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CNN Saturday Morning News

Legal Analyst of Kobe Bryant's Trial

Aired August 07, 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: The next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.
And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is August 7. Good morning. I'm Drew Griffin.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway in for Betty Nguyen this weekend. Thanks for being with us.

In the news now, in Baghdad, a few minutes ago, Iraq's Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi signed an amnesty law for those who committed minor crimes. John Vause will be along in a moment with a live report on that.

Also, south of Baghdad, U.S. forces battle Shiite militiamen in Najaf for a third straight day. Sporadic explosions and gunfire echoed through the city after intense fighting on Thursday and Friday.

At least two Marines were killed yesterday in fighting in the Najaf Province. And in a separate incident, an American soldier died yesterday afternoon when his army patrol was attacked with rocket propelled grenades in western Baghdad.

Back here in the U.S., Wall Street stocks tumble on news of the employment numbers for July, the weakest so far this year. The Labor Department also revised May and June job numbers downward, and Jill Dougherty will take a look at the political repercussions in a live report coming up in 90 seconds.

Authorities call a Florida murder scene one of extreme violence. Investigators found the bodies of four men and two women in a rented home yesterday. Police say they appear to have been killed during the night.

Authorities haven't named any suspects in the case. We're told they're trying to locate several persons of interest.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted source of news.

GRIFFIN: And among the stories coming up this hour, new legal twists in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. Even before it gets to trial -- if it ever does. That's just ahead in our "Legal Briefs".

What would you do if you came face to gun in an armed robbery? Would you just take a number and wait? And if you finally taking off on that well-earned vacation, you sure don't want to end up with Montezuma's revenge. We've got your prescription in our "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Wall Street reacts to the latest news from Main Street. The Dow dropped more than 140 points yesterday after news the economy added just 32,000 jobs last month. That's a fraction of what economists expected.

The Nasdaq composite index and the S&P 500 also ended in negative territory. Analysts believe that weak job numbers could indicate an economic slowdown.

John Kerry using the latest jobs reports on the campaign trail, saying it shows President Bush isn't doing his job. The Democratic challenger told supporters in Missouri, we can do better. Kerry again attacked Bush's slogan that America has turned a corner, saying the administration is going in circles.

CALLAWAY: And President Bush is spending the day at his family's home in Maine, where he will attend a nephew's wedding. But the dismal economic news cannot be far from his thoughts.

CNN's Jill Dougherty joining us from Kennebunkport with more on this.

Jill, can't be good news for the president?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It isn't. That's definite, Catherine, but the administration and the campaign are trying to put the best gloss on it that they possibly can.

You know, here in Kennebunkport you're actually seeing a rare occasion these days, and that is the president having a little bit of R&R. He's here, as you mentioned, for the wedding of his nephew. That would be George P. Bush. He's the son of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. And he'll be marrying, by the way, a young Texas lawyer.

But as I said, it's a rare occasion where you see the president going off in a boat and taking a little bit of rest. He will be back on the campaign trail. And he has been on the campaign trail, very, very intensively; this past week, going into the Midwest and going into those crucial swing states.

Essentially, what his message is doing is boiling down to two subjects. It's probably true for both candidates. One is terrorism. The president feels that he has an advantage on that score.

But the economy is the one that they are worried about. And those numbers yesterday really are not good news for the president. Number one, creating fewer jobs. Far fewer jobs, than they expected. Also, even though the unemployment figure is at 5.5 percent, a slight, slight dip, it just went down from 5.6 percent. So what does the administration and what does the campaign do?

They are admitting, because they have to, that these numbers are not what they want. They say they themselves are disappointed. But they make the case that there is more to do. And that overall, the economy is trending in the right direction. So the message that you hear from the president and all of his men is -- there is more to do, and I should be put back in office to do it.

And, again, Catherine, you're going to see the president next week back on the campaign trail after a little bit of rest here in Kennebunkport.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jill. It looks beautiful there. Thank you very much.

Just a reminder about our e-mail question today: "Do you think the U.S. is in a job crisis? Or crunch? E-mail us with your comments now at wam@cnn.com. We'll read them to you throughout the morning.

Government sources tell CNN that the chatter that they monitor between terror suspects is dropping off. And counter terrorism officials say that the same thing happened just before the 9/11 attacks. They're not sure why things are quieting down.

In the meantime, investigators are following up on leads prompted by recent arrests in Britain and Pakistan. Especially on two key suspects who likely helped Al Qaeda agents talk to one another.

GRIFFIN: Machine guns chatter and mortar rounds explode as U.S. Marine forces face-off with the Mehdi militiamen again this morning in the Iraq holy city of Najaf. Maybe the biggest battle -- ongoing pitched battle since the fall of Baghdad.

We'll have John Vause live from the Iraqi capital when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Now to our news out of Iraq, a battle in Najaf. Just about an hour ago the prime minister there makes some announcements on amnesty for criminals and he shuts down the offices of Al-Jazeera. CNN's John Vause reports live now from Iraq's capital -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Drew.

Yes, the Iraqi interim prime minister announcing a short time there would in fact be an amnesty for Iraqis who have been involved in minor crimes. This is seen as a key part of the interim government's strategy to end this 15-month-long insurgency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER, IRAQ (through translator): I have today signed the amnesty law. And this law is directed towards individuals who have committed minor crimes, and have not yet been apprehended or prosecuted.

Examples of this amnesty is for individuals that possess or have dealt in light arms, possession of explosive devices or materials that can be used to create explosives, hiding intelligence or covering for individuals or groups that are planning or financing criminal terrorist acts, participation with terrorist groups with an intent to commit crimes that would affect the nation's internal security, or citizen's properties, and currently wanted individuals from the ousted regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Not covered in that amnesty, those who have committed murder, rape, kidnapping, looting, that kind of thing. There is some controversy about this amnesty. Because earlier, many weeks ago when the amnesty idea was first floated, there were some reports that Iraqis involved in killing U.S. forces would also be offered amnesty as well.

The Iraqi government today shot that down. They said that was never the case and Iraqis involved in murder will not be offered the amnesty.

On the issue of martial law, the Iraqi prime minister, the interim prime minister, says emergency laws like that are not needed right now. He said the situation in Najaf, while painful, it is not out of control. The Iraqi national forces have that situation in hand.

He's blaming the media for blowing this out of proportion. And did say those involved, he does not believe, are, in fact -- from the -- are being sponsored, if you like, by Muqtada al Sadr, the Shiite cleric in Najaf. He's blaming it on foreign forces and criminals -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: John, I want to ask you about Al Jazeera, shut down for the month, apparently, in Baghdad. What do you know about that?

VAUSE: Well, one of the reasons for this, we're hearing, is in that Al Jazeera, which constantly and often broadcasts those videos, those messages, once people have been kidnapped and being held hostage, broadcasting those gruesome videos, the interim Iraqi government believes that is inciting, that it is not helping the situation. And so, because of that, their offices have now been closed down for 30 days.

GRIFFIN: John Vause, reporting live from Baghdad, this morning.

Thank you, John.

CALLAWAY: And here's a look some other stories making news across America this morning.

A New York doctor denies that he has anything to do with the anthrax poisoning three years ago. This week, three dozen FBI agents carted away bags of items from two residences linked to the doctor. Bio-terrorism expert Dr. Kenneth Berry has not been officially connected to the anthrax attacks.

And a container ship kept at sea for almost a week amid a bio- hazard scare is now docked in at a New Jersey port. Officials plan to destroy five containers of lemons onboard.

GRIFFIN: Friends and fans are mourning the death of Rick James this morning. A caretaker found the singer dead in his California home yesterday. The cause, net yet known. Rick James was just 56- years-old.

Police in Arizona say they don't expect people to put their lives on the line, but they don't expect this, either. Surveillance video showing a gunman robbing a convenience store in Phoenix.

Two customers walk in and keep on moving. Another waits for the robbery to end so he can buy something. One store worker even held the door open for the robber to run out. Police, well, they're a bit surprised.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. PAUL PENZONE, PHOENIX POLICE: The best that people, in the middle of a robbery, that you don't do anything to upset the person who is committing that robbery. You want to be safe.

But at the same time, I hope the community hasn't become so numb to it that it's a common occurrence. That we accept it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Wow. The case against Kobe Bryant. Will it fall through the cracks if the key witness bows out? Our "Legal Eagles" will weigh in. Also, the headlines, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Checking our top stories this morning. In Iraq, sporadic explosions and gunfire rumbled through the holy Shiite city of Najaf again today. That comes after two days of intense clashes between U.S. troops and Shiite Muslim insurgents.

Meanwhile, two Marines killed in combat in Najaf yesterday. A soldier was also killed in a separate incident also in western Baghdad.

Stateside, the Dow lost nearly 140 points as investors react to just 32,000 be new jobs in July. That is only a fraction of the more than 200,000 jobs that economists had expected.

GRIFFIN: Kobe Bryant's trial hasn't even started yet. His accuser, though, says she may withdraw from the case. Our "Legal Eagles" coming right up with what this might mean for the prosecution.

(NEWS BREAK)

GRIFFIN: In today's "Legal Briefs", the judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case. Why he issues a gag order on the attorneys in the case.

And two Georgia teenage girls are facing murder charges. Police say they had an agenda (ph). So we toss these items to our regular legal combatants, civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Tassef, is overcoming technical problems in our Miami bureau this morning, and former Texas prosecutor Nelda Blair joins us live from Houston.

Good morning, ladies.

NELDA BLAIR, FMR. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: We talked about the Kobe Bryant case last week. Whether or not this alleged victim would drop from the case. She's been through it -- she's been harassed. She's been threatened, and she's had leaks of her name come from the court. Now her attorney says she may drop out of the case.

Nelda, can they bring this case to court without her?

BLAIR: Well, it is true they can. They won't likely do that, because the main evidence in this case against Kobe Bryant is her testimony. And, of course, prosecutors are going to need that, but you know, prosecutors are saying we're going forward with our case.

Which leads me to believe, that as much as she's been through, this woman is not going to give up now.

GRIFFIN: Lida.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Oh, give me a break, Nelda. And, Nelda, you didn't comment. Do I look like a pop star or what?

Basically, was going on here is pretty simple.

This alleged victim, this accuser, has decided that she doesn't like the fact that this isn't about prior sexual history. This is about whether or not she had sex with another man within 15 hours after -- after -- after -- after she allegedly had sex with Kobe Bryant. That is absolutely relevant to whether or not Kobe Bryant is guilty of rape.

Whether or not this woman actually had sexual intercourse with someone else. Whether or not that means that she was not raped, whether or not that means that the injuries came from another man is all central in this case.

And, therefore, what's going on here is, the victim doesn't like or the alleged victim doesn't like her life being trotted out. And she's decided to fight back. And what her lawyers are doing is simply a publicity ploy to try to win sympathy, so she doesn't look nearly as bad on the stand if she has to take the stand.

BLAIR: Lida, Lida, this woman has been threatened with death. She has had not only her name but her physical body spread all over the Internet. People have -- she can't live in her home, she can't work at her job, she be with her friends or family, while Kobe Bryant is out just doing what he does normally and living his life.

What's happened to this woman is a travesty. And from what she's already been through, just to have one more thing about her sex life come out on the Internet, which has already happened, is not going to deter her from going forward with what she thinks happened to her, and that is rape.

And doesn't matter if she had sex before, sex after, if it was consensual. What's matters is that her sex with Kobe Bryant was not consensual, and we call that rape. I think she'll go forward with it to prove it.

GRIFFIN: Lida, any response to that before we move on?

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, I think it's important to note here that the media didn't get its grubby little hands on over 200 pages of transcript from this June hearing because, simply because a judge made a mistake. What happened here is the media got its hands on the transcript, which had testimony very clearly from the defense witness...

BLAIR: Only.

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: ...from the DNA doctor talking about the fact that there was DNA from another man, whom we're calling Mr. X, on the woman and her underpants at the time ever the examination.

And this is important and relevant, Nelda. This isn't simply about this woman being beat up on the Internet. This is about a man's freedom. And we have to get to the bottom of this.

BLAIR: Please, Lida. It's one-sided, too.

GRIFFIN: All right, Lida, Nelda, thank you very much. Let's move on.

Lida, two girls, 15 and 16-years-old, arrested here in Georgia for killing one of the girl's grandparents. It was apparently premeditated. They used knives, they spelled out what their strategy was before by writing down to-do lists on their hands. Now they'll be charged as adults. Right decision or wrong decision?

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: This is an absolutely horrible, horrible, horrible case. What happened here -- and I think we're still finding out the details, is absolutely horrible. And it is a wrong decision to treat teenagers as adults simply because they do something absolutely horrible.

Teenagers don't have the mental capacity to sign contracts. They don't have the mental capacity to drink. They don't have the mental capacity to do a lot things. And all of the sudden we say that even though teenagers don't have that mental capacity, when it comes to murder, all of a sudden voila, they're adults.

BLAIR: Lida!

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: It doesn't really make sense, and is intended to be punitive.

Go ahead, Nelda.

BLAIR: This is unbelievable. Of course, it is not unbelievable I'm hearing this from you.

But let me say this, these two girls, who were 15 and 16, had the mental capacity to have a love relationship. Have the mental capacity to days, prior to these killings, try to get a gun to kill these grandparents. Had the capacity to write down what -- that they were going to kill, what they going to steal. Conned someone into keeping them overnight afterwards and have showed no remorse for these killings at all.

There is absolutely no reason they should not be tried as adults. They have acted as adults in every way. And they certainly knew exactly what they were doing. I applaud this, as applied (ph) to prosecutors.

GRIFFIN: Quickly, one more story we want to get to. Embryo mix up in California. The doctor implants the wrong embryo, knew about it, lied about it. Doesn't come forward about it until after the child is born and being raised by another couple. They get awarded $1.4 million, but, really the question for me is, should there be any kind of criminal case here against the doctor who covered this all up?

Nelda, you want to speak to that?

BLAIR: Absolutely. I think there absolutely should -- in fact, I'm surprised it was only $1 million awarded against him.

This doctor tried to Play god. We see that in the legal profession quite a bit with doctors. He tried to play God with those lives and with the lives of those children that were to be born. There is no question he should have -- it's a fraud, basically. He should actually be charged criminally, no question about it.

GRIFFIN: Lida.

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Nelda, I absolutely agree. He should be charged criminally. Maybe a battery is possible.

But you know, the thing that people should be really outraged about is that this happened almost four years ago. And the Medical Board of California has known about it for at least two years. They have not gotten rid of him yet. He still has a license to practice medicine.

And we should all be outraged, because, you know, whenever all of these people start complaining about the rising costs of medical malpractice insurance, you've got to wonder why it is doctors aren't policing their own.

This is a huge problem. They need to get rid of his license immediately, and there is going to be no peace for this family anytime soon.

BLAIR: That's right. GRIFFIN: On a rare moment of agreement with you two, we will end it right there. Thank you, ladies. Hope to see you next week.

We're going to update you now a story we first brought you last week in "Legal Briefs"

A Washington state judge lifting an order against Mary Kay Letourneau that barred contact between her and the former student she was convicted of raping, when he was 13.

Letourneau was freed from prison Wednesday after serving seven years. The boy is now a man. He's 21-years-old. And he petitioned the court to have the order lifted saying he still loves her. The couple has two children together and apparently they will be together.

CALLAWAY: Wow.

We've been asking you all morning, do you think the U.S. is in a job crisis or crunch? And here's a sample of some of the things that you've been sending to us this morning. This one from Nick:

"Unemployment rates are historically very low. Interest rates are low, the GDP growth is the highest in 20 years. Homeownership is at its highest level. Productivity is up, etc cetera. Employment is a lagging indicator and will continue to improve. Keep in mind the economy still created jobs last month."

GRIFFIN: We have a "Grouchy" viewer in west Texas who says:

"Out here in the real world it is a job crisis. A lot of us middle or now lower class Americans can't even see the corner, so we can't turn it."

Thank you, "Grouchy".

If want to get in on this question, please, e-mail us at wam@cnn.com. Job crisis or crunch?

CALLAWAY: All right. Are you losing patience with your real estate agent? Want to cut out the middleman? Believe it or not, you can sell your home all by yourself. All coming up in the next hour. We're going to give you some tips on how to make the process a little easier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired August 7, 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: The next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.
And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is August 7. Good morning. I'm Drew Griffin.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway in for Betty Nguyen this weekend. Thanks for being with us.

In the news now, in Baghdad, a few minutes ago, Iraq's Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi signed an amnesty law for those who committed minor crimes. John Vause will be along in a moment with a live report on that.

Also, south of Baghdad, U.S. forces battle Shiite militiamen in Najaf for a third straight day. Sporadic explosions and gunfire echoed through the city after intense fighting on Thursday and Friday.

At least two Marines were killed yesterday in fighting in the Najaf Province. And in a separate incident, an American soldier died yesterday afternoon when his army patrol was attacked with rocket propelled grenades in western Baghdad.

Back here in the U.S., Wall Street stocks tumble on news of the employment numbers for July, the weakest so far this year. The Labor Department also revised May and June job numbers downward, and Jill Dougherty will take a look at the political repercussions in a live report coming up in 90 seconds.

Authorities call a Florida murder scene one of extreme violence. Investigators found the bodies of four men and two women in a rented home yesterday. Police say they appear to have been killed during the night.

Authorities haven't named any suspects in the case. We're told they're trying to locate several persons of interest.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted source of news.

GRIFFIN: And among the stories coming up this hour, new legal twists in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. Even before it gets to trial -- if it ever does. That's just ahead in our "Legal Briefs".

What would you do if you came face to gun in an armed robbery? Would you just take a number and wait? And if you finally taking off on that well-earned vacation, you sure don't want to end up with Montezuma's revenge. We've got your prescription in our "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Wall Street reacts to the latest news from Main Street. The Dow dropped more than 140 points yesterday after news the economy added just 32,000 jobs last month. That's a fraction of what economists expected.

The Nasdaq composite index and the S&P 500 also ended in negative territory. Analysts believe that weak job numbers could indicate an economic slowdown.

John Kerry using the latest jobs reports on the campaign trail, saying it shows President Bush isn't doing his job. The Democratic challenger told supporters in Missouri, we can do better. Kerry again attacked Bush's slogan that America has turned a corner, saying the administration is going in circles.

CALLAWAY: And President Bush is spending the day at his family's home in Maine, where he will attend a nephew's wedding. But the dismal economic news cannot be far from his thoughts.

CNN's Jill Dougherty joining us from Kennebunkport with more on this.

Jill, can't be good news for the president?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It isn't. That's definite, Catherine, but the administration and the campaign are trying to put the best gloss on it that they possibly can.

You know, here in Kennebunkport you're actually seeing a rare occasion these days, and that is the president having a little bit of R&R. He's here, as you mentioned, for the wedding of his nephew. That would be George P. Bush. He's the son of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. And he'll be marrying, by the way, a young Texas lawyer.

But as I said, it's a rare occasion where you see the president going off in a boat and taking a little bit of rest. He will be back on the campaign trail. And he has been on the campaign trail, very, very intensively; this past week, going into the Midwest and going into those crucial swing states.

Essentially, what his message is doing is boiling down to two subjects. It's probably true for both candidates. One is terrorism. The president feels that he has an advantage on that score.

But the economy is the one that they are worried about. And those numbers yesterday really are not good news for the president. Number one, creating fewer jobs. Far fewer jobs, than they expected. Also, even though the unemployment figure is at 5.5 percent, a slight, slight dip, it just went down from 5.6 percent. So what does the administration and what does the campaign do?

They are admitting, because they have to, that these numbers are not what they want. They say they themselves are disappointed. But they make the case that there is more to do. And that overall, the economy is trending in the right direction. So the message that you hear from the president and all of his men is -- there is more to do, and I should be put back in office to do it.

And, again, Catherine, you're going to see the president next week back on the campaign trail after a little bit of rest here in Kennebunkport.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jill. It looks beautiful there. Thank you very much.

Just a reminder about our e-mail question today: "Do you think the U.S. is in a job crisis? Or crunch? E-mail us with your comments now at wam@cnn.com. We'll read them to you throughout the morning.

Government sources tell CNN that the chatter that they monitor between terror suspects is dropping off. And counter terrorism officials say that the same thing happened just before the 9/11 attacks. They're not sure why things are quieting down.

In the meantime, investigators are following up on leads prompted by recent arrests in Britain and Pakistan. Especially on two key suspects who likely helped Al Qaeda agents talk to one another.

GRIFFIN: Machine guns chatter and mortar rounds explode as U.S. Marine forces face-off with the Mehdi militiamen again this morning in the Iraq holy city of Najaf. Maybe the biggest battle -- ongoing pitched battle since the fall of Baghdad.

We'll have John Vause live from the Iraqi capital when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Now to our news out of Iraq, a battle in Najaf. Just about an hour ago the prime minister there makes some announcements on amnesty for criminals and he shuts down the offices of Al-Jazeera. CNN's John Vause reports live now from Iraq's capital -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Drew.

Yes, the Iraqi interim prime minister announcing a short time there would in fact be an amnesty for Iraqis who have been involved in minor crimes. This is seen as a key part of the interim government's strategy to end this 15-month-long insurgency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER, IRAQ (through translator): I have today signed the amnesty law. And this law is directed towards individuals who have committed minor crimes, and have not yet been apprehended or prosecuted.

Examples of this amnesty is for individuals that possess or have dealt in light arms, possession of explosive devices or materials that can be used to create explosives, hiding intelligence or covering for individuals or groups that are planning or financing criminal terrorist acts, participation with terrorist groups with an intent to commit crimes that would affect the nation's internal security, or citizen's properties, and currently wanted individuals from the ousted regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Not covered in that amnesty, those who have committed murder, rape, kidnapping, looting, that kind of thing. There is some controversy about this amnesty. Because earlier, many weeks ago when the amnesty idea was first floated, there were some reports that Iraqis involved in killing U.S. forces would also be offered amnesty as well.

The Iraqi government today shot that down. They said that was never the case and Iraqis involved in murder will not be offered the amnesty.

On the issue of martial law, the Iraqi prime minister, the interim prime minister, says emergency laws like that are not needed right now. He said the situation in Najaf, while painful, it is not out of control. The Iraqi national forces have that situation in hand.

He's blaming the media for blowing this out of proportion. And did say those involved, he does not believe, are, in fact -- from the -- are being sponsored, if you like, by Muqtada al Sadr, the Shiite cleric in Najaf. He's blaming it on foreign forces and criminals -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: John, I want to ask you about Al Jazeera, shut down for the month, apparently, in Baghdad. What do you know about that?

VAUSE: Well, one of the reasons for this, we're hearing, is in that Al Jazeera, which constantly and often broadcasts those videos, those messages, once people have been kidnapped and being held hostage, broadcasting those gruesome videos, the interim Iraqi government believes that is inciting, that it is not helping the situation. And so, because of that, their offices have now been closed down for 30 days.

GRIFFIN: John Vause, reporting live from Baghdad, this morning.

Thank you, John.

CALLAWAY: And here's a look some other stories making news across America this morning.

A New York doctor denies that he has anything to do with the anthrax poisoning three years ago. This week, three dozen FBI agents carted away bags of items from two residences linked to the doctor. Bio-terrorism expert Dr. Kenneth Berry has not been officially connected to the anthrax attacks.

And a container ship kept at sea for almost a week amid a bio- hazard scare is now docked in at a New Jersey port. Officials plan to destroy five containers of lemons onboard.

GRIFFIN: Friends and fans are mourning the death of Rick James this morning. A caretaker found the singer dead in his California home yesterday. The cause, net yet known. Rick James was just 56- years-old.

Police in Arizona say they don't expect people to put their lives on the line, but they don't expect this, either. Surveillance video showing a gunman robbing a convenience store in Phoenix.

Two customers walk in and keep on moving. Another waits for the robbery to end so he can buy something. One store worker even held the door open for the robber to run out. Police, well, they're a bit surprised.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. PAUL PENZONE, PHOENIX POLICE: The best that people, in the middle of a robbery, that you don't do anything to upset the person who is committing that robbery. You want to be safe.

But at the same time, I hope the community hasn't become so numb to it that it's a common occurrence. That we accept it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Wow. The case against Kobe Bryant. Will it fall through the cracks if the key witness bows out? Our "Legal Eagles" will weigh in. Also, the headlines, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Checking our top stories this morning. In Iraq, sporadic explosions and gunfire rumbled through the holy Shiite city of Najaf again today. That comes after two days of intense clashes between U.S. troops and Shiite Muslim insurgents.

Meanwhile, two Marines killed in combat in Najaf yesterday. A soldier was also killed in a separate incident also in western Baghdad.

Stateside, the Dow lost nearly 140 points as investors react to just 32,000 be new jobs in July. That is only a fraction of the more than 200,000 jobs that economists had expected.

GRIFFIN: Kobe Bryant's trial hasn't even started yet. His accuser, though, says she may withdraw from the case. Our "Legal Eagles" coming right up with what this might mean for the prosecution.

(NEWS BREAK)

GRIFFIN: In today's "Legal Briefs", the judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case. Why he issues a gag order on the attorneys in the case.

And two Georgia teenage girls are facing murder charges. Police say they had an agenda (ph). So we toss these items to our regular legal combatants, civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Tassef, is overcoming technical problems in our Miami bureau this morning, and former Texas prosecutor Nelda Blair joins us live from Houston.

Good morning, ladies.

NELDA BLAIR, FMR. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: We talked about the Kobe Bryant case last week. Whether or not this alleged victim would drop from the case. She's been through it -- she's been harassed. She's been threatened, and she's had leaks of her name come from the court. Now her attorney says she may drop out of the case.

Nelda, can they bring this case to court without her?

BLAIR: Well, it is true they can. They won't likely do that, because the main evidence in this case against Kobe Bryant is her testimony. And, of course, prosecutors are going to need that, but you know, prosecutors are saying we're going forward with our case.

Which leads me to believe, that as much as she's been through, this woman is not going to give up now.

GRIFFIN: Lida.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Oh, give me a break, Nelda. And, Nelda, you didn't comment. Do I look like a pop star or what?

Basically, was going on here is pretty simple.

This alleged victim, this accuser, has decided that she doesn't like the fact that this isn't about prior sexual history. This is about whether or not she had sex with another man within 15 hours after -- after -- after -- after she allegedly had sex with Kobe Bryant. That is absolutely relevant to whether or not Kobe Bryant is guilty of rape.

Whether or not this woman actually had sexual intercourse with someone else. Whether or not that means that she was not raped, whether or not that means that the injuries came from another man is all central in this case.

And, therefore, what's going on here is, the victim doesn't like or the alleged victim doesn't like her life being trotted out. And she's decided to fight back. And what her lawyers are doing is simply a publicity ploy to try to win sympathy, so she doesn't look nearly as bad on the stand if she has to take the stand.

BLAIR: Lida, Lida, this woman has been threatened with death. She has had not only her name but her physical body spread all over the Internet. People have -- she can't live in her home, she can't work at her job, she be with her friends or family, while Kobe Bryant is out just doing what he does normally and living his life.

What's happened to this woman is a travesty. And from what she's already been through, just to have one more thing about her sex life come out on the Internet, which has already happened, is not going to deter her from going forward with what she thinks happened to her, and that is rape.

And doesn't matter if she had sex before, sex after, if it was consensual. What's matters is that her sex with Kobe Bryant was not consensual, and we call that rape. I think she'll go forward with it to prove it.

GRIFFIN: Lida, any response to that before we move on?

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, I think it's important to note here that the media didn't get its grubby little hands on over 200 pages of transcript from this June hearing because, simply because a judge made a mistake. What happened here is the media got its hands on the transcript, which had testimony very clearly from the defense witness...

BLAIR: Only.

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: ...from the DNA doctor talking about the fact that there was DNA from another man, whom we're calling Mr. X, on the woman and her underpants at the time ever the examination.

And this is important and relevant, Nelda. This isn't simply about this woman being beat up on the Internet. This is about a man's freedom. And we have to get to the bottom of this.

BLAIR: Please, Lida. It's one-sided, too.

GRIFFIN: All right, Lida, Nelda, thank you very much. Let's move on.

Lida, two girls, 15 and 16-years-old, arrested here in Georgia for killing one of the girl's grandparents. It was apparently premeditated. They used knives, they spelled out what their strategy was before by writing down to-do lists on their hands. Now they'll be charged as adults. Right decision or wrong decision?

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: This is an absolutely horrible, horrible, horrible case. What happened here -- and I think we're still finding out the details, is absolutely horrible. And it is a wrong decision to treat teenagers as adults simply because they do something absolutely horrible.

Teenagers don't have the mental capacity to sign contracts. They don't have the mental capacity to drink. They don't have the mental capacity to do a lot things. And all of the sudden we say that even though teenagers don't have that mental capacity, when it comes to murder, all of a sudden voila, they're adults.

BLAIR: Lida!

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: It doesn't really make sense, and is intended to be punitive.

Go ahead, Nelda.

BLAIR: This is unbelievable. Of course, it is not unbelievable I'm hearing this from you.

But let me say this, these two girls, who were 15 and 16, had the mental capacity to have a love relationship. Have the mental capacity to days, prior to these killings, try to get a gun to kill these grandparents. Had the capacity to write down what -- that they were going to kill, what they going to steal. Conned someone into keeping them overnight afterwards and have showed no remorse for these killings at all.

There is absolutely no reason they should not be tried as adults. They have acted as adults in every way. And they certainly knew exactly what they were doing. I applaud this, as applied (ph) to prosecutors.

GRIFFIN: Quickly, one more story we want to get to. Embryo mix up in California. The doctor implants the wrong embryo, knew about it, lied about it. Doesn't come forward about it until after the child is born and being raised by another couple. They get awarded $1.4 million, but, really the question for me is, should there be any kind of criminal case here against the doctor who covered this all up?

Nelda, you want to speak to that?

BLAIR: Absolutely. I think there absolutely should -- in fact, I'm surprised it was only $1 million awarded against him.

This doctor tried to Play god. We see that in the legal profession quite a bit with doctors. He tried to play God with those lives and with the lives of those children that were to be born. There is no question he should have -- it's a fraud, basically. He should actually be charged criminally, no question about it.

GRIFFIN: Lida.

RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Nelda, I absolutely agree. He should be charged criminally. Maybe a battery is possible.

But you know, the thing that people should be really outraged about is that this happened almost four years ago. And the Medical Board of California has known about it for at least two years. They have not gotten rid of him yet. He still has a license to practice medicine.

And we should all be outraged, because, you know, whenever all of these people start complaining about the rising costs of medical malpractice insurance, you've got to wonder why it is doctors aren't policing their own.

This is a huge problem. They need to get rid of his license immediately, and there is going to be no peace for this family anytime soon.

BLAIR: That's right. GRIFFIN: On a rare moment of agreement with you two, we will end it right there. Thank you, ladies. Hope to see you next week.

We're going to update you now a story we first brought you last week in "Legal Briefs"

A Washington state judge lifting an order against Mary Kay Letourneau that barred contact between her and the former student she was convicted of raping, when he was 13.

Letourneau was freed from prison Wednesday after serving seven years. The boy is now a man. He's 21-years-old. And he petitioned the court to have the order lifted saying he still loves her. The couple has two children together and apparently they will be together.

CALLAWAY: Wow.

We've been asking you all morning, do you think the U.S. is in a job crisis or crunch? And here's a sample of some of the things that you've been sending to us this morning. This one from Nick:

"Unemployment rates are historically very low. Interest rates are low, the GDP growth is the highest in 20 years. Homeownership is at its highest level. Productivity is up, etc cetera. Employment is a lagging indicator and will continue to improve. Keep in mind the economy still created jobs last month."

GRIFFIN: We have a "Grouchy" viewer in west Texas who says:

"Out here in the real world it is a job crisis. A lot of us middle or now lower class Americans can't even see the corner, so we can't turn it."

Thank you, "Grouchy".

If want to get in on this question, please, e-mail us at wam@cnn.com. Job crisis or crunch?

CALLAWAY: All right. Are you losing patience with your real estate agent? Want to cut out the middleman? Believe it or not, you can sell your home all by yourself. All coming up in the next hour. We're going to give you some tips on how to make the process a little easier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Stay with us.

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