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Two Plots Exposed for School Shooting Rampages; Prime Minister Designate of Iraq Says Insurgents Will Not Succeed in Causing Civil War; More Evidence Ties Hussein to Crimes Against Humanity; Iranian President Invites Foreign Press to Discuss Iran Civilian Nuclear Program.

Aired April 24, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is "LIVE FROM." Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Tony Harris. Kyra Phillips is off today.

NGUYEN: Well, two very different communities today asking the same stunning question: Were some of our kids plotting a massacre? In southeast Kansas, five teens face a judge in about two hours. They're suspected of planning a shooting rampage at Riverton High School last Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the Columbine killings. The teens allegedly wanted to wear black trench coats and disable the school's camera. Police were tipped off to the references to the alleged plot after they showed up on the website myspace.com. Now they say they also found guns, knives and coded messages in one of the suspects' bedroom.

Thousands of miles away in Alaska, police are patrolling North Pole Middle School after the weekend arrest of a half dozen seventh graders. The kids, all boys, are suspected of plotting to attack classmates and teachers with guns and knives because they felt picked on. They allegedly planned to cut off the school's power and phones. Nine other students are suspended in connection with the case. Police say there is no link to the alleged plot in Kansas.

Now, stories like this make you want to keep your kids at home, but the principal of North Pole Middle School says that is not the answer. Ernie Manzie joins us now from the school, where students are back in class. We appreciate your time. First of all, talk to use about this plot. How did you find out?

ERNIE MANZIE, PRINCIPAL, NORTH POLE MIDDLE SCHOOL (voice only): Hello. We were notified by the North Pole Police Department of that plot Monday night -- of the plan Monday night.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about this plan. What do you know about it? What were they planning to do?

MANZIE: Well, you know, I know what you know that's been released. The police are doing the investigation and the interviewing with the students of the plan. So I know what's been released by the North Pole Police Department. NGUYEN: Do you know much about these students that allegedly are involved in this plot?

MANZIE: Well, of course I know them -- just in the context of being the building administrator -- in terms of who they are, yeah.

NGUYEN: Well, tell me about the students. What kind of students are they?

MANZIE: Well, you know, at this point I don't feel comfortable sharing information about the students. It is an ongoing investigation.

NGUYEN: Are they students who are used to getting in trouble? I mean, you can tell us that.

MANZIE: What I can tell you is I really can't tell you information about the students, their discipline record or anything at all like that. You know, I can say certainly we're all troubled and saddened when we hear of any students planning to do what they were planning to do. And that's, you know -- the main thing that I'm concentrating on is making sure that school is running, that it's safe and giving that message to the parents and the community.

NGUYEN: Now, are these all boys that are involved? Because I'm also reading that some girls may also be involved in this plot.

MANZIE: You know, that investigation's ongoing. I mean, I think the police report said that there were boys that were involved. But we had -- there were more students that were suspended from school that are separate from the police investigation that are both boys and girls.

NGUYEN: Now, you did these suspensions before the police got involved, correct?

MANZIE: No, not before they got involved. But as they gave us their information through their investigation, we also then were able to use information in conducting our own investigation, identifying students. The North Pole Police Department has been absolutely a God send and wonderful to work with.

NGUYEN: How surprised are you at a plot like this at your school?

MANZIE: You know, I've been -- this is my 25th year in education, and I'm very surprised. I mean, you never think that -- I mean, that something like this, that kids are thinking this way. So it's very saddening.

NGUYEN: And also frightening for parents and students who attend that school.

MANZIE: Oh...

NGUYEN: Tell me about the reaction to this. Are people keeping their kids out of school?

MANZIE: You know, this is a wonderful community, and always -- I mean, one of the saddest things is kind of the perception of -- people might think about the community. The North Pole community is wonderful. We have -- this school has a little bit under 500 students. And they are just exceptionally wonderful students. Parents, rightfully so, are concerned.

You know, I have a -- I'm a parent of two of students that go to public schools in this district. I understand that completely. What we've been trying to stress is that, you know, we understand your concern. We want to try to assure you that the school is safe, that the students that were involved in this are no longer at school. We don't anticipate them being -- you know, they're not here. We've taken that disciplinary action and are proceeding with that.

We do have an officer in the school that we started today, and that's primarily -- the main reason for that is comfort. We're not concerned or worried that something else might happen. But we just want to make sure parents feel comfortable, and that students feel comfortable, and most importantly, safe in the school.

NGUYEN: Ernie Manzie, principal at the North Pole Middle School. We appreciate your time today and your information. Thank you.

MANZIE: Thank you very much.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Seven car bombings in a little more than five hours in Baghdad today, including this one.

Man. The bombs killed eight people and wounded dozens. There also were roadside bombings, drive-by shootings and a mortar launch, all as a new prime minister tries to finally form a government. Ryan Chilcote is in the Iraqi capital.

Ryan, a lot of developments over the weekend and today. Bring it all together for us today, if you would, please.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Tony. More than half a dozen bombs rocked Baghdad today, killing at least eight, wounding at least 74. Then in a separate incident on the south side of the city, a total of 15 bodies found in two different pickup trucks. All of the bodies belonging to Sunni Muslims. All of them appear to have been shot execution-style, raising concern they may have been the victims off sectarian violence.

All this coming, Tony, two days after Iraqi lawmakers finally chose, after four months of political stalemate, their new prime minister. I just sat down with him about two hours ago. He gave his first interview since he took office to an international news organization. And I asked him what he thinks about the speculation that Iraq may already be in a low-level civil war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAWAD AL-MALIKI, PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE, IRAQ (through translator): There have been tragedies and significant crimes set toward civil war. Undoubtedly, some people want to instigate a civil war. But the situation is still manageable, and the government is still unified. We have a constitution, we have a parliament, and a new government will be formed soon. And they won't succeed in starting a civil war. They are not going to spark a civil war within the Iraqi community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHILCOTE: Tony, Mr. Maliki says the key to preventing a civil war here in Iraq will be disarming the militias. He says that Iraq has 11 of them. Militias are basically groups of armed men that owe their allegiance, not to the nation, but to its various ethic and religious groups. He says those groups need to be disarmed, and they need to be absorbed into the military, so that the Iraqi military moves as one national unit. Tony?

HARRIS: So Ryan, does Mr. Maliki see that as his greatest challenge moving forward?

CHILCOTE: Yes. In fact he did say that -- that his biggest challenge will be that, he said, the Iraqi population has split among sectarian lines. And his solution to that is to open up national reconciliation discussions and to try to build a government of national unity.

What that means here is to try and include the country's various religious and ethnic groups, and in particular in this case, to include Sunni Muslims in the government. He's got one month to do that. Everyone here believes that if he is able to build a government of national unity, that might help in controlling the sectarian violence, and of course also the insurgency on the ground. Tony?

HARRIS: Okay, Ryan Chilcote for us in Baghdad. Ryan, we appreciate it. Thank you.

In a Baghdad courtroom, prosecutors presented more evidence they hope will tie Saddam Hussein to crimes against humanity. It was a phone call allegedly between the former Iraqi leader and one of his co-defendants, discussing retaliation against Shiites for an assassination attempt on Hussein.

Also more handwriting evidence was presented to connect Hussein and seven others to the killing of 148 people in 1982. The trial is now adjourned until May 15th. Betty.

NGUYEN: Tough talk from the president of Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced reporters today and took questions about his country's nuclear ambitions. Our Aneesh Raman joins us from Tehran on the phone with the latest in all of this. Hi, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice only): Betty, good afternoon. It was only the second time foreign press had been allowed into a press conference by Iran's president. He remained defiant, at times though joked, but continued to say that Iran will not suspend its uranium enrichment, part of what the country has said from the start is a peaceful civilian nuclear program.

Now the west and especially the U.S. has warned that if Iran is allowed a nuclear program on Iranian soil, it could down the line lead to Iran having a nuclear weapon. President Ahmadinejad again today denied that was the case. He said that his government has been transparent with the U.N. and with the IAEA and is challenging anyone to come up with evidence.

Now this entire nuclear standoff essentially boils down to trust and whether or not the world, and the west specifically, trusts Iran to have a civilian nuclear program. Because of that, it seems the president has moderated his tone. We've heard fiery statements from him in the past. He did have some harsh words for the U.S. and for Israel, as he always does, but overall seemed to moderate his tone, aware of the sensitivity of time, which is days to go until the U.N. must decide what to do about Iran's nuclear program. Betty?

NGUYEN: Aneesh, you mention, it is very rare for foreign journalists to be allowed in. So I want to hear from you, what's the word on the street? How do people feel about you being there, a western journalist?

RAMAN: Well, we went out throughout Tehran to the north and southern parts of the capital all day yesterday, this morning before the press conference. I should say that all our interactions are prefaced by us being a western crew -- CNN specifically out on the street. That limits who will talk to you, especially on camera. But the Iranians we spoke to didn't have a sense of concern over some looming crisis. They say they've heard all this before when it comes to the U.S. threats, and they're awaiting the politics to play out.

And a lot of them support the nuclear program in Iran. They say that it will add to the economy here, an economy that is in desperate need of reform. The conservative estimates of unemployment here are 12 percent. 70 percent, Betty, of the Iranians are under 25, a lot of them educated, desperately looking for jobs. And the president has gone out in the past few months and sold this nuclear program to the Iranians, more along those economic lines than amid defying the west.

So Iranians are aware of the international, sort of, crisis that seems to be playing out. But for many of them, this is a matter of pride and this is about bettering their economy. And they were pretty frank with us, I mean, as much as we could expect. A number of them did say they didn't want to talk on camera, but others were willing to talk. And so we got as best a census perhaps a western crew could get in Iran as to what the Iranians think.

NGUYEN: CNN's Aneesh Raman on the phone in Tehran. Thank you for that update. Tony?

HARRIS: In his own defense, the founder of Enron, once the nation's seventh largest corporation, takes the stand. And from the get-go, Ken Lay denies misleading investors and employees about Enron's finances. Reporter Isiah Carey with our Houston affiliated KRIV joins us from the courthouse.

And Isiah, this is the day most of us have been waiting for. Ken lay on the stand in his own defense. How's it going?

ISIAH CAREY, CORRESPONDENT, KRIV HOUSTON AFFILIATE: Absolutely, Tony. Now Ken Lay says he is fighting for his very freedom against six Enron-related charges in the demise of the company back in 2001. Now he took the stand at about 8:35 this morning and immediately denied any wrongdoing in the 2001 demise of Enron.

Lay appearing very comfortable on the stand, talked about his background, his wealth, family, and the troubles and the energy company he founded. Lay says the problem wasn't that Enron was in bad financial shape. But he says the problems caused by theft from the company by former CFO Andrew Fastow, short-sellers and a series of articles done by the "Wall Street Journal" in 2001. He says that caused a run on the bank with Enron investors and destroyed the company.

Lay, being questioned by his attorney, Matt Seacrest, said "I would never thought ever that I would be in federal court charged with a criminal charge." The 64-year-old, who's charged with his former CFO and CEO Jeff Skilling said "I accept full responsibility for everything that happened at Enron. Having said that, I can't take full responsibility for illegal activity." And of course, Mr. Skilling -- Mr. Lay, actually, will be on the stand through the end of the week. He is undergoing direct exam right now. And of course the prosecution will get their turn when his defense team is complete.

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

HARRIS: And Isiah, just a quick question. How long is Ken Lay expected to be on the stand?

CAREY: He may be on the stand for at least two weeks. We saw the same thing with Jeff Skilling last week. He was on the stand for about two weeks. We have court Monday through Thursday. We're off on Friday. So we're looking possibly at two weeks for Ken Lay as well.

HARRIS: Isaiah Carey from our Houston affiliate KRIV. Isiah, we appreciate it. Thank you.

CAREY: Thank you.

NGUYEN: In another case, six weeks of excruciating testimony, hours of closing arguments and a few last instructions from the judge. Within the next hour, it is expected the jury will go to work in the case of admitted Al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. The prosecution and defense agree on one thing, Moussaoui deserves punishment. But it is up to the jury to say whether he'll get the death penalty or life in prison. You'll hear the decision first right here on CNN.

HARRIS: Coming up in the next half hour of "LIVE FROM," a man with a new-found perspective on the events of 9/11. He's a pilot for United. He is also an actor in the movie about the fateful Flight 93. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More "LIVE FROM," straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The latest survey of gas prices confirms what you already know. They are going up and fast. So, where will they peak? That is the million dollar question. CNN's Sumi Das is in Hammond, Indiana watching motorists from nearby Chicago try to find bargains. So how good are the bargains there, Sumi?

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Betty. It's a little bit noisy out here. I'm not exactly sure what you said, but I'm just going to go ahead and tell you what I have to say.

First of all, I wanted you to consider a question. How far would you go out of your way to save a few pennies a gallon on gasoline? Well, some Chicagoans are traveling as far as 23 miles to fill up their tanks here, in Hammond, Indiana, where gas is relatively less expensive, but it's still $2.89 a gallon.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is ridiculous. This is not -- this is normal.

DAS (voice-over): New week, more pain at the pump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas prices are outrageous, because it's costing us too much money to travel.

DAS: According to the Lundberg survey, gas prices jumped to a national average of $2.91 a gallon for self-serve regular. Nearly all of the increase the result of crude oil prices. The Lundberg survey says average gas prices hit $3.00 or more a gallon in Washington, D.C., California, Nevada, Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a student, so, you know, the money that I have is somewhat limited. And it just makes it really difficult -- something that I used to not think twice about doing.

DAS: And the high cost of fuel has some people crossing state lines for a bargain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a little insane that the prices are high in Chicago and you drive across the border and there's about 50 cents difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not happy about it. But I guess I don't feel like we have much choice in the matter.

DAS: If self-serve prices weren't high enough, full service may be a luxury many drivers can't afford, with some stations charging 50 cents to $1.00 more per gallon for the privilege of filling you up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do it once a week, so it's not like I do it every day.

DAS: The peak summer driving season is just ahead. And analysts expect things will get better after they get worse. So what's a driver to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we're going to cut back. We're not driving this summer. Normally, we take a nice, long vacation, a driving vacation. And we're just not going to do it this year.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DAS (on camera): It seems that more people are willing to make the drive from Chicago to Hammond as prices have climbed steeply and steadily over the past week. The business manager here tells me that business has picked up in the last few days. Betty?

NGUYEN: All right, if it's worth the drive, let's look at the numbers here. How much is it in Chicago, and how far are people driving to get this cheaper gas?

DAS: Well, they're driving 23 miles. And let's just consider that the price difference between the two cities is 11 cents. But counting for some range in both Hammond and Chicago, let's say 20 cents. You're filling up a tank, 20 gallons, that's $4 that you're saving. It doesn't really seem worth it to me...

NGUYEN: No.

DAS: ... unless you're going to be in this area anyway. But then again, I'm no economist, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, but the numbers say it all. It makes sense that it doesn't really make sense that you're driving that far. You know what I'm saying? But I guess when you see the numbers on the gas signs, you're thinking in your head, I'm saving money. But when you do the calculations, are you really? All right. Sumi Das, thank you.

So everyone has an opinion about these gas prices. Who's going to do something about it? That's the question. We're going to hear from Capitol Hill and the folks there about these answers to the questions everyone wants to know. Have we peaked? When is it coming down? That's coming up on "LIVE FROM."

HARRIS: Yeah, yeah. Need answers, need answers.

NGUYEN: Yeah.

HARRIS: What about your driving habits? Have they changed? We'll get a check of oil prices and see how the public is responding to the growing cost of a gallon of fuel. That's next. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More "LIVE FROM," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: As gas prices surge, some drivers are putting it in park. Really? Jennifer Westhoven joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on oil and a look at the ways people are dealing with soaring prices. Jennifer, is this beyond just griping about the price of oil and a gallon of gas?

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: Gripe away.

HARRIS: Gripe away, yeah, yeah! We're good at that.

(LAUGHTER)

WESTHOVEN: I don't have anything really good to tell you on this front. I mean, I've got an update on what is happening, but...

HARRIS: OK.

WESTHOVEN: I mean, it doesn't look like it's getting any better right away.

HARRIS: That's good.

WESTHOVEN: Yeah. I mean, the good news for oil, it's not that great. It's down more than $1.00, right? I mean, last week we hit $75 a barrel. That's a lot. It made a lot of people a little bit nervous -- didn't hit the market then, but still something to certainly take notice of especially, right? We just had Sumi talking about how gas prices went up a quarter in two weeks.

We do, though, some kind of interesting news coming out of Venezuela. The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the president of Venezuela, which of course is Hugo Chavez -- he's really come out against America in many ways. It's reported that he's taking some steps there to take power away from foreign oil companies -- and that would be companies like Exxon-Mobil, for example, and Conoco Phillips -- and put it into government hands.

Now the "Journal" says that could cut profits for those big oil companies. Now some of you who are really mad about the gas may be secretly be going yay. But before you do that, before you think that, that could mean less oil overall for the world, less supply out there. And that could mean higher prices. The word nationalization is cropping up a little bit in some of the stories out there. So that is something to look out for...

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Yeah. Well, given that, we've got to do something. What are consumers doing differently to sort of ease the pain of these gas prices, Jennifer?

WESTHOVEN: Well, this is just anecdotal.

HARRIS: OK.

WESTHOVEN: But "U.S.A. Today" has a report that people are -- maybe they're hopping the bus! They're parking their cars and they're taking mass transit is what it looks like. And, you know, that makes sense. Going back and forth to work is so expensive right now. Maybe for once it's finally worth it to take the mass transit and wait in line. But that's Washington D.C. where the metro system -- they say they've had some of their busiest days in the system over the past week ever. And also we've seen ridership up in Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Tulsa.

There's also another fallout here that might change the way that you work. There's a consulting firm that says if gas prices stay this high, a lot more Americans could end up telecommuting.

HARRIS: Working from home.

NGUYEN: I like the sound of that.

HARRIS: Working from home. Now there's an idea.

NGUYEN: It might be scary seeing you work from home in your shorts and your beat-up shirt.

WESTHOVEN: Yeah, you don't want to see me like that. This is much better.

HARRIS: OK.

NGUYEN: Me in rollers? Yeah, not a good sign.

HARRIS: This took absolutely no time at all to get ugly. Jennifer, thank you.

NGUYEN: That's what we do around here.

HARRIS: That's what we do.

NGUYEN: So it's all right.

Well, coming up, it was very popular, very professional. On September 11th, Captain Jason Doll was at the controls of United Flight 93. And coming up, "LIVE FROM" introduces you to the man who portrays him in "United Flight 93" the movie.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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