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CNN Live Today

Nichols in Court; Missed Alarm Signal?; Gay Marriage Ruling

Aired March 15, 2005 - 11:00   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: Let's take a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."
Another rise in world oil prices could mean more pain at the pump for drivers in the U.S. Oil prices increased today despite the possibility that OPEC might increase production. That price was hovering around $55 a barrel, approaching a record set last October.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan weighs in on the future of Social Security. Greenspan live on Capitol Hill this hour testifying before a Senate committee. In recent weeks the Fed chairman has spoken out in favor of private accounts with Social Security, but, he says, putting Social Security on sound, financial footing is the most urgent concern.

Iraqi police say a suicide car bomb explosion killed a child and wounded four other people in northern Baghdad today. The attack happened in a busy area where Iraq's Ministry of Health, a number of hospitals and several schools are located.

Federal authorities have charged 18 people in an alleged weapons smuggling plot. A live picture from New York there. They're accused of a scheme to smuggle grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons into the U.S. The Feds are expected to release more information on the yearlong investigation this hour.

We're looking at just a minute past 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, just past 8:00 a.m. for those of you joining us from the West. Thank you.

Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan.

Up first this hour, the suspect in the deadly courthouse rampage goes before a judge for the first time since his capture. But Brian Nichols has not been charged yet in the shooting spree that left four people dead.

Our Kimberly Osias is outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta where Nichols went before a magistrate within the last hour -- Kimberly.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, he never even left the jail. Thirty-three-year-old Brian Nichols came down seven floors, came down to a cinderblock room, windowless, looking quite a bit different than he did the last time when he appeared in the Fulton County Courthouse when he was in his own clothes and unfettered by any kind of shackles. As you can see, he was in blue, attire blue prison garb, bound tightly at the waist with shackles and also at the feet. He was surrounded by deputies. This time they didn't want to take any kind of chance that there would be any kind of escape. Flashbulbs were roaring and the magistrate judge, Frank Cox, read Mr. Nichols his rights.

Now, this is interesting, Daryn. He is being held on charges that he will never even be prosecuted on. We are talking about those original rape charges and aggravated sodomy charges and false imprisonment charges.

Although a mistrial was declared yesterday on those rape charges, what this essentially does is it allows prosecutors to keep Mr. Nichols behind lock and key while they dot their I's and cross their Ts in the case. They want to make sure that they have established a very strong, a very firm murder case against Mr. Nichols.

Now, for -- the whole hearing lasted all of about 10 minutes, very, very brief. And some of what we expected, no bond, has been placed. And for his part, Mr. Nichols really appeared somewhat emotionless -- Daryn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ADAMS, PUBLIC DEFENDER: I agreed to do so. At this time we're not going to make any further public statements.

This is a time of grief and mourning for the courthouse community, for all the victims. We are going to respect that.

There will be plenty of time for us later to lay out our legal arguments and motions and to examine the evidence and search for understanding in this case. But it is not the time now and I appreciate you all respecting that.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: And that was Chris Adams, I believe, speaking on behalf of Mr. Nichols. Not making any kind of statement at this juncture. Prosecutors are expected to have their formal charges within 30 days or possibly less -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kimberly Osias outside the jail there in downtown Atlanta. Thank you for that.

Let's get some legal analysis here and bring in Kendall Coffey, who was with us in the last hour as we were watching the first tape of that hearing.

Kendall, thanks for staying with us.

KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, thanks for including me, Daryn. KAGAN: Let's go through a list of questions here about timing. First of all, not surprising that murder charges were not filed today. That's not what we were expecting.

COFFEY: No. And think of all the different charges they've got to consider. Four homicides, that's about as horrible as it gets. But there's also carjacking, there's assaults, there's an abduction. And with each of those crimes they have to figure out, do they want to charge him, do the victims want to cooperate, is it part of an overall package that will assure the maximum amount justice in the reasonably briefest period of time available?

KAGAN: And so what kind of time frame would you expect to see?

COFFEY: Well, they're saying 30 days because they don't want to be seen as delaying unnecessarily. But I think their hope has got to be to get some charges brought within two weeks, if possible.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Brian Nichols isn't going anywhere. Bail denied, that wasn't a surprise, even though that was part of the official proceedings this morning.

COFFEY: And it's ironic, because in the midst of all these dramatic, intensely emotional events, the hearing itself is something of a non-event. But we did see a couple of things.

We saw a judge bending over backward to make sure he's as fair as possible. We saw the defense team already beginning to bend some of the procedural rules because they've got to make every argument they can. We saw the prosecution basically going by the book, being methodical.

There were perhaps some mistakes in the manhunt. There are not going to be a whole lot of mistakes in the prosecution if they can do anything to avoid them.

KAGAN: I think the first thing out of defense attorney's Chris Adams' mouth had to do with jurisdiction. The judge here from Cobb County, the next county over from Fulton County, this cannot -- there's no way, Kendall, that this can be tried here in Atlanta.

COFFEY: Absolutely no way. The judicial, the legal community was traumatized as we know it. That kind of emotional impact reached throughout the community. Certainly no judge in that locale is available, and I think you can expect a venue transfer out of the Atlanta area.

KAGAN: I think we can also expect we'll be talking with you a number of times about this case as it proceeds. Kendall Coffey, thank you.

COFFEY: Hey, thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Now, we heard Kendall talk about this a little bit, that authorities here in Atlanta are facing criticism over whether better security might have prevented the courthouse rampage. Among the signals that might have been missed, a silent alarm was activated by the staff for the judge who was shot and killed. Morse Diggs of our affiliate WAGA has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORSE DIGGS, REPORTER, WAGA (voice-over): Upstairs from where this memorial is displayed, the judges who sit in Fulton County are wondering if the death toll blamed on Brian Nichols could have been minimized or prevented altogether. The legal staff for murdered Judge Rowland Barnes made a secret call for help, but deputies over a span of 10 minutes did not come running to their aid.

That revelation came during a security discussion led by Chief Doris Downs (ph) with all of the other judges and the district attorney.

(on camera): All of the courtrooms have hidden silent alarms, as do the judges' offices. Now, I've been shown where those alarms are, but for reasons you'll understand, we're not going to show them to you. The question in this case is that for several minutes defendant Brian Nichols was running around Judge Barnes' office. This was before any of the shooting, and Judge Barnes' staff did activate one of those silent alarms.

LT. CLARENCE HUBER, FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Something -- something very bad did happen.

DIGGS (voice-over): We put the question "what happened" to the sheriff's spokesperson, but first, some background and new pictures.

(on camera): I want to show you how the trouble all began. This is a hallway here adjacent to a courtroom that leads to the prison elevator, the elevator you see right over there.

Now, Deputy Hall had to bring Nichols up on that elevator. And she did that in order to bring him over to a holding room. That area right there. The reason for that, that's where he changed his clothes.

Nichols was handcuffed. The deputy had to release the handcuffs. And as she did, he got his arm free and lunged at the deputy.

(voice-over): A security control deputy did not see the few seconds captured on video. Police say Nichols, who had gotten the deputy's gun, was loose. He terrorized the judge's staff while Barnes attended to a matter inside the courtroom.

(on camera): One more thing about the alarms. They have to go to a central location, somewhere to say we've got something that's not quite right in this section of the courthouse. Do we -- do we know what happened there on that end?

HUBER: We're going to determine what kind type of alarm it was. Was it an alarm activated with any particular room? Was it an alarm activated by radio?

DIGGS (voice-over): The facts, he says, still must be gathered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report coming from Morse Diggs of CNN affiliate WAGA.

Right now we go to New York and join a news conference. Eighteen people arrested in a sting with weapons trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade launchers and shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons. Let's listen.

DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: ... FBI Special Agent Mario Pisano (ph) and New York City Police Department detective Lenny Zenski (ph).

This morning, FBI agents, together with New York City Police Department detectives who are members of the Eurasian Organized Crime Taskforce arrested 17 of 18 defendants who have been charged in a 61- page complaint in U.S. district court with international arms trafficking. As part of the overall scheme, five of the defendants were charged with plotting to import into the United States various military weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, which are known as RPGs, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, known as SAMs, and those were from Armenia, the Republic of Georgia, and another eastern European countries.

The complaint charges the defendants in four counts, including conspiracies for unlicensed dealing in firearms and destructive devices, interstate shipment of those firearms and destructive devices, which included machine guns and mines, and the unlawful possession of those firearms, including the unlawful possession by illegal aliens. The yearlong investigation was made through a series of wiretaps and through the work of a confidential informant who essentially posed as an arms broker for terrorists.

Unfazed by the informant's purported clientele, the defendants established a productive business relationship with the informant, selling and delivering to him throughout the continental United States, in Los Angeles, in Fort Lauderdale, and New York, eight military-type assault rifles and machine guns, including AK-47s and an Uzi.

Now, this case really has two levels. On the first level, the defendants Artur Solomnyan Christian Dewer Spies, Joseb Kharabadze, Joseph Colpani and Michel Demare are charged with conspiring to obtain various weaponry for sale to this confidential informant. The 13 other defendants are charged with weapons trafficking for their roles in supplying Solomonyan and Spies with the machine guns and other assault weapons that were sold to the confidential informant and that were delivered to storage facilities that unbeknownst to the defendants had been obtained by the FBI in various locations throughout the country, including here in New York.

From the business relationship the confidential informant forged with the defendants was borne an even broader scheme. And that scheme was the second level of the investigation, and it involved a scheme to import and sell to the confidential informant for an excess of $2 million two surface-to-air heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles, an anti-tank guided missile and launcher, a 120-millimeter mortar launcher, anti-tank guns and fully automatic AK-74 and AK-S assault rifles. Other weapons were promised by the defendants to follow in the near future.

As part of their scheme, the defendants Solomonyan and Spies showed the C.I. recent photographs of the weaponry they planned to import and sell to the informant. Some of those photographs are displayed here today to my right and to my left. The captions on the photos are ours. The photos are the defendants'.

At this point in our investigation it appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry through contacts they had developed in eastern European military circles. We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.

As one of the final stages of the investigation, the defendant Solomonyan and Spies told the confidential informant that they needed green cards in order to travel overseas to facilitate the closing of the deal. It was at that meeting between the confidential informant and these defendants when the supposed delivery of the green cards was to take place when the first of the arrests were made here in New York last night.

Others of the defendants, many of whom are also illegal aliens, were arrested in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

The confidential informant and the defendants had frequent contact throughout the course of the one-year long investigation. And during the course of their business relationship, the defendant Solomonyan suggested to the confidential informant that he could obtain enriched uranium for possible use by terrorists in the subway system.

There was never, however, any such uranium. Let me emphasize this, that throughout this investigation, through our eavesdropping of some 15,000 conversations by the defendants, went through countless surveillance's 24/7 by the agents and investigators, we did not see any indication that the defendants had any capacity or ability to obtain uranium or other chemical or biological weapon material. It didn't happen.

Today's case represents the termination of illegal activity by several arms traffickers throughout the four corners of the United States. And it has disrupted a potential overseas pipeline for dangerous military weaponry to come into the hands of civilians or even terrorists.

Now, before taking your questions I'm going to turn the podium over to the special agent charge of the criminal division of the New York office of the FBI, Andy Arena.

KAGAN: We've been listening in to U.S. Attorney David Kelley in New York talking about an undercover sting operation which he says nabbed 18 people that are now charged with weapons smuggling. The list of things that they were looking to sell and buy, just eye- popping, including grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons, and to bring those from Russia over into the U.S.

They say this investigation continues. They're going to look overseas for contacts there. But once again, this undercover sting operation leading to the arrest of 18 people.

It's all part of our "Security Watch." CNN is keeping you up to date on your safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A quick break now. We are back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We want to -- let's show you this live picture we are showing from out of Miami. Unusual standoff here.

We have a man on a roof in Miami. Apparently, police say the man reportedly broke into a home next door to this home, demanded water, then left the house, climbed up on this roof, and he won't come down. He's not wearing any pants.

Stuck on the roof. Won't come down. Demanding water.

We will continue to follow and monitor out of Miami. Our thanks to WPLG, our affiliate there, providing us our pictures and our information.

Susan Lisovicz having a much better day at work at the New York Stock Exchange, where stocks are mixed.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: To California now. Michael Jackson's accuser faces another day of cross-examination. The trial should resume in about 10 or 15 minutes in Santa Maria, California.

Defense lawyers aggressively went after inconsistencies in the boy's story on Monday. The teen admits he told a school administrator nothing sexual happened between him and the pop star, and he conceded he lied on a videotape in which he and his family praised Jackson.

Prosecutors allege the pop star molested the boy four times at Neverland Ranch in 2003. Jackson denies that.

Up north, to San Francisco now, conservative groups planning to appeal a court ruling on same-sex marriage. The judge says California's ban is unconstitutional.

The story now from CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Stewart Gaffney and John Lewis found out there was a ruling, they rushed down to where it all began, San Francisco City Hall. One of the first 10 same-sex couples to be married here a little over a year ago, they were part of two lawsuits aimed at overturning the state's ban on gay marriage.

STUART GAFFNEY, SAME-SEX PARTNER: We couldn't ask for a better anniversary present, and it's a beautiful day. We're so happy.

DORNIN: Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before. The decision went on to say that people have the fundamental right to choose who they want to marry. No way, say opponents who call the ruling a great disappointment. An appeal? Of course.

TERRY THOMPSON, ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND: What this does, it puts rocket fuel under this federal marriage amendment, and I think that it's going to be people all across the country that are very upset about this and will energize them to promote the federal marriage amendment.

DORNIN: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ignited the firestorm February of 2004, when he told a city clerk to give same-sex couples marriage licenses. Four weeks and 4,000 marriages later, the state supreme court forced the city to stop. And last August, the court nullified the marriages.

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: We just celebrated their one-year anniversary, but this is, in some respects, an even greater celebration, because every single one of those couples didn't come here just for themselves, but came here to make a statement.

DORNIN: Gay marriage proponents point to the California Supreme Court's decision in 1948 to overturn laws prohibiting inter racial marriage, and say this ruling is a major step in that same direction.

But it could take months or years for the issue to be decided. Gaffney and Lewis say no matter what the court says, they're in it for better or for worse.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check in on weather. Jacqui Jeras handling that for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: President Bush is meeting with one Mideast ally today. King Abdullah of Jordan is in Washington to talk Middle East reform. We'll have a live report from the White House about the two leaders' meeting. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)


Aired March 15, 2005 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."
Another rise in world oil prices could mean more pain at the pump for drivers in the U.S. Oil prices increased today despite the possibility that OPEC might increase production. That price was hovering around $55 a barrel, approaching a record set last October.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan weighs in on the future of Social Security. Greenspan live on Capitol Hill this hour testifying before a Senate committee. In recent weeks the Fed chairman has spoken out in favor of private accounts with Social Security, but, he says, putting Social Security on sound, financial footing is the most urgent concern.

Iraqi police say a suicide car bomb explosion killed a child and wounded four other people in northern Baghdad today. The attack happened in a busy area where Iraq's Ministry of Health, a number of hospitals and several schools are located.

Federal authorities have charged 18 people in an alleged weapons smuggling plot. A live picture from New York there. They're accused of a scheme to smuggle grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons into the U.S. The Feds are expected to release more information on the yearlong investigation this hour.

We're looking at just a minute past 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, just past 8:00 a.m. for those of you joining us from the West. Thank you.

Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan.

Up first this hour, the suspect in the deadly courthouse rampage goes before a judge for the first time since his capture. But Brian Nichols has not been charged yet in the shooting spree that left four people dead.

Our Kimberly Osias is outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta where Nichols went before a magistrate within the last hour -- Kimberly.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, he never even left the jail. Thirty-three-year-old Brian Nichols came down seven floors, came down to a cinderblock room, windowless, looking quite a bit different than he did the last time when he appeared in the Fulton County Courthouse when he was in his own clothes and unfettered by any kind of shackles. As you can see, he was in blue, attire blue prison garb, bound tightly at the waist with shackles and also at the feet. He was surrounded by deputies. This time they didn't want to take any kind of chance that there would be any kind of escape. Flashbulbs were roaring and the magistrate judge, Frank Cox, read Mr. Nichols his rights.

Now, this is interesting, Daryn. He is being held on charges that he will never even be prosecuted on. We are talking about those original rape charges and aggravated sodomy charges and false imprisonment charges.

Although a mistrial was declared yesterday on those rape charges, what this essentially does is it allows prosecutors to keep Mr. Nichols behind lock and key while they dot their I's and cross their Ts in the case. They want to make sure that they have established a very strong, a very firm murder case against Mr. Nichols.

Now, for -- the whole hearing lasted all of about 10 minutes, very, very brief. And some of what we expected, no bond, has been placed. And for his part, Mr. Nichols really appeared somewhat emotionless -- Daryn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ADAMS, PUBLIC DEFENDER: I agreed to do so. At this time we're not going to make any further public statements.

This is a time of grief and mourning for the courthouse community, for all the victims. We are going to respect that.

There will be plenty of time for us later to lay out our legal arguments and motions and to examine the evidence and search for understanding in this case. But it is not the time now and I appreciate you all respecting that.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: And that was Chris Adams, I believe, speaking on behalf of Mr. Nichols. Not making any kind of statement at this juncture. Prosecutors are expected to have their formal charges within 30 days or possibly less -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kimberly Osias outside the jail there in downtown Atlanta. Thank you for that.

Let's get some legal analysis here and bring in Kendall Coffey, who was with us in the last hour as we were watching the first tape of that hearing.

Kendall, thanks for staying with us.

KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, thanks for including me, Daryn. KAGAN: Let's go through a list of questions here about timing. First of all, not surprising that murder charges were not filed today. That's not what we were expecting.

COFFEY: No. And think of all the different charges they've got to consider. Four homicides, that's about as horrible as it gets. But there's also carjacking, there's assaults, there's an abduction. And with each of those crimes they have to figure out, do they want to charge him, do the victims want to cooperate, is it part of an overall package that will assure the maximum amount justice in the reasonably briefest period of time available?

KAGAN: And so what kind of time frame would you expect to see?

COFFEY: Well, they're saying 30 days because they don't want to be seen as delaying unnecessarily. But I think their hope has got to be to get some charges brought within two weeks, if possible.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Brian Nichols isn't going anywhere. Bail denied, that wasn't a surprise, even though that was part of the official proceedings this morning.

COFFEY: And it's ironic, because in the midst of all these dramatic, intensely emotional events, the hearing itself is something of a non-event. But we did see a couple of things.

We saw a judge bending over backward to make sure he's as fair as possible. We saw the defense team already beginning to bend some of the procedural rules because they've got to make every argument they can. We saw the prosecution basically going by the book, being methodical.

There were perhaps some mistakes in the manhunt. There are not going to be a whole lot of mistakes in the prosecution if they can do anything to avoid them.

KAGAN: I think the first thing out of defense attorney's Chris Adams' mouth had to do with jurisdiction. The judge here from Cobb County, the next county over from Fulton County, this cannot -- there's no way, Kendall, that this can be tried here in Atlanta.

COFFEY: Absolutely no way. The judicial, the legal community was traumatized as we know it. That kind of emotional impact reached throughout the community. Certainly no judge in that locale is available, and I think you can expect a venue transfer out of the Atlanta area.

KAGAN: I think we can also expect we'll be talking with you a number of times about this case as it proceeds. Kendall Coffey, thank you.

COFFEY: Hey, thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Now, we heard Kendall talk about this a little bit, that authorities here in Atlanta are facing criticism over whether better security might have prevented the courthouse rampage. Among the signals that might have been missed, a silent alarm was activated by the staff for the judge who was shot and killed. Morse Diggs of our affiliate WAGA has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORSE DIGGS, REPORTER, WAGA (voice-over): Upstairs from where this memorial is displayed, the judges who sit in Fulton County are wondering if the death toll blamed on Brian Nichols could have been minimized or prevented altogether. The legal staff for murdered Judge Rowland Barnes made a secret call for help, but deputies over a span of 10 minutes did not come running to their aid.

That revelation came during a security discussion led by Chief Doris Downs (ph) with all of the other judges and the district attorney.

(on camera): All of the courtrooms have hidden silent alarms, as do the judges' offices. Now, I've been shown where those alarms are, but for reasons you'll understand, we're not going to show them to you. The question in this case is that for several minutes defendant Brian Nichols was running around Judge Barnes' office. This was before any of the shooting, and Judge Barnes' staff did activate one of those silent alarms.

LT. CLARENCE HUBER, FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Something -- something very bad did happen.

DIGGS (voice-over): We put the question "what happened" to the sheriff's spokesperson, but first, some background and new pictures.

(on camera): I want to show you how the trouble all began. This is a hallway here adjacent to a courtroom that leads to the prison elevator, the elevator you see right over there.

Now, Deputy Hall had to bring Nichols up on that elevator. And she did that in order to bring him over to a holding room. That area right there. The reason for that, that's where he changed his clothes.

Nichols was handcuffed. The deputy had to release the handcuffs. And as she did, he got his arm free and lunged at the deputy.

(voice-over): A security control deputy did not see the few seconds captured on video. Police say Nichols, who had gotten the deputy's gun, was loose. He terrorized the judge's staff while Barnes attended to a matter inside the courtroom.

(on camera): One more thing about the alarms. They have to go to a central location, somewhere to say we've got something that's not quite right in this section of the courthouse. Do we -- do we know what happened there on that end?

HUBER: We're going to determine what kind type of alarm it was. Was it an alarm activated with any particular room? Was it an alarm activated by radio?

DIGGS (voice-over): The facts, he says, still must be gathered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report coming from Morse Diggs of CNN affiliate WAGA.

Right now we go to New York and join a news conference. Eighteen people arrested in a sting with weapons trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade launchers and shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons. Let's listen.

DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: ... FBI Special Agent Mario Pisano (ph) and New York City Police Department detective Lenny Zenski (ph).

This morning, FBI agents, together with New York City Police Department detectives who are members of the Eurasian Organized Crime Taskforce arrested 17 of 18 defendants who have been charged in a 61- page complaint in U.S. district court with international arms trafficking. As part of the overall scheme, five of the defendants were charged with plotting to import into the United States various military weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, which are known as RPGs, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, known as SAMs, and those were from Armenia, the Republic of Georgia, and another eastern European countries.

The complaint charges the defendants in four counts, including conspiracies for unlicensed dealing in firearms and destructive devices, interstate shipment of those firearms and destructive devices, which included machine guns and mines, and the unlawful possession of those firearms, including the unlawful possession by illegal aliens. The yearlong investigation was made through a series of wiretaps and through the work of a confidential informant who essentially posed as an arms broker for terrorists.

Unfazed by the informant's purported clientele, the defendants established a productive business relationship with the informant, selling and delivering to him throughout the continental United States, in Los Angeles, in Fort Lauderdale, and New York, eight military-type assault rifles and machine guns, including AK-47s and an Uzi.

Now, this case really has two levels. On the first level, the defendants Artur Solomnyan Christian Dewer Spies, Joseb Kharabadze, Joseph Colpani and Michel Demare are charged with conspiring to obtain various weaponry for sale to this confidential informant. The 13 other defendants are charged with weapons trafficking for their roles in supplying Solomonyan and Spies with the machine guns and other assault weapons that were sold to the confidential informant and that were delivered to storage facilities that unbeknownst to the defendants had been obtained by the FBI in various locations throughout the country, including here in New York.

From the business relationship the confidential informant forged with the defendants was borne an even broader scheme. And that scheme was the second level of the investigation, and it involved a scheme to import and sell to the confidential informant for an excess of $2 million two surface-to-air heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles, an anti-tank guided missile and launcher, a 120-millimeter mortar launcher, anti-tank guns and fully automatic AK-74 and AK-S assault rifles. Other weapons were promised by the defendants to follow in the near future.

As part of their scheme, the defendants Solomonyan and Spies showed the C.I. recent photographs of the weaponry they planned to import and sell to the informant. Some of those photographs are displayed here today to my right and to my left. The captions on the photos are ours. The photos are the defendants'.

At this point in our investigation it appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry through contacts they had developed in eastern European military circles. We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.

As one of the final stages of the investigation, the defendant Solomonyan and Spies told the confidential informant that they needed green cards in order to travel overseas to facilitate the closing of the deal. It was at that meeting between the confidential informant and these defendants when the supposed delivery of the green cards was to take place when the first of the arrests were made here in New York last night.

Others of the defendants, many of whom are also illegal aliens, were arrested in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

The confidential informant and the defendants had frequent contact throughout the course of the one-year long investigation. And during the course of their business relationship, the defendant Solomonyan suggested to the confidential informant that he could obtain enriched uranium for possible use by terrorists in the subway system.

There was never, however, any such uranium. Let me emphasize this, that throughout this investigation, through our eavesdropping of some 15,000 conversations by the defendants, went through countless surveillance's 24/7 by the agents and investigators, we did not see any indication that the defendants had any capacity or ability to obtain uranium or other chemical or biological weapon material. It didn't happen.

Today's case represents the termination of illegal activity by several arms traffickers throughout the four corners of the United States. And it has disrupted a potential overseas pipeline for dangerous military weaponry to come into the hands of civilians or even terrorists.

Now, before taking your questions I'm going to turn the podium over to the special agent charge of the criminal division of the New York office of the FBI, Andy Arena.

KAGAN: We've been listening in to U.S. Attorney David Kelley in New York talking about an undercover sting operation which he says nabbed 18 people that are now charged with weapons smuggling. The list of things that they were looking to sell and buy, just eye- popping, including grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons, and to bring those from Russia over into the U.S.

They say this investigation continues. They're going to look overseas for contacts there. But once again, this undercover sting operation leading to the arrest of 18 people.

It's all part of our "Security Watch." CNN is keeping you up to date on your safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A quick break now. We are back after this.

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KAGAN: We want to -- let's show you this live picture we are showing from out of Miami. Unusual standoff here.

We have a man on a roof in Miami. Apparently, police say the man reportedly broke into a home next door to this home, demanded water, then left the house, climbed up on this roof, and he won't come down. He's not wearing any pants.

Stuck on the roof. Won't come down. Demanding water.

We will continue to follow and monitor out of Miami. Our thanks to WPLG, our affiliate there, providing us our pictures and our information.

Susan Lisovicz having a much better day at work at the New York Stock Exchange, where stocks are mixed.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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KAGAN: To California now. Michael Jackson's accuser faces another day of cross-examination. The trial should resume in about 10 or 15 minutes in Santa Maria, California.

Defense lawyers aggressively went after inconsistencies in the boy's story on Monday. The teen admits he told a school administrator nothing sexual happened between him and the pop star, and he conceded he lied on a videotape in which he and his family praised Jackson.

Prosecutors allege the pop star molested the boy four times at Neverland Ranch in 2003. Jackson denies that.

Up north, to San Francisco now, conservative groups planning to appeal a court ruling on same-sex marriage. The judge says California's ban is unconstitutional.

The story now from CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Stewart Gaffney and John Lewis found out there was a ruling, they rushed down to where it all began, San Francisco City Hall. One of the first 10 same-sex couples to be married here a little over a year ago, they were part of two lawsuits aimed at overturning the state's ban on gay marriage.

STUART GAFFNEY, SAME-SEX PARTNER: We couldn't ask for a better anniversary present, and it's a beautiful day. We're so happy.

DORNIN: Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before. The decision went on to say that people have the fundamental right to choose who they want to marry. No way, say opponents who call the ruling a great disappointment. An appeal? Of course.

TERRY THOMPSON, ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND: What this does, it puts rocket fuel under this federal marriage amendment, and I think that it's going to be people all across the country that are very upset about this and will energize them to promote the federal marriage amendment.

DORNIN: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ignited the firestorm February of 2004, when he told a city clerk to give same-sex couples marriage licenses. Four weeks and 4,000 marriages later, the state supreme court forced the city to stop. And last August, the court nullified the marriages.

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: We just celebrated their one-year anniversary, but this is, in some respects, an even greater celebration, because every single one of those couples didn't come here just for themselves, but came here to make a statement.

DORNIN: Gay marriage proponents point to the California Supreme Court's decision in 1948 to overturn laws prohibiting inter racial marriage, and say this ruling is a major step in that same direction.

But it could take months or years for the issue to be decided. Gaffney and Lewis say no matter what the court says, they're in it for better or for worse.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

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KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check in on weather. Jacqui Jeras handling that for us.

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KAGAN: President Bush is meeting with one Mideast ally today. King Abdullah of Jordan is in Washington to talk Middle East reform. We'll have a live report from the White House about the two leaders' meeting. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)