Court TV Host: Chat with Court TV's Savannah Guthrie about the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack planes and commit other crimes, but he has said he had no prior knowledge of the September 11th plot. Jurors heard opening statements today in the trial, which will determine whether Moussaoui gets the death penalty or life in prison, the only two options available. Chat with Court TV's Savannah Guthrie, covering the trial in Alexandria, Virginia.

Savannah Guthrie: Hi, everyone. Sorry I'm a little late, the brother of one of the pilots killed in 9/11 was holding a press conference...

Court TV Host: JohnMark asked "why would Moussaoui plead guilty to conspiring to hijack planes and then claim he had no prior knowledge of the 9-11 plot. I'm confused."

Savannah Guthrie: It's a good question. If you look very closely at the indictment and what Moussaoui pled to, you see that he admitted part of being part of a broad al Qaida plot to hijack planes and fly them into buildings, but not the 9-11 plot. In fact, even al Qaida operatives who are now in U.S. custody give conflicting information as to whether Moussaoui was ever meant to be part of a 9-11 attack. But there's no question he was here training to be a pilot, with the intention of flying an airliner into a high profile target, specifically the White House. But others have said that that was meant to be part of a second wave of attacks.

Question from cherie_sharon: Does Moussaoui have knowledge of where the pilots were trained?

Savannah Guthrie: There's no evidence he had knowledge of where the other pilots were trained. In fact, the defense is arguing that he didn't even know who the other hijackers were and there's nothing that ties Moussaoui to the other hijackers in terms of phone calls, letters, or meetings. What is clear is that some of the same people who were funding the 9-11 hijackers were also funding Moussaoui.

Question from Tesa: So Moussaoui said he conspired to hijack planes, but does not think he is guilty of a crime?

Savannah Guthrie: No, he does, in fact he pleaded guilty to all six counts against him. This trial is about one thing - what the proper punishment should be. The jury has to decide whether he should be executed, or whether he should get life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Question from Alicia: What does the jury look like and do they sense Moussaoui & his attorneys not liking each other?

Savannah Guthrie: The jury ranges in age from probably 20s to the 50s. It's a predominantly white jury. There's one African-American female.

Savannah Guthrie: As for the other question, it's hard to know. Moussaoui's had lots of outbursts in court and usually they include rants against his defense counsel. Some of that took place during jury selection, but it's hard to know who of the potential jurors, who might have heard that, ended up on the jury.

Question from Alison: Hi savannah! Can you explain why Moussaoui was not allowed to represent himself in his trial?

Savannah Guthrie: He was allowed for about a year to represent himself, after the judge held a hearing that he was competent to do so. But after a while, his handwritten motions from the jail were so offensive and vitriolic and pointless that they judge had had enough. So she reassigned his standby-counsel to be his appointed counsel. Even today, after the jury was selected but before opening statements, Moussaoui passed a note to the judge, trying one more time to represent himself. She told him no, we've been through that. Moussaoui despises his lawyers. After court today on the way out, he muttered to one of his defense attorneys, "Mr. MacMahon, you don't represent me." It's interesting that after opening statements, Moussaoui's most cross words are for those trying to save his life.

Question from lauren: Does he despise his lawyers because they are American?

Savannah Guthrie: I really don't know why. Because if that were the case, then he would despise everyone in the courtroom, which he does. I think he would have preferred to have a platform for his tirades than the lawyer trying to get in the way.

Question from cherie_sharon: You mentioned that some of the same people who were funding the 9-11 hijackers were also funding Moussaoui...could you tell us more about where other funding similarities showed up?

Savannah Guthrie: I'll give you an example. Ramzi Bin al-shibah, a known al qaida terrorist who was a founding member of the German cell, and who once roomed with Mohammed Atta, wired $15,000 to Moussaoui under an alias. That was in August 2001. Bin al-shibah had previously wired money to Marwan al-shehhi, a flight 175 hijacker.

Question from tribe: What is the status of the charges against Moussaoui in respect to immigration? He was initially arrested for immigration violation...is there any chance he would be deported once a verdict is reached?

Savannah Guthrie: No, I think the criminal charges trump that. You're right that there's a deportation order, but once prosecutors put it together that he was part of al qaida, then they began pursuing criminal charges. He's going to be spending the rest of his life behind bars - the only question is whether he will get the death penalty.

Question from lauren: When he is eventually sentenced, will they allow victims' families to make impact statements?

Savannah Guthrie: If this gets past the first phase of the penalty trial, there definitely will be testimony of 9-11 survivors and relatives of victims.

Court TV Host: Isn't it difficult to give someone the death penalty for a crime that he never actually carried out?

Savannah Guthrie: Well, he did carry out a conspiracy, and that's the crime he pled guilty to. And love it or hate it, federal law allows the death penalty for that crime, if the prosecutor can make the threshold showing they are trying to make right now in this trial. They have to show that Moussaoui intentionally committed an act, knowing that the life of a person would be taken and that a person's life actually was taken as a direct result of that act. The government's theory is that because Moussaoui lied when interrogated federal agents three weeks before 9/11 and didn't tell them what he knew about al Qaida's general plot, he directly caused the death of 9/11 victims because the government didn't have the information it might have had to thwart the plot.

Question from Alicia: You mentioned he may testify will he use this to go on a rant? What can he say to help his defense?

Savannah Guthrie: Having heard Moussaoui it's hard to imagine that he'll be able to say anything that will help his cause. But it is his right under our laws to testify and if he wants to, the judge can't stop that. But she can try to control him so that it doesn't become a platform for his tirades. What's interesting is: who's going to question him? The lawyers he can't stand, and won't meet with?

Question from Sailor: how long is this trial expected to last

Savannah Guthrie: One to three months. Stay tuned, it's going to be interesting.