[Phillips:] Congressman pleads guilty. Soups like a story for out Tony Harris. He's working it in the newsroom. Hey, Tony.
[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] Good to see you. Just a couple of minutes ago, Congressman Randy Duke Cunningham, he is Republican from California, entered a guilty plea this was just a short time ago to federal charges of tax evasion, but there is a whole lot more to this story than that. He also entered a guilty plea to conspiracy charges. And we're waiting to make a connection with our congressional correspondent Ed Henry. Do we have him yet? Oh, there is. Ed, good to see you.
[Ed Henry, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Good afternoon.
[Harris:] There was a lot more to this. I think we were all aware he was being investigated for tax evasion, but the conspiracy plea is a bit new. What can you tell us about that?
[Henry:] Absolutely. Now the Congressman is facing up to ten years in prison, also up to a $350,000 fine. The prosecutor in the case just a short while ago basically said, in terms of the conspiracy flat out said that the congressman allegedly received millions of dollars, over $2 million, in bribes. She called this a case of quote, "unprecedented magnitude and extraordinary audacity" in terms of what the Congressman did here. This stems from the fact that two years ago, Congressman Cunningham sold his house in San Diego for $1.6 million. He sold it to a defense contractor. That defense contractor then tried to sell the house on his own and sold it at a loss of $700,000. That sparked allegations that, in fact, the defense contractor had bought the house in San Diego, a very hot real estate market, at an inflated price as payback for the fact that Congressman Cunningham had fought to get this contractor defense contracts in Congress, had pressured the Pentagon to get big-time, big contracts, big money to this defense contractor. In turn, the congressman and his wife then bought a much bigger mansion in California, some $2.5 million. Keep in mind, this is a congressman who is only making about $160,000 a year. So now pleading guilty to these two counts, tax evasion as well as conspiracy. Our viewers would probably know Randy "Duke" Cunningham as somebody who, as a Navy fighter pilot, shot down five MiGs in the Vietnam War. In fact, his exploits basically inspired the movie "Top Gun." Obviously now no longer riding high. And I think the broader issue here is allegations that many Republicans in Congress are now facing various ethics charges. Democrats in the 2006 election will be making the case. They've called it a culture of corruption. Republicans obviously reject that, say the Cunningham case, the Tom DeLay case and others, are individual cases. But you're going to see Democrats jumping on this and saying there's a broader problem with the way Republicans are acting and conducting their affairs on Capitol Hill Kyra and Tony?
[Harris:] Well, Ed, I got to tell you let's see if we can just spend another moment on this. The contractor that you've been mentioning is Mitchell Wade and his company is MZM Incorporated. Is that correct?
[Henry:] That's right. Based here in the D.C. area in Virginia. But he's the person who bought the home out in California.
[Harris:] And, Ed, my understanding is that this company was barely on the map, and then during the course of the year 2004, just sort of exploded.
[Henry:] Absolutely. And it's important to note that Congressman Cunningham is basically on a very powerful defense appropriations committee, basically holds the purse strings for a lot of these defense contracts. That's why he was in a powerful post. It enabled him to put Mitchell Wade's company on the map Tony.
[Harris:] OK. Congressional correspondent Ed Henry for us. Appreciate it, as always. Thank you.
[Henry:] Thank you.
[Harris:] Kyra, back to you.
[Phillips:] All right, Tony. Thank you so much. Well, also coming up on LIVE FROM, Saddam sounds off. The former Iraqi leader returns to court with a former U.S. cabinet official helping his defense team. We'll have the details just ahead.