All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Ghailani Trial Reignites Terror Justice Debate

Ahmed Ghailani listens as the verdict is read.

/ CBS/Jane Rosenberg
From my seat in the second row early Wednesday evening, I glanced at some of the plainclothes U.S. Marshals guarding the scene. Would this al Qaeda operative be allowed to leave?

My illusion vanished after the judge's clerk prompted the foreman to deliver the verdict for the fourth count: conspiracy to destroy American property.

"Guilty," the foreman said. It was the last time we would hear that word by itself.

Video: Civilian or Military Trials for Guantanamo Detainees?

Ghailani did not walk out of the courtroom, and the Obama Administration did not face the awkward prospect of continuing to detain Ghailani as a so-called "enemy combatant" in the war on terror.

There are two ways to look at the verdict, which has reignited a debate over civilian trials versus military commissions for terrorism suspects.

On the one hand, the conviction guarantees a long prison sentence, possibly life, and proves to some that civilian trials can still work for war on terror captives. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004 and spent five years in custody before his transfer to the federal jail in Manhattan, a period the jury heard nothing about.

On the other hand, Ghailani's acquittal on 99 percent of the counts emboldens the belief held by some that military commissions in Guantanamo - a place the jury never heard mentioned - may be a better option to secure tough justice, although the track record of military commissions is thin and punctuated by light sentences.

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Harold Dow Broke Barriers, Landed Exclusives

CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" Correspondent Peter Van Sant wrote this remembrance.

The world stood still Saturday morning when the CBS News family, and the "48 Hours Mystery" team learned of the passing of our beloved colleague Harold Dow. He was just 62 years old. I loved the guy. And to be honest, I still haven't wrapped my brain around the fact that he is gone.

Harold is a man who could have been just about anything in life. And I mean anything. He was incredibly funny, insightful, caring, tough when he needed to be, determined and as a colleague, a friend.

Obituary: Harold Dow
Photos: Harold Dow Remembered

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Katie Couric's Full Interview With Tony Blair


President Obama's response to the government crackdown has been criticized by some Republicans as timid.

Wednesday, in an exclusive interview with CBS News, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair came to his defense, saying he believes the protesters understand the tough position the president is in.

Remembering An Activist

Phil Hirschkorn is a CBS News producer based in New York.
The tight-knit community of September 11th victims family members who became activists mourned the loss of one of their own Friday, when it became known that Beverly Eckert was a passenger aboard Continental Flight 3407, which crashed in Buffalo.

(AP PHOTO/Susan Walsh)
She was on her way to celebrate what would have been her late husband Sean's 58th birthday with family and friends, and to attend the presentation of a scholarship she had established in his memory at Canisius High School, where they'd met at a dance at age 16, only to become a lifelong couple.

"All of us are in shock," said Carie Lemack, who lost her mother, Judy Larocque, on a plane in America's worst terrorist attack, who channeled her grief into activism along with Beverly.

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Extended Play: Sarah Silverman Interview

Hey, guys! As you know, in addition to anchoring the CBS Evening News, I also report stories for other CBS programs like 60 Minutes, or in this case, CBS Sunday Morning. I had a chance to interview Sarah Silverman who is very much the comedienne of the moment. Her irreverent, and maybe even demented, sense of humor might repel as many fans as it attracts. A friend described her humor as "just wrong." Maybe that's why it's so funny – because it's so outrageous.

We had so much good material that I didn't want to see go to waste, so here's an extended play remix! We talked about her troubled adolescence, how she developed that offbeat sense of humor, and, of course, Jimmy Kimmel ... even though I know she did not want me to go there.

Oh, well. What's a girl to do?

Enjoy!

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