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CNN Saturday Morning News

Long-Delayed Process Of Forming New Government Underway In Iraq; Spiking Gas Prices; Four Canadian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan; New Orleans' First Election Since Hurricane Katrina; Duke Rape Case Update

Aired April 22, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Read it and weep. You know gas prices are just zooming up and the shortages in the northeast really just adding to the whole frustration factor. We're going to check out what's going on in Washington.
From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Zain Verjee filling in for Betty Nguyen, and driving this gentleman a little crazy.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All the pleasure. Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, thanks for being with us.

Our top story in a moment, but first a look at other news happening right now. Note to self, should have filled up yesterday. Gas prices are up again about three cents a gallon on average. Widespread shortages are also reported at gas stations and with some distributors as well.

News from Afghanistan this morning the Canadian military says a roadside bomb in Afghanistan has killed four of its soldiers. The explosion occurred near the city of Kandahar in the southern part of Afghanistan. We will have a live report from Kandahar in just a few moments.

Right now in New Orleans, voters are heading to the polls. It's time to pick a new mayor or maybe re-elect Ray Nagin. It will take them all day to get through the ballot. Nagin is opposed by 20 other candidates and we'll go live to New Orleans in just a few minutes.

In Nepal today, what may be the beginning of a revolution, thousand of protestors surged in the streets of Kathmandu. Demonstrators demand an end to the absolute power of the Nepal monarchy. Security forces are surrounding the king's palace.

VERJEE: And in Baghdad this hour Iraq's Parliament gets the long-delayed process of forming a new government underway. Shia lawmakers are proposing a new candidate for Prime Minister al-Maliki will replace current leader al-Jaafari. And Sunni Arab Mahmoud al- Mashhadani has been elected speaker of the council of representatives.

HARRIS: We begin this hour with that sharp pain you feel in your backside it's a spike of gasoline prices that is spiking your wallet. Speculative trading gets part of the blame for driving the price of crude oil to more than $75 a barrel pushing up the price of gas to a national average of $2.86 per gallon. Lots of folks are paying way more than that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a whole bunch of people that I could hold accountable for, but I just have to do what I have to do and I need gas. I have to buy the gas, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Kyung Lah is monitoring the activity at a gas station near the capital in Washington. Kyung good morning.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. You can see the price for yourself; it is over $3 for the cheap stuff, $3.09 to be exact. Here in D.C., we've seen the prices rise in just the past month, 40 cents and there's also another problem here in the Northeast mid-Atlantic region that we are seeing. Lets give you a look at this gas station in Virginia.

There they're seeing some of their pumps run dry. These are specifically spotty outages that we're seeing in parts of the northeast and mid-Atlantic. We are seeing some spotty outages in Philadelphia and Maryland and also in Virginia. Some of these stations say they've completely run out of gas.

The reason for it, I want to be very clear here is not because of oil prices. But because we're mid-transition into ethanol-blended summertime-blended gasoline. What that means is that ethanol-blended gasoline can't go through pipelines. It has to be trucked there.

It does take a little bit longer for the gas to get to the gas station, so it is causing outages. A lot of heart aches in the northeast. AAA says don't panic these are spotty outages. If you can't find gas at your specific station, keep driving. You'll find it somewhere else.

Lets give you a look at the rest of the nation where look at these prices it is over $3 in parts of the country especially in you live in a big city. The price of gas according to AAA today is $2.88, that's 3 cents higher than just yesterday -- Tony.

HARRIS: Kyung Lah appreciate it, out of Washington. Appreciate you being there, not the story. Thank you.

President Bush today will be at the California Fuel Cell Partnership. That's in Sacramento, which is developing hydrogen technology for automobiles. That's a long-term solution at best, but what about right now? Are you satisfied with how the president is dealing with the situation?

A resounding no, according to this ABC News/"Washington Post" Poll. About three out of four people surveyed disapprove of Mr. Bush's handling of gasoline prices, and that brings us to this morning's e-mail question. What do you think? Who do you think is to blame for high gas prices? Tell us what you think. Here's our address, WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We will read some of your responses in our program a little later this hour.

VERJEE: Four Canadian soldiers have been killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan. It happened near Kandahar that is southern Afghanistan. Sarah Galashan is from CTV News and she joins us now live from Kandahar. Sarah can you give us the circumstances and what we know about what happened?

SARAH GALASHAN, CTV NEWS: Well they are traveling in a convoy leaving an area called Gumbad where the Canadians have established a platoon house. They left just before 7:30 this morning local time. It was at 7:30 when they were about seven kilometers northeast of the platoon house that the convoy came across a roadside IED, improvised explosive device that went off. It hit a g wagon.

This convoy did have some heavily armored vehicles, but the four soldiers who were killed were traveling in a lighter-armored vehicle, a g-wagon, that vehicle destroyed, we understand. The three soldiers killed instantly, a fourth was airlifted here to the Kandahar Airfield Hospital where they tried to help him recover but he did not. He is has unfortunately died as well.

VERJEE: Canadian troops, Sarah, have been battling Taliban insurgents in the deserts just outside of Kandahar City, fighting sometimes from the afternoon into hours of the night. Can you give us a sense of the kind of combat Canadian troops have seen there?

GALASHAN: Well, certainly there has been some combat. We have lost one Canadian soldier to a firefight in an area in the Hellmann Province. In this case it was a roadside bomb. It's a different kind of combat. It's a different kind of fight that's going here, as I'm sure you realize. These are not always firefights that our soldiers are dealing with. They are often more subversive attacks in the form of roadside bombs as we've seen here.

VERJEE: Galashan with CTV reporting to us to from Kandahar with the news just in that four Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province -- Tony.

HARRIS: A vote for the future and a referendum on a past disaster. Voters in New Orleans are going to the polls today in the first election since Hurricane Katrina. They're deciding on who will leave the city's fight to make a comeback.

CNN's Sean Callebs joins us live from New Orleans this morning. Sean good to see you. I see some activity behind you there. Perhaps you can step to the side and give us a bit of a scene shot.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll step out of the way. We are in front of a gymnasium at the University of New Orleans, one of what is the called a super precinct. Nothing is normal here in the city, in this time of voting right now.

They used to have 270-some voting precincts, but because so many neighborhoods have been washed out it has been reduced now to about 75, including 28 of these super precincts and this place has been packed. People have been coming in since the polls opened a little more than two others ago.

Three main candidates really. There are actually 23 people on the ballot, but a couple bailed out at the last minute. So 21 people competing for the mayoral seat and people coming here are educated they know what's at stake and they say it's important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm concerned about who's going to take charge and maybe get the job done. It's very important. And right now it's the first time in my life I've been homeless. So I'm looking forward to this election. I hope we get the right person in there and they can do the job. Talk is cheap. It's time for action now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: We are hearing that a lot out here today. The three main candidates people are talking about were current Mayor Ray Nagin and the Lieutenant Governor Mitch Lander and Ron Foreman a businessman who also had a big hand in developing the aquarium and Audubon Park here in this area. Tony a great deal at stake. The polls close in 12 hours, 8:00, Central.

HARRIS: When do you think Sean we'll get some indication as to who's won this thing?

CALLEBS: We could get that very soon, within a couple of hours maybe an hour after the polls close according to the secretary of state's office. It depends on how quickly all these results are being read and of course, a lot of people are faxing in votes and mailing in votes and there could be a couple of hours after polls close at 8:00 Central.

HARRIS: CNN's Sean Callebs for us in New Orleans. Sean appreciate it thank you.

The Duke rape investigation, sides, prosecution and defense are engaged in a PR battle and we'll debate the details in our legal briefs. That's coming up.

VERJEE: Plus, call it the frustration factor Tony. That's happening at the pump. We've been asking who you hold responsible for high gas prices. We will read your responses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM ROBERTS, EXOTIC DANCER: The only thing I did not see was the rape because I was not in the bathroom at that particular moment. Everything leading up to it I was there, everything leaving from it I was there. And mind you I believe I was the only sober person in the place.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Kim Roberts met the press yesterday she is the second dancer hired to perform at that Duke Lacrosse party last month. And you feel like you need a score care to keep up with the latest developments in the rape investigation you are not alone. Here is a brief recap: Tuesday, Durham police charged Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty with rape and kidnapping.

Both students were quickly released after making bail. Wednesday attorneys for Seligmann laid the groundwork for an alibi by releasing phone logs to establish a timeline for his whereabouts and Thursday police again searched Collin Finnerty's boardroom for evidence related to the alleged attack. Confused yet, no need to be. Our legal ladies are on the story this morning. Lida Rodriguez-Taseff is in Miami. Lida, good morning.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: Pamela Bethel in Washington D.C., Pamela good to see you.

PAMELA BETHEL, CIVIL ATTORNEY: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: Let's see here. Lida, lets start with these charges. First sexual offence, first-degree forcible rape. With no DNA evidence to speak of yet linking these two gentlemen, how difficult is it going to be for the prosecution to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Really, really difficult because here's what you have. You have a complaining witness who says she was raped and sodomized and no DNA evidence when she was raped and sodomized? Really, really hard to prove especially now that, for example, the prosecution walked down the road saying well, this rape happened after 12:30 a.m.

And you have one of the suspects who's been indicted who has an airtight alibi including cell phone records and taxi cab records that show that he had a place to be somewhere else starting at about 12:14, 12:19 a.m. So I think it's getting harder and harder for the prosecution.

HARRIS: Pamela, what do you do here?

BETHEL: Well, that's just one of the suspects. So, perhaps, I always thought that in this case assuming a crime occurred, that the most difficult part would be to pinpoint the exact assailants. So we have one of the defendants who may in fact be able to prove that he was not there at the time when the rape allegedly occurred, but we have silence from the other defense camp and it may be that there's been a misidentification.

HARRIS: Lida a let me ask you. Pamela, why did the prosecutor go out so far out on this limb so early in this case? That was a strategic mistake?

BETHEL: Yes. He didn't call me and ask me.

HARRIS: All right.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Wow, Pamela!

BETHEL: But that's why you don't usually do that. Because these kind of cases, facts evolve. There's nothing concrete until really just before you get ready to go to trial. He didn't have to do that. I don't know why he did that and that may prove to be a mistake.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Pamela so you're agreeing with me that eeny, meany, miney mo is not a way to go to around prosecuting people?

BETHEL: Well I'm not saying that.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: He did do eeny, meany, miney mo.

BETHEL: I'm saying with respect to one of the defendants there may have been a mistake there.

HARRIS: OK, but Lida, if you were the defense attorney in this case, one of the things it seems to me that the prosecutor wants to set up here is one of these players in a position to flip. This prosecutor went out on this limb to get one of these other players to flip. Are you concerned about that if you're on this defense team?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: You absolutely are. First of all, prosecutors do that all of the time. They try to get people to flip on other people.

HARRIS: It works!

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Flipping doesn't always mean flipping, as Pamela always knows. Flipping sometimes has to do with I put enough pressure on you by prosecuting you that you basically give false testimony about somebody else to get out of hot water. Flipping doesn't always mean flipping. So this is a dangerous game to play and it's unfair to these kids with these 46 players to just basically say OK, maybe I didn't get the right one the first time around. Maybe I'll get the right one the second time around.

BETHEL: Nice try Lida. You know with the role of the prosecutor is to try to get the truth of the evidence presented at trial. Yes, no one from the government was there. So the only people who were there are the defendants and those who are within the circle of possible assailants. So you've got to get to the truth. You have to make a decision and hopefully you catch light when you offer a deal to somebody.

HARRIS: All right. Lida you both agree that this is going to be a very difficult case to prosecute. So I have to ask you, is there any maneuvering behind the scenes going here? Plea deals being offered? Offered again? What do you think?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: I'm sure if you're the prosecutor you want to offer a plea deal right now. If you're the two defendant you're just about to say no because I think at this stage the defendants are in the better position especially Seligmann. I think it's too soon for the defense to be accepting any pleas and it's too soon for the prosecution to be offering them because if they do offer them right now they're doing it from a position of weakness and not strength. No plea deals on the table right now. No way.

HARRIS: Pamela what do you think? If you had this case what are you doing?

BETHEL: Well, a few things differently, let's say that.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: A few? Come on, Pamela.

BETHEL: I don't have all of the facts. I'm not going to say that this is a disaster or they don't know what to do because I don't know that. I don't think anyone does. One of the things that you get your investigator out there, you get them charged up and you do have to make a decision as to who's less culpable, who is most likely to flip as Lida would say and who will give you the truthful information as to what happened.

Do I think that's happened yet? No, because I don't think that they can make an assessment as to who may have been there but be less culpable. So if I was prosecutor in this case and assuming I'm correct I would not be making any offers right now.

HARRIS: All right. We are going to continue to talk about this. This thing probable won't go to trial for, what do you think, six months to a year, maybe?

BETHEL: It could be that long.

HARRIS: We'll continue to talk about this to be sure. Good to see you, Lida.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Eeny, meany, miney mo.

HARRIS: We've got to go. We're going to take a break. More of CNN SATURDAY MORNING when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Money" Magazine researchers checked out hundreds of jobs. They ranked each career based on categories including earning, flexibility, creativity, stress and ease. This is what they found. Financial advisers scored a B average and ranked number three on "Money's" list of best jobs in America. "Money" Cybele Weisser says it's one of the most popular jobs today.

CYBELE WEISSER, WRITER, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: With the diminishment of pensions and more people are trying to figure out what to do with their 401(k)'s, baby boomers are retiring, there is so much need for financial advice. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Education is often seen as a key to getting a good job and believe it or not the job of college professor ranked number two, mainly because the hours are so flexible.

WEISSER: You can arrange a schedule where you're not in an office 9:00 to 5:00 every day. You might teach two courses a week for example.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And which position topped the list? According to "Money" Magazine if you're a software engineer you have the best job in America.

WEISSER: There's such a huge need for software engineers right now. It's a job that has a lot of flexibility and it's in every location including, of course, working from home. It's not too stressful and it is a job where you can get into it with a bachelor's degree and it also pays very well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a complete list of "Money" Magazine's best jobs in America visit www.MONEY.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: What did I do with my responses here? There they are.

VERJEE: Organize your desk properly for goodness sakes.

HARRIS: All morning long we've been asking for your thoughts on our e-mail question. Who is to blame for high gas prices? And that's the address, WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

VERJEE: We got some good e-mails.

L.J. in upstate New York, "Why doesn't anyone draw a straight line from President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their oil cronies straight to the gas pump. The buck stops here has taken a whole new meaning in this administration."

HARRIS: And this from John Macki, "Democrats who refuse to allow more drilling off the coast and in Alaska are the main reason for all this mess along with the Republicans who don't have the guts to get it done any way they can."

Thank you for your responses this morning. Lets see here's the question again. Who is to blame for high gas prices? WEEKENDS@CNN.com. More of your responses next hour.

VERJEE: Reduce, reuse and recycle. Remember that? The three Rs? Well how much of it do you actually do? Today's Earth Day and the word recycling should be part of our daily vocabulary, but as CNN's Kyung Lah reports one segment of consumer waste market has just been left out of the recycling business, that is until now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAH: Like many Americans Rene's spring-cleaning turned up some unwanted electronics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been waiting for a recycling day for technology.

LAH: David's Loxsom recycling company is running this e-waste drive. He says 99 percent of what's collected could be recycled or reused.

DAVID LOXSOM, ATLANTA RECYCLING SOLUTIONS: There are a lot of good people out there holding on to this stuff because they don't want it to go to a land fill, but they don't know what to do with it.

LAH: At the plant it's sorted. Working parts are made into refurbished items. Materials like plastic and steel are sold to manufacturers. Hard drives are shredded to protect personal data.

POLLY SATTLER, ATLANTA RECYCLING SOLUTIONS: If we're recycling then we aren't mining as much. We aren't using petroleum as much and all these natural resources. We're conserving.

LAH: Tossed in landfills electronics release harmful chemicals.

LOXSOM: Different things on them which will break down over time and they leech into the water and leech into the soil.

LAH: The EPA reports e waste comprises up to 4 percent of America's garbage. So what's in the trash? Twenty million computers, 130 million cell phones and tens of millions of televisions. Conservationists hope some day the only e-waste that's left can be found in a museum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stereo.

LAH: In Washington, I'm Kyung Lah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: "OPEN HOUSE" is straight ahead and Gerri Willis has got some really helpful tips on how to get the best deals if you're buying or selling your home.

HARRIS: Next hour, a must-see for every "CSI" fan. We go on the job with a forensic anthropologist to crack some of the toughest cases. We'll have the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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