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Former Enron CEO Attacks Prosecutors; Former Miss Canada Fights For Life Of Iranian Woman; Zacarias Moussaoui Testifies

Aired April 13, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are staying on that story out of Baltimore, Carol following the live pictures and the information.
What has happened? Have they been able to negotiate with this guy?

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: They are still talking.

We want to show you just the fresh pictures that just came in to the CNN Center of the scene around this police substation in Baltimore, where a narcotics suspect is holding a civilian employee hostage after breaking free from the police officer who brought him in. He attacked the police officer. That officer had to go to the hospital with some minor injuries.

But, right now, this is the situation on the ground, as cameras and SWAT testimony members are surrounding the building. We do know that the hostage negotiation team is making contact with this guy. So, that's a good thing.

And we also want to clarify a situation over at the Morgan State University. They are not in a lockdown. That will be reassuring information for the parents. Our folks have talked to the director of public relations at Morgan State University. He says: We do not believe that this is a concern for our students.

But they are diverting students away from the area closest to the police substation, should this situation, you know, end up on the streets -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Carol, thanks.

LIN: OK.

PHILLIPS: Keep checking in.

Six victims, three generations, one family, and one suspected killer, the grandson of one of the people beaten to death in a Pennsylvania town of fewer than 1,000 people.

We have just gotten our first look at the suspect.

And CNN's Christopher King fills us in now from the town of Leola.

Do we know anything yes -- or anything more about a possible motive, Christopher?

CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know anything about a possible motive just yet there, Kyra.

But Jesse Wise, the suspect, did come out of court not too long ago. We have some pictures of him walking into court earlier today. He, of course, is accused of killing his family members, including his grandmother, two aunts and three cousins. The suspect is 21 years old.

This all happened in Leola, Pennsylvania, about 75 miles west of Philadelphia. This has been the heart of the Amish country. Wise is charged with homicide. Authorities held a press conference earlier. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOWMAN, EAST LAMPETER TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA, POLICE CHIEF: There is a relationship, in that the deceased, Emily Wise, would be the grandmother of the accused. And the other deceased at this point would be cousins or some type of blood relationship, along those lines, from what we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, police say the home was owned by another Jesse Wise. He's 60 years old. They say he was in New York. And they say the family was scheduled to head up to New York for a trip, but they say that Jesse Wise, the 60-year-old, had not heard from the family since last Friday.

They say that that Wise had asked a family friend, John Adams, to check in on them. Now, police say, when they got to the scene, John Adams was there. They say Adams went down to the basement, but came running back upstairs, saying, "They're all dead."

Now, police found four bodies in the basement. Three of the bodies were wrapped in sheets. One of the bodies was found in a blanket and wrapped in a telephone cord. Now, police recovered a hammer. They say they saw blood and bone fragments on the ceilings and the walls of two upstairs bedrooms.

Now, the names of the victims are -- they all have the last name Wise -- the names of the victims are Emily, age 60, Wanda, age 45, Arlene -- she is in her 30s -- Skyler, age 19 -- he's a male -- Chance, age 5, also a male, and another Jesse James Wise, age 17.

And, of course, as I said everybody in the family is named Wise. And, of course, Jesse Wise has come out of court -- no word yet on a motive -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Christopher King, thank you.

Best defense of simple frustration? The one-time head of Enron spent part of his fourth day on the witness stand attacking prosecutors for calling him a liar and a crook. The charges against Jeffrey Skilling are fraud and conspiracy.

We get the latest from reporter Isiah Carey with our affiliate KRIV in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISIAH CAREY, KRIV REPORTER: Jeff Skilling spent his morning on the stand for the fourth day denying claims about his alleged criminal role in Enron's broadband division.

Now, Skilling says he never lied to investors about the stability of the division. He also denied changing the wording in an earnings release to conceal the true financial condition of broadband.

Skilling became emotional on the stand during his testimony, saying he thinks the Enron task force played fast and loose with the details to charge him. He said -- quote -- "I think they have purposely not looked at the facts to come a balanced conclusion."

His defense attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, later asked him, "Did you believe in the company?"

He replied: "I believed in Enron Corporation. I bled Enron blue. At this time, Enron was a bright company that was having the best performance of the year."

Now, the strategy in Skilling's defense remains to be, explain it to the jury and deny all allegations brought against him.

At the federal courthouse in Houston, Isiah Carey for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Iran is a nuclear power; get used to it. That's the line today, in so many words, from Iran's president, still pulling one way, while much of the outside world pulls the other.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency is in Tehran, trying again to persuade Iran to tow the lines drawn by the Security Council. Mohamed ElBaradei did tell reporters that he hasn't seen any diversion of nuclear materials for weapons, though he said the picture is -- quote -- "still hazy."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remarked on that situation just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Obviously, we're still in a diplomatic phase with, but we have set the end of the month, essentially, for Iran to respond to a presidential statement. At that point, the Security Council has got to take this back up.

The Iranians have done nothing to demonstrate that they are going to -- adhere to the international guidelines that have been established for them. And, therefore, we're going to have to have a response. And it can't be another presidential statement.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Think the Iran nuclear dispute has nothing to do with you? Think again. Iran is the major player in the international oil game, and it could play rough at any time.

CNN's Jim Boulden reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With about 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, Iran is crucial, as the world demands ever more petroleum. That's why oil prices have shot up over Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear program, and much of the world trying to stop it.

AXEL BUSCH, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: Iran could say, well, if you insist on belaboring us and bullying us, we will stop all exports. But, by the same token, they will stop -- they will stop their earnings and we will see prices go up dramatically. So, it's a standoff situation.

BOULDEN: A standoff many oil analysts say is unlikely. That's because Iran gets the bulk of its foreign earnings by selling oil to Asia and Europe. The country has been socking away dollars earned from the recent spike in oil prices, but cutting exports would hurt its own economy after a few months.

MANOUCHEHR TAKIN, SENIOR ANALYST, CENTER FOR GLOBAL ENERGY STUDIES: Why should the Iranian people suffer? And, also, why should the world oil markets suffer?

BOULDEN: In fact, Iran has never deliberately cut supply. And it's the world's fourth largest oil exporter.

Here's how it breaks down. The majority of Iran's 2.5 million barrels a day of exports go to Asia. Much of the rest heads for Europe. A little ends up in Africa and South America. Because of U.S. law, no Iran oil is exported there.

There is another reason, though, why Iran exports could be cut: if the West decides to tell oil companies to stop investing there and forces them to pull out. That would hit the likes of Shell, Total, ENI, plus Chinese and Indian companies already in Iran, leaving the country's oil industry on its own.

TAKIN: They can continue running the oil industry. It would not be ideal, of course. But they can continue running the oil industry on a current basis. Investments would be delayed, and, therefore, three or four, five years in the pipeline, we will see the negative effects of the lack of investment.

BOULDEN: Analysts say, any disruption of oil from Iran would cause a massive price spike, at a time when there already is not enough oil to go around.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Finally, a break for rain-soaked Californians, giving emergency crews a chance to clear all the mud and debris from roadways. Mudslides have closed about 33 roads in Sonoma County and shoved one home right over the edge.

A number of other homes are still in danger. To the South, rescuers are using a crane to dig through more mud for a man who was swallowed up in a mudslide early yesterday. Seventy-three-year-old Walter Guthrie was checking on the back of his house when that hill gave way.

All this miserable weather is enough to drive one batty. Just ask this homeowner in Sacramento. She has got bats in her rafters, dozens of them. Fish and game experts say not to worry. Like everybody else, the bats are just trying to stay dry. It's migrating season for the Mexican freetails, and they should move on once the rain does.

So, who can stop a state-sanctioned execution? What about this? How much weight does a Canadian beauty queen have with a Middle Eastern government? Those two questions really are connected. We are going to look for the answers when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Miss Iraq is missing, or, more accurately, hiding.

Silva Shahakian is an Iraqi Christian who won her title by default when Islamic militants reportedly threatened to kill other contestants in last week's pageant in Baghdad. The first winner gave the crown back and two runner-ups didn't want it either.

Organizers hope to send Miss Iraq to the Miss Universe Pageant in Los Angeles this summer, if she surfaces.

Well, Miss Canadian 2003 is definitely not missing. In fact, she is trying to make as much commotion as possible, in hopes of saving a life of a woman she has never met. The two women are on opposite sides of the world, but share a bond stronger than distance can break.

Here's CNN's Asieh Namdar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iranian native Nazanin Afshin-Jam is on a mission half-a-world away in Vancouver, Canada.

Afshin-Jam, a former Miss Canada, is trying to save the life of an 18-year-old woman convicted of murder and sentenced to death for defending herself against three rapists. NAZANIN AFSHIN-JAM, FORMER MISS CANADA: Her name is Nazanin, too. And I was thinking to myself, wow, that could have been me, if I was still in Iran.

NAMDAR: The woman has confessed to stabbing to death one of the three men who tried to rape her and her niece outside Tehran last year, when she was 17. Afshin-Jam has started a petition, asking the Iranian government to commute the death sentence. She hopes international pressure will save Nazanin.

AFSHIN-JAM: This is not just a case of an Iranian woman. This is a case of humanity.

NAMDAR: Negar Azmudeh, a Vancouver immigration lawyer, also a native of Iran, is taking up the cause as well.

NEGAR AZMUDEH, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: If the man had killed her Nazanin, he could have never, ever got a death sentence, because the value of his life was twice as much as Nazanin's. So, he would have to murder two women in order to get death sentence.

NAMDAR: Under Iranian law, girls over the age of 9 and boys over 16 face the death penalty for murder. But the Iranian government says it does not execute juveniles, but, under the law, women must choose between two horrifying options.

If a woman does not resist rape, she could be imprisoned, flogged or stoned as an adulterer. And, if she acts in self-defense, she could be hanged.

ALEX NEVE, SECRETARY GENERAL, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: There is a serious, serious human rights crisis in Iran, the death penalty, discrimination against women, and a whole host of other concerns. And it -- it really is time for the international community to put those issues right at the top of the agenda.

NAMDAR: International pressure has worked before. In 1997 a woman was sentenced to death for shooting a police officer who allegedly tried to rape her. She was later released.

AFSHIN-JAM: If enough people get involved in this, and we all gather together and take action, then she can be free.

NAMDAR: Afshin-Jam hopes that, in this case, history will repeat itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Wow. How did Nazanin even find out about this woman?

NAMDAR: Well, she has a Web site, a fan-based Web site. And she got a letter from a fan. But she wasn't convinced it was authentic. She went to Amnesty International a few days. They had on their -- on their Web site information about the Nazanin in Iran.

And that's when she knew, wow, this has really happened. It's a serious issue. And she contacted an attorney in the Vancouver area. And they teamed up to sort of, you know, stop this woman from being executed.

PHILLIPS: So, what has been the biggest challenge for her and the attorney, as they work together to try to do something?

NAMDAR: Kyra, I talked to the attorney today, a fascinating, committed woman to this cause.

And she said, the biggest challenge has been to contact the attorney representing this woman in Iran. No phone calls have been returned. They didn't even have a name for this attorney for the longest time. And because of the legal limitations in Iran, the attorney cannot really speak to anyone outside the case, until the appeal process and the whole legal maneuvering has been resolved.

So, once they have a name, which they do now, they try to contact the attorney, and, from there, see where this all goes.

PHILLIPS: Have they even released any information about this woman, like her personal -- like, if she's married, or has kids or...

NAMDAR: Nothing.

PHILLIPS: They won't say anything?

NAMDAR: Absolutely nothing.

And the point that these two women, the attorney and Nazanin, are trying to make, this is not a political cause. They are trying to say, this is a social, grassroots movement to bring awareness to the cause of this problem, especially because of all the issues with Iran and the nuclear program. They say they are not trying to demonize the Iranian government. This has nothing to do with politics. It's just to raise awareness and social...

PHILLIPS: Human rights.

NAMDAR: Human rights.

But, if you talk about human rights, there's a lot of countries around the world that have...

PHILLIPS: Sure.

NAMDAR: ... a human rights issue.

PHILLIPS: Look at how women being treated in Afghanistan, Iraq.

NAMDAR: Right. In Nigeria, you know, we...

PHILLIPS: Right. Sure.

NAMDAR: ... had that case of that woman who had a relationship outside her marriage, and she was sentenced to die, you know, by stoning. And that case got overturned. So, it is a human rights issue. But, in this case, they want to make a point that this has -- has nothing to do with politics. It's to raise an awareness from a social, grassroots movement.

PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at that Web site. It's www.Nazanin.ca, right?

NAMDAR: Yes. Yes.

PHILLIPS: And people can click on. And can they sign a petition?

NAMDAR: They can sign on. They have 12,000 signatures so far.

PHILLIPS: How many do they need? Do they need...

NAMDAR: Well, they say there is no magic number.

PHILLIPS: Right.

NAMDAR: The more they have, the better.

Once they contact the attorney and they actually have a conversation with this attorney in Iran, they are going to deliver the petition to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and see where it goes from there. Obviously, a beautiful woman...

PHILLIPS: I was going to say...

NAMDAR: ... with a very important cause.

PHILLIPS: Two different pictures. That is for sure.

NAMDAR: Right.

PHILLIPS: All right, we will follow it.

NAMDAR: Yes.

PHILLIPS: We will see happens.

It's fascinating to even learn about how this woman is being treated. I mean, you think of -- you even look at cases here with regard to rape. And, boy, there are so many people that join to help the woman and her cause...

NAMDAR: Right.

PHILLIPS: ... and to investigate it.

(CROSSTALK)

NAMDAR: But, see, you are talking about Sharia, Islamic laws.

PHILLIPS: Yes. NAMDAR: Since the revolution, the laws have changed. And they have become very restrictive, and, a lot of critics would say, demeaning to women, because they don't have as many rights as the men do.

PHILLIPS: Asieh, thanks.

NAMDAR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, new developments in the death-penalty trial of convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. He's on the stand. We're going to hear what he had to say about President Bush.

We are live from the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, he says life in prison would be worth than death by lethal injection. His own lawyers say that he's mentally ill. He's Zacarias Moussaoui, admitted 9/11 conspirator, back on the witness stand in his death-penalty case.

CNN's justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, joins me now with an update.

Evidently, it has come to an end, right, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Moussaoui's testimony just finished a few moments ago. And, Kyra, how many times have I come out and just, like, been standing here with my mouth hanging open? Well, it's happening again. This trial has not been disappointing, in terms of just shocking moments.

Moussaoui spent over two-and-a-half-hours, almost three hours, on the stand. I have got about 20 pages of notes. I tried to put together some highlights for you.

He says that he has no regrets, no remorse about September 11. He made fun of the family members of victims who died that day, and also of the survivors who came and broke down on the stand. He said the military people who broke down were pathetic, that they were at war, that they would -- should never cry about having -- being attacked.

He says -- when he was asked, you know, would do you 9/11 again, do you think it had been done again, he goes: I wish it had happened not only on the 11th, but the 12th, the 13th, the 14th, the 15th, the 16th, the 17th, on and on.

He says that he regretted that the survivors who did testify didn't die. He says that it made his day when he saw one of the widows up there crying over the loss of her husband. He says that he would be willing to kill Americans again even in prison -- his quote, "Anytime, anywhere." He says that he was not brainwashed by al Qaeda, that it was his choice to join the terrorist organization. He said it was his pleasure to be asked to join a suicide mission on September 11. He was also asked why he hates the United States, why he hates Americans.

He says, namely, because of the U.S. support of Israel, because of our policy in Iraq. And he says that, according to his interpretation of the Koran, Kyra, that Muslims should be over the world, that everyone else, Jews, Christians, should be subservient, that we should have to pay a fee for living in the land that we live, and, if not, that we should be invaded.

He says that, also, he insists that he's not crazy or delusional, but, yet, he insists that he believes, in his words, 100 percent that George W. Bush, the president, is going to release him from prison before his term is out, because, Moussaoui says, he saw it in a dream. And, so, he believes that, before the president's term is over, that he will be a free man -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kelli Arena, stay with us there outside the courtroom.

We have got Jeffrey Toobin on the phone as well.

Jeffrey, you have been following this case. It just -- it's amazing to listen just to the amount of hatred that this man just has inside his mind and his body and the things that he has said. It's like a psychiatrist's dream to sit down and talk to somebody like this and try and figure out what can make somebody just be this way and act this way.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Kyra, you know, there's a -- a phenomenon known as suicide by cop, where someone will pull a gun on a cop, knowing that they will be shot in return. It's a kind of suicide.

And I think what may be going on here -- I don't pretend to have any great insight into Moussaoui's thinking -- but this may be suicide by jury. This may be an attempt to create some sort of martyrdom for himself, because, every time he has opened his mouth in front of this jury, he has made it far more likely that he will get the death penalty.

And, again, I don't know what he's thinking, but it could be that he is intentionally trying to get the death penalty and create a kind of martyrdom for himself.

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

Kelli, you have been listening to what Jeffrey Toobin has been saying. I mean, you have been talking to so many attorneys and people on both...

ARENA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... sides of this case. Pretty interesting theory. ARENA: Well, yes, I mean, it's something we have heard -- we have heard. They either call it suicide by jury, suicide by testimony.

But he -- you know, Moussaoui, of course, contends that he is not looking to die, that he says that he told the truth and that he left it in God's hands, that it's not up to the jury to decide whether he lives or dies, that it's up to God to decide whether he lives or dies, and that, because he told truth, that his God would allow him to live.

He says that, rather than die, he would rather go on fighting. So, of course, what he says, you know, is that doesn't want it. But, of course, Jeffrey had the point that, you know, maybe this is -- this is just a tactic.

He also, in the -- in the first part of his testimony, really berated his lawyers, and said that they haven't provided him with adequate counsel. He was, he was just telling them that, you know, they should have said that, you know, the jury shouldn't want to kill him, because that would make him a martyr.

Or he said, you know, they should have told the jury that, you know, if they kept him alive, that they could have used him for a bargaining chip later on, if an American had been kidnapped, that they could trade Moussaoui for the American, and that that would save a life, you know, sort of giving them strategies that he would have, you know, used, rather than what they have used.

And some of the 9/11 family members who are here watching were really concerned about that, because they thought, uh-oh, you know, is this going to be, you know, used in an appeal, that maybe he didn't get proper representation? Because, as you know, Kyra, he hasn't spoken to his lawyers at all. I mean, he refuses to cooperate. He refuses to be reviewed by their mental health experts.

He refuses to discuss, you know, strategy, testimony. He went against their advice and went on the stand and testified. So, I know that that was very disturbing. And, of course, when they heard what he said about the people that got up there and -- and testified, one woman actually had to be escorted out of the courtroom, because she was so upset -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Toobin, I remember you saying to me, it's times like this that those lawyers are probably wishing they went to medical school.

Where do you go from here, when you have to represent somebody like this, and he's going against everything that you say? They probably just want it would be over.

TOOBIN: They are -- they are lawyers. And that's all they can do, but, you know, they are ultimately not the client.

And it is the client's decision in any case, I mean, throughout this case. I mean, one reason why this case took so many years to get to trial was that Judge Brinkema was so concerned about Moussaoui's mental state. And there have been inquiries about whether he is fit, at first, to represent himself, and then to stand trial at all.

His mental state is obviously a major, major concern. But the lawyers can't stop a client, if he is determined to do something that the lawyers know is self-destructive.

PHILLIPS: Self-destructive.

TOOBIN: They have -- they do as much as they can do.

PHILLIPS: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin -- Jeffrey, thanks, and Kelli Arena there, outside the courthouse.

We're going to stay on the story as it develops. Of course, there's still a ways to go with this.

The news keeps coming. We will keep bringing it to you -- more LIVE FROM next.

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