chavez day, it's a day to honor the United Farmworkers Union founder and a lot of schools were urging their students to stay home. Let's talk about the immigration debate and let's do it in the classroom. Apparently, people have decided to take it into the streets, something they've done, as I mentioned, last week and over the weekend.

Here's another shot of a lot folks in the streets. They're waving flags and walking and marching. They're carrying signs and also chanting.

In L.A. on Saturday, just one day of note, half a million people came out to march in the streets and we're seeing it again today. As you know, the Senate is taking up this issue and they're debating it. We'll see how that plays out, but until an answer is given, the situation resolved, it looks like we'll see people in the streets for many days to come.

PHILLIPS: Betty, thanks so much.

The few, the proud the retired? America's armed forces are constantly trying to meet their recruiting goals, but one recent mailing was off target. Rick Chambers of CNN affiliate KCAL has the story.

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RICK CHAMBERS: The United States Marines are always looking for a few good men and women and with the Iraq war underway, Arabic speaking recruits are critical. So the general in charge of recruiting for the corps, has sent out this letter, mailed it to thousands of Americans, encouraging them to join the warrior elite.

In fact, the woman in this house got one. It reads, Dear Sonia Goldstein, The United States Military is in need of your service.

SONIA GOLDSTEIN, POTENTIAL RECRUIT: I couldn't believe it. My girls were sitting here, we had just come back from the convalescent home. We were in hysterics, we laughed so hard.

CHAMBERS: The letter also claims that Sonia's physical and mental limits will be pushed beyond anything she's ever known, which is easy to believe for a 78-year-old who needs assistance just leaving the front porch.

GOLDSTEIN: That was great, there I am with my walker. I can't maneuver from here to there without it. And whatever I can do, I'll help.

CHAMBERS: For some reason Uncle Sam wanted Sonia for her nonexistent language skills. Now she considered a visit to the recruiting center. After all, it's just next door to her Weight Watchers office.

GOLDSTEIN: And bring my walker in, take me, here I am. Uncle Sam wants me, I'm generous. What the heck, I just don't want K.T. duty.

CHAMBERS: Well, as it turns out, Sonia isn't exactly what the corps is looking for.

SGT. CHRIS CASTANEDA, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Actually we're looking for highly qualified young men and women between the ages of 17 and 24. We're looking for quality, not quantity now.

CHAMBERS: Seventy-eight wouldn't qualify for that then?

CASTANEDA: Oh no.

CHAMBERS: She'd be a little too old? CASTANEDA: She'd be a little too old.

CHAMBERS: But Sunny, as she's called, is willing to do her part.

GOLDSTEIN: Oh, I'd do whatever I could for this wonderful country we live in, you know. But this is kind of stretching it a bit.

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PHILLIPS: Rick says that the Marines blame a paperwork error for the letter to Goldstein.

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PHILLIPS: The next hour of LIVE FROM starts in two minutes.

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