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American Morning
Christian Convert in Afghanistan Escapes Death Penalty; 911 Calls on 9/11
Aired March 27, 2006 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some 911 calls from the World Trade Center on September 11 now ready for release. What will we hear?
A Christian convert in Afghanistan escapes the death penalty. Did the court relent to international pressure?
And check this out. A fiery scene on a Texas street leads to a major power outage, but there is still plenty of heat. We'll explain that one.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.
And welcome back to you. Did you have a nice vacation?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I did. Thank you very much.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's good. We missed you.
M. O'BRIEN: But it's good to be back, too.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's nice to have you back.
Let's talk about Afghanistan.
Today, hundreds of people are going to be out protesting a decision to free a man who faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Abdul Rahman could be released as early as today. Questions, though, about the status of his case.
Tom Coghlan of "The London Independent" joins us by phone from Kabul.
Tom, good morning to you. Tell us where the case stands right now.
TOM COGHLAN, "THE LONDON INDEPENDENT": Good morning.
As the case stands at the moment, Abdul Rahman remains in prison. And the Afghan authorities say as of lunchtime today here in Kabul that they are undertaking tests on his mental condition to establish whether he is fit to stand trial.
Now, this is obviously a key question. And there has been a lot of skepticism on the part of analysts in Kabul over whether he does actually have a history of mental problem, whether this isn't just a convenient way of getting rid of this very tricky, very embarrassing case for the Afghan government.
I'm not so sure myself. I've heard quite compelling accounts of his having some sort of history of mental problems. So I think it's a bit early to dismiss those claims that he might have some history of mental problems as just a political gambit.
S. O'BRIEN: Tom, certainly there has been a lot of attention on this case here in the United States. What do Afghans think about this case?
COGHLAN: Well, this case has really polarized opinion. I mean, polarized opinions between the international community, Afghanistan's Western backers, people who give Afghanistan the money it needs to reconstruct itself, and conservatives domestic opinion, opinion within Afghanistan which is, by and large, towards the more conservative end of Islamic thought.
This is a country where obviously the Taliban were in control until 2001. And though they represented the most extreme end of political Islamic opinion within the country, that does give you some idea of a more general trend within Afghanistan.
People are very upset about the idea of international foreign countries telling Afghanistan and its people what to do, and its government. They are very -- they are very easily angered over this sort of issue. So I think the government of Hamid Karzai is going to have to walk a very fine line in the coming days.
S. O'BRIEN: Tom Coghlan of "The London Independent" joining us by phone from Kabul this morning in Afghanistan.
Thank you, Tom.
Lots of other stories to bring you up to speed on this morning. Let's get right to Carol. She's in the newsroom.
Good morning again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Iraqi forces under fire this morning. At least 20 people were killed outside of a recruitment center in northern Iraq. No American casualties. Just hours earlier, a car bomb exploded inside Baghdad's Sadr City, killing at least two people. The attack comes one day after 20 people were found killed in a nearby mosque.
War is war. That's what Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly told an overseas audience. He says the U.S. Constitution does not protect so-called enemy combatants. The comments come as the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case of Jose Padilla. He's deemed an "enemy combatant" in connection with a dirty bomb plot.
The world's largest passenger jet may be a little closer to getting off the ground. The Airbus A380 met a critical test on Sunday -- 873 test passengers evacuated from the plane within 90 seconds. One man broke his leg, and there were 33 minor injuries. Final results come out today, but the test is considered a success.
Federal investigators are going to take a close look at air traffic controllers at Chicago's O'Hare airport. Twice last week planes had to abort takeoffs to avoid collisions. In one case, planes were OK'd for takeoff at the same time on intersecting runways. They stopped 100 feet from each other.
New Orleans is set to hold city elections next month, but that date could be moved. A federal judge is set to reconsider a motion filed by Reverend Jesse Jackson and the NAACP. Civil rights groups claim many black residents were scattered by Katrina and would lose their votes.
Power back on in parts of Austin after an electrical fire. Flames shooting 30 feet out of a manhole. Firefighters say a crew drilled through a primary power line -- there you see the flame -- and that caused other lines to overheat and explode.
No word on when the power will republic stored. So we'll keep our fingers crossed for the people of Austin -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Carol Costello.
Let's get a check of the forecast in now.
Chad Myers, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Miles, where did you go on vacation?
M. O'BRIEN: Costa Rica.
MYERS: Wow. See...
M. O'BRIEN: It was beautiful. Thank you for that weather. That was you, right?
MYERS: Yes, I had a lot to do with it.
I want to show you a picture of your house again.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, sure.
MYERS: It's right there.
M. O'BRIEN: Hey, that's my house. Hey, there it is.
MYERS: Right. I was wondering how you get any money left to go on vacation after paying for that thing.
M. O'BRIEN: It's all about leverage, my friend. Welcome -- welcome to Manhattan.
MYERS: Wow. I thought you were going to take your Pacer and your trailer and driver over the Adirondacks.
M. O'BRIEN: We walked to Costa Rica. It took us a while, but we got there.
MYERS: All right. Enough of that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: I'm chuckling a little bit because that's where Andy Serwer has been all week.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh. And he's actually been doing beepers for us, live shots.
M. O'BRIEN: Has he?
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
MYERS: Andy's right there. Oops.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh boy.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, nice of to you laugh as Andy's vacation is being rained out.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. It's just that I had a great week in Costa Rica.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. The two of you. The two of you.
Andy, I can feel your pain.
MYERS: Well, he didn't call me first.
M. O'BRIEN: You should always call Chad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, New York City is preparing to release the 911 tapes from the September 11 attacks. We're going to tell you why that has angered some of the victims' families just ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: Also, loud protests on one college campus amid rape allegations against some student athletes. We'll tell you about that.
S. O'BRIEN: Also, the families of those missing boys in Milwaukee, well, the case has now become a criminal investigation. We'll check in with the families and talk to them about what they are doing now just ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning...
In Seattle, police still searching for a motive in the shooting deaths of six partygoers over the weekend. The suspected gunman killed himself after that shooting spree. Police say 28-year-old Aaron Kyle Huff used a shotgun and a handgun in the attack. They also found an assault rifle with extra ammo in his car.
In Durham, North Carolina, loud protests aimed at some Duke lacrosse players after a woman excused some of them of sexual assault at a teen party. Police have taken DNA samples from some of them as part of their investigation of the March 13 attack. No charges have been filed, however.
And Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco delivering her state of the state address this afternoon, kicking off the new legislative session in Baton Rouge. Lawmakers focused, of course, on many hurricane-related issues with the storm system looming, but they will also debate non-hurricane bills, including a proposed ban on abortion -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, after more than four years and a lengthy court battle, New York City is preparing to release recordings of 911 calls made from the World Trade Center on 9/11.
As CNN's Chris Huntington tells us, some victims' families are not happy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The terrifying sounds of 9/11 at Ground Zero will never be forgotten. Later this week, a more personal and potentially more painful soundtrack is expected to be released, partial and, in some cases, complete recordings of 911 calls from more than 100 people trapped inside the twin towers.
Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son Christian on 9/11, helped secure the release of the 911 recordings by joining other firefighters' families and "The New York Times" in winning a lawsuit against New York City last year.
SALLY REGENHARD, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is no reason to secrete it and to hide the really truth about the valiant effort that people made to save their lives to get out of the buildings and to help other people. However, you know, since shortly after 9/11, the Giuliani administration, the port authority and the governor of New York had a vested interest in suppressing the real true facts about what happened in those buildings on 9/11.
HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN that of the more than 130 911 calls, 28 callers have been positively identified, one of whom survived. For that caller and the families of the 27 who died, the city will turn over complete and unedited recordings of their 911 calls. The public versions of the recordings will only have the dispatcher's half of the call. The callers' voices and all names, numbers and identifying information will be deleted.
On Friday, the city sent letters to the surviving caller and the families of 24 of the victims, notifying them that the recordings would soon be available. To some, the official six-page letter was a shock.
BILL DOYLE, 9/11 VICTIMS ACTIVIST: I had one family call me today. She was hysterical. She actually fainted. She opened it up in an elevator and she couldn't believe it because she never heard from her husband that morning, but apparently he called 911.
HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN they meant to send out a preliminary e-mail, but because of miscommunication that notification never went out.
REGENHARD: Why wasn't this made known to the families in the last four and a half years? It's really very discouraging.
HUNTINGTON: A spokesperson for New York City's Department of Law explained the timing. "There was a decision to not release the 911 call recordings until we knew the identities of as many callers as possible. That work was only completed earlier this month. We did not want to create false hope nor expectations."
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: And we should note the full transcripts and the recordings will go only to family members, and then they can decide if they wish to have the recordings made available to the general public -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, the case of that Tennessee woman accused of killing her preacher husband. We'll ask her lawyer about the defense strategy.
And later, a provocative singer who's been described as the Muslim Madonna. But her success has come at a very frightening cost. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice over): Can working out before bedtime interfere with a good night's sleep? One study published in the "Journal of Physiology and Behavior" studied college students who exercised in the evening and found no significant effect on students falling or staying asleep. But Dr. Rosenberg says some types of late workouts may lead to sleeping problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do have a slight concern of the lifting of weights at nighttime and whether some of those weight lifting activities might actually cause some slight discomfort at points in the middle of the night that could wake you up. COSTELLO: Dr. Rosenberg encourages his patients to exercise, but to stop intense workouts three hours before bedtime. This allows the body time to cool down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you exhale...
COSTELLO: A preliminary study by a Harvard researcher found 20 minutes of yoga may help you fall asleep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The subjects who have done the yoga practice on a regular basis have actually improved their insomnia.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: The morning's top stories straight ahead this morning, including high stakes for TiVo. A court decision will either bring in millions of dollars or send the company to the sidelines. We'll explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
S. O'BRIEN: Happy birthday, guys.
And welcome back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Good to be back. Good to be back on this Monday.
S. O'BRIEN: He struggles to say...
M. O'BRIEN: If I say that long enough, maybe I'll believe it.
Carol Costello has news headlines for us.
Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
And good morning to all of you.
Israel tightening security ahead of tomorrow's elections. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to be the big winner. He will succeed Ariel Sharon, who is still in a coma.
In the meantime, the Palestinian militant group Hamas is a step closer to setting up its own government. The new leader presented his cabinet a short time ago. The Palestinian parliament still needs to approve it.
New pictures in to us of those two Americans and a British man released in Nigeria. They were abducted by militants five weeks ago. It was part of a protest against oil companies in the area. All three are safe and they are expected to head home shortly.
And needless to say, they're pretty happy about that.
A Tennessee pastor's wife set to appear in court. Mary Winkler has been charged with murdering her husband Matthew. A church member says Winkler told her she is sorry for everything she had done. Still no word on a motive. The couple's three children are staying with their paternal grandparents.
Immigration reform moving from protests in the streets to the halls of Congress. Los Angeles saw a massive protest Saturday against a House bill that could mean millions of people here illegally would be kicked out of the country. Today, the Senate begins work on its version of the bill.
And President Bush is set to speak on immigration this morning. CNN will have live coverage of his remarks. That starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
Medical marijuana and the right to fight for life, that's the issue facing the federal appeals court in San Francisco. It's hearing arguments about whether marijuana should be legalized in very special, very serious cases. The Bush administration has said the case is without merit.
Let's head to the forecast center for a spring forecast from Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
Coming up on the program, more on that woman accused of killing her preacher husband. We'll talk to her lawyer about a possible defense.
Plus, we'll talk to the family of one of those missing Milwaukee boys. We'll see how they're holding up and how the criminal -- the case is now a criminal investigation. We'll find out how that is going.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. A look now at some of the stories we're working on this morning.
A suicide bomber kills at least 20 people outside an Iraqi police recruitment center. We're going to talk to the family members of one of those missing boys in Milwaukee.
Seattle police search for a motive in shooting deaths of six partygoers. A woman accuses members of the Duke University lacrosse team of sexual assault.
And the Afghan man who almost got the death penalty for renouncing Islam could go free today.
Those stories are ahead this morning.
First, though, business news. A lawsuit over skipping TV commercials. No surprise on this one, I think.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking about TiVo and EchoStar Communications. The question that the jury is going to have to decide this week, the case begins, did EchoStar steal TiVo's technology.
TiVo is claiming patent infringement on its digital video recording technology. Of course, it lets you watch one show while you're recording another one. And if TiVo wins this case, well, it would be very good news, because, A, they would make some money. They're looking for a verdict that would pay it millions of dollars. And also, it means TiVo would be able to go over after other companies' set-top boxes and perhaps get some licensing fees.
Now, of course, TiVo has seen a lot of competition in this space. All of the big names have DVRs pretty much, or something like that now. So TiVo has really been relegated to a niche player in an industry that it really created back in 1997. In the lawsuit, TiVo says its patent for a "multimedia time warping system" has been infringed upon.
So we'll see what happens.
M. O'BRIEN: So the concept of recording digitally, they're saying they invented that, essentially?
LEE: Right. They essentially started it, right. And now they're saying all these other companies have come in.
So -- but TiVo, you know, they were -- they were the front runner in this whole industry. And they have really -- they lost their deal with DirecTV, so they have seen a lot of subscribers drop. They're trying to do what they can to stay relevant.
M. O'BRIEN: It happens so often.
LEE: Yes. It sure does.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm not surprised.
LEE: It sure does.
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: They need to make money at this point.
LEE: The stakes very high on this.
Talking about Internet phone calls. More people are doing it. Cheaper alternative to landline phones. It's also becoming easier. There's one company called jajah.com. You go to the Web site, jajah.com, and you basically plug in a phone number and you can make an Internet-based phone call as long as you have a phone, as long as you have a computer.
No special software, no special headsets or anything like that. We tried this out in beta (ph). I can type in my phone number -- say I want to call Soledad O'Brien, type in your number, and boom, the phone rings. So...
S. O'BRIEN: How is the quality? Because years ago when I was doing this technology show, you know, you would be like yelling at your computer to try to get the person...
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: They say it's better. You know, we just tested it out here. So you do get a free five-minute phone call.
But the bottom line is, it's a cheaper option. It's becoming simpler. And it seems like that's the way phone most calls are going to be going.
M. O'BRIEN: But you don't need software, but you do need a computer?
LEE: You don't need software. All you need is an Internet connection.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
LEE: Right. But you don't have to set anything up. It's very easy to use.
M. O'BRIEN: Jajah.
S. O'BRIEN: J-A-J-A-H.
M. O'BRIEN: And not -- nothing to do with Gabor.
LEE: Nothing to do with Gabor. I knew you were going to say that.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's see, Zsa?
LEE: That's Zsa Zsa, yes. Totally different.
S. O'BRIEN: Totally different.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carrie.
M. O'BRIEN: Onward to other green acres we go.
As we approach the top of the hour, let's check the forecast. Chad Myers, good morning to you.
MYERS: Good morning, Miles. Welcome back.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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