>> people who are very tolerant -- people of sierra leone are very, very tolerant. even before this trial, if you go to sierra leone, you'll see for yourself that people are moving ahead. this is what matters. even though we still have a long way to go -- the psychological trauma that the children went through -- >> i am sorry to interrupt you. we have got our live pictures back. let's go back to the hague and the presiding judge. >> the accused, having drawn up the plan and have been followed its implementation closely by daily communications, was aware of the continuing evolution. as mentioned previously, the accused was well aware of the crimes committed by the forces in the course of their military operations, and that the war strategy was explicitly based on a widespread or systematic campaign of crimes against civilians. moreover, by his instruction to make the operation fearful, which was repeated many times during the course of the invasion, and by his instruction to use all means, the accused demonstrated his awareness of the substantial likelihood that cri

united front -- iuf -- attacked sierra leone from liberia. they continued the insurgency it against the government despite a peace accord in november 1996. in may 1997 in a coup, members of this year alone army overthrew the democratically elected government and invited the iuf to join its government, called the armed forces the revolutionary council -- afrc. as leader of the national patriotic front of liberia and later as president of liberia, the accused is alleged to have acted in con andcert with members of afrc and members and former members of the other group. in that capacity, the accused is alleged to have assisted and or controlled the above mentioned warring factions in conducting armed attacks in the territory of silicone from november 30, 1996 to january 18, 2002, which is the indictment period. the attacks included terrorizing a civilian population including burning of civilian homes, murder, sexual violence, physical violence, illegal recruitment of child soldiers, abduction, and forced labor, and looting. procedural background

prosecutors charged him with waging war in neighboring sierra leone. no one disputes that rebel forces committed terrible atrocities there. the charges include murder, rape, adoption, slavery, and the recruitment of child soldiers. civilian populations were terrorized. many have their limbs hacked off by machete or axe. the question before the court was did charles taylor order those crimes. >> there is insufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt -- >> he was cleared of directly ordering the atrocities. the judges asked him to stand here that he was guilty of aiding and abetting of 11 crimes in the indictment. >> we unanimously find you guilty of aiding and abetting -- >> the judges said rebel forces have supplied charles taylor with diamonds from the sierra leone-. in return, he give them arms and ammunitions in the full knowledge they would commit crimes against civilians. charles taylor argued the, as a sitting head of state when the indictment was issued, he should be immune from prosecution. the court rejected the argument. prosecutors

he is charged with waging war in neighboring sierra leone. no one disputes that rebel forces committed terrible atrocities there. the charges include murder, rape, slavery, and the recruitment of child soldiers. many had their limbs hacked off by machetes or axes. question before the court was did charles taylor order those crimes -- the question before the court was, did charles taylor order those crimes? >> the judges say he is guilty of 80 -- guilty of aiding and abetting the crimes. the charges unanimously find you guilty of aiding and abetting. he supplied -- he was applied with diamonds from the mines. he gave the rebels arms and ammunitions, in the full knowledge they would commit crimes. in 2010, the super model naomi campbell said taylor had allegedly gifted -- charles taylor argued that, as a sitting head of state, he should be immune from prosecution. the court rejected the argument. the prosecutors see the judgment as a great step forward in their fight against the immunity that heads of states have often enjoyed. >> it is a very

so long. >> it was the diamond mines, not iron ore, it's alleged brought charles taylor into sierra leone's war. the court's verdict will be eagerly awaited in these streets. for sierra leonens it's another mild stone on their journey back from the horrors this lived through. alan little, bbc news, free town. >> being president of the united states is a job like no other and perhaps the only people who understand the pressure of those who actually held the post are the democrats are republicans, these men seem to share a special bond explored in a new book "the presidents club." its co-author, mike duffy, spoke to the bbc's kathy kay. >> a firsthand report on u.s. relations with europe is made to president kennedy by former president eisenhower. >> the president are are bound together by having simply done the job. only four exist now. at the moment in the history there have only been five. secret clubhouse across the street. they have special rules. they also have black sheep. they're bound together because they have done this most difficult job. they all come out with scars and they all k

prosecutors have charged him with waging war in neighboring sierra leone. no one disputes that rebel forces committed terrible atrocities there including abduction, rape, slavery and the recruitment of child soldiers. civilian populations were terrorized. many had their limbs hacked off by machete or ax. the question before the court was, did charles taylor order those crimes? >> there is sufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt -- >> he was cleared of directly ordering the atrocities, but the judges decided he was guilty of aiding and abetting all the other crimes. >> we unanimously find you guilty of aiding and abetting. >> the judges said rebel forces were supplied with diamonds. charles taylor has argued that as a sitting head of state, he should be immune from prosecution. the court rejected that argument. the people of sierra leone see this in a great -- as a great step forward. >> it is a very important case for the people of sierra leone, who demanded that this court be created so they could have some measure of justice. it is a very im

recovered from his rule. >> a decade of war reduced sierra leone to a poverty it has not yet escaped. children scavenge in a rummaged up. bids of plastic that they might sell for pennies. this patch of land is still known here. in the 1990's, it was home to a settlement of men, women, and children had had their limbs severed by machete or other. a rebel army, known as the >> date stepped on me and with an ax topped off. about five or six times. >> you says he had heard charles taylor on the radio threatening to make sierra leone taste the bitterness of war. >> it is my strong conviction. >> charles taylor has been on trial for the last four years, accused of funding and directing them. the indictment charges him with terrorizing civilians, unlawful killing, sexual violence, abductions, and the use of child soldiers. in another area, the memory of war is wrong. they swept through in a frenzy of looting. one woman makes palm oil by a process unchanged for hundreds of years. it is essentially iron age technology. they are, at last, rebuilding the town's water supply. when it is finished

. >> thursday, judges at the special court for sierra leone found the former liberian president guiltyf war crimes. >> the court said that the war lord sponsored a rebel group in sierra leone's civil war response will for murder, rape, and slavery. i return, taylor was paid with illegally-minded jules known as blood diamonds. -- illegally mined jewels. >> after year of deliberating the evidence, the court found he was personally responsible for court to crimes committed by the sierra leone rebels. >> the trial chamber finds that the accused was aware of the crimes committed by forces against civilians including murder, a deduction of civilians, including children, rape, amputations, and looting. >> the atrocities caused by uncontrolled armed gangs are run the worst in recent history. taylor gave them weapons and other support while he was a involved in peace talks. >> the evidence established that the accused was engaged in arms transactions at the same time that he was involved in the peace negotiations, publicly promoting peace as the negotiations while privately providing arms and a

among them: arming rebels who committed atrocities in sierra leone. good evening, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight: we get the latest on the verdict-- the first time an international court has convicted a head of state since the nuremberg trials after world war ii. >> brown: then, ray suarez updates the phone-hacking story in britain, as newspaper mogul rupert murdoch admits one of his tabloids was involved in a coverup. >> woodruff: margaret warner examines the widening political scandal in china, amid new allegations that a former party official ordered wiretaps of the country's president. >> brown: and we close with two science stories: paul solman raises disturbing questions about a future full of high tech advances. >> there are 60,000 pacemakers in the united states that connect to the internet. it's great when you're suffering from an arrhythmia and your doctor can remotely shock you, but what happens if the kid next door does that? >> woodruff: and we talk with maria klawe, president of harvey mu

prosecutors have charged him with waging war in sierra leone. no one disputes the rebel forces committed terrible atrocities. the charges included murder, rape, abduction, the recruitment of child soldiers. many were terrorized. many had their limbs chopped off by machete or ax. did charles taylor order those crimes? >> there is insufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt -- >> he was cleared of directly ordering the atrocities but if the he is still accused of aiding and abetting the crimes listed. >> you are found guilty for the 80 and abetting. >> the judge said that he sold the diamonds from the mines, in return he gave weapons and the full knowledge it would be used for crimes against civilians. he is the sitting head of state when he was indicted. the defense argued that he should be immune. the prosecutors rejected that. >> it is a very important case for the people of sierra leone and so that they can have some measure of justice. it is an important day for the victims to have some justice for their suffering. >> one of those

but, this could be a curse as well as a blessing, because this is what brought war to sierra leone in the first place, and this is what paid for the war to go on for so long. >> it was the diamond mines that allegedly brought charles taylor into the war. the verdict of the court will be eagerly awaited in the streets. for the people, it is another milestone on the journey back from the horrors that they live through. "bbc world news," freetown. >> an environment that had been under taylor -- under terror by charles taylor. now, being president of the united states is a job like no other. perhaps the only other people that understand the immense pressures are the only people that understand. it is explored in a new book, "the president's club." the author many outside the white house to discuss this unique fraternity. >> president kennedy and former president eisenhower. >> presidents are bound together by having simply done the job. in history, the highest number living at the same time have ever been five. they are bound together, they have done the most difficult job and they come o

sierra leone is paying about $26,000. in terms of peacekeeping sierra leone pays .001% and u.s. pays a little bit over 27%. u.s. pays about $2 billion. sierra leone pays about $8 billion. all-told sierra leone pays roughly $34,000 for membership, voting privileges exactly the same as the united states absent security veto. in the u.n. system, most prestigious organization in the entire world, they pay about $34,000 for that privilege. this is the discrepancy between financial obligations on some countries but yet the privileges that is so frustrating to moving reform forward and trying to make the organization more effective and more cost effective. >> mike on the independent line from german town, maryland. mike, you think the u.n. is still effective in its missions? caller: no, i think it's been a stillborn from the day it was initiated. but people need to realize the charter for the u.n. is based on the celebrate unions constitution that's written by communist alger hiss. but people need to realize the united nations is implementing agenda 21 and it's -- a part of it is it st

order in 2001 to ban the export of diamonds from sierra leone.mber the movie? >> sure. >> and so the u.n. followed that up with sanctions. why? because charles taylor was using the diamonds that were being mined illegally in sierra leone, selling them internationally to fund the rebel group that was at the front line of the civil war that killed so many people. this was a brutal butchering civil war. people had their arms cut off, hands cut off. the bad guys would go around, do you want long sleeves or short sleeves. short leaves -- sleeves meant they cut your arm off at the elbow. >> what can americans take away from this? some people think this is very far removed from our lives today here. >> yeah, well, this is one of the world's baddest of bad guys who is now going to go to jail. he will go to jail. and, you know, people think -- hope for the rest of his life. there's some satisfaction for the international criminal court that they're finally starting to get convictions on some of these horrendous people in the world. there's a long list of

among them: arming rebels who committed atrocities in sierra leone. good evening, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight: we get the latest on the verdict-- the first time an international court has convicted a head of state since the nuremberg trials after world war ii. >> brown: then, ray suarez updates the phone-hacking story in britain, as newspaper mogul rupert murdoch admits one of his tabloids was involved in a coverup. >> woodruff: margaret warner examines the widening political scandal in china, amid new allegations that a former party official ordered wiretaps of the country's president. >> brown: and we close with two science stories: paul solman raises disturbing questions about a future full of high tech advances. >> there are 60,000 pacemakers in the united states that connect to the internet. it's great when you're suffering from an arrhythmia and your doctor can remotely shock you, but what happens if the kid next door does that? >> woodruff: and we talk with maria klawe, president of harvey mu

assist in the invasion of sierra leone. >> the prosecution argued that he was intent on pillaging the diamond riches. >> it was alleged that she had received diamonds from mr. taylor after attending dinner hosted by nelson mandela in 1997. >> i had a knack of my door. i opened my door. two men were there and gave me a pouch and said a gift for you. >> she told the court she did not know where the small stones had come from. mr. taylor said it was a diabolical live. the defense team alleges that the case against the former liberian leader has been a political conspiracy by western nations, which want to prevent them returning to power in west africa. >> we segment that is to the shame of this prosecution that it has the smarts to the lofty ideals -- besmirched the lofty ideals of criminal law by turning this case into a 21st century form of neocolonialism. i am not apologizing for saying that. >> the verdict would be a critical moment. his trial has shown the international justice can bring even the most powerful. >> pakistan successfully launched a ballistic missile capable of caring

he was convicted o w crimes in sierra leone, though, interestingly enough and i waed to point out thatefore he did any of the atrocities he committed in sierra leone, ivory started outinea, he in liberia where what he did there was really, really horrib. chris: and your family story is all here in your book, what a beach."ouse at sugar there it is. tell us about the book. >> t book is about sort of my decision -- mymoved here in 1980 after there was a military coup in liberia and it took me 23 years after we ran away for me to finally get up the nerve and the courage to go back hom and find the sister that we left behind. so it's sort of a history of liberia, which was founded by freed slaves who set up an antebellum society which led to the military coupha overturned that social order but it's also very much a coming of age story, finally confrting my own past and looking at where my family -- my family'ole in lot of what happened in liberia. chris: you became the a section reporter for the "new york time" >> and got to sit on "the chris matthews show." >> i hate to follow my friend,

liberia, the conviction is also for a -- i should say the conviction is for crimes in neighboring sierra leones reported victims number in the hundreds of thousands, but one man's story shows how cruel and how evil taylor and the forces he aided could be. >> so they laid a hand on me and with my vea very new axe went t my left hand. so i begged them i said leave me alone. >> 2,000 interviewed, so many people including the man you just saw. so you were on the other side of the camera, and i was reading these rebels have said to their victims, you know, you want short sleeves or long sleeves and that would dictate whether their hands or fore arms would be chopped up. >> and people were lined up, forced to line up to have limbs amputated. and a lot of times they didn't have adults do this, because it was sickening to cut children's, babies' limbs off. they got children to do it and charles taylor. no, he wasn't there, and no, he wasn't in command, but what he did was he pushed all of this. charles taylor and the leader of the revolutionary united front that did all of the hand chopping in sierra

convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal, a well earned distinction, many bad leaders for sierra leone during that civil war and credits to britain which intervened in that civil war and u.s. pressing the u.s t

. >>> former liberian president charles taylor has been found guilty of helping rebels in sierra leone. the verdict was announced yesterday. he's the first head of state since world war ii to be convicted by an international court. he'll be sentenced next month. >>> coming up next, touch and go. pilots struggle to land airplanes in extremely high winds. this is the "cbs morning news." this is the "cbs morning news." now you can brew over ice for delicious iced coffee or tea. hot or cold, keurig is the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. choose, brew, enjoy. keurig. did you know when heartburn, it's too late to take prilosec because... but it's but zantac® works differently. it relieves heartburn in as little as 30 minutes. in fact, so, when heartburn strikes, try zantac® this has been medifacts for zantac® >>> some truly stomach-turning landings in spain yesterday. aren't you glad you weren't on one of these flights? wind gusts reaching 60 miles an hour caused serious problems. at least four flights had to be diverted. thanks to great pilots, everybody who did land,

convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal, a well earned distinction, many bad leaders for sierra leone during that civil war and credits to britain which intervened in that civil war and u.s. pressing the u.s. to hand him over to the court in the first place. >> paul: that's it for this week's edition of the journal editorial report and thanks to my panel and especially to all of you for watching. and we hope to see you right here next week. . >> jon: on fox news watch. >> thank you pennsylvania, delaware, rhode island, connecticut and new york. >> jon: no surprise, mitt romney becom

court of providing weapons and supplies to rebel forces who committed atrocities in neighboring sierra leonea brutal 11-year conflict. prosecutors say taylor who studied economics at bentley college in massachusetts in the 1970s ordered child soldiers into battle and forced young girls into sexual slavery. it's the first time a head of state has been found guilty by an international court since the nuremberg naulzi trials after world war ii. if you want to learn more about him, read the "new york times," helene cooper has a family piece, today. >>> still ahead on "way too early," it was christmas for nfl freaks last night, and mel kieper jr. was sant clause. andrew luck finally got the colts jersey as the number one pick in the draft. who else went where? >>> plus an update on the story we told you about yesterday where a couple at a texas rangers game grabbed a ball thrown up into the stands and then didn't give it to the sobbing little dude sitting next to them. now they are the ones who want an apology. details and a check on weather when "way too early" comes back. >>> he is 75 years old

he's charged with murder, sexual slavery and recruiting child soldiers for rebel groups during sierra leone's civil war. he faces life behind bars and could be the first african head of state convicted by an international court. >>> back in the states, the distraught parents of a missing 6-year-old girl are speaking out for the first time. isabel celis disappeared from her home in tucson, arizona, last friday. police say the window in her bedroom was opened and they aren't sure if the girl was kidnapped or wandered off. her parents say they will do anything to bring her home. >> we're looking for you. we love you. and we miss you so much. and we will never give up. we will never give up looking for you. >> tucson police say they've scaled back their search and the fbi is working on a suspect profile. >>> police in england today asked officials in portugal to reopen the case of madeleine mccann. she disappeared on may 3rd, five years ago. scotland yard released an image yesterday of what she might look like now at 9 years old. they say there's a possibility she's still alive and have reviewed

our us in sierra leone among other areas in the in the world of africa rather where he was accused of providing arms usually when they want you they meeting federal authorities da a.t.f. f.b.i. they will arrange some type of operation with a lure you in entrapment manner where you may be innocent of that particular crime with their use that the rest are pressuring you to plead guilty on other arrests so having known the methods of the f.b.i. the a.t.f. which i work as the informant with those individual agencies not only the f.b.i. i would say entrapment is definitely there are other minority communities in america targeted asked in constantly asking a sense you know i think the muslims today are what the african-americans were in the fifty's sixty's and seventy's i think the order of today. where the f.b.i. needs an enemy. they found it in islam. and i think unfortunately the so last a long time religious war yes the people never say that because they can't it's a violation of one's constitutional rights but that's exactly what it is the war on terror is a war on islam thank you you'

liberian president charles taylor is charged with sponsoring brutal rebel groups in neighboring sierra leon. >>> rights activists are having it their way at burgering king. the chain announced it's only going to use eggs from hens kept in cages. they will also only use pork products from uncaged pigs. >> also, 5,000 4 and 5-year- olds are sitting up several baltimore attractions today. it's the pre-k at play and gives youngsters an educational experience outside the classroom. places like camden yards and walters art museum. that's happening today. first round of the nfl draft begins today at radio city moussic hall in new york. this is where it's happening. andrew luck is expected to be the first pick going to indianapolis and the colts and baylor's robert griffin iii will likely be the second pick rather for the redskins. time now for check on the weather and lynette charles. >> it's wet out there right now megan but a break pretty soon and then we'll have some more pet weather moving in but check out the complex of thunderstorms diving down into tennessee right now. that is severe thunde

abetting war crimes by way of court in exchange for blood diamonds he was found to have armed vicious sierra leone rebel groups notorious for cutting off the limbs of their enemies during the nation's civil war the four year trial also saw taylor accused of cannibalism which he did not. construction has started on a giant steel arched to cover the room inside of the chernobyl reactor in ukraine on the twenty sixth anniversary of the disaster when it's completed in two thousand and fifteen the site can finally be dismantled the vast amounts of radioactive waste still inside. the explosion in april of one nine hundred eighty six spewed a quote of radiation over much of the northern hemisphere forcing thousands from their homes and crane belo roofs and western russia. we've got more on the trouble disaster at dot com including a special documentary where authorities are mixing at a show of ski visits the ghost town i'll get a p.r. that's been left empty for the last twenty six years. now let's join katie at our business desk katie you were telling us all about rosneft yesterday and now it's all about

but cleared him of involvement in a joint criminal enterprise in sierra leone the court also found taylor criminally responsible for aiding and abetting illegal actions in the african nation sentencing has been scheduled for the sixteenth of may and. news corp chairman rupert murdoch has been questioned about his dealings with u.k. prime minister david cameron during an official probe into british media ethics his involvement with u.k. politicians is now a key issue following the phone hacking scandal which brought down the media tycoon's news of the world tabloid speculation grew after murdoch's son revealed he discussed a proposed takeover of a lucrative satellite broadcaster during a christmas dinner of cameron rupert murdoch continues to give evidence today. israel's top a general benny gantz says iran has not and will not build a nuclear bomb however israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is continuing to push for more sanctions against iran retired u.s. colonel douglas macgregor says israeli lobbyist in congress are driving the war rhetoric. so i think the american israeli public