16 Dead, 38 Wounded in Twin Baghdad Car Bombing; Musharraf Pays Visit to Bush

Aired December 4, 2004 - 08:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris live from the CNN Center. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's the fourth day of December. 8:00 a.m. here at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for joining us. On the West Coast, 5:00 a.m., bright and early.

Let's get right to the day's top stories.

At least 16 are dead and 38 wounded after twin bombings in Baghdad this morning. Two car bombs went off near the coalition-run green zone. Police say one bombs contained nearly 900 pounds of explosives. We have a live report from Baghdad coming up. 
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HARRIS: We have a lot more to cover this here. Brace yourself, baseball fans, we'll hear from the head of the company at the center of the steroid scandal and what's in store for two sluggers accused of using steroids. Our legal analysts step up to the plate. 
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NGUYEN: Now to the Major League Baseball steroid scandal. Victor Conte founded BALCO, the lab that allegedly provided steroids and other banned drugs to elite athletes. He tells ABC's "20/20" the anti-doping rules currently in place, it's pretty easy for athletes to beat those rules.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR CONTE, FOUNDER, BALCO: Let me tell you the biggest joke of all. You know what that is? I would estimate that more than 50 percent of the athletes are taking some form of anabolic steroids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baseball players?

CONTE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 50 percent?

CONTE: Without a doubt, more than 50 percent, OK?

But I'll tell you something else they're doing that they've never addressed at all. That's this. My guess is greater than 80 percent are taking some sort of stimulant before each and every game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: "The San Francisco Chronicle" reports Giant's slugger Barry Bonds told a grand jury he used substances supplied to him by his trainer. Barry's bombshell comes a day after a similar report that Yankee slugger Jason Giambi admitted to taking steroids. But Bonds' attorney says his client believed he was taking a nutritional supplement and using a lotion for arthritis.

Victor Conte also tells "20/20" he supplied performance enhancing drugs to track stars Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Kelly White. Jones has never failed a drug test and has denied ever using banned drugs.

All this brings us to our morning e-mail question. Should athletes who have taken steroids be forced to give their records or medals back? Tell us what you think. We're at wam@cnn.com. We'll read your replies throughout the program. 

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NGUYEN: It's the middle of football season, but baseball captures the headlines this week. The steroid scandal on the docket in this morning's "Legal Briefs." The big question for our panel, should athletes face criminal charges for using illegal drugs? 

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HARRIS: He instantly became page-one news this week after word leaked out the former baseball MVP confessed to using illegal steroids. Should Jason Giambi and any other athletes who break the law be behind bars?

NGUYEN: A hot topic on the docket for this morning's legal panel. There they are.

Good morning, guys.

CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back with all of this.

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NGUYEN: They're the biggest names in baseball, linked to the steroid scandal, Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds. Transcripts of testimony given to a federal grand jury last year say Giambi confessed to the use of illegal steroids, but Bonds is not admitting to using anything illegal.

The men reportedly used drugs that came from BALCO, which is a company at the center of this scandal. The question this morning if there's proof that Bonds, Giambi and any other athlete used illegal steroids should they face federal criminal charges?

Also this morning, emotional testimony from the parents of convicted double murderer Scott Peterson. Will it be enough to convince the same jury calling him guilty to show mercy and spare his life?

Both cases on the docket this morning. So, let's get right to it. Bring in our legal combatants for this weekend, Former Texas Prosecutor Nelda Blair joins us live from Houston. And Defense Attorney Jeffrey Mandel is in our Time Warner Center in New York.

Good morning to you both.

NELDA BLAIR, FMR. TEXAS PROSECUTOR: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Let's start with the Peterson trial. This is a jury that really found him guilty quite quickly. They're expected to possibly get this in their hands for deliberations on Wednesday. Is it going to go quickly, Nelda?

BLAIR: I think it will go quickly. But this jury has not made rash decisions. They've been very meticulous, very analytical. Even though a couple of jurors were tossed off, you know, they did deliberate for a while before they actually came up with the guilty verdict.

I think that they'll be methodical and careful, but I've said from the beginning I think they'll find the death penalty is appropriate.

NGUYEN: You agree, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY S. MANDEL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree with Nelda that this jury has certainly done a very good job. They spent 30 hours considering this case. And while initially I didn't think the death penalty would come about, I do now believe, based on the testimony of Laci Peterson's mother, that Scott may be facing the death penalty.

NGUYEN: I was going to ask about that because Scott Peterson's sister-in-law and half brother took the stand. That testimony brought Scott Peterson to tears. Is that going to work with this jury, or did Laci Peterson's mother really seal the deal in this one, as it comes to a verdict on whether he should live or die?

BLAIR: I don't think the jury's going to believe any crocodile tears Scott Peterson weeps. I think that that's happened before. They've been very stoic in the face of his family's testimony. No matter what they said, and no matter what a great little boy he was, he still committed a horrendous crime. And we reserve the death penalty for the most, worst crimes and this is one of them.

NGUYEN: Jeffrey, last word before we move on to the steroid case.

MANDEL: I certainly don't think this necessarily is the worst crime. I do believe that a pregnant person was killed. I don't believe the legislature [of California] has passed [a] per se rule that we put to death those who kill people who are pregnant. But I think the testimony of Laci Peterson's mother did seal the deal on this case.

NGUYEN: Moving on to the steroid case. Nelda, if a grand jury -- if these documents are supposed to be sealed, how did they get out? How are they linked and are we looking at some criminal charges here?

BLAIR: We've talked about this with a lot of case, the Jackson case, the Peterson case, the Kobe Bryant case. It seems like the leaks get worse and worse. Absolutely, it's against the law and there should be charges for -- you are talking about the leakage itself? Absolutely.

But what's even more important, what a vast, vast problem this obviously is in professional sports. And this is something that has got to be addressed. It's gone all the way to President Bush and the State of the Union Address. It's a major, major concern.

NGUYEN: Jeffrey, should the government go after the San Francisco reporters to give up their sources?

MANDEL: I hate to see reporters become the subject of the investigation, but I think the court, the Department of Justice, they need to find out where the source of the leak is, because it really hurts defense attorneys when they tell their clients that you have immunity, you can testify before a grand jury and this information will remain secret. And then all of a sudden it is splashed on the front page of "The San Francisco Chronicle".

NGUYEN: Leak or no leak, Nelda, how strong is this case?

BLAIR: I think it's going to be quite strong. Ashcroft doesn't usually do anything in that regard unless he feels very strongly about his case. But I'll tell you what. The people that are behind this, the Victor Conte and the whole group that's been indicted, are only the tip of the iceberg in my opinion. I think we'll see a lot more of these allegations come forward and I think it's a very sad situation, but very serious. This is basically cheating in professional sports. And in any other area, it would not be allowed. It's drug abuse and in any other area wouldn't be allowed. We can't allow it here.

NGUYEN: But, Jeffrey, legally, does this come down to whether this evidence was obtained without a search regard want.

MANDEL: I know there's an issue in this case about the execution of the search warrant. I've reviewed papers to lead me to believe that the search warrant was properly executed. I've yet to see anything directly linking any of the found steroids to players such as Barry Bonds. Until we see that direct link, it is not something I think anybody should be commenting on.

I know circumstantially it is wonderful for us to believe that they were under the influence of these steroids at the time. But I have not seen the direct link that I'd like to see.

NGUYEN: And if there is a direct link, Nelda, should they face criminal charges?

BLAIR: Absolutely. It is illegal. It's not allowed in professional sports. In any other world, it would be the subject of criminal charges. And it should be here, too. No question about it.

HUME: What if they say they took it without knowing it. They didn't know.

BLAIR: That's the tough part. That is very, very tough. In reality, what's going to happen to people like Barry Bonds, who says if he took it, he didn't know he was taking it, the really worst thing that is happening to him is his reputation has gone. His credibility is gone. His persona in the public is gone. And that's what really, really hurts him. The criminal charges would just be something else to boot.

NGUYEN: Jeffrey, I'm going to give you the last question here. Is this also going to come down to exactly what is a steroid, because some will argue that these were steroids. Some will say no, they're growth hormones. Is that going to come to play in this case?

MANDEL: I think it will come to play, but I think the real issue here is Major League Baseball must find a way to curb this practice. Major League Baseball cannot run and hide from this. There's something wrong. It appears to be affecting most of the their players from what we hear now. And it is something they should address head so they can at least maintain the integrity of their sport.

BLAIR: That's an understatement.

NGUYEN: All right. Nelda Blair, Jeffrey Mandel, we appreciate your insight this morning. Thank you.

BLAIR: Thank you. NGUYEN: All right, Tony.

HARRIS: That takes us to our e-mail question of the day. Where we've been getting some great responses.

What do you think? Should athletes who have taken steroids be forced to give their records or medals back? There's the address. Let's read a couple before we send it over to "House Call". 

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