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CNN Live At Daybreak
Enthusiasm Over New 'Star Wars' Film; Are National Parks Going to Pot?
Aired May 19, 2005 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a bank robbed, hostages stripped down to their underwear and a pilot hijacked. A bizarre string of events in one small town.
Also, in our nation's parks, the other meaning of recreational, as forests provide a haven for drug cartels.
And the Jedi knights are out in full force this morning. It's the big day "Star Wars" fans have been waiting for.
It is Thursday, May 19.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, two assassinations in Iraq this morning. Police say an aide to the top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, was gunned down in Baghdad's Sadr City. And gunmen killed a senior Iraqi oil ministry official outside of his home in Baghdad.
A new tape said to be from the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq justifies suicide bombings. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls for the killings of infidels by any means necessary, even if it means killing innocent Muslims.
Today is round two of the Senate battle over judicial nominees. Majority Leader Bill Frist is the Republicans' point man. He's calling for an up or down vote while Democrats still promise to filibuster.
To the Forecast Center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
The biggest story in weather is not in the United States today. It is tropical storm Adrian. It is headed to El Salvador here. Going to make extensive flooding in the mountains. This would be like taking a tropical storm and shoving it into California with all those huge mountains here, 20 inches of rain, a lot of flooding and a lot of folks right there in harm's way. Tropical storm Adrian right now at 60 miles per hour. It does cross the peninsula here, it crosses over into Honduras and eventually just south of Belize. It loses some energy, not down to 60 anymore, down to about 30 miles per hour. It gets back into the Caribbean, just about misses Jamaica, but a couple of maps do have it turning into Jamaica. We'll have to watch this. Only 35 or 40 miles per hour, but still, this is the first big one of the year. And they said the tropical season is going to be active. Well, this is pretty early.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Police in Idaho say they've found the person of interest they were looking for in a triple homicide. But those two young children? They're still missing this morning. Sheriff's officials say Robert Lutner, this man, turned himself in. They say he is not a suspect in the death of a mother, her 13-year-old son and her boyfriend, but they were hoping he might help them find a brother and sister. Still missing, 9-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY, IDAHO: We don't know if he's involved in the crime, but we know he was here Sunday evening. That's the last time frame we can put everybody here at the house alive. So he's a person who, he may have seen something. He may have known someone else who was here at the residence. He may have met somebody as he was leaving the residence that -- as he was leaving, they may have been coming in. That's the kind of information we hope to glean from him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And Captain Wolfinger will be live in the next hour on CNN "AMERICAN MORNING" with the very latest on this case.
We cannot make this stuff up. A bank robber in Kansas had six hostages stripped down to their underwear before loading them into a minivan to make his getaway. There was a plane involved, too.
Reporter Sharita Hutton (ph) with Kansas City affiliate KCTV has the would be robber's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARITA HUTTON, WCTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Only our cameras were there as police towed that bank robbery suspect's car away from an Owego golf course. It's believed he left his car here and then walked to the bank at 151st and Merlin and launched a day of terror.
That is the suspect shooting out one of the van windows with six hostages inside. The van then left the parking lot. Only we were there as that van then took off down 151st Street with police cars following.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unbelievable. It is. I was just going to the bank and I wasn't allowed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was getting ready to go into the bank on 151st and the door was locked. And I thought it was kind of funny, it wasn't a holiday. So I went around on the other side of the bank and I saw five or six women standing there, stripped. And I saw the suspect with a hood over his face.
HUTTON: It was some two miles away when the van came to rest, as the suspect tried to run toward a plane with two people on board. Police shot him before he went any further.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Sharita Hutton with affiliate WCTV. The suspect was taken by helicopter to a hospital. He's in critical condition this morning. None of the hostages were hurt. The private plane's pilot says he and his student pilot were shocked when that van pulled up to the runway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MILLER, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR: And I told the officer right away, I said, you know, look, I'm the pilot in command, I'm the flight instructor. And the cop said OK, but flight instructors rob banks, too. And that was the first time I heard that it was a bank robbery, because I really thought it was a terrorist. I honestly did, because we're so keen now on terrorism in aviation after 9/11 -- there's been a lot of safety precautions -- that everybody is obviously afraid of having, you know, what we used to call a hijack, you know?
Some of the old airliners used to get hijacked all the time. And, of course, that's, you know, that's what the big fear is. And I thought oh my god, here -- why me, you know? But that's what my first fear was. But I never dreamed it was a robbery. But they didn't know that, you know, they didn't know that I wasn't part of the people that had robbed the bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police say the robbery suspect is a licensed pilot. And, by the way, police recovered the stolen money from that minivan.
In the works on Capitol Hill, a new bill to expand government powers under the Patriot Act. In the name of fighting terrorism, the new measure would let the FBI subpoena records without permission from a judge or grand jury. The Bush administration has sought this power for two years, but Congress keeps saying no.
And the biggest terrorism threat in the United States isn't from al Qaeda, it's apparently from violent extremists in environmental and animal rights groups. That's the word from the federal government. This latest attack by the Earth Liberation Front was near Sacramento, California. Law enforcement officials told a Senate panel that attacks by groups like ELF and the Animal Liberation Front are becoming bigger and happening more frequently.
A Sacramento sheriff's official offered his thoughts on those who carried out this attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. R.L. DAVIS, SACRAMENTO SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: You have to look at the mentality of the individuals who do it. They don't have a lot going for themselves. They don't have a lot of things that they can turn to and they try to disrupt the every day going on of most people and their normal lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we want to remind you to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
In other "News Across America" now, investigators in Jackson, Mississippi are questioning a suspect that was wounded in a shootout with police. The suspect allegedly opened fire on officers after waving an assault rifle and a handgun. Police caught the suspect several miles from where he had sped away during a traffic stop.
CNN's Larry King is expected to testify today in the Michael Jackson trial. But the judge has warned the defense that character witnesses like King could allow the prosecution to present more evidence into Jackson's personal conduct. Also, the defense says they've pared down their witness list, so they don't expect their case to take as long as originally thought. We'll see if that actually happens.
A conspiracy charge has been added against the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili. Investigators say Anna Ayala and her husband were trying to extort money from the fast food chain. A California judge refused to reduce Ayala's half a million dollar bail during a hearing on her grand theft charges.
Oh, the force is finally with us. "Star Wars Episode Three" opens in theaters all over the world today, which means fans from Australia to Europe got a head start on their American counterparts. In fact, French fans have already make it a record-breaking performance at the box office.
But let's look at a galaxy a little closer to home.
For that we head to Los Angeles, where CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas -- oh my goodness, look at those people behind you -- Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Could you believe this? Could you believe this? This is unreal. When they told me that I would be here at 3:00 in the morning doing this, I said I don't know if I can do a live shot that early. But the energy is so palpable. These guys, you're keeping me up and you're keeping me excited.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes!
MYERS: Great. That one there looks like Bill Hemmer. VARGAS: I'm telling you, this is like...
MYERS: It is Bill Hemmer!
VARGAS: This is like nothing I've ever seen before. I mean the show started at midnight and they're going on every hour. And you know what? I know you've been asking why are they so devoted? Well, let's ask the fans themselves.
Why are you guys so devoted?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no life.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Boo!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I'm joking. I'm joking.
As an English teacher, I see the literary value in "Star Wars," the hero and the quest story. I get to impart this knowledge upon my students and, at the same time, take a day off and then rub it in later on when I come back to work.
VARGAS: Are you going to be going to work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Friday.
MYERS: Is he going to wear that costume?
VARGAS: How about you? What is it about this movie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually came for "Monster-In-Law." I don't know who all these people are.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Boo!
VARGAS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're Padme. You're Padme Amidala.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Padme Amidala and -- who is wonderful in the film. I've got the Sith behind me. I'm coming back at 11:00 a.m. to see this again. I can't wait to go home, get two hours of sleep and come back.
VARGAS: But isn't Padme supposed to be a lady? I mean...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Padme is a lady. However, tonight she is a 35-year-old man at 3:00 in the morning in Hollywood, icabookie makeup (ph) and a dress.
VARGAS: Is it worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, it is worth my $11 and my $11 tomorrow. And I will be back again and again and again.
VARGAS: And you, my friend, are a Jedi master?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. This is actually a half a costume. I had to take my mask off, it was too heavy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto with the tentacles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto!
VARGAS: Do you have a job?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually currently unemployed and -- but I saw the movie and if you're watching this, you didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes!
VARGAS: Extraordinary. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.
And we've got Yoda here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yoda I am. Yoda I am.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda!
VARGAS: So, any wise words?
MYERS: That sounds like a fraternity party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the translator for Yoda.
VARGAS: Oh, wait, wait. Before we cut, hold on. We've got Baby Vader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
VARGAS: Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Mission Viejo.
VARGAS: This is -- isn't this past your bedtime?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's never past your bedtime for "Star Wars."
VARGAS: Wow! That's good.
Can you say "this is CNN?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN.
VARGAS: Sounds good, huh?
Oh, one more thing. Just give us some Vader sounds.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE MAKING VADER SOUNDS) MYERS: Excellent.
VARGAS: There you go. A nice way to sign us out.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, Sibila, Sibila, stay here for just a second, because, as you know, Chad has been asking our viewers all morning long about why they love this movie. And I think you provided some important answers for him.
MYERS: Yes, Sibila...
COSTELLO: Chad, are you satisfied?
MYERS: I guess so, Sibila. These people that are behind you, they did see the movie, right?
How long did they wait to be the first in line?
VARGAS: Oh, they've been waiting for weeks now. They've been waiting for such a long time. I mean some people were like standing in front of the Grumman's Chinese Theater, where it originally played. Unfortunately, it never got to play there, but they were there for weeks. I mean, you know, months, some of them.
Actually, they were logging time. They weren't really there for months, but one of them -- I mean at least some people were there for weeks. So that's a pretty long time.
COSTELLO: Did they like the movie? Or they haven't seen it yet?
VARGAS: I mean, you know what? From all the people that I've heard so far, I would say about 90 percent loved it. I mean huge thumbs up. I did speak to some people that kind of thought it was OK, but I think they really liked it.
I got to see it. I liked it, too.
COSTELLO: All right...
VARGAS: In fact, it gets you -- it kind of -- I'm sorry?
COSTELLO: Go ahead.
VARGAS: No, no, I think it inspires a curiosity. You want to see the first three films again, wouldn't you guys say?
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes! The first three! Yes!
VARGAS: You want to see it right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All six!
MYERS: So, Sibila, I want to know now, you saw it. Does it feel like the last episode? Does it feel like the last episode or is there something still hanging out there?
VARGAS: Did it seem like the last episode, you said?
MYERS: Well, yes, because there's a controversy. Is this the last one or is he going to make another one in five or 10 years?
VARGAS: You know what? I got to speak to George...
MYERS: Is it to be continued yet or not?
VARGAS: I don't think so.
MYERS: No?
VARGAS: You know, I mean I spoke to George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch and he told me that he was, he was ready to say good-bye to the last, you know, with this being the last episode.
What do you guys...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: No!
VARGAS: I know they don't believe it. The "Star Wars" fans are not buying it but, you know, the man says he's ready to move on. He is...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) nine.
VARGAS: He is actually doing some TV projects with some of the "Star Wars" characters. The less...
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes! (INAUDIBLE).
VARGAS: That's right. And, hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)!
VARGAS: You know what's really wonderful is that they're doing a re-release of all the movies in 2007 and they'll all be in 3D. So I guess all of you guys are going to be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3D!
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: 3D!
VARGAS: Can they say that on CNN?
All right, well, thank you so much, guys.
COSTELLO: Oh, Sibila Vargas, thank you and all of your crazy friends. And George Lucas is going to be even wealthier than he already is. Let's open our DAYBREAK data file about -- for some facts about "Star Wars." The original "Star Wars" film, also known as "Episode IV," opened in just 40 theaters nationwide. Today, around 3,700 are showing "Episode III." That first "Star Wars" film pulled in just $1.5 million on its opening weekend. Tom O'Neil of "In Touch Weekly" magazine says he expects "Revenge of the Sith" to generate as much as $100 million this weekend alone.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Following up a story of real estate mogul Donald Trump's new idea to replace the World Trade Center, or, rather, an old idea. Trump formally unveiled his plan to rebuild the Twin Towers at ground zero, only taller and stronger. Trump called the Freedom Tower, the twisting skyscraper plan for the site, a skeleton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR: Hundreds of years will go by where we can look at something that's going to be emblematic of strength and character and freedom or we can look at a skeleton rising in the sky that's going to be emblematic of a disaster and failure and lots of other bad things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Checking cnn.com quick vote for the latest count on Trump's idea, it's running just about 50-50. But we point out that he has no official say so about rebuilding ground zero. And, of course, that's not a scientific poll, either.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:17 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Police in Idaho still looking for those two missing children, even after interviewing that person of interest in the case. Detectives talked with Robert Lutner in their investigation into the triple homicide at the children's home.
In money news, the investment firm Morgan Stanley must pay nearly $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit. The fraud suit was brought by the owner of the Coleman camping equipment company.
In culture, true movie madness celebrates a birthday. It was 10 years ago today that the nation's first megaplex theater opened up in Dallas. A megaplex, in case you didn't know, has at least 14 separate movie screens.
In sports, the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-108 in their play-off series. Suns star Steve Nash had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. Wow! To the Forecast Center now and Chad.
MYERS: And good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Just ahead here on DAYBREAK, first they got blown away by hurricanes. Now some Florida homeowners are getting blown off by their insurance companies. Details coming up in our "Business Buzz."
Plus, are national parks going to pot? We'll tell you what's growing alongside the giant sequoias and who's fighting to protect the park land.
But first, a look at the international markets and how they're trading on this Thursday, May 19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: What nerve planting secret marijuana gardens in the middle of our national parks. And we're not talking about your shady next door neighbor planting some weed. We're talking about drug cartels and smugglers using our parks for their profit. This problem has only gotten worse since Frank Buckley visited one park one year ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon, the meadows and the woods of Sequoia National Park will be teeming with visitors. Summer, the park's busiest season. They'll come to see the General Sherman tree, the park's wandering black bears, its creeks and rivers.
But Sequoia's busiest season will coincide with the busiest time of the year for some most unwelcome visitors, as well -- marijuana growers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is public land. It belongs to the people. And it's not where marijuana should be grown.
BUCKLEY: Park Service special agents who discovered the pot plantations found sophisticated irrigation systems with miles of piping and hoses. And in the camps where workers stayed, there were weapons.
Chief Naturalist Bill Tweed says some visitors to the remote wilderness areas have already come in contact with armed growers.
BILL TWEED, CHIEF NATURALIST: We find weapons. We find automatic weapons. We found AK-47s. This stuff gets defended. A visitor stumbling into the wrong place at the wrong time could be injured, could be killed.
BUCKLEY: Park Service Special Agent Al Delacruz and two other highly armed agents took us into the area to show us some of the abandoned camps. Along the way, we found nurseries complete with growing cups and fertilizer bags. We saw how the growers dammed drainages and divert water to irrigate fields of pot plants.
AL DELACRUZ, PARK SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT: They're depriving from here on down, you know, vegetation of -- and wildlife -- of the water.
BUCKLEY: Delacruz kept his face hidden for security reasons. The growers, he and other law enforcement officials believe, are members of the Mexican drug cartels, known for their violence.
After three hours of hiking along impossibly rugged terrain, we arrived at one of the grower's camps.
(on camera): Everything is still left behind here. You can see the tools that they used, the pesticides and the equipment that they used in the growing process. Over here, some of the utensils they left behind, the skillets and the pots from the kitchen area where they cooked. Back on this side, you can see they constructed a hammock where obviously one of the growers was sleeping. And down here, one of the garbage pits in what's supposed to be a pristine wilderness area of a national park.
(voice-over): The defiling of this national park also involving poaching and the polluting of waters with chemicals.
(on camera): Is it offensive to you?
DELACRUZ: Absolutely. Totally offensive to me, you know, on a personal level and as an employee of the National Park Service.
BUCKLEY: And officials say it is not an activity confined to Sequoia National Park nor one that shows signs of easing up. It means this summer park rangers will have two jobs -- protecting park visitors while looking out for pot growers.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Sequoia National Park, California.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: So, what to do about it? There is a bill in Congress that could help. But let's face it, our national parks aren't exactly tops on the list.
Live to Reading, California and Jim Milestone, park superintendent of the Whiskeytown National Recreational Area.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM MILESTONE, WHISKEYTOWN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: This must be very frustrating to you.
MILESTONE: Well, it's something that we're -- we were very disappointed to discover back about four or five years ago when we came upon a sudden die-off of tadpoles in a Whiskeytown lake and we tracked that down to the upper drainages in a remote section of the park where an extensive marijuana garden existed that was hosting about 15 men that were working full-time up there growing millions of dollars worth of marijuana.
COSTELLO: How extensive was this garden of pot?
MILESTONE: Well, we had 15 individuals working up there. They were living up there. There's a lot of irrigation hose, several thousand feet of irrigation hose. There were a couple of dams that were built in the high drainage with spring boxes. Those dams, the reservoirs were filled with herbicides that were used and fertilizers to provide...
COSTELLO: So this was a very extensive operation. I think it's very difficult for people to wrap their minds around how you can sneak into the national park, camp out there, build irrigation systems and nobody roots you out.
MILESTONE: Well, we -- they were in a very remote area of the park. It was a lot of poison oak up there and deep chaparral. And they had carefully clipped away the branches of bushes so that they were pretty well camouflaged. And most of their activity, their movement, was done at night, when very few people were up.
COSTELLO: And you say this has been going on for years. And I know that you've been trying to get help to eradicate this problem.
Have you made any progress?
MILESTONE: We have. We are working very closely with Shasta County Sheriff Jim Pope and his team of the drug task force that is eradicating marijuana gardens throughout northern California.
We're also working in partnership with the National Guard and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and with the U.S. attorney, McGregor Scott, out here. And together, we're developing quite a few resources to deal with this issue. And we've...
COSTELLO: Have you made any arrests, though?
MILESTONE: We have. We have made arrests of individuals. Most of these people are just illegal migrant workers that have come up to California and they got a job working in the marijuana fields at Whiskeytown. So they usually...
COSTELLO: Yes, but I mean the big people, like the head of the drug cartels who hire those people and send them into our national parks.
MILESTONE: Well, we're working with the sheriff's department. We're doing surveillance on these marijuana gardens and we find out where they drive to at night and to their houses that they're using. And that leads it to a more sophisticated network of the people involved in these criminal activities in the parks.
COSTELLO: Jim Milestone, park superintendent of the Whiskeytown National Recreational Area.
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. Still to come, offended and outraged over a yearbook photo that depicts slavery and bondage. We have the pictures for you.
And how much would you think this bus stop is worth? Does a million bucks sound steep? That story in the last half hour of DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 19, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a bank robbed, hostages stripped down to their underwear and a pilot hijacked. A bizarre string of events in one small town.
Also, in our nation's parks, the other meaning of recreational, as forests provide a haven for drug cartels.
And the Jedi knights are out in full force this morning. It's the big day "Star Wars" fans have been waiting for.
It is Thursday, May 19.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, two assassinations in Iraq this morning. Police say an aide to the top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, was gunned down in Baghdad's Sadr City. And gunmen killed a senior Iraqi oil ministry official outside of his home in Baghdad.
A new tape said to be from the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq justifies suicide bombings. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls for the killings of infidels by any means necessary, even if it means killing innocent Muslims.
Today is round two of the Senate battle over judicial nominees. Majority Leader Bill Frist is the Republicans' point man. He's calling for an up or down vote while Democrats still promise to filibuster.
To the Forecast Center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
The biggest story in weather is not in the United States today. It is tropical storm Adrian. It is headed to El Salvador here. Going to make extensive flooding in the mountains. This would be like taking a tropical storm and shoving it into California with all those huge mountains here, 20 inches of rain, a lot of flooding and a lot of folks right there in harm's way. Tropical storm Adrian right now at 60 miles per hour. It does cross the peninsula here, it crosses over into Honduras and eventually just south of Belize. It loses some energy, not down to 60 anymore, down to about 30 miles per hour. It gets back into the Caribbean, just about misses Jamaica, but a couple of maps do have it turning into Jamaica. We'll have to watch this. Only 35 or 40 miles per hour, but still, this is the first big one of the year. And they said the tropical season is going to be active. Well, this is pretty early.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Police in Idaho say they've found the person of interest they were looking for in a triple homicide. But those two young children? They're still missing this morning. Sheriff's officials say Robert Lutner, this man, turned himself in. They say he is not a suspect in the death of a mother, her 13-year-old son and her boyfriend, but they were hoping he might help them find a brother and sister. Still missing, 9-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY, IDAHO: We don't know if he's involved in the crime, but we know he was here Sunday evening. That's the last time frame we can put everybody here at the house alive. So he's a person who, he may have seen something. He may have known someone else who was here at the residence. He may have met somebody as he was leaving the residence that -- as he was leaving, they may have been coming in. That's the kind of information we hope to glean from him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And Captain Wolfinger will be live in the next hour on CNN "AMERICAN MORNING" with the very latest on this case.
We cannot make this stuff up. A bank robber in Kansas had six hostages stripped down to their underwear before loading them into a minivan to make his getaway. There was a plane involved, too.
Reporter Sharita Hutton (ph) with Kansas City affiliate KCTV has the would be robber's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARITA HUTTON, WCTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Only our cameras were there as police towed that bank robbery suspect's car away from an Owego golf course. It's believed he left his car here and then walked to the bank at 151st and Merlin and launched a day of terror.
That is the suspect shooting out one of the van windows with six hostages inside. The van then left the parking lot. Only we were there as that van then took off down 151st Street with police cars following.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unbelievable. It is. I was just going to the bank and I wasn't allowed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was getting ready to go into the bank on 151st and the door was locked. And I thought it was kind of funny, it wasn't a holiday. So I went around on the other side of the bank and I saw five or six women standing there, stripped. And I saw the suspect with a hood over his face.
HUTTON: It was some two miles away when the van came to rest, as the suspect tried to run toward a plane with two people on board. Police shot him before he went any further.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Sharita Hutton with affiliate WCTV. The suspect was taken by helicopter to a hospital. He's in critical condition this morning. None of the hostages were hurt. The private plane's pilot says he and his student pilot were shocked when that van pulled up to the runway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MILLER, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR: And I told the officer right away, I said, you know, look, I'm the pilot in command, I'm the flight instructor. And the cop said OK, but flight instructors rob banks, too. And that was the first time I heard that it was a bank robbery, because I really thought it was a terrorist. I honestly did, because we're so keen now on terrorism in aviation after 9/11 -- there's been a lot of safety precautions -- that everybody is obviously afraid of having, you know, what we used to call a hijack, you know?
Some of the old airliners used to get hijacked all the time. And, of course, that's, you know, that's what the big fear is. And I thought oh my god, here -- why me, you know? But that's what my first fear was. But I never dreamed it was a robbery. But they didn't know that, you know, they didn't know that I wasn't part of the people that had robbed the bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police say the robbery suspect is a licensed pilot. And, by the way, police recovered the stolen money from that minivan.
In the works on Capitol Hill, a new bill to expand government powers under the Patriot Act. In the name of fighting terrorism, the new measure would let the FBI subpoena records without permission from a judge or grand jury. The Bush administration has sought this power for two years, but Congress keeps saying no.
And the biggest terrorism threat in the United States isn't from al Qaeda, it's apparently from violent extremists in environmental and animal rights groups. That's the word from the federal government. This latest attack by the Earth Liberation Front was near Sacramento, California. Law enforcement officials told a Senate panel that attacks by groups like ELF and the Animal Liberation Front are becoming bigger and happening more frequently.
A Sacramento sheriff's official offered his thoughts on those who carried out this attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. R.L. DAVIS, SACRAMENTO SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: You have to look at the mentality of the individuals who do it. They don't have a lot going for themselves. They don't have a lot of things that they can turn to and they try to disrupt the every day going on of most people and their normal lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we want to remind you to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
In other "News Across America" now, investigators in Jackson, Mississippi are questioning a suspect that was wounded in a shootout with police. The suspect allegedly opened fire on officers after waving an assault rifle and a handgun. Police caught the suspect several miles from where he had sped away during a traffic stop.
CNN's Larry King is expected to testify today in the Michael Jackson trial. But the judge has warned the defense that character witnesses like King could allow the prosecution to present more evidence into Jackson's personal conduct. Also, the defense says they've pared down their witness list, so they don't expect their case to take as long as originally thought. We'll see if that actually happens.
A conspiracy charge has been added against the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili. Investigators say Anna Ayala and her husband were trying to extort money from the fast food chain. A California judge refused to reduce Ayala's half a million dollar bail during a hearing on her grand theft charges.
Oh, the force is finally with us. "Star Wars Episode Three" opens in theaters all over the world today, which means fans from Australia to Europe got a head start on their American counterparts. In fact, French fans have already make it a record-breaking performance at the box office.
But let's look at a galaxy a little closer to home.
For that we head to Los Angeles, where CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas -- oh my goodness, look at those people behind you -- Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Could you believe this? Could you believe this? This is unreal. When they told me that I would be here at 3:00 in the morning doing this, I said I don't know if I can do a live shot that early. But the energy is so palpable. These guys, you're keeping me up and you're keeping me excited.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes!
MYERS: Great. That one there looks like Bill Hemmer. VARGAS: I'm telling you, this is like...
MYERS: It is Bill Hemmer!
VARGAS: This is like nothing I've ever seen before. I mean the show started at midnight and they're going on every hour. And you know what? I know you've been asking why are they so devoted? Well, let's ask the fans themselves.
Why are you guys so devoted?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no life.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Boo!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I'm joking. I'm joking.
As an English teacher, I see the literary value in "Star Wars," the hero and the quest story. I get to impart this knowledge upon my students and, at the same time, take a day off and then rub it in later on when I come back to work.
VARGAS: Are you going to be going to work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Friday.
MYERS: Is he going to wear that costume?
VARGAS: How about you? What is it about this movie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually came for "Monster-In-Law." I don't know who all these people are.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Boo!
VARGAS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're Padme. You're Padme Amidala.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Padme Amidala and -- who is wonderful in the film. I've got the Sith behind me. I'm coming back at 11:00 a.m. to see this again. I can't wait to go home, get two hours of sleep and come back.
VARGAS: But isn't Padme supposed to be a lady? I mean...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Padme is a lady. However, tonight she is a 35-year-old man at 3:00 in the morning in Hollywood, icabookie makeup (ph) and a dress.
VARGAS: Is it worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, it is worth my $11 and my $11 tomorrow. And I will be back again and again and again.
VARGAS: And you, my friend, are a Jedi master?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. This is actually a half a costume. I had to take my mask off, it was too heavy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto with the tentacles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kit Fisto!
VARGAS: Do you have a job?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually currently unemployed and -- but I saw the movie and if you're watching this, you didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes!
VARGAS: Extraordinary. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.
And we've got Yoda here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yoda I am. Yoda I am.
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda! Yoda!
VARGAS: So, any wise words?
MYERS: That sounds like a fraternity party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the translator for Yoda.
VARGAS: Oh, wait, wait. Before we cut, hold on. We've got Baby Vader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
VARGAS: Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Mission Viejo.
VARGAS: This is -- isn't this past your bedtime?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's never past your bedtime for "Star Wars."
VARGAS: Wow! That's good.
Can you say "this is CNN?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN.
VARGAS: Sounds good, huh?
Oh, one more thing. Just give us some Vader sounds.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE MAKING VADER SOUNDS) MYERS: Excellent.
VARGAS: There you go. A nice way to sign us out.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, Sibila, Sibila, stay here for just a second, because, as you know, Chad has been asking our viewers all morning long about why they love this movie. And I think you provided some important answers for him.
MYERS: Yes, Sibila...
COSTELLO: Chad, are you satisfied?
MYERS: I guess so, Sibila. These people that are behind you, they did see the movie, right?
How long did they wait to be the first in line?
VARGAS: Oh, they've been waiting for weeks now. They've been waiting for such a long time. I mean some people were like standing in front of the Grumman's Chinese Theater, where it originally played. Unfortunately, it never got to play there, but they were there for weeks. I mean, you know, months, some of them.
Actually, they were logging time. They weren't really there for months, but one of them -- I mean at least some people were there for weeks. So that's a pretty long time.
COSTELLO: Did they like the movie? Or they haven't seen it yet?
VARGAS: I mean, you know what? From all the people that I've heard so far, I would say about 90 percent loved it. I mean huge thumbs up. I did speak to some people that kind of thought it was OK, but I think they really liked it.
I got to see it. I liked it, too.
COSTELLO: All right...
VARGAS: In fact, it gets you -- it kind of -- I'm sorry?
COSTELLO: Go ahead.
VARGAS: No, no, I think it inspires a curiosity. You want to see the first three films again, wouldn't you guys say?
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes! The first three! Yes!
VARGAS: You want to see it right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All six!
MYERS: So, Sibila, I want to know now, you saw it. Does it feel like the last episode? Does it feel like the last episode or is there something still hanging out there?
VARGAS: Did it seem like the last episode, you said?
MYERS: Well, yes, because there's a controversy. Is this the last one or is he going to make another one in five or 10 years?
VARGAS: You know what? I got to speak to George...
MYERS: Is it to be continued yet or not?
VARGAS: I don't think so.
MYERS: No?
VARGAS: You know, I mean I spoke to George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch and he told me that he was, he was ready to say good-bye to the last, you know, with this being the last episode.
What do you guys...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: No!
VARGAS: I know they don't believe it. The "Star Wars" fans are not buying it but, you know, the man says he's ready to move on. He is...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) nine.
VARGAS: He is actually doing some TV projects with some of the "Star Wars" characters. The less...
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: Yes! (INAUDIBLE).
VARGAS: That's right. And, hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)!
VARGAS: You know what's really wonderful is that they're doing a re-release of all the movies in 2007 and they'll all be in 3D. So I guess all of you guys are going to be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3D!
UNIDENTIFIED "STAR WARS" FANS: 3D!
VARGAS: Can they say that on CNN?
All right, well, thank you so much, guys.
COSTELLO: Oh, Sibila Vargas, thank you and all of your crazy friends. And George Lucas is going to be even wealthier than he already is. Let's open our DAYBREAK data file about -- for some facts about "Star Wars." The original "Star Wars" film, also known as "Episode IV," opened in just 40 theaters nationwide. Today, around 3,700 are showing "Episode III." That first "Star Wars" film pulled in just $1.5 million on its opening weekend. Tom O'Neil of "In Touch Weekly" magazine says he expects "Revenge of the Sith" to generate as much as $100 million this weekend alone.
We're back in a moment.
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COSTELLO: Following up a story of real estate mogul Donald Trump's new idea to replace the World Trade Center, or, rather, an old idea. Trump formally unveiled his plan to rebuild the Twin Towers at ground zero, only taller and stronger. Trump called the Freedom Tower, the twisting skyscraper plan for the site, a skeleton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR: Hundreds of years will go by where we can look at something that's going to be emblematic of strength and character and freedom or we can look at a skeleton rising in the sky that's going to be emblematic of a disaster and failure and lots of other bad things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Checking cnn.com quick vote for the latest count on Trump's idea, it's running just about 50-50. But we point out that he has no official say so about rebuilding ground zero. And, of course, that's not a scientific poll, either.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:17 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Police in Idaho still looking for those two missing children, even after interviewing that person of interest in the case. Detectives talked with Robert Lutner in their investigation into the triple homicide at the children's home.
In money news, the investment firm Morgan Stanley must pay nearly $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit. The fraud suit was brought by the owner of the Coleman camping equipment company.
In culture, true movie madness celebrates a birthday. It was 10 years ago today that the nation's first megaplex theater opened up in Dallas. A megaplex, in case you didn't know, has at least 14 separate movie screens.
In sports, the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-108 in their play-off series. Suns star Steve Nash had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. Wow! To the Forecast Center now and Chad.
MYERS: And good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Just ahead here on DAYBREAK, first they got blown away by hurricanes. Now some Florida homeowners are getting blown off by their insurance companies. Details coming up in our "Business Buzz."
Plus, are national parks going to pot? We'll tell you what's growing alongside the giant sequoias and who's fighting to protect the park land.
But first, a look at the international markets and how they're trading on this Thursday, May 19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: What nerve planting secret marijuana gardens in the middle of our national parks. And we're not talking about your shady next door neighbor planting some weed. We're talking about drug cartels and smugglers using our parks for their profit. This problem has only gotten worse since Frank Buckley visited one park one year ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon, the meadows and the woods of Sequoia National Park will be teeming with visitors. Summer, the park's busiest season. They'll come to see the General Sherman tree, the park's wandering black bears, its creeks and rivers.
But Sequoia's busiest season will coincide with the busiest time of the year for some most unwelcome visitors, as well -- marijuana growers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is public land. It belongs to the people. And it's not where marijuana should be grown.
BUCKLEY: Park Service special agents who discovered the pot plantations found sophisticated irrigation systems with miles of piping and hoses. And in the camps where workers stayed, there were weapons.
Chief Naturalist Bill Tweed says some visitors to the remote wilderness areas have already come in contact with armed growers.
BILL TWEED, CHIEF NATURALIST: We find weapons. We find automatic weapons. We found AK-47s. This stuff gets defended. A visitor stumbling into the wrong place at the wrong time could be injured, could be killed.
BUCKLEY: Park Service Special Agent Al Delacruz and two other highly armed agents took us into the area to show us some of the abandoned camps. Along the way, we found nurseries complete with growing cups and fertilizer bags. We saw how the growers dammed drainages and divert water to irrigate fields of pot plants.
AL DELACRUZ, PARK SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT: They're depriving from here on down, you know, vegetation of -- and wildlife -- of the water.
BUCKLEY: Delacruz kept his face hidden for security reasons. The growers, he and other law enforcement officials believe, are members of the Mexican drug cartels, known for their violence.
After three hours of hiking along impossibly rugged terrain, we arrived at one of the grower's camps.
(on camera): Everything is still left behind here. You can see the tools that they used, the pesticides and the equipment that they used in the growing process. Over here, some of the utensils they left behind, the skillets and the pots from the kitchen area where they cooked. Back on this side, you can see they constructed a hammock where obviously one of the growers was sleeping. And down here, one of the garbage pits in what's supposed to be a pristine wilderness area of a national park.
(voice-over): The defiling of this national park also involving poaching and the polluting of waters with chemicals.
(on camera): Is it offensive to you?
DELACRUZ: Absolutely. Totally offensive to me, you know, on a personal level and as an employee of the National Park Service.
BUCKLEY: And officials say it is not an activity confined to Sequoia National Park nor one that shows signs of easing up. It means this summer park rangers will have two jobs -- protecting park visitors while looking out for pot growers.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Sequoia National Park, California.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: So, what to do about it? There is a bill in Congress that could help. But let's face it, our national parks aren't exactly tops on the list.
Live to Reading, California and Jim Milestone, park superintendent of the Whiskeytown National Recreational Area.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM MILESTONE, WHISKEYTOWN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: This must be very frustrating to you.
MILESTONE: Well, it's something that we're -- we were very disappointed to discover back about four or five years ago when we came upon a sudden die-off of tadpoles in a Whiskeytown lake and we tracked that down to the upper drainages in a remote section of the park where an extensive marijuana garden existed that was hosting about 15 men that were working full-time up there growing millions of dollars worth of marijuana.
COSTELLO: How extensive was this garden of pot?
MILESTONE: Well, we had 15 individuals working up there. They were living up there. There's a lot of irrigation hose, several thousand feet of irrigation hose. There were a couple of dams that were built in the high drainage with spring boxes. Those dams, the reservoirs were filled with herbicides that were used and fertilizers to provide...
COSTELLO: So this was a very extensive operation. I think it's very difficult for people to wrap their minds around how you can sneak into the national park, camp out there, build irrigation systems and nobody roots you out.
MILESTONE: Well, we -- they were in a very remote area of the park. It was a lot of poison oak up there and deep chaparral. And they had carefully clipped away the branches of bushes so that they were pretty well camouflaged. And most of their activity, their movement, was done at night, when very few people were up.
COSTELLO: And you say this has been going on for years. And I know that you've been trying to get help to eradicate this problem.
Have you made any progress?
MILESTONE: We have. We are working very closely with Shasta County Sheriff Jim Pope and his team of the drug task force that is eradicating marijuana gardens throughout northern California.
We're also working in partnership with the National Guard and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and with the U.S. attorney, McGregor Scott, out here. And together, we're developing quite a few resources to deal with this issue. And we've...
COSTELLO: Have you made any arrests, though?
MILESTONE: We have. We have made arrests of individuals. Most of these people are just illegal migrant workers that have come up to California and they got a job working in the marijuana fields at Whiskeytown. So they usually...
COSTELLO: Yes, but I mean the big people, like the head of the drug cartels who hire those people and send them into our national parks.
MILESTONE: Well, we're working with the sheriff's department. We're doing surveillance on these marijuana gardens and we find out where they drive to at night and to their houses that they're using. And that leads it to a more sophisticated network of the people involved in these criminal activities in the parks.
COSTELLO: Jim Milestone, park superintendent of the Whiskeytown National Recreational Area.
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. Still to come, offended and outraged over a yearbook photo that depicts slavery and bondage. We have the pictures for you.
And how much would you think this bus stop is worth? Does a million bucks sound steep? That story in the last half hour of DAYBREAK.
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