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New Jersey Progress?; North Korea Threat; Discharged From Duty

Aired July 06, 2006 - 13:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We're tracking new developments out of New Jersey. There's some hopeful news at this hour.
We're getting reports that lawmakers may be nearing an agreement that could end the dispute that shut down many state services.

CNN's Mary Snow has the latest from Trenton -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, certainly the mood here at the state Capitol has changed. This is a flurry of meetings.

We spoke with Assemblyman Neil Cohen (ph) earlier today, the deputy speaker in the assembly. He's predicted -- he told me that the legislators could have an agreement today. And certainly, there's a lot of anticipation.

You may see behind me. There had been a rally here earlier today. These are state workers who have been furloughed as part of this government shutdown.

A couple of hundred people came out today, putting pressure on lawmakers to try to reach some kind of budget deal in the sixth day of a shutdown. And that pressure has also been mounting since yesterday. The state's 12 casinos were forced to shut down, and they are really cash cows for the state, generating at least $1.2 million in tax revenue at the -- on a conservative estimate to the state.

Governor Corzine this morning addressed lawmakers, urging them to pass a deal. And at one point, in a pretty impassioned plea, asked them to do it today and actually got a standing ovation. That was the one thing that the lawmakers here could agree on, that they wanted something done today.

So, we're waiting outside the state Capitol. There are a number of reporters and cameras staked outside the governor's office. We have not heard word from the governor's office about any potential timeline, but certainly a lot of optimism that perhaps lawmakers could be reaching a budget deal.

WHITFIELD: And so, Mary, when we talk about a possible compromise that's in the making, really at issue here was, what, a $4.5 billion budget gap? And the governor had said he wanted to raise the sales tax, but clearly a good part of the legislature had disagreed with that?

SNOW: Absolutely. And that was really the sticking point. And what we've heard from a number of lawmakers today is that there has been some plan that is in the works, that is being talked about that would include property tax relief. Perhaps with that sales tax increase.

What the governor has been proposing is a sales tax increase from 6 to 7 percent. It's essentially a penny on the dollar. And that's really where the stalemate began and led to this government shutdown, because assembly Democrats did not see eye to eye with him on that point.

Now, the next thing, of course, means, what happens to all the people who were affected, 45,000 state workers who were furloughed? Of course, we saw those casinos yesterday that were shut down. We were told yesterday that crews were standing by. If they get word that there is a budget deal and the shutdown can be lifted, they can get back into operation within, they hope, a couple of hours.

So, a lot of anticipation, a lot of people waiting on word for this.

WHITFIELD: And I have a feeling a lot of the state employees behind you there are hoping that maybe they'll get some compensation, you know, in the days lost at work. But we'll find out soon.

All right. Mary Snow, thanks so much.

Almost two days since North Korea's missile test, and still more fallout. If Pyongyang was angling for the world's attention, it got it.

Here's what we know.

The U.N. Security Council, by a lopsided majority, votes to prepare a resolution condemning North Korea. Also at the U.N., talk of sanctions.

President Bush speaks by phone with the presidents of China and Russia, both of whom are against cutting off money and aid to North Korea. They both have veto power on the Security Council.

And still, more possible test launches? North Korea's foreign ministry reserves the right to test weapons without asking anyone's permission.

United we stand, says President Bush. If you've been watching CNN, you heard Mr. Bush field reporters' questions for almost an hour alongside the visiting prime minister of Canada. Here's his view of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're dealing with a person who was asked not to fire a rocket by the Chinese, the South Koreans, the United States, the Japanese, and the Russians. And he fired seven of them, which then caused the secretary of state and myself to get on the phone with our partners and reminded them that -- of the importance of speaking with one voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And this word just in to CNN. The president will hold a news conference during a trip to Chicago tomorrow. That happens at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We'll bring that to you live right here on CNN.

China and Russia, check. South Korea and Japan, check. President Bush marshals his forces in a push for six-party talks with North Korea.

CNN's Richard Roth is at the United Nations with more on the bringing of the rogue state to the negotiating table.

And chances have been slim on that, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Of course, it's not going to happen here, if it has happened. In the past, it's been in the Far East, the so-called six-party talks.

John Bolton, President bush's ambassador here at the U.N., says there's been good progress on a resolution that behind the scenes has been worked on. Not enough good progress to match what some of our wording has said on the screen in the last few hours.

There has not really been an official vote on this resolution yet. John Bolton has put it out there that, on a 13-2 basis, the United States has enough support for a resolution. However, those two are China and Russia, countries with veto power.

So this resolution is stuck at the moment, because it includes a clause on sanctions. John Bolton wants Moscow and Beijing to step up to support this resolution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I think there are countries that have leverage over North Korea. And I think those countries bear the responsibility for trying to use that to bring the North Koreans back into compliance with their own stated policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Russia and China think that a measure with sanctions in it just exacerbates tensions on the region, that diplomacy should be allowed to continue. President Bush saying that today, that he's all for diplomacy, phone calls to the leaders in the region.

So I think you're going to see what happened with Iran here, Fredricka, a continued path of discussion, compromise, maybe, on some aspects of the resolution, but some sort of statement or product of condemnation of North Korea's missile launches from the United Nations Security Council.

WHITFIELD: In the end it could be a long haul. Richard Roth, thanks so much, at the U.N.

He is discharged from duty, and now 21-year-old Steven Green is being transferred from North Carolina to Kentucky. He's the former Army private accused of raping and killing an Iraqi woman and killing three members of her family. The attacks happened in March, and Green was discharged honorably in May.

For more on that, let's join our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

So, Jamie, a few questions. Why Kentucky? And we know that he was honorably discharged, but that was before the Army knew about these charges, right?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka.

As for why Kentucky, it appears to have something to do with the fact that he served in the military with the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It's not clear at this point which court is going to have jurisdiction, although Army officials are indicating that it's unlikely he would be called back to active duty to be court-martialed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Instead, because of his status, having been discharged from the Army, he may face charges in federal court, murder charges and rape charges, by the way, that carry a potential death penalty.

As for why he was discharged before -- after this alleged crime took place? Well, the Army said it knew nothing about what had allegedly happened at Mahmoudiya, where a woman was raped and her family killed, until several soldiers from the unit came forward and told the story.

They say very quickly after that, they began to investigate the incident. That resulted in these charges.

Meanwhile, Private Green had been discharged for a personality disorder. That can be anything from just having trouble with authority, to having violent outbursts of temper, to other antisocial behavior.

The Army regulations essentially say that if the personality disorder is so severe that the soldier's ability to function effectively in the military environment is impaired, then he may be let go. And that appears to be what happened in this case. And, of course, it was then a month later they became aware of the allegations and these very serious charges were brought against private -- ex- private Green -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Jamie, the investigation continues into other soldiers allegedly involved.

Where is that investigation? Because they are still active duty, right?

MCINTYRE: Right. And they are in Iraq, and they would be subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

No one else has been charged in this case. And, in fact, a lot of the information that led to these charges came from some of those soldiers.

So, one of the things investigators want to do, actually, is hear Steven Green's side of the story, because they haven't heard that so far. They've only heard others talk about what they saw and what they believe happened, which resulted, again, in these very serious charges.

So one of the things they want to do is hear from former private Green, and as they continue to decide whether there should be any charges brought against any of the other soldiers who might have been involved in this incident.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jamie McIntyre, at the Pentagon.

Thank you.

Inside the minds of two young killers, 936 pages of evidence. What do they reveal about the teens who carried out the Columbine massacre? New details today from Colorado, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's a chilling look at an American tragedy. Officials today released 930 pages of documents taken from the homes and cars of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the two Colorado teenagers responsible for the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities here in Colorado have now released nearly a thousand pages of diary entries and other writings by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two teenage gunmen responsible for the Columbine High School massacre which ended in the deaths of 12 students and a teacher.

We are still going through these writings, but many of the people who have seen them say they are disturbing and show two troubled teenagers. But it also shows that these two young men went through a great deal of planning in planning out this attack.

In the writings we have seen so far, they talk about having the proper gear list. They talk about the equipment that they've purchased. And six months before the attack, Eric Harris wrote in a journal that there were only a hundred people in the entire school that he would like to see survive his attack. And at one point he wrote, "God, I want to torch and level everything in the whole area, but bombs that size are hard to make."

These documents were released because of a lawsuit. The sheriff says he would never have released these documents, but he hopes now that mental health experts can learn something from it, but he is worried that people will read this on the Internet, and it might inspire some sort of copycat crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a risk in releasing that because of the fact that we know it will be spread all over the world, and hopefully will take it in the best light possible as far as analytical, as opposed to getting information to some would-be copycat killer out there.

LAVANDERA: The sheriff could have also released what is known as "The Basement Videotapes," but he chose not to. In the sheriff's words, the tapes are a call to arms by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, reaching out to other teenagers maybe considering to do what they did here in 1999. The sheriff hopes those tapes will never be seen.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Golden, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Natural causes, the final word on the death of Ken Lay. Given his upcoming sentencing for his role in the spectacular collapse of Enron, the company he founded, Lay's sudden death yesterday prompted speculation of suicide. Now autopsy results confirm Lay died of heart disease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT KURTZMAN, MESA COUNTY CORONER: There was no evidence of foul play. The post-mortem examination revealed that Mr. Lay had severe coronary artery disease. There was evidence that he had a heart attack in the past. The only aspects of the examination that are outstanding at this particular point are toxicology and microscopic analysis of tissues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lay died at his vacation home near Aspen, Colorado. A memorial service will be held in Houston, but no date has been set.

A terrifying predawn attack at a New York subway station leaves one rider critically hurt. It happened when a man grabbed two cordless power saws off a workbench at a station near Columbia University.

With a saw in each hand, he started swinging, seriously cutting one rider before jumping a turnstile to escape. The victim, a 64- year-old man, is hospitalized in critical, but stable condition.

Police found the power saws in a trash can, but they are still looking for the suspect. Witnesses describe him as a thin man in his 30s with earrings in both ears and possibly carrying a teddy bear.

To space and one mission accomplished. Shuttle Discovery has completed its rendezvous with the International Space Station, and the astronauts are moving in. One of them, Thomas Reiter, of Germany, he plans to stay for six months. The others, for just a week.

Before the docking, Discovery's commander flipped the spacecraft over, allowing the two men on the station to examine the shuttle's belly, looking for any possible damage.

NASA flight chiefs are talking about their mission this hour. We will be listening.

And this note from Earth. Discovery's blastoff meant a boom for Florida hotels and restaurants. Because of the Fourth of July, tourists could stick around when weather delayed the launch twice. By one estimate, they spent an extra $5 million.

Coming up, pop goes the corporate weasel. Details on corporate cola espionage and how Pepsi blew the whistle on a Coke employee and accomplices trying to sell soda secrets.

Go pour yourself a refreshing beverage and settle in for the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're just moments away from hearing President Bush, his reactions about how the world is now coming together on many issues, especially North Korea. He's meeting there with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BUSH: And the national security adviser joins me in saying it gives us great comfort to know that we've got a man of your caliber there.

It's a hard job. And Zal has earned the confidence of the new Iraqi government. I was able to see that firsthand, and how the prime minister and other members of his administration related to him.

He brought back, you know, a report that is realistic. On the one hand, he said they've got a good government of goal-oriented people who are working to achieve certain objectives.

And I know that you've been impressed by Prime Minister Maliki's determination to succeed and his willingness to lay out a kind of commonsense agenda and then hold people to account.

Zal also said it's still a dangerous place, because there are people there that will do anything to stop the -- you know, stop the progress of this new government. And, you know, you have to ask yourself, who is afraid of democracy? I mean, why would people be afraid of a peaceful, civil society? And the answer is, people who would want to not only harm Iraqis, but want to harm us. And, you know, I've assured Zal that -- to assure the Iraqi people that when we give our word, we'll keep our word. And we intend to work closely with the government and to help defend the people, until this government is more capable of defending itself.

And we talked about police training. There's more work to be done in training the police. And we talked about the training of the army. And that's gone quite well.

Zal is concerned about foreign influences in the country, as am I.

I do appreciate your briefing on the prime minister's recent trip in the neighborhood. It looked like a very successful trip. We, of course, are concerned that some in the neighborhood may want to derail the progress of a free Iraq, and that is troubling and something that, you know, we'll work on.

But, Mr. Ambassador, you are representing our country with a lot of class and dignity. And so, thank you.

You may want to say a few comments.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Thank you, Mr. President.

I came today to also wish the president a happy birthday.

Happy birthday, Mr. President.

BUSH: Thank you.

KHALILZAD: And it's an honor to serve the United States in Iraq, and their leadership. We're working very hard to make sure Iraq succeeds, because Iraq is the defining challenge of our time. And what happens in Iraq will shape the future of the Middle East. And the future of the Middle East will shape the future of the world.

And, so, it's an honor to see you again.

And happy birthday, Mr. President.

BUSH: Thank you, sir.

Thank you, all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everybody.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Well, a short and sweet "Happy birthday," and a message of congratulations to Iraq, the U.S. ambassador of Iraq, for the hard work that he's been doing there by the president of the United States.

More of LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: They are accused of spilling soda secrets and of taking a Girl Scouts cookie box stuffed with cash in return. This hour, three people will face a federal judge in Atlanta on charges of wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets.

Federal prosecutors say the suspects approached Pepsi, offering insider pop poop from Coca-Cola for $1.5 million. Well, one of the alleged perps, Joya Williams, was an executive administrative assistant at Coke. But the genie got out of the bottle when Pepsi called Coke and then Coke called the FBI.

For more on the age-old rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, let's bring in Susan Lisovicz, live from the New York Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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