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American Morning
New Information About Man Being Questioned in Idaho Slaying; Bitter Fight Over Judicial Nominees and Filibuster
Aired May 19, 2005 - 07:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New information this morning about the man being questioned in the Idaho slaying, but does he know anything about these two missing children? A live report is ahead.
And take a look at this in Minnesota. A sheriff's deputy hit head on by an out-of-control truck, terrifying pictures, but a remarkable outcome.
And the long wait is over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to take my mask off. It was too heavy. Kit Fisto (ph), with the tentacles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: In the middle of the night, thousands packed movie theaters across the country to be among the first to catch "Star Wars Episode III." The Force is with us, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody, on a Thursday. Good to have you along with us today. What a day it was for the U.S. Senate yesterday, and more to follow today. The showdown over judicial nominees will continue today on the Hill.
O'BRIEN: Day one of that debate, in fact, got pretty heated on Wednesday. This morning, though, possible compromise. Although we have to say we've been talking compromise for a couple of days. Sure didn't look that way yesterday.
HEMMER: You think?
More on that in a moment. Here's Jack. What's happening? Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.
"It is the worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen in my life," Donald trump talking about the design for the Freedom Tower, which is the building proposed to replace the World Trade Center. Mr. Trump has his own ideas on what ought to be done with that site. We'll show it to you and talk about it. HEMMER: Kid of know where he stands, huh?
O'BRIEN: And does it have a big Trump logo on it? Trump downtown.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
I want to start this morning with the FBI now joining the interrogation of this person of interest in these three killings in Idaho. Also, there's an Amber Alert out still for two missing children there. The children's mother, brother and the mother's boyfriend found dead in their home in Coeur D'Alene on Monday.
Sean Callebs is back live this morning with developments from there -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, we can tell you the FBI, along with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office spent hours yesterday questioning that person of interest, 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner. However, they got very little information. Authorities say that Lutner doesn't know where the missing children are. Whether he has any connection to this crime or whether he can shed any insight onto the triple murders here, still we don't know. Now, the sheriff yesterday told me that the triple murder here was not a random act. In his words, someone was on a mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): Heavy rain. Just another obstacle for small-town investigators trying to piece together a triple-murder mystery and the disappearance of two children.
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: The investigation is really slow right now.
CALLEBS: The Amber Alert continues to flash, but so far no sign of the missing children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his little sister, Shasta.
It's been a challenge for investigators from the outset, three victims who were tied up, and no one in the house to tell investigators the two small children were missing.
WOLFINGER: Obviously, that was very important. There's no other way for us to know that until we identified who the people were or had an idea who they were, found their next of kin, and then learned about the children.
CALLEBS: Amber Alert calls are steadily streaming in from the public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kootenai County Sheriff's Department assistance hotline.
CALLEBS: But even this emergency-management post is a work in progress. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first time we've activated it for the Amber Alert.
SAUNDRA VON BEHREN, EMERGENCY MGMT. OFFICE: Actually I guess it is that, you know, something we didn't expect to have here in Coeur D'Alene, happen here in Coeur D'Alene. So it is, you know, kind of a shock to us.
CALLEBS: The sheriff's office identified 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner as a person of interest, and authorities questioned the man late Wednesday after he alerted them to his whereabouts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: The last 48 hours crews have been scouring the area in and around the crime scene with cadaver and search-and-rescue dogs, but the sheriff's office says their work is apparently finished with no luck. Today, however, the sheriff's office does plan to put divers into the water nearby this home in ponds and small creeks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sean Callebs, thanks for that, in northern Idaho. More developments on this case in a few moments, too. We'll talk to a member of the county sheriff's department there on that story.
The FBI is calling it the most unusual bank robbery ever staged in the Kansas City area. Hooded gunmen entered a bank on Wednesday, ordered all employees to strip down to their underwear, let them out of the bank along a rope. Six of them put into a minivan. He had one of the hostages drive that to a nearby airport. There are conflicting reports there at the airport about whether or not he might have intended to hijack a plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF LANZA, FBI SPOKESMAN: We know that the suspect in a backpack brought in some chains and flex-cuffs. That's what we're told by some of the witnesses. So he may have used that to bound some of the suspects in this particular case. But he is 44, from Wichita, Kansas, and we understand also that he does have a pilot's license. Now whether or not he was trying to make his way to the airport to get on an airplane or not, there's no way to tell at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Wow. The suspect was shot in an exchange of gunfire, taken to a hospital. Now in critical condition. No one else was hurt, however. In the next hour, we'll talk with an FBI special agent and an eyewitness, too, who watched that scene unfold from across the street, and that is the talk today throughout that entire area.
O'BRIEN: Let's take you to Capitol Hill now. Some leading senators are hinting that a compromise could be possible in this bitter fight over judicial nominees and the filibuster. Time, though, is now a key factor.
CNN's congressional correspondent Joe Johns is live for us on Capitol Hill.
Good morning, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A second day of debate now over a very fundamental idea, majority rule versus minority rights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Democrats on the capitol steps vowing defiance.
U.S. SENATOR HARRY REID (D-NV): They want it all: all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.
JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.
U.S. SENATOR BILL FRIST (R-TN): It's the partisan leadership-led use of the cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.
JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately looking for a way to break the impasse.
U.S. SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE): There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you could ultimately bring them together.
JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort?
On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska is making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate.
On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.
U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): We're making some progress, but we have no conclusion yet.
JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.
So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...
U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): It's contemptible. It's contemptible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.
JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is defined 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.
Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, 6 Republicans would be enough to deny GOP Leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.
If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, "Trust, but verify."
Leadership...
FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote, accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: The majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper. It will change the Senate forever.
JOHNS: ...and leadership.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We just continue to work right up until the last minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.
JOHNS: Two tracks, one headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses, he won't get points for trying, which increases the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up or down votes for all of the president's nominees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Part of their problem with compromise is that there appears to be very little room to move between the leaders. Of course, on the other hand, the majority leader himself, Bill Frist, is being pushed by conservative groups to stand his ground. At the same time, he has presidential ambitions.
Back to you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Joe, we will see which track wins out in the long run.
Joe Johns for us on Capitol Hill. Joe, thanks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The force is with just about everyone today. Today's "Star Wars" release brings us to the last episode of our AMERICAN MORNING star wars trilogy. Today we look at the crazy of all the fans out there.
Sibila Vargas is live in L.A., and they have been up all night.
Sibila, what's happening?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, it's 3:30 -- actually it's 4:10 in the morning out here, and this place is packed. These are some of the most devoted fans.
Now why would anyone stand on line for days, weeks, and sometimes in front of the wrong theater? I went out in search of answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: This is where the fun begins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS (voice-over): And fans are having a lot of fun as revenge of the signature gets closer. Whether quoting favorite lines...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am your father.
VARGAS: ... Catching up on their reading.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wonder if this is why they got the PG-13 rating.
VARGAS: Or other activities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're making Jedi robes in the back.
VARGAS: The faithful are gathering one last time to see a "Star Wars" movie for the first time. At Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, they're lining up, and the movie isn't even playing there. Undaunted these diehards are trying to convince Grauman's to honor a longstanding "Star Wars" tradition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the home of "Star Wars." This is where it premiered in 1977. It's where it premiered in "Episode I" and "II," and there's no other place best suited to premiere the movie.
VARGAS: Even if it's not showing there, fans are making the wait worthwhile. By raising money for the Star Light Starbright Children's Foundation. As Yoda would say, about the journey this is, not the destination. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lineup isn't entirely just about the movie. They're here for the experience. They're hear to hang out with the fans, and just be a part of this great experience.
VARGAS: "Star Wars" creator George Lucas says the gathering reminds him of Woodstock.
GEORGE LUCAS, "STAR WARS" CREATOR: Well, it's a chance for like- minded people to get together and have fun, and sort of party for several weeks on a street. Once "Star Wars" is gone, I'll sure they'll find something else, another reason to gather and have fun.
VARGAS: A lot of fans refuse to believe this is really the end of the line.
(on camera): Are you kind of sad this is the last of the installments?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he says. In about 10 or 15 years, he'll be like, come on, let's make another one. So I'm actually waiting for...
VARGAS: You think? He's going to get older, though. That's the thing. It took him 20 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George, you know you're going to make another one. So we'll be here for 7, 8, and 9.
VARGAS (voice-over): Let the countdown begin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Well, I'm not sure if he's going to get his wish, but I'll tell you one thing, Lucas does plan on releasing all of the episodes in 3-D starting in 2007. And if you want to see more on that interview, you can watch my entertainment special this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: I think I know the answer to this question, Sibila. For those who have seen it, how do they like it?
VARGAS: The people that have seen it, I would say about 90 percent of the people that I spoke to loved the film. But these are real diehard fans. I got to see it myself. I thought it was really good. What it did was it inspired me, the curiosity, to go and see the first three again. So I think that's been the consensus around here.
HEMMER: So a party at your house, huh?
VARGAS: What's that?
HEMMER: I was kidding.
Sibila Vargas in L.A. We'll let that go.
VARGAS: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear.
Talk to you later, okay? get back to us when you watch the original three films, okay?
HEMMER: That's all right. Talk to you later, OK. Get back to us when you watch the original three films, OK. See you Sibila.
O'BRIEN: She's got a lot of time on her hands.
HEMMER: I'll tell you what, DVD party at Sibila's house this weekend.
O'BRIEN: That'd be fun.
Much more ahead this morning, including more on the search for these two children who are missing in Idaho. We're going to talk to an investigator who's got some new information about the man who is now being questioned in that case.
HEMMER: Also, the Senate battle over these judicial nominees. Why are Democrats so opposed to these two women? we'll look at that today.
O'BRIEN: And then this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The experience of September 11th has given us the courage and conviction to go out and, you know, push the bounds, like really, really try to make this place better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: How September 11th has helped shape the class of 2005, a look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Question from Idaho today, what do police know, if anything about this triple slaying and the disappearance of two children? Now that they have spoken to their person of interest, 33- year-old Robert Roy Lutner contacted police on Wednesday. They say he's still not a suspect. Nine-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene still have not been located.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Captain Ben Wolfinger is with the sheriff's department. Captain, thanks for your time again today, very early in the morning out there.
WOLFINGER: Good morning.
HEMMER: Robert Lutner was a close friend of the victims.
WOLFINGER: That's correct. HEMMER: Has he given you any more indication as to where these two children are today, captain?
WOLFINGER: Unfortunately, no. Mr. Lutner was unable to provide us with any information on the whereabouts of the children or what may have happened to them.
HEMMER: Are you any closer today than you were at this time yesterday in locating them?
WOLFINGER: We're really not. We're really not. We've had hundreds of tips come into our tip line, but nothing that's panned out yet.
HEMMER: The local newspaper out there, "The Spokesman Review" is reporting that Lutner owed this family $2,000. Is that a fact, captain?
WOLFINGER: You know, we don't -- I don't know that at this point. Our investigators spoke with Lutner late into the evening, long after I'd gone home last night. Once we get briefed this morning, we'll find out if that's true. They'll follow up all the angles.
HEMMER: Do you consider him a suspect at all?
WOLFINGER: We never considered him a suspect. We knew he was just a person of interest, because we had information he had been at the house Sunday evening. If he hadn't been involved, we thought he could possibly tell us who may have been here at the residence or who they were expecting Sunday evening.
HEMMER: And why do you believe he was at the home on Sunday night?
WOLFINGER: Our investigators, through sources that they won't name, were able to determine that he had been here Sunday evening.
HEMMER: Do you believe he has any knowledge as to what happened?
WOLFINGER: Well, nothing that -- he doesn't claim to have any personal knowledge of what happened, other than what he's seen in the public media.
HEMMER: I read where you expected to drain some local ponds sometime soon. Will that happen today, sir?
WOLFINGER: We only drained one pond. It was a septic pond that was near the home yesterday. There was nothing there. We'll be bringing divers in to search the natural bodies of water around the home, some ponds and creeks in the area.
HEMMER: Yes, the autopsy reports, it's my understanding anyway, they'll come back later today. If that is still the case, what clues could you derive from that report, captain? WOLFINGER: Well, that should give us the cause of death, possibly the time of death. Any weapons that we need to be looking for. They've also checked all the bodies through the autopsy process for fingerprints or any foreign blood substances or other fluids that possibly could give us DNA information in the days to come.
HEMMER: Captain, do you fear the worst for these kids?
WOLFINGER: You know, every day that goes by, every minute that goes by, we do fear even more and more. Our hope is that this is one of those miraculous cases where those kids are still being well taken care of and someone somewhere is going to see them at a restaurant, at a gas station, somewhere, and they'll call either the sheriff's office here or their local law enforcement agency, and we'll be able to recover those children and get them back to what family they have left here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's Captain Ben Wolfinger with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.
Best of luck to all of them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Have you seen this videotape? it was shot from a patrol car that was driven by a Minnesota sheriff's deputy. Now watch this as he is struck full-on by that vehicle there, a pickup truck. That happened on Wednesday. The deputy had stopped to help a woman whose car had gotten stuck in a ditch. When the sheriff saw that videotape, he said he was certain that the deputy had been killed. But incredibly enough, he wasn't killed. He was just treated and then released from the hospital with no serious injuries. Pretty remarkable videotape to watch.
Some new hope for a major U.S. airline desperately trying to pull itself out of bankruptcy. Andy is "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
Business news now. Does it surprise you at all that we are talking about airliners again. Two inching closer to a merger. Another could be headed for bankruptcy. Andy Serwer has got all that as he minds your business this morning.
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A couple of big news in the airline industry again this morning, Soledad. First of all, it appears that U.S. Airways and America West will be merging. Deal could be happening as early as today. The number-seven carrier and number-eight carrier forming the sixth largest airline in the United States. The deal would take U.S. Air out of bankruptcy. Still could be last-minute hitches. It would combine U.S. air's eastern presence with America West's western presence, obviously.
Some experts still skeptical that this deal will help bring these carriers back to financial health, especially U.S. Air.
The other story is threats of bankruptcy from another airline. This one has been off the radar screen in terms of talking about bankruptcy, and the threats come from an unusual source, the head of the pilots union at Northwest Airlines. Saying that if other unions don't join in cost cutting, this carrier could file for bankruptcy.
As you may expect, the heads of the other unions were distraught at the news and said that they had already pitched in and said that the head of the pilots union had no business talking this way. So we've got a big dust-up happening there.
And, Soledad, this airline has lost $2.8 billion since 2001. So just more red ink.
O'BRIEN: All of them are struggling.
SERWER: Yes, they really are.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks. We'll check in on the markets later.
HEMMER: Here's jack and the Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
After almost four years bickering about the redesign of the World Trade Center, New York City officials have little to point to in the way of accomplishment. All hat, no cattle, as they say in the Lone Star State. Wednesday, real estate developer Donald Trump called the design for the Freedom Tower, quote, "The worst pile of architecture crap I have ever seen in my life." Trump stepped up with his own idea of the site, a stronger, taller version of the original Twin Towers. In addition to 211-story towers, Trump's design would include space for offices, shops, a hotel, condos, and a memorial.
Not one to mince words, Trump said the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower is a skeleton, that looks like a junkyard. Love him or hate him, Trump does design and build buildings for a living.
Here's the question, do you like trump's plan to rebuild the Twin Towers? AM@CNN.com.
HEMMER: If it is any guide, Oklahoma City took six years from the time of the attacks until they got their entire memorial open, six years, dealing with 168 lives in Oklahoma City. Here you're talking close to 3,000.
SERWER: I think you're going to get a lot of e-mails on this one. I mean, I think it's a real great question.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Everybody's got an idea.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: It's graduation season, by the way, too. I love this senior prank. Watch this. Surveillance videotape in Vero Beach, Florida. That there is a bull by the name of Jasper, cut loose in the halls early Wednesday. Jasper is being raised by the school's agriculture department. The students fessed up. They were suspended for three days. Jasper was put back in the pen. Vero Beach, Florida. One of the best senior pranks we've seen in a long time.
O'BRIEN: Poor Jasper, running the halls of the school all confused.
We've got news for couch potatoes and video game addicts. Time spent in front of the TV or the computer screen could actually be good for you. We're going to explain why, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 19, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New information this morning about the man being questioned in the Idaho slaying, but does he know anything about these two missing children? A live report is ahead.
And take a look at this in Minnesota. A sheriff's deputy hit head on by an out-of-control truck, terrifying pictures, but a remarkable outcome.
And the long wait is over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to take my mask off. It was too heavy. Kit Fisto (ph), with the tentacles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: In the middle of the night, thousands packed movie theaters across the country to be among the first to catch "Star Wars Episode III." The Force is with us, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody, on a Thursday. Good to have you along with us today. What a day it was for the U.S. Senate yesterday, and more to follow today. The showdown over judicial nominees will continue today on the Hill.
O'BRIEN: Day one of that debate, in fact, got pretty heated on Wednesday. This morning, though, possible compromise. Although we have to say we've been talking compromise for a couple of days. Sure didn't look that way yesterday.
HEMMER: You think?
More on that in a moment. Here's Jack. What's happening? Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.
"It is the worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen in my life," Donald trump talking about the design for the Freedom Tower, which is the building proposed to replace the World Trade Center. Mr. Trump has his own ideas on what ought to be done with that site. We'll show it to you and talk about it. HEMMER: Kid of know where he stands, huh?
O'BRIEN: And does it have a big Trump logo on it? Trump downtown.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
I want to start this morning with the FBI now joining the interrogation of this person of interest in these three killings in Idaho. Also, there's an Amber Alert out still for two missing children there. The children's mother, brother and the mother's boyfriend found dead in their home in Coeur D'Alene on Monday.
Sean Callebs is back live this morning with developments from there -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, we can tell you the FBI, along with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office spent hours yesterday questioning that person of interest, 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner. However, they got very little information. Authorities say that Lutner doesn't know where the missing children are. Whether he has any connection to this crime or whether he can shed any insight onto the triple murders here, still we don't know. Now, the sheriff yesterday told me that the triple murder here was not a random act. In his words, someone was on a mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): Heavy rain. Just another obstacle for small-town investigators trying to piece together a triple-murder mystery and the disappearance of two children.
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: The investigation is really slow right now.
CALLEBS: The Amber Alert continues to flash, but so far no sign of the missing children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his little sister, Shasta.
It's been a challenge for investigators from the outset, three victims who were tied up, and no one in the house to tell investigators the two small children were missing.
WOLFINGER: Obviously, that was very important. There's no other way for us to know that until we identified who the people were or had an idea who they were, found their next of kin, and then learned about the children.
CALLEBS: Amber Alert calls are steadily streaming in from the public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kootenai County Sheriff's Department assistance hotline.
CALLEBS: But even this emergency-management post is a work in progress. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first time we've activated it for the Amber Alert.
SAUNDRA VON BEHREN, EMERGENCY MGMT. OFFICE: Actually I guess it is that, you know, something we didn't expect to have here in Coeur D'Alene, happen here in Coeur D'Alene. So it is, you know, kind of a shock to us.
CALLEBS: The sheriff's office identified 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner as a person of interest, and authorities questioned the man late Wednesday after he alerted them to his whereabouts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: The last 48 hours crews have been scouring the area in and around the crime scene with cadaver and search-and-rescue dogs, but the sheriff's office says their work is apparently finished with no luck. Today, however, the sheriff's office does plan to put divers into the water nearby this home in ponds and small creeks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sean Callebs, thanks for that, in northern Idaho. More developments on this case in a few moments, too. We'll talk to a member of the county sheriff's department there on that story.
The FBI is calling it the most unusual bank robbery ever staged in the Kansas City area. Hooded gunmen entered a bank on Wednesday, ordered all employees to strip down to their underwear, let them out of the bank along a rope. Six of them put into a minivan. He had one of the hostages drive that to a nearby airport. There are conflicting reports there at the airport about whether or not he might have intended to hijack a plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF LANZA, FBI SPOKESMAN: We know that the suspect in a backpack brought in some chains and flex-cuffs. That's what we're told by some of the witnesses. So he may have used that to bound some of the suspects in this particular case. But he is 44, from Wichita, Kansas, and we understand also that he does have a pilot's license. Now whether or not he was trying to make his way to the airport to get on an airplane or not, there's no way to tell at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Wow. The suspect was shot in an exchange of gunfire, taken to a hospital. Now in critical condition. No one else was hurt, however. In the next hour, we'll talk with an FBI special agent and an eyewitness, too, who watched that scene unfold from across the street, and that is the talk today throughout that entire area.
O'BRIEN: Let's take you to Capitol Hill now. Some leading senators are hinting that a compromise could be possible in this bitter fight over judicial nominees and the filibuster. Time, though, is now a key factor.
CNN's congressional correspondent Joe Johns is live for us on Capitol Hill.
Good morning, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A second day of debate now over a very fundamental idea, majority rule versus minority rights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Democrats on the capitol steps vowing defiance.
U.S. SENATOR HARRY REID (D-NV): They want it all: all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.
JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.
U.S. SENATOR BILL FRIST (R-TN): It's the partisan leadership-led use of the cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.
JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately looking for a way to break the impasse.
U.S. SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE): There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you could ultimately bring them together.
JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort?
On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska is making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate.
On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.
U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): We're making some progress, but we have no conclusion yet.
JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.
So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...
U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): It's contemptible. It's contemptible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.
JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is defined 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.
Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, 6 Republicans would be enough to deny GOP Leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.
If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, "Trust, but verify."
Leadership...
FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote, accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: The majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper. It will change the Senate forever.
JOHNS: ...and leadership.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We just continue to work right up until the last minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.
JOHNS: Two tracks, one headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses, he won't get points for trying, which increases the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up or down votes for all of the president's nominees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Part of their problem with compromise is that there appears to be very little room to move between the leaders. Of course, on the other hand, the majority leader himself, Bill Frist, is being pushed by conservative groups to stand his ground. At the same time, he has presidential ambitions.
Back to you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Joe, we will see which track wins out in the long run.
Joe Johns for us on Capitol Hill. Joe, thanks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The force is with just about everyone today. Today's "Star Wars" release brings us to the last episode of our AMERICAN MORNING star wars trilogy. Today we look at the crazy of all the fans out there.
Sibila Vargas is live in L.A., and they have been up all night.
Sibila, what's happening?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, it's 3:30 -- actually it's 4:10 in the morning out here, and this place is packed. These are some of the most devoted fans.
Now why would anyone stand on line for days, weeks, and sometimes in front of the wrong theater? I went out in search of answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: This is where the fun begins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS (voice-over): And fans are having a lot of fun as revenge of the signature gets closer. Whether quoting favorite lines...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am your father.
VARGAS: ... Catching up on their reading.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wonder if this is why they got the PG-13 rating.
VARGAS: Or other activities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're making Jedi robes in the back.
VARGAS: The faithful are gathering one last time to see a "Star Wars" movie for the first time. At Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, they're lining up, and the movie isn't even playing there. Undaunted these diehards are trying to convince Grauman's to honor a longstanding "Star Wars" tradition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the home of "Star Wars." This is where it premiered in 1977. It's where it premiered in "Episode I" and "II," and there's no other place best suited to premiere the movie.
VARGAS: Even if it's not showing there, fans are making the wait worthwhile. By raising money for the Star Light Starbright Children's Foundation. As Yoda would say, about the journey this is, not the destination. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lineup isn't entirely just about the movie. They're here for the experience. They're hear to hang out with the fans, and just be a part of this great experience.
VARGAS: "Star Wars" creator George Lucas says the gathering reminds him of Woodstock.
GEORGE LUCAS, "STAR WARS" CREATOR: Well, it's a chance for like- minded people to get together and have fun, and sort of party for several weeks on a street. Once "Star Wars" is gone, I'll sure they'll find something else, another reason to gather and have fun.
VARGAS: A lot of fans refuse to believe this is really the end of the line.
(on camera): Are you kind of sad this is the last of the installments?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he says. In about 10 or 15 years, he'll be like, come on, let's make another one. So I'm actually waiting for...
VARGAS: You think? He's going to get older, though. That's the thing. It took him 20 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George, you know you're going to make another one. So we'll be here for 7, 8, and 9.
VARGAS (voice-over): Let the countdown begin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Well, I'm not sure if he's going to get his wish, but I'll tell you one thing, Lucas does plan on releasing all of the episodes in 3-D starting in 2007. And if you want to see more on that interview, you can watch my entertainment special this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: I think I know the answer to this question, Sibila. For those who have seen it, how do they like it?
VARGAS: The people that have seen it, I would say about 90 percent of the people that I spoke to loved the film. But these are real diehard fans. I got to see it myself. I thought it was really good. What it did was it inspired me, the curiosity, to go and see the first three again. So I think that's been the consensus around here.
HEMMER: So a party at your house, huh?
VARGAS: What's that?
HEMMER: I was kidding.
Sibila Vargas in L.A. We'll let that go.
VARGAS: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear.
Talk to you later, okay? get back to us when you watch the original three films, okay?
HEMMER: That's all right. Talk to you later, OK. Get back to us when you watch the original three films, OK. See you Sibila.
O'BRIEN: She's got a lot of time on her hands.
HEMMER: I'll tell you what, DVD party at Sibila's house this weekend.
O'BRIEN: That'd be fun.
Much more ahead this morning, including more on the search for these two children who are missing in Idaho. We're going to talk to an investigator who's got some new information about the man who is now being questioned in that case.
HEMMER: Also, the Senate battle over these judicial nominees. Why are Democrats so opposed to these two women? we'll look at that today.
O'BRIEN: And then this...
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The experience of September 11th has given us the courage and conviction to go out and, you know, push the bounds, like really, really try to make this place better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: How September 11th has helped shape the class of 2005, a look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
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HEMMER: Question from Idaho today, what do police know, if anything about this triple slaying and the disappearance of two children? Now that they have spoken to their person of interest, 33- year-old Robert Roy Lutner contacted police on Wednesday. They say he's still not a suspect. Nine-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene still have not been located.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Captain Ben Wolfinger is with the sheriff's department. Captain, thanks for your time again today, very early in the morning out there.
WOLFINGER: Good morning.
HEMMER: Robert Lutner was a close friend of the victims.
WOLFINGER: That's correct. HEMMER: Has he given you any more indication as to where these two children are today, captain?
WOLFINGER: Unfortunately, no. Mr. Lutner was unable to provide us with any information on the whereabouts of the children or what may have happened to them.
HEMMER: Are you any closer today than you were at this time yesterday in locating them?
WOLFINGER: We're really not. We're really not. We've had hundreds of tips come into our tip line, but nothing that's panned out yet.
HEMMER: The local newspaper out there, "The Spokesman Review" is reporting that Lutner owed this family $2,000. Is that a fact, captain?
WOLFINGER: You know, we don't -- I don't know that at this point. Our investigators spoke with Lutner late into the evening, long after I'd gone home last night. Once we get briefed this morning, we'll find out if that's true. They'll follow up all the angles.
HEMMER: Do you consider him a suspect at all?
WOLFINGER: We never considered him a suspect. We knew he was just a person of interest, because we had information he had been at the house Sunday evening. If he hadn't been involved, we thought he could possibly tell us who may have been here at the residence or who they were expecting Sunday evening.
HEMMER: And why do you believe he was at the home on Sunday night?
WOLFINGER: Our investigators, through sources that they won't name, were able to determine that he had been here Sunday evening.
HEMMER: Do you believe he has any knowledge as to what happened?
WOLFINGER: Well, nothing that -- he doesn't claim to have any personal knowledge of what happened, other than what he's seen in the public media.
HEMMER: I read where you expected to drain some local ponds sometime soon. Will that happen today, sir?
WOLFINGER: We only drained one pond. It was a septic pond that was near the home yesterday. There was nothing there. We'll be bringing divers in to search the natural bodies of water around the home, some ponds and creeks in the area.
HEMMER: Yes, the autopsy reports, it's my understanding anyway, they'll come back later today. If that is still the case, what clues could you derive from that report, captain? WOLFINGER: Well, that should give us the cause of death, possibly the time of death. Any weapons that we need to be looking for. They've also checked all the bodies through the autopsy process for fingerprints or any foreign blood substances or other fluids that possibly could give us DNA information in the days to come.
HEMMER: Captain, do you fear the worst for these kids?
WOLFINGER: You know, every day that goes by, every minute that goes by, we do fear even more and more. Our hope is that this is one of those miraculous cases where those kids are still being well taken care of and someone somewhere is going to see them at a restaurant, at a gas station, somewhere, and they'll call either the sheriff's office here or their local law enforcement agency, and we'll be able to recover those children and get them back to what family they have left here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's Captain Ben Wolfinger with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.
Best of luck to all of them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Have you seen this videotape? it was shot from a patrol car that was driven by a Minnesota sheriff's deputy. Now watch this as he is struck full-on by that vehicle there, a pickup truck. That happened on Wednesday. The deputy had stopped to help a woman whose car had gotten stuck in a ditch. When the sheriff saw that videotape, he said he was certain that the deputy had been killed. But incredibly enough, he wasn't killed. He was just treated and then released from the hospital with no serious injuries. Pretty remarkable videotape to watch.
Some new hope for a major U.S. airline desperately trying to pull itself out of bankruptcy. Andy is "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
Business news now. Does it surprise you at all that we are talking about airliners again. Two inching closer to a merger. Another could be headed for bankruptcy. Andy Serwer has got all that as he minds your business this morning.
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A couple of big news in the airline industry again this morning, Soledad. First of all, it appears that U.S. Airways and America West will be merging. Deal could be happening as early as today. The number-seven carrier and number-eight carrier forming the sixth largest airline in the United States. The deal would take U.S. Air out of bankruptcy. Still could be last-minute hitches. It would combine U.S. air's eastern presence with America West's western presence, obviously.
Some experts still skeptical that this deal will help bring these carriers back to financial health, especially U.S. Air.
The other story is threats of bankruptcy from another airline. This one has been off the radar screen in terms of talking about bankruptcy, and the threats come from an unusual source, the head of the pilots union at Northwest Airlines. Saying that if other unions don't join in cost cutting, this carrier could file for bankruptcy.
As you may expect, the heads of the other unions were distraught at the news and said that they had already pitched in and said that the head of the pilots union had no business talking this way. So we've got a big dust-up happening there.
And, Soledad, this airline has lost $2.8 billion since 2001. So just more red ink.
O'BRIEN: All of them are struggling.
SERWER: Yes, they really are.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks. We'll check in on the markets later.
HEMMER: Here's jack and the Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
After almost four years bickering about the redesign of the World Trade Center, New York City officials have little to point to in the way of accomplishment. All hat, no cattle, as they say in the Lone Star State. Wednesday, real estate developer Donald Trump called the design for the Freedom Tower, quote, "The worst pile of architecture crap I have ever seen in my life." Trump stepped up with his own idea of the site, a stronger, taller version of the original Twin Towers. In addition to 211-story towers, Trump's design would include space for offices, shops, a hotel, condos, and a memorial.
Not one to mince words, Trump said the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower is a skeleton, that looks like a junkyard. Love him or hate him, Trump does design and build buildings for a living.
Here's the question, do you like trump's plan to rebuild the Twin Towers? AM@CNN.com.
HEMMER: If it is any guide, Oklahoma City took six years from the time of the attacks until they got their entire memorial open, six years, dealing with 168 lives in Oklahoma City. Here you're talking close to 3,000.
SERWER: I think you're going to get a lot of e-mails on this one. I mean, I think it's a real great question.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Everybody's got an idea.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: It's graduation season, by the way, too. I love this senior prank. Watch this. Surveillance videotape in Vero Beach, Florida. That there is a bull by the name of Jasper, cut loose in the halls early Wednesday. Jasper is being raised by the school's agriculture department. The students fessed up. They were suspended for three days. Jasper was put back in the pen. Vero Beach, Florida. One of the best senior pranks we've seen in a long time.
O'BRIEN: Poor Jasper, running the halls of the school all confused.
We've got news for couch potatoes and video game addicts. Time spent in front of the TV or the computer screen could actually be good for you. We're going to explain why, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment.
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