Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Sex and Espionage; A Look at Martha Stewart's Sentencing

Aired July 17, 2004 - 08:00   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.


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is July 17. Good morning to you. I'm Drew Griffin.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

Here are some of the stories that we are following for you. Martha Stewart vows to remain strong after hearing a judge's ruling on her fate. And it appears Wall Street is helping her regroup.

Meanwhile, wildfires torch parched Western states. We'll chart the progress of some of these fast-moving blazes in California and Nevada.

And nobody does it better than James Bond. We'll look at how mixing business with pleasure in the real world of international spying.

NGUYEN: Now in the news: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. He offered to step down during a Palestinian cabinet session, called after a state of emergency was imposed in Gaza. We'll have a live report on the Palestinian turmoil in just a few minutes.

Yasser Arafat fired his police chief just hours after the chief was freed by kidnappers who accused him of corruption and demanded that he be replaced. That news comes from a spokesman in Arafat's office.

The sacking of police Chief Ghazi al-Jabali happened today as the state of emergency was declared in Gaza.

Now to Iraq, two car bombs exploded at almost the same time this morning. One blast struck the convoy of the Iraqi justice minister, killing four people thought to be his bodyguards. The second car bomb exploded near an Iraqi national guard base. Two guardsmen were killed there. At least 25 others were injured.

The Philippines goes a head with its troop pull out as Manila responds to the demands of kidnappers. Truck drive Angelo de la Cruz has been held more than 10 days in Iraq. His release has been contingent on the troop pull out.

The White House, though, has warned Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the troop withdrawal sends the wrong signal to terrorists.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: News across America now. In Salt Lake City, Utah, black plumes of smoke darkened the skies as firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse. This is filled with paper, packages and dangerous chemicals.

The six-alarm fire broke out yesterday and fire crews worked through the night to keep it from spreading to a nearby warehouse, which was full of fireworks. No reported injuries.

In Nevada, orange flames amid fields of green; an army of firefighters beating back a blaze of what is being called the meanest, ugliest wildfire to hit Carson City, the state's capitol. It spans 7600 acres.

The governor is concerned the high winds could further fan these flames this weekend. Fourteen homes have been burned so far and five people have been injured.

Three suspects arrested in Connecticut after a series of shootings. Five people were hurt in that shooting spree. Two juveniles also being sought in this case. Police suspect the group is responsible for a number of car thefts in the area as well.

And hockey player Danny Heatley has been indicted for his role in a car crash that killed his teammate, Dan Snyder, in Atlanta last year. The Atlanta Thrashers' star faces six charges, including vehicular homicide. In the September crash, Heatley's Ferrari smashed into a brick column and iron fence at high speed. Snyder died days later.

NGUYEN: Back to Martha Stewart. She won't be going to prison, at least for the time being. The judge handed down the shortest possible sentence under federal law, five months in prison.

Stewart's sentence for lying about a stock sale also includes five months home detention and a $30,000 fine.

Her former stock broker, Peter Bacanovic received the same sentence, but a lower fine. Both sentences are suspended pending appeal. Stewart will remain free during that time. And CNN's Kitty Pilgrim has more on the life Stewart might be facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORNING, (voice- over): Martha Stewart put on her bravest public face after learning she could go to jail.

MARTHA STEWART: I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly. I'm used to all kinds of hard work, as you know.

PILGRIM: But for someone accustomed to the luxury of West Port, Connecticut in the Hamptons, life at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institute would seem like a world away. Home to more than 1200 inmates it has an infamous alumni roster, including the so-called Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley, who served time in the early '90s for mail fraud and tax evasion.

GREG WALLANCE, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: There's no such thing as a club fed, the so-called country camp. You loose total control of your life. You are in the hands of the guards. You are in an inmate population, which is not composed largely of white-collar offenders. Most of these prisons, it's mainly drug dealers.

PILGRIM: Like all inmates, Stewart would have to work seven and a half hours a day, cooking and serving food, or cleaning and doing laundry. For her work, the multi-millionaire would earn 12 cents to 40 cents an hour. She'd also have a very limited wardrobe. Khaki pants and tops. Decorating would not be an option.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well when she sees all the sterile gray walls and realizes she can have no color, you can't post photographs or pictures. I think she's going to feel like I did, and she's going to feel diminished.

PILGRIM: Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And Martha Stewart will give her first -- and only -- post-sentencing interview on "Larry King Live", that is Monday night. During the hour, she'll also take your calls. You don't want to miss it. That's Monday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: I think I can! I think I can! Could be what Lance Armstrong is thinking as he heads to the mountains with the rest of the pack. Though he's still five and a half minutes back, Armstrong gained four minutes yesterday on the leader Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. The Tour De France picks up against just shortly.

GRIFFIN: Good morning, St. Louis. The beautiful Arch on the Mississippi River. Weather forecast ahead shortly. CNN SATURDAY MORNING will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The 9/11 Commission's final report is expected to come out next week. And already "Time" magazine cites senior U.S. officials as saying the report will suggest a connection between Iran and the September 11 hijackers. According to "Time", the commission's report will contain new evidence of contact between Al Qaeda and Iran.

Fast-moving political developments in the Middle East this morning. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has refused to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. He offered to resign during an emergency session of the cabinet called after a state of emergency was imposed in Gaza. Alessio Vinci is in Jerusalem with the latest on all of these fast-moving details.

What are you hearing now, Alessio?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, Ahmed Qorei, when he met with Chairman Arafat at his office basically told him the situation in Gaza was catastrophic and out of control. And therefore, he wanted to turn in his resignation. At the same time, Chairman Arafat refusing to accept his resignation, told the prime minister and offered him a new plan to overhaul the security services of the Palestinian Authority.

Basically, consolidating the various security services into three main branches, which was a demand that had long been made also by the international community to Chairman Arafat. The reason why the Prime Minister Qorei was telling the situation in Gaza is totally out of control is because of a situation that happened in the last 24 hours with a series of kidnappings, took place.

Unrelated, both Palestinians officials as well as Westerners had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants, which had, you know, unrelated by very similar demands, in that is, reform the Palestinian Authority and deal with the corruption of the Palestinian Authority.

And this underscores the growing pressure that Mr. Arafat is under these days to reform the Palestinian Authority, and especially the security services. Situation in Gaza, almost a chaotic situation for 24 hours with various groups holding both Westerners and Palestinian officials demanding key demands, demanding reforms, demanding that the judicial system be reinstated and all that kind of stuff.

And, therefore, Mr. Arafat bowing to that pressure announces some kind of reforms and agreeing to put all the security services into three main branches. Something the international community, including Terry Larsen, the U.S. envoy in this region, had asked for not long ago.

Back to you, Betty.

NGUYEN: A lot of developments. We'll see how it shakes out. Alessio Vinci, thank you very much -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: There have been some major developments in three high- profile legal cases this week. And what some thought would be key evidence will not be admitted in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault trial. Claims of perjury in the Scott Peterson double murder case.

And, of course, Martha Stewart gets that sentence for lying about a questionable stock trade. She'll spend five months and another five based at one of her homes. She'll talk about what the last two months have been like for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARTHA STEWART: I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time. All the while I'm more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself. More hurt for them and for their losses than for my own; more worried for their futures than the future of Martha Stewart, the person.

More than 200 people have lost their jobs at my company as a result of this situation. I want them to know how very, very sorry I am, for them and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: So let's toss these developments to our legal expert. Civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, in our Miami Bureau.

Good morning to you.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: And criminal defense attorney Tony Locascio joining us from New York.

ANTHONY LOCASCIO, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: Might as well begin with Martha, since she's talking about it. She says more than 200 people lost their jobs. And at the end of the day, she'll spend five long months in prison and a $30,000 fine. Doesn't really sound like a big deal.

Lida, was this all worth it for the crime she committed?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: It was absolutely not worth it. Especially because what she did was not a crime -- or should not be a crime. Let's face it. What she did was, she lied about something that wasn't a crime. And what we're talking about here is, she lied about the fact in she got a tip from her broker. That's not a crime. Without more, that is not a crime.

This is -- and Tony would agree with me on this, he better, that this is nothing more than -- for example, you have a guy who is committing adultery. A woman goes missing. She's found a couple of days later. He lies to police about the fact that he's having an adulteress affair, but he is prosecuted, even though she's alive.

That is not different here. What we have something that is not a crime. That should not about crime; she was prosecuted for it. And, you know, after that, it depends what you think. Should she do five months in jail? I don't know.

Tony, what's your view?

LOCASCIO: Well, I do agree with you. I see a lot of resemblance to this case to the Scott Peterson case. And I have a lot opinions on the Scott Peterson case. I'll tell you that.

GRIFFIN: We'll get to that, Tony. LOCASCIO: I'll be patient.

But, yeah, in the Martha Stewart case, we have an issue here where there's a lying situation going on. But, you know, I think the judge here looked at what the penalty was, what the crime was, and who the person was.

And you have a person here that has done a lot good for the community. That has suffered through this already, OK. And the amount that she's given to this community has poured in, in droves with 1,500 letters to the judge. And I think the judge accounted for that in this ruling, in this sentence.

GRIFFIN: You think it was light?

LOCASCIO: I think was light. I think it, quite honestly, I think it should have been light. And quite frankly, there's going to be a lot of issues. I don't think Martha Stewart is going to do any jail time.

It is already stayed pending appeal. After the appeal goes through, I think we'll see her get off, quite frankly. Because her issues, on appeal, unlike some commentators, I think, are very strong.

GRIFFIN: Tony, let's move on to Scott Peterson. You brought it up. Let's go ahead with it.

Mark Geragos seems to be taking the O.J./Johnnie Cochran defense. Attack the police. At question, is this detective who may have embellished the truth a little bit on a tip that the police eventually did not use. Why is that relevant?

LOCASCIO: I'm going to make another reference to the O.J., as you brought it up. I see this Detective Brocchini, he is the Mark Fuhrman of the Scott Peterson case. And what Geragos is doing, and he's doing an excellent job with it. What Geragos is doing, is he is creating more and more holes in the state's case.

By the time it gets to his case, his time to put on his evidence, those holes are going to become giant craters. And it's going to be doubt, doubt, doubt. And I'm telling you, at this point, Scott Peterson's going to get off.

GRIFFIN: Lida, what do you think about this? Is this guy the Mark Fuhrman of this case?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you know, I hate to make references to the O.J. Simpson case. Those are all completely loaded.

But here's the reality of what happened here. Geragos is after Brocchini, because Brocchini said that a tipster told him that in 1995, Scott Peterson described how he would do a murder. And he mentioned the word duct tape. He said he would tie it around somebody's neck, and tie them down, and separate their limbs, all sorts of things. Turns out, the AP has disclosed that they have a person who was at the scene when the tipster made the tip. And that no such mention was made of duct tape. Why is that important? Because duct tape is central to this case. Why is it also important? Because Brocchini was the lead detective. He's the person who has been the center of this case from the prosecution's perspective.

If he can't be believed the prosecution's case -- which is purely circumstantial, they have very little, if any physical evidence -- will not be believed.

GRIFFIN: Lida, quickly, we have to move on to the Kobe Bryant case. He volunteered to go and get a medical exam the night of his arrest. Now the judge says, none of the information in that medical exam can be admitted. Is that a win for him? And why shouldn't it be admitted?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: It shouldn't be admitted, because the prosecution, the police had a warrant that was an invalid warrant at the time.

The most important thing that happened wasn't even with regard to the exam. It was with regard to the tape that, of the -- the secretly recorded interview that Kobe supposedly gave to the police. It was 75 minutes. It was secretly recorded, and now the judge is admitting that. That's the troubling part.

GRIFFIN: All right, Lida, thank you for joining us from Miami. And Tony Locascio from New York City this morning. Thank you both.

LOCASCIO: Thank you.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Other news now -- fire rages across the Western United States. We'll see if there's any chance of rain in the rain-starved region.

GRIFFIN: And you wanted to be that guy. Right? Sex, spies and videotape. That's all coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

NGUYEN: Updating you on headlines in the news this morning -- the death toll from a school fire in southern India is now at least 90. Most of them, children under the age of 10. As bad as it was, it could have been far worse. According to the Associated Press, one official says about 700 children managed to escape the flames. The school principal has been arrested for negligence.

And in health news, popular medical devices used to unblock arteries have been recalled. The maker, Boston Scientific, says it has recalled two of its products. Malfunctions are blame for the deaths of several patients and causing serious complications in others. GRIFFIN: We've been asking all morning: What should the sentence be for Martha Stewart? Kevin from Naples, Florida, wins the prize with this answer:

"Martha sentence should be having to clean my house and cook for me for a year. That would teach her!"

NGUYEN: Oh, Kevin! Well, we have Bobby in Atlanta. He's definitely a fan. He says:

"If I were the judge I would sentence Martha to create at least two more seasons of her award winning show and at minimum developing 24 more issues of her industry leading lifestyle magazine. Now that would be serving the public interest."

And of course, we would like to invite you to continue writing in with your responses. The question of the day: What sentence would you give to Martha Stewart? E-mail us at wam@cnn.com.

GRIFFIN: Much more coming your way this Saturday morning. Next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from Bangkok, Thailand. The site of the World AIDS Conference, and he will explore new treatments to confront the growth of AIDS worldwide.

At 9:15 Eastern, the political conventions coming out, but controversy coming out with them. We'll debating whether random subway searches should be instituted in Boston and New York. People in Boston getting the tea out for that one.

And 9:30, a Coast Guard admiral joins us to talk about security on the high seas and ports around the country.

Satellite surveillance has probably taken some of the sex out of spying, but there's still enough person-to-person contact to lend credibility to all those books and movie plots featuring oversexed snoops. Details on that from David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In the classic Hollywood version, it's usually two spies in the bedroom, each trying to entrap the other. Real life may not be so glamorous, but Hollywood is right in this sense, historian Keith Melton told a sell-out crowd at the International Spy Museum. Sex and spies have always mixed.

KEITH MELTON, SPY HISTORIAN: Everybody does it. Every intelligence service utilizes sex in some capacity.

ENSOR: In Moscow hotels, the Soviet KGB did it routinely and filmed the whole thing. Here, two KGB women entice a Spanish diplomat in the '70s, blackmail film designed to induce treason. MELTON (voice over): When confronted with this. Many diplomats were faced with an ugly reality. Do I accept what I've done in contact security, or do I agree to give some small seeming innocuous piece of information to the KGB?

ENSOR: But it was East German spy chief Marcus Wolff, says Melton, who turned sex-espionage into an art form, finding that women often make more propositioning targets than men. And love works better than blackmail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to know when the plane will leave. Where they are going? How many, what type of aircraft will be involved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Victor, that's classified information!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you really love me, you will do this for me.

ENSOR: Agents like Herbert Schroeder were taught to woo, second propose to secretaries like Gerta with access to secrets, and then go to step three.

MELTON: The third thing is, confess that you are indeed an East German agent who came here for another purpose entirely, but unless, somehow, you can get some information, they're going to recall you, and you're never going to be able to spend your life together. Blatant honesty worked.

ENSOR: And it still does. These more permissive times, blackmail is less effective. But honey traps based on the yearning for real love will always be there.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired July 17, 2004 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is July 17. Good morning to you. I'm Drew Griffin.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

Here are some of the stories that we are following for you. Martha Stewart vows to remain strong after hearing a judge's ruling on her fate. And it appears Wall Street is helping her regroup.

Meanwhile, wildfires torch parched Western states. We'll chart the progress of some of these fast-moving blazes in California and Nevada.

And nobody does it better than James Bond. We'll look at how mixing business with pleasure in the real world of international spying.

NGUYEN: Now in the news: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. He offered to step down during a Palestinian cabinet session, called after a state of emergency was imposed in Gaza. We'll have a live report on the Palestinian turmoil in just a few minutes.

Yasser Arafat fired his police chief just hours after the chief was freed by kidnappers who accused him of corruption and demanded that he be replaced. That news comes from a spokesman in Arafat's office.

The sacking of police Chief Ghazi al-Jabali happened today as the state of emergency was declared in Gaza.

Now to Iraq, two car bombs exploded at almost the same time this morning. One blast struck the convoy of the Iraqi justice minister, killing four people thought to be his bodyguards. The second car bomb exploded near an Iraqi national guard base. Two guardsmen were killed there. At least 25 others were injured.

The Philippines goes a head with its troop pull out as Manila responds to the demands of kidnappers. Truck drive Angelo de la Cruz has been held more than 10 days in Iraq. His release has been contingent on the troop pull out.

The White House, though, has warned Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the troop withdrawal sends the wrong signal to terrorists.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: News across America now. In Salt Lake City, Utah, black plumes of smoke darkened the skies as firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse. This is filled with paper, packages and dangerous chemicals.

The six-alarm fire broke out yesterday and fire crews worked through the night to keep it from spreading to a nearby warehouse, which was full of fireworks. No reported injuries.

In Nevada, orange flames amid fields of green; an army of firefighters beating back a blaze of what is being called the meanest, ugliest wildfire to hit Carson City, the state's capitol. It spans 7600 acres.

The governor is concerned the high winds could further fan these flames this weekend. Fourteen homes have been burned so far and five people have been injured.

Three suspects arrested in Connecticut after a series of shootings. Five people were hurt in that shooting spree. Two juveniles also being sought in this case. Police suspect the group is responsible for a number of car thefts in the area as well.

And hockey player Danny Heatley has been indicted for his role in a car crash that killed his teammate, Dan Snyder, in Atlanta last year. The Atlanta Thrashers' star faces six charges, including vehicular homicide. In the September crash, Heatley's Ferrari smashed into a brick column and iron fence at high speed. Snyder died days later.

NGUYEN: Back to Martha Stewart. She won't be going to prison, at least for the time being. The judge handed down the shortest possible sentence under federal law, five months in prison.

Stewart's sentence for lying about a stock sale also includes five months home detention and a $30,000 fine.

Her former stock broker, Peter Bacanovic received the same sentence, but a lower fine. Both sentences are suspended pending appeal. Stewart will remain free during that time. And CNN's Kitty Pilgrim has more on the life Stewart might be facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORNING, (voice- over): Martha Stewart put on her bravest public face after learning she could go to jail.

MARTHA STEWART: I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly. I'm used to all kinds of hard work, as you know.

PILGRIM: But for someone accustomed to the luxury of West Port, Connecticut in the Hamptons, life at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institute would seem like a world away. Home to more than 1200 inmates it has an infamous alumni roster, including the so-called Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley, who served time in the early '90s for mail fraud and tax evasion.

GREG WALLANCE, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: There's no such thing as a club fed, the so-called country camp. You loose total control of your life. You are in the hands of the guards. You are in an inmate population, which is not composed largely of white-collar offenders. Most of these prisons, it's mainly drug dealers.

PILGRIM: Like all inmates, Stewart would have to work seven and a half hours a day, cooking and serving food, or cleaning and doing laundry. For her work, the multi-millionaire would earn 12 cents to 40 cents an hour. She'd also have a very limited wardrobe. Khaki pants and tops. Decorating would not be an option.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well when she sees all the sterile gray walls and realizes she can have no color, you can't post photographs or pictures. I think she's going to feel like I did, and she's going to feel diminished.

PILGRIM: Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And Martha Stewart will give her first -- and only -- post-sentencing interview on "Larry King Live", that is Monday night. During the hour, she'll also take your calls. You don't want to miss it. That's Monday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: I think I can! I think I can! Could be what Lance Armstrong is thinking as he heads to the mountains with the rest of the pack. Though he's still five and a half minutes back, Armstrong gained four minutes yesterday on the leader Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. The Tour De France picks up against just shortly.

GRIFFIN: Good morning, St. Louis. The beautiful Arch on the Mississippi River. Weather forecast ahead shortly. CNN SATURDAY MORNING will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The 9/11 Commission's final report is expected to come out next week. And already "Time" magazine cites senior U.S. officials as saying the report will suggest a connection between Iran and the September 11 hijackers. According to "Time", the commission's report will contain new evidence of contact between Al Qaeda and Iran.

Fast-moving political developments in the Middle East this morning. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has refused to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. He offered to resign during an emergency session of the cabinet called after a state of emergency was imposed in Gaza. Alessio Vinci is in Jerusalem with the latest on all of these fast-moving details.

What are you hearing now, Alessio?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, Ahmed Qorei, when he met with Chairman Arafat at his office basically told him the situation in Gaza was catastrophic and out of control. And therefore, he wanted to turn in his resignation. At the same time, Chairman Arafat refusing to accept his resignation, told the prime minister and offered him a new plan to overhaul the security services of the Palestinian Authority.

Basically, consolidating the various security services into three main branches, which was a demand that had long been made also by the international community to Chairman Arafat. The reason why the Prime Minister Qorei was telling the situation in Gaza is totally out of control is because of a situation that happened in the last 24 hours with a series of kidnappings, took place.

Unrelated, both Palestinians officials as well as Westerners had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants, which had, you know, unrelated by very similar demands, in that is, reform the Palestinian Authority and deal with the corruption of the Palestinian Authority.

And this underscores the growing pressure that Mr. Arafat is under these days to reform the Palestinian Authority, and especially the security services. Situation in Gaza, almost a chaotic situation for 24 hours with various groups holding both Westerners and Palestinian officials demanding key demands, demanding reforms, demanding that the judicial system be reinstated and all that kind of stuff.

And, therefore, Mr. Arafat bowing to that pressure announces some kind of reforms and agreeing to put all the security services into three main branches. Something the international community, including Terry Larsen, the U.S. envoy in this region, had asked for not long ago.

Back to you, Betty.

NGUYEN: A lot of developments. We'll see how it shakes out. Alessio Vinci, thank you very much -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: There have been some major developments in three high- profile legal cases this week. And what some thought would be key evidence will not be admitted in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault trial. Claims of perjury in the Scott Peterson double murder case.

And, of course, Martha Stewart gets that sentence for lying about a questionable stock trade. She'll spend five months and another five based at one of her homes. She'll talk about what the last two months have been like for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARTHA STEWART: I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time. All the while I'm more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself. More hurt for them and for their losses than for my own; more worried for their futures than the future of Martha Stewart, the person.

More than 200 people have lost their jobs at my company as a result of this situation. I want them to know how very, very sorry I am, for them and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: So let's toss these developments to our legal expert. Civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, in our Miami Bureau.

Good morning to you.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: And criminal defense attorney Tony Locascio joining us from New York.

ANTHONY LOCASCIO, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: Might as well begin with Martha, since she's talking about it. She says more than 200 people lost their jobs. And at the end of the day, she'll spend five long months in prison and a $30,000 fine. Doesn't really sound like a big deal.

Lida, was this all worth it for the crime she committed?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: It was absolutely not worth it. Especially because what she did was not a crime -- or should not be a crime. Let's face it. What she did was, she lied about something that wasn't a crime. And what we're talking about here is, she lied about the fact in she got a tip from her broker. That's not a crime. Without more, that is not a crime.

This is -- and Tony would agree with me on this, he better, that this is nothing more than -- for example, you have a guy who is committing adultery. A woman goes missing. She's found a couple of days later. He lies to police about the fact that he's having an adulteress affair, but he is prosecuted, even though she's alive.

That is not different here. What we have something that is not a crime. That should not about crime; she was prosecuted for it. And, you know, after that, it depends what you think. Should she do five months in jail? I don't know.

Tony, what's your view?

LOCASCIO: Well, I do agree with you. I see a lot of resemblance to this case to the Scott Peterson case. And I have a lot opinions on the Scott Peterson case. I'll tell you that.

GRIFFIN: We'll get to that, Tony. LOCASCIO: I'll be patient.

But, yeah, in the Martha Stewart case, we have an issue here where there's a lying situation going on. But, you know, I think the judge here looked at what the penalty was, what the crime was, and who the person was.

And you have a person here that has done a lot good for the community. That has suffered through this already, OK. And the amount that she's given to this community has poured in, in droves with 1,500 letters to the judge. And I think the judge accounted for that in this ruling, in this sentence.

GRIFFIN: You think it was light?

LOCASCIO: I think was light. I think it, quite honestly, I think it should have been light. And quite frankly, there's going to be a lot of issues. I don't think Martha Stewart is going to do any jail time.

It is already stayed pending appeal. After the appeal goes through, I think we'll see her get off, quite frankly. Because her issues, on appeal, unlike some commentators, I think, are very strong.

GRIFFIN: Tony, let's move on to Scott Peterson. You brought it up. Let's go ahead with it.

Mark Geragos seems to be taking the O.J./Johnnie Cochran defense. Attack the police. At question, is this detective who may have embellished the truth a little bit on a tip that the police eventually did not use. Why is that relevant?

LOCASCIO: I'm going to make another reference to the O.J., as you brought it up. I see this Detective Brocchini, he is the Mark Fuhrman of the Scott Peterson case. And what Geragos is doing, and he's doing an excellent job with it. What Geragos is doing, is he is creating more and more holes in the state's case.

By the time it gets to his case, his time to put on his evidence, those holes are going to become giant craters. And it's going to be doubt, doubt, doubt. And I'm telling you, at this point, Scott Peterson's going to get off.

GRIFFIN: Lida, what do you think about this? Is this guy the Mark Fuhrman of this case?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you know, I hate to make references to the O.J. Simpson case. Those are all completely loaded.

But here's the reality of what happened here. Geragos is after Brocchini, because Brocchini said that a tipster told him that in 1995, Scott Peterson described how he would do a murder. And he mentioned the word duct tape. He said he would tie it around somebody's neck, and tie them down, and separate their limbs, all sorts of things. Turns out, the AP has disclosed that they have a person who was at the scene when the tipster made the tip. And that no such mention was made of duct tape. Why is that important? Because duct tape is central to this case. Why is it also important? Because Brocchini was the lead detective. He's the person who has been the center of this case from the prosecution's perspective.

If he can't be believed the prosecution's case -- which is purely circumstantial, they have very little, if any physical evidence -- will not be believed.

GRIFFIN: Lida, quickly, we have to move on to the Kobe Bryant case. He volunteered to go and get a medical exam the night of his arrest. Now the judge says, none of the information in that medical exam can be admitted. Is that a win for him? And why shouldn't it be admitted?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: It shouldn't be admitted, because the prosecution, the police had a warrant that was an invalid warrant at the time.

The most important thing that happened wasn't even with regard to the exam. It was with regard to the tape that, of the -- the secretly recorded interview that Kobe supposedly gave to the police. It was 75 minutes. It was secretly recorded, and now the judge is admitting that. That's the troubling part.

GRIFFIN: All right, Lida, thank you for joining us from Miami. And Tony Locascio from New York City this morning. Thank you both.

LOCASCIO: Thank you.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Other news now -- fire rages across the Western United States. We'll see if there's any chance of rain in the rain-starved region.

GRIFFIN: And you wanted to be that guy. Right? Sex, spies and videotape. That's all coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

NGUYEN: Updating you on headlines in the news this morning -- the death toll from a school fire in southern India is now at least 90. Most of them, children under the age of 10. As bad as it was, it could have been far worse. According to the Associated Press, one official says about 700 children managed to escape the flames. The school principal has been arrested for negligence.

And in health news, popular medical devices used to unblock arteries have been recalled. The maker, Boston Scientific, says it has recalled two of its products. Malfunctions are blame for the deaths of several patients and causing serious complications in others. GRIFFIN: We've been asking all morning: What should the sentence be for Martha Stewart? Kevin from Naples, Florida, wins the prize with this answer:

"Martha sentence should be having to clean my house and cook for me for a year. That would teach her!"

NGUYEN: Oh, Kevin! Well, we have Bobby in Atlanta. He's definitely a fan. He says:

"If I were the judge I would sentence Martha to create at least two more seasons of her award winning show and at minimum developing 24 more issues of her industry leading lifestyle magazine. Now that would be serving the public interest."

And of course, we would like to invite you to continue writing in with your responses. The question of the day: What sentence would you give to Martha Stewart? E-mail us at wam@cnn.com.

GRIFFIN: Much more coming your way this Saturday morning. Next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from Bangkok, Thailand. The site of the World AIDS Conference, and he will explore new treatments to confront the growth of AIDS worldwide.

At 9:15 Eastern, the political conventions coming out, but controversy coming out with them. We'll debating whether random subway searches should be instituted in Boston and New York. People in Boston getting the tea out for that one.

And 9:30, a Coast Guard admiral joins us to talk about security on the high seas and ports around the country.

Satellite surveillance has probably taken some of the sex out of spying, but there's still enough person-to-person contact to lend credibility to all those books and movie plots featuring oversexed snoops. Details on that from David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In the classic Hollywood version, it's usually two spies in the bedroom, each trying to entrap the other. Real life may not be so glamorous, but Hollywood is right in this sense, historian Keith Melton told a sell-out crowd at the International Spy Museum. Sex and spies have always mixed.

KEITH MELTON, SPY HISTORIAN: Everybody does it. Every intelligence service utilizes sex in some capacity.

ENSOR: In Moscow hotels, the Soviet KGB did it routinely and filmed the whole thing. Here, two KGB women entice a Spanish diplomat in the '70s, blackmail film designed to induce treason. MELTON (voice over): When confronted with this. Many diplomats were faced with an ugly reality. Do I accept what I've done in contact security, or do I agree to give some small seeming innocuous piece of information to the KGB?

ENSOR: But it was East German spy chief Marcus Wolff, says Melton, who turned sex-espionage into an art form, finding that women often make more propositioning targets than men. And love works better than blackmail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to know when the plane will leave. Where they are going? How many, what type of aircraft will be involved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Victor, that's classified information!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you really love me, you will do this for me.

ENSOR: Agents like Herbert Schroeder were taught to woo, second propose to secretaries like Gerta with access to secrets, and then go to step three.

MELTON: The third thing is, confess that you are indeed an East German agent who came here for another purpose entirely, but unless, somehow, you can get some information, they're going to recall you, and you're never going to be able to spend your life together. Blatant honesty worked.

ENSOR: And it still does. These more permissive times, blackmail is less effective. But honey traps based on the yearning for real love will always be there.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com