ghailani had nothing to do with that ma'am.e had nothing to do with that. >> laura: is he was a naive boy who thought he was buying horse wash. >> that's what the jurors think. the people who heard the evidence think. >> laura: you don't know the case that never went to the jury. coming up next, is eric holder putting americans in danger by giving jihadist the same rights as american citizens. do american muslims feel bad that islamic extremist have made life holly hell for everyone including muslims who want to get on a plane these days? we'll ask that question coming up. this year chevrolet gave us legendary dependability, innovative tecology, and inspired design. and now, they want to give as much as they can to as many as possible. your chevy dealer is giving back to the community. come see how chevy is giving more. right now, get no monthly payments till spring plus 0% apr financing and fifteen hundred dollars holiday allowance on most chevy models. see how your dealer is giving at faceook.com/chevrolet. >> laura: continui

ghailani had nothing to do with that ma'am.e had nothing to do with that. >> laura: is he was a naive boy who thought he was buying horse wash. >> that's what the jurors think. the people who heard the evidence think. >> laura: you don't know the case that never went to the jury. coming up next, is eric holder putting americans in danger by giving jihadist the same rights as american citizens. do american muslims feel bad that islamic extremist have made life holly hell for everyone including muslims who want to get on a plane these days? we'll ask that question coming up. long before a hemi engine powered a ram truck.. it was born up here. tested down here. and proven beyond a doubt, out here. and is only available in a pickup, under here. the ram 5 year 100,000 mile warranty covers you everywhere. ram. so i've come up with some mnemonic devices to help me learn your nas. hello, a "penny" saved a "penny" earned. oh, that's 'cause fedex ground helps you save money. that'sht, penny. do you know ours? heavens to betsy. dwayne the

ghailani, of course, is going to remain in u.s. custody. but, again, repeating, bret, he had been charged with 285 counts. 224 of them were murder charges in connection with the deaths of the victims who died in kenya and tanzania. he was acquitted of those charges, those most serious charges. found guilty of a single conspiracy. the conspiracy to destroy government buildings, bret? >> bret: david lee miller, live in new york. this is a major story with national implications. david lee, thank you. catherine herridge, national correspondent will join us at the bottom of the hour with a look at all of the implications here for the administration and what goes ahead with these trials of guantanamo bay detainees. we'll also talk about this with the panel tonight. a major treaty between the united states and russia is going to require republicans and democrats here at home to work together. news correspondent steve sen centanni examines the state side what's overbroad. >> the congress entering final days, supporters of the strategic arms reducti

ahmed ghailani is subject to interrogationterror agains techniques. his conviction means 20 years in prison. >> the continued existence of the guantanamo bay facility is an embarrassment for president obama. >> now for more on this, i'm joined by the senior correspondent for abc news. normally in washington, i'm delighted to say he is with us in the gmt studio. first, do you think this was a surprise to the administration? >> that is the trouble with having a civilian trial. they can be messy things. from the republican side, it's detainee's maybe release. on the democratic side, they will say that the result in the end is not so bad. acquitted on the majority of the charges, but found guilty of conspiracy to damaging property and going to prison for 20 years. >> it seems that he clearly faces a long time in prison. we've already had republican voices. the congressman from new york says it is not inconceivable to imagine that obama will get its way and guantanamo bay will be closed. >> that may be because of the political results of the recent electio

ahmed khalfan ghailani convicted on only one count.ought the truck used to carry the bomb. 22 people were killed, including 12 americans. rescue workers were injured. locals rushing to the rescue with nothing more than their bare hands and a few tools. two of the victims julian and jay bartley. an american father and son working together at the embassy, they were sue bartley's brother and son. we can never imagine the loss you have suffered. i know you have been a part of this trial. what's your reaction? >> i'm actually stunned at the verdict. i can't understand how the jurors reached the verdict. i was in that courtroom every week. and heard the evidence that they heard. and i just can't understand how they had a breakdown in understanding what was presented. shannon: there have been many-said this was a success. there was a conviction on one counts. part of what the white house said. without have been better if he had been convicted of more than one counts? sure. would it have made i practical difference? no. >> we are happy there i

ghailani is the first of the 14 high value detainees to be brought to the u.s. for a civilian trial. along with the 9/11 suspects, ghailani was held at the cia secret prisons and subjected to the enhanced interrogation program. in this particular case, at least one witness for the prosecution was thrown out because it was argued the witness was discovered through the cia interrogations. and those who support military commissions for the 9/11 suspects will now argue that if the department of justice cannot get a conviction on all charges for go lawn -- ghailani what can it hope for in the 9/11 case in the federal court. the 9/11 case has two important differences. number one the ghailani case did not seek the death penalty while the 9/11 case surely would. and khalid sheikh mohammed was waterboarded in the cia program and, accord go ahead -- according to cia officials ghailani was not, shep. >> bret: last week the khalid shake mohammed trial is not coming to new york. you had republican leaders recently saying they are going to fund any efforts to bring detainees

first, how did ghailani escape these charges? >> reporter: arguably, bill, it looks like the prosecution lost this case before the trial even got underway. during the jury selection, the judge made a ruling, and said that the government's star witness, a man named hussein abibi, was not going to be allowed to testify. the judge ruled that the prosecution only knew about his existence because they say that name was learned through coercive questioning of ghailani when he was in cia customer ce -- custody and had he been allowed to testify, what aibi -- abibi would have told the court is he sold the defendant the explosives that were used to phro*e up the embassy. that information -- to blow up the embassy, that information was never heard in court and the defense during the trial simply told the jury over and over again their client was a dupe who may have helped al-qaeda operatives but had no idea what the consequences would be. that argument may have been a lot more difficult to make if the jury had heard ghailani had purchased

prompted by the verdict last night of ahmed ghailani, accused of taking part in the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in africa, killing 224. of the 285 charges, ghailani was found guilty of just one, conspiring to destroy government buildings, which carries a minimum of 20 years in prison. >> he could well have been acquitted on all counts. that's obvious. and the trial, military combatant, an enemy soldier combatant who is at war with the united states, in the civilian courts is not correct. >> reporter: but democrats argue the case against ghailani was compromised because the defendant was interrogated by cia officers using techniques commonly considered torture. sanctioned by the bush administration. >> despite the fact that torture went on, this skillful prosecution was able to get a jury to come to guilty. that's the important thing. >> reporter: and diane, sentencing for ghailani will take place in january and the justice department will seek a life sentence. an administration official tells abc news that the judge can and likely will take into account things that the jury did

ghailani was questioned before he came to guantanamo bay overseas. already you're hearing that this proves that you can't put these folks on trial in civilian courts. congressman peter king of new york who will probably be the chairman of the house homeland security committee is calling this a travesty. he's saying it show this is is not going to work. of course, the big question is what about trying the main -- the main defendants in the 9/11 case, the khalid shaikh mohammed, those folks. there the justice department says you have to make a distinction because there's so much evidence against them, that they don't think the government would have a problem with excluding key evidence. but the government really got this prosecution by the skin of its teeth, chuck, even though the charge is a serious one, a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life. >> but one can imagine a different result where he was acquitted of all counts and whether or not the u.s. would let someone like this go. >> the answer is probably no because they could continue to hold hi

ghailani could get life in prison for his role in two u.s.embassy bombings but federal prosecutors could only get that guilty verdict on one count out of more than 280 charges. this has opened the door for republicans who are taking shots at the president who would like to try more guantanamo bay prisoners here in civilian courts and not in military tribunals. let's bring in our company. martin frost, gop strategist and steve kornacki. let me start with you, are you concerned about this verdict? do you think it sends the wrong mes message? >> absolutely. it's being panlted as the gop using it as ammo. this is not the gop using this as ammo. it is frankly an embarrassment to the united states judicial system. 224 people were killed and we're sitting here, you know, acting like this person should be tried as normal civilian. he is a terrorist and he should have been tried as a terrorist. it's just embarrassing. you know, i like "law & order" it's a great show but that defense attorney ought to be ashamed of himself for trying to act like someho

yesterday a new york jury acquitted ahmed ghailani on all but one of over 280 charges against him for the deadly bombings of two u.s. embassies in 1998 that left 224 people dead, including 12 americans. he faces 20 years to life in prison for conspiracy. several lawmakers reacted saying the decision shows why civilian court should not be trusted to handle cases of al qaeda terrorists. still, be supporters of civilian trials pointed out that ghailani will serve a lengthy sentence and have fewer arguments for appealing his conviction. in the trail, the main witness against ghailani was disallowed by the judge because investigators found out about him after ghailani was abusively and coercively questioned. >>> histories your first look at -- here's your first look at other news going around in america. an illinois woman is in maximum security prison following a confrontation with a hooter's restaurant security guard who happened to be an off-duty cop. she was allegedly disputing her bill when things escalated after the cop reportedly used a racial slur. he grabbed the woman and shook her

yesterday a new york jury acquitted ahmed ghailani on all but one of over 280 charges against him for the deadly bombings of two u.s. embassies in 1998 that left 240 people dead, including 12 americans. he now faces 20 years to life in prison for conspiracy. several lawmakers reacted, saying the decision shows why civilian courts should not be trusted to handle cases of al qaeda terrorists. still, supporters of civilian trials point out that ghailani will serve a lengthy sentence and have fewer arguments for appealing his conviction. in the trial the main witness against ghailani was disallowed by the judge because investigators found out about him after ghailani was abusively and coercively questioned. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. an illinois woman is in a maximum security prison following a confrontation with a hooter's restaurant security guard who happened to be an off-duty cop. she was allegedly disputing her bill when things escalated after the cop reportedly used a racial slur. he grabbed the woman and shook her, later test

ghailani himself is not going anywhere. he's looking at 20 years, probably life in prison, so it's not like this guy is walking out the door. however, this is an extremely disappointing verdict for the obama administration, and it's a reminder that when you go to civilian courts to these federal district courts you don't get a guaranteed result. juries are unpredictable and this judge excluded important evidence, which happens, and there was almost an acquittal here. >> was this a complete mischarge of justice? >> i don't think it was a mischarge of justice, i think what you're seeing is a president and an attorney general attempting to guide a case, their attempts to delegitimize the military commission's process, and unfortunately the tables got turned on them. and although there was a conviction today, it was only on one count. and unfortunately, because of their decision to not use military commissions, i think what you're beginning to see is unfortunately is a revictimization of all these families who lost loved ones i

ghailani. he's facing a minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life and that, i think, is the takeaway from this case. >> suarez: raoux gene fidell, michael mukasey, gentlemen, thank you both. >> woodruff: now, the next in our series of stories on health reform and the challenges ahead. tonight, health correspondent betty ann bowser reports from northern california on the growing shortage of primary care doctors and one effort to fix that. >> reporter: barbara dieder has congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, osteoporosis and arthritis. that's a lot for the 80-year-old home-bound widow to manage all by herself. so the frequent visits she gets from medical resident ashby wolfe are a big help. >> i think i'm healthier. they catch things that are starting to go bad before they get too bad. >> reporter: do you think it keeps you out of the hospital? >> yes >> reporter: the university of california's medical school davis brings wolfe to didier's home in sacramento as part o

new reaction today to the ahmed khalfan ghailani verdict.er he is the first gitmo detainee tried in civilian court. he was just acquitted on all but one of the 285 counts connected to the 1998 bombings of two u.s. bombings in africa. 224 people died in those attacks, 12 of them americans. ahmed khalfan ghailani was always seen as one of the easiest of the gitmo detainees to prosecute but the outcome of the case has some questioning the decision to try him in civilian court. it is putting new pressure on attorney general eric holder. here now former attorney general michael mukasey who held this job right before eric holder. good to see you today sir. >> good to be here. shannon: i would like to get your reaction to the verdict. >> well, i think it was an unfortunate, certainly less than optimal results. shannon: what do you make of how the attorney general, current, eric holder handled this and said all along that civilian court was the right place for this and many other trials involving terror suspects. >> without getting into particular p

prosecutors accuse the man ahmed ghailani helping to bomb two united states embassies in 18998, one in kenya, one in tanzania. twin attacks that killed 224 people including 12 americans. the jury deliberated for seven days, and though he is guilty on just one count, he he could spend up to life in prison for that. and the truth told, the government vowed to hold him until he dies, guilty or not. the justice department is reacting tonight, a one-line statement and a department spokesman writes we respect the jury's verdict and are pleased that ahmed ghailani now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a potential life sentence for his role in the embassy bomb bombings, david lee miller outside the federal courthouse. one witness testimony kept out of court because the judge ruled they got his statements after torturing him. >> >> that's right, shepard. that witness was hussein -- the judge in this case caplin ruled that his name only surfaced because the defendant here, ahmed ghailani had, in fact, been subjected to coerce siive questioning which some call torture a three page ruling.

the man ahmed khalfan ghailani was found not guilty of all but one charge. prosecutors expect him to face a minimum of 20 years in prison. >> ahmed khalfan ghailani was said by prosecutors to be instrumental in the al qaeda embassy bombing that killed the 224 people in nairobi. they claim that he purchased gas cylinders that exploded and the truck used to carry them. he faced 281 charges. the jury returned just one guilty verdict, that is conspiring to damage government buildings and property. several pieces of testimony against them were thrown out by the court because they were obtained by the cia in so-called black prisons. ghailani was subject to enhance the interrogation techniques, seen by some as verging on torture. he will spend at least 20 years in prison. the verdict will be seen as a major blow to the obama administration and its pledge to close guantanamo. among those awaiting trial is: shaikh mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the september level of the tax. the suggestion that they might receive more lenient treatment in public courts might ha

as we saw in the ghailani case, prosecutors could not successfully separate the two. and add to this that khalid sheikh mohammed the self-described ark at architecte 9/11 attacks was waterboarded ghailani was not. prosecutors have no intention of introducing material through so-called coercive tactics. if they go down this root is that people have told me that the evidence is going to get older. the memories of the witnesses will become even more distant and in the future it will almost be impossible to prosecute these cases, shep. >> shepard: catherine herridge live in washington. catherine, thank you. and now to the ongoing debate over whether the federal government should touch our junk. for days we have been reporting here about those controversial new anti-terror screening techniques at many airports that are causing so much outrage. take a look at this. look at this. today we're seeing pictures from them from the denver post.com. this is one of those so-called enhanced patdowns. here is that same screener continuing to pat down from behind. now an example with a

ghailani now faces 20 years to life in prison for conspiracy.ew york congressman peter king, the homeland security committee chair in waiting, reacted saying the decision shows why civilian courts should not be trusted to handle cases of al qaeda terrorists. >> this verdict was an absolute and disgraceful miscarriage of justice. how this evil terrorist could be acquitted of 284 counts including hundreds of counts of murder and only convicted on one count is -- it shows the absolute insanity of having these civilian trials in the first place. this is a terrible defeat for the obama administration, and it should be a wake-up call once and for all that they should try these cases in guantanamo before military commissions. >> still, supporters of civilian trials point out that ghailani will serve a lengthy sentence and have fewer arguments for appealing his conviction. >>> well, after confirming in "the new york times" magazine piece out this week this she's considering a run for president, sarah palin apparently is taking it one step further. in an

the other throw got off pretty lightly as compared to the sentence that ghailani is getting.o, in fact, didn't the civilian court work better? >> depends on the case. no, no. it depends on the case. -- it depends on the details of the case. >> juan: your point to me a minute coagulate was, look, you know this was supposed to build confidence and here i'm saying you know what? they got a pretty good result in terms of a conviction and this guy is likely to go away 20 years i think more close likely life. >> acquitted of every single charge of murder in this case. like i said, the question here is not just this case. it's whether khalid sheikh mohammed would use a trial in new york as a platform to essentially embrace martyr martyrdom and encourage violence. >> juan: i don't think they will have the trial in new york so i have to agree with you. >> not going to happen. >> juan: thanks so much, michael. >> sure. >> juan: plenty more ahead as the factor moves along this evening. you are going to be surprised by what joe biden is saying about a potential sarah palin run in 2012. w

you prefer federal courts as opposed to military courts. >> for ghailani, for ghailani.he original indictment. >> how about for others that are, say, detainees in guantanamo bay there on terrorism related charges? are there other environments in which a military court would be better than federal court? >> you know, quite possibly. this is uncharted waters for our nation. it's something we need to look at closely, but we need to look at it in a reasonable way. people on both sides of the aisle weighing in in a real discussion, but it should not be politicized. these are people's lives. my father was a career diplomat for nearly 30 years. my brother was a college intern. we had many american diplomats there working hard, representing our country abroad and these families now have waited over 12 years for justice in the court system, to see terrorists brought to trial and found guilty and serve life sentences if not put to death. and in addition to that, you know, it's just unfathomable. we don't want to see this become a political issue. >> i know very quickly that you're

you had ghailani found guilty of one charge which would keep him in prison for 20 years.ombings, this was mitch mcconnell on the floor the of the senate. >> the acquittal of accused terrorist ghailani of all but one of 285 charges of conspiracy and murder is all the proof we need that the administration's approach to prosecuting terrorists has been deeply misguided and indeed potentially harmful as a matter of national security. >> is this the end of the administration's ability to try in civilian courts these terrorists? and are we now going to have to revert to the military system? >> one is obviously with the ga lancaster -- ghailani case, that's an ongoing matter and wouldn't be appropriate to get in the middle. we're going to use all elements of our national power, including article iii courts. we're not going to sit and wait. we're going to continue to take the fight to al qaeda, be that on the arabian peninsula in east africa or south asia or southeast asia. this case involves something that happened fully 12 years ago. we're going to stay on the offense so we do n

ghailani's attorney says his client was a fall guy for al-qaeda operatives. david lee miller is covering this trial for us in lower manhattan. david lee, tell me more about what the defense has to say in this trial. >> reporter: yesterday, martha, the defense completed its closing arguments and ghailani's defense lawyer described him as a kid, a naive dupe, who really just fell in with the wrong people. yes, the defense says, he helped purchase a truck, yes, he helped purchase asset lien and oxygen tanks but ghailani had no idea items -- idea the items were going to be used to make a bomb to blow up embassies in tanzania, the defense also says the forensic evidence in this case is not to be trusted because proper procedures were not filed and much of the evidence is contaminated and martha, one of the highlights yesterday was when the defense attorney quoted the grateful dead's jer yeah garcia saying that ahmed ghailani had been set up like a bowling pin, martha. martha: so the government's prosecutor, they're listening to all of this, how did they come back

ghailani was found guilty of one conspiracy charged.4 other charges including multiple murder and attempted murder charges. those stem from the alleged role in the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in tanzania and kenya that killed 224 people, including 12 americans. edith barkley's father and brother were killed in that bombing. >> it's a travesty. my store was a clear diplomat for 0 years. my brother was an intern. all these families come from across the country. there are three african-american families. seven caucasian families from all sectors. and these are the people who serve and work in the american embassies worldwide. and our country has an obligation to go after every terrorist who has committed the heinous acts on humanity. and tried them to this the fullest extent of the law. we also feel strongly where to fry the terroristsç should not become a political issue. >> joining me now with more nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, that one charge of conspiracy could leave him behind bars for rest of his life, but it ha

and he pointed at ghailani and looked at jury, this is on ghailani, this is al-qaeda, this is a terrorist, this is a killer. and with that, the court ended yesterday, martha. it is going to be getting underway in a few moments' time. martha: pretty powerful stuff, david lee. the defense did not call a single witness in this case, yet, they say their client is not get. what -- not guilty. what do you expect in closing arguments on his behalf? >> this is going to be a head scraffer. that's right, the defense case lasted less than half an hour. how much are they going to say today in closing arguments is not entirely clear. what we believe they will say based on the opening statements is that ghailani was essentially a dupe, he was very young, he was immature, anxious to please, he was a follower, he spent time with al-qaeda members, but he was not one of them, and yesterday, martha, i should point out, the very first time during this trial, we actually heard ghailani speak, the judge asked him, would you like to testify in your own behalf, he replied simply shaking his head, no, sir. martha

ahmed ghailani was tried in front of a civilian court comp. it was his role that killed -- in a bombing that killed hundreds of people that he was tried for. obama was hoping for a much tougher verdict. republicans have called the verdict a miscarriage of justice. ahmed ghailani faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. >>> we're watching a developing story out of africa. a flight from namibia to journey -- germany was delayed after police found suspicious luggage on board. they found a suitcase containing batteries attached by wires to a fuse and clock. german officials say that no explosives were found. after a long delay, the airplane was allowed to leave. just yesterday, germany raised its terror threat level, saying it has word of the suspected attack planned for the end of this month. >>> the latest security scare comes as the fight over security gets even more heated here in the u.s. the head of the transportation security administration tells congress all the steps at the airport are justified. as pamela brown reports, some passengers are

from washington and what does the verdict mean for other gitmo cases. >> reporter: jenna, ahmed ghailani is one of the 14 high value detainees held at guantanamo bay and his case was considered by people for and against the commissions, and they want -- one of the easiest cases to prosecute for a couple of reasons, first and foremost his case was based on evidence that was gathered before 9/11, and, it was evidence that was gathered at the blast site in kenya and tanzania after the embassies were hit there and the blast sites were preserved, if you will as traditional crime scenes, and, the fbi, was active at those scenes, gathering evidence. and, the case is based on the tr pre-9/11 evidence and unlike khalid sheikh mohammed, he was not subjected to water boarding, in the cia enhanced interrogation program . >> reporter: as we saw in the ahmed khalfan ghailani case some evidence came out of the cia interrogation program was excluded and people will argue that ahmed khalfan ghailani was not convicted on more of the counts as a result. jenna: thank you very much. jon: for more on the ahme

. >> rather than hold a public news conference to trumpet the verdict in the ghailani case where the former gitmo detainee was only convicted of conspiracy to destroy government property, not murder, white house officials referred calls to the justice department where a spokesman said they respected the jury's decision. while the state department spokesman tweeted in favor of the verdict, the senior senate republican publicly said it was a wake-up call for the president's civilian court strategy. >> the administration's approach to prosecuting terrorists has been deeply misguided and potentially harmful. >> the ghailani case put the c.i.a. interrogation program on trial along with the 9/11 conspirators including khali shaikh mohammed, ghailani was held at the c.i.a. secret prisons and subjected to treatment critics describe as torture. judge lewis kaplan, a clinton appointee blocked a key witness for the prosecution who is identified through the c.i.a. interrogations. a former guantanamo prosecutor said the decision shows that criminal trials are a calculated risk. >> he decided it's

ahmad ghailani was charged in taking part in the al qaeda bombings of two u.s. embassies in east africa in 1998. after seven days of deliberations, the jury found him guilty on one count but not guilty on more than 280 others. his lawyer praised the findings. >> this verdict is a reaffirmation that this nation's judicial system is the greatest ever devised. it is truly a system of laws and not men. >> in a statement, the department of justice said it respects the verdict and pleased ghailani now faces at least 20 years in prison. >>> president obama is pressing on with his effort to win senate ratification of a new arms control treaty with russia. he wants senate to vote on the treaty during the current lame duck session but a top republican senator, jon kyl of arizona has already declared he wants to push the rat physician debate into next year. >>> to the airport body screening flap which provoke ad heated debate yesterday in the u.s. senate as bob orr reports, the head of the tsa was in the hot seat. >> reporter: facing growing anger over probing patdowns and

embassies, but a civilian jury cleared ahmed ghaila ghailani. of ghailani's case by the obama administration. >> yes, that is right. whether it is a disaster or affirmation of justice, the verdict of ahmed ghailani is at the very least politically charged. >> reporter: the incoming chairman of the house homeland security says that he is disgusted that he was only convicteded of one of 180 counts of embassy bombings. peter king says that is why it shows the insanity of showing him in a civil court. you are strong ant that? >> well, it am, because it is driven by ideology. >> reporter: despite our requests for response, nobody responded to us from the white house. but a spokesman is saying that it is a victory saying that is a long wlin of successful verdicts in trials. and jachb harmne harmon on the committee as king says they should push back harder. some say this is a disaster and why they should never try terror suspects in the civilian courts. >> well, understand what happened. this person was convicted of conspiracy, and he ewill serve 20 ye

the prosecution calls ahmed ghailani a -- ghailani is mass murder remembered, cold blooded killer in the bombings in u.s. and africa, but the defense as you might imagine here disagrees with that. david lee miller is outside the courthouse in new york city. how is the defense portraying their client? >> one word, innocent. as the defense makes closing arguments this morning they have already spent 2-3 times longer than they did presenting their entire case during the trial, in fact, the defense during the trial did not present a single witness. the defense spoke for less than half an hour, presenting a number of stipulations with the government. nevertheless, defense attorney for ahmed ghailani is speaking at great length to describe his client, quoting him now as nothing more than a dupe. he says that the government provided insufficient evidence, woefully insufficient evidence and went on to tell the jury, quoting him now, there is one question for the jury to decide, to make it easy for you, did he know and he went on to say no, ahmed did not know, he did not know that the people

a jury has cleared ahmed ghailani of all but one of the 286 charges against him. he was convicted of conspiracy to damage u.s. property with explosives. this is a setback for the obama administration whose aim was to try a terror suspect in a civilian court. but ghailani will still serve 20 years in prison. >>> and more than two weeks after election day, lisa murkowski has become the first senate candidate to win a write-in campaign in more than 50 years. according to the ap, she's defeated her tea party rival joe miller who beat her in the primary. also on capitol hill, it is official. republicans have chosen john boehner to be speaker of the house, outgoing speaker nancy pelosi will lead the democrats. >>> and still ahead on "world news," a game changer. imagine raising your good cholesterol 13le 8%. the new drug that could do it. >>> sarah palin, could she beat obam obama? >>> and our team in china, their postcards from half a world away. ugh, my sinuses... the congestion... it's your fault. naturally, blame the mucus. well, i can't breathe. did you try blowing

guantanamo detainee ghailani not guilty on 284 -- what is it? 284 counts. administration is saying that they do have a bit of a victory here because he wasn't acquitted on all counts. they're under fire, though, this morning for trying this in a civilian court. >> he could face 20 years the life, though. more on that in a second. >>> two weeks after the election day where no one really knew who the senator from alaska was going to be. well, lisa murkowski now declaring victory in the alaskan senate race after many in her party left her for dead. >>> thefda with a strong warning those making alcohol calf nated drinks. >>> we want to start with a story only on cnn about the 33 chilean miners and five of the rescuers. video of them for from a couple of hours ago. >> arriving from chile. a layover in atlanta harts field jackson and on their way to hollywood this mitt romneying. >> invited to attend taping of cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. new pictures of the miners and guests arriving in the past hour in atlanta. they left chile late last night. on their u.s.

there are some obvious similarities between richard reid and ahmed khalfan ghailani.re both al-qaida operatives. they've both sworn their a allegiance to osama bin laden. there are differences as well. richard reid was apprehended by civil authorities weeks after 9/11 before the infrastructure with regards to holding these illegal enemy combatants was actually set up. ahmed khalfan ghailani was captured on a battle field and was turned over to the military authorities, and the military authorities were required to surrender him to the civil authorities for some purpose of showing the world that we can actually try terrorists in our civil court system. these are not the traditional, ordinary criminals that our civil system is designed and equipped to handle. jon: the obama administration and attorney general eric holder have essentially said we can prove the rightness, the fairness of our judicial system by holding these trial in civilian court. do you see and up side at ale to holding and putting gandhi taeupbees on trial in civil courts. >> no up side whatsoever. our