Pakistan Crackdown Extends to Former Prime Minister; Intoxication Contributed to Airport Death, Officials Say
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: The Pakistani crackdown hits Benazir Bhutto where she lives. Seven days into emergency rule the former prime minister learns a ban on opposition rallies means her rallies, too.</s>DON LEMON, CO-HOST: But just when the story begins to settle down, new things happen. Developments are breaking by the minute, and you'll see all of them all day long right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.</s>PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the</s>CNN NEWSROOM. LEMON: A major rally planned today in Pakistan never happened. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's plan to lead that rally were dashed when police blockaded her home and prevented her from leaving. But Bhutto managed to address her supporters by megaphone and once again demanded that President Pervez Musharraf cancel the state of emergency. That hasn't happened, but moments ago we learned a house arrest order against Bhutto has been lifted. CNN's Zain Verjee is following events for us in Islamabad. She'll join us in about 10 minutes on the very latest on the situation with that. In the meantime, the U.S., of course, is keeping a close eye on this turmoil. President Bush is in Crawford, Texas, and that's where we find our Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we just heard from National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe, who essentially released a statement from the administration, bold language but very telling language. He talked about the pressing concern that Pakistani authorities, that they return to their constitutional order and democratic norms. But of note, he did not mention Pervez Musharraf by name. Also, there was a call, as well, he says that we continue the call for an early end to the state of emergency, and a release of those political prisoners. An early end, not an immediate end but an early end here. What does this suggest to us? That perhaps after President Bush pushing Musharraf a couple of days ago in that phone call, getting the assurance that there will be elections, perhaps mid-February, that they are pulling back just a little bit to give the leader some space here, to see what develops. Also of note here is one of the closest allies with the Bush administration, the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, earlier as you mentioned, under house arrest. I addressed that issue with Johndroe: what is the status; are they pushing the government for her release, a lot of confusion. And here's how they responded.</s>GORDON JOHNDROE, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You know, U.S. officials on the ground in Islamabad have been in touch with members of a variety of the political parties, including Ms. Bhutto, so we are urging all sides to engage in a dialogue to work through this peacefully and to get to free and fair elections, which is, obviously, in the best interests of the people of Pakistan.</s>MALVEAUX: Is there any consequence to Musharraf or his government if she is not released from house arrest or her supporters, as well?</s>JOHNDROE: You know, what I would say is that we want an early end to the state of emergency. We want them to get back on the path to democracy, which means having free and fair elections. And I think that's hopefully the path they're getting back on.</s>MALVEAUX: So Don, really what you're hearing here is the administration is trying to figure this out as we are, what is happening on the ground. We heard several times from Johndroe, saying that it really depends from hour to hour, even minute by minute what the developments are here. On the one hand, they are encouraged by some of the movements. And if this is true that Benazir Bhutto has been released, then that is encouraging news. But they don't want to push too hard on this, and that is what we're seeing today. A little bit of pull-back here, because they want to make sure, ultimately, so far, that Musharraf stays in power -- Don.</s>LEMON: Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas. Thank you for that, Suzanne.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, let's take a live look at day two of O.J. Simpson's probable cause hearing which resumed just a couple of hours ago in Las Vegas. Prosecutors are trying to show ample evidence to try Simpson and two other defendants on armed robbery charges. CNN's Dan Simon is our man on the scene. Dan, where are we at this point of the hearing?</s>DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kyra. Actually been a pretty good morning for the defense. On the stand right now is a guy named Thomas Riccio. He's the sports memorabilia dealer who actually orchestrated this whole confrontation in the hotel room. He tape-recorded the event, sold it. But he's actually doing the defense a favor right now, because he is saying that, in his mind, the items in question inside that hotel room had, in fact, been stolen. How did he know that? He says that Alfred Beardsley, one of the guy who was going to be selling those items, told him so. Let's listen to that line of questioning.</s>THOMAS RICCIO, PROSECUTION WITNESS: He came right out and said it was stolen from O.J.'s trophy room. That was his exact words.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's not only the heirlooms that Mr. Owens objected to, but it's also the footballs, the photographs, the negatives, basically the whole package.</s>RICCIO: No. The negatives and the photos were from the storage sting, and -- and the more expensive stuff like the game-used footballs and -- and the plaque from J. Edgar Hoover was stuff he claimed he stole from the trophy room.</s>SIMON: So what's the defense trying to do here? Well, they're trying to show that, in fact, this was no robbery because those items actually belonged to O.J. Simpson, at least that's what they're trying to point out. The problem here is the gun issue and the fact that you have three people, three of O.J.'s accomplices, apparently prepared to testify that there were guns in that hotel room, and O.J. Simpson told them to bring those guns with them. That is a hurdle for the defense in this case -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: So what do you think? When can we expect a decision by the judge, if and how this goes forward?</s>SIMON: Well, here we are in day two, and you're only -- well, you haven't even wrapped up the second witness. You have a total of eight witnesses who apparently are going to testify for the prosecution that this was supposed to a two-day hearing. Looks like this is going to carry on into next week. So, when will we know, Kyra? You're talking about O.J. Simpson here. But I would say perhaps by the end of next week they'll get through all these eight witnesses.</s>PHILLIPS: I don't know about you, Dan. I'm just having flashbacks, flashbacks from a decade ago. It's a little nerve- wracking. All right. We'll talk to you again.</s>SIMON: Yes, indeed.</s>PHILLIPS: OK. Thanks. Stay with us for the latest, of course, from the courtroom. We'll also be talking live with attorney and legal professor Avery Friedman right here on the</s>CNN NEWSROOM. LEMON: The results are in on the death of Carol Gotbaum. She's a New York woman who flew into a rage at the Phoenix Airport, was handcuffed and shackled, then died alone in a holding cell. CNN's Alina Cho follows up for us from New York now, where the Gotbaums lived. Hi, Alina.</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And a quick primer, remember, for our viewers. Carol Gotbaum, Don, the woman who died in police custody back on September 28 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, exactly six weeks ago today. CNN about an hour ago obtained a summary of the autopsy and toxicology report from the medical examiner's office. The full report is forthcoming later this afternoon. I'm quoting now: "Based on our investigation, the cause of death has been certified as asphyxia by hanging and the manner of death has been ruled accidental." Now, that supports the argument by police that Carol Gotbaum may have strangled herself while trying to free herself from her handcuffs. Now, the report also cited contributing factors to her death as acute ethanol and prescription medication intoxication. This is something we expected. The translation, there were both prescription drugs and alcohol in Gotbaum's system, and that contributed to her death. Now, some background here. Carol Gotbaum was on her way to alcohol rehab in Tucson when she missed her connecting flight in Phoenix. She eventually flew into a rage and was arrested by police. Who could forget that airport surveillance video? It showed Gotbaum really running around the concourse before she was eventually taken down or fell down on her own. Police took her into custody for disorderly conduct. There's that video there. They put her into a holding cell alone. Police have maintained they did not know about her situation. They did not know she was an alcoholic and that she was depressed and perhaps even suicidal. Now, she was in that holding cell, according to police, for less than eight minutes. When they didn't hear her screaming any more, they went in to check on her, and she was unconscious. Police have maintained all along that it was an accident. As I just mentioned, the M.E. report seems to support that. Family members, of course, have a different story, suggesting police mishandled the situation and treated her inhumanely. Now not long after the story broke, about a week later, we obtained some audio recordings of the phone calls husband Noah Gotbaum made to airport dispatchers as he was trying desperately to find out what was going on with his wife. Let's listen.</s>NOAH GOTBAUM, HUSBAND OF CAROL GOTBAUM: They are waiting for her down in Cottonwood at...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.</s>GOTBAUM: ... at the rehab center down there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.</s>GOTBAUM: She is suicidal. Obviously, she is -- she has been -- she is -- alcohol abusive.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.</s>GOTBAUM: But she is also in deep depression and the police have to understand that they're not dealing with someone who's been just drinking on flight and...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>GOTBAUM: ... acting rowdy. That's not what's going on here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think somebody talked to the other dispatcher on that earlier and -- and we passed along that information.</s>GOTBAUM: Well, but again, I have not heard anything back.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I don't know, you know, unfortunately...</s>GOTBAUM: It concerns me, Mike, that they have not called me, that they're just dealing with her, that she is all alone.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.</s>GOTBAUM: OK? Because she should not be.</s>CHO: Really chilling to hear that, especially when you consider this. Noah Gotbaum made at least three calls to airport dispatchers, but Don, as we all know by now, Carol Gotbaum was already dead by the first time -- the first call came in. In fact, she had already been dead for more than an hour.</s>LEMON: And Alina, what do we know from the police report, which was released last week?</s>CHO: Well, it was 270 pages. It took a long time to pour through it. But there are two salient points here, Don. First, a flight attendant on Gotbaum's first flight from New York to Phoenix said that Gotbaum had ordered a meal and a bloody Mary on the flight. That is consistent with the M.E. report that's out today. Also the second point: when husband Noah Gotbaum ultimately heard the news of his wife's death, his response was quote, "They killed her, they killed her," referring, of course, to Phoenix police. Now, the Gotbaum family, we should mention, is conducting its own investigation. An independent pathologist hired by the family has just gotten access to Carol Gotbaum's key organs. So ultimately, there could be another version, another story of how she died. And that could either strengthen or weaken the family's argument as they try to decide whether to sue the Phoenix Police Department -- Don.</s>LEMON: Alina, thank you.</s>CHO: You bet.</s>PHILLIPS: A former top associate of Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and making false statements. Bernard Kerik was New York's police commissioner back when Giuliani was mayor. In 2004 Giuliani endorsed Kerik's failed bid to be U.S. homeland security chief. A grand jury indictment includes allegations that Kerik lied to federal officials during that period.</s>MICHAEL GARCIA, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: Time and again Kerik was asked specific questions about his financial dealings, and time and again he lied: lied about things like his receipt of the illegal apartment renovations, his receipt of a loan financed by an Israeli businessman who did business with the federal government, and his employment of the off-the-books nanny.</s>PHILLIPS: If convicted, Kerik could face up to 142 years in prison and almost $5 million in penalties. Giuliani has called his support for Kerik's homeland security, well, that bid he called it a mistake.</s>LEMON: More protests in Pakistan. Police prevent a major rally, but a dramatic showdown keeps the crisis brewing. Zain Verjee has a live report straight ahead.</s>PHILLIPS: An American student studying overseas now forced to get fluent in Italian justice. Her roommate murdered and now a mystery that spans from Rome to London to Seattle.</s>LEMON: How do you keep your health insurance? Well, don't get sick. One insurer reportedly paid out bonuses for kicking sick patients to the curb.</s>PHILLIPS: Plus, it's cool, it's handy, it's hip. But is it toxic? You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.