Limbaugh Booked on Drug Charges
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. This is</s>CNN "SATURDAY MORNING." TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for starting your day with us. We're going to get you started now with a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."</s>NGUYEN: In a deal with prosecutors, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been charged with one count of prescription fraud. He was freed on bond after yesterday's formal arrest. Limbaugh's attorney says the charge will be dropped in 18 months if Limbaugh completes a treatment program. There's his mug shot there. He must also pay a $30,000 fine. Limbaugh, who has admitted a drug problem, pleaded not guilty to so-called doctor shopping. Well, it may sound incredible, but many drugs, including heroin, could soon be legal in Mexico. A bill awaiting President Vicente Fox's signature would permit possession of small quantities of many illicit drugs. The government says the aim is to focus police resources on drug traffickers instead of users. Now to Iraq. At least four Iraqi policemen have been killed over the past 24 hours. Three were killed by a roadside bomb, and the fourth killed after being kidnapped. A fifth person was also killed. The U.S. State Department says insurgent attacks against Iraqis doubled last year over the year before.</s>HARRIS: Sharp criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Iran's leadership. In an interview published in a German newspaper, Olmert compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler, and said he is -- quoting here -- "a psychopath of the worst kind." Meantime the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog confirmed on Friday that Tehran had not suspended uranium enrichment by the deadline set. And check out the robo wars. Teenagers from across North America are at the Georgia Dome here in Atlanta this weekend to show off their amazing mechanical creations. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is there and he'll join us with a live report a little later in this half hour.</s>NGUYEN: That's some cool stuff. All right, here's a question this morning. How did Rush Limbaugh get off the hook on the drug charge? The conservative radio host struck a deal late yesterday. So what is the deal? Here's CNN's national correspondent Gary Tuchman with the details.</s>RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I am addicted to prescription pain medication.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a case that began with that admission nearly three years ago and ended with a deal today. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh turned himself in to Florida authorities today, as prosecutors charged him with fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription drugs. But, under the deal, they agreed to drop that charge in 18 months, if the conservative commentator continues treatment for his drug problems. Limbaugh agreed to the deal, despite pleading not guilty to the charge. Some legal experts say the deal is nothing less than sweet.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: After this investigation and these extensive search warrants that were executed -- and the district attorney's office won the legal case, with -- winning the right to use those records in court, they come away with, likely, nothing against Rush Limbaugh, no conviction of any kind, a clean record for Rush Limbaugh after 18 months. And that's a win, by any standard, for -- for a defendant.</s>TUCHMAN: Florida prosecutors started investigating Limbaugh in 2003, after a tabloid reported his housekeeper's claim that he used her to illegally buy painkillers. He was accused of doctor-shopping, going from one doctor to another to replenish his supply of pills. Prosecutors said he bought about 2,000 tablets prescribed by four different doctors from the same Palm Beach pharmacy in just six months. That's a claim Limbaugh and his lawyers have consistently denied.</s>ROY BLACK, ATTORNEY FOR RUSH LIMBAUGH: What he does say is that he was addicted to prescription pain medication, which, of course, he admitted back in 2003, when all of this began.</s>TUCHMAN: Limbaugh, famous for his on-air anti-drug tirades, said his own drug abuse was the result of severe back pain. He took a leave of absence from his radio show and entered rehab. Rehab isn't the only condition of the deal. Limbaugh will also pay the state $30,000, some of the cost of the investigation. But, with this deal, his legal problems, at least, are nearly at an end.</s>BLACK: This man, who, whether he is a celebrity or not, is able to put his life together, and I think it's a very good thing.</s>TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.</s>NGUYEN: And we want to know from you, what do you think of the Rush Limbaugh case? Did he get off too easily? Send us your thoughts. Email us, weekends@CNN.com. We're going to read those comments throughout the morning.</s>HARRIS: Well, did you get the letter? No? Well, the Justice Department sent out more than 9,000 national security letters, often seeking information on American citizens. Sound controversial? But is it? Terry Frieden is a CNN justice producer, and he joins us on the phone now from Washington. And Terry, what are we to make of this?</s>TERRY FRIEDEN, JUSTICE PRODUCER: Good morning, Tony. You'll remember that in that huge battle to renew the anti- terrorism law of the Patriot Act, there was a big controversy over what are called national security letters. These are essentially administrative subpoenas in which the FBI can request information on U.S. citizens without the approval of a court. They deal solely with terrorism and other national security investigations. They are approved by an FBI executive, which is within the executive branch and so there's no judicial oversight. And that's what upsets the ACLU and so many civil libertarians. What we did not know before was exactly how many of these national security letters were issued. And for the first time, Tony, last night, the Justice Department said, in a letter to leaders on Capitol Hill, that they issued more than 9,000 of these letters involving about 3,500 U.S. citizens during all of last year. So you can see, on average, they issued about three of these letters for each person that they were investigating, people that they were interested in. It is important to note that despite the misgivings by some, the Congress in this Patriot Act renewal that was just passed this year did reauthorize the continued use of these letters with little change. But it did require the government to reveal publicly just how much these letters are used, and now we know.</s>HARRIS: OK. Terry Frieden is our justice producer. Terry, we appreciate it. Thank you. And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable information on your safety and your security.</s>NGUYEN: I want you to check out these pictures for us right now. They're really hard to watch. Girls going after each other, fighting in the streets. There are the pictures. That's disturbing enough, but what's really scary is who is part of the crowd just watching it all play out? CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This cell phone video of two girls fighting is hard to see, but it's the audio that's most disturbing. The father of one of the girls is not only watching the fight, but he can be heard coaching his daughter. The video was taken at a boys and girls club in Palm Springs, California. This is another girl versus girl fight recorded in Fresno, California, again a parent in this case, a mother is watching. The video of this fight goes on for almost seven minutes. The mother of the other girl, who is clearly losing the fight, says she was horrified to find out that a parent was there and didn't step in.</s>DIANE THROWER, MOTHER: I could not believe that the mother was actually there helping her daughter fight my daughter.</s>ROWLANDS: Roseland Wiseman who wrote the book "Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads," says you would be surprised at how many parents actually encourage their children to fight.</s>ROSELAND WISEMAN, AUTHOR: I know it sounds crazy, but they really feel that they're teaching their children to stand up for themselves, that they're protecting their child from something that has happened to them that's not fair, that they think there's -- you know, that people are out basically to get them.</s>ROWLANDS: Terry Paulson is a Los Angeles-area psychologist and author of "Can I Have the Keys to the Car?"</s>TERRY PAULSON, PSYCHOLOGIST/AUTHOR: We have become more concerned about being their friend than we are being a parent, where you provide the structure.</s>ROWLANDS: Females fighting, which years ago was usually only seen in B Hollywood movies or as comic relief, is now, some say, becoming part of mainstream culture. Some experts think this is making girls more open to fighting in the schoolyard. In Chicago, where a 2003 high school hazing incident involving girls received national attention, more than 500 girls have been disciplined for fighting this school year alone, up 30 percent from last year.</s>JAMES GARBARINO, AUTHOR: In the past, you might have said to your girl, girls don't hit, and be able to back that up with what you saw in the larger culture. Today that's simply not true. It's not true. Girls do hit, and they can see evidence of that, so that they are being given permission.</s>ROWLANDS: But not everyone agrees that female fighting has actually increased.</s>MIKE MALES, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ: There's very little statistical evidence that we've seen more violence among girls. In fact they seem to be safer and less violent today than in the past.</s>ROWLANDS: Whether it is on the rise or not, many experts do agree that the appetite to watch girls fighting is very real. DVDS like the "World's Wildest Chick Fights" are available at video stores. Clips of girls fighting are also available on the Internet. The Fresno video of the two girls fighting was posted on the popular teen web site Myspace.com. The mother on that video is now the subject of a criminal investigation. Police say she may be charged with felony child endangerment. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>NGUYEN: That's just wild to see. Yes.</s>HARRIS: Still ahead, the chairman of a Democratic National Committee, Governor, Doctor Howard Dean, joins us after the break to talk about national neighbor-to-neighbor organizing day.