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CNN Live At Daybreak

A Nationwide Manhunt Now Over; More Questions About Intelligence Used to Make Case for War in Iraq

Aired November 07, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is Monday, November 7.
Captured -- a nationwide manhunt is now over. A dangerous Texas death row inmate is no longer on the streets thanks to some very observant citizens.

More questions about the intelligence used to make the case for the war in Iraq.

And Mr. DeMille, he's ready for his close-up. Washington's baby panda will soon meet the adoring public.

And from the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK for a Monday.

I'm Kelly Wallace in today for Carol Costello.

Good morning, everyone.

Thanks so much for starting your day with us.

We will have much more on baby panda Tai Shan later this hour.

Also ahead, without any warning, tornadoes tear through neighborhoods in the Midwest, killing at least 22 people. A live report coming up.

And the Red Cross is in place to help all the victims. We'll talk with that agcy about the best way you can help.

First, though, these stories now in the news.

And we are following a developing story out of Philadelphia this morning. The regional transit agency and striking workers have reached a tentative deal on a new four year contract. The agreement follows an all night bargaining session. Transit workers went on strike a week ago, shutting down virtually all bus and subway service and stranding hundreds of thousands of people. Workers should be back on the job by the afternoon rush hour.

Riots spread across France for an eleventh straight night with gangs torching buildings and vehicles. Thirty police officers were injured and more than 1,400 vehicles burned overnight. The violence began after the electrocution deaths of two teenagers who were running from police. President Bush heading to a meeting with the president of Panama this morning. Later he will lay a wreath at an American cemetery and then tour the Panama Canal. He flies back to the States this afternoon.

And in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today, lawmakers will talk about cutting the state budget and tax relief. A special 17-day session of the legislature began Sunday to deal with hurricane recovery.

To Jacqui Jeras in the Forecast Center -- Jacqui, we saw severe weather, of course, early Sunday in Indiana.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

WALLACE: Are we going to see any of that in the country over the next few days?

JERAS: Well, maybe tomorrow we could see some in parts of the Midwest.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: And our top story this half hour.

A homeland security official in Indiana says it was the deadliest tornado to hit that state in more than 30 years. At least 22 people were killed when that tornado tore through southern Indiana before dawn on Sunday.

Our Kimberly Osias is in Evansville, joining us now live with the latest -- Kimberly, thanks for being with us.

What's the latest from there?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kelly, this mobile home park where I am is the devastated, the most devastated area, in fact, of this vicinity. In fact, of those 22 people that have been killed, 17 came from this area. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has called in the National Guard to help with search and rescue efforts that continue throughout today.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

OSIAS (voice-over): It came in the darkness, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, the worst twister to hit Indiana in decades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely this tornado is much worse than the storm we had a year-and-a-half ago. The storm a year-and-a-half ago was only an F2. This is definitely going to be way more.

OSIAS: The tornado was quick and fierce. In a matter of minutes, winds of about 160 miles per hour lifted homes right off their foundations. It cut a 20 mile path of destruction, beginning near Henderson, Kentucky, jumping across the Ohio River into Indiana. Along the way, debris turning into projectiles, trapping people underneath, damaging buildings, decimating a mobile home park. Some stunned residents rescued, brought to safety. Cars, chairs, tables, entire contents of homes strewn about. Evansville neighborhoods reduced to a new landscape of aluminum siding insulation and downed power lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was in the house, I don't know what time it was, but the back window blew out. Then all the debris and stuff from the back roof come in on top of me and then I was swirled around inside the house on my bed, where I had just went to bed. It was quick. Just about as soon as it started.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

OSIAS: Officials say about 80 percent of the search and recovery efforts have been completed. They are really focusing now on the recovery component of that. And that, of course, really brings a real cord of fear with the folks here, because for many people, they are still missing their loved ones -- Kelly.

WALLACE: It is a devastating situation there, Kimberly.

Give us a sense -- of course, this is unusual. It happened in the overnight hours. So many people sleeping. But when was the warning actually issued? How soon before the tornado actually struck?

OSIAS: Well, the National Weather Service issued a warning about 30 minutes before 2:00 a.m. is what I am told. Now, the sirens went off with about 10 minutes of warning. But, of course, when it's the middle of the night like that, in those wee hours of the morning, nobody really heard them. And those people that did become aware of it, some of them actually had their ceilings come in caving in on them. That's how they found out about it.

A very tough time, of course. A very difficult situation, as well.

WALLACE: All right, Kimberly, thanks for bringing us the latest from there.

Kimberly Osias reporting live from Evansville, Indiana.

To another top story for us this half hour. A convicted killer is back behind bars this morning and a nationwide manhunt is now over. Police arrested Charles Victor Thompson late last night while he was talking on a pay phone outside a liquor store in Shreveport, Louisiana. He'd managed to walk away from the Harris County Jail in Houston last week by telling deputies he was meeting with a lawyer. Prison officials then took off his handcuffs and allowed him to change into street clothes, and that's when he made his getaway.

The sheriffs department says this is all very troubling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOHN MARTIN, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT: He never should have got out. You know, to have him back in custody again, this is where he belongs. He was convicted of capital murder. He's been twice sentenced to death. There is no -- there is no scenario under which he should be free roaming around on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And Thompson is due to make a court appearance today in Shreveport.

Well, some newly declassified information raising some new questions this morning about how the Bush administration handled pre- war intelligence concerning Iraq. The Defense Intelligence Agency had concluded that a top al Qaeda operative in U.S. custody was almost certainly lying to interrogators. That was in February, 2002, most before administration officials began using his statements to back criminals that Iraq trained al Qaeda members to use chemical and biological weapons.

In talking about the now discredited source, the report says: "It is possible he does not know any further details. It is more likely this individual is intentionally misleading the debriefers."

Well, you could probably have seen this coming. Reaction to the report is pretty much falling along party lines.

Here's what two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one Republican, one Democrat, said about the new revelations yesterday on CNN's "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LATE EDITION")

SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R-VA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: When we commit our young men and women to war, to go into harm's way, we need to have the best intelligence, whether it's from defense intelligence, whether it's from the CIA, whether it's from other sources around the world. And we need to get that right, to make the right decisions.

But what we don't need is a bunch of partisanship. And the other thing is, is we need to also understand that we need to win this war.

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I was dead flat wrong and as soon as we -- since I am on the Intelligence Committee -- and as soon as we did our report on weapons of mass destruction and before we completed it, I realized that I had just been living off this information, this false information, intelligence. We blasted the folks who created the intelligence. And I went down to the floor of the Senate and I said look, I'm wrong. I would never vote for a war knowing what I know now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Well, CNN Radio's Dick Uliano joining us live from Washington with his take on all of this -- Dick, thanks, of course, for being with us.

Give us a sense of how big this story is becoming, this debate in Washington over the prewar intelligence on Iraq. DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Kelly, this has been festering for two years among Senate Democrats. It has grown and it is showing signs of growing more. Senate Democrats can be expected to push this case this week. Remember, next week, a week from today, the 14th is the date that the Senate has set for that task team of six Democrats and six Republicans to report on the progress of the Intelligence Committee report.

Kelly, a little context here. In George Allen, the Republican's remarks, and Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat's remarks. The distinction here is everybody now knows the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was wrong. And it was weapons of mass destruction, securing those weapons so that they would not be used against Americans here in the United States was the primary justification for going to war in Iraq.

Now everybody knows the intelligence was wrong. There were no weapons there.

What Republicans have been saying was the intelligence was mistaken, as you heard from George Allen. What the Democrats are alleging, including Carl Levin of the Armed Services Committee and Jay Rockefeller, is that it was actually twisted and misused by President Bush.

WALLACE: Dick, give us a sense, also, about where things stand when it comes to an actual Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into the administration's handling of prewar intelligence.

ULIANO: Kelly, the Senate Intelligence Committee completed one part of the report, which concluded that the intelligence that Iraq possessed tons of chemical and biological weapons was simply wrong. The weapons did not exist. The troops who went to Iraq did not find them.

Democrats have been pushing for a second phase of this report -- was the intelligence deliberately misused by President Bush and the Bush administration? Did the president actually lie and deceive the American people?

Republicans have been saying they have been making progress in that investigation. But it's been two years and they haven't released a report. This is why the Democrats drove the Senate into a closed session last week and now have got the assurance that at least in a week they're going to understand the progress of this report.

And, Kelly, they're putting it before the American public as an issue. So in that sense, it's going forward.

WALLACE: All right, dick, thanks so much for joining us.

Dick Uliano with CNN Radio reporting live from Washington.

Well, just minutes ago, we told you about this, we learned that there has been a tentative agreement in the Philadelphia transit strike. We want to go live now to Philadelphia and Amy Buckman of CNN affiliate WPVI -- and, Amy, I understand you have a special guest there with you.

AMY BUCKMAN, WPVI CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

Joining me here on Broad Street to talk about the settlement in the SEPTA strike -- that's the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority strike -- is the governor of Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell.

The governor played a key role in bringing the two sides throughout in sort of a non-stop marathon negotiating session.

When did you guys start yesterday afternoon?

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: We started at 8:00 in the morning with separate meetings with the TWU and then SEPTA. Then everybody got together around 2:00 in the afternoon. I was doing a little campaigning for candidates and I got back around 5:30. And we've been up on the 11th floor from 5:30 to 5:30. I guess that's when we came downstairs and had an agreement.

It's a good agreement. It's good for the union membership. It's a four year agreement. That's great for the riding public. We were thinking three years, but this is another year of labor peace and no strikes.

It's affordable. The union membership got a 3 percent increase in each year. But there were some concessions and give backs on the medical side, the health care side...

BUCKMAN: That was the big issue, was who would pay for the health care premiums.

What was the compromise that was worked out?

RENDELL: Well, the compromise -- the union paid 1 percent of their salary -- not of the premiums -- 1 percent of their salary. So a starting worker pays a lot less than a veteran who makes a lot more money. And that was something that helped us get over the top. Then there were some increases in co-pays and stretching out and the terms and some limitations of visits, things that happen in all negotiations. And that produced enough savings so that the workers could get a significant increase in their pension benefits.

And one of the key moments was when the union attorney, Debra Willard (ph), working with -- we had Blue Cross people up there because, IBC people, because health care was such an important issue and they were there as resources for us. She said isn't it true that we would get a big savings if we prepaid our premiums rather than stretching out the payments? And Blue Cross said, yes, you'd save $15 million over four years.

So they came to us and said would the state prepay the payments? And we said sure, to save $15 million just like that. And that was one of the key turning points.

So both sides really kept their eye on the ball, knowing that a prolonged strike or a settlement that was unaffordable would have a detrimental effect in Harrisburg next year, when we try to get an increase in dedicated permanent funding for SEPTA.

BUCKMAN: So a long night, but well worth it for the results.

RENDELL: Oh, well worth it. Well worth it.

BUCKMAN: Thank you very much, Governor.

Again, as you heard, we have a four year agreement here, 3 percent raises for workers in each of those four years. They will contribute 1 percent of their salaries toward their health care benefits. And management will be contributing toward their health care benefits, as well.

I spoke to the union leader a short time ago and he said that did a lot for the workers in terms of gaining respect for them, helping them to accept this contract.

And the best news for commuters here in the City of Philadelphia, buses, subways and trolleys are expected to be back on line by the afternoon rush.

Reporting for CNN, I'm Amy Buckman -- now back to you.

WALLACE: Amy, you've been doing such great reporting for us.

We appreciate it.

Any sense of reaction from commuters so far?

BUCKMAN: Well, it's a little early yet, and, frankly, they just came out of the hotel and made this announcement. We haven't had a chance to talk to commuters yet.

But I can tell you from talking to them all week, I'm sure they're quite relieved.

WALLACE: I'm sure they are relieved.

Amy Buckman, thanks so much.

Amy with CNN affiliate WPVI-TV and obviously there with Governor Ed Rendell, the Pennsylvania governor who helped broker this agreement, bringing an end to the week long transit strike in Pennsylvania.

Still to come here on DAYBREAK, Paris ablaze for an eleventh straight night of riots. Thousands of cars destroyed, hundreds of arrests. A live report just minutes away.

Later, communities in Indiana still reeling from violent storms this weekend. We'll talk with the Red Cross to find out the best way you can help.

Also, have you noticed the pain at the pump is, well, a little less painful. That's good news.

But first, here's a look at what else is making some other news this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back to DAYBREAK.

The riots in France are spreading as teens set fires to thousands of cars across the whole country now. This all has the government calling for an increased police presence and a stronger response to the ongoing violence.

But did that work last night?

For some answers, we go to CNN's Chris Burns in Paris -- Chris, did it work?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kelly, it certainly did not, because now we have another record hit, a record of cars torching and trucks torching -- 1,400. That's 100 more than the night before. So, no, it has not reduced. Also, some 200 arrests. Thousands more police on the street. The -- among the places that were hit were two churches, schools, a daycare center, a film studio outside of Paris.

And it's getting uglier, as well, in the sense that a couple of cars were stolen and rammed, one into a police station; another into a housing project, setting it on fire.

The teenager was arrested and quoted as saying, "This will not stop until Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy resigns."

There's pressure on him after he called renegade youths "scum," apparently inflaming tensions even further.

Now, President Jacques Chirac has now stepped into the fray. He had a security meeting with key members of his cabinet last night and he came out and he talked about the priority of establishing peace first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. JACQUES CHIRAC, FRANCE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We've taken a certain number of decisions in order to reinforce the action of the police and the justice, because today the absolute priority is restoring security and public order. The law must have the last word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: But Jacques Chirac also talked about the need for justice and equality, equality of opportunity, intending to address, after the rioting is over, address some of the underlying reasons behind this rioting. These are mainly immigrant youths, Arabs and Africans in poor neighborhoods where there's very high unemployment, where there's discrimination and where the youth complain of harassment by police, who have been cracking down on crime.

A very difficult issue for the government to deal with, but that's what they're trying to do.

But in spite of this hard line approach, it's getting uglier, in the sense, too, that the police are getting shot at even more. In the town of Grigny, south of Paris, a number of police were wounded by buckshot. Two of them wounded badly enough to be sent to the hospital.

So it continues. And it stretches to some 200 cities and towns across the country.

A growing number of countries are warning their citizens, including the Americans, to stay away from certain strife-torn areas of France. That's a blow to the tourist industry here -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Obviously. That could have a financial impact, certainly, in the country.

Chris, thanks for reporting all of this for us and we'll look forward to your reports on AMERICAN MORNING.

BURNS: Thank you.

WALLACE: Chris Burns reporting live from Paris.

Still to come on this very busy Monday morning, remember those Abercrombie shirts causing quite a stir? Will you be able to find them in stores? The answer, right after the break.

Later, he's cute and fuzzy and ready for the public. A live report on the Washington Zoo's star club.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And good morning New York City.

You're seeing a new day dawning there. A lovely sunrise over the skyline of Manhattan. Beautiful weather expected today. A little colder. Yesterday, it was gorgeous here in New York City. And it was the day for the New York City Marathon. The closest finish in the history of the New York City Marathon. And you are looking at it.

Kenya's Paul Tergat crossing the finish line just one second ahead of defending champion Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa. The finishing time? Two hours, nine minutes, 31 seconds. Amazing, 26.2 miles in that time.

Well, our very own Carrie Lee, we've been telling you, was one of the more than 37,000 people taking part in the marathon. Her finishing time, four hours, 24 minutes, 18 seconds. And that placed her in the 14,410th place, which I think is pretty amazing when you talk about 37,000 runners.

Well, Carrie Lee is home resting. We hope she's sleeping and not watching this right now, getting some rest after the marathon.

So J.J. Ramberg is here today -- great to see you, J.J.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You, too.

WALLACE: You have an update, I guess, on gas prices for us?

RAMBERG: I do.

But first, I just wanted to have a message to Carrie. It's so funny, the picture we show of her, she's all perfect.

WALLACE: Perfectly clocked. We wonder what she looked like after her four hours.

RAMBERG: It would seem not exactly like that.

WALLACE: I bet she still looked great.

RAMBERG: Well, anyhow, we've got good news for drivers out there, and also retailers out there, too.

During the last two weeks, the price for a gallon of self serve regular fell $0.23. Now it's $2.43 per gallon. This is according to the Lundberg Survey. Now that's, to put it into perspective, $0.20 lower than the day before hurricane Katrina hit in late August. And it means prices have fallen nearly $0.50 a gallon over just the last month.

Now, here, Kelly, is why it's good for retailers. Because they have been so worried that high gas prices were going to cut into holiday spending that a lot of them are already moving up their holiday sales. Keep in mind, though, compared to last year, gas prices are still $0.41 higher. And so consumers are still going to have to deal with the high cost of heating their homes this winter, and that may still cut into that holiday spending.

WALLACE: And give us a sense, what are futures looking like today?

RAMBERG: Futures right now looking to a flat open. There's not a lot of economic news or any earnings report that's going to move the direction one way or the other. But one company to watch is Abercrombie & Fitch. There was a lot of talk -- you're shaking your head.

WALLACE: Well, we've been chatting about this one.

RAMBERG: Well, I mean it's amazing, that company, they do it on purpose, right? The source of so much... WALLACE: All publicity seems to be good publicity, right?

RAMBERG: ... controversy. Yes. So just last week they agreed to pull its so-called attitude t-shirts. Those t-shirts you've been talking about had slogans like "who needs brains when you have these?" and "blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored."

That drew criticism from a lot of groups. Maybe you're one of them. We've been looking at your blonde hair. But one group staged a girlcott, not a boycott, but a girlcott. And that led to the shirts being taken out of the stores.

Now, as we were saying, Abercrombie is no stranger to controversy. They do this all the time. They have offended so many groups. But they do it because they get good publicity.

WALLACE: They do it and they seem to sell t-shirts and everything else.

RAMBERG: Yes. They certainly do.

WALLACE: All right, J.J. thanks so much.

RAMBERG: Thank you.

WALLACE: Great to see you.

We appreciate it.

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