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CNN Live Today
Bush Picks Top Commander; Moussaoui Plea; Violence in Iraq
Aired April 22, 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR:. We do have a lot of news that we're covering this morning. But first, this is what's happening. Any moment, in fact, President Bush is going to announce his nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It will be current Vice Chairman General Peter Pace. And if confirmed by the Senate, Pace would become the first U.S. Marine Corps officer to serve in that office.
A suicide car bomb has exploded outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Five people were killed and at least 25 others wounded. The BMW was detonated just as worshippers were leaving after Friday prayers.
And we have new video of what is said to be the commercial helicopter being shot down in Iraq by insurgents yesterday. The Arabic language television network al Jazeera said it received the video from the Army of the Mujahideen. The company that operated that helicopter says an apparent survivor, seen being executed, was one of the craft's Bulgarian commanders. Six of the 11 people killed were Americans.
And this fiery crash on the New Jersey Turnpike has left three people dead and snarled rush hour. The early morning collision involved three tractor-trailers, a car and a commuter van in Mansfield Township. The cause of that crash is under investigation.
Good morning. I'm Carol Lin. Daryn Kagan has the date off today.
President Bush names his choice for the nation's top military officer. He is expected to come out at any moment now to announce his choice for Joint Chiefs chairman. We're keeping an eye on that picture. Mr. Bush will nominate Marine General Peter Pace.
and while we wait for the president we're going to get some background on his choice. Elaine Quijano is standing by at the White House. Our Pentagon Barbara Starr, also joining me this morning.
First, let's start with you, Elaine, at the White House. This is a first of many.
ELAINE QUIJANO CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is. We should point out, Carol, this is announcement does not come as a surprise. CNN first reported this a couple of days ago. but senior administration officials here at the White House say that President Bush has worked closely with General Peter Pace and believes that he is the best person for this position. Currently, Peter Pace, as you mentioned, is the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. and if he is confirmed by the Senate, General Pace would serve as the senior military adviser to both President Bush, as well as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. So this selection an indication this is someone that the White House certainly feels comfortable with. and White House officials say that, in his role as vice chairman, they feel that he has done a, quote, "great job" in that capacity. So President Bush today expected to talk about the job General Pace has done so far.
Officials also say the president will praise the work of the outgoing chairman, Air Force General Richard Myers who is expected to retire this year. Of course, General Myers and General Pace have worked closely together, quite closely together. That announcement, Carol, said to take place a short time from now. White House officials say that among those in attendance will be General Peter Pace's wife, as well as his daughter -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks Elaine. Stay right there. Once again, any moment now we're waiting for that announcement.
But Barbara Starr, let me go to you for a little bit of analysis. what stands out to you about this nomination?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things to understand about General Pace is he is a combat veteran of Vietnam. and there are just a few of them left on active duty at the senior levels. General Pace, as a young Marine, fought on the ground in Vietnam in the battle of Wei City so many years ago. One of the most devastating battles for the U.S. Marine Corps, when they lost a great number of troops. That was a forming event in his military life. He still stays in close touch with his fellow Marines, who fought in that battle of Wei City so many years ago. Vietnam is a shaping event.
The other shaping event in General Pace's life was, indeed, Somalia. He served there twice, leading the Marines and returning as a deputy commander after the disaster in Mogadishu, the Blackhawk Down incident.
But the thing that a lot of people are watching now about General Pace and about this nomination, Carol, is whether General Pace will ever disagree with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Both General Pace and General Myers, the current chairman, are very well known around this building in the Pentagon for being in agreement. in public agreement at least with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. We have never seen them in disagreement, if you will.
Now, their aides, they're very loyal aides, say that these men choose to have any disagreements offer the secretary their military advice very privately. but we certainly, in the news media, have never seen them be anything other than 100 percent loyal, and 100 percent in agreement with Don Rumsfeld. So the question is whether that will continue to be the case -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Steady as she goes perhaps. We'll see what the president has to say, as we keep our eye on the picture out of the Roosevelt Room. Nobody at the podium yet. But we'll come back to our correspondents and the announcement in particular live once it happens.
In the meantime, we want to turn to news about your security. Zacarias Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in the 9/11 conspiracy. He plans to plead guilty this afternoon if things go as planned. and that is a big if. But we've learned to expect the unexpected in this case.
CNN's Bob Franken is outside federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Frankly, Bob, what are the odds that he is going to actually stick to this plea agreement? Because he technically can change his mind.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he has a tendency to do that. He has a tendency to play games with the court. We know that he's had a tendency to express in a variety of scathing ways his contempt for the court, for the United States, for everybody opposed to the cause.
He admits to being a member of al Qaeda. and we're told that he wants to plead guilty to the six charges against them. but four of them hold the possibility of the death penalty. conspiracy charges that, of course, grow out of the September 11 attacks. Now, his lawyers, with whom he's had a contentious relationship, are adamantly opposed to this guilty plea. and they are expected to take on the judge's decision, who she is now ruled after hearing the other day that he is mentally competent, something she has questioned before.
The lawyers are going to say that should have another hearing. So that could put another crimp in things. There could also be some sort of change on the part of Zacarias Moussaoui.
But if he does proceed, we then get to the next question, which is does he have a death penalty? And that would be something that would probably be figured out by a jury, although the judge could decide she wanted to impose her view of things. so a lot of it is up in the air, but it all depends on whether Mr. Moussaoui follows the script he says he's going to follow and makes his guilty plea today -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Bob. You'll be watching things from us at the courthouse today.
Right now though, I want to turn to CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey, written about the case, the Moussaoui case. He joins me now from Miami to talk about today's hearing.
Kendall, you actually wrote a piece for "The Wall Street Journal." you predicted the complications in a criminal court hearing such as this in federal court. Your argument is these cases should go to a war tribunal because just about anything can happen in this legal system. KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Anything can happen. and a foreign terrorist coming to this country to commit acts of sabotage really is a very fair candidate for mail tear tribunal; precisely as the Nazis were in World War II. And on the other hand, Carol, what we've seen is all of the convolutions in this kind of case make it very, very difficult to fit into a normal concept of a criminal trial before a jury inside the United States.
LIN: Well, what wouldn't have happened in a military tribunal? Give me a comparison, a quick comparison.
COFFEY: Well, I think first of all and very critically, you would not have to deal in the same way with the issue of what is the defendant's right of access to witnesses and information that may be confidential, that may implicate national security? One of the big issues in this case is that Zacarias Moussaoui wanted access to Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, who is being held incommunicado, one of the leading al Qaeda terrorists.
And normally, a U.S. defendant would have the right to interview witnesses in government possession who have perhaps relevant information. It's been a huge stumbling block and a very difficult issue here in this civilian court.
LIN: And now, the possibility that he may actually plead guilty to charges that carry the death penalty. let's start with his own attorneys, all right? His own attorneys are now saying no, we don't want him to do this. In fact, they are going to be filing a petition in court to try to stop him from doing just that. What is likely to happen when your -- when his own attorneys are working against a plea that the client is supposed to be making at 3:00 this afternoon Eastern Time?
COFFEY: Boy, you use the word "possible" about a plea agreement. Nobody has any idea what's going to happen. Certainly what the judge has got to do is say this is ultimately Zacarias Moussaoui's decision. But With the attorneys yelling and kicking, and screaming and saying nobody would possibility plead guilty and still guarantee that they're going to face the death penalty.
What she's got to do is make sure that every possible thing has been done to test his voluntariness, to test his mental capacity. To make sure he truly understands that if he says, "I did it, I did it" to these specific things he's heading into the death penalty phase in front of a jury, which is going to hear from a lot of victims of 9/11. And a presentation that is going to horrify anyone in that courtroom.
LIN: All right. Given that Moussaoui has a history of changing his mind, playing with the legal system, is it possible he has now set up this dynamic where his own attorneys are saying no, no, no, you are not mentally competent to stand trial. The federal judge says oh, no. He's mentally competent to make this plea. And therefore, he sets up, though he's willing to plead guilty, he sets up a dynamic for an appeal.
COFFEY: Well, you know, he may seem crazy, but he's not dumb. And there have been these weird threads of cold-blooded logic through his hate-filled ramblings. So anything is possible here. Again at the end of this, for all we know, he wants to be a martyr. he wants some occasion to turn this into a political trial. and maybe in effect, crashing himself against the walls of the U.S. justice, in what would amount to a suicide, political play for propagandizing his cause around the world.
LIN: Is he going to get a chance to speak beyond pleading guilty this afternoon? Is he going to have a platform to do just that?
COFFEY: I think the judge is going to have to really hear him out to make sure it's a valid and fully voluntary plea. She's going to cut him short if he starts running into this death to the U.S., death to Israel stuff, which he has a tendency to run into at these hearings. But she's certainly got to give him a very full opportunity to be heard on this before she allows him to enter a plea of guilty.
LIN: So why is there uncertainly then on whether the judge actually imposed the death penalty if he makes this plea?
COFFEY: Well, there's no uncertainty that he's going to face the death penalty. but then it's going to into the death penalty phase. in which one of the things that will be looked at will be how significant was his actual role in 9/11. As I talked about a moment ago, you're also going to have victim impact testimony. And there were 38 witnesses providing victim impact testimony about the horrors of the Oklahoma City in the trial of Timothy McVeigh. We can only imagine the dimensions of victim impact testimony describing the horrors of 9/11.
LIN: So how long is this going to take?
COFFEY: It would be weeks. and it would be a very, very major presentation in itself; one that would have a lot of us relive the worst moments.
LIN: Kendall, thank you very much. Anticipating that court hearing 3:00 this afternoon. We'll see what happens.
In the meantime, let's go live to the Roosevelt Room at the White House, President Bush nominating his new Joint Chiefs of Staff.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Good morning.
As president, my most solemn duty is protecting the American people. In meeting this responsibility, one of the most important decisions I make is the appointment of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Today I'm pleased to announce my decision to nominate General Peter Pace to take on this vital job.
When confirmed by the Senate, General Pete Pace will be the first Marine in history to hold this vital position.
He knows the job well. For the past three and a half years, he has served under our superb secretary of defense, Don Rumsfeld.
He has been the deputy to one of the most outstanding chairman our nation has ever had, General Richard Myers.
As my most senior military adviser, General Myers has helped prepare our military forces so they can meet the threats of this new century.
This is a huge task, even in peacetime. Dick Myers did it while defending America from one of the most determined and vicious enemies we have ever faced.
On General Myers' watch, we toppled two brutal dictatorships, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and liberated more than 50 million people.
By removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, we have made America safer and put a troubled region on the path to freedom and peace.
I want to thank General Dick Myers for his able service over four decades and his tireless dedication to duty and country.
And I also thank his wife, Mary Jo.
Dick Myers has had four jobs with four stars, but the distinction that he is proudest of is not a military one. Last year the National Father's Day Council named him father of the year.
I'm confident that the great work that General Dick Myers set in motion at the Pentagon will continue under the leadership of General Pete Pace.
The first thing America needs to know about Pete Pace is that he is a Marine. To the American people, Marine is shorthand for "can- do." And I'm counting on Pete Pace to bring the Marine spirit to these new responsibilities.
General Pete Pace's life is a story of the American dream. His father was an immigrant from Italy.
Pete Pace was born in Brooklyn, he grew up in New Jersey and he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.
He was a rifle platoon leader in Vietnam. He commanded Marines in Somalia. And he went on to command U.S. Marine forces in the Atlantic and became the head of the U.S. Southern Command.
Tells you something about Pete Pace's devotion to his troops that under the glass on his desk at the Pentagon he keeps a photo of Lance Corporal Guido Farinaro. He was the first Marine he lost in combat in Vietnam.
I've come to rely on Peter Pace's wisdom, judgment and sense of humor.
I will continue to rely on those qualities as he serves our nation as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We'll need his wisdom and determination as we continue to transform our armed forces so we can defeat today's enemies while preparing ourselves for military challenges we will face as this new century unfolds.
General Pete Pace also understands the critical role that military families play in the success of our armed forces. And that's because he has a great military family himself.
I'm pleased to welcome his wife, Lynne, and daughter, Tiffany, who have joined us today. They are proud of Pete, and they should be.
Because he has served in the job, General Pete Pace also understands the important role that the vice chairman plays.
Today I'm pleased to announce that I have nominated an outstanding military officer, Admiral Ed Giambastiani.
He shall be known as Admiral G.
(LAUGHTER)
Anyway he's going to be the vice chairman.
(LAUGHTER)
In the past two and a half years, Admiral G., as his friends and now the president calls him, has been serving our nation while wearing two important hats.
As commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, he has been transforming our armed forces so they can better work together to defeat the threats of the 21st century.
As the first supreme allied commander for transformation, he's been leading the effort to bring reform to NATO military, so our alliance is prepared for the threats of tomorrow.
Admiral G. is joined today by his wife, Cindy, daughter, Cathie, and his son, Pete, a Navy lieutenant, and Pete's wife, Jennifer.
I appreciate the willingness of these men and their families to take on these new assignments in an extraordinary moment in our nation's history.
We still face ruthless adversaries who wish to attack our country. But with the leadership of men like these, the outcome of the struggle is assured: America will defeat freedom's enemies and ensure the security of our country for generations to come.
I am honored to bring to the podium General Pete Pace.
(APPLAUSE)
GENERAL PETER PACE (USMC), NOMINATED TO BE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thank you. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary and General Myers, I thank each of you individually and collectively for your trust and faith in me.
This is an incredible moment for me. It is both exhilarating and humbling.
It's exhilarating because I have the opportunity, if confirmed by the Senate, to continue to serve this great nation. It's humbling because I know the challenges ahead are formidable.
But I have great faith in our ability to meet those challenges, for both personal and professional reasons.
On the personal side is my family: my wife, Lynne, with whom I share our 34th wedding anniversary this Sunday; along with her, our two children, Tiffany, who is with us and who just by being anywhere near me brings great joy to my life, and our son Captain Peter Pace, United States Marines Corp Reserve, and his wife, Lindsey, who could not be here today. And my mom, who goes to church every Sunday and lights candles and burns the church down while she prays that I might be on the path I should be on and be safe.
But professionally, as the president pointed out, we have been fortunate to have an incredible chairman for the last three and a half years. And it has been my great honor to be his vice chairman -- and he is still our chairman. And I look forward to continuing to serve him in this nation as his vice chairman.
But if confirmed, I am delighted that I'll have the opportunity to work side-by-side with Admiral Ed G.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Thanks for bailing me out.
(LAUGHTER)
PACE: I am trainable, Mr. President.
(LAUGHTER)
Admiral G. and his wife, Cindy, and family are incredible Americans.
He brings great intellect and energy and focus to the job.
And I look forward to being shipmates with him as we serve this country.
But the fundamental reason why I have great faith in our ability to overcome whatever challenges lie ahead is the fact that we have the world's best men and women serving in our armed forces. Active, Guard, Reserve, civilian: they simply deliver every time our nation calls. And I'm proud and I thank you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to continue to serve them and our commander in chief, if confirmed.
And I thank you all today for being here.
(APPLAUSE)
ADMIRAL EDMUND GIAMBASTIANI, NOMINATED TO BE VICE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Mr. President...
BUSH: Yes, sir?
GIAMBASTIANI: ... Secretary Rumsfeld, Mr. Vice President, General Dick Myers, and of course General Pace, Cindy and I thank you for this great honor and this opportunity to continue to serve our nation.
For 35 years, I've had the privilege of wearing this Navy uniform. For me and for my family it has been a wonderful experience, and also a great honor.
It's a singular thrill for me to be able to work for you, sir, with Secretary Rumsfeld again, to continue that relationship, and also General Pete Pace -- obviously pending confirmation -- so that we can work on the challenges and the security situations that face our nation in the future.
GIAMBASTIANI: I look forward to working and continuing to serve on behalf of those wonderful human beings, those members of our armed services, those people in uniform. They are doing truly remarkable things around the world every single day, and they deserve nothing less than our full support.
Mr. President, there are a lot of challenges ahead. I look forward to working with you, General Pace, Secretary Rumsfeld and this great team in the future to meet those challenges.
Thank you, sir.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Good job.
Thank you, Pete.
Thank you all for coming.
LIN: You have just heard from the president's nominee for joint chairman of Joint Chiefs of Chaff -- Staff, excuse me. General Peter Pace, he would be replacing Air Force General Richard Myers, who is retiring at the end of September. Peter Pace bringing a breadth of military experience, combat experience from Vietnam, as well as Somalia the Southern Command to the job. He's been serving as vice chairman would. he become the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in the nation if confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A lot of talk about family, support, and the importance of family in this job as well.
We're going to be hearing much more about this nomination as it heads towards the Senate.
Also today, we're going to hearing about killer tornadoes in the Midwest. Orelon Sidney tracking all that action. A series of tornadoes shuts down Kansas's International Airport. More on that after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In Iraq, there has been a recent surge in violence. This morning, we are seeing new video purported to show a helicopter being shot down and a survivor executed.
More on that story now from Baghdad and CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, let's start with the video that came out today that was shown on the al Jazeera, the Arabic television network al Jazeera. And what you see in that video is a Russian-made helicopter off in the distance flying very low. Then you hear two loud thuds. and that helicopter bursts into flames and falls to the earth.
Now, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of that video but it follows another batch of video that came out yesterday. that video providing what purports to be a closer view of the wreckage of that commercial helicopter that went down on Thursday.
Now, the U.S. military has said that it has recovered the bodies of all 11 individuals that were on that commercial helicopter. That includes six Americans, three Bulgarians and two Fijians.
Moving on today in Baghdad, just outside a Shiite mosque after Friday prayers here, a suicide bomber detonating himself. So far the casualty figure is at least five killed, 24 wounded -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad with that, the latest violence. We're going to hear more about this video today as well, whether it's true and what it means as far as what the insurgents are up to.
In the meantime, right here in the United States, violence of a different sort. tornadoes have ripped through the Midwest and now they are headed to the southeast. You're looking at a weather- tracking map. Orelon Sidney is going to break down all of the colors for you. She's got the forecast.
And is the Catholic Church divided, especially right here in the United States? And if so, over which issues? And is it losing members? Still to come in the next hour, my interview with Cardinal Roger Mahoney. He's going to give us some insight on where the church is headed with a new pope in charge.
And first, she was seen on a cheese sandwich in Miami. and now, she's on a wall in Chicago. Still to come, the Virgin Mary sure does get around.
And later, what was an emotional separation? But they are back together again. The musician who lost her violin. She joins me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 22, 2005 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR:. We do have a lot of news that we're covering this morning. But first, this is what's happening. Any moment, in fact, President Bush is going to announce his nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It will be current Vice Chairman General Peter Pace. And if confirmed by the Senate, Pace would become the first U.S. Marine Corps officer to serve in that office.
A suicide car bomb has exploded outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Five people were killed and at least 25 others wounded. The BMW was detonated just as worshippers were leaving after Friday prayers.
And we have new video of what is said to be the commercial helicopter being shot down in Iraq by insurgents yesterday. The Arabic language television network al Jazeera said it received the video from the Army of the Mujahideen. The company that operated that helicopter says an apparent survivor, seen being executed, was one of the craft's Bulgarian commanders. Six of the 11 people killed were Americans.
And this fiery crash on the New Jersey Turnpike has left three people dead and snarled rush hour. The early morning collision involved three tractor-trailers, a car and a commuter van in Mansfield Township. The cause of that crash is under investigation.
Good morning. I'm Carol Lin. Daryn Kagan has the date off today.
President Bush names his choice for the nation's top military officer. He is expected to come out at any moment now to announce his choice for Joint Chiefs chairman. We're keeping an eye on that picture. Mr. Bush will nominate Marine General Peter Pace.
and while we wait for the president we're going to get some background on his choice. Elaine Quijano is standing by at the White House. Our Pentagon Barbara Starr, also joining me this morning.
First, let's start with you, Elaine, at the White House. This is a first of many.
ELAINE QUIJANO CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is. We should point out, Carol, this is announcement does not come as a surprise. CNN first reported this a couple of days ago. but senior administration officials here at the White House say that President Bush has worked closely with General Peter Pace and believes that he is the best person for this position. Currently, Peter Pace, as you mentioned, is the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. and if he is confirmed by the Senate, General Pace would serve as the senior military adviser to both President Bush, as well as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. So this selection an indication this is someone that the White House certainly feels comfortable with. and White House officials say that, in his role as vice chairman, they feel that he has done a, quote, "great job" in that capacity. So President Bush today expected to talk about the job General Pace has done so far.
Officials also say the president will praise the work of the outgoing chairman, Air Force General Richard Myers who is expected to retire this year. Of course, General Myers and General Pace have worked closely together, quite closely together. That announcement, Carol, said to take place a short time from now. White House officials say that among those in attendance will be General Peter Pace's wife, as well as his daughter -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks Elaine. Stay right there. Once again, any moment now we're waiting for that announcement.
But Barbara Starr, let me go to you for a little bit of analysis. what stands out to you about this nomination?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things to understand about General Pace is he is a combat veteran of Vietnam. and there are just a few of them left on active duty at the senior levels. General Pace, as a young Marine, fought on the ground in Vietnam in the battle of Wei City so many years ago. One of the most devastating battles for the U.S. Marine Corps, when they lost a great number of troops. That was a forming event in his military life. He still stays in close touch with his fellow Marines, who fought in that battle of Wei City so many years ago. Vietnam is a shaping event.
The other shaping event in General Pace's life was, indeed, Somalia. He served there twice, leading the Marines and returning as a deputy commander after the disaster in Mogadishu, the Blackhawk Down incident.
But the thing that a lot of people are watching now about General Pace and about this nomination, Carol, is whether General Pace will ever disagree with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Both General Pace and General Myers, the current chairman, are very well known around this building in the Pentagon for being in agreement. in public agreement at least with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. We have never seen them in disagreement, if you will.
Now, their aides, they're very loyal aides, say that these men choose to have any disagreements offer the secretary their military advice very privately. but we certainly, in the news media, have never seen them be anything other than 100 percent loyal, and 100 percent in agreement with Don Rumsfeld. So the question is whether that will continue to be the case -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Steady as she goes perhaps. We'll see what the president has to say, as we keep our eye on the picture out of the Roosevelt Room. Nobody at the podium yet. But we'll come back to our correspondents and the announcement in particular live once it happens.
In the meantime, we want to turn to news about your security. Zacarias Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in the 9/11 conspiracy. He plans to plead guilty this afternoon if things go as planned. and that is a big if. But we've learned to expect the unexpected in this case.
CNN's Bob Franken is outside federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Frankly, Bob, what are the odds that he is going to actually stick to this plea agreement? Because he technically can change his mind.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he has a tendency to do that. He has a tendency to play games with the court. We know that he's had a tendency to express in a variety of scathing ways his contempt for the court, for the United States, for everybody opposed to the cause.
He admits to being a member of al Qaeda. and we're told that he wants to plead guilty to the six charges against them. but four of them hold the possibility of the death penalty. conspiracy charges that, of course, grow out of the September 11 attacks. Now, his lawyers, with whom he's had a contentious relationship, are adamantly opposed to this guilty plea. and they are expected to take on the judge's decision, who she is now ruled after hearing the other day that he is mentally competent, something she has questioned before.
The lawyers are going to say that should have another hearing. So that could put another crimp in things. There could also be some sort of change on the part of Zacarias Moussaoui.
But if he does proceed, we then get to the next question, which is does he have a death penalty? And that would be something that would probably be figured out by a jury, although the judge could decide she wanted to impose her view of things. so a lot of it is up in the air, but it all depends on whether Mr. Moussaoui follows the script he says he's going to follow and makes his guilty plea today -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Bob. You'll be watching things from us at the courthouse today.
Right now though, I want to turn to CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey, written about the case, the Moussaoui case. He joins me now from Miami to talk about today's hearing.
Kendall, you actually wrote a piece for "The Wall Street Journal." you predicted the complications in a criminal court hearing such as this in federal court. Your argument is these cases should go to a war tribunal because just about anything can happen in this legal system. KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Anything can happen. and a foreign terrorist coming to this country to commit acts of sabotage really is a very fair candidate for mail tear tribunal; precisely as the Nazis were in World War II. And on the other hand, Carol, what we've seen is all of the convolutions in this kind of case make it very, very difficult to fit into a normal concept of a criminal trial before a jury inside the United States.
LIN: Well, what wouldn't have happened in a military tribunal? Give me a comparison, a quick comparison.
COFFEY: Well, I think first of all and very critically, you would not have to deal in the same way with the issue of what is the defendant's right of access to witnesses and information that may be confidential, that may implicate national security? One of the big issues in this case is that Zacarias Moussaoui wanted access to Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, who is being held incommunicado, one of the leading al Qaeda terrorists.
And normally, a U.S. defendant would have the right to interview witnesses in government possession who have perhaps relevant information. It's been a huge stumbling block and a very difficult issue here in this civilian court.
LIN: And now, the possibility that he may actually plead guilty to charges that carry the death penalty. let's start with his own attorneys, all right? His own attorneys are now saying no, we don't want him to do this. In fact, they are going to be filing a petition in court to try to stop him from doing just that. What is likely to happen when your -- when his own attorneys are working against a plea that the client is supposed to be making at 3:00 this afternoon Eastern Time?
COFFEY: Boy, you use the word "possible" about a plea agreement. Nobody has any idea what's going to happen. Certainly what the judge has got to do is say this is ultimately Zacarias Moussaoui's decision. But With the attorneys yelling and kicking, and screaming and saying nobody would possibility plead guilty and still guarantee that they're going to face the death penalty.
What she's got to do is make sure that every possible thing has been done to test his voluntariness, to test his mental capacity. To make sure he truly understands that if he says, "I did it, I did it" to these specific things he's heading into the death penalty phase in front of a jury, which is going to hear from a lot of victims of 9/11. And a presentation that is going to horrify anyone in that courtroom.
LIN: All right. Given that Moussaoui has a history of changing his mind, playing with the legal system, is it possible he has now set up this dynamic where his own attorneys are saying no, no, no, you are not mentally competent to stand trial. The federal judge says oh, no. He's mentally competent to make this plea. And therefore, he sets up, though he's willing to plead guilty, he sets up a dynamic for an appeal.
COFFEY: Well, you know, he may seem crazy, but he's not dumb. And there have been these weird threads of cold-blooded logic through his hate-filled ramblings. So anything is possible here. Again at the end of this, for all we know, he wants to be a martyr. he wants some occasion to turn this into a political trial. and maybe in effect, crashing himself against the walls of the U.S. justice, in what would amount to a suicide, political play for propagandizing his cause around the world.
LIN: Is he going to get a chance to speak beyond pleading guilty this afternoon? Is he going to have a platform to do just that?
COFFEY: I think the judge is going to have to really hear him out to make sure it's a valid and fully voluntary plea. She's going to cut him short if he starts running into this death to the U.S., death to Israel stuff, which he has a tendency to run into at these hearings. But she's certainly got to give him a very full opportunity to be heard on this before she allows him to enter a plea of guilty.
LIN: So why is there uncertainly then on whether the judge actually imposed the death penalty if he makes this plea?
COFFEY: Well, there's no uncertainty that he's going to face the death penalty. but then it's going to into the death penalty phase. in which one of the things that will be looked at will be how significant was his actual role in 9/11. As I talked about a moment ago, you're also going to have victim impact testimony. And there were 38 witnesses providing victim impact testimony about the horrors of the Oklahoma City in the trial of Timothy McVeigh. We can only imagine the dimensions of victim impact testimony describing the horrors of 9/11.
LIN: So how long is this going to take?
COFFEY: It would be weeks. and it would be a very, very major presentation in itself; one that would have a lot of us relive the worst moments.
LIN: Kendall, thank you very much. Anticipating that court hearing 3:00 this afternoon. We'll see what happens.
In the meantime, let's go live to the Roosevelt Room at the White House, President Bush nominating his new Joint Chiefs of Staff.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Good morning.
As president, my most solemn duty is protecting the American people. In meeting this responsibility, one of the most important decisions I make is the appointment of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Today I'm pleased to announce my decision to nominate General Peter Pace to take on this vital job.
When confirmed by the Senate, General Pete Pace will be the first Marine in history to hold this vital position.
He knows the job well. For the past three and a half years, he has served under our superb secretary of defense, Don Rumsfeld.
He has been the deputy to one of the most outstanding chairman our nation has ever had, General Richard Myers.
As my most senior military adviser, General Myers has helped prepare our military forces so they can meet the threats of this new century.
This is a huge task, even in peacetime. Dick Myers did it while defending America from one of the most determined and vicious enemies we have ever faced.
On General Myers' watch, we toppled two brutal dictatorships, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and liberated more than 50 million people.
By removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, we have made America safer and put a troubled region on the path to freedom and peace.
I want to thank General Dick Myers for his able service over four decades and his tireless dedication to duty and country.
And I also thank his wife, Mary Jo.
Dick Myers has had four jobs with four stars, but the distinction that he is proudest of is not a military one. Last year the National Father's Day Council named him father of the year.
I'm confident that the great work that General Dick Myers set in motion at the Pentagon will continue under the leadership of General Pete Pace.
The first thing America needs to know about Pete Pace is that he is a Marine. To the American people, Marine is shorthand for "can- do." And I'm counting on Pete Pace to bring the Marine spirit to these new responsibilities.
General Pete Pace's life is a story of the American dream. His father was an immigrant from Italy.
Pete Pace was born in Brooklyn, he grew up in New Jersey and he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.
He was a rifle platoon leader in Vietnam. He commanded Marines in Somalia. And he went on to command U.S. Marine forces in the Atlantic and became the head of the U.S. Southern Command.
Tells you something about Pete Pace's devotion to his troops that under the glass on his desk at the Pentagon he keeps a photo of Lance Corporal Guido Farinaro. He was the first Marine he lost in combat in Vietnam.
I've come to rely on Peter Pace's wisdom, judgment and sense of humor.
I will continue to rely on those qualities as he serves our nation as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We'll need his wisdom and determination as we continue to transform our armed forces so we can defeat today's enemies while preparing ourselves for military challenges we will face as this new century unfolds.
General Pete Pace also understands the critical role that military families play in the success of our armed forces. And that's because he has a great military family himself.
I'm pleased to welcome his wife, Lynne, and daughter, Tiffany, who have joined us today. They are proud of Pete, and they should be.
Because he has served in the job, General Pete Pace also understands the important role that the vice chairman plays.
Today I'm pleased to announce that I have nominated an outstanding military officer, Admiral Ed Giambastiani.
He shall be known as Admiral G.
(LAUGHTER)
Anyway he's going to be the vice chairman.
(LAUGHTER)
In the past two and a half years, Admiral G., as his friends and now the president calls him, has been serving our nation while wearing two important hats.
As commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, he has been transforming our armed forces so they can better work together to defeat the threats of the 21st century.
As the first supreme allied commander for transformation, he's been leading the effort to bring reform to NATO military, so our alliance is prepared for the threats of tomorrow.
Admiral G. is joined today by his wife, Cindy, daughter, Cathie, and his son, Pete, a Navy lieutenant, and Pete's wife, Jennifer.
I appreciate the willingness of these men and their families to take on these new assignments in an extraordinary moment in our nation's history.
We still face ruthless adversaries who wish to attack our country. But with the leadership of men like these, the outcome of the struggle is assured: America will defeat freedom's enemies and ensure the security of our country for generations to come.
I am honored to bring to the podium General Pete Pace.
(APPLAUSE)
GENERAL PETER PACE (USMC), NOMINATED TO BE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thank you. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary and General Myers, I thank each of you individually and collectively for your trust and faith in me.
This is an incredible moment for me. It is both exhilarating and humbling.
It's exhilarating because I have the opportunity, if confirmed by the Senate, to continue to serve this great nation. It's humbling because I know the challenges ahead are formidable.
But I have great faith in our ability to meet those challenges, for both personal and professional reasons.
On the personal side is my family: my wife, Lynne, with whom I share our 34th wedding anniversary this Sunday; along with her, our two children, Tiffany, who is with us and who just by being anywhere near me brings great joy to my life, and our son Captain Peter Pace, United States Marines Corp Reserve, and his wife, Lindsey, who could not be here today. And my mom, who goes to church every Sunday and lights candles and burns the church down while she prays that I might be on the path I should be on and be safe.
But professionally, as the president pointed out, we have been fortunate to have an incredible chairman for the last three and a half years. And it has been my great honor to be his vice chairman -- and he is still our chairman. And I look forward to continuing to serve him in this nation as his vice chairman.
But if confirmed, I am delighted that I'll have the opportunity to work side-by-side with Admiral Ed G.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Thanks for bailing me out.
(LAUGHTER)
PACE: I am trainable, Mr. President.
(LAUGHTER)
Admiral G. and his wife, Cindy, and family are incredible Americans.
He brings great intellect and energy and focus to the job.
And I look forward to being shipmates with him as we serve this country.
But the fundamental reason why I have great faith in our ability to overcome whatever challenges lie ahead is the fact that we have the world's best men and women serving in our armed forces. Active, Guard, Reserve, civilian: they simply deliver every time our nation calls. And I'm proud and I thank you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to continue to serve them and our commander in chief, if confirmed.
And I thank you all today for being here.
(APPLAUSE)
ADMIRAL EDMUND GIAMBASTIANI, NOMINATED TO BE VICE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Mr. President...
BUSH: Yes, sir?
GIAMBASTIANI: ... Secretary Rumsfeld, Mr. Vice President, General Dick Myers, and of course General Pace, Cindy and I thank you for this great honor and this opportunity to continue to serve our nation.
For 35 years, I've had the privilege of wearing this Navy uniform. For me and for my family it has been a wonderful experience, and also a great honor.
It's a singular thrill for me to be able to work for you, sir, with Secretary Rumsfeld again, to continue that relationship, and also General Pete Pace -- obviously pending confirmation -- so that we can work on the challenges and the security situations that face our nation in the future.
GIAMBASTIANI: I look forward to working and continuing to serve on behalf of those wonderful human beings, those members of our armed services, those people in uniform. They are doing truly remarkable things around the world every single day, and they deserve nothing less than our full support.
Mr. President, there are a lot of challenges ahead. I look forward to working with you, General Pace, Secretary Rumsfeld and this great team in the future to meet those challenges.
Thank you, sir.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Good job.
Thank you, Pete.
Thank you all for coming.
LIN: You have just heard from the president's nominee for joint chairman of Joint Chiefs of Chaff -- Staff, excuse me. General Peter Pace, he would be replacing Air Force General Richard Myers, who is retiring at the end of September. Peter Pace bringing a breadth of military experience, combat experience from Vietnam, as well as Somalia the Southern Command to the job. He's been serving as vice chairman would. he become the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in the nation if confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A lot of talk about family, support, and the importance of family in this job as well.
We're going to be hearing much more about this nomination as it heads towards the Senate.
Also today, we're going to hearing about killer tornadoes in the Midwest. Orelon Sidney tracking all that action. A series of tornadoes shuts down Kansas's International Airport. More on that after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In Iraq, there has been a recent surge in violence. This morning, we are seeing new video purported to show a helicopter being shot down and a survivor executed.
More on that story now from Baghdad and CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, let's start with the video that came out today that was shown on the al Jazeera, the Arabic television network al Jazeera. And what you see in that video is a Russian-made helicopter off in the distance flying very low. Then you hear two loud thuds. and that helicopter bursts into flames and falls to the earth.
Now, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of that video but it follows another batch of video that came out yesterday. that video providing what purports to be a closer view of the wreckage of that commercial helicopter that went down on Thursday.
Now, the U.S. military has said that it has recovered the bodies of all 11 individuals that were on that commercial helicopter. That includes six Americans, three Bulgarians and two Fijians.
Moving on today in Baghdad, just outside a Shiite mosque after Friday prayers here, a suicide bomber detonating himself. So far the casualty figure is at least five killed, 24 wounded -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad with that, the latest violence. We're going to hear more about this video today as well, whether it's true and what it means as far as what the insurgents are up to.
In the meantime, right here in the United States, violence of a different sort. tornadoes have ripped through the Midwest and now they are headed to the southeast. You're looking at a weather- tracking map. Orelon Sidney is going to break down all of the colors for you. She's got the forecast.
And is the Catholic Church divided, especially right here in the United States? And if so, over which issues? And is it losing members? Still to come in the next hour, my interview with Cardinal Roger Mahoney. He's going to give us some insight on where the church is headed with a new pope in charge.
And first, she was seen on a cheese sandwich in Miami. and now, she's on a wall in Chicago. Still to come, the Virgin Mary sure does get around.
And later, what was an emotional separation? But they are back together again. The musician who lost her violin. She joins me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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