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CNN Saturday Morning News

Afghan Shooting Suspect Identified; Protests in Afghanistan; What Happens Next to Accused Soldier; GOP Candidates Vie for Puerto Rico

Aired March 17, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio Seven, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning, I'm Randi Kaye. Checking top stories for you right now.

The U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 men, women and children in Afghanistan is being held at a prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. We now know his identity. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He's a decorated career soldier who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We've just learned John Demjanjuk, the former Nazi death camp guard, has died in Germany. His death confirmed by a police spokesman. Demjanjuk was sentenced to five years in prison last year for accessory to murder. He was extradited from Ohio three years ago where he retired as an autoworker.

New violence erupting in Syria's capital of Damascus this morning. The country's health minister says at least 27 people were killed, 97 injured in two explosions just minutes apart. Authorities say cars rigged with explosives detonated in crowded neighborhoods. Syria's state media blaming so-called terrorists and says police and intelligence facilities were targeted.

Missouri Republicans are holding caucuses today but no winner will be chosen. Like we've seen in the other contest. It basically begins the long process of selecting delegates. Next step, Puerto Rico which will hold its primary tomorrow. Twenty delegates up for grabs there. Things wrap up Tuesday in Illinois where recent polls show Mitt Romney with a slight edge.

Returning now to our top story. New details this morning about Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He's a U.S. soldier described as a decorated combat veteran who is now accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians. This new video just into CNN, take a look here show -- it shows Afghanistanis taking to the street. They are demanding that Bales be put on trial according to Islamic law. Marchers chanting "long live Islam" and "death to America."

We have team coverage on this developing story. Sara Sidner is watching it for us in Kabul. But we begin with Athena Jones in Washington with reaction here in the U.S.

Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Now we know that Robert Bales -- what we're learning, he's a 38-year-old father with two young children. He had been deployed to Iraq on three tours in Iraq. This was his first tour in Afghanistan. We know that he was a member of the Third Striker Brigade Combat team out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. And that he lived with his family in the community of Lake Tapp, which is not far outside of Tacoma, Washington.

His lawyer has described him as a loving husband. His neighbors have described him as a happy family man.

Let's listen to what one of his neighbors had to say when she found out that he was -- that he's accused of this -- of this shooting incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was completely blown away. Yes, I was devastated, heartbroken. I mean, I -- completely shocked. I would describe him -- he was super fun to hang around with. Kind of the life of the party kind of guy. Super loving, friendly to everybody he met. Great with his kids. I just -- I don't -- I don't see how this has happened. I never saw any signs of marital problems. They always seemed pretty happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, that last bit about marital problems is important to bring up because in some of the press reports we've seen surrounding this incident, marital problems have been raised as maybe one of the factors that contributed to this breakdown or that led this man to snap and carry out this incident that he's accused of.

Now, his lawyer, Robert Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne, a Seattle based lawyer, has refuted some of those claims and said that their marriage was strong, they had -- he and his wife had any problems at a usual marriage would have. But nothing spectacular, nothing interesting.

Now, his lawyer did bring up, though, that Bales suffered traumatic brain injury and lost part of his foot during his tours in Iraq. And so we also know that the family wasn't expecting to be redeployed to Afghanistan where he had to go last December after these tours in Iraq.

And these are some of the -- some of the details that are emerging. More will come out as the investigation continues -- Randi.

KAYE: Athena, thank you very much for that update.

And let's go now to Sara Sidner. She's in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul with more on the outrage sparked by last weekend's shootings.

Sara, we're seeing protests today out of Jalalabad. What can you tell us about what's happening there?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You had mentioned earlier, you know, some of the things that are being chanted. It very much mirrors what Afghan lawyer (INAUDIBLE), and some of the lawmakers here that this person accused in this massacre that left 16 people dead in the dead of night, that he be brought to justice here on Afghan soil. What you're hearing in the protest are that they want him to be tried with Islamic law, using Islamic law, as opposed to the of, quote, "foreigners," referring to the U.S.

And we've seen protests in Jalalabad before but I can tell you, as far as this -- the possibility of this soldier being tried by Islamic law, that's just not going to happen, and people can ask for it but it's not going to happen. There is an agreement in place between Afghanistan and the United States when it comes to the military that really this soldier will likely be tried somewhere else, certainly not right here in Afghanistan -- Kaye.

KAYE: Hamid Karzai, the president, had some very harsh words for the United States concerning this investigation. Do you think that rhetoric will continue?

SIDNER: Most likely, depending on how things unfold in the days ahead. But here's the thing that really frustrated the Afghanis. They're basically saying that we just didn't get a chance to talk to this person, to interrogate this suspect who is accused of massacring our citizens. And so there's a lot of frustration there because, obviously, there's an investigative team here, as well.

They've sent that team out to the province where this happened, Kandahar, the (INAUDIBLE) district, and they really wanted to get a chance to speak with the suspect in this case, which is also bringing up a lot of suspicion that there was something behind this.

But the U.S. has been pretty adamant that this was is just the work of one soldier who acted on his own and did not -- was not doing any sort of mission, was not on any sort official tour. So it is interesting to hear from the Afghans that they're just frustrated, they feel like there's just something behind this because they were not given access to the soldier before he was flown out of the country -- Randi.

KAYE: Sara Sidner, thank you for your reporting. We appreciate that. And later in this hour, we're going to chat with a former military lawyer. You will hear this thoughts on what will happen next regarding Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.

And now to politics. Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney will both tour the Midwest today. Santorum is visiting Missouri and Illinois while Romney will head to Illinois later today a swing in Puerto Rico. Missouri Republicans are holding caucuses today but no winner will be chosen like we've seen in the other contests.

It basically begins this long process of selecting delegates. Next step is Puerto Rico which will hold its primary tomorrow. Twenty delegates up for grabs there. Things wrap up Tuesday in Illinois where recent polls show Romney with that slight edge.

President Obama is putting his re-election campaign into high gear. He kicked off a jam-packed day of fundraising in his hometown of Chicago before heading to an event hosted by filmmaker Tyler Perry. The 13-hour campaign blitz raised nearly $5 million. Mr. Obama took a swipe at his Republican rivals' economic proposal, saying said November's election will be a make or break moment for the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our story has never been about what we can do alone. It's what we do together. We don't win the race for new jobs and middle class security and new businesses with the same old "you are on your own" economics. I'm telling you, it does not work. It did not work in the decade before the great depression. It did not work in the decade before I took office. It won't work now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Well, many of you are just starting your St. Patrick's Day celebration. Hopefully it will be nice and sunny for you. Reynolds is keeping an eye on the weather for all of us.

Hi, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Randi, it is going to be a mixed bag around the country. Some place is going to be filled with plenty of sunshine.. What is that noise?

(LAUGHTER)

WOLF: Oh, my gosh. It sounds like some cats fighting in a bag somewhere. It's a crazy thing -- it's bag pipes. We're going to be hearing a lot of them in places around the country with a little bit of raindrops, a few bits of thunder here and there.

That is -- we'll have more coming up in just a little bit. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Wow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is 9:12 here on the East Coast, 6 12 on the west. We'll have your weekend forecast in just moment but first, take a look at this.

Surveillance cameras inside Henryville Junior High School give us a sobering look at the EF-4 tornado that wiped out entire communities in Indiana a few weeks ago. You're looking at the surveillance cameras inside the school from March 2nd. The powerful tornado stripped the roof off and forces the sturdy walls to implode.

You see it all happening there, About 80 staff, teachers and students were inside at the time. amazingly, no one was injured. Reynolds, you have to any these teachers. What quick thinking staff, probably, to keep those kids safe.

WOLF: Absolutely. I mean just a snap decision that just took place in seconds saved the lives easily, of those people. I mean just shows you just the sheer power of these storms, how incredibly strong these tornadoes can be. The strongest storms on the earth even though hurricanes can be over 1,000 miles across, a tornado is much more compact and certainly those winds at times getting over 300 miles per hour.

So devastating, to see the very least, Randy.

WOLF: but I'll tell you, one thing we're going to be seeing today that might be devastating could be the chance of some strong storms developing across parts of the nation's heartland. Let's move over here for a moment and take a look at out perspective. To the west, it's going to be snow and wind, some rain in parts of southern and central control.

But as we ease away back across the center plains, we get the dry conditions in parts of Texas, in the center plains, even in the front lanes of the Rockies but it's going to be right here in the Midwest, we have a chance to some severe storms especially by warm afternoon, very warm and dry for you across the eastern third of the country where highs are going to be in the 60s, 70s, even some 80s. For all the winter action taking place out in the west, where finally ski season, although the winter is coming to a close, the snow is still piling up.

Expected delays, we've got them for you in New York, Washington and Phoenix, in Las Vegas, even in some Salt Lake City. But the weather out west will keep you grounded on the tarmac for about an hour. And San Francisco, again in Los Angeles. That's a quick snapshot of your forecast, Randi. let's send it right back to you.

KAYE: OK. Thank you, Reynolds. I'll take it.

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: Demonstrators taking to the streets in Afghanistan this morning. They are demanding a U.S. soldier accused in that deadly rampages be tried according to Islamic law. I'll talk to a former U.S. Army JAG attorney about the case in just a moment.

But first, every Sunday, Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. Watch the "Next List" tomorrow as he talks to the men who created the blue school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're spending a lot of time in our workshops working on new material for the Vegas show when we move into the Monte Carlo in October. The blue men interacting with some robots on stage is a nice way for them to kind of take a look at how we're using technology and how is it using us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not really about this cold machinery. It's ultimately about, you know, how can we use the robots to show something about the human spirit.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Now back to our "Main Bar" story. We have been talking this morning about the soldier accused of gunning down 16 civilian in Afghanistan. He is Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. And he is being held at a prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He joined the military after the 9/11 terror attacks and he lived at Lewis-McChord's joint base near Tacoma, Washington.

Bales suffered a brain injury during one of three tours in Iraq. And last hour we spoke with a doctor who specializes in treatments for traumatic brain injuries, and one of this patients, also an Iraq war veteran. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD BATTLES, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Is that with the TBI and including the PTSD sometimes while I'm having an event or if I would be triggered, it's like driving a car with no breaks. You see the wall ahead of you, you want to stop. You pushed the breaks but they're not working. So you know what's happening but it's like you're just stuck in the reaction.

KAYE: Yes.

BATTLES: Because your body is reacting and you're not able to say, whoa, let stop this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And now we're digging into the next step for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. So far he has not been charged with a crime but he has hired a civilian attorney, John Henry Browne.

Joining us for some military justice 101 is former Army JAG lawyer, Greg Rinckey.

Greg, nice to have you on the show this morning. Let me -- let's just ask this. Will Robert Bales face the death penalty if and when he is charged?

GREG RINCKEY, MILITARY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that's a good question. I think a lot is going to depend on the defense that's put on by his military defense counsel and the civilian defense counsel. Good chance there's going to be a mental capacity defense. So you night not even get that far to a -- to a sentencing.

KAYE: And you say mental capacity because of the traumatic brain injury?

RINCKEY: Traumatic brain injury, the multiple deployments, the fact that the day before I think there was some mention that he had a buddy that had a leg blown off. There's a lot of issues here that are going to raise a mental capacity defense.

KAYE: And in terms of where he's staying in this facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, are there military guidelines for how long a soldier can actually stay there before he's charged?

RINCKEY: Well, he has to brought before a military magistrate within seven days and then the government has to bring him to trial within 120 days. So max that he can really stay there would be 120 days before he can be brought to trial. Likely, though, the defense is going to bring motions probably to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to raise some mental capacity issues and that this is not the proper place for him right now.

KAYE: Now we know he has a civilian attorney. Will he also receive a military defense counsel? And if so, who pays for that?

RINCKEY: Yes. He has the right to have military defense counsel. Likely he'll have a team of senior military defense counsel, probably a team of at least three army JAGs will represent him and that's provided at government expense.

KAYE: How does this whole process differ from what a -- you know, what a general view of a civilian court is?

RINCKEY: Well, instead of a grand jury proceeding there is a hearing that's called an Article 32 hearing and that would probably be the next step that's going to happen after he's charged. As he would go before an Article 32 hearing, recommendations is made to the commander who's called the convening authority. The convening authority then makes a decision as to whether to refer the charges to Court Marshall.

KAYE: And in terms of his options for if and when he is charged, I mean, we mentioned this -- the possible defense. Do you think that is the best way to go in terms of using his many tours there in Iraq and Afghanistan?

RINCKEY: Yes. Based on -- based on my experience and what I've heard so far from the evidence, clearly, defense counsel is going to raise a mental capacity defense in this case.

KAYE: What can you tell me just about this facility and how it works? Any idea how often -- I mean, we know he gets outside a little bit, but how much freedom does he have to speak with his lawyer? How does this whole process work?

RINCKEY: Well, he's at the military discipline barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He should have the ability to speak to his civilian defense counsel and military defense counsel rather freely especially because of the seriousness of this -- of this case. They're going to also want him to be examined by mental health providers and I believe that that motion is going to be made very quickly.

KAYE: But he's also not being held with others. He's in his own cell. Does that tell you anything at all?

RINCKEY: I think that that's probably standard for the type of the charge that he's got, and the seriousness of the charge. And also he's in pretrial confinements. So he shouldn't be mingled with inmates or prisoners that are serving out their sentences. KAYE: All right. Greg Rinckey, appreciate your insight there. Fascinating conversation. Thank you very much.

RINCKEY: My pleasure.

KAYE: Puerto Rico shaping up as a critical player in the race for the White House. We're going to take you there live in just three minutes. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING where news doesn't take the weekend off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The GOP candidates are in for a busy campaign week with three contests over the next four days. Missouri Republicans are holding caucuses today which will begin a long process to start delegates. So don't expect a winner, so to speak, but you can in Puerto Rico whose voters will cast their ballots in its primary tomorrow. Then the race moves to Illinois on Tuesday.

But right now the focus seems to be on Puerto Rico. That's where we can find CNN political producer Rachel Streitfeld, who is traveling with Mitt Romney's campaign.

And Rachel, both Romney and Rick Santorum made trips to Puerto Rico. Gingrich sent his daughter. But Puerto Rico has no say in November's presidential election. Plus we're only talking about 20 delegates here. So why this push to win voters there?

RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, that's true, Randi. But we have to remember, as we've seen in this very drawn out, long primary campaign, every delegate counts. So this may only count 20 delegates, but they're going to be able to -- whoever wins this is going to be able to put that on their delegate total, get closer to that magic number of 1144.

We've heard Romney talk about that magic number a lot. You know it's a slow process. He won American Samoa, which is a territory. Didn't carry a lot of delegates, but added to his total.

Another reason Puerto Rico is important, it's the largest Hispanic population here. Hispanics are going to play a key role in the November elections and we have to remember, just because Romney is in Puerto Rico, he's also speaking to Puerto Ricans who live all across the United States.

We've seen both of the candidates, both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, have a lot of events here. They've gotten enthusiastic crowds. Mitt Romney does have a good ally on its side, the popular governor of the territory, Luis Fortuno. He's really pulled out all the stops for Romney.

An issue we've been hearing a lot about here is whether English should be required to be the general language that most people speak before Puerto Rico might be able to become a state. Remember Rick Santorum got into some hot water when he said it should be. Yesterday Mitt Romney said he didn't think there should be any pre-conditions for statehood other than Puerto Ricans wanting to join the United States.

Santorum campaign immediately charged that Mitt Romney was pandering. But Romney says hey, we've had our position for a really long time, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Rachel Streitfeld for us there in Puerto Rico. A little bit of a delay. Rachel. thank you so much.

And I'll be back with more of today's top stories. At the top of the hour, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.