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CNN Live At Daybreak
Israel Strikes Back; War on Terror; Horror in Fresno; Putin Landslide
Aired March 15, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COSTELLO: just hours after suicide bombers killed 10 people and wounded 20 in the Israeli port city of Ashdod. Those bombings prompted Israel's prime minister to cancel an important summit meeting.
Paula Hancocks live for us this morning in Jerusalem.
Hello -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Well the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be appearing in front of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, today to try and persuade the Knesset to back his disengagement plan from Gaza. He will be making a speech about that proposed withdrawal plan of most or all of the settlements from Gaza. The Knesset will have to approve his speech. But this won't be the ultimate vote on his plan. It's still penciled in for March 29 for Ariel Sharon to go to the United States and meet George W. Bush to talk about this plan.
And as you say, Ariel Sharon canceling a meeting that he was supposed to have with his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei on Sunday after that twin suicide bomb in the Israeli town of Ashdod. Ten people were killed in that attack, 2 Palestinian suicide bombers died, 18 were injured.
Now Hamas and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack and they said that the two suicide bombers came from the Jebalia refugee camp in central Gaza. If that is true, it would be significant as it would be the first time that Palestinian suicide bombers have been able to leave Gaza and infiltrate Israel.
It also marks a slight change in the sort of targets that the Palestinian suicide bombers go for. Usually they go for buses or cafes, busy areas but fairly soft targets. This port would have been very heavily guarded. There's a tremendous amount of security. And one of the suicide bombers did actually infiltrate the port itself and detonate his explosives within the port. So 10 dead and 18 injured from that attack.
The Palestinian Authority was quick to condemn the attack saying that this just gives the Israeli government an excuse to continue raids on Gaza and on particular targets. And that's exactly what the Israeli Defense Forces did. At 1:00 a.m. Monday morning local time, they targeted two workshops, which they say Palestinians use to make crude rockets and mortars to attack Gaza and Israel. Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Paula Hancocks live from Jerusalem this morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the Madrid attack should persuade the world community to stand united against terrorism. But the attacks are prompting new questions about whether the coalition against terror will stick together.
Here is more from CNN's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were firm and unapologetic on the decision to go to war in Iraq.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Yes, I think it was the right thing to do.
KOCH: On the elusive weapons of mass destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...May not exist any longer. But let's not suggest that somehow we knew this.
KOCH: The Bush Administration's top officials made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows insisting the world is now a safer place and that the war on terrorism is being won.
But a new Al-Qaeda claim that it launched lost week's Madrid attacks to punish Spain for joining the U.S. in Iraq and in Afghanistan, prompted questions about whether the coalition would endure.
CONDOLEEZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: No one can be intimidated. We are at war with these people. And yes, they will try and attack those who they believe might defeat them. That is a part of their game. But they will not win, and we will not falter.
Koch: One lawmaker compared some Spaniards' belief that if they pull their troops out of Iraq, they'll be safe with British efforts to appease Hitler before World War II.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: I hate to say it, but that's the same kind logic that led Nevel Chamberlain (ph) in Munich to try to pacify Hitler in the late '30s. Obviously that didn't work, and it won't work anymore with Al-Qaeda or their elk (ph)around the world. We have to stop them.
KOCH: That's easier said than done, and some worry what will happen if as the Al-Qaeda message promised, more terror attacks followed, are getting Spain or other U.S. allies.
KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: There are countries which have given into terrorism and changed their ways because they don't want to suffer additional terrorist attacks. I think Spain's reaction itself will be a very important sign of things to come. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (on-camera): An ominous sign with Spanish voters Sunday ousting the existing government in favor of the opposition which promised to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. The potential now for the U.S. to lose not only a coalition partner but a valuable ally.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And that brings up so many questions. Will Spain really pull those troops out of Iraq?
Joining us now our senior international editor David Clinch to talk more about what's happening in Madrid today.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, hey, Carol.
Well, I mean questions upon questions with this story. I mean one of the things though that is clarifying itself as far as we're concerned in Madrid over the last 24 hours, and obviously the Spanish public sees that it has been clarified, is that the investigation into these terrible bombings last week is now centering almost exclusively on al Qaeda. There are some very concrete links, at least, if not direct connections, but links between some of the people that were arrested and known al Qaeda operatives. Now we'll follow that investigation and see where it goes.
But the sort of bigger questions are the ones that it's quite difficult for us to cover in some ways. They have to be asked. We get experts and others to help us answer them. Can you win a war on terror? That's the question that comes up again and again and again.
You know you have all of this security, you have all of the preparedness around Europe, everybody expecting terrorist attacks and yet they happen. Do the terrorists win when a government that supported the war on terror, a government that supported the war in Iraq is ousted by an angry, apparently, ousted by an angry populous reacting to a terrorist bomb? Getting rid of that government, bringing in a government that the question of what they will do in the war on terror is open but the war in Iraq is very clear. The new prime minister saying that he will go through with the pledge that he made before he was elected that he will bring Spanish troops home from Iraq as soon as he possibly can.
COSTELLO: And you are saying that by doing that some might feel that you are letting the terrorists win...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... because they are driving your...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... foreign, your policy? CLINCH: The question of the age, really, as far as I'm concerned, as far as many reporters are concerned on this story, you look at what's happened in Iraq. You look at what's happened in Europe, the split over which way you go. The French and others making it very clear from before the war in Iraq that while they supported a very specific direct line in the war on terror in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden, but the war in Iraq took it to another level they did not want to go to. They are now saying this proves that Iraq was the wrong thing to do, making Spain and other countries victims of their own actions.
Now obviously that's what the French and others are saying. The Spanish -- previous Spanish prime minister and, for instance, Tony Blair in Britain, arguing completely in the other direction. Saying you have to keep fighting. You have to fight in Iraq and everywhere else, so.
COSTELLO: Well I want to talk, too, about the timing. If this was al Qaeda and it was...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... then the attack was timed right before the Spanish elections.
CLINCH: Yes.
COSTELLO: I mean was that really part of the plan?
CLINCH: Well we have heard -- I have heard experts telling us both things. I've heard experts telling us that the al Qaeda people don't care about elections and things like that. And they don't care about the election here, for instance, I mean the fear of an attack here before the election in November. Saying they don't care between Democrats and Republicans, they don't care about elections.
And then I have heard others saying that everything is very calculated and very carefully timed. This attack apparently planned over a period of months and then timed to be just before the election. And again, if you follow that logic through, and that's yet to be proven, achieving its result. The government that supported the war in Iraq is gone, a new prime minister is in who says he will pull troops out of Iraq. Clearly from an al Qaeda point of view, again, if they are following that logic, that's the result they are looking for.
COSTELLO: Of course we'll keep following it all. David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Now the latest on that grizzly murder case in California. Did you hear about it over the weekend, nine victims, all under the age of 24, in what authorities call a bizarre mix of polygamy and incest.
But as CNN's Miguel Marquez reports, the sons of the man under arrest are speaking out in his defense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERAFINO WESSON, SUSPECT'S SON: I don't think he did it personally, but you know, I never know, you know. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) responsible Aunty Katherine, I don't know, maybe he did, maybe he didn't...
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Serafino Wesson is one of Marcus Wesson's sons. For he and his older brother, Dorian, explaining the unthinkable is all but impossible.
DORIAN WESSON, SUSPECT'S SON: All I know that there's a family (UNINTELLIGIBLE) children. And basically, these are (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MARQUEZ: A family dispute over children that police say ended with 57-year old Marcus Wesson, killing six females and three males, most of them younger than eight. Police also say many of them were from different women. And to two of them, Wesson was both a grandfather and a father.
D. WESSON: He's not against having different wives, but I don't know if he believes, but he's not against having different wives. And to him, actually, he's pro that. And so am I.
MARQUEZ: Both sons say they have a difficult time believing their father is guilty. Police are investigating whether there was a cult like relationship between Wesson and his family. Wesson's sons say their father may have been eccentric, but that does not add up to a cult.
D. WESSON: There is no cult. And if you call Seventh Day Adventists a cult, then I guess that's a cult, because I'm a cult, too. But that's not a cult. It's a regular church.
MARQUEZ: At the Wesson home, police tape went back up, as investigators asked permission to enter, seeking information that might lead to answers, answers a small city in California's central valley are waiting to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is horrible for everybody. And then each of -- all their lives, all at one time. It's so sad, so sad.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Several members of the Wesson family have been back to their Fresno home to clean it up, despite the horde of media surrounding it, all have been respectful. It's a quality they say they get from their father, a father who's due to be arraigned on nine counts of murder early this week.
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Fresno, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Other stories across America begin in Redwood City, California. Court is dark this week in the Scott Peterson murder trial. But Peterson attorney Mark Geragos plans to file a motion today for another change of venue. Geragos believes the prospective juror questionnaires show Peterson can not get a fair trial in Redwood City.
Martha Stewart is negotiating a deal to resign from the board of directors of her own company. But she would like to keep a full time role in a creative capacity with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart will be sentenced in June for lying about a stock sale.
And the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial resumes in Summerville, New Jersey this morning. Two more Harlem Globetrotters will testify this week against the former NBA player. Williams was giving the two a tour of his mansion when Williams' driver was killed by a shotgun blast.
To the forecast center now to check in with Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: The Waldolf-Astoria Hotel in New York will be rocking tonight. It's the scene of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's annual induction. Prince is one of the inductees. And he will not sit on his laurels. He's got a midnight concert scheduled right after the ceremonies. Others joining the Hall tonight, Jackson Browne, The Dells, George Harrison, Bob Seger, Traffic and ZZ Top.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 5:45 Eastern Time, time to take a quick look at the top stories now.
Spain's new socialist prime minister-elect says he will indeed pull his country's troops out of Iraq. Spain has 1,300 troops there.
A bomb apparently meant for the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan was defused today. Police found a tank filled with nearly 200 gallons of liquid explosives inside a stolen minivan.
And investigators today are trying to learn how a woman fell to her death from a ride in an amusement park in Tennessee.
We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 6:00 Eastern.
Vladimir Putin says he has worked hard all of these years and he will keep working for four more. Russia's president won another term by a landslide, getting more than 70 percent of the vote.
That story from our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. She joins us live.
And a lot of people are wondering if this was really a democratic election -- Jill?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well there is some criticism, certainly, Carol, about that. We're going to hear it. In fact, in about a half an hour there will be a briefing from one of the international organizations that monitored the elections. And what they were concerned about was not necessarily how the vote physically was carried out, although that is also a concern, but it's mainly the media coverage that led up to the election. These organizations say that President Vladimir Putin essentially monopolized the airwaves, at least on the government-controlled media, and that didn't leave his opponents any chance of getting very much exposure.
If you look at the figures from the election, President Putin went in with ratings of about 70 percent, and that's just about what he got in this election, 71.2 percent. And then leaving behind in the dust the communist, that was the closest contender but way back, 13.7 percent for the communist. And then the two independents, who come from the political right and the political left, they came up with just single digits.
We didn't hear much from President Vladimir Putin during this campaign because he said I'm not campaigning, I do not need to, my record will speak for itself. And he didn't take part in the debates either. But after the election was over, Mr. Putin put on a black turtleneck and a black jacket, sat down with reporters and he was actually pretty open. He said I have worked for four years. People probably noticed. That's probably why they elected me -- reelected me. And I promise to work just as hard over the next four years. And I promise my new government will, too. And he also had some answers for some of the criticism coming out from the west. He said I am going to guarantee democracy, civil society, free media.
Another thing, Carol, he answered the criticism coming from the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell who said that there is some creeping authoritarianism. He said we will look at that criticism and take it in stride, but this could be coming during an election year, meaning the United States' election year.
And just one last thing, Carol, this paper is "Daisda (ph)," gives you a good example of what the mood here is, at least among major newspapers. Modernization instead of democratization, and what they are saying is the program that President Putin has economically sounds quite good, but the problem is it's coming from the top and not from the bottom -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. I want to touch on a fairly different topic. In light of what's happened in Spain, what is Russia's stance on terrorism? Has President Putin said anything about it?
DOUGHERTY: Right after the bombings in Spain, he made a very strong and actually emotional statement, just saying that it was horrendous -- a horrendously cruel act. Condemned it in no uncertain terms. And that has been part of President Putin's let's say appeal to voters. He is very strongly against terrorism. And don't forget he, after 9/11, was the first international leader who called President Bush to express his solidarity. So this has been a constant theme. Mr. Putin often ties that issue of terrorism with Chechnya. That is another subject. But he is very, very strong in this and continues to speak out on it.
COSTELLO: Jill Dougherty live from Moscow this morning.
On the subject of Moscow, a fire in the downtown area tops our check of stories making headlines around the world in this 'Global Minute.' The fire was at an exhibition center and it killed two people. The historic building is about a half mile from the Kremlin. Russian officials say the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.
Secretary of State Colin Powell leaves today for South Asia. He is heading for New Delhi, India's capital. On Wednesday, he is due in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Powell will be encouraging peace talks between the nuclear neighbors who have been at odds over the Kashmir region.
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife left the Central African Republic early today. They are heading to Jamaica to be reunited with their two young children. The children have been in the United States. Now they are in Jamaica. Aristide left Haiti February 29 in the face of an advancing rebel group.
New in the next hour of DAYBREAK, just two days ahead of a visit by Colin Powell, Pakistani police defuse a huge bomb planted near the U.S. consulate. We'll get the latest live for you out of Islamabad.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Chad, can you join me right now because we're going to take a look...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... at headlines from across the nation?
First, from "The Palm Beach Post," this is out of Florida, of course, they are talking about Haiti gangs still in charge. And they are quoting some Marines, because you know there is a peacekeeping force in Haiti right now. This is a quote from one of the Marines out of this article in "The Palm Beach Post." This is from Lance Corporal Jacob Gamble (ph), 20 years old. He said "when we ride through the neighborhoods you get lots of people who are friendly, others who don't like us and others who seem like they aren't sure." Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
MYERS: It's such a beautiful country. They just need to get their act together. I mean I'd love to go see it.
COSTELLO: It could be a beautiful country, but it's not, just because of the abject poverty there.
MYERS: Of course, right. COSTELLO: You know the only industry they have is charcoal, which amazed me, but...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... we're going to get more out of Haiti in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
We liked this picture the best in all of the newspapers across the country. This comes from the...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... "Green Bay Press Gazette," Iraq: one year later. And we just thought it was a moving picture to show you this morning.
MYERS: That's not -- that's not a current picture? That's from a year ago, right?
COSTELLO: That's from a year ago.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Correct.
This is from the "Lawrence Journal-World." Kansas -- Kansas -- Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: See that on the front, twisted ambition.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: It's about a company called Violent Skies Inc. Have you heard about it?
MYERS: I have not.
COSTELLO: Apparently they sell weeklong trips to people who want to go search out tornadoes.
MYERS: Certainly, sure. A lot of companies will do that for you.
COSTELLO: Really?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Well April 26, May 24 and May 31 they have open weeks...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: ... in case you want to go. MYERS: Well, you know, and you have to go. Sometimes you really have to go a long way. Obviously this -- if this is out of Lawrence, Kansas, where KU is, you may have to go a thousand miles one way or the other because you don't know where it's going to set up. But at that time of the year, you can certainly get yourself a tornado.
COSTELLO: That's Tornado Alley, right?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Six days, six nights, 800 bucks, in case you're interested.
MYERS: I guess...
COSTELLO: Violent Skies Inc.
MYERS: ... you'd probably get maybe six or eight people in a van and they drive you around.
COSTELLO: That's crazy.
MYERS: You kind of want to do a little research on that, though. I don't know anything about this company at all, but it could be very dangerous to be out there tornado chasing. And you have to go with people you can trust, so.
COSTELLO: Definitely so.
MYERS: Yes, this is not a call and book it online. You want to call and talk to them for a while.
Good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN DAYBREAK starts right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Monday, March 15. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for being with us this morning.
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Putin Landslide>
Aired March 15, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COSTELLO: just hours after suicide bombers killed 10 people and wounded 20 in the Israeli port city of Ashdod. Those bombings prompted Israel's prime minister to cancel an important summit meeting.
Paula Hancocks live for us this morning in Jerusalem.
Hello -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Well the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be appearing in front of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, today to try and persuade the Knesset to back his disengagement plan from Gaza. He will be making a speech about that proposed withdrawal plan of most or all of the settlements from Gaza. The Knesset will have to approve his speech. But this won't be the ultimate vote on his plan. It's still penciled in for March 29 for Ariel Sharon to go to the United States and meet George W. Bush to talk about this plan.
And as you say, Ariel Sharon canceling a meeting that he was supposed to have with his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei on Sunday after that twin suicide bomb in the Israeli town of Ashdod. Ten people were killed in that attack, 2 Palestinian suicide bombers died, 18 were injured.
Now Hamas and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack and they said that the two suicide bombers came from the Jebalia refugee camp in central Gaza. If that is true, it would be significant as it would be the first time that Palestinian suicide bombers have been able to leave Gaza and infiltrate Israel.
It also marks a slight change in the sort of targets that the Palestinian suicide bombers go for. Usually they go for buses or cafes, busy areas but fairly soft targets. This port would have been very heavily guarded. There's a tremendous amount of security. And one of the suicide bombers did actually infiltrate the port itself and detonate his explosives within the port. So 10 dead and 18 injured from that attack.
The Palestinian Authority was quick to condemn the attack saying that this just gives the Israeli government an excuse to continue raids on Gaza and on particular targets. And that's exactly what the Israeli Defense Forces did. At 1:00 a.m. Monday morning local time, they targeted two workshops, which they say Palestinians use to make crude rockets and mortars to attack Gaza and Israel. Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Paula Hancocks live from Jerusalem this morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the Madrid attack should persuade the world community to stand united against terrorism. But the attacks are prompting new questions about whether the coalition against terror will stick together.
Here is more from CNN's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were firm and unapologetic on the decision to go to war in Iraq.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Yes, I think it was the right thing to do.
KOCH: On the elusive weapons of mass destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...May not exist any longer. But let's not suggest that somehow we knew this.
KOCH: The Bush Administration's top officials made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows insisting the world is now a safer place and that the war on terrorism is being won.
But a new Al-Qaeda claim that it launched lost week's Madrid attacks to punish Spain for joining the U.S. in Iraq and in Afghanistan, prompted questions about whether the coalition would endure.
CONDOLEEZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: No one can be intimidated. We are at war with these people. And yes, they will try and attack those who they believe might defeat them. That is a part of their game. But they will not win, and we will not falter.
Koch: One lawmaker compared some Spaniards' belief that if they pull their troops out of Iraq, they'll be safe with British efforts to appease Hitler before World War II.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: I hate to say it, but that's the same kind logic that led Nevel Chamberlain (ph) in Munich to try to pacify Hitler in the late '30s. Obviously that didn't work, and it won't work anymore with Al-Qaeda or their elk (ph)around the world. We have to stop them.
KOCH: That's easier said than done, and some worry what will happen if as the Al-Qaeda message promised, more terror attacks followed, are getting Spain or other U.S. allies.
KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: There are countries which have given into terrorism and changed their ways because they don't want to suffer additional terrorist attacks. I think Spain's reaction itself will be a very important sign of things to come. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (on-camera): An ominous sign with Spanish voters Sunday ousting the existing government in favor of the opposition which promised to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. The potential now for the U.S. to lose not only a coalition partner but a valuable ally.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And that brings up so many questions. Will Spain really pull those troops out of Iraq?
Joining us now our senior international editor David Clinch to talk more about what's happening in Madrid today.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, hey, Carol.
Well, I mean questions upon questions with this story. I mean one of the things though that is clarifying itself as far as we're concerned in Madrid over the last 24 hours, and obviously the Spanish public sees that it has been clarified, is that the investigation into these terrible bombings last week is now centering almost exclusively on al Qaeda. There are some very concrete links, at least, if not direct connections, but links between some of the people that were arrested and known al Qaeda operatives. Now we'll follow that investigation and see where it goes.
But the sort of bigger questions are the ones that it's quite difficult for us to cover in some ways. They have to be asked. We get experts and others to help us answer them. Can you win a war on terror? That's the question that comes up again and again and again.
You know you have all of this security, you have all of the preparedness around Europe, everybody expecting terrorist attacks and yet they happen. Do the terrorists win when a government that supported the war on terror, a government that supported the war in Iraq is ousted by an angry, apparently, ousted by an angry populous reacting to a terrorist bomb? Getting rid of that government, bringing in a government that the question of what they will do in the war on terror is open but the war in Iraq is very clear. The new prime minister saying that he will go through with the pledge that he made before he was elected that he will bring Spanish troops home from Iraq as soon as he possibly can.
COSTELLO: And you are saying that by doing that some might feel that you are letting the terrorists win...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... because they are driving your...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... foreign, your policy? CLINCH: The question of the age, really, as far as I'm concerned, as far as many reporters are concerned on this story, you look at what's happened in Iraq. You look at what's happened in Europe, the split over which way you go. The French and others making it very clear from before the war in Iraq that while they supported a very specific direct line in the war on terror in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden, but the war in Iraq took it to another level they did not want to go to. They are now saying this proves that Iraq was the wrong thing to do, making Spain and other countries victims of their own actions.
Now obviously that's what the French and others are saying. The Spanish -- previous Spanish prime minister and, for instance, Tony Blair in Britain, arguing completely in the other direction. Saying you have to keep fighting. You have to fight in Iraq and everywhere else, so.
COSTELLO: Well I want to talk, too, about the timing. If this was al Qaeda and it was...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... then the attack was timed right before the Spanish elections.
CLINCH: Yes.
COSTELLO: I mean was that really part of the plan?
CLINCH: Well we have heard -- I have heard experts telling us both things. I've heard experts telling us that the al Qaeda people don't care about elections and things like that. And they don't care about the election here, for instance, I mean the fear of an attack here before the election in November. Saying they don't care between Democrats and Republicans, they don't care about elections.
And then I have heard others saying that everything is very calculated and very carefully timed. This attack apparently planned over a period of months and then timed to be just before the election. And again, if you follow that logic through, and that's yet to be proven, achieving its result. The government that supported the war in Iraq is gone, a new prime minister is in who says he will pull troops out of Iraq. Clearly from an al Qaeda point of view, again, if they are following that logic, that's the result they are looking for.
COSTELLO: Of course we'll keep following it all. David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Now the latest on that grizzly murder case in California. Did you hear about it over the weekend, nine victims, all under the age of 24, in what authorities call a bizarre mix of polygamy and incest.
But as CNN's Miguel Marquez reports, the sons of the man under arrest are speaking out in his defense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERAFINO WESSON, SUSPECT'S SON: I don't think he did it personally, but you know, I never know, you know. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) responsible Aunty Katherine, I don't know, maybe he did, maybe he didn't...
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Serafino Wesson is one of Marcus Wesson's sons. For he and his older brother, Dorian, explaining the unthinkable is all but impossible.
DORIAN WESSON, SUSPECT'S SON: All I know that there's a family (UNINTELLIGIBLE) children. And basically, these are (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MARQUEZ: A family dispute over children that police say ended with 57-year old Marcus Wesson, killing six females and three males, most of them younger than eight. Police also say many of them were from different women. And to two of them, Wesson was both a grandfather and a father.
D. WESSON: He's not against having different wives, but I don't know if he believes, but he's not against having different wives. And to him, actually, he's pro that. And so am I.
MARQUEZ: Both sons say they have a difficult time believing their father is guilty. Police are investigating whether there was a cult like relationship between Wesson and his family. Wesson's sons say their father may have been eccentric, but that does not add up to a cult.
D. WESSON: There is no cult. And if you call Seventh Day Adventists a cult, then I guess that's a cult, because I'm a cult, too. But that's not a cult. It's a regular church.
MARQUEZ: At the Wesson home, police tape went back up, as investigators asked permission to enter, seeking information that might lead to answers, answers a small city in California's central valley are waiting to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is horrible for everybody. And then each of -- all their lives, all at one time. It's so sad, so sad.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Several members of the Wesson family have been back to their Fresno home to clean it up, despite the horde of media surrounding it, all have been respectful. It's a quality they say they get from their father, a father who's due to be arraigned on nine counts of murder early this week.
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Fresno, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Other stories across America begin in Redwood City, California. Court is dark this week in the Scott Peterson murder trial. But Peterson attorney Mark Geragos plans to file a motion today for another change of venue. Geragos believes the prospective juror questionnaires show Peterson can not get a fair trial in Redwood City.
Martha Stewart is negotiating a deal to resign from the board of directors of her own company. But she would like to keep a full time role in a creative capacity with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart will be sentenced in June for lying about a stock sale.
And the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial resumes in Summerville, New Jersey this morning. Two more Harlem Globetrotters will testify this week against the former NBA player. Williams was giving the two a tour of his mansion when Williams' driver was killed by a shotgun blast.
To the forecast center now to check in with Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: The Waldolf-Astoria Hotel in New York will be rocking tonight. It's the scene of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's annual induction. Prince is one of the inductees. And he will not sit on his laurels. He's got a midnight concert scheduled right after the ceremonies. Others joining the Hall tonight, Jackson Browne, The Dells, George Harrison, Bob Seger, Traffic and ZZ Top.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 5:45 Eastern Time, time to take a quick look at the top stories now.
Spain's new socialist prime minister-elect says he will indeed pull his country's troops out of Iraq. Spain has 1,300 troops there.
A bomb apparently meant for the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan was defused today. Police found a tank filled with nearly 200 gallons of liquid explosives inside a stolen minivan.
And investigators today are trying to learn how a woman fell to her death from a ride in an amusement park in Tennessee.
We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 6:00 Eastern.
Vladimir Putin says he has worked hard all of these years and he will keep working for four more. Russia's president won another term by a landslide, getting more than 70 percent of the vote.
That story from our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. She joins us live.
And a lot of people are wondering if this was really a democratic election -- Jill?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well there is some criticism, certainly, Carol, about that. We're going to hear it. In fact, in about a half an hour there will be a briefing from one of the international organizations that monitored the elections. And what they were concerned about was not necessarily how the vote physically was carried out, although that is also a concern, but it's mainly the media coverage that led up to the election. These organizations say that President Vladimir Putin essentially monopolized the airwaves, at least on the government-controlled media, and that didn't leave his opponents any chance of getting very much exposure.
If you look at the figures from the election, President Putin went in with ratings of about 70 percent, and that's just about what he got in this election, 71.2 percent. And then leaving behind in the dust the communist, that was the closest contender but way back, 13.7 percent for the communist. And then the two independents, who come from the political right and the political left, they came up with just single digits.
We didn't hear much from President Vladimir Putin during this campaign because he said I'm not campaigning, I do not need to, my record will speak for itself. And he didn't take part in the debates either. But after the election was over, Mr. Putin put on a black turtleneck and a black jacket, sat down with reporters and he was actually pretty open. He said I have worked for four years. People probably noticed. That's probably why they elected me -- reelected me. And I promise to work just as hard over the next four years. And I promise my new government will, too. And he also had some answers for some of the criticism coming out from the west. He said I am going to guarantee democracy, civil society, free media.
Another thing, Carol, he answered the criticism coming from the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell who said that there is some creeping authoritarianism. He said we will look at that criticism and take it in stride, but this could be coming during an election year, meaning the United States' election year.
And just one last thing, Carol, this paper is "Daisda (ph)," gives you a good example of what the mood here is, at least among major newspapers. Modernization instead of democratization, and what they are saying is the program that President Putin has economically sounds quite good, but the problem is it's coming from the top and not from the bottom -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. I want to touch on a fairly different topic. In light of what's happened in Spain, what is Russia's stance on terrorism? Has President Putin said anything about it?
DOUGHERTY: Right after the bombings in Spain, he made a very strong and actually emotional statement, just saying that it was horrendous -- a horrendously cruel act. Condemned it in no uncertain terms. And that has been part of President Putin's let's say appeal to voters. He is very strongly against terrorism. And don't forget he, after 9/11, was the first international leader who called President Bush to express his solidarity. So this has been a constant theme. Mr. Putin often ties that issue of terrorism with Chechnya. That is another subject. But he is very, very strong in this and continues to speak out on it.
COSTELLO: Jill Dougherty live from Moscow this morning.
On the subject of Moscow, a fire in the downtown area tops our check of stories making headlines around the world in this 'Global Minute.' The fire was at an exhibition center and it killed two people. The historic building is about a half mile from the Kremlin. Russian officials say the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.
Secretary of State Colin Powell leaves today for South Asia. He is heading for New Delhi, India's capital. On Wednesday, he is due in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Powell will be encouraging peace talks between the nuclear neighbors who have been at odds over the Kashmir region.
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife left the Central African Republic early today. They are heading to Jamaica to be reunited with their two young children. The children have been in the United States. Now they are in Jamaica. Aristide left Haiti February 29 in the face of an advancing rebel group.
New in the next hour of DAYBREAK, just two days ahead of a visit by Colin Powell, Pakistani police defuse a huge bomb planted near the U.S. consulate. We'll get the latest live for you out of Islamabad.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Chad, can you join me right now because we're going to take a look...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... at headlines from across the nation?
First, from "The Palm Beach Post," this is out of Florida, of course, they are talking about Haiti gangs still in charge. And they are quoting some Marines, because you know there is a peacekeeping force in Haiti right now. This is a quote from one of the Marines out of this article in "The Palm Beach Post." This is from Lance Corporal Jacob Gamble (ph), 20 years old. He said "when we ride through the neighborhoods you get lots of people who are friendly, others who don't like us and others who seem like they aren't sure." Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
MYERS: It's such a beautiful country. They just need to get their act together. I mean I'd love to go see it.
COSTELLO: It could be a beautiful country, but it's not, just because of the abject poverty there.
MYERS: Of course, right. COSTELLO: You know the only industry they have is charcoal, which amazed me, but...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... we're going to get more out of Haiti in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
We liked this picture the best in all of the newspapers across the country. This comes from the...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... "Green Bay Press Gazette," Iraq: one year later. And we just thought it was a moving picture to show you this morning.
MYERS: That's not -- that's not a current picture? That's from a year ago, right?
COSTELLO: That's from a year ago.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Correct.
This is from the "Lawrence Journal-World." Kansas -- Kansas -- Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: See that on the front, twisted ambition.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: It's about a company called Violent Skies Inc. Have you heard about it?
MYERS: I have not.
COSTELLO: Apparently they sell weeklong trips to people who want to go search out tornadoes.
MYERS: Certainly, sure. A lot of companies will do that for you.
COSTELLO: Really?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Well April 26, May 24 and May 31 they have open weeks...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: ... in case you want to go. MYERS: Well, you know, and you have to go. Sometimes you really have to go a long way. Obviously this -- if this is out of Lawrence, Kansas, where KU is, you may have to go a thousand miles one way or the other because you don't know where it's going to set up. But at that time of the year, you can certainly get yourself a tornado.
COSTELLO: That's Tornado Alley, right?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Six days, six nights, 800 bucks, in case you're interested.
MYERS: I guess...
COSTELLO: Violent Skies Inc.
MYERS: ... you'd probably get maybe six or eight people in a van and they drive you around.
COSTELLO: That's crazy.
MYERS: You kind of want to do a little research on that, though. I don't know anything about this company at all, but it could be very dangerous to be out there tornado chasing. And you have to go with people you can trust, so.
COSTELLO: Definitely so.
MYERS: Yes, this is not a call and book it online. You want to call and talk to them for a while.
Good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN DAYBREAK starts right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Monday, March 15. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for being with us this morning.
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