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Troops to Be Charged with Iraqi Man's Murder; Colorado Governor to Pass Fire Restrictions; Firefighters Battle Arizona Blaze; Jeffrey Skilling's Lawyer Asked Judge to Overturn Conviction

Aired June 21, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Seven Marines, a Navy corpsman facing murder charges after one man's death in Iraq. New developments straight ahead.

Prison corruption, sex, drugs and a gunfight. It's a gruesome scene made for a movie. We have the breaking real-life details.

And wicked wind and sweltering heat fan the flames out west. CNN is live as firefighters battle the elements to save homes. LIVE FROM begins right now.

Not an act of war, but allegedly an act of murder. CNN has learned several U.S. Troops will face charges in the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian in April. A news conference is scheduled at Camp Pendleton, California, in about three hours. In the meantime, let's get the latest from our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this news now breaking throughout the Pentagon as the Marines announce they will be holding that press conference within a few hours out in Camp Pendleton, California. It was expected that they will announce charges against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman in regards with the death of an Iraqi man last April a few months ago, when it is going to be alleged that the Marines murdered this man.

We are told by sources the charges to be filed will include murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and larceny. These troops, the seven Marines and the Navy corpsman, have been held at Camp Pendleton and now the press conference is expected to announce charges against all of them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: As we monitor that and wait for more details, Barbara, let's talk about the two U.S. soldiers found dead after the terrorists got to them in Iraq. Do we know anything more about when exactly their bodies will arrive here to the U.S.?

STARR: You know, there's been a bit of confusion about that throughout the day. Because tragically, of course, Dover Air Force base in Delaware, which receives the remains of those fallen on the battlefield, has numerous flights a day sometimes. There are two flights today. And in fact, it will be a flight later this evening when the remains of Private First Class Kristian Menchaca and Private First Class Thomas Tucker are expected to be returned to Dover Air Force Base for a forensic examination and then, of course, as soon as that is done, their remains will be returned to their families, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Finally, with the ongoing talk about when troops will be able to come home, there is now new word out that troops are being deployed, once again, to Iraq.

STARR: Right, let's explain that a bit. There was an announcement last night by the Pentagon. Twenty-one-thousand troops or so now scheduled for a rotation to Iraq beginning later this year. That is a relatively routine announcement. They get the units lined up, ready to go in case they need them.

General George Casey is in town this week, here at the Pentagon, having a series of meetings on what the actual troop number levels will be by the end of the year. He is beginning to formulate those recommendations.

But in order to keep the lineup there, in order to have troops ready to go if they are needed, the announcement will include a number of units from the 1st Cavalry Division in Texas. And then additionally we have been told a number of additional units, including the 3rd Corps in Texas, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and infantry units from both Alaska and Colorado -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thanks, Barbara.

It's been a long and anxious wait at Camp Pendleton leading up to this very moment. Our Kareen Wynter is just outside the base with more on this investigation -- Kareen.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Kyra, before that 4 p.m. Eastern scheduled news conference, the media here at Camp Pendleton, they've been invited to sit in on a briefing that will include details on the military's justice system. That will happen in a little under an hour from now.

But I can tell you, Kyra, the community is anxiously awaiting official word on what charges this will involve. Over the past several weekends, we've seen very passionate protests, Kyra, outside the gates here at Camp Pendleton. People carrying signs, shouting messages in support, in defense of their servicemen. The eight members here being held inside the brig. Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman.

People were out here this last weekend, speaking out against the conditions that they call inhumane and harsh, referring to the shackles that these men were being forced to wear.

Now, that was loosened on Friday, so to speak, when the military released a statement saying that they're lowering the level of restraints. Before these eight servicemen had to be shackled, wearing leg cuffs and handcuffs whenever they left their cells. Those have been removed. But we still heard an outcry here from the public, saying that they were not being treated fairly. Also, today's newspaper, the headlines, talk about just the support, Kyra, coming in from all over the country, people sending messages, people sending money to help with the legal defense. Some of those servicemen have retained private attorneys, and so they're helping to assist on that end.

But again, we're awaiting word here on what charges that will include, whether all eight will be charged with the same charges CNN has learned, which include, once again, kidnapping, murder, conspiracy, larceny, and making false statements -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kareen Wynter, thank you so much.

And as Kareen mentioned, we expect a news conference this afternoon from Camp Pendleton regarding the April 26 incident at Hamdaniya and more on the charges against those U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman. CNN will bring it to you live, 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific.

Shocking news for the families of two U.S. soldiers two years after they were shot to death in Iraq. In a report released today, the military says the two were murdered by Iraqi civil defense officers who were patrolling alongside them at the time. Initially, the deaths of Patrick McCaffrey and Andre Tyson, both from the California National Guard, were blamed on an ambush. No word on motive or whether any suspects have been arrested.

A federal prison guard is dead. A federal agent is dead. And it all happened after a shootout at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Federal agents showed up this morning to arrest six guards named in an alleged sex for contraband ring involving women inmates. We're told one of the suspects opened fire before being shot dead himself. Besides the dead agent, a prison official was hurt. No inmates were involved in any of it.

We're going to stay on that story. Law enforcement expert Mike Brooks talking with his sources. He's going to join me straight ahead.

Well, reinforcements have arrived in southern Colorado. Firefighters from five states and Colorado's governor, bringing $3 million in state money. Reporter Tyler Lopez of CNN affiliate KMGH joins me now from the front lines in Fort Garland.

What do you know, Tyler?

TYLER LOPEZ, KMGH REPORTER: Kyra, this fire's now 30 percent contained. And that's going to protect a lot of the homes that have been threatened for four days now.

But the real concern here is that this fire season is shaping up to be very, very similar to what we saw four years ago in 2002. The largest wildest wildfire in state history is what we saw then, chewing some 250,000 acres.

Now, the real concern is this is the longest day of the year, the first day of the season, the summer, and already our governor has been to this scene, the Mato Vega fire, to survey it for himself. And he's already tapping state funds to pay for fighting these dangerous blazes, all this taking place in just the third week of June.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOPEZ (voice-over): Governor Owens arrived at Sierra Grande High School in Fort Garland around 9, getting a brief tour of the incident command post and a short briefing on equipment.

GOV. BILL OWENS (R), COLORADO: We have tankers. We have helicopters, we have fire trucks all over the state. And at this point, I think we have enough equipment. I've been briefed by the fire professionals. They had a good night last night.

LOPEZ: The Mato Vega fire is now 30 percent contained. Firefighters hope shifting winds will prevent widespread torching of pine trees, as we saw yesterday.

Owens went on his own ground tour of the fire line. Later today, he will authorize using $3 million from the state's Tabor Reserves (ph) to battle early season wildfires. He's also looking ahead to the fourth of July.

OWENS: I'm going to be signing an executive order. And we're going to be doing that later today, banning open fires on state lands.

LOPEZ: More than anything, Governor Owens wants to remind everyone to be aware that this fire season has already claimed more acres than the entire 2005 campaign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOPEZ: Now that burn ban will apply to state lands, except for designated camp rings within state parks. He'll also sign a declaration banning fireworks on state lands and send a letter to all the counties across the state asking them, too, to ban fireworks this year. That's the level of concern we're dealing with.

This fire has chewed up some 9,000 acres right now. But it's very likely to increase as we expect winds to shift in the afternoon. And that's generally when these wildfires start to run.

That's the latest live in Fort Garland. I'm Tyler Lopez. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Tyler.

Well, the fire lines are getting longer in Sedona, Arizona, where a four-day-old wildfire has chased people out of their homes as it races down Oak Creek Canyon. So far, no homes have burned, but the fire is still far from contained.

Reporter Tammy Leitner of CNN affiliate KPHO is on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From a suppression standpoint, I don't think the fire went as well as we would have liked.

TAMMY LEITNER, KPHO REPORTER: The Brins fire burned up hundreds of acres, getting dangerously close to houses.

CHIEF MATT SHOBERT, SEDONA FIRE DEPARTMENT: The fire just behaved badly. And as a result, for safety reasons, we de-energize the power lines that run through Oak Creek Canyon.

LEITNER: News Hawk 5 was the only news helicopter allowed into the canyon. You can see the fire has worked its way down into the canyon in at least three spots.

From this view, the fire appears to be within just a few hundred yards of the homes in Indian Wells.

PAUL BROYLES, FIRE INCIDENT COMMANDER: It's into Sterling Canyon. The prediction is that it will probably keep eating its way slowly northward unless we can pull our priorities with our aircraft, primarily helicopters, to keep that growth from happening.

LEITNER: Their biggest fear, this fire will not stop before hitting Flagstaff.

BROYLES: Obviously with the winds and terrain there going up Oak Creek Canyon, we could have this fire go -- could have that fire go all the way to the Flagstaff area. So we don't want to have that to happen.

In Sedona, Tammy Leitner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to Fredricka Whitfield. She's working a developing story for us out of the newsroom -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, just one month after being convicted of corruption as Enron president, Jeffrey Skilling is now asking a judge to overturn the verdict and schedule a new trial, claiming in a seven-page motion Skilling, through his attorney, is saying the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for conspiracy and securities fraud, just to name a few.

Meantime, sentencing for Skilling and Enron founder Ken Lay is scheduled for October 23. You'll recall both of them were in court together, through that lengthy trial, both being convicted for 19 counts of securities and conspiracy and corruption leading to the fall of Enron -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Fred, thanks.

Straight ahead, recipe for a miracle? Well, researchers use stem cells to make a critical connection and put mobility back in a paralyzed -- into paralyzed mice, rather. Could it also reach for humans with spinal cord damage? LIVE FROM talks to the neurologist who led that study right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Want to get back now to that prison shootout in Tallahassee, Florida. A federal agent and a prison guard who reportedly was about to be arrested are dead. Let's get the latest now from Tallahassee. The FBI is holding a news conference. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... charging six correctional officers employed at the federal correctional institution in Tallahassee with conspiracy to violate federal law, specifically with engaging in conspiracy to commit acts of bribery, witness tampering, mail fraud and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering.

And, more specifically, actually what this involves is the defendants using their official positions to obtain money from inmates in exchange for introducing contraband into the prison.

Approximately 7:42 this morning, during the arrest, shots were fired. Three individuals were shot. Two of those individuals were fatally wounded. One of those was a federal law enforcement officer. One of those was one of the arrestees. The third individual that was shot was taken to the hospital where his wound is being treated as we speak.

This investigation was a joint investigation between the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, office of inspector general, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: FBI there, in Tallahassee, talking about the story that happened, we got word of today, this shootout in a prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Actually, it's detention center.

Mike Brooks, former law enforcement, he's one of our analysts.

I mean, it sounds like a movie -- it's a like a movie script, you know. The male guards, the female prisoners, and this bribery and corruption that was going on. Have you ever seen anything this bizarre? I mean, we now and then...

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Now and then we hear things.

PHILLIPS: Right.

BROOKS: But not in the recent future have I heard anything at all like this.

And you know, usually, the Bureau of Prisons, they clean up their own, you know. They police their own. They do a good job of that. But apparently, they were tipped off by some other inmates about this, and that's when they started the investigation. It's been going on for some time, and culminating yesterday with indictments of the six. Then they went to serve the arrest warrants today, and it was arrest warrant gone bad.

PHILLIPS: But those guards aren't supposed to have guns, right?

BROOKS: No. And this, in fact, the guard who had the gun, the officer who had the gun, it was his own personal weapon. It wasn't the Bureau of Prisons weapon. This was his own weapon. How he got that into the prison, that remains to be seen. That's what they're being looking right now, as part of the post-shooting investigation into this.

And the plan was wrong, too, Kyra, you know. I've talked to other federal law enforcement officers this morning about this, and we all said, you know, it should have been done a little bit differently. It was a plan. They thought they would go in, there would be no weapons, everything would be safe, but it turned out not.

PHILLIPS: So let me read -- I was reading part of the case here. And it said that besides using contraband to bribe inmates to keep quiet, the six were accused of threatening to plant contraband in these female prison -- these females that were in prison, right, their belongings, to plant it in their belongings and have them shipped to another facility farther from their friends and families if they reported the illegal activity.

So at first we thought, OK, the females and the guards had something going on, but they might have all been forced to do this.

BROOKS: Exactly. And this is a whole part of the conspiracy that we just heard about just in that short little presser that they were charged with. And I mean, it's a racketeering charge. And that's -- these are some serious charges against these -- against these six.

And -- but the question remains, why did this guy have a gun inside the prison? Did he know something was going to happen? Who knows? That's what is all part of the investigation right now, still in the early stages of the post -- post-shooting investigation. But still, Kyra, it's just -- the plan was just bad.

PHILLIPS: Well, what kind of checks and balances are these guards held to? Are they reviewed? Do fellow workers write -- you know, give them written reviews? I mean, how -- how do you know if they're on the straight and narrow, I guess?

BROOKS: Sure. There's cameras inside the prison. There's -- you know, they go through evaluations just like everyone else does, the Bureau of Prisons. They go through training down at the federal law enforcement training center, just like all the federal law enforcement officers do. And then they're assigned there. They're federal officers. You know, so they go through background checks and everything else.

But sometimes you get some bad apples in the bunch, and this is definitely six bad apples.

PHILLIPS: Now these female inmates, they were in a low security center. Now what does that mean that there they're petty crimes that they're in there for? Or...

BROOKS: It can be a number of different things, anywhere from drug charges, all the way to white collar crime. Probably if you're a murderer, you're not going to be in a low facility like this, a low security facility.

And there was actually, as part of a large correctional institution. And the women's facility is right next to the men's. So they're not in the same building. It's actually two separate buildings. But these correctional officers from the Bureau of Prisons, they work between the two.

And they were also making their schedules, you know, so they would be there at certain times. And just -- you know, wreaking havoc with these women in the prisons.

PHILLIPS: And we're told the guards were switching schedules...

BROOKS: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: So they could be, I guess, close to these women at certain times when there weren't a lot of people that were around. I mean, this is a well thought-out operation among these guards.

BROOKS: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: And when you think of the amount of guards in there, six out of how many? I mean, are these all the guards in a facility like this or is this just a small percentage of the number of guards?

BROOKS: I'd say they're a very small percentage in as large correctional facility like this. The exact number of inmates, I think it's at least 1,500 within the two buildings. So you're going to have a large number of correctional officers from the Bureau of Prisons assigned to them. But this is a very small percentage.

And you know, it's a shame that this plan that they had -- could they have taken them down to the parking lot? Could they have some place where there's a little bit of buffer zone, a little room to work with, if you will when they do -- if something did go wrong, like what went wrong here?

But again, how did that weapon get inside that prison?

PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, I'm assuming it's up to the governor to check -- check out the operations within this prison? I mean, what's next with regards to...

BROOKS: This is federal. This is federal.

PHILLIPS: This is -- OK, all right.

BROOKS: Yes, this is not from the state. So this is a federal facility. So it's going to be up to the Department of Justice...

PHILLIPS: To clean it up.

BROOKS: Exactly. And that's why they were there. You had the FBI, Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice, office of inspector general. In fact, it was an agent from the office of inspector general who was killed.

PHILLIPS: So they're on it. All right. Mike Brooks, thanks so much.

BROOKS: Good to be with you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, recipe for a miracle? Researcher use stem cells to make a critical connection. LIVE FROM talks to the neurologist who led that amazing study right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, another security breakdown could be putting consumers' personal information in harm's way. Stephanie Elam joins me now from the New York Stock Exchange with more on that story.

Hey, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, that's right. And this time, we're talking about Visa, the top U.S. credit card issuer. They're admitting a security breach at a third party ATM. And this may have actually exposed the data of some of its debit cardholders.

This particular lapse dates back to February when Visa began notifying banks of a security problem affecting a company it contracts out to. That firm processes ATM transactions.

Now this admission comes in response to media inquiries, which were prompted by Wachovia Bank's decision to replace some customers' debit cards. So obviously, it was a little bit of an uncomfortable situation, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the millions of debit cards that bear the Visa name. How many people could be affected by this?

ELAM: Well, that's the thing, Visa's not saying just how many cardholders could be at risk. In fact, it's keeping relatively quiet about the whole incident.

The company did, however, say it has alerted the banks whose customers were involved, but it's leaving it up to the banks to then decide whether cards should be reissued or not.

And this is just the latest in a long line of security lapses among businesses, as well as other institutions. Just yesterday, you'll recall, credit bureau Equifax reported a laptop with the names and Social Security numbers of 2,500 employees was stolen. So obviously breaches all around the place, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Stef, well, how are the markets doing today?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Stay the course in Iraq or bring troops home? The debate right now is taking place on the Hill. We just heard from Senator McCain. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We must stay in Iraq until the government there is fully functioning, security forces that can keep the insurgents at bay and ultimately defeat them.

Some argue that it is our very presence in Iraq that has created the insurgency and that, if we end the occupation, we end the insurgency. But in fact, by ending military operations, we are likely to empower the insurgency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We'll continue to follow the debate, and as we hear from Democrats, we'll bring that to you, as well.

Kidnappings, bombings, bullet-riddled bodies. If today is any indication, those 21,000 new troops Barbara Starr told us about will see action in Iraq. Well, CNN's Arwa Damon has more from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The defense attorney for both Saddam Hussein and his half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti was kidnapped and assassinated in Baghdad early Wednesday morning, according to the Iraqi emergency police and Dr. Najib al-Nurani (ph), another member of Saddam Hussein's defense team.

Individuals dressed in Iraqi police uniforms showed up at Khamis al-Obeidi's home at about 7 a.m. in the morning, saying that they wanted to take him to the Ministry of Interior for some meetings. His wife asked them for identification, which they presented. Al-Ubadydi left with them. His body turned up an hour later riddled with bullet holes.

Now Dr. Najib Al-Nouemi says that he believes that this assassination was intended to send a message to the entire defense team not to show up for court on July 10th, where the defense is expected to make their closing arguments.

He also said that the defense has long been asking for security, has been very, very concerned about the security situation in Iraq. He said he actually spoke with Khamees al-Ubaidi on Monday after the court session ended that day, which they discussed security. Nouemi asked Ubaidi if he wanted to leave Iraq, at least to take a vacation. Al-Ubaidi responding that he had closed his office due to security concerns, but that he felt safe enough at home. And 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, a mass kidnapping. At least 50 employees that work in a construction complex that falls under Iraq's ministry of industry were kidnapped as they were leaving work today at 3:00 p.m. They left work in five buses. We are told by Iraqi police that armed gunmen stormed these buses and took employees to unknown location. The motive behind this kidnapping is still unclear. And in northern Iraq, in Mosul, Iraqi police found 16 bodies strewn throughout that city.

Arwa Damon, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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