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 Monday, February 13
Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. Hariri supporters to rally year after his slaying BEIRUT (CNN) -- A year after the brutal slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, thousands of supporters gathered in Martyrs Square Tuesday to celebrate his life and sustain political support for the country's so-called Cedar Revolution that swept Syrian troops out of the country last year. Saad Hariri, Rafik's son and political heir, was scheduled to lead the commemoration. A number of political leaders are scheduled to address the crowd. Marking the time of the deadly explosion, a moment of silence will be held at 12:55 p.m. (5:55 a.m. ET) The ongoing U.N. investigation into Hariri's death has so far found evidence it believes indicates top-ranked Syrian and Lebanese officials were involved in the killing of Hariri, who died in a massive explosion when his motorcade was bombed in Beirut last February. The probe also criticized the level of Syrian cooperation and urged Damascus to be more forthcoming with investigators. (posted 2:335 a.m.) Cheney cleared in hunting accident but WH still faces questions CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) -- Texas authorities have cleared Vice President Dick Cheney of any wrongdoing in the weekend shooting of a hunting companion while stalking quail in south Texas, but the White House faced tough questions Monday over its delay in disclosing the accident. Sheriff's deputies in Kenedy County, near Corpus Christi, questioned Cheney on Sunday and the wounded man, Harry Whittington, on Monday. While the state Parks and Wildlife Department issued Cheney a warning for not possessing a required stamp on his hunting license, the sheriff's department said there was "no alcohol or misconduct involved in the incident." "This department is fully satisfied that this was no more than a hunting accident," the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department announced in a statement issued Monday evening. (Posted 7:48 p.m.) U.S. asks Lebanon to extradite sailor's suspected killer in 1985 hijacking WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has formally asked the Lebanese government to extradite a Lebanese man accused of killing a U.S. Navy diver during an infamous 1985 hijacking, State Department officials and the victim's family said Monday. Mohammed Ali Hamadi was released from a German prison in December after serving 19 years for his role in the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. During the hijacking, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, 23, was shot and killed and his body dumped on a tarmac in Beirut -- an image captured by television cameras and shown around the world. Officials said Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, has asked asked Lebanese authorities on several occasions to arrest Hamadi and turn him over to the United States for trial even though the two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty. Feltman submitted a formal written request for Hamadi's extradition to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora last week. Hamadi was captured in 1987 in Frankfurt, Germany, and convicted for his role in the hijacking. He was paroled in December, and a German court allowed him to return to Lebanon. -- From CNN Producers Beth Anne Rotatori and Elise Labott (Posted 7:45 p.m.) U.N. human rights experts urge closing of Guantanamo Bay detention facility UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A group of U.N. human rights experts have recommended that the U.S. government close down Guantanamo Bay jails "without further delay" -- citing various violations of human rights, including interrogation techniques that "amounted to torture," excessive violence against prisoners, and forced feeding of detainees. The draft report, obtained Monday, also recommends in the interim that any "special interrogation techniques authorized by the Department of Defense should immediately be revoked." The report concludes that international human rights law applies to the detainees in Guantanamo and that detainees are entitled to challenge the legality of their detention before an outside judicial body. --From Senior Producer Liz Neisloss (Posted 5:52 p.m.) Scooter Libby asked to decipher some of his notes for prosecutors WASHINGTON (CNN) --More details are emerging about the unusual request for former vice presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby to help prosecutors decipher some of his handwritten notes. The request to Libby was discussed in two court hearings on Feb. 3, including a closed session involving classified material. A transcript of the closed session was just made public. "We can't read a substantial part of them," Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is quoted in the transcript. "My handwriting is pretty bad myself. Mr. Libby's has a little bit of hieroglyphics in there and so what we have to do is translate them so we can tell the intelligence agencies what their content is so we can figure out how sensitive it is." Government agencies may ask that some material in the notes remain classified or be changed before being made public to protect national security. --From CNN Senior Producers Kevin Bohn and Carol Cratty (Posted 5:40 p.m.) Government may lose hundreds of millions on undelivered manufactured homes WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Most of the 25,000 manufactured homes built for Katrina victims -- but never delivered -- are deteriorating and will have to be disposed of, likely costing federal taxpayers several hundred million dollars, a Homeland Security official testified Monday. DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner blamed lack of planning by FEMA for the waste, and said the homes, which cost about $857 million, will have to be declared surplus and donated to other agencies, or sold on the market. "If they're sold they'll probably bring pennies on the dollar," Skinner told the Senate Homeland Security Committee at a hearing examining fraud and waste in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. --From CNN Justice Producer Terry Frieden (Posted 5:31 p.m.) Haitian protests intensify; 1 demonstrator reported dead (CNN) -- Thousands of supporters of Haitian presidential hopeful Rene Preval took to the streets of Port-au-Prince for a third straight day Monday, setting up roadblocks throughout the capital and storming a hotel, forcing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu to be evacuated by helicopter after he urged for calm. The protesters let very few people through the heart of the city, where intersection after intersection was blocked by most anything, ranging from burning tire pyres to old furniture. "Preval president!" they chanted. "No Preval, no Haiti!" The protests intensified after election officials said that with 90 percent of last week's vote counted, Preval had 48 percent of the vote -- just shy of the necessary 50 percent to avoid a runoff. (Posted 5:13 p.m.) Frist plans June vote on constitutional ban on same-sex marriage WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist confirmed to CNN Monday that he's planning a vote in early June on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, a move that is likely to fail but is sure to spark a fiery election-year debate. Frist, R-Tenn., said he's planning the vote for the week of June 5 because he wants to deal with the issue "as early as possible" before the Senate calendar fills up in a busy election year. While Frist said he "doesn't know" how many votes the ban will receive, Republican and Democratic aides privately acknowledge the vote is likely to fall far short of the 67-vote supermajority needed to advance a constitutional amendment. When the Senate last voted on the issue in July 2004, a procedural motion to consider the ban received only 48 votes. --From CNN Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry (Posted 3:44 p.m.) Moussaoui trial to reveal classified evidence NEW YORK (CNN) -- Defense attorneys for Zacarias Moussaoui plan to tell jurors the FBI knew after it arrested Moussaoui in August 2001 that he was a "bin Ladenite who's been to Afghanistan" but did not act on the information in time to thwart the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In an effort to spare Moussaoui the death penalty, defense attorneys hope to debunk prosecutors' contention that if Moussaoui had confessed his membership in a Muslim terrorist organization and his real intentions for enrolling in flight school, the government would have taken steps to prevent 19 of his al Qaeda confederates from hijacking four jetliners. "It's the government's theory of the case," said Moussaoui attorney Ed MacMahon in a sealed court hearing last month, "that if only Moussaoui hadn't lied, 9/11 wouldn't have occurred." The closed-door session on Jan. 5 was one in a continuing series about classified evidence. The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., has released a redacted transcript of the proceeding. --From CNN Senior Producer Phil Hirschkorn (Posted 3:10 p.m.) Two air marshals arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two federal air marshals are facing drug charges after allegedly agreeing to smuggle cocaine from a man who turned out to be a cooperating witness for the government, the U.S. attorney's office in Houston announced Monday. Shawn Ray Nguyen and Burlie Sholar were arrested Thursday after allegedly receiving 15 kilograms of cocaine and $15,000 cash delivered to Nguyen's home and agreeing to take the drugs on a plane, prosecutors said in court papers. The U.S. attorney's office accused the two men of agreeing to use their official positions as federal air marshals to bypass airport security and smuggle the 15 kilograms of cocaine on board a Houston-to-Las Vegas flight in exchange for the money. The two men will make an initial appearance in federal court Monday afternoon. --From CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn and Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena (Posted 2:30 p.m.) White House defends delay in disclosing Cheney's hunting accident WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House on Monday defended its delay in disclosing a weekend hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney, telling reporters the focus was on making sure the man Cheney wounded got medical attention. Cheney was hunting quail at a friend's south Texas ranch when he shot and wounded Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney and Bush-Cheney campaign contributor, about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Whittington is recovering at a Corpus Christi hospital after being hit with birdshot in the face, neck and upper torso, hospital officials said Monday. President Bush was told Saturday night that Cheney had been involved in a hunting accident, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. But Cheney's office did not acknowledge the shooting to the public until Sunday afternoon, after the family that owns the ranch told a Corpus Christi newspaper about it. (Posted 2:17 p.m.) Congressman: Report shows widespread failure in Katrina's wake WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congressional report on the government's handling of Hurricane Katrina will lob stinging criticism at top officials, from the "detached" homeland security secretary to the "clueless" former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to state and local officials, a Republican congressman told CNN Monday. The report, from a House select committee, will also be "very tough" on President Bush, said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. Although the government had repeated warnings about the possibility of such a disaster striking the Gulf Coast -- specifically New Orleans -- and had undergone a simulation exercise to prepare for such a catastrophe, "The whole system just broke down," Shays said. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "was basically, and surprisingly, detached," and former FEMA Director Michael Brown "was basically clueless and negligent," Shays said. (Posted 1:57 p.m.) 7 wounded in Istanbul blast ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- An explosion at an Istanbul supermarket Monday wounded seven people, one of them seriously, the governor of the city told reporters. Muammer Guler said the explosion took place about 7:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. ET) in the Bahcelievler neighborhood. He said an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the blast. (Posted 1:41 p.m.) Federal judge declines to make FEMA continue funding hotel rooms NEW ORLEANS (CNN) -- A federal judge Monday denied a motion asking him to grant a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the eviction of hurricane evacuees from hotel rooms funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the motion, according to his office. The papers were delivered to him Sunday at his home. Last month, FEMA gave out authorization codes to hurricane Rita and Katrina evacuees to allow them to extend their hotel or motel stays. The agency said Saturday that 12,000 of those codes expire on Monday, but noted in a written statement that of those, nearly 10,500 families have received housing assistance -- money that can be used to find longer-term housing or help with repairing damaged homes. The expiration comes as FEMA attempts to wrap up its short-term housing program, under which the hotel rooms were rented. (Posted 1:24 p.m.) Insurgents threaten on new tape to kill German hostages (CNN) -- On a new videotape, Iraqi insurgents show two kidnapped German engineers and threaten to kill them unless their demands -- for the German government to cut ties with Iraq and German companies to pull out of the country -- are met. The videotape -- the third showing the kidnapped Germans -- was broadcast Monday by the Al Arabiya satellite network, which said it had just obtained it. The tape bore a Feb. 11 electronic time stamp. CNN could not independently verify the tape's authenticity. The men, identified in the German media as Rene Braunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, were kidnapped last month. They were working at a detergent factory on the grounds of the Beiji oil refinery, north of Baghdad, at the time. (Posted 1:22 p.m.) Chertoff denies natural disasters given less focus than terror WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff rejected suggestions Monday that his department has provided inadequate focus on handling natural disasters while concentrating its resources on terrorism. "I want to tell you I unequivocally and strongly reject this attempt to drive a wedge between our concerns about terrorism and our concerns about natural disasters," he said in a speech to the National Emergency Management Agency. His remarks followed scathing criticism Friday from former FEMA Director Michael Brown. Brown told a Senate committee investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina that if there had been a terrorist attack on New Orleans instead of a natural disaster, "everybody would have jumped all over that and been trying to do everything they could. But because this was a natural disaster, that has become the stepchild within the Department of Homeland Security." (Posted 12:02 p.m.) 4 troops killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A U.S. Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province Monday, killing four U.S. service members, the U.S. military said. The names of the troops are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. They were on patrol with Afghan National Army forces at the time, the military said, and the patrol came under attack by small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire shortly after the explosion. (Posted 11:26 a.m.) Saddam screams at judge as trial resumes BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants -- one of them literally dragged into the courtroom wearing what he said were his pajamas -- were forced to attend their trial in a boisterous beginning to the latest session Monday in a Baghdad courtroom. Hussein walked into the trial shouting "Down with Bush!" but his half brother, Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti, was dragged into the courtroom, and for at least 90 minutes he sat on the floor with his back to Chief Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman. Hussein also shouted "Long live Iraq" and "Long live the Iraqi people," cursed the judge and called him a criminal. By the end of the day's session, however, the defendants sat quietly listening to testimony from two former members of Hussein's dictatorial regime and the reading of 23 statements from other witnesses. (Posted 11:14 a.m.) 'Blistering' House report slams government's response to Katrina WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congressional report to be released this week slams the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, calling it a "failure of leadership" that left people stranded when they were most in need. "Our investigation revealed that Katrina was a national failure, an abdication of the most solemn obligation to provide for the common welfare. At every level -- individual, corporate, philanthropic and governmental -- we failed to meet the challenge that was Katrina. In this cautionary tale, all the little pigs built houses of straw," the report says. CNN obtained advanced excerpts from a draft of the lengthy report titled "Failure of Initiative," which lays out 90 recommendations for changes in the wake of the Katrina disaster. It's the result of a Republican 11-member House select panel that has investigated the response to Katrina at all levels -- local, state and federal. The report will not be released until Wednesday. (Posted 10:57 a.m.) 6 killed in blast outside Baghdad bank BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A suicide bomber detonated in front of a bank in Baghdad's New Baghdad neighborhood Monday morning, killing six civilians and wounding 41 others, Baghdad Emergency Police said. The attack took place around 9:50 a.m. (1:50 a.m. ET) as people were lining up to get the pay from the Ministry of Trade or to get compensation due to shortages in the country's food rationing system, police said. Less than an hour earlier, Iraq's former Ministry of Electricity Ayham al Samaraie escaped unharmed from a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, although three of his bodyguards and a female civilian were wounded. In Baquba, gunmen killed four members of Iraq's main Shia religious party -- the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, opening fire on their vehicle, according to an official with the Diyala Provincial Joint Coordination Center. (Posted 10:54 a.m.) Rape trail of former South African deputy president begins with judge's recusal JOHANNESBURG (CNN) -- The judge in the rape trial of former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma began Monday with a successful defense effort to persuade the judge in the case to recuse himself. Judge Bernard Ngoepe stepped aside after hearing defense arguments that he should not hear the case since he is the same judge who authorized a warrant for a raid on Zuma's home last year, Zuma told a crowd of supporters outside the Johannesburg High Court. That raid was connected to unrelated corruption charges. Zuma is accused of raping a 31-year-old AIDS activist who is also a family friend on Nov. 2, 2005 at one of his residences. Zuma was dismissed as deputy president in June after he was charged with corruption -- charges he has denied. (Posted 8:31 a.m.) Record snowfall in New York as Nor'easter socks Northeast NEW YORK (CNN) -- Bright sun lit a thick blanket of white across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states Monday, a day after a raging nor'easter howled its way up the East Coast with record-breaking snows that shut down airports from West Virginia to Massachusetts. The gigantic storm dumped more than two feet of snow on some parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and snarled air traffic nationwide as major airports shut down, though most had reopened by Sunday evening. A Turkish jetliner skidded off a runway at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport Sunday night, but no injuries were reported, an airport spokesman said. "We don't have specific numbers on stranded passengers," said New York Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman, who said JFK and Newark had no reports of stranded passengers. "There were reports of a dozen or two at LaGuardia." (Posted 8:20 a.m.) Illinois jail escapees surrender in metro Chicago CHICAGO (CNN) -- The final two inmates of six who escaped over the weekend from the Cook County jail surrendered to police early Monday after being holed up with a woman and her children in an apartment, a Cicero Police Department spokesman said. According to Dan Proft, the two men gave themselves up around 3 a.m., surrendering peacefully. The woman and one of her children came out of the apartment at the same time. The standoff with authorities began shortly after 9 p.m., following a 9-1-1 tip that three of the escapees had taken refuge in the Cicero apartment. Four of the children were released over time and one of the inmates surrendered earlier. Police said they are uncertain of the woman's role in events, but said she knew at least one of the escapees. Six inmates escaped from a maximum-security division of the Cook County Jail late Saturday, officials said, aided by a seventh inmate who was led the escape but was recaptured. Three others were taken into custody Sunday in metro Chicago. (posted 5:15 a.m.) Haiti's Preval may face runoff in presidential race (CNN) -- Thousands of Haitians took to the streets of Port au-Prince for a second day of protests Sunday over electoral results that showed former President Rene Preval falling just short of the margin needed to avoid a runoff after last week's presidential vote. Results released Sunday showed Preval, a onetime ally of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, with 49 percent of the more than 1.6 million votes counted in Tuesday's balloting. About 75 percent of precincts had been tallied, the country's electoral commission reported. Preval led Haiti from 1996 to 2001, making him the only Haitian president to serve a complete term since the country's founding in 1803. His nearest rival -- Leslie Manigat, who served briefly as president in 1988 before being overthrown -- had 12 percent of the vote. Preval supporters also rallied Saturday, venting their frustration over what they called the slow counting of election results. Demonstrators marched through slum of Cite Soleil and rallied outside the presidential palace. (posted 11:15 p.m.) 
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