Civilian Vs. Military Courts for Terror Suspects
LEMON: We are continuing to sort out conflicting reports that an American, Adam Gadahn, was arrested in Pakistan. Moments ago I spoke with senior international correspondent Nic Robertson about what this arrest could mean in the hunt for al Qaeda's most wanted.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think every time a senior al Qaeda person is captured or a senior Taliban person is captured, it provides the FBI with small grains of information, intelligence. This is how they describe it. And with those grains, they build a beach. And with that beach, they can capture people like Osama bin Laden. Now, of course, he has very, very sort of big cutoffs, if you like, cutting him off from other parts of the organization. Very hard for people, even somebody like Adam Gadahn, to have a knowledge of where Osama bin Laden is hiding. But every time somebody is captured, they provide information. Sometimes they don't even know that it's useful. Maybe they're shown a photograph of somebody. Maybe they're shown a picture of a street with a house on that street. They provide a bit of information that corroborates what somebody else has given. And then that leads to something else. So, the information that they will give and that Adam Gadahn may give, if he's captured and if he falls in the hands of the FBI or others who can get this information from him, he may not even know it, but he may -- he may very well pass over very important and useful information. And Osama bin Laden, of course, is number one on the list of people to catch right now.</s>LEMON: Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. As we continue to investigate reports that Adam Gadahn has been captured, it raises the question where would he be prosecuted? The attorney general's November decision to try the alleged 9/11 mastermind in a civilian court in New York City may not be final after all. That's because White House advisers are having second thoughts and now they're considering recommending that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be tried in a military court. What's the view from New York? Here's Susan Candiotti.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here is my best friend, Terry Hatton.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Every time retired New York firefighter Tim Brown visits ground zero, he remembers every detail. (on camera): When that first tower came down, where were you standing?</s>TIM BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, THEBRAVEST.COM: We were right on the sidewalk here, outside the two World Trade Center when it collapsed.</s>CANDIOTTI: That must have been terrifying.</s>BROWN: It was terrifying.</s>CANDIOTTI (voice over): Brown demands the president do an about- turn and scuttle Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to try accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in civilian courts.</s>BROWN: We should not be giving these scum terrorists the protections of our most sacred document in America, the United States constitution.</s>JIMMY RICHES, 9/11 VICTIM'S FATHER: I think it's a disgrace.</s>CANDIOTTI: But fellow retired firefighter Jim Riches, whose son was killed on 9/11, says a civilian trial is the answer.</s>RICHES: They're nothing but terrorists and criminals who murder people, and that's the way they should be tried -- federal court just like we tried 200 other men and given them long prison terms.</s>CANDIOTTI: On Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham told "Face the Nation" he'll press fellow Republicans to shut the prison at Guantanamo if the president abandons civilian trials.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm going to need people from the Bush administration to try to close Gitmo, to put aside partisanship, rally around this president, stand by his side and say let's close Gitmo safely.</s>CANDIOTTI: Closing Gitmo is an unfulfilled campaign promise the American Civil Liberties Union hasn't forgotten. Its full-page ad in Sunday's "New York Times" shows Mr. Obama morphing into George Bush if the president doesn't stick with civilian trials.</s>LAURA MURPHY, ACLU LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR: The president is at a critical turning point, and he could be on the verge of making a colossal mistake both for the safety of the American people and for the image of the United States abroad.</s>CANDIOTTI: But when it comes down to those who personally knew victims --</s>BROWN: I am dead set against this happening on U.S. soil. These terrorists murdered my friends. 93 of my friends.</s>CANDIOTTI: Some say enough is enough.</s>RICHES: It's nine years later. Let's try these guys finally, please.</s>CANDIOTTI (on camera): How will the debate end? An answer is expected in the next two weeks, one that may not satisfy either side. Susan Candiotti, CNN, at New York's Ground Zero.</s>LEMON: All right, Susan. Let's talk about terror trials and the big political stories ahead this week with our political editor, Mr. Mark Preston. Mark, good to see you. Welcome back. You were away last week. So Mark, the president is going really make someone angry regardless of what he decides.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, he is. And certainly we've seen that today with that "New York Times" ad the ACLU took out. The fact is he's between a rock and a hard place. This time last year, Don, he talked about his desire, his will, his determination to close the Guantanamo Bay facility and that he said he would have these trials held here on U.S. soil. Of course, there's been a lot of pushback on that. But it's not only from Republicans, it's from Democrats. In New York, it was from Democratic lawmakers who didn't want the trial in their city. So yes, he's not going to make anybody happy, I think, with his decision.</s>LEMON: And Mark, we had that ad up. It's not the first time, though, the ACLU has done that. They did the same thing with President Bush a couple of years back. So, they have taken out those ads before. But let's move on now. Can we talk about ethics? And a story that I've been calling "Democrats in trouble." I mean, you know, back in 2006, Democrats hammered Republicans over ethics. Now the Democrats have some ethics problems of their own, including a freshman representative who is retiring tomorrow.</s>PRESTON: Yes, sure. Eric Massa at 5:00 tomorrow. He's a freshman representative, Upstate New York. Really caught us by surprise. He is going to resign from the House of Representatives. Doesn't even make it through his first term, Don. He says he's retiring or resigning anyway because of health issues. He is a cancer survivor. However, there are allegations out there that he sexually harassed a staff member, a male staff member. He has pushed back against those. However, again, he has decided to resign from the House of Representatives. Not a very good week for New Yorkers. Certainly not New York Democrats. Last week, Don, in addition to Massa, we saw Charlie Rangel step down as the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and we saw Governor Paterson have to go through his travails. So, pretty tough time for Democrats.</s>LEMON: OK. Let's move on and talk about a Republican here. Karl Rove has a book coming out this week, and you have read it before almost anyone else. It's not on sale. Is he revealing anything? What does he have to say? He's a former adviser to President George W. Bush.</s>PRESTON: Yes. Really, you know, arguably one of the greatest political minds certainly of my time, you know. And I think that would upset some Democrats by me saying that. But look, he talked about a lot of things. He talks about how in his mind Bush did not lie to push the country into war. He takes a lot of responsibility. He says that he didn't push back hard enough when there was critics about the whole weapons of mass destruction. He said it was his idea for the president not to land Air Force One after Katrina. He said he didn't want to interfere with relief efforts. But you know, what's interesting in this book about Karl Rove is that he really details his whole life. So, if you are a political junkie, if you are a political nut, this is extremely interesting. And I'll leave it on this. I don't want to give up too much. But who is he most worried about in 2004 who is running for the Democratic nomination? John Edwards. Look where John Edwards is now.</s>LEMON: Was that a spoiler? I hope you didn't.</s>PRESTON: No, there's so much more.</s>LEMON: There's so much more. OK.</s>PRESTON: There's so much more in this book.</s>LEMON: Thank you, Mark. Good to have you back.</s>PRESTON: Thanks, Don.</s>LEMON: All right. They're called the little Obamas. The boys of Chicago's Urban Prep Academy are beating the odds and they are undefeated.