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Lead Lawyer for Saddam Killed in Baghdad; Democrats Divided Over Iraq Withdrawal; Fake I.D. Operation Busted

Aired June 21, 2006 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Really strange story developing out of Tallahassee, Florida. Federal agents showed up at a prison there in Tallahassee, looking to serve indictments on six correction officers that worked there. When they did, one of the officers that was being served with an indictment opened up and started shooting. Two people -- three people were shot before it was all done, two of them fatally. One of those being arrested, as I mentioned, opened fire.
The FBI is on the scene. The shooting occurred about three hours ago. This facility, by the way, in Tallahassee, holds inmates that are awaiting trial. So more on that as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, back to international headlines. Accusations of foot dragging against Iran. They're coming from President Bush today at a summit with European leaders in Vienna. Iran says it plans to respond to an incentives package from the West by mid-August. Mr. Bush says it shouldn't take that long. He says the U.S. and Europe must present a united front against Iran's nuclear program.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's very important for the leadership in Iran to look at the world and say Europe and the United States and Russia and China are united in our common desire to make sure that Iranians do not develop a nuclear weapon.

And step one of achieving a diplomatic success is to share a goal. And there's no question that we share the goal of Iran not having the capacity and/or a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: President Bush also called on North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. He warned Pyongyang would risk further isolation if it test fires a long-range missile.

Get ready to go. The Pentagon ordering about 21,000 fresh soldiers and marines to Iraq. The military says the deployment is not an increase in U.S. troop levels. The four combat brigades will replace troops who are coming home. The Pentagon says the assignments could change depending on the situation in Iraq. There are currently about 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Kidnapped and killed. One of Saddam Hussein's lead attorneys is shot to death. We go live to Baghdad now and our Arwa Damon. Arwa, what can you tell us about this incident?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn. That would be Khamees al-Ubaidi. He's actually the third member of the Saddam Hussein defense team to be killed since the trial started. Now what we know from the Iraqi police and from Dr. Najib al-Nouemi, who was another member of Saddam Hussein's defense team, is that at about 7:00 this morning, a group of men dressed in Iraqi police uniforms arrived at al-Ubaidi's house. They said that they wanted to take him, that he had to have a meeting at the ministry of interior. His wife then asked to see their identification. They provided I.D.s. Al- Ubaidi left with them, and about an hour later, his bullet-riddled body was found in northeastern Baghdad.

Now, security has long been a concern for the Saddam Hussein defense team. In fact, CNN's Nic Robertson actually spoke with al- Ubaidi back in November, asking him how he felt about his safety. And in response to that question, he had told Nic, "Man should be cautious and should not be afraid. We have to go on and God's will is above that of human beings."

Now speaking again with Dr. Nouemi, we asked him what he thought might be the motivation for this kind of an assassination. He said that he believed that the perpetrators did this to send a message to the entire defense team, that they should not be present at court on the 10th of July to present their closing arguments -- Daryn.

KAGAN: So how might this affect the trial?

DAMON: Well, that's hard to tell, actually. And I put that question to Dr. Nouemi myself. And he said to me, sounding very, very upset, he plainly said I don't know, I just don't know. Now, presumably, the defense is going to try to again make the argument that the, you know, situation in Iraq, because of the security situation, the trial should be held elsewhere. But at this point, I really believe the defense team is just mourning the loss of another one of their own -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Arwa Damon live from Baghdad. Arwa, thank you.

Well, pushing for a pull-out from Iraq, Senate Democrats set the stage for a fiery debate on Capitol Hill today. But even Democrats are divided. Two resolutions are up for debate. One is calling for phased redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq beginning this year. The other calls for full withdrawal by July of 2007.

More on the debate now from congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

And, you know, the Democratic leader Harry Reid tried very hard over the last several weeks, in a series of meetings, to try to find consensus, to try to rally around one particular measure when it comes to what the Democrats' plan is on Iraq. But the bottom line is there are just very different views. And you just have really laid out the two reasons why, the two plans that we are going to see come forward today.

Bottom line is that Senator John Kerry and also along with Russ Feingold and Senator Barbara Boxer, they believe that the only way to go about this is to set a hard and fast deadline of July 1st, 2007. That's their plan right now, to have all U.S. troops come out of Iraq. But if you have any question about where the Democratic leader stands on this, you can just look at the debate - the schedule for the debate today. He made it so that John Kerry's amendment won't come up until very, very late in the day.

So Senator Kerry's camp sent us some excerpts of the argument that he will make on the Senate floor when he gets there later today. "Setting a deadline," he will say, "to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq is necessary for success in Iraq and victory in the war on terror. Iraqi politicians have proven they only respond to deadlines, a deadline to transfer authority, deadlines to hold two elections and a referendum, and a deadline to form a government." He will go on to say, "That's why we must change course now, because we need another deadline to get Iraq up to its own two feet and get American troops home."

Now, Kerry's camp -- aides to Kerry -- say that they are gaining support. But at this point, it looks like they might not have many more than about ten Democratic senators, voting for that, ultimately, probably tomorrow morning.

Most of the Democrats will likely vote for an alternative, something sponsored by Senator Carl Levin, the ranking senator on the Armed Services Committee, that doesn't have a hard and fast deadline, but simply says that the U.S. should begin a phased withdrawal starting this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: We don't set the end date for it, we set the beginning date. We don't set that beginning date immediately. That would be precipitous. But we say that the open-ended commitment has got to end, and we've got to find a way to leave Iraq in better shape than we found it. But our presence there is contributing as much to instability now as it is to security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, so far, Daryn, Republicans here in the Senate, over at the White House, are having nothing short of a field day with what they see going on with the Democratic party and what they will see on the -- play out on the Senate floor this week, as they believe that this fundamentally plays into their plans for this election year, that they want to make Democrats look weak on national defense. And they hope that this will help. And also, we've heard it over and over again and we'll hear it many times today, the term "cut and run." They will say the Democrats want nothing more than to cut and run from Iraq.

And I can tell you, Daryn, in talking to some Democrats, they are a little bit worried that Democrats are playing into Republican's hands and that perhaps they made a mistake by making these two issues, these amendments, about the one thing that actually does divide Democrats, which is whether or not U.S. troops should come home and when, as opposed to a lot of things that they actually agree on, which primarily is the fact that they believe the Bush Iraq war has seen many blunders and that they need to be held to account. And Republicans here in Congress aren't doing that.

KAGAN: All right. Interesting theater. You'll be watching it, Dana Bash. Live from Capitol Hill. Thank you.

A new and unexpected move in the battle over immigration. Republican House leaders say they will hold a series of hearings around the country this summer on immigration reform. The decision means it's highly unlikely lawmakers will reach a compromise bill on the hot button issue this year.

President Bush is pushing for major policy changes, but House and Senate lawmakers are far apart on details. Many House Republicans oppose the Senate's bill, which includes guest worker and citizenship provisions.

Possible missile tests by North Korea. How will the U.S. respond? That story is just ahead.

Plus, across the Western U.S., flames and smoke fill the sky. Continuing coverage as the wildfires spread, ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well you've heard in recent days how officials, especially in New York City, are upset about how funds have been slashed to have homeland defense cut so severely in that city. Well, those officials went to Washington D.C. to speak out today. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City having his say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYR. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: It is clear to me that we are still too slow in learning the most basic lesson of 9/11, that we now live in a fundamentally altered world, one requiring that we think anew and act anew. In the area of homeland security, that means establishing a dynamic partnership for the long haul between federal and local authorities.

We must, for example, recognize that the ongoing and painstaking work of training intelligence analysts in the NYPD is a shared responsibility, one vital to all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: New York City saw those funds cut by as much as 40 percent. Another security breakdown could be putting consumer's personal information in harm's way.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES) KAGAN: Let's head to south to Florida, to the northern part of Florida, Tallahassee. Getting our first pictures of a strange situation that's developed at a federal prison there, where facility holds inmates that are awaiting trial. Federal agents showed up at this facility earlier this morning at about 7:45 to serve six correction officers that worked there with indictments. We're not sure for what. However, when they did, one of those that was being served with an indictment opened fire. Before it was all done, three people were shot, two people were killed. The FBI is now in charge of this investigation.

Captured. Authorities say a man's fake I.D. gave illegal immigrants a ticket to ride. You'll see the story on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A message of hope and a call for responsibility, the theme of yesterday's world refugee day. Here at CNN, we dedicated the day to in-depth stories, interviews and live reports on the issue. There's more than 50 million refugees around the world. This is a global crisis that cannot be forgotten.

Part of our coverage included an exclusive interview with actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie. This is what she told Anderson Cooper about how she became aware of refugee suffering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: And we have so much and we want for other things, and we don't realize how grateful we should be about things. I'd been -- done things, you know, like most teenagers, you know, hurting myself or doing things -- you know, all those things, you take your own life for granted. And then suddenly you see these people who are really fighting something, who are really surviving, who have so much pain and loss and things that you have no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And here's what some of the viewers are saying about World Refugee Day and the stories that we brought you all day yesterday.

From Keith in Alpharetta, Georgia: "These reports are so utterly disturbing and unsettling. The scope of suffering and inhumanity is impossible to fathom. I just want to scream out frustration that more is not being done."

Lee in Ontario, Canada, writes: "I love refugees and work with helping many of them to adjust to new countries. However, I feel we are doing a disservice. We need to seek why they are leaving their own country and help to fix that problem."

Deborah writes in: "After reading 'No End in Sight' by Jeff Koinange, the reality set in and the tears flowed. If you help one person, that is one who will not be without food, clothing and shelter. This will make all the difference in the world to help them be human again."

And from Boone, North Carolina, Rachel writes: "Thank you for your coverage of World Refugee Day. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the American public. Please continue to cover these stories so that Americans who live in the land of plenty will take notice and help those in need."

By the way, here are some of the Web sites and some organizations you can contact if you do want to help. The U.N.'s refugee agency is unhcr.org. And there's unicef.org. Amnesty International at amnesty.org, and the American Refugee Committee is at arcrelief.org.

KAGAN: On the run for decades -- no more. U.S. agents say a man's fake I.D. operation was so big, he was selling franchises.

CNN's Peter Viles filed this story for "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Millions of illegal aliens need fake documents. And for a generation, one family has allegedly dominated the business of supplying them. Now finally the alleged kingpin of the Castorena family is in custody.

Pedro Castorena, arrested Saturday night in Mexico by both Mexican and American agents. The charges -- money laundering and document fraud.

JEFF COPP, U.S. IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: This is huge for us. His organization spanned the United States. He was actually running this like you would run any business. He was selling the franchises to these other groups that wanted to manufacture counterfeit documents in what he considered his territory.

VILES: Federal officials say that territory spans the United States with Castorena franchises in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Denver, Nebraska, Iowa, Chicago, North Carolina and Atlanta.

ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERSUSA: It's definitely a great thing for the United States as a whole. It should take a chunk out of the document fraud business, which we desperately need. There are still family members out there that need to be taken down. And ICE knows who they are and they're operating from within the United States.

VILES: Now 42, Pedro Castorena has been a wanted man for most of his adult life, initially targeted for document fraud in the late '80s in Los Angeles, targeted a second time in 1994 in San Antonio, indicted along with two brothers in 1995, he avoided arrest by fleeing to Mexico, where he appears to have operated with impunity for 11 years.

A third investigation launched in Denver in 2000, leading to his second indictment last July and ultimately his arrest last weekend.

(on camera): If convicted, Castorena faces up to 20 years in federal prison here in the United States. But first, U.S. officials have to get him here from Mexico. Extradition can be a drawn-out process, but in this case, the Mexican government participated in the arrest, which is a good sign for a relatively quick extradition.

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: You can see more of Peter's reports on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," weeknights at 6:00 Eastern on CNN.

Another member of Saddam Hussein's defense team is killed. Was his murder a message? Live to Baghdad next hour.

And the president goes to Europe and feels the heat about Guantanamo Bay. Details on that summit shortly.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Cher. One word, one name. The outfits are outrageous. Now the singer wants to outfit troops in Iraq. Cher is lending support to Operation Helmet. The group wants special shock absorbing liners in soldier's helmets. Advocates say the material would offer troops better protection in an explosion. Cher was on Capitol Hill last week for a hearing on the helmets.

Tonight Anderson Cooper has an exclusive interview with her. She appeared with Operation Helmet's founder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How much does each one cost?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the marine helmet, $71.

COOPER: Seventy-one bucks can make a difference between life and death for a marine. You would think this is already being done. You would think this is standard issue. Did it surprise you?

CHER: I think after the humvee thing, I wasn't as surprised. But I keep thinking there's nothing that's going to shock me anymore. And then when I found out about this, I think I was -- I just was astounded at the price that could save someone's life. For $71. Or, you know, that such a little price had to be used to save someone's life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Wow. Anderson's on a roll. Angelina one night, Cher the next. You can watch the Cher interview on "A.C. 360" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

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