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CNN Live Today

Jury Deliberates in Zoloft Murder Trial; Lebanese Officials Believe Suicide Bomber Behind Killing of Hariri; Jury Selection Underway in the Michael Jackson Trial

Aired February 15, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you guys in New York City. You guys have a great day up there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, likewise.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. By the way, we're going to have things exploding today, more on that later.

KAGAN: OK. I'm looking forward to it.

SANCHEZ: Implosions.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Because I don't know what he's talking about.

SANCHEZ: It's plan, though, folks. It's not terrorism.

Here's what's happening right now in the news.

Sentencing for defrocked priest Paul Shanley's gets under way this hour in suburban Boston. He was convicted last week of repeatedly raping a boy at a church in the 1980s. Now, prosecutors will ask the judge to put the 74-year-old Shanley in prison for the rest of his life.

A South Carolina jury is deliberating right now in the double murder trial of a teen accused of killing his grandparents. Now, defense attorneys say that Chris Pittman was influenced by the anti- depressant drug Zoloft. Essentially that he didn't know what he was doing at the time. Prosecutors say Pittman knew exactly what he was doing. If convicted, Pittman faces a maximum 30 years to life in prison.

New abuses in the Oil for Food scandal being revealed. A Senate panel is holding a hearing at this hour into the defunct Iraqi program. The committee alleges corruption by a U.N. inspector hired to monitor approved oil shipments. The Portuguese contractor is accused of taking over $100,000 in bribes.

This is the hearing as it goes on right now, by the way. These are live pictures that we're going to be dipping into throughout this newscast. Investigators say the deal enabled Saddam Hussein to smuggle half a million barrels of oil out of his country at a time when he wasn't supposed to.

And President Bush is calling on Congress to approve his request for nearly $82 billion in global funding. Most of the money would go to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite concerns over a soaring federal deficit, lawmakers are expected to argue, but then eventually approve the request.

And good morning, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning.

There's no question about who pulled the trigger. It was 15- year-old Christopher Pittman, readily admits that he shot to death his grandparents. But his attorney says it was his anti-depression medication Zoloft that provided the prescription for disaster. Now that argument is in the hands of the jury.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, following the trial in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Daryn, the jury deliberated for four hours yesterday afternoon and evening. And now they've been back at it for about a half hour this morning. At issue, did Chris Pittman know right from wrong, morally and legally, on that fateful night three years ago?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Chris Pittman may have been only 12 when he killed his grandparents, but the prosecution argued the boy, now 15, did so out of, quote, "malice, meanness, wickedness."

BARNEY GIESE, PROSECUTOR: Now either he shot first grandma first or grandpa first, we don't know. But we know one thing is found, the one bullet in her head, by his statement. He pumped it again, fired another shot. Pumped it again, he fired a fourth shot.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I don't care how old he is. The state submits that is as malicious a killing and murder as you are ever going to find.

COHEN: The defense claimed the anti-depressant drug Zoloft for sending the child's mind spinning out of control.

PAUL WALDNER, DEFENSE LAWYER: In this community, in this state, and in this country, we do not convict children for murder when they've been ambushed by chemicals that have destroyed their ability to reason.

COHEN: Prosecutors called the Zoloft defense a smokescreen. It's been tried before in other murder cases and always failed. But never has there been a case with a defendant this young. The trial judge defined the issue this way in a law school class.

DANIEL PIEPER, JUDGE, S.C. CIRCUIT COURT: An act does not make one guilty unless the mind is guilty.

COHEN: The jury got no clear-cut help if a parade of psychiatrists. Defense experts supported the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The drug has caused a problem.

COHEN: Prosecution experts favored the prosecution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very angry.

COHEN: No matter what the jury verdict, it may never answer exactly why Chris Pittman did kill the two people he says he loved most in his life. The defense insisted his grandparents would forgive him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my beloved grandson, pray for him and do right by him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: During deliberations, the jury asked the judge two things. One, they said, "Is Chris Pittman being tried as an adult?" The answer to that is yes. The other question was can we have some magic markers. The answer to that also was yes.

KAGAN: Hmm. But no clue as to what they wanted those magic markers for?

COHEN: No, we imagine -- we haven't been allowed to see the room. We imagine there's a white board up there and they're allowed to take notes or make diagrams, or lists, or whatever they would need to deliberate.

KAGAN: Now, the question of his age. We heard his defense attorney talk about do you try a child for an adult crime. And you also heard the jury asking about that. Is Chris Pittman's age, which was 12 at the time of the murders, as big a factor as the Zoloft?

COHEN: You know, his age is a factor even though he's being tried as an adult. And the reason why it's a factor, Daryn, is that in South Carolina the presumption is that your brain cannot form criminal intent if you're 14 or under. So even though he's being tried as an adult, the judge said to the jury look, have you to keep that in mind that he can't form criminal intent.

Well, if you can't form criminal intent, you can't be found guilty. But the judge also sort of let them know that if they felt the prosecution had overcome that presumption, then they could find guilty.

KAGAN: Elizabeth Cohen live from Charleston, South Carolina. Thank you. SANCHEZ: Here is a story where officials are really not sure who did it. A massive bombing/assassination in Beirut yesterday is bound to have international repercussions. And at the center of those, Syria.

CNN's senior international correspondent Brent Sadler was shaken by the bombing. And he's been covering it ever since. He's joining us now live to bring us up to date.

Hello, Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Good morning, Rick. Latest developments on the ground here, Lebanon's interior minister says they suspect, repeat, suspect that a suicide bomber may have been involved in the blast that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Just a short distance behind me is the bomb blast site. I was able to go in that location earlier this day and saw Lebanese army officials sifting through the debris there, trying to establish how this very large explosion was detonated. Was it the work of a lone suicide bomber, perhaps with the explosives might have been buried underground. Still no clear certainty about it. But the indication at this date, say Lebanese authorities, pointing towards a suicide bomber.

In addition to that, we have also had continuing reverberations of this assassination, of the prominent Sunni Muslim politician here from many political quarters, Christian and Muslim leaders of the opposition to the continuing presence of Syrian troops in this country. And the relationship between the Syrian authorities in neighboring Damascus and the prominent role it plays over the Lebanese political scene here really at the background to what's going on in the scene on Lebanon this day.

In addition to that, we saw earlier today one of Rafik Hariri's sons, Saadeen Hariri, walking through the wreckage. The grieving family saying that they will continue to lead efforts to help rebuild Lebanon to get over this devastating political assassination -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yesterday we saw some of the people there basically taking to the streets, Brent, and protesting against the Syrians. Do we expect to see more of that today?

SADLER: Well, there have been sporadic demonstrations, breaking out in parts of the central district of Beirut. Also other showings of support for the killed prime minister in Sidon; that's his hometown, about an hour's drive south of the Lebanese capital here.

Certainly tensions are high. Political leaders are not warning of a possible eruption of the kind of civil war years we saw here that ended some 15 years ago. But tensions are high. There is palpable fear in some quarters, some sectors of the society here.

And Lebanon really now is bracing itself for the funeral of Rafik Hariri, the family turning its back on offers by the Lebanese government to stage a state funeral. The family insists that this will be a popular funeral so that supporter, the many tens if not hundreds of thousands of supporters, the Hariri family say, can express their sorrow for the loss of someone they respected and someone they are grieving the loss of -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Brent Sadler in Beirut. We thank you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: A law banning butane lighters on airliners is creating some heat. The ban to go into effect today on all commercial aircraft, but the Transportation Security Administration will only say the law is currently under review. The TCA is declining further comment but passengers -- saying that passengers will be able to carry the lighters, at is accused of trying match -- use a match to light a shoe bomb aboard a transatlantic flight.

The nation's Central Intelligence Agency is said set to deliver a key report to the White House tomorrow. It will detail plans to dramatically boost the numbers of intelligence officers and analysts. The president issued the demand to increase staffing, 50 percent in three areas and the full doubling in a fourth, to focus on terrorism and weapons proliferation.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

SANCHEZ: We want to take you to Columbus, Ohio now, because we've got some video coming in that we'd like to share with you. This is that implosion we told you about. Let's watch. These are live pictures that we're looking at. And I think we're about to see it happen.

KAGAN: There it goes.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure "timber" is the correct term, but they certainly came down hard. Let me tell you where this is. It's in Franklin County where the skyline is certainly going to be affected by this. Those are smokestacks at the old trash burning plant in the south Columbus area that have been coming down.

They stand about 270 feet in the air. They're equipped with more than 40 pounds of dynamite to make that happen. The company says it's going to be taking the facility down, tearing it down to salvage the scrap metal. There you go. Sometimes pictures are worth many, many words.

KAGAN: There they go. Come tumbling down.

Picture this. The witness list in the Michael Jackson trial, lawyers reading it, it's like a who's who in the world of sports, news and entertainment. What do Stevie Wonder, Larry King and Kobe Bryant have in common? And what do they have to do with this case? We'll ask a former U.S. attorney.

SANCHEZ: Also still to come, the saga of a Florida baby his mother didn't want. Where is Johnny now?

And we're going to have this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It broke my heart. I don't like being still. I like being in motion. And to say that you're going to take away one of my feet just -- it just hit me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: How one U.S. soldier got his military life back despite being an amputee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're going to show some pictures now of the story that we're going to be following here at CNN throughout the course of the day. This is Paul Shanley convicted last week of repeating raping and fondling a boy in a church in the 1980s, where he was at the time a Catholic priest.

Here's what will happen today. This is a sentencing hearing. Which means, by new laws, that Mr. Shanley will have to hear from his accuser, a 27-year-old, the victim. He will also hear from the man's wife and the man's father. As this happens, we here at CNN hope to be able to dip in and share it with you.

Meanwhile, other stories we're following on this day having to do with, in fact, with legal proceedings. Docket watch now. And guess what? It is jam-packed. In fact, here is a look.

Robert Blake's attorneys are going to begin presenting their case. This after prosecutors have taken nearly two months to try to prove the actor killed his wife. Blake burst into tears yesterday when prosecutors played tapes of him talking about his daughter.

Michael Jackson is expected back in court today, as the jury selection resumes in his child molestation trial. Some 240 potential jurors are being considered for a chance to sit on one of the most high profile celebrity cases since -- well, since O.J.

And what would a high profile celebrity case be without high profile celebrities? You will not believe who may be called as a witness in this case: Jay Leno, Elizabeth Taylor, Kobe Bryant, Larry King. The list goes on and on.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Handcuffed and charged with child molestation. The latest accusations prompted at least one former supporter to reconsider his relationship with Michael Jackson. Actor Corey Feldman was 13 when he became friends with Jackson. Feldman has previously said Jackson never molested him. In this segment on ABC's "20/20," Feldman says he's had second thoughts about Jackson's behavior. He was asked if he was ever shown inappropriate images by Jackson.

COREY FELDMAN, ACTOR: If you consider it inappropriate for a man to look at a book of naked pictures with a child that's 13 or 14 years old, then your answer would be yes.

DORNIN: But Feldman has been listed as a possible witness for the defense.

One of his staunchest supporters actress Elizabeth Taylor, has not commented on the case since his arrest when she issued a statement saying, "I know he's innocent. I hope they all eat crow."

Another friend, Uri Geller, was surprised to learn he could be called as a defense witness. Geller, an author also known for claiming to bend spoons with his mind, became friends with Jackson five years ago. Geller says he hasn't spoken with him since the release of this documentary.

In this it, Jackson admits to sleeping with young boys in his bedroom. Geller says he convinced Jackson it was OK to do the documentary. Now, the star may blame him for what has happened. Geller says he wants to believe that Jackson is innocent but...

URI GELLER, AUTHOR: I can't help it, but there is this streak of suspicion seeping into my mind and telling me now hang on, Uri, maybe you are wrong.

DORNIN: No comment now from actor McCauley Caulkin. When he was 11, he says he spent the night in Jackson's bedroom. And later came to realize now how that situation could be misconstrued.

MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: Billy Jean is not my lover...

DORNIN: Many of Jackson's former pals refused to talk about the superstar. Geller says he's not surprised.

GELLER: The reason Michael's friends are having a tough time is because they're putting out -- they're risking their necks. They're putting their reputations on the line.

DORNIN: But some of his friends may be forced to, called upon by the prosecution or the defense to tell the court what they know about Jackson's behavior.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is a big list indeed. What is it with all these star witnesses on Michael Jackson's defense list?

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us from Miami to talk about this case. Kendall, good morning.

KENDALL COFFEY, LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I think you're the only one who is not on it.

COFFEY: Yes. I mean you, me, Rick. I say it's amazing. More stars than Oscar night. But it's hard to say whether or not this is going to be live ammunition or if this is bluffing with blanks.

And even if they do call some of these celebrities, is it going to be celebrity firepower or celebrity backfire. After all, Daryn, even if some of these folks go on for the defense saying yes, Michael Jackson's a good guy, even if they say he's the humanitarian of the year, when they're cross-examined by the prosecution, they'll have to admit this stuff is real creepy.

And if the prosecution says what do you think if you heard from two or three or four people that were molested by Michael Jackson, some of those celebrities might say hang him from the highest tree.

KAGAN: And just because you're on the list doesn't mean you'll get called.

COFFEY: Absolutely not.

KAGAN: Now, some of the other people on the list; the boy, or there was a boy back in 1993, the accuser that charges were never filed. What's the thinking in calling this person?

COFFEY: Well, I think that could be a devastating and a critical witness for the prosecution. California has gone back as far as 30 years to allow past allegations of molestation to be used in a present-day trial. There's even risks for the prosecution in that particular case. Because if at the end of the day it is emphasized that he got over $20 million for his allegations. And by the way, the current accuser went to the same lawyer, the same psychologist before coming up with the allegations against Michael Jackson; that could be another thing that boomerangs on the prosecution.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, jury selection goes on. Santa Maria, California is about the last place on earth you're going to find a jury of Michael Jackson's peers.

COFFEY: There are going to be absolutely no empty open minds, maybe not a lot of open minds. The key thing for the prosecution, Daryn, is they want 12 men and women who are all parents with young children.

KAGAN: They want parents?

COFFEY: They want parents.

KAGAN: Because you want people sensitive to the idea that somebody would have molested your kids. COFFEY: Every parent is going to be horrified. I think from the defense standpoint, there are going to be the usual questions: past run-ins with law enforcement, exposure to pretrial publicity. But what the defense really wants is the most off beat, artsy-craftsy people they can find. Because they're going to be considering Michael Jackson's very strangeness. And his defense is based on a conspiracy theory involving money-grubbing family, he says, and a prosecutor with a real vendetta.

KAGAN: Finally, if you're Tom Mesereau, do you put Michael Jackson on the stand in?

COFFEY: They may have to. It all depends, that's the favorite lawyer's answer. But if the prosecution get twos, three witnesses to come in and sort of look credible, that aren't completely devastated on the stand, Michael Jackson may be stepping up for the performance of his life.

KAGAN: Kendall Coffey from Miami. Kendall, thank you.

COFFEY: Hey thanks, Daryn.

SANCHEZ: There's another big story we're going to follow throughout the day, is an attack on Christians or religious interruption in a school day.

KAGAN: Still to come, why some parents wanted to end a voluntary program paid for by a local church.

SANCHEZ: Also up next, where is the best place to hit the slopes? Jacqui Jeras has our daily ski report right after this. And we're hearing there may be a whole bunch of the white stuff up in the northeast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Here is a day after Valentine's Day story for you. Some couples looking for love, found in it the land of love. They found it in Loveland, Colorado.

SANCHEZ: Oh.

KAGAN: More than 70 couples tied the knot or renewed their vows at the Loveland ski area. It's an annual event with a singsong title, the "Mary Me and Ski for Free, the Mountaintop Ceremony." Couples tied the knot at 12,044 feet, and then skied or snowboarded down for the reception.

See it works good because then you have got to cuddle at the end, you know, because it is cold and chilly.

SANCHEZ: It's great lyrics. You can turn that into a song. Bring your banjo out here.

KAGAN: Somebody already did. But notice, I did not sing. That's my gift to you.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Jacqui Jeras, we hear you cackling in the background.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You're laughing at her, right not me.

JERAS: I'd do it just for the free skiing, you know.

I'm laughing with you.

SANCHEZ: With us.

KAGAN: Absolutely. It's inclusive.

SANCHEZ: Accepted.

KAGAN: Big group hug.

JERAS: All right. A lot of love going on in this room today guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: I feel like going skiing now guys, after looking at those pictures. Huh? Do you guys ski?

KAGAN: Thank you, Jacqui. Yes, not today but another day perhaps. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Certainly sounds inviting.

Well, get out your calculator, folks. Because the federal deficit may be about to go up again.

KAGAN: The president lets Congress know how much the administration needs for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today. A live report from the Pentagon coming up next.

Plus, one soldier's remarkable recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was the first amputee to do it. I love it. I'm proud to serve the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Find out how one man refused to let the loss of a foot get in the way of duty for his country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired February 15, 2005 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you guys in New York City. You guys have a great day up there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, likewise.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. By the way, we're going to have things exploding today, more on that later.

KAGAN: OK. I'm looking forward to it.

SANCHEZ: Implosions.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Because I don't know what he's talking about.

SANCHEZ: It's plan, though, folks. It's not terrorism.

Here's what's happening right now in the news.

Sentencing for defrocked priest Paul Shanley's gets under way this hour in suburban Boston. He was convicted last week of repeatedly raping a boy at a church in the 1980s. Now, prosecutors will ask the judge to put the 74-year-old Shanley in prison for the rest of his life.

A South Carolina jury is deliberating right now in the double murder trial of a teen accused of killing his grandparents. Now, defense attorneys say that Chris Pittman was influenced by the anti- depressant drug Zoloft. Essentially that he didn't know what he was doing at the time. Prosecutors say Pittman knew exactly what he was doing. If convicted, Pittman faces a maximum 30 years to life in prison.

New abuses in the Oil for Food scandal being revealed. A Senate panel is holding a hearing at this hour into the defunct Iraqi program. The committee alleges corruption by a U.N. inspector hired to monitor approved oil shipments. The Portuguese contractor is accused of taking over $100,000 in bribes.

This is the hearing as it goes on right now, by the way. These are live pictures that we're going to be dipping into throughout this newscast. Investigators say the deal enabled Saddam Hussein to smuggle half a million barrels of oil out of his country at a time when he wasn't supposed to.

And President Bush is calling on Congress to approve his request for nearly $82 billion in global funding. Most of the money would go to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite concerns over a soaring federal deficit, lawmakers are expected to argue, but then eventually approve the request.

And good morning, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning.

There's no question about who pulled the trigger. It was 15- year-old Christopher Pittman, readily admits that he shot to death his grandparents. But his attorney says it was his anti-depression medication Zoloft that provided the prescription for disaster. Now that argument is in the hands of the jury.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, following the trial in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Daryn, the jury deliberated for four hours yesterday afternoon and evening. And now they've been back at it for about a half hour this morning. At issue, did Chris Pittman know right from wrong, morally and legally, on that fateful night three years ago?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Chris Pittman may have been only 12 when he killed his grandparents, but the prosecution argued the boy, now 15, did so out of, quote, "malice, meanness, wickedness."

BARNEY GIESE, PROSECUTOR: Now either he shot first grandma first or grandpa first, we don't know. But we know one thing is found, the one bullet in her head, by his statement. He pumped it again, fired another shot. Pumped it again, he fired a fourth shot.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I don't care how old he is. The state submits that is as malicious a killing and murder as you are ever going to find.

COHEN: The defense claimed the anti-depressant drug Zoloft for sending the child's mind spinning out of control.

PAUL WALDNER, DEFENSE LAWYER: In this community, in this state, and in this country, we do not convict children for murder when they've been ambushed by chemicals that have destroyed their ability to reason.

COHEN: Prosecutors called the Zoloft defense a smokescreen. It's been tried before in other murder cases and always failed. But never has there been a case with a defendant this young. The trial judge defined the issue this way in a law school class.

DANIEL PIEPER, JUDGE, S.C. CIRCUIT COURT: An act does not make one guilty unless the mind is guilty.

COHEN: The jury got no clear-cut help if a parade of psychiatrists. Defense experts supported the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The drug has caused a problem.

COHEN: Prosecution experts favored the prosecution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very angry.

COHEN: No matter what the jury verdict, it may never answer exactly why Chris Pittman did kill the two people he says he loved most in his life. The defense insisted his grandparents would forgive him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my beloved grandson, pray for him and do right by him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: During deliberations, the jury asked the judge two things. One, they said, "Is Chris Pittman being tried as an adult?" The answer to that is yes. The other question was can we have some magic markers. The answer to that also was yes.

KAGAN: Hmm. But no clue as to what they wanted those magic markers for?

COHEN: No, we imagine -- we haven't been allowed to see the room. We imagine there's a white board up there and they're allowed to take notes or make diagrams, or lists, or whatever they would need to deliberate.

KAGAN: Now, the question of his age. We heard his defense attorney talk about do you try a child for an adult crime. And you also heard the jury asking about that. Is Chris Pittman's age, which was 12 at the time of the murders, as big a factor as the Zoloft?

COHEN: You know, his age is a factor even though he's being tried as an adult. And the reason why it's a factor, Daryn, is that in South Carolina the presumption is that your brain cannot form criminal intent if you're 14 or under. So even though he's being tried as an adult, the judge said to the jury look, have you to keep that in mind that he can't form criminal intent.

Well, if you can't form criminal intent, you can't be found guilty. But the judge also sort of let them know that if they felt the prosecution had overcome that presumption, then they could find guilty.

KAGAN: Elizabeth Cohen live from Charleston, South Carolina. Thank you. SANCHEZ: Here is a story where officials are really not sure who did it. A massive bombing/assassination in Beirut yesterday is bound to have international repercussions. And at the center of those, Syria.

CNN's senior international correspondent Brent Sadler was shaken by the bombing. And he's been covering it ever since. He's joining us now live to bring us up to date.

Hello, Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Good morning, Rick. Latest developments on the ground here, Lebanon's interior minister says they suspect, repeat, suspect that a suicide bomber may have been involved in the blast that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Just a short distance behind me is the bomb blast site. I was able to go in that location earlier this day and saw Lebanese army officials sifting through the debris there, trying to establish how this very large explosion was detonated. Was it the work of a lone suicide bomber, perhaps with the explosives might have been buried underground. Still no clear certainty about it. But the indication at this date, say Lebanese authorities, pointing towards a suicide bomber.

In addition to that, we have also had continuing reverberations of this assassination, of the prominent Sunni Muslim politician here from many political quarters, Christian and Muslim leaders of the opposition to the continuing presence of Syrian troops in this country. And the relationship between the Syrian authorities in neighboring Damascus and the prominent role it plays over the Lebanese political scene here really at the background to what's going on in the scene on Lebanon this day.

In addition to that, we saw earlier today one of Rafik Hariri's sons, Saadeen Hariri, walking through the wreckage. The grieving family saying that they will continue to lead efforts to help rebuild Lebanon to get over this devastating political assassination -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yesterday we saw some of the people there basically taking to the streets, Brent, and protesting against the Syrians. Do we expect to see more of that today?

SADLER: Well, there have been sporadic demonstrations, breaking out in parts of the central district of Beirut. Also other showings of support for the killed prime minister in Sidon; that's his hometown, about an hour's drive south of the Lebanese capital here.

Certainly tensions are high. Political leaders are not warning of a possible eruption of the kind of civil war years we saw here that ended some 15 years ago. But tensions are high. There is palpable fear in some quarters, some sectors of the society here.

And Lebanon really now is bracing itself for the funeral of Rafik Hariri, the family turning its back on offers by the Lebanese government to stage a state funeral. The family insists that this will be a popular funeral so that supporter, the many tens if not hundreds of thousands of supporters, the Hariri family say, can express their sorrow for the loss of someone they respected and someone they are grieving the loss of -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Brent Sadler in Beirut. We thank you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: A law banning butane lighters on airliners is creating some heat. The ban to go into effect today on all commercial aircraft, but the Transportation Security Administration will only say the law is currently under review. The TCA is declining further comment but passengers -- saying that passengers will be able to carry the lighters, at is accused of trying match -- use a match to light a shoe bomb aboard a transatlantic flight.

The nation's Central Intelligence Agency is said set to deliver a key report to the White House tomorrow. It will detail plans to dramatically boost the numbers of intelligence officers and analysts. The president issued the demand to increase staffing, 50 percent in three areas and the full doubling in a fourth, to focus on terrorism and weapons proliferation.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

SANCHEZ: We want to take you to Columbus, Ohio now, because we've got some video coming in that we'd like to share with you. This is that implosion we told you about. Let's watch. These are live pictures that we're looking at. And I think we're about to see it happen.

KAGAN: There it goes.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure "timber" is the correct term, but they certainly came down hard. Let me tell you where this is. It's in Franklin County where the skyline is certainly going to be affected by this. Those are smokestacks at the old trash burning plant in the south Columbus area that have been coming down.

They stand about 270 feet in the air. They're equipped with more than 40 pounds of dynamite to make that happen. The company says it's going to be taking the facility down, tearing it down to salvage the scrap metal. There you go. Sometimes pictures are worth many, many words.

KAGAN: There they go. Come tumbling down.

Picture this. The witness list in the Michael Jackson trial, lawyers reading it, it's like a who's who in the world of sports, news and entertainment. What do Stevie Wonder, Larry King and Kobe Bryant have in common? And what do they have to do with this case? We'll ask a former U.S. attorney.

SANCHEZ: Also still to come, the saga of a Florida baby his mother didn't want. Where is Johnny now?

And we're going to have this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It broke my heart. I don't like being still. I like being in motion. And to say that you're going to take away one of my feet just -- it just hit me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: How one U.S. soldier got his military life back despite being an amputee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're going to show some pictures now of the story that we're going to be following here at CNN throughout the course of the day. This is Paul Shanley convicted last week of repeating raping and fondling a boy in a church in the 1980s, where he was at the time a Catholic priest.

Here's what will happen today. This is a sentencing hearing. Which means, by new laws, that Mr. Shanley will have to hear from his accuser, a 27-year-old, the victim. He will also hear from the man's wife and the man's father. As this happens, we here at CNN hope to be able to dip in and share it with you.

Meanwhile, other stories we're following on this day having to do with, in fact, with legal proceedings. Docket watch now. And guess what? It is jam-packed. In fact, here is a look.

Robert Blake's attorneys are going to begin presenting their case. This after prosecutors have taken nearly two months to try to prove the actor killed his wife. Blake burst into tears yesterday when prosecutors played tapes of him talking about his daughter.

Michael Jackson is expected back in court today, as the jury selection resumes in his child molestation trial. Some 240 potential jurors are being considered for a chance to sit on one of the most high profile celebrity cases since -- well, since O.J.

And what would a high profile celebrity case be without high profile celebrities? You will not believe who may be called as a witness in this case: Jay Leno, Elizabeth Taylor, Kobe Bryant, Larry King. The list goes on and on.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Handcuffed and charged with child molestation. The latest accusations prompted at least one former supporter to reconsider his relationship with Michael Jackson. Actor Corey Feldman was 13 when he became friends with Jackson. Feldman has previously said Jackson never molested him. In this segment on ABC's "20/20," Feldman says he's had second thoughts about Jackson's behavior. He was asked if he was ever shown inappropriate images by Jackson.

COREY FELDMAN, ACTOR: If you consider it inappropriate for a man to look at a book of naked pictures with a child that's 13 or 14 years old, then your answer would be yes.

DORNIN: But Feldman has been listed as a possible witness for the defense.

One of his staunchest supporters actress Elizabeth Taylor, has not commented on the case since his arrest when she issued a statement saying, "I know he's innocent. I hope they all eat crow."

Another friend, Uri Geller, was surprised to learn he could be called as a defense witness. Geller, an author also known for claiming to bend spoons with his mind, became friends with Jackson five years ago. Geller says he hasn't spoken with him since the release of this documentary.

In this it, Jackson admits to sleeping with young boys in his bedroom. Geller says he convinced Jackson it was OK to do the documentary. Now, the star may blame him for what has happened. Geller says he wants to believe that Jackson is innocent but...

URI GELLER, AUTHOR: I can't help it, but there is this streak of suspicion seeping into my mind and telling me now hang on, Uri, maybe you are wrong.

DORNIN: No comment now from actor McCauley Caulkin. When he was 11, he says he spent the night in Jackson's bedroom. And later came to realize now how that situation could be misconstrued.

MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: Billy Jean is not my lover...

DORNIN: Many of Jackson's former pals refused to talk about the superstar. Geller says he's not surprised.

GELLER: The reason Michael's friends are having a tough time is because they're putting out -- they're risking their necks. They're putting their reputations on the line.

DORNIN: But some of his friends may be forced to, called upon by the prosecution or the defense to tell the court what they know about Jackson's behavior.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is a big list indeed. What is it with all these star witnesses on Michael Jackson's defense list?

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us from Miami to talk about this case. Kendall, good morning.

KENDALL COFFEY, LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I think you're the only one who is not on it.

COFFEY: Yes. I mean you, me, Rick. I say it's amazing. More stars than Oscar night. But it's hard to say whether or not this is going to be live ammunition or if this is bluffing with blanks.

And even if they do call some of these celebrities, is it going to be celebrity firepower or celebrity backfire. After all, Daryn, even if some of these folks go on for the defense saying yes, Michael Jackson's a good guy, even if they say he's the humanitarian of the year, when they're cross-examined by the prosecution, they'll have to admit this stuff is real creepy.

And if the prosecution says what do you think if you heard from two or three or four people that were molested by Michael Jackson, some of those celebrities might say hang him from the highest tree.

KAGAN: And just because you're on the list doesn't mean you'll get called.

COFFEY: Absolutely not.

KAGAN: Now, some of the other people on the list; the boy, or there was a boy back in 1993, the accuser that charges were never filed. What's the thinking in calling this person?

COFFEY: Well, I think that could be a devastating and a critical witness for the prosecution. California has gone back as far as 30 years to allow past allegations of molestation to be used in a present-day trial. There's even risks for the prosecution in that particular case. Because if at the end of the day it is emphasized that he got over $20 million for his allegations. And by the way, the current accuser went to the same lawyer, the same psychologist before coming up with the allegations against Michael Jackson; that could be another thing that boomerangs on the prosecution.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, jury selection goes on. Santa Maria, California is about the last place on earth you're going to find a jury of Michael Jackson's peers.

COFFEY: There are going to be absolutely no empty open minds, maybe not a lot of open minds. The key thing for the prosecution, Daryn, is they want 12 men and women who are all parents with young children.

KAGAN: They want parents?

COFFEY: They want parents.

KAGAN: Because you want people sensitive to the idea that somebody would have molested your kids. COFFEY: Every parent is going to be horrified. I think from the defense standpoint, there are going to be the usual questions: past run-ins with law enforcement, exposure to pretrial publicity. But what the defense really wants is the most off beat, artsy-craftsy people they can find. Because they're going to be considering Michael Jackson's very strangeness. And his defense is based on a conspiracy theory involving money-grubbing family, he says, and a prosecutor with a real vendetta.

KAGAN: Finally, if you're Tom Mesereau, do you put Michael Jackson on the stand in?

COFFEY: They may have to. It all depends, that's the favorite lawyer's answer. But if the prosecution get twos, three witnesses to come in and sort of look credible, that aren't completely devastated on the stand, Michael Jackson may be stepping up for the performance of his life.

KAGAN: Kendall Coffey from Miami. Kendall, thank you.

COFFEY: Hey thanks, Daryn.

SANCHEZ: There's another big story we're going to follow throughout the day, is an attack on Christians or religious interruption in a school day.

KAGAN: Still to come, why some parents wanted to end a voluntary program paid for by a local church.

SANCHEZ: Also up next, where is the best place to hit the slopes? Jacqui Jeras has our daily ski report right after this. And we're hearing there may be a whole bunch of the white stuff up in the northeast.

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KAGAN: Here is a day after Valentine's Day story for you. Some couples looking for love, found in it the land of love. They found it in Loveland, Colorado.

SANCHEZ: Oh.

KAGAN: More than 70 couples tied the knot or renewed their vows at the Loveland ski area. It's an annual event with a singsong title, the "Mary Me and Ski for Free, the Mountaintop Ceremony." Couples tied the knot at 12,044 feet, and then skied or snowboarded down for the reception.

See it works good because then you have got to cuddle at the end, you know, because it is cold and chilly.

SANCHEZ: It's great lyrics. You can turn that into a song. Bring your banjo out here.

KAGAN: Somebody already did. But notice, I did not sing. That's my gift to you.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Jacqui Jeras, we hear you cackling in the background.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You're laughing at her, right not me.

JERAS: I'd do it just for the free skiing, you know.

I'm laughing with you.

SANCHEZ: With us.

KAGAN: Absolutely. It's inclusive.

SANCHEZ: Accepted.

KAGAN: Big group hug.

JERAS: All right. A lot of love going on in this room today guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: I feel like going skiing now guys, after looking at those pictures. Huh? Do you guys ski?

KAGAN: Thank you, Jacqui. Yes, not today but another day perhaps. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Certainly sounds inviting.

Well, get out your calculator, folks. Because the federal deficit may be about to go up again.

KAGAN: The president lets Congress know how much the administration needs for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today. A live report from the Pentagon coming up next.

Plus, one soldier's remarkable recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was the first amputee to do it. I love it. I'm proud to serve the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Find out how one man refused to let the loss of a foot get in the way of duty for his country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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