Iraq's Special Tribunal Files First Formal Charges Against Saddam Hussein
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Stories now in the news. Confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph says deadly force is needed to stop abortion. Rudolph spoke out for the very first time today about his deadly crime spree at a sentencing hearing in Birmingham, Alabama. One of Rudolph's victims says it gives her great delight knowing Rudolph will spend his life in an 8x12 box. A new development in the search for Natalee Holloway. Aruban authorities and the FBI will be conducting tests on blonde hair strands that were found on a piece of duct tape. The duct tape was found on Turtle Beach yesterday, some seven weeks after Holloway vanished. Plenty of damage, but no deaths are being reported in Mexico in the aftermath of Hurricane Emily. Emily slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula as a category-four storm early today. The far southern border of Texas is preparing for a possible run-in with Emily late tomorrow. A trial date could be set within days for Iraq's former-dictator- turned-prisoner Saddam Hussein. Iraq's special tribunal filed its first formal charges against Hussein yesterday. A significant step in what's expected to be a long and difficult trial. From Baghdad, here's CNN's Aneesh Raman.</s>RAMAN (voice-over): Justice now one step closer.</s>RAID JUHI, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE JUDGE (through translator): The Iraqi Special Tribunal has entered a new phase, the phase of the actual trial of these accused, and we ask the almighty to support us.</s>RAMAN: Iraq's chief investigative judge Sunday issuing the first formal charges against Saddam Hussein and other members of his former regime. They could face trial as early as September, on the first of what is expected to be multiple cases, beginning with the alleged atrocities in the northern village of Dujail, Where In 1982, more than 150 people were killed after a failed assassination attempt against then-President Hussein.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.</s>RAMAN: Since Saddam's capture in December of 2003, Iraqis have eagerly awaited the moment their former dictator would come to trial. But it took nearly seven months for the special tribunal to put Saddam in a courtroom and, under the world's watch, listing the various crimes he would face. And then again, a period of silence as the tribunal staff traveled throughout the country gathering evidence, conducting interviews, meticulously preparing. A tug of war ensued, tribunal officials fearing a rush could weaken their case at trial. Iraqi political figures bowing to public pressure, publicly demanding Hussein face trial as soon as possible, often suggesting it would be a matter of months. But in this, the latest video released in June, Saddam was interrogated about the events in Dujail, an indication that his case was moving forward. (on camera): This will be the first of perhaps a dozen trials Saddam Hussein will face, each for a specific case, each carrying the potential of the death penalty. But for the Iraqi people, the specifics are as important as the defendant. Many of them say humanity itself is on trial. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.</s>HARRIS: Hurricane Emily has officially passed out of the area and into the Gulf of Mexico, but we're still getting damage assessments. At the very least tourists will be left to cope with power outages and debris-strewn beaches. We're going to check in at a Marriott Hotel in Cancun which has served as an official evacuation shelter. Manager Chris Calabrese joins me on the phone with a status update. Chris, good to talk to you. How are things where you are right now?</s>CHRIS CALABRESE, MARRIOTT HOTELS: Well, Tony, they're getting a lot better. In our particular hotels as you've mentioned, they've been designated. We actually made an appeal to the government to use our two hotels as a local shelter. They come out and do a physical test and make sure we meet category-four and category-five hurricane velocity wind protection, and we were given that right to protect our guests, rather than what most hotels had to do was to evacuate to some small schools in the center of town, so they were very, very well protected in our two properties here.</s>HARRIS: When did the storm make landfall?</s>CALABRESE: It hit Cancun about 1:00, 1:15 when we felt the leading edge of the hurricane. We estimate some category two about 125 mile-an-hour winds. The palm trees are pretty much shot. We had some minor damage in the hotel, but we put our Marriott evacuation plan into place to make sure that our guests and employees are well taken contrary of.</s>HARRIS: Chris, what does that feel like? Describe what it feels like to be hit with winds of that speed?</s>CALABRESE: I mean, we walked the beach and walked the areas just to make sure that there was nothing flying around that could break any windows, and we all had a very difficult time standing straight. It feels like you're trying to push against a car that's moving against you, and it's pretty intense.</s>HARRIS: Did you get mandatory evacuation orders?</s>CALABRESE: Well, the rest of the city did. But since we have been designated as a shelter, the only thing we needed to do was make sure that our guests were secure. We even asked -- we provide several places for them in the ballroom, which is a protected area, with beds. We have movies. We put a buffet out there so that they were well taken care of.</s>HARRIS: How many people?</s>CALABRESE: Well, unfortunately it's July, and we don't normally get hit with big hurricanes this early in the season. So we had about 600 guests in the CasaMagna Marriott Hotel and about 500 guests in the J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa.</s>HARRIS: My goodness. And everybody came through it okay?</s>CALABRESE: Everybody came through it. All the employees are fine. All the guests are fine, and they were very grateful for what we were able to do to them without moving them downtown to a school that maybe had one bathroom in it.</s>HARRIS: Hey, Chris, I'm curious, what do you do for vacationers certainly in a month when they're not anticipating getting hit with a major hurricane? What can you do to help them salvage their trips?</s>CALABRESE: Well, one thing is to keep them in the hotel so they're not forced to go downtown in a very inconvenient place, and try to make this as pleasant as possible. Like I said, we were showing movies in the ballroom. We had a dinner buffet, and basically it affected 18 hours of their vacation, in preparation. Now, we did have -- we were surprised to see that on Saturday late afternoon, with everybody knowing that the hurricane was going to hit, that the planes were full coming in with new visitors.</s>HARRIS: Wow. You don't offer any refunds for the time that folks had their trips impacted by this, do you?</s>CALABRESE: No, it's really a -- you know, one of those Mother Nature things. If somebody wants to cancel their trip and they've got a paid-in-advance sort of situation, we'll waive that expense. But most people who were here rode out the storm very, very well. We were very impressed with their attitudes and the way that our guests behaved. And really, it's over now. It's passed. People are going about their business. We've opened up all of our areas again at both properties and they're here to enjoy the rest of their vacation. And hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow.</s>HARRIS: All right, let's have some fun. Chris, we appreciate it. Chris Calabrese for us.</s>CALABRESE: Thank you, Tony.</s>HARRIS: The best places to live are no more than a click away. Find out more about it. That's coming up next, and getting creative with their stiff upper lips. After suicide bombings, the folks in London aren't afraid to tell you they are not afraid. Jeanne Moos has the story later on LIVE FROM.