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CNN Saturday Morning News

Herman Cain Sells His Business Skills on Leno; Senior Haqqani Network Leader Haji Mali Khan Reported as Captured; More Listeria Cases Expected; Amanda Knox Pleads Her Case; Murray Trial Recap: Week One

Aired October 01, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We're at the top of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning to you all once again. I'm T.J. Holmes.

The CDC expects Listeria infections from tainted cantaloupes to keep surfacing. That is because the bacteria can incubate in the body for up to two months after exposure. The death toll from the outbreak has now risen to 15; dozens of other people have gotten sick.

Also the Philippines getting hit by a second typhoon in less than a week; the most recent storm made landfall today triggering a landslide that killed at least one person. It is expected to batter the country with fierce winds and heavy rain through the weekend. Another typhoon hit Tuesday killing at least 52 people.

And in Italy, Amanda Knox's appeal is expected to wrap up on Monday. That's when we'll hear from Amanda Knox herself during final statements. The American student is serving a 26-year sentence for the 2007 murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

We turn to politics now - politics and primaries. Well, New Hampshire says, "Hey, the holiday season and voting go hand in hand." They're now threatening to move their primary to December. They're doing this, why? You guessed it. Florida. Florida has made the decision to move its primary up to January 31st. They want to have more of a say in picking the nominees and they want to go earlier. So that means we have a domino effect that's going to take place. Other states could go earlier and earlier and earlier, and, yes, people in this country could be voting for a 2012 candidate in 2011.

Now one of those candidates we're talking about, Herman Cain. It seems like he just came out of nowhere lately. He wasn't even registering, it seemed, on some of the national polls. But then just lately he has jumped into the top tier. This happened after he had that surprising win in last weekend's Florida straw poll. He says it shows his candidacy cannot be ignored anymore.

And what did he do last night? He stopped by "The Tonight Show" where he talked about his executive experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I worked for the Pillsbury company, climbed my way up to the corporate ladder to vice president; and then I went to (INAUDIBLE) corporation, climbed the ladder again. Became the vice president of (INAUDIBLE) corporation. Did such a good job there that they made me president and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. From that job, I became president of the National Restaurant Association.

So I've had over 40 years of executive experience.

JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Right. There you go. So -- what you're saying is, if you're elected president, nobody's going to starve to death. Right?

CAIN: No. They won't starve to death, because I'm going to make sure they can get a job.

LENO: OK. Really?

CAIN: Make sure they get a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. CNN political producer Shannon Travis joins me now from Des Moines.

Shannon, good to see you once again. I mean it's fine to talk burgers and pizzas, but does that mean he's a viable candidate?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, T.J., I mean, if you've made it on to Jay Leno, I guess that means you are a viable candidate. Remember, he was spoofed on "SNL" last week and went on the "Today" show and said, "Hey, I loved the spoof." But yes, I mean, listen, Herman Cain's candidacy has been touching fire for new reasons. A, you just mentioned that Florida straw poll that he won last week. He upset Rick Perry in that Florida straw poll.

Also, his 999 economic plan has been catching fire. It offers a nine percent national sales tax and a nine percent individual income tax and he's been rising up in the polls. So he is becoming more and more of a viable candidate to a lot of people, and let's be honest. Let's be honest here, T.J.., he's the only African-American in this Republican race. That makes some very attractive, to a lot of people to potentially go up against President Obama.

HOLMES: Does it also make him attractive possibly if he doesn't get the nomination to at least be on that short list of VP candidates?

TRAVIS: Well, excellent question. OK. You know that I've been covering Herman Cain a long time. His people officially tell you "Absolutely he's running for the number one spot." All of them will tell you that. But privately I have spoken with some Herman Cain supporters who say, "You know what? f he doesn't make it in that number one spot for president, possibly someone will consider him for the number two spot as a vice president." HOLMES: All right. One other thing since you are in Iowa there and you will be in Iowa for some time, we're talking about this primary calendar now. New Hampshire is making a move because Florida made a move. New Hampshire talking about possibly putting their primary at the end of the year in December. So that means Iowa would have to move its caucuses. They do the first voting. So the Iowa caucuses, they're coming up, what? Next week?

TRAVIS: It's like a game of leapfrog, T.J., because Florida has done what it's done basically it's trying to establish it on January 31st. All of the other states, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, have basically said that "Look, we're going to move our calendar up together. We don't know what those dates are yet," but as you just said, we could be looking at voting this year in December, just a few months from now.

Iowa's GOP chairman Matt Strawn is saying, "Look, we will preserve our first in the nation vote. The caucuses that they traditionally hold. So we don't know what the dates are, but they are definitely intent on keeping their first in the nation voting status. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Shannon Travis. Always good to have you from Iowa this morning. We'll check in again.

Four minutes past the hour.

Let's turn to Afghanistan now. We're getting word of another big blow in the fight against terrorism. The International Security Assistance Force says a senior Haqqani network leader has been captured in a joint NATO and Afghan operation. This Haqqani network is an independent insurgent group with close ties to the Taliban. Now the ISAF says Haji Mali Khan, a Haqqani commander in Afghanistan, was caught in Afghanistan's Paktia province Tuesday.

More with this story in a live report from Kabul in our 10:00 hour.

Now we turn to another story of a blow against terrorism. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are telling local law enforcement to be prepared for possible retaliatory attacks. This will be connected to the CIA drone strike that killed Anwar Al Awlaki. He was one of Al Qaeda's leading voices in the Arabian Peninsula. Here's the warning sent to local police departments saying "We assess that Al Awlaki's standing as a preeminent English-language advocate of violence could trigger HVE's to take violent action to avenge his death."

Now HVEs, that stands for Homegrown Violent Extremists. Also, with that warning, it says while there is currently no information suggesting retaliatory U.S.-based activities in response to al- Awlaki's death, we are concerned about the possibility that autonomous extremists may react violently." They also warn about the possible use of biological or chemical agents in any kind of attack.

Now the killing of al-Awlaki also opened the debate over targeted killings especially when U.S. citizens are involved. Al-Awlaki was in fact a U.S. citizen. CNN's chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin takes a look at how the White House is keeping quiet about the orders and the operation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): T.J., national security experts say typically in a situation like this, there would be an administration-wide review. Then, the president would personally authorize the capture or killing of a terrorist like al-Awlaki. But in this instance, the White House is staying silent on all of it.

(voice-over): It's President Obama's latest successful strike on a wanted al Qaeda terrorist.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to the most active operational affiliate. Awlaki was the leader of external operations for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

YELLIN: But this time, it's different. Awlaki was an American. This may be the first U.S. killing of an American target with no trial, no indictment.

VINCENT WARREN, EXEC. DIR., CTR. FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: The problem here is that the U.S. has done something that I don't think it's ever done before. It has killed one of its citizens somewhere else around the world without any due process at all. This is about rule of law and this is about rules to keep us all safe.

YELLIN: Warren's organization sued to take Awlaki off a terrorist kill list and loss. The White House wouldn't offer a legal justification for targeting an American.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It goes to the assumptions about the circumstances of his death, and I'm not going it to address that. I'm not going to speak hypothetically.

YELLIN: An adviser to the U.S. State Department explained the government's logic for killing anyone on the terrorist capture or kill list regardless of nationality.

HAROLD KOH: A state that has engaged in armed conflict or in legitimate self-defense is not required to provide targets or legal process before the state may use lethal force.

YELLIN: There's no question this administration viewed Awlaki as a threat for some time.

MICHAEL LEITER, DIR., NATL. COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER: Actually consider al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with Awlaki as a leader of that organization probably the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland.

YELLIN: Politically, the White House has support from both parties. Republican Congressman Peter king says, quote, "It was entirely legal. And from a top Democrat --

REP. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER (D), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: It's legal. It's legitimate and we're taking out someone who has attempted to attack us on numerous occasions.

YELLIN (on camera): So why won't the White House explain its legal justification for the killing? Well, that would be a tacit admission that the U.S. was involved in the killing and it would seem the Obama administration wants to distance itself from an action that the Yemeni people could perceive as foreign intervention in their country -- T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Jessica Yellin.

We're at nine minutes past the hour now. We've been telling you, you need to check those cantaloupes. CDC says if it came from Jensen Farms in Colorado, get rid of it. Period. Fifteen people have died from an outbreak of Listeria linked to the tainted cantaloupes. More than 80 people have gotten sick. The CDC says you may be infected right now. You just don't know it yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: It can take a week to three weeks after you eat a contaminated product before you become ill, and can take as much as two months to become ill. Furthermore, some people may still have the Jensen's Farm cantaloupe in their refrigerators. If you have a cantaloupe that's labeled as something other than Jensen Farm, then it's OK to eat. But if the label looks like this, that's what the Jensen Farm label looks like, then it is not safe to eat, throw it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Listeria bacteria. Usually causes flu-like symptoms but as we know it can also be deadly. Jensen Farms recalled its Rocky Ford brand cantaloupe, more than two weeks ago although those tainted melons are believed to be off store shelves by now.

The Listeria fears also behind a recall of bag of lettuce from California. The company, True Leaf Farms is recalling tens of thousands of bags from shredded Romaine lettuce. In Canada it had a use by date of September 29th.

Well a California man crashed over a cliff, was missing for almost a week. His kids became little detectives and tracked him down, and now he is going to be OK. We'll tell you how they did it. Stay with me on this "CNN Saturday Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, 14 minutes past the hour now, and taking a look at stories making news "X-Country."

And it's one of the great sites in America. It's set to begin this morning. This morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More than 500 hot air balloons will take off in the 40th Annual International Balloon Fiesta, considered one of the most spectacular displays in all of aviation. We'll hope to have some pictures for you tomorrow.

Also, a missing man in California. He was found alive by his children who tracked him down like they were little detectives. He's going to be OK. Sixty-seven years old and he crashed his car down a ravine in the Angeles National Forest. Had to survive almost a week.

How did he do that? He had to eat bugs and he was drinking creek water. He had three fractured ribs, a broken arm, dislocated shoulder and he was beat up pretty good. But his three adult kids tracked him down, by retracing the location of his cell phone calls, his text messages and his debit card purchases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA LAVAU, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: We stopped at every ravine and looked over every hill and then my brother got out of the car and we kept screaming and the next thing we heard dad say, "Help - help."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. One other here for you. Listen to this, just looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. All right? The baggy - this ban they have now on saggy pants is actually starting to pay off in Albany, Georgia. First time offenders are charged - this is so ridiculous -- they're charged $25 for a first offense. Additional offenses can cost you up to $200. This ban has been in effect for some nine months, and since then, they have collected about $4,000 in fines. All because we won't pull our pants up. Wow.

Well, 16 minutes past the hour now. Let me turn to a couple of major - major - high-profile legal cases going on.

One, the Michael Jackson death trial in Los Angeles, and also the other, the Amanda Knox trial happening in Italy. She's the American student convicted of killing her housemate back in 2009. Her defense team has summed up their case. But the last thing judges will hear before making a decision, Amanda Knox herself. She'll plead her own case in court on Monday.

Let me bring in, once again, Attorney Holly Hughes, a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and "CNN SUNDAY MORNING."

Could she save her own life in this case?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She just might, T.J.. It's going to be really important what she says. But more important is going to be her demeanor. How the jury perceives this woman. She's four years older now. She's been sitting in prison. So I think gone is that sort of carefree young girl who came across as cold, indifferent. Didn't really care. I think she's come to realize that her own affect and her own attitudes may have played a part in her conviction, more so than any physical evidence, T.J.? HOLMES: Wait, you were saying, this has now come down - or this trial has not really come down to issue of evidence anymore. It's a matter of her and her image and the perception the public and maybe even the jury has of her?

HUGHES: Absolutely. That's absolutely - now, of course, the fact that a lot of the physical evidence has been debunked. All right? Now, the prosecution put up some physical evidence. They said the DNA is definitely the victim's. That's on the knife blade. And the DNA on the handle is definitely Amanda Knox's.

We'll come to find out when the appellate judge appointed new DNA experts they said, we can't tell that that's the victim's DNA. First of all, it's so little, it can't truly be tested and it could have even come from rye bread. Now that is a huge difference.

So absolutely, the physical evidence plays into it, but it's coming down to image. Let's face it, you know, we vote for people we like. We don't vote for people we don't like and that plays into the justice system, too. Sadly, though.

HOLMES: We're going to switch to Michael Jackson here in just a moment. But the last thing on this and quickly, is they going to go up, is it going to be a Q&A or she just going to stand up and essentially plead her case?

HUGHES: She pleads her case. Make a statement. She speaks to those jurors and those judges and hopefully she'll say something that makes them vote in her favor.

HOLMES: All right. Holly Hughes isn't going anywhere.

Eighteen minutes past the hour. The other trial. Michael Jackson. We're going to take a look at that here in just a moment after the break. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty one minutes past the hour. I'm joined again by Attorney Holly Hughes, switching now from the Amanda Knox trial to the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, of course, on trial, accused of administering a lethal dose of drug that killed Michael Jackson.

Now, a lot of you may have not been following every moment, every piece of testimony this week. We'll try to get you caught up a little bit here.

And, Holly, you tell me you've been watching this thing. What stood out for you? Can we call something a moment of trial so far for you?

HUGHES: Absolutely. Two big moments. First one, emotional, talking about little Paris crying on the floor outside of her father's room. Second one, big point for the prosecution, a lot of talk about a condom catheter. You don't catheter - put a catheter on someone that you expect is only going to be asleep for 10 minutes. Murray's defense team said in opening, we only gave him just enough Propofol to knock him out for 10 minutes. We didn't give him all that Propofol. Then why would you cath somebody you think who is going to be asleep for only 10 minutes? I think that's huge as far as the evidence.

HOLMES: OK. Another part of evidence or another part of the case against Dr. Murray is, hey, if you were trying to save his life, if you knew something was going on, instead of you picking up the phone and calling, what was his first thought to do?

HUGHES: Basically cover himself. He didn't call anybody. He went downstairs and he asked the personal chef. Get Prince, get security, get the personal assistant. Prince is a 12-year-old little boy. What in heavens is he going to do with his dead father in the room? I mean, it's terrible.

So he didn't call 911. There's about a 10-minute gap. We hear he's on the phone talking to a girlfriend. That call drops off. She says all of a sudden he's gone. It isn't until 10 minutes after she loses contact with Dr. Murray that someone else calls 911, and then when the assistant comes into the room and security comes into the room, Dr. Murray is asking them, does anybody know CPR?

T.J., this is the doctor asking everybody in the room, do you know CPR? That doesn't instill confidence for me. I don't know. I'm just saying.

HOLMES: You said it's what he did leading up to administering and also what he did after that's going to play a big role here?

HUGHES: Absolutely big stuff.

HOLMES: All right. Holly Hughes. We're going to see you plenty throughout this trial and as the Amanda Knox trial wraps up. So good to you have back.

HUGHES: Thank you, T.J..

Twenty three minutes past the hour now. And it's a video of Casey Anthony that jurors and the public were not allowed to see, until now. We'll see her reaction when she heard the news that a child remains had been found near the Anthony home. I'll show that to you coming up.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, T.J., we're watching a couple of things out there. First and foremost, the possibility of heavy rainfall back in the northeast exactly where they don't need it, especially Pennsylvania and New York and we're watching the tropics. Two systems in the Atlantic keeping us busy. We have more coming up, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, appreciate you, buddy. Thanks so much.

Give you a look now at some of the stories that are making headlines.

Newly released jailhouse surveillance tape of Casey Anthony. This is from 2008 and what it shows her rocking back and forth in her chair. This is the moment she found out the child's remains were found near the Anthony home. The child later identified as her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. The judge in the murder case ruled the tape was too inflammatory to be played in court. Anthony, as you know, was acquitted.

Also, 15 people have died from Listeria outbreak. The Listeria outbreak has been traced to tainted cantaloupes. Dozens more are sick. The CDC says infections will likely increase, because the bacteria can incubate in the body for up to two months after exposure. So they do believe all of those cantaloupes are no longer on the shelves but you could have eaten one weeks or even months ago and you're not feeling sick just yet.

Well, you may have heard this by now. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain - he says that black voters have been brainwashed into voting democratic. Coming up, at the top of the hour, reaction to those powerful words from our political regulars and friends. Talking about Republican Lenny McAllister and Democrat Maria Cardona. That is coming your way at 10:00 Eastern time.

So we thank you for spending your time with us for this latest section of CNN SATURDAY MORNING, but I'll be back with you at the top of the hour with more live news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)