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CNN Saturday Morning News

Mayoral Race Underway In New Orleans; Iraq Parliament Approves New Unity Government

Aired May 20, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

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BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: So who's going to help New Orleans rise from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina? Polls opened an hour ago in the runoff election for Mayor. Incumbent Ray Nagin faces Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. We're going to have extensive coverage throughout the day and throughout the weekend for that matter. We're going to have a live report from New Orleans just a few minutes away from now.

A report today raises new questions about port security. The "New York Times" says the coast guard is tipping off some large commercial ships about security searches. Shipping companies say delays from surprise searches can cost up to $40,000 an hour. Some officials quoted by the "Times" defended giving the ships a heads up. Critics say it undermines security.

And federal air marshals at risk? That's the question a congressional report says official policies could be putting them in jeopardy. That report says a dress code makes it harder for air marshals to blend in with other airline passengers. And it says check-in procedures at airports and hotels could also reveal their identities.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A series of attacks across Iraq today left dozens dead and wounded. Among the casualties, two British soldiers and they were hit by a roadside bomb in Basra and an explosion in Baghdad's Sadr City killed 19 people. So despite the violence, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker calls it an historic day. The parliament today approved a cabinet. It is a turning point in building Iraq's first democratic government.

Accusations of an assassination attempt in Gaza, the Palestinian intelligence chief was seriously wounded in an explosion today. His bodyguard was killed by the blast at a Palestinian security headquarters. Tensions are running high between the government and Hamas. And members of the Fatah movement. The intelligence chief is a Fatah loyalist.

Renewed fighting today in Afghanistan. It comes a day after clashes that left a U.S. soldier dead and six other troops wounded. The soldiers died in fighting in the southern Uruzgan Province. We'll have the latest in a live report this half hour.

NGUYEN: All right folks, election day in New Orleans. The polls opened about an hour ago. Who is going to be the last man standing in this mayoral election runoff? We have a live report coming up as well as extensive coverage through this morning and all day long, all weekend long, for that matter. It's a big race.

HARRIS: It is.

NGUYEN: And we are there. Good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, May 20th. 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. 7:00 a.m. in New Orleans. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, thank you for starting your day with us.

NGUYEN: Well, it is all up to the voters now in a race that could go down to the wire and the decision who will lead New Orleans as the city comes back from Hurricane Katrina. Voting has been underway for a about an hour in the mayor's race. Incumbent Ray Nagin faces Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and CNN's Sean Callebs joins us live from the voting super site at the University of New Orleans. Been into it about an hour now? How's it going? Are you seeing a steady stream of people?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Indeed. We were here a month ago during the first election. Perhaps a little more activity back then early in the morning but without (INAUDIBLE), people are streaming in here. So much at stake.

If you talk to the people who are casting their ballots, of course, Ray Nagin, the incumbent squaring off against Mitch Landrieu and really so much at stake. This is the one thing the people of New Orleans can control, who will guide the city the next four years as it continues its efforts to rebuild.

Well joining us now to talk a bit about this, Marla Carriere Jefferson and her son Albert. Pretty good microcosm. You guys evacuated, you're living in Baton Rouge. You got up at 5:30 in the morning to come down and vote. Marla why is it so important to you to get out here and vote?

MARLA CARRIERE JEFFERSON, NEW ORLEANS VOTER: Well it's important because we want to rebuild our city. We want to have the right person in place that can move New Orleans forward. So it was extremely important that we select -- that we make a selection for the mayor.

CALLEBS: And your choice and why do you think the candidate is the best to lead the city?

M. JEFFERSON: Well, I believe Nagin is the best to lead the city. First of all, because he's been through what we're going through now. He has pushed us forward this far. Thus far. So I believe that he's the right choice.

CALLEBS: And don't let the baby face fool you. You're 19 years old, first time you voted this year. What were your thoughts going in there? ALBERT JEFFERSON, NEW ORLEANS VOTER: It was a pleasure to vote for the first time. To actually, you know, participate in something like this. You know, my vote will count. That's a real pleasure.

CALLEBS: In a matter of hours we will know who won. Another interesting story though about Marla Carriere Jefferson. Her grandfather's house in Gentilly damaged horribly during the flood. A Catholic charitable organization came down helping the grandfather gut the house. They found $20,000 in a closet. The grandfather had forgotten it was there, but the great windfall certainly going to help that family get back on their feet.

And this family would like to move back to the this area, too. So much at stake and we'll be out here throughout the day Betty bringing you up-to-date with so much at stake. Really, not only for the people here but across the nation. Billions in tax dollars going to be streaming in here over the coming years.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about people across the nation. Because a lot of folks who lived in New Orleans are now displaced to other areas. What are they doing to get out the vote? How is that working?

CALLEBS: Well about 24,000 people have already voted. They either faxed ballots in or voted through absentee. And they're breaking down along racial lines basically the same racial lines that the city had before the hurricane. About 66 percent, 64 percent African-American, 31 percent white, 3 percent others. But a number of people are coming in.

We know there's a freedom caravan coming in from Atlanta led by historic Ebenezer Church and they will be coming into the city, then fanning out to the various polling sites. People are interested in this. But without question, there's a certain degree of questioning going on. Is this democratic process opening up to everyone? There are some legal challenges. They don't know if these will extend beyond today's election, as well though.

NGUYEN: Yes and some federal polling monitors are also in place to make sure everything goes as it is supposed to go. Sean Callebs thank you for that. We'll be checking in.

Displaced New Orleans residents have a lot riding on the mayor's race. We're going to talk with more of them next hour and at 10:00 eastern to get their thoughts on this election.

HARRIS: And Betty also in the 10:00 eastern hour, we will talk with New Orleans Councilman-At-Large. We like this guy, Oliver Thomas. He joins us at 10:15. Gives it to us straight, so we like him.

NGUYEN: Tells it like it is.

HARRIS: Well yes. The new mayor will have to work with city council to rebuild New Orleans and that's an understatement. NGUYEN: Well you want to keep it right here for complete coverage of the New Orleans mayor's race. We have live updates throughout the day and you're going to hear from residents along with political leaders about the race and what it means for the city's future. That's the key. What is this going to do for New Orleans? We're going to have final election results as well when they come in this evening.

HARRIS: A hike in the Utah mountains didn't quite end as planned. Eighteen high school students were on a day long hike on Utah's Mt. Ogden.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: It was just scary for a little bit. I was thinking I wasn't going to make it.

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HARRIS: Well, with daylight fading, they ran into trouble on the way down the mountain. Several suffered minor injuries. So group leaders called in a helicopter rescue.

NGUYEN: Turning to Iraq now. A roadside bomb struck a military convoy in the southern city of Basra. Two British soldiers were wounded. Afterward a crowd pelted the disabled vehicle with rocks before finally -- look at this. Yes, those are the rocks there and then they eventually set the vehicle on fire.

HARRIS: Well violence has become all too familiar in Iraq. And today is no exception. One of the deadliest incidents was an explosion in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City which killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens more. Yet against this bloody backdrop, a fledgling democracy is taking root.

Just a couple of hours ago Iraq's new parliament officially approved the unity government presented by Prime Minister Designate Nuri al-Maliki. It marks a new chapter in Iraq's history. Previous Iraqi governments have been transitional in nature. This is the country's first permanent cabinet to convene under the new Iraqi constitution.

NGUYEN: All right. You want to check this out. Hollywood is using its special effects expertise to make a commercial aimed at discouraging suicide bombers of all things. The public service spot being filmed in Los Angeles will feature 200 actors and lots of movie style explosions. The commercial which simulates an attack in a Middle Eastern country will eventually air on Iraqi TV.

HARRIS: Did you hear about this? Half a dozen inmates were injured in an uprising at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. The pentagon said detainees attacked U.S. military personnel, one prisoner reportedly faked a suicide to draw guards into an attack. Prisoners struck out with sticks, light fixtures and parts of fans. It went on for an hour before guards regained full control. Man.

NGUYEN: And a third lacrosse player indicted in the Duke University rape case this week ...

HARRIS: He's speaking out about the investigation and our legal ladies are ready to take on the case straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Can working out before bedtime interfere with a good night's sleep? One study published in the "Journal of Physiology and Behavior" studied college students who exercised through the evening and found no significant affect on student's falling or staying asleep. But ...

DR. RUSSELL ROSENBERG, NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL SLEEP MED. INSTITUTE: Come on in.

COSTELLO: Dr. Rosenberg says some types of late workouts may lead to sleeping problems.

ROSENBERG: I do have a slight concern of the lifting of weights at nighttime and whether some of those weight lifting activities might actually cause some slight discomfort at points in the middle of the night that could wake you up.

COSTELLO: Dr. Rosenberg encourages his patients to exercise but to stop intense workouts three hours before bedtime. This allows the body time to cool down.

As we exhale ...

COSTELLO: A preliminary study by a Harvard researcher found 20 minutes of yoga may help you fall asleep.

SAT BIR KHALSA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: The subjects who have done the yoga practice on a regular basis have actually improved their insomnia.

COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN.

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DAVID EVANS, DUKE LACROSSE PLAYER: Every member of the Duke University lacrosse team is innocent. You have all been told some fantastic lies.

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HARRIS: Wow. A remarkable woman outside the courthouse in Durham, North Carolina this week. Did you see it? A third Duke University lacrosse player indicted in a rape case speaks out about the investigation and David Evans isn't the only person speaking out about the case. Our legal ladies are on the story. Lida Rodriguez- Taseff is in Miami and Pam Bethel joins us from Washington. I did a very bad thing. I started the debate in the break. It was wrong. It was wrong.

PAMELA BETHEL, ATTORNEY: It's not the first time.

HARRIS: It's not the first time, you're right. Good to see you both. Good morning ladies.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: You got us going already.

HARRIS: Yes, you're right. Pam, let me start with you. How extraordinary is this to have this kid, David Evans give a statement?

BETHEL: Well it's very extraordinary. In fact, I'm sure the prosecutors were glued to their television sets. Most defense lawyers and I include it when I defend clients do not want them in front of cameras. Do not want them making statements. You never know under the press of those kinds of circumstances will someone will say something that can come back to bite them during the actual trial.

HARRIS: And you know what, Pam? I'm going to use that defiance in that statement, I'm going to paraphrase it, quote it, whatever I need to in my opening statement.

BETHEL: Absolutely. Make fun of it. Make mockery of it in closing. If the facts in the case that have been developed make that statement to be untrue.

HARRIS: Lida, he doesn't take this process seriously. He doesn't take this court seriously. It is an outrage and on and on and on.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well you know it's a problem. I was apoplectic if I were the defense lawyer on this one. It's a problem. I don't know why the defense lawyers let him do it.

HARRIS: Well why did it happen, what is that?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well you know either defense lawyers aren't controlling their client or defense lawyers are giving their client bad advice. If defense lawyers aren't controlling a college kid, then they can't control adults, for God's sake. That's a problem.

BETHEL: Absolutely.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: You know? And I'm glad Pamela agrees on this. But I as a defense lawyer would never allow it. It can be used against him. Even --

BETHEL: Absolutely.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: ... even, you know, the bottom line is even if you think that everything he said was good and helpful, you know how words can be twisted. You're in the media.

HARRIS: Lida do you expect to hear this in an opening statement?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Opening, closing, cross examination, everything. If he takes the stand, he's going to get cross-examined with that statement, of course.

HARRIS: Well what about, Pam, what about theatrics and what about playing to the court of public opinion?

BETHEL: Well ...

HARRIS: What about this kid trying to get out in front of us and say -- and maybe influencing potential jurors.

BETHEL: Well, first of all, you're not supposed to be doing it for the purpose of influencing jurors. But putting that aside, you don't do it that way. There are other reasons you do it. The lawyers should be doing it. Professionals that is are working with the legal team should be doing it. You do not have the defendant in front of the camera.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Amen, Pamela.

BETHEL: When I was prosecuting, I would be having a very good day if one of the defendants was in front of a television camera.

HARRIS: All right so you both agree on this?

BETHEL: Oh absolutely.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Well that's boring. Let's move on. Let's talk about the NSA program. And I really need your help on this because I'm a little surprised. Some of the polls seem to indicate that people are taking this whole program in stride. Do you understand that, Pam?

BETHEL: Well, yes. From -- not from a legal standpoint but from sort of a psychological standpoint. We were battered by 9/11 ...

HARRIS: By 9/11, sure, sure.

BETHEL: ... and we're still sort of in the aftershocks of that. But legally I am troubled by the program.

HARRIS: Well tell me why.

BETHEL: Tell me why what?

HARRIS: Why you're troubled by the program.

BETHEL: Oh. Because I believe -- I believe that the program as I understand it either is in fact violating or certainly suggests that it violates our protections under the fourth amendment. I don't think that they can demonstrate that what they are doing is reasonable or they have probable cause to obtain the information that they're getting.

HARRIS: And it's a fourth amendment right to what? Unlawful ...

BETHEL: Searches and seizures.

HARRIS: OK, all right. Lida, a database, millions of domestic calls. Is this legal?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely not. And I'm surprised that Pamela is only troubled and not just outraged.

HARRIS: Why is this continuing ...

BETHEL: Because we don't have the facts.

HARRIS: ... to happen if I've got attorneys on the show this morning. Who are saying it is illegal. Why is it still happening?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Why is it still happening? Two reasons. One, because we don't have a congress that is prepared to take action. And hold the president and the executive branch accountable for what they're doing. This is illegal. There is nothing in the law that permits this.

We can sit here and debate the ins and out of the FISA, the Patriot Act, the communications laws and all of them will tell you the following -- individuals have a right to privacy over their communications. And the list of who they call, when they call, how long those calls last is confidential. It's private. It belongs to you, it belongs to me. And it shouldn't be released without my consent or a court order.

And in addition, the reason that this is illegal is because there's nothing in the law whether it's the Patriot Act or FISA that allows the NSA to go out and troll for data and get all your private information and start setting up databases that contain millions of peoples data.

HARRIS: So Pam?

BETHEL: Yes.

HARRIS: You were a prosecutor, right?

BETHEL: Yes, absolutely.

HARRIS: You were a federal prosecutor?

BETHEL: Yes, I was.

HARRIS: Well wait a minute. Aren't these federal attorneys? Aren't these government attorneys who are saying this is -- isn't this the Justice Department filled with smart attorneys who are saying ...

BETHEL: Used to be filled with smart attorneys.

HARRIS: OK. All right. I mean come on.

BETHEL: No, I mean. No. Look, I don't know where the justification comes from. When I was a federal prosecutor, you're absolutely correct. Lida's correct in that we had to go to court. We had to get court orders. There was nothing more monitored by the federal courts than the wiretaps that I ran and I worked with other prosecutors in running.

Now, I don't understand the justifications that have been articulated. We certainly haven't had a full and complete briefing on what they assert is the basis for this. But based on what I've heard, I do not believe that they're justified.

HARRIS: Well you know, what do you think, Betty? I think they basically agreed on both topics today.

NGUYEN: Yes, but don't worry.

HARRIS: Which means we didn't do our homework. All right ladies, we'll leave it there. Appreciate it. Thank you.

BETHEL: OK.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Good day, Tony.

HARRIS: All right see you next week.

NGUYEN: But it was intense agreement, you know? I mean they agreed yet you could feel the tension.

HARRIS: But don't go too far.

NGUYEN: Exactly. And don't expect it next time is what they're saying.

HARRIS: Right, exactly.

NGUYEN: All right straight ahead after a short break, banks and insurance companies are reporting you to the government. We've got those details and why they're doing that coming up.

And ahead at 9:00 eastern on CNN SATURDAY MORNING ...

HARRIS: With the polls open in New Orleans, for almost -- well, it's an hour and a half now?

NGUYEN: Well close to it, yes.

HARRIS: Yes, we'll have a little voter round table discussion, that's coming up. A Nagin voter meets a Landrieu follower, that's also in our show this morning at 9:00 eastern, so don't miss any of it. Just stay with us.

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NGUYEN: All right here's how this plays out. The federal government is delving deeper into our personal finances. The rules in the Patriot Act target mutual funds, insurance companies, even check cashing stores. The "New York Times" reports companies must now file so-called suspicious activity reports on cash transactions of $5,000 or more. This comment last hour from Evan Hendricks who is the editor of "Privacy Times." Take a listen.

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EVAN HENDRICKS, EDITOR, THE PRIVACY TIMES: The crazy thing about it, is if you think of all the transactions we normal consumers do in terms of like settling a mortgage or refinancing ...

NGUYEN: Or buying a car.

HENDRICKS: Buying a car.

NGUYEN: A house or anything, yes.

HENDRICKS: Giving gifts to our children, you know, when they come of age, I mean those are all large transactions that move from one account to another. So I'm pretty convinced that this fairly secret database is filled with all these, you know, useless details about normal transactions of law-abiding citizens.

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HARRIS: Get out of the pocket. You know, just a personal take here I guess.

NGUYEN: Well if you take it out of your pocket if it's more than $5,000 they're going to report it.

HARRIS: They're going to do it. All right that leaves us to this morning's email question, what do you think of mutual fund companies and insurance firms reporting your information to the government? Joseph disagrees with me. Not surprising. "Why should I care if the government has information about my financial spending if I am not doing anything wrong?"

NGUYEN: Well Cheryl has a different take on it. She says, "I have never before been afraid of my own government, but I am terrified of them now. I can't wait until November 2008."

Of course, keep them coming. Let us know what you think about this. And do you feel that it's unjust? What do you think of mutual fund companies and insurance firms reporting your information to the government? Do you feel its right or do you feel like they're getting too much information and they really shouldn't be? E-mail us, weekends@CNN.com.

HARRIS: It's a topic.

NGUYEN: All right. Frontline Afghanistan. Fierce fighting and more casualties to tell you about.

HARRIS: U.S. and coalition forces battle Taliban insurgents in the southern area of the country. We will take you there live this morning at 9:00 eastern. First, time for your "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

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