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Capitol Police No Longer Concerned About Gunman on Run; Marines Investigate Atrocity Allegations; Immigration Costs; Senator Bill Frist and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Hold Meeting On Hill

Aired May 26, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And back here in the U.S., live pictures from the nation's capital as we wait to get the all-clear that the Rayburn building has been reopened and members of Congress and others that have been holed up in that building since a call came in earlier this morning about the sound of gunshots. That has not been confirmed.
Capitol Police are not concerned about a gunman on the run. That's been pretty much given the all-clear at this point. But tactical teams continue to search that building. And we're waiting to hear if indeed it gets reopened.

Our Brian Todd on the street just outside of the Rayburn building.

Things have calmed down a lot within the past couple of hours.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Things have calmed down, Kyra. We just got a briefing from the Capitol Hill Police. What they report is that the search is ongoing. My Capitol Hill -- excuse me, my law enforcement source tells me that the search is starting to wind down.

We're going to pan over here and give you a sense of just the response here. These are several police vehicles, emergency response vehicles who are on the scene. There's several more on the other side of the building here.

We are just outside the entrance to the garage where the reports of the shots came. That call came in at 10:30 a.m. this morning, and they deployed several tactical teams to search through the Rayburn building.

This is what Sergeant Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Hill Police Department told us just a few moments ago about the search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. KIMBERLY SCHNEIDER, CAPITOL HILL POLICE: If there is anybody who is in the Rayburn building while the building is on lockdown, as it is as we speak, they are being questioned. They are being interviewed. We're -- this is part of an investigation. This is what we would routinely do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TODD: And we, in fact, just spoke to members of -- two members' offices, staffers of two members' offices, Representative David Obey and Representative Ed Pastor. They are on the third and fourth floors of the Rayburn building. They said that just a short time ago Capitol Hill Police in uniform, armed, came in, asked them if there was anyone in their offices who shouldn't be there, checked the offices, checked IDs, then moved on.

The search is very, very methodical. What we know at this hour, Kyra, no reports of any injuries, no physical evidence of any shooting. Remember, these were just reports of a shooting that came in. No evidence of any shell casings or anything, no tangible suspects at this hour.

We did check on reports a short time ago. Witnesses saying that they might have seen an armed man near the gym of the Rayburn building. We checked that out thoroughly. We were also told by one top law enforcement source to be careful about that information, because what these women may have seen was a plain-clothed police officer.

So that's what we can tell you at this hour -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And also, to clarify one more thing, Brian, we should add that we did see that video of a woman taken out on a stretcher. That woman, we confirmed, is a staffer in Congressman Jack Kingston's office. She appeared to have a panic attack when this all went down. We got the all-clear that she's OK and has been taken to the hospital.

So, Brian, what do you think? Last time we talked to one of the members of Congress, they were told by Capitol Police about two hours more possibly for this search. What are you hearing?

TODD: What we're hearing is that it's -- it may wind down possibly even sooner than that. But again, as we've been reporting all morning, this is a huge building. It's hundreds of rooms.

They have got to search ever floor, every angle, every -- literally go into every door and search. And it takes a long, long time to do that.

Another slight injury that we can report is a police officer that was just taken to an ambulance a short time ago with a turned ankle. So if that is the extent of the injuries today, it is, in fact, pretty good news to report -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Brian Todd, thank you so much.

And as soon as we get word that the Rayburn building is reopened and everyone is able to leave, we will let you know. We're just waiting for those tactical team to finish up the search. So we'll keep you posted as we get that developing news.

Stay tuned to CNN.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Still waiting for the all-clear from the Capitol Police. Right now we're monitoring that tactical search of the Rayburn building after a call came in early this morning. Somebody reporting possibly hearing gunshot fire there near the Rayburn building.

So, of course, it was evacuated immediately. Everyone was told to stay inside their offices and lock up.

Now tactical teams are searching every part of that building. As soon as we get the all-clear, we'll let you know. They've actually been in there for a number of hours, not able to leave. A lot of anxious members of Congress ready to head home for the Memorial Day Weekend.

So we'll keep you posted. We keep -- or we keep following all the developments from the Capitol Police, and we'll bring them to you as we get more information.

Meanwhile, the charges are so serious that the commandant of the Marines has convened. General Michael Hagee has flown to Iraq to remind his troops that lethal force has to be justified, proportional and lawful. The investigation involves two troubling reports of Marines killing Iraqi civilians.

CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre has new developments.

Jamie, we didn't have a lot yesterday, but I understand you've got a lot more details now.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's just an increasing amount of indications that these Marines, particularly in the first incident which happened in Haditha, are going to be facing some serious criminal charges. They are at Camp Pendleton now in California, both -- both from the November incident in Haditha, where it now appears up to 24 civilians were killed by Marines, and then there's a separate incident that happened last month involving just one Iraqi civilian. But this first incident in Haditha has all the earmarks of being a huge black eye for the U.S. military, because the investigation, according to officials at the Pentagon, is not confirming the Marines' initial account and is instead supporting the allegations that many of these civilians, including women and children, may have been killed without provocation -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Jamie, since the commandant of the Marines has headed over there, how -- how will this work? Will he meet with various commanders? Will he meet with the -- all the units that are there? How does it -- how does it go down, and how deep does this investigation go overseas?

MCINTYRE: Well, what you're seeing here is, General Michael Hagee, he's the commandant of the Marine Corps. He's the top Marine. And he took it upon himself, according to Pentagon officials, to get on a plane and fly to Iraq and try to talk one on one personally with the Marines about basically the code of honor, the integrity of being a Marine, the importance of upholding the rule of law, even if you're in the heat of battle and your emotions are in check.

And that is simply an indication of what's going to be coming out in this investigation, which is not going to be a pretty story. And the fact that he went over there to talk with the Marines one on one, he doesn't want any press there with him. He just wants to talk to them as Marine to Marine about, you know, the honor and integrity of Marines during the war. It's just again, another indication.

The other indication is all the information we're getting from people on Capitol Hill who have been briefed by General Hagee and others about what the investigators have found. And they basically told us that there are going to be some Marines facing criminal charges, including murder charges, because of this.

PHILLIPS: Jamie, some critics have come forward and said, look, this is just one more reason troops have to come home, they've been there too long, they're becoming insensitive to the fight over there, and this is what happens. People -- you know, men and women start to fall apart emotionally, psychologically. Of course that's not what the Marine Corps stands for. They're about duty and honor and remaining focused in a mission. But has this come up, has the issue come up to address that they could just -- they've had enough and it's time to rotate?

MCINTYRE: Well, Congressman Murtha used that as an argument, saying that the U.S. military is clearly stretched and strained and under a lot of stress, and that's why things like this happen. Obviously, in war, bad things do happen. But that's what training and integrity and rules are all about. And the U.S. military would reject the idea that there's ever any justification for the wanton murder of civilians no matter what's just happened to you, no matter what kind of pressure you're under.

Even though people might understands in the abstract how somebody might snap, the accounts of this house-to-house search for -- apparently searching for one of the bombers who killed one of their own Marines gives all the impression that it was almost like they were on a -- they were looking for revenge. They were very upset, they were looking for the bombers, and they may not have exercised the kind of -- kind of rules of engagement that they should have.

But again, we just want to say the investigation is not complete. I mean, it has not been released. No charges have been filed yet.

What we're hearing is what the investigators have found. And if these people do face charges, they will be in the military justice system. They'll have to go through preliminary hearings, there'll be evidence provided, there'll be trials. And then that's how they'll decide whether or not they were guilty.

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon.

Thanks, Jamie. He's got the job. Air Force General Michael Hayden confirmed as CIA director by a no-sweat Senate vote of 78-15. It's the first time in 25 years that a military man has been tapped to run the nation's premier spy agency.

Hayden is the former head of the National Security Agency. He succeeds former congressman Peter -- Porter Goss, rather, who leaves the CIA today.

Amid all the drama in Washington today, immigration got shoved to the back burner, but it won't take long to return to a full boil. The Senate passed its reform bill yesterday, 62-36. But 32 Republicans were in that "nay" column.

In the House, you may know Republicans pushed through a bill that's all enforcement and no guest workers, or eventual citizenship. The head of the House Judiciary Committee says the compromise will be very difficult. The White House preference for the Senate bill notwithstanding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: The president dispatched Karl Rove, guru in chief up there, to the Republican conference both this week and last week. And I didn't attend either of those conferences because I didn't want to be accused of putting my colleagues up to asking very pointed questions in a loud voice to the president's chief political adviser.

That's what they did, and they jumped all over Rove. And they said the president is not where the American people are at. The Senate is also not where the American people are at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's not just a matter of language or a matter of approach. The House and Senate versions of immigration reform have a big disconnect when it comes to the bottom line.

CNN's Bill Tucker breaks it down in a report first seen on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When it comes to costs, there's a stark difference between the House version of immigration legislation...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bill is passed without objection.

TUCKER: ... and the Senate version. The House version of immigration legislation is estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to cost roughly $1.9 billion over five years. The money going to purchase equipment to secure our ports, better equip the Border Patrol and hire more Border Patrol agents. The CBO analysis of the Senate bill says the bill will create $54 billion in mandatory spending over 10 years. Why such a stark difference?

DONALD MARRON, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE: Under the Senate bill, there would be additional immigration into the United States, and through various programs, and that over time those people would qualify for various programs, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, various refundable tax credits that, taken together, would be an increase in federal spending.

TUCKER: And that doesn't even begin to account for what happens after the first 10 years when those given amnesty today are eligible for citizenship and bring family into the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And for more reports like those and Lou Dobbs' unique take on immigration reform, tune in to "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" at 6"00 Eastern on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

The defense rests after John Allen Muhammad, who's acting as his own attorney, chooses not to take the stand. Closing arguments are set for this afternoon. Muhammad is accused of killing six people in Maryland during the sniper shootings that terrorized millions of people in 2002. His accomplice, Lee Boyd Malveaux, testified against him.

Both have been convicted of the sniper killing in Virginia.

Vacation plan means budget plan. For more and more Americans, the two are meeting closer to home this Memorial Day Weekend. Making more of your summer with less straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

And we'll take you back to Capitol Hill. Police are finishing up a thorough search of the Rayburn office building after reports of gunfire just a few hours ago. We're going to bring you another Capitol Hill news conference in about a half an hour.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As we wait for the all-clear at the Rayburn building in Washington, D.C., we've got Mike Brooks on the line with us, former police officer there in Washington, D.C., also a law enforcement expert for us.

Mike, you know, for a number of hours we were working this story. Pretty much thought that it wasn't leading to anything significant. And it looks like you're able to confirm a bit of information for us.

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERT: Yes, I am, Kyra.

I've spoken to a number of law enforcement sources, high-ranking officials there on the scene at the U.S. Capitol, and they're going to go ahead and play this out and finish what they've been doing. But it looks like ultimately the source of the -- the source of the noise that people thought were gunshots on the G3 level of the Rayburn building was actually an elevator mechanic working on the elevator there using a pneumatic air hammer.

And people have used a pneumatic air hammer before knows what the noise of that can make, especially on an elevator -- in an elevator shaft in a parking garage. It would sound like gunshots being fired. But it looks like ultimately this is going to be the source of the noise that someone heard they thought was gunshots.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mike. And, of course, CNN is trying to confirm that as you work your sources. We've got a number of people making calls as well.

So -- but, of course, since 9/11 you've got to take these kind of calls seriously because you aren't sure what it is. But this would match up with those inside the Capitol Police operations center telling me that things have been pretty quiet. There were no reports of anybody shot or injured, there were no evacuations of any bodies -- any bodies, which is good news. But they have got to finish that search just to make sure there isn't anybody in that building that could cause a threat to anyone.

BROOKS: That's absolutely right, Kyra. And, you know, there were -- they were going on some reports from witnesses that there possibly was a man with a gun that they saw in the vicinity in the gym at the Rayburn building, but apparently that didn't pan out. They ran that lead to ground and nothing came with that.

But again, they did not want to take any chances. They want to make sure that nothing happened like happened back in 1998, the U.S. Capitol building, when two officers were killed there. But they ultimately believe that the source of the noise sounding like gunshots were elevator mechanics use a pneumatic air hammer on the elevators.

PHILLIPS: All right. Mike Brooks, sure appreciate you working your sources for us. Thanks so much.

BROOKS: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We'll stay on top of it -- yes -- and we'll let everyone know, too, when that Rayburn building -- when that search has finished and everyone is able to leave.

Well, if you're in the market for a new video game console, Nintendo hopes the new pricing plan will makes its new system more attractive. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with that story.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Let me just remind our viewers, we are expecting another news conference from the Hill about 2:45 Eastern Time to find out when the Rayburn building will be reopened and everybody that's been holed up inside while that search is going on. We'll let you know when it's been cleared. Hopefully we'll get more information at 2:45.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: If there is anybody who is in the Rayburn building while the building is on lockdown, as it is as we speak, they are being questioned, they are being interviewed. This is part of an investigation, and this is what we would routinely do.

QUESTION: Did the phone call come from inside the building? A cell phone?

SCHNEIDER: I don't have that information.

QUESTION: What does your search entail (INAUDIBLE)?

SCHNEIDER: Our search entails employing tactical teams. I'm sure you've seen much activity around the Rayburn building. We have several officers who are going floor to floor. We're going to every single door, and we're making contact with anybody who may be inside those office buildings in our attempt to properly identify the folks who are in the building at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we should expect the sergeant there, Kim Schneider, to talk to us again about 2:45 Eastern Time for another news conference to let us know how soon they are from clearing the Rayburn building and reopening it for business, allowing members of Congress and others that have been holed up inside there to be able to leave.

You know that search happened after a call came in early this morning that an individual heard gunshots. That was never confirmed. No one was ever found with a gun, but they are searching that building just to be safe.

Well, it will be a Memorial Day to remember on the nation's highways, if only for the $3 gas.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff reports that some Memorial Day drivers are trying to cope by cutting back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fill-ups are painful for Ingrid Ciaston, who drives one of the biggest SUVs on the road.

INGRID CIASTON, TRAVELER: Sixty-three dollars and one cent.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Wow.

CIASTON: That's a lot, yes. CHERNOFF (voice-over): Enough to squeeze her family's Memorial Day weekend plans. In years past, the Ciastons have driven both their GMC Yukon and Dodge Ram pickup to their summer home on the New Jersey shore. But not this year. Walt Ciaston, who sells insurance part time, says only one of the gas guzzlers will be hitting the road.

WALT CIASTON, TRAVELER: Between the two vehicles, we would use a good tankful a gas for the trip back and forth, which you're talking in the rank of 30 gallons or whatever it is. By using one, we'll cut that in half.

CHERNOFF: Along the nation's highways, many Americans are cutting back this holiday weekend. If not for the size of their vehicle, than with the distance they'll travel.

New Jersey resident Bob Mayfield typically drives to Maine for Memorial Day.

BOB MAYFIELD, TRAVELER: This year, with the gas prices, we're going down to Pennsylvania, just a couple of hours away.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Closer?

MAYFIELD: A lot closer, a lot closer. A lot less gas.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Gas is only one part of a more expensive holiday for those who will be renting vehicles. Rates are up 20 percent from last year. It will be a challenge to save elsewhere. AAA estimates food and lodging up more than five percent, meaning a family of four will spend an average $261 a day for meals and hotel this weekend. That's why the Ciaston family plans to eat at their vacation home, which will help them continue feeding the GMC Yukon.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Florham Park, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, on this Memorial Day Weekend, we remember our fallen heroes.

He was the first National Guard soldier to die in Iraq. Specialist Patrick McCaffrey couldn't stop thinking about the men and women who died on 9/11, so he became a soldier. When McCaffrey came under attack by insurgents, his mother said his first instinct was to shield his fellow soldiers. He did and he died doing it. Today we he remember Specialist Patrick McCaffrey, a fallen hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA MCCAFFREY, PATRICK'S MOTHER: The day he decided to enlist, the day after 9/11, he didn't thought a second that he would be one day deployed to Iraq and end up his life there. Patrick was the first combat death in 58 years, the first soldier of the National Guard to be killed in action in 58 years from California.

He believed in the goodness of his country and his people, and he stood up for that to the moment he was killed. He was attacked by both side of his body, through his vest. And even wounded, he ran to the other soldier to make a shield of himself.

This picture is the one that was taken 40 minutes before his death. And the flowers that he has, that he's holding, were given by the children. He also -- I'll show you after -- took a picture at the same time of a little girl from the humvee was giving him a big flower that he later will have in his hand, holding her little brother. And that's his (INAUDIBLE).

He would say to us -- you know, he called every day and he would say to us children are my highlight. I think the gesture that we did -- not me but the other parents, mothers, to go and meet with other parents and give to the humanitarian aid of $600,000 for the children of Fallujah. This was the most important thing, really. The children didn't start the war.

We all remember the day Patrick left for Iraq, the whole family does. He was a very cheerful person in his life. He had a smile, particularly all the time. He left to the plane, walking to the plane with a big smile on his face, waving at us. That's the way we remember him. The way Patrick came home was in the coffin with a flag on it. And that's the way I want my country to remember Patrick's coming home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A lot of anxious members of Congress and the media and major committees there in the Rayburn building waiting to get the all- clear that they can leave the building after a call came into Capitol police early this morning, about 10:30 Eastern time, that an individual might have heard gunshots. It caused the Capitol police and other tactical teams to respond. They are now finishing up clearing that building, hopefully soon. We'll get the word that everybody will be able to leave, and they'll get the all-clear after a pretty chaotic morning for Capitol Police. So far, though, the good news, no one injured, nobody hurt, and no sign of any gun or gunman or gun woman. We'll keep you posted.

Well, corporate tycoons, now convicted felons. What's next for Enron founder Ken Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling? Their sentencing is set for September 11th, and, of course, that could change depending on motions and appeals. Lay was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from the sudden collapse of his company. Analysts predict that he'll get at least 20 years behind bars. Skilling, found guilty on 19 counts, will probably serve more time. He faces a maximum 185 years.

It's getting crowded in Enron's hall of shame. Here's a CNN "Fact Check."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-one. That's how many Enron executives now have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to crimes. Among those disgraced, former high flyer Andrew Fastow, Enron's former finance chief and architect of intricate schemes that served to hide Enron's financial losses and to enrich some of those at the top. Fastow agreed to plead guilty, serve 10 years in prison and cooperate with the government. Fastow's wife Lea already has served a one-year sentence for tax fraud.

Former Enron trader Ben Glisan was a million dollar winner in Fastow's schemes, and was the first in the case to go to prison, a five-year sentence in return for his guilty plea.

Michael Kopper also pleaded guilty to the Fastow scheme, and still is awaiting sentencing. And executive Larry Lawyer pleaded guilty to filing false tax forms that omitted expensive gifts funneled to him through Copper for aiding one of Fastow's deal.

And, finally, the California connection. Along with Jeffrey Richter, Enron trader Timothy Belden and and John Forney all pleaded guilty to roles in manipulating energy markets during the state's crippling energy crisis in 2000 and 2001.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, we've heard of too short to ride the roller coaster, to short to see over the steering wheel, but too short for the big house? Richard W. Thompson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Nebraska. But instead of ten years behind bars, the judge sentenced Thompson to ten years probation. She reasoned that Thompson, who's only an inch over five feet tall, was too small to survive state prison. The decision was hailed by the National Organization of Short-Statured Adults, but Nebraska's attorney general says anyone convicted of sexually assaulted a child, quote, "deserves to live their life behind bars for a while." He plans to appeal.

Every day in Iraq, there are untold stories of life and death, and this Memorial Day weekend, "CNN Presents" offers a rare glimpse at the medical care our troops are receiving. In this excerpt from "Wounded Warriors" correspondent Alex Quade reports on the battle against time as rescue teams evacuate the wounded. A word of warning: some of the video may be a bit disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fire fights. The car bombs. The improvised explosive devices, or IEDS. The wounding of U.S. troops. So begins their medical journey home.

Amidst the chaos, the pain, Army medics or Navy corpsmen take life-saving action. The fight continues around them. This is the first level of treatment.

They bandage the fallen and carry them out. If the battle is too hot for a Medevac helicopter. It's into vehicles nearby, then on to a fall-back position out of the kill zone.

This is triage, the next level of care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, go.

QUADE: Navy shock and trauma platoon members collect and clear the wounded. The goal? Stabilize the patient and send back to battle, or on to the next level of treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Urgent, urgent, urgent!

QUADE: Urgent means medical evacuation. If the patient can be delivered to a combat field hospital within one hour of being wounded, what's called the golden hour, odds are he'll survive.

In the middle of the Iraqi desert there is no L.Z., no landing zone. A purple smoke grenade guides this helicopter in. The clock is ticking. It's time for the medicine man. Medicine man, that's the call sign for the U.S. Army Medevac Unit, two pilots, a crew chief and a flight medic in each Blackhawk.

C.W.O.2. HARLEY MAST, MEDEVAC PILOT, U.S. ARMY: Guys in the field would get injured during their battles, and their medics on the scene can only treat to a certain extent. Our job is to grab them and pick them up and bring them to a hospital.

QUADE: They get the call on the radio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can you do that, pick those guys up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can do that.

QUADE: Fire up the bird. The clock is still ticking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We fly at a pretty high speed with patients.

QUADE: Care begins in flight. They're brought to the CSH, Combat Support Hospital, or to a forward surgical team and turned over to the surgeons. Medevac crews do this all day, all night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: This weekend "CNN PRESENTS" travels with injured troops in Iraq on the journey from the frontlines to their homes. A personal look at the fallen soldiers, the medics who save them, and how battle injuries dramatically change their lives. "WOUNDED WARRIORS" airs Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

And police are wrapping up their search of the Rayburn Office Building after reporting the gunfire there just a few hours ago. We're going to bring you another Capitol Hill news conference in just a few minutes. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After a four-and-a-half year investigation, Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy and fraud in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. You can get the details at CNNMONEY.com.

Houston-based Enron was once a Wall Street darling. The company collapsed in 2001, shortly after Skilling abruptly resigned as CEO. Prosecutors said Lay and Skilling orchestrated a conspiracy to artificially inflate profits and hide millions in losses. Thousands of employees lost their jobs and life savings while investors lost billions.

Check out this gallery to read more about those involved in the scandal and trial, including former Enron employee Sherron Watkins, the whistleblower who said she warned lay about Enron's shaky accounting in an anonymous memo. Legal experts say both Lay and Skilling could face 20 to 30 years in prison.

Find more at CNNMONEY.com/enron. For the .com desk, I'm Veronica de la Cruz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we are being told now that there will no longer be a news conference there at the Capitol. It has been postponed indefinitely. So what we can tell you is there was a call that came through about 10:30 this morning. Someone apparently said they heard gunshots.

They evacuated the Rayburn building where apparently this person heard the gunshots. That was never confirmed. Capitol Police responded. Never found any evidence of that, but they are finishing up the search there at the Rayburn building where members of Congress and members of the media and other committee members have had to stay inside until that building has been cleared.

Hopefully it will clear out soon, but it looks like it was a false alarm to this point, and everything's going to turn out OK. We'll let you know once they open up the building for sure.

Let's get to Tony Harris working another developing story for us now in the news room. Hey, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kyra.

An interesting side note to all that you were just talking about, to all of the activity at the U.S. Capitol in Washington this morning. While the House office buildings were fully involved, you'll recall the Senate office building was pretty much unaffected.

Now, in one of the those offices there was a meeting today between Senate Majority Leader Frist and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Wonder what that was all about?

Let's check in now with our very busy congressional correspondent Dana Bash who broke the story of the U.S. Capitol shutdown this morning. Dana joins us on the phone now with details of this meeting between the majority leader and Attorney General Gonzales.

Dana, what can you tell us? DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.

Well, just for fairness, I just want to point out that it was our congressional producer, Deidre Walsh, who was in the Rayburn building who called in that they got reports of somebody hearing gunfire.

HARRIS: Very good.

BASH: But just to give you an update on what you were just talking about, it was actually in the Capitol itself, as you said. While the focus certainly was very much elsewhere, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was here in the Capitol where the Senate majority leader has his office.

And the two were meeting about the other huge issue that's been going on, of course, here in the Capitol and across Pennsylvania Avenue, which is the weekend raid by the FBI of a lawmaker's office which, of course, has resulted in President Bush intervening and agreeing to seal documents taken, because lawmakers have been very upset -- lawmakers led by the House speaker, actually very upset because they believe that the FBI crossed a constitutional line by conducting that first-ever raid on the lawmaker's office.

So the attorney general, we're told by a senior aide to Senator Frist, was here to make sure that he understood -- that the senator understood the position of the FBI. And this aide says why -- make sure that he understood why they did what they did, why they conducted this raid and to make sure that he has all the facts.

Now, Senator Frist has made his concerns clear publicly from the start about this raid, but it actually, of course, has been the House speaker who has been really out front on this issue. He, actually, is not here in town. He's back in his home state of Illinois, we're told.

He did not meet with the attorney general today, but certainly he has been and certainly his staff has been in close contact with the administration. We know that the speaker complained first to the president himself about this issue.

HARRIS: So Dana, it sounds like an informational meeting, kind of a clearing of the air kind of meeting. It doesn't sound like there was much of a discussion of whether or not papers would be returned.

BASH: Well, you know, I'm not sure about that. They met for about 45 minutes to an hour. I talked to the attorney general on the way out. he was very tight-lipped. All he would say was that it was a good meeting.

So, look, they have got 45 days for these documents to be sealed, according to the president's order, and then they have got to figure out what to do with it. It's unclear whether they started negotiating on that. Senator Frist probably wouldn't be the lead person on that. It would likely be the house speaker on that.

But my understanding in speaking to a senior Frist aid was that he was mostly informative, trying to explain why the FBI decided to take the unprecedented route of actually searching, raiding a sitting lawmaker's congressional office.

HARRIS: Yes, congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. And of course we'll continue to follow this for you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Tony, thanks so much.

Well, if you want to skirt airport security, you may just need the right outfit. CNN affiliate WOAI in San Antonio, Texas, discovered that hundreds of TSA employees have lost their uniforms and/or badges, meaning that somebody somewhere may be pretending to be somebody they're not and doing things they shouldn't be doing.

Ryan Collister investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN COLLISTER, WOAI CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You may remember Debra Sander. She made national news just a few weeks ago after she found this TSA screener's shirt in her luggage. She had just gotten off a flight in Tampa, Florida, to Newark, New Jersey.

DEBRA SANDER, FOUND TSA SHIRT IN LUGGAGE: My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what was on it. There were patches for homeland security, tags, TSA all over it and then the name tag with the number.

COLLISTER: A traumatic experience for Sander, who lost loved ones in the September 11th attacks. The Transportation Security Administration says a screener took off his shirt in a hot bag room, and it fell off a hook into the luggage while he was inspecting it.

But this is not the first time TSA screeners have lost part of their uniform. News headlines like these caught the troubleshooter's attention more than a year and a half, badges, uniforms missing and stolen across the country.

So since that time, we've been battling with the TSA, using the Freedom of Information Act. We finally got these internal records just a few weeks ago. They show that TSA employees have lost more than 1,400 I.D. badges and uniform items like shirts and patches since 2003.

And that is not everything. TSA is still withholding much of the information. The records are full of examples. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, a homeland security patch is missing from a shirt after it comes back from a dry cleaner. In Fort Lauderdale, three sets of uniforms lost or stolen out of luggage left in a hotel baggage room.

Here in San Antonio, six TSA uniform shirts are stolen out of this apartment laundry room. Another San Antonio employee's I.D. badges are stolen when someone breaks into her car and takes her purse.

The airports missing the most I.D. badges include O'Hare in Chicago with 115, and topping the list is Los Angeles Airport with 120 missing. Here in Texas, DFW is missing 42, Busch and Houston 18, Hobby 10, San Antonio, 7.

SAUL WILEN, TERRORISM PREVENTION EXPERT: You have a very serious problem.

COLLISTER: Saul Wilen is a nationally known expert in terrorism prevention.

(on-camera): Is this a threat to our homeland security?

WILEN: No question. If you have a badge and a uniform, you are invincible in terms of the system. Not only can you get in and get around, you can become known and become a regular that becomes more and more recognized. So that the next time you're less liable to have to go through the system's security. And the next time, even less.

COLLISTER: The Department of Homeland Security thinks missing badges and uniforms are a big deal too. In just the last few years they've issued several warnings to local, state and federal agencies to guard theirs, pointing out that terrorists have used these items to pull off attacks overseas.

(voice over): But when we asked the TSA just this week about their own missing badges and uniforms, the TSA told us it is not a security risk. TSA refused our request for an on-camera interview, but said this in a written statement, "Transportation security officers, regardless of credentials or uniforms, are screened each time they enter the checkpoint. Badges and uniforms used individually or collectively would not allow access to a person with ill intent."

Then why is this TSA employee not going through the security checkpoint? Just last week, we caught him on our undercover camera going around security, by simply flashing his badge and going in through the exit. And he's not the only one.

We watched time and time again as TSA employees skirted the security screening, using only their uniform and badges. TSA refused to watch our undercover video, but they now tell us these are screeners who went through security at the beginning of their shift or supervisors who are allowed to avoid screening.

Saul Wilen says he's witnessed the same thing at JFK Airport in New York back in 2004.

WILEN: All of a sudden, three people walked around security and in. All of them had badges, but they certainly did not go through security.

REP. LAMAR SMITH, TEXAS: And all of that is a clear and present danger to homeland security.

COLLISTER: Texas Congressman Lamar Smith sits on the House committee on Homeland Security.

SMITH: We are dealing with people -- criminals who are smart people who will go to great lengths to try to take advantage or any loopholes in our security. COLLISTER: Smith has introduced legislation, he says will help better protect TSA badges and uniforms. And he wants airports to start issuing heavy fines. TSA is not saying if it has fined or fired any employees who have lost these items.

SMITH: When we start imposing fines and hold people accountable for their identification, I promise you, fewer will go missing, fewer will be left in unlocked cars to be stolen. And I think that will help our homeland security as well.

COLLISTER: TSA insists there have not been any breaches of security that it knows about. But experts say you don't want to wait for it to happen. So what is happening to these? Wilen thinks terrorists may be behind some of the disappearing items.

WILEN: There is no disagreement at this point, that there are sleeper terrorists in the United States. Well, if we believe that, we have to believe they are doing something with their time.

COLLISTER (on-camera): TSA employees are also issued a badge by each airport where they work. That badge gets them into locked areas of the airport. TSA tells us they don't know how many of those badges are missing or stolen.

Brian Collister in San Antonio for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And you can stay with CNN day and night for the latest news about your security.

On the next hour of LIVE FROM, the scare on Capitol Hill. It is winding down now. But several lawmakers were stuck in their offices while police sorted everything out. I am going to speak with one of them about the tense moments. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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