All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Robert Hendin is a CBS News producer in Washington who covers the Department of Justice.

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The flight to Guantanamo Bay is in a word, long. Sitting side by side in web seats in the middle of a C-130 cargo plane for more than five hours was an adventure in itself. After arriving and getting an ID badge, the group of 60 or so journalists boarded buses, which were then driven to a ferry for a short ride across the bay.

The bay itself is beautiful. Rolling hills frame the clear blue waters on all sides. Guard posts and American flags dot the landscape. After arriving at the other side of the base, we made our way to an old airplane hangar that is serving as the media center.

From here, most of us will watch tomorrow’s historic hearing. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men will be formally charged with the conspiracy of 9/11 – that they conceived it, planned it, trained the hijackers, helped the 19 hijackers getting into the United States and sent them money to carry our the attacks that killed 2,973 people. They could face the death penalty.

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Robert Hendin is a CBS News producer in Washington who covers the Department of Justice.

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The flight to Guantanamo Bay is in a word, long. Sitting side by side in web seats in the middle of a C-130 cargo plane for more than five hours was an adventure in itself. After arriving and getting an ID badge, the group of 60 or so journalists boarded buses, which were then driven to a ferry for a short ride across the bay.

The bay itself is beautiful. Rolling hills frame the clear blue waters on all sides. Guard posts and American flags dot the landscape. After arriving at the other side of the base, we made our way to an old airplane hangar that is serving as the media center.

From here, most of us will watch tomorrow’s historic hearing. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men will be formally charged with the conspiracy of 9/11 – that they conceived it, planned it, trained the hijackers, helped the 19 hijackers getting into the United States and sent them money to carry our the attacks that killed 2,973 people. They could face the death penalty.

Read full post…

Robert Hendin is a CBS News producer in Washington who covers the Department of Justice.

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Alberto Gonzales had always said that only two people would decide his fate as attorney general. Since President Bush consistently stood by him, in the end, it was left to Gonzales himself to resign. He had no support from anyone except the President and, as Attorney General, running a department of some 100,000 people, he needed more support than just from his longtime friend.

Gonzales's undoing really began as the Bush Administration began the war on terror. As White House Counsel to President Bush, Gonzales was responsible for the so-called torture memo and many of the policies that led to enemy combatants, Guantanamo bay, and calling the Geneva convention protections quaint. Democrats and Civil Libertarians were outraged when he became attorney general, but it wasn't until the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, did the unraveling of Gonzales's tenure really begin.

Once word spread that numerous US Attorneys were asked to resign, for what looked like political advantage in voting rights cases, Democrats put the heat on the AG. Through numerous hearings, statements, and thousands of pages of internal Justice Department documents, Gonzales's credibility began to unravel. He did not appear to be forthcoming to the Congress and made statements that appeared to be contradictory to the official record. Many in Congress simply said they did not trust the attorney general.

And when former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testified to the Senate about a late night hospital room visit in 2004, that then-White House Counsel Gonzales made to the bed of an ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft, the wheels finally began to come off. Gonzales's testimony about the secret NSA surveillance program that the Administration had started in secret, was contradicted by not only Comey, but also by FBI Director Robert Mueller -- saying that, in effect, what Gonzales told the congress simply was not true.

Robert Hendin is producing tonight's CBS Evening News report on Whosarat.com with correspondent Bob Orr .

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When we first read the newspaper today, we were intrigued by the article about a website called www.whosarat.com. The story describes the site as an information clearinghouse about confidential informants who have participated with government investigations and helped put people behind bars. Many of these informants have their own criminal histories and some of the defendants and defense attorneys can use this information to try to save themselves, or their clients, from prosecution.

The first thing we did was check out the site for ourselves. We barely got past the front page when we were asked to spend $7.99 for a week's trial membership to see any information. As soon as we could type in some credit card information, the site got very busy and we couldn't access it for some time.

We were able to send an email to the site asking for a call to discuss the story. A short time later, still with no luck getting into the site, a man named Chris Brown called in response to our email. He says he is the site's administrator. He said, contrary to rumors, the site was not shut down and that they got nearly 20,000 web hits today alone, up from the average 4,000 they get on a normal day.

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The FBI is investigating Lou Pearlman, the boy-band manager genius who brought the world the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync. He is under investigation for business dealings not related to those musical groups. (And no, he is not under investigation for crimes against humanity or bad taste for those the music made by those groups.)

Earlier this month, a Florida state judge appointed a receiver to take control of three Pearlman companies. The state accuses Pearlman of running an investment fraud scheme whereby he collected $95 million from more than 1,000 investors after promising to put money into insured savings accounts with high dividends. The scheme was run though a company that Pearlman is president of, Trans Continental Airlines, with Pearlman promising investors participation in the company's Employee Investment Savings Account program to getting a better of rate of return for their investment.

Instead of investing the money he got, Pearlman allegedly diverted it to other business entities and other purposes.

The FBI confirms to CBS News that they conducted search warrants last week on his home and business in the Orlando area. The warrants were an investigative step looking for documents and other financial information. No arrest warrant has been issued at this time.