Saddam Hussein Trial to Resume
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco back in the spotlight. Newly released documents from her office give the nation of the behind the scenes chaos as the drama of Hurricane Katrina unfolded. E-mails and memos indicate uncertainty about whether to air drop food and water to storm victims, concerns about what Blanco should wear and indecisions about accepting international help. Lot of talk about this today. And of course, we'll be learning more about those e-mails and memos. We do want to welcome you on this Sunday morning here from the CNN Center in Atlanta, the fourth day of December. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.</s>TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. That story in just a moment.</s>NGUYEN: First, though, we want to get some breaking news out of Baghdad this morning. The man President Bush chose to lead Iraq following invasion escaped an attack during a campaign stop this morning. CNN's Nic Robertson was traveling with former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, when it happened, and he joins us by phone. Nic, you were there. What happened?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mr. Ayad -- Mr. Ayad Allawi, his fellow politicians who were there with him, claim it was an assassination attempt. He went into a shrine to meet with religious leaders in one of Iraq's most holy and religious cities. While he was inside the shrine praying, a group of people gathered, chanting, chanting slogans against him, and then chased him from the shrine, throwing shoes at him, which is a very derogatory thing to do in the Middle East. And as he was rushed away by -- forced away from the shrine by the crowd, gunfire erupted. His own security people fired shots in the air. Some of the people traveling with Mr. Allawi, part of his campaign team, say that shots were fired in their direction. It took several minutes for Mr. Allawi's security team to get him out of the area and somewhere safe. And as he was driving back to a safe location, Apache helicopter gun ships came in and gave his large convoy a secure escort. But according to his political team who were with him in that shrine, this was an assassination attempt, they say.</s>NGUYEN: All right, so to be very clear, according to the political team, it appears that this was an assassination attempt. Exactly what kind of area is this? Give us some perspective on who is in that area and who may have sparked this.</s>ROBERTSON: This is a very religious area. Indeed, there are religious shrines and there are religious leaders who are the custodians of the shrine. What his political team and an independent witness, who was inside the shrine at the time, told me, they believe that this was the work, the orchestrated work of one of the -- one of the religious Shia militia groups here in Iraq. Specifically, they said the Mehdi militia, the militia belonging to Muqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand young Shia religious cleric. So definitely, the -- Mr. Allawi's group believe it is one of these militias, and people present in the shrine at the time believe it may indeed have been the Mehdi militia belonging to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Nic, what happens next? Does this change Allawi's campaign stops as we lead up to this or as we watch the December 15 elections take place?</s>ROBERTSON: Well, already there is incredible security around Mr. Allawi's campaign trail, just to get him down to Najaf, which should be from Baghdad 1 1/2 to two hours drive. Instead of doing that, he flew by helicopter with gunship escorts. He went in an armored convoy with a lot of security. So it is clear that it is very difficult for Mr. Allawi to campaign. One of his campaign associates, political associates, was assassinated three or four days ago. He has had several other attempts on his life over the past couple of years, particularly when he was prime minister. This is probably unlikely to stop his campaign -- campaigning, but it is definitely going to make it much more difficult for him to reach out into these areas. They are critical for support for him. He reaches across the community. He is a secular leader. He reaches -- he is a Shia and he reaches out to both Shia and Sunni and is regarded as many as a good political hope for the future of the country, because they believe he can bring an end to the sectarian violence that is really growing. For that reason, when he goes to the south now, he will have -- he will face very stiff challenges on the security front, Betty.</s>NGUYEN: And we'll be watching. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in Baghdad. Nic, we thank you.</s>HARRIS: And Betty, even more breaking news out of Iraq this morning, including news of the deaths of two more U.S. soldiers. CNN's Aneesh Raman is following all the developments from Baghdad for us this morning. Aneesh, good morning to you.</s>ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning. Two U.S. soldiers, the U.S. military announcing just hours ago, killed around 2 p.m. local time in southeastern Baghdad. It happened after a roadside bomb detonated. Also today in Iraq, a Shia politician gunned down just days after a Sunni politician, all of this ahead, of course, of those critical December 15 elections Nic was just speaking of. Now tomorrow, of course, the world waiting to see the third session of the Iraqi high tribunal in this first case against Saddam Hussein. For the third time, the defense could push for another delay.</s>RAMAN (voice-over): The case against Saddam Hussein. Many here see it as open and shut.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iraqi people wish to see a short tribunal to a big turnaround, shorter turnaround for Saddam Hussein to be executed sooner than later.</s>RAMAN: But for the court trying Hussein, the legal process is getting more complicated by the day. And as they reconvene, there is little doubt another showdown will ensue between the Iraqi high tribunal and Hussein's defense team. At the first session on October 19, defense lawyers asked for a three-month delay, citing insufficient access to evidence and a lack of training. They were granted 41 days, and Hussein got a chance to question the legitimacy of the court.</s>SADDAM HUSSEIN, FORMER IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): I don't acknowledge neither the entity that authorized you, nor the aggression, because everything that's based on falsehood is falsehood.</s>RAMAN: At the second session last week, the defense asked again for a delay, citing the assassinations of two defense lawyers. They were granted one week, but the issue is far from resolved, likely to work its way back to court on Monday, with former U.S. attorney general, Ramsey Clark, officially part of the defense team, planning to make a statement centered on security.</s>RAMSEY CLARK, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Dangerous for them every day. It's more dangerous every day that they appear in court. So we want that protection in place.</s>RAMAN: The government says it's offered the defense lawyers special security, but the lawyers have concerns, saying it's insufficient, creating an impasse and testing the patience of the Iraqi people. "I do not think that Saddam Hussein will be executed, and also he will not be tried. This is just a show in front of the Iraqi people," says this man. This trial will be adjourned for many times," says this policeman. "There will be at least four or five trials and then he will be punished."</s>RAMAN: So Tony, security will be a key concern tomorrow, not just inside the trial but outside as well. Just in the past hour, Iraq's national security adviser, Dr. Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, confirming to us a plot was uncovered by insurgents to attack the courtroom tomorrow with mortars and delay these proceedings indefinitely -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: Wow! Just a busy, busy day in Iraq this morning. Aneesh, thank you.</s>NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., some nasty signs of winter already. Snow falling today in the northeast is making for a tough day on the roads. Look at this. And today's storm is just a warm-up. Yes, more to come tomorrow. Police lights may be flashing across much of the U.S., where icy conditions could turn a quick shopping trip into a long wait in traffic. This accident in Idaho, where the roads look more like a skating rink, unfortunately.</s>HARRIS: Wow.</s>NGUYEN: And a deep freeze is settling in over the northern Rockies. Today's low temperature in all of the lowest 48 states is in Montana. Yes, you win today. At West Yellowstone, just 17 degrees. Not just degrees, but degrees below zero, 17 below zero.</s>HARRIS: You know it's going to get a little worse.</s>NGUYEN: Oh, yes. This is the beginning, right?</s>HARRIS: Well, there's another storm. I mean, another, bigger storm...</s>NGUYEN: Double whammy.</s>HARRIS: ... is coming (ph). All right. Bonnie Schneider is standing by right downstairs with an update for us. Good morning, Bonnie.</s>NGUYEN: You know, I'll take the 66. I don't know about the 46. Just depends -- Texas is a big state, though. Thanks, Bonnie.</s>HARRIS: As you're fond of reminding us. Thank you, Betty.</s>NGUYEN: You'll get used to it, Tony. All right. We're going to be talking about a lot of things today, including e-mails coming out of the Louisiana governor's office.</s>HARRIS: What a story, yes.</s>NGUYEN: They talk about exactly how this administration dealt with Katrina before and after the storm hit. Very interesting, raising eyebrows. We'll share them with you. Also, we brought it to you yesterday as breaking news. The death of a top al Qaeda leader in Pakistan. But was it a missile or an accident? We are going to go to the White House for today's developments on this story, next.</s>HARRIS: And the war on terror remains at the top of the president's agenda, but is his push to victory pushing up his approval ratings? Keep it here. CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns right after a quick break.