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American Morning

Sound Off: Should Bin Laden be Executed?

Aired December 10, 2001 - 08:43   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: They are the closest of allies in the war on terror, but Britain and the U.S. appear to be divided on a key matter, the fate of Osama bin Laden. British government officials said yesterday that if bin Laden were captured by British troops, they would need assurances that bin Laden wouldn't face the death penalty before handing him over to the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do extradite people to countries with the death penalty. Obviously subject to certain undertakings that are given, we have expedited people in the past to the United States, and I see no reason in principle why that should not happen. But it would mean, of course, that certain undertakings would have to be given about any penalty that he faced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There would be have to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) guarantees that the person wouldn't be executed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Should the U.S. give Britain the guarantee it requires? Or should London make an exception in the case of Osama bin Laden?

Joining me now to "Sound Off" from Washington, radio talk show host Armstrong Williams, and from Los Angeles, Marc Cooper, staff writer for "The Nation."

Welcome gentlemen.

MARC COOPER, "THE NATION": Good morning.

ZAHN: Happy Monday morning to you.

Armstrong, tell us what you think of what the British are suggesting, OK, if we get this guy and we extradite him to the U.S., we will only do that if you guarantee you will not subject to the death penalty? Is that a deal that the U.S. should ever agree to?

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, we must respect the sovereignty of nations. The Britons and the EU does not believe in the death penalty. This has nothing to do with the policies that the Bush administration put into place over the month. It's just over how they feel about the death penalty. The fact that of the matter is, if the British and the EU wants this symbolic gesture, and if they think that Osama bin Laden is deserving of something better than the death penalty, than they should just keep him. If they are the ones to capture him, then prosecute him under their system of laws, if that's what they feel he deserves.

ZAHN: Mark, do you agree?

COOPER: Well, actually, I Mostly agree. I would say that the only difference is, that this isn't something symbolic. This is a matter of international law. This isn't something the British feel like doing nor is capricious. This is part of the European Convention on Human Rights that Britain and all of our NATO allies are signatory to, and it's the law.

So Britain doesn't really have a choice in this matter. And the United States would have to comply with it if it believes in international law.

WILLIAMS: Well, I will say this, the United States is not going to change its law, and other nations must respect our sovereignty. We do believe in the death penalty. There are certain people in the world that are deserving of the death penalty, and Osama bin Laden is certainly one of those. And there's happen to be a disagreement here. It has nothing to do with human right abuses. There are people who commit crimes where they have total disregard for others' lives, and they must be face stiff penalty. It's one things that makes America America. Others may not like it, but tough, that is our law. And if they were to extradite him here, if we as Americans were to capture him and extradite him here, he should be executed.

ZAHN: Mark?

COOPER: Yes, well, that isn't the debate, that isn't the debate, because you see, Armstrong, if you believe in international law, he's not going to be extradited here, unless the United States waives the death penalty in this case, because that what laws means; it means that you sign the treaty and you agree with other nations to stick to a certain standard, and that's it. So nobody is talking here about either country violating its standards or its laws; they're just going to have to compromise with each other. In any case, speculative...

ZAHN: All right, gentlemen, if I could, let me move you on to another hot topic, and that is the issue of this tape that has been seized from a private home in Jalalabad, that Vice President Cheney says provides convincing evidence that, in fact, Osama bin Laden was behind the September 11th attacks. Now the debate in the administration is whether this tape should be released publicly. Why shouldn't it, Armstrong?

WILLIAMS: You know, I don't know why they are agonizing over this. I mean, they've seem to be convinced months ago that Osama bin Laden was the culprit behind all of this, and from all things he said publicly that has aired on American broadcast stations in this country, he's certainly responsible for it. What more do we need? But if they feel they have something that is more convincing, then why not share it? They share everything in else. In terms of it's on tape and it's believable, just share it with the American people. What is there to hide? They've already acted as though he's the person who's behind the bombings on September 11th. I don't know what difference it would make now.

ZAHN: Mark, I guess what we need to do for context for this, is make it clear that the administration says one of the troubled aspects of the tape is that it was shot in such an amateurish way that the camera starts, it stops, it starts again, and they're fearful that supporters of bin Laden can make argument that in some way the tape is doctored.

COOPER: This is ridiculous. If this evidence exists, the best thing the United States can do is make it public. It does nothing except advance the case of the United States. And every hesitation, every excuse, every rationalization to not show something as simple as videotape evidence of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the World Trade Center attacks is absolutely counterproductive. It should be made public, and it should be made public immediately.

ZAHN: I was speaking with the reporter from "The Washington Post" who broke the story over the weekend, and he said, one the most stunning aspects of the tape, at least he's been told by administration officials, Armstrong, is that Osama bin Laden sort of talked rather cynically about the hijackers who slammed these planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, you know, almost making fun of their martyrdom, saying those guys just thought they were going fly the airplanes, they didn't know what the end mission was, at least that is apparently what is implicit in this tape. Any thought on that, Armstrong?

WILLIAMS: Obviously, we're dealing with very sick, very evil and people who have disregard for life. So nothing that Osama bin Laden does or says, unless its good (ph), it makes sense should surprise us. So it only furthers why America was convinced from the beginning. He was the guy behind this who masterminded it, and that's why he should be executed when found.

ZAHN: Mark Cooper, you get the final word.

COOPER: Whether or not he's executed is a matter of law. In terms of the videotape, the quicker that is made evident and made public, the better it is. There's no reason to hold it back. We should see it sometime today.

ZAHN: All right, Mark Cooper, delighted to have you with us at this hour in the morning. We'll book you the next time you're in New York or Washington so you don't have to get up so early. He's of course joining us from Los Angeles this morning. And Armstrong Williams, nice to finally meet you in person over the weekend. Thank you for your time this weekend.

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