Hussein Lashes Out in Court
PHILLIPS: Well, a meeting with Congress, lunch with the troops. It's been a very busy day for the visiting Iraqi prime minister. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins me now with an update -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, of course, it was day two of the fanfare of Maliki's visit, a historic visit. The centerpiece, of course, his speech before the joint meeting of Congress, received very warmly by this group. His speech interrupted at least 20 times or so by applause. There was a controversy before that speech, however. There were some Democrats who were threatening to boycott his talks. We understand that three actually did. They were upset that he did not denounce Hezbollah's recent actions, it's role in the Middle East crisis. That controversy somewhat diffused before his talk when the Iraqi foreign minister met with Republican and Democratic leadership, assuring them that privately the Iraqi government did condemn Hezbollah's acts at a recent Arab summit. Now the speech was briefly interrupted by a heckler, a woman who was wearing a pink shirt that read troops home now, but Maliki kept to the script, essentially thanking the United States for its sacrifice in liberating Iraq and also trying to convince those lawmakers, many who are skeptical about the success of Iraq's mission, that he will not allow his country to fall into civil war.</s>NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We faced tyranny and oppression under the former regime and we now face a different kind of terror. We did not bow then and we will not bow now.</s>MALVEAUX: And afterward there's was an event. President Bush as well as Prime Minister Maliki meeting with U.S. troops and their families, specifically to talk about, to acknowledge the sacrifice of those families and their troops, to give a united and optimistic picture of the future.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told the Iraqi people we stand with you. And that no matter how tough it gets, we will complete this mission. We owe it to those who served in combat. We owe it to those who have lost a limb. We owe it to those who have lost a life.</s>MALVEAUX: And Kyra, you are hearing the president acknowledge those difficulties, those challenges. Maliki as well. It's really part of a strategy here to buy some time for the Iraqi leader to actually try to get Americans and Iraqis to be more patient and say look give him some time here. There are difficult challenges but we believe in this man. We certainly hope that he will be able to tackle the situation on the ground. Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you. Well if he goes down it won't be without a fight. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein returned to a Baghdad courtroom today and lashed out at just about everyone and everything around him. His lawyer, the judge and especially the U.S. CNN's Arwa Damon has more.</s>SADDAM HUSSEIN, FMR. LEADER OF IRAQ (through translator): I am Saddam Hussein.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a man who was on a hunger strike for two and a half weeks, Saddam Hussein appeared his own defiant self in court. Saying the Americans brought him against his will.</s>HUSSEIN: They took me to the hospital for three days and then they brought me here.</s>DAMON: Taking advantage of the spotlight.</s>HUSSEIN: I call on Iraqis to stand together and to forgive, but against the enemy I call upon them to fight.</s>DAMON: And aggravating the judge.</s>RAOUF ABDEL-RAHMAN, CHIEF JUDGE (through translator): If you insight to kill Americans and as you said you have your own supporters, if what you are saying is true then why don't they attack American armies?</s>DAMON: Hussein starts to respond but the judge shuts off his microphone, cutting off the former all powerful dictator with one push of a button. Saddam Hussein's court appointed defense lawyer, his voice distorted to conceal his identity, argued for the former dictator's life. Five hours into the proceedings, it seemed whatever energy Hussein had mustered at the beginning was fading. He visibly struggled to stay awake, declining his right to make his own closing arguments after the judge told him to stick to the case and not politics. (on camera): In a sign that Saddam Hussein may have accepted his potential fate, he reminded the judge that he was a military man. If sentenced to die, he said, it should be in front of a firing squad, not hanging like ordinary criminals. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.</s>PHILLIPS: Not guilty by reason of insanity the verdict in the retrial of Andrea Yates. She was charged with drowning three of her five children. Jurors deliberated 13 hours over three days. Going over a month's worth of evidence and testimony and asking to re-hear parts of it. Prosecutors had argue Yates knew what she was doing was wrong and her lawyer said that she was delusional and suffering from severe postpartum depression. Yates will be committed to a state mental institution. A new chapter in the battle over abortion. The Senate has joined the House and passed a bill that would make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to take a minor to another state to end a pregnancy. For now Senate opponents have invoked a procedural motion to keep the bill off the president's desk. Supporters say the measure protects a parents right to know. Opponents argue it cuts off an escape route for pregnant teens who come from abusive homes. Diplomacy and disagreement an update on the U.S. efforts to end the Middle East conflict. A report from Rome straight ahead.