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Israeli Troops Pouring into More Jewish Settlements in Gaza; Chilling Details Revealed In Court on How BTK Murdered Victims

Aired August 18, 2005 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A developing story in the Middle East. Israeli troops pouring into more Jewish settlements in Gaza, where more defiance is expected on day two of the forced evacuations. We're live with the latest.
Chilling details revealed in court on how BTK killer Dennis Rader murdered his victims. And now those victims' families have the chance to confront the killer face-to-face.

And Pope Benedict XVI making his first trip abroad to his native Germany, where hundreds of thousands expected to attend World Youth Day. A papal homecoming on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.

Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: Tense stand-offs right now in Gaza to tell you about. Hundreds of Jewish settlers refusing to get out still. But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says all are expected to be evacuated by mention. So far, Israeli Defense Forces have completely evacuated six of 21 settlements, those seen here in blue. Forced evacuations are underway in three settlements, indicated in red on this map. About 700 of some 9,000 settlers are still holding out, along with thousands of young radical Jews.

Before leaving, many settlers burned and vandalized the places they once called home.

John Vause is at the Kfar Darom settlement. And that has been a tense stand-off there, focused on the synagogue -- John, what's the scene there now?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

A couple of things we want to show you right now. We can see a very emotional young woman here, basically yelling and crying at the soldiers. This has been a scene repeated many, many times over the last two days. The settlers confronting the soldiers with their anger and also with their tears and grief. A lot of times we've been hearing how can you do this, we are all Jews, we are all brothers.

I'm just going to get Christian to pan up to his right, because we'll take a look at this bus, which is now about to leave. This is yet another bus full of settlers from Kfar Darom. Some were carried onto this bus. Some went, I wouldn't say voluntarily, but they did go peacefully.

There are women and children and men on that bus. That's the same bus that has been pelted with paint bombs from some of the protesters here in Kfar Darom. There have been some very emotional scenes, a lot of people crying, a lot of angry people, a lot of children involved.

Now, the main problem, we understand right now, for the police could, in fact, be the synagogue. There are a lot of protesters, as we can see, up on the roof. They were the people who were, in fact, throwing the paint balls at the bus. Police tell us there could be about 200 people inside that synagogue.

They're basically waiting them out now. They've brought in some rabbis to try and deal with the people inside, try and convince them to leave. Many of those people inside are not from Kfar Darom. In fact, the police say none of them at all.

A lot of protesters have come here. One of them is Ahuva Weis, who comes from Jerusalem...

AHUVA WEIS, ANTI-PULLOUT PROTESTER: No, I'm not a protester, only a mother and a grandmother...

VAUSE: You're a mother?

WEIS: ... who came here to help and give support to the children.

No, I'll hold her. I'll hold her.

And my heart is breaking to have to tell this to the world. I am so heartbroken that the saddest and most infamous chapter of history is being written here. Never has it happened before that Jewish people would throw their own out of their homes. Not only that, but these innocent, wonderful, loyal citizens, there are none more loyal and more pure than these people, none, who have been bombarded with 6,000 mortar shells and still have been there staying here, standing here steadfast to hold on so that the kibbutzim outside would be able to continue.

And they are being called enemy. Look at all the forces that have been brought here. You know why? To say that this little kid is violent, so that she has to be thrown out. Do you understand? My six little grandchildren are violent people who have to be thrown out by officers, by great big black uniformed, I don't know what they're called, frightening horrible people, by parrot -- I don't know, on horses. Where did he think of this?

VAUSE: This is Ariel Sharon you're talking about, the...

WEIS: I don't understand. I want to say something about Ariel Sharon, whom we all revered, whom we all respected. He's the one who has listed his name with all the names. I don't even want to say it, but the shaba, the 9th of Av. It's a day where many, many bad things happened in Israel in Jewish history.

He has added his name. This day was the first day when all of this horrible thing, horrific thing, happened. This is the chapter that he's writing. I hope that he will be able to look at himself. I hope that he will be able to sleep at night.

VAUSE: OK, Ahuva Weis.

WEIS: We cannot. We have not been able to sleep.

VAUSE: OK.

So there you go, Miles. A lot of people going through a lot of anguish and a lot of heartbreak here at Kfar Darom -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I should say. A tremendous amount of emotion there.

John Vause, thank you very much.

Let's check the other headlines.

Kelly Wallace here with that -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Miles.

Good morning to you.

And good morning, everyone.

Now in the news, six U.S. soldiers have been killed this morning in separate roadside bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First to Iraq, where the U.S. military says an improvised explosive device went off in Samara, about 60 miles outside Baghdad. Four Americans were killed in that attack.

And in Afghanistan, a military armored vehicle was attacked north of Kandahar, killing two American troops. Two others were wounded and are in stable condition.

Convicted serial killer Dennis Rader is set to be back in a Wichita courtroom for day two of his sentencing hearing. Families of his 10 victims are expected to confront him today in what is likely to be an intensely emotional day. We'll go live to Wichita, Kansas for the latest in the trial, coming right up.

NASA is expected to announce it is grounding all space shuttle missions until next year, probably no earlier than March. The next launch had been scheduled for September. This change comes amid a scathing critique of NASA and its launch of Discovery. An oversight panel says officials skipped some safety improvements to meet "unrealistic launch dates." The panel also blames overbearing managers for badly influencing key decisions.

And a massive water main break is cutting off water and electricity to several buildings in downtown Pittsburgh. Take a look at some of these pictures from Wednesday. Hard to believe. Officials say between 20 and 30 million gallons of water rushed into the city streets. Cars and underground parking garages were flooded. Workers were sent home early. Lots of cleanup work to do there.

You know, I was looking at the Associated Press -- just get this. The 20 to 30 million gallons of water, that's enough to keep Niagara Falls running for 40 seconds. So that gives you a sense of a magnitude of the...

O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: Keep Niagara Falls running for 40 seconds?

WALLACE: Forty seconds. That gives you a sense of how much water we're talking about.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: What a waste, too.

WALLACE: I know. And they're trying to figure out what the problem was, so we hope they repair things quickly.

COSTELLO: And dry up.

WALLACE: And dry up.

COSTELLO: Yes.

Thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Anti-war protesters got together for vigils all over the country last night. Those gatherings were held in solidarity with the Cindy Sheehan protest, who are beginning their twelfth day now outside the president's home in Crawford, Texas.

Bob Franken live now in Crawford, where the sun is rising there -- Bob, it's a rather bucolic scene.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Where the sun, as you can see...

O'BRIEN: A rather bucolic scene and I mean when last we spoke with you, there was some concern that our truck would be moved by the commissioner, the county commissioner who dropped by yesterday.

Have things settled down a little bit?

FRANKEN: Well, I guess I'm living proof.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

FRANKEN: Yes, the truck is still there or else we have a very busy hamster right now. And as you can see, we have a glaring sun that's rising over Prairie Chapel Road here outside Crawford.

And as you can see, the residents of Camp Casey are starting to rise, also. This is moving day. They're going to begin what has become a quite laborious move up the road, moving to some property of a sympathizer, which happens to be right next to the President Bush ranch.

The reason is, is because so many people have complained about the disruption here. Whatever the feelings about the Iraq war, many of the people in Crawford are really quite irritated.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): By now, the 700 or so residents of Crawford are used to the hubbub when the president comes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's got to be great for the local economy, everybody coming into Crawford.

FRANKEN: But Cindy Sheehan and her anti-war demonstrators have struck a nerve. Here, the complaints are less about international policy than simple inconvenience -- traffic problems and the other disruptions on the way to the president's ranch, where Camp Casey is set up.

JOYCE SMITH, RED BULL GIFT SHOP: Everyone has the right to freedom of speech. But we do think that this young lady who is here trying to address the president could have this party in her own front yard.

FRANKEN: Those sentiments were heard around town, from the Red Bull Gift Shop to the back room at the Fina Gas Station nearby.

BUCK SLAUGHTER, CRAWFORD RESIDENT: I'm glad she has the right to do what she's doing, but I don't think she should infringe on other people's right of way and so forth by blocking the highway at times.

FRANKEN: So Cindy Sheehan jumped at the offer to relocate to land that's actually closer to the president's ranch. But many of the Crawford residents feel close to the president.

ROBERT WESTERVILLE, CRAWFORD RESIDENT: I know him. I've got some property right across the street from him. Good people.

FRANKEN: And he does bring in the money.

NORMA NELSON CROW, YELLOW ROSE GIFT SHOP: Any time we have increased traffic here, it's always good for business.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FRANKEN: So, that sentiment, that sort of equal attitude toward it possibly is fueled a little bit by the fact that this interest in Crawford brings in an awful lot of money.

Now, as I said, it's moving day today, Miles, and I should point out that the sun that we discussed is going to bring with it temperatures that may go over 100 degrees -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: What a great place to spend a vacation, that's all I can say.

All right, Bob Franken, no vacation for you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so it's going to be really hot in Crawford, Texas.

What about the rest of the country?

Chad is standing by with the answers -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Bob will be shedding that sport coat any time now.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: Ninety-nine officially in Dallas, and that's not that far to the south and to the west from Waco. And there you go, 100 degrees across this big red zone here. F

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: We're -- we've got to get going here.

We're running out of time.

Still to come, a chilling day of testimony in that BTK killer's sentencing. A courtroom insider tells us exactly how Dennis Rader reacted to details of his murders.

COSTELLO: Also, did the FAA spend your money on luxury trips and sport scars? A government whistleblower blows the whistle.

O'BRIEN: And later, a closer look at how the historic Gaza pullout is playing in the Arab world -- jubilation mixed with skepticism.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, it should be another emotional day in court for the families of the BTK victims. This morning, they're allowed to make statements about how Dennis Rader brutalized their families and changed their lives forever. On Wednesday, they endured some painfully explicit testimony about the murders of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPECIAL AGENT LARRY THOMAS, KANSAS BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: As he walked her over toward that position, he first asked for a camera, because he wanted to take a picture. And she responded she did not have a camera. She then asked, "What's going to happen to me?"

And he told her that she would soon be in heaven with the others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: KAKE TV Anchor Larry Hatteberg joins us now from Wichita.

He has been covering the BTK since the very beginning, three decades now.

Larry, you were there in court to hear all this. It's very difficult just to even read it. It must have been emotionally gut wrenching to be there in that courtroom.

LARRY HATTEBERG, KAKE TV ANCHOR: Well, it is, and particularly for the families, who had to endure what each detective was talking about. Of course, each detective went over what Dennis Rader told them. And there were some moments in the court that, as you're listening to this testimony, you really can't believe that a human did this, Miles.

And I'll tell you one quick example.

He was taking 11-year-old Josie Otero, a young girl, downstairs. He was getting ready to kill her and hang her from a pipe. And he asked her if she had a camera because he wanted to take a picture of this. If you can imagine that for just a moment, what could, what was going through her mind. It must have been one of the most terrifying things that any of us can imagine.

That's the kind of testimony that the family members were hearing in court yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think at that point she said to him, you know, what's going to happen to me or something?

HATTEBERG: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: And it was just, just so poignant.

How are these families holding up?

HATTEBERG: Well, surprisingly, they're holding up very well. They expected this testimony. The district attorney had worked with them and told them that it's going to be very graphic and very difficult to hear. And the families have been living with this for years and years and years. And I think they are looking forward to today, because each family member wants to address Dennis Rader. They want to look him in the eye. They want to see the monster in person and they want to tell them how he has affected their lives, or how he hasn't affected their lives.

And I talked to several of them yesterday, and they are ready to look him in the eye. And that should take place today -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Larry, as you talk, we have some pictures of Dennis Rader there. And that's about the extent of the emotion we saw. He was kind of scratching his forehead there.

HATTEBERG: Right.

O'BRIEN: That's it.

HATTEBERG: Right.

O'BRIEN: And I suspect for these families, it has to be so difficult to see what is not really a human being, somebody completely devoid of what we would call compassion.

HATTEBERG: Absolutely. As he's sitting in court and he's looking at autopsy photos and he's looking at the bodies, there was no emotion whatsoever. And it's so typical of Dennis Rader. Throughout all of his court appearances, there has been very little emotion. And yesterday, one of the detectives was relating a point where he was -- where Dennis Rader was talking about how he killed one of the victims and it was obviously bothering the investigator a lot. And Dennis Rader turned to the investigator and he said, "I know I'm talking about a human being, but you have to understand I am a monster."

O'BRIEN: Wow!

HATTEBERG: So he understands that and that's the kind of testimony that went on yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Will we hear an apology?

HATTEBERG: You know, that's a good question. When I interviewed Dennis Rader briefly about four weeks ago, he said, he told me that he was working on a statement to give, to speak out to the family members in court. Now, whether or not that will be an actual apology, I'm not sure he's capable of that. He may try, but I'm sure that apology will not be accepted by any family member.

O'BRIEN: Larry, you've been covering this one for 30 plus years.

HATTEBERG: Right.

O'BRIEN: Did you -- there had to be occasions when you wondered if this person would ever be caught.

HATTEBERG: Right.

O'BRIEN: Did you ever think you would get to this point? Or were there times when you thought he would never be found?

HATTEBERG: Well, of course. I thought for a long period of time that we would never find Dennis Rader, that we would never find BTK. I thought that he was dead or incarcerated for another crime. And so to get this far, it's giving a closing for the people of Wichita. And that's what we need.

Wichita lost its innocence 30 years ago. Now, we just all need to move on.

O'BRIEN: KAKE Anchor Larry Hatteberg, thanks for being with us -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we're following the pullout of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip. How is the story playing out in the Arab world? We'll take a look just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The pullout of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip has pitted Israeli against Israeli. It's a situation no doubt difficult for settlers, but also for Israeli soldiers ordered to force out their own people.

This historic pullout from 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip has dominated American media coverage all week long. But how is it playing in the Arab world?

Senior editor of Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, joins us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta -- good morning, Octavia.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

The story has dominated Arab media, as well, as you can guess, wall to wall coverage.

COSTELLO: Wall to wall coverage, yes, because many here hope this will bring peace.

Do Arabs feel that way?

NASR: You can certainly sense celebration. Celebration seems to be in order. It seems that all of them agree, all Arab media agree that this is time to celebrate the Israeli pullout of Gaza. Al Arabiya, for example, is calling its coverage "Gaza Liberation." Al Jazeera calling it "Gaza Withdrawal."

Basically, there is a saying, Carol, that Arabs agree to disagree. On this issue, on the Palestinian issue, they totally agree that Israel is the occupier and this is time for celebration.

But at the same time there's caution. They're being very careful in analyzing the situation. You can tell from the cartoons, for example -- I like to show cartoons because they don't need much explanation. Take a look at this one. You see there a crow leaving a nest. Basically the crow representing Israel and the nest representing Palestinian land. Basically they see that Israel leaving is a good thing. The bad news is out -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, let's talk about the withdrawal, because it's going relatively smoothly.

So who do Arabs credit for that, the Palestinian Authority? Hamas? Israel?

NASR: A very good question, Carol. They basically credit the Palestinians. They say that it was the Palestinians that drove Israel to make a decision to disengage.

Now, of course, you have those who are not very clear on what motives Israel has behind the pullout. So that basically they're saying it's not time to analyze yet, let's wait and see what Israel is going to do next. Maybe this is just a deployment.

COSTELLO: Well, let's get back to that question for just a second, because Hamas is taking credit for this and so is the Palestinian Authority.

How do the people -- what do the people think?

NASR: And people are worried about that, especially that. They -- the people -- and when you listen to analysts and commentators, they're saying no one should take credit. The Palestinians collectively should take credit, because if you start saying so and so is going to get credit or the Authority or Hamas or whoever, then they're going to fight over who's going to rule Gaza. And this is where all those skeptics come in and say this is a test for the Palestinians, to show that they can rule their land together, that this is not a Hamas against the Palestinian Authority deal. It's a Palestinian deal and the Palestinians should rule themselves.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about that for just a second and what will happen to Gaza, because some think Hamas will just take over that strip of land and it will become sort of a terrorist haven.

What will happen to Gaza? What's the plan?

NASR: There is no plan. And that is the problem. The Palestinian Authority is saying that they are going to take control, they are going to make sure that everybody has a voice and this is going to be ruled democratically. But, of course, this is yet to be seen.

A very good quote from "Hayat" newspaper says: "The occupation departs from Gaza but lays instead numerous mines on the road map track." Basically, there's skepticism about Israel's intentions, that maybe in return for Gaza, Israel is going to be asking for more of the West Bank and perhaps all of Jerusalem.

Another quote that's interesting. It says -- this is also from "al-Hayat," it says: "Who governs Gaza after the pullout, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or chaos?" So basically chaos is also on the agenda as far as Arab media are concerned. They're looking at it as a very serious threat to what's going to happen in Gaza -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, we hope they're wrong.

Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs.

Thank you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Still to come, it looks like a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. Was the FAA paying for a private contractor's cars and big ticket trips? A live report ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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