Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Chilling Confession; Bush Tour of Asia; Amber Alert Issued for 14-Year-Old

Aired November 14, 2005 - 08:59   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A 35-year-old Iraqi woman admits she tried to blow herself up in Jordan last week, trying to kill even more guests at a wedding celebration. He chilling confession and where it may lead investigators straight ahead.
Police searching for a dangerous killer after a double murder in Pennsylvania. A teenage suspect is on the run. His 14-year-old girlfriend might be held hostage. We'll have a full report.

And then this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get over there!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Amazing pictures from a late-season twister. Extreme danger gets an extreme close-up 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.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

That videotape from that twister, oh, man.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You could call it compelling.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, very. I mean, screaming.

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to show you a good hunk of that in just a little bit. But this videotape, on the one hand you say, oh, he had the presence of mind to be shooting. He probably should have been fleeing. And we wouldn't want to recommend this to anybody at home.

S. O'BRIEN: A boy.

M. O'BRIEN: He lived to tell the tale. And really...

S. O'BRIEN: You really get a good sense of what it looks like when you're right there with the twister over your head. And you see all of that debris. Well, we'll show more of this, as you said, in just a minute. But...

M. O'BRIEN: There, that shot right there, when he goes around the house.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's amazing.

M. O'BRIEN: And he goes -- holy cow. That is for real as the debris flies into the air.

And we're also talking about another piece of videotape which is dramatic and stark in its own way. It is a confession, an Iraqi woman who says she tried to blow herself up, but failed.

Investigators in Jordan are still interrogating her. She apparently has very close ties to the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Her brother was his chief deputy, now deceased. She confessed on TV to being part of last week's hotel attacks.

CNN's Brent Sadler is live in Amman, Jordan.

Brent, what do authorities hope to learn from her?

BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Miles, they understand from this confession, from what the woman's told them, is that she came across from Iraq into Jordan four days before the triple suicide bomb attack against those three hotels. She came in with her husband and two other bombers.

They were met at the border crossing point into Jordan by a vehicle, and they were taken into the capital, Amman, where they hid out in an apartment for the days before the terror attack. This is the first time in history, understand, that there has been a husband and wife team of suicide bombers sent to attack a specific target.

So the contents of this woman's Q&A interrogation by the intelligence services here is going to be crucial in trying to find out more about who sent her, under what conditions, how were they equipped, where were the bombs made, who built them, and perhaps more information about whether or not, crucially, Miles, there could still be the remnants of that infiltration into Jordan still existing in the city today and whether or not others might be attempting to follow that first suicide bomb team -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you bring up an important point, Brent. We've been talking an awful lot about the backlash that we've seen in the streets. To what extent do we have any way of knowing -- of course, we really don't have an easy way of finding out -- whether this might embolden further attacks?

SADLER: There's been a tremendous outpouring of rage and anger, but I have to say, of varying degrees of relief, Miles, that the woman was paraded on Jordanian television and gave her confession, a very chilling account as she was shown on TV here in Jordan wearing the pack of explosives that she says failed to detonate. She says her husband's "went off first," but she failed to explode her bomb.

On one side of the body, the actual RDX explosives. On the other side of her body, another pack connected by duct tape that was jam- packed full of ball bearings to maximize the casualties inside the wedding hall of the Radisson hotel, where I'm now reporting from.

So they were very vivid images, people very angry. Yet, some Jordanians, I have to tell you, Miles, were doubting whether or not this confession was true.

They're still worried that this woman may have been coerced into making this confession to take the heat from Jordanian public as to what's happened with these attacks, because there are many, many Jordanians that look benignly towards suicide attacks against targets in Israel and until now have kept fairly quiet about that. But now they're very angry that suicide attacks have targeted their own capital -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting points. Brent Sadler, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, President Bush is on the road again this week. He leaves this morning on an eight-day trip to Asia. His first stop is a quick layover. He's going to speak at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Then it's off to Japan, South Korea, China, and finally Mongolia, making him the first U.S. president to visit that nation while in office

Andrea Koppel is live for us at the White House this morning.

Andrea, good morning to you. What does the president hope to accomplish?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, it's certainly no secret that traditionally presidents have sought to go overseas when they're not faring as well domestically, but that's not the case with President Bush. This his -- this trip has been in the planning stages for quite some time, and his poll numbers, long before his poll numbers took a nose dive.

And so White House officials deny that they are deliberately setting the bar low during stops in Japan and South Korea. Look for Mr. Bush to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to security interests among two of the United States' closest Asian allies.

In South Korea, in particular, the president is going to attend what's known as the APEC Summit. That's the world's largest regional economic cooperative forum where Mr. Bush is going to be addressing issues as diverse as North Korean nukes, to the potential for a bird flu pandemic.

Now, a short time ago, the president's communications director, his counselor, Dan Bartlett, appeared on AMERICAN MORNING and said that really the most contentious stop is expected to be China, and that's primarily for economic reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT BUSH: President Bush hopes to accomplish a lot in Asia. There are a lot of critical issues facing the American people. He will go over to Asia, representing the economic interests of the American worker and entrepreneur, meeting with key leaders in the Pacific region there, including China, to talk about how they need to do more to open up their markets and enforce intellectual property rights, for two examples. So there are a lot -- there's a lot on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: The trade deficit between the United States and China is expected to hit $200 billion this year, Soledad. There are a bunch of other issues that are so important with China, the six-party talks. China's been playing a key role in that.

So this is going to be an important visit for President Bush, who is going to be meeting with President Hu Jintao, the new president, for the first time there.

S. O'BRIEN: And then it comes right on the heels of these new poll number, which are not good poll numbers for the president and the White House.

KOPPEL: Absolutely. The latest "Newsweek" poll, these come on the heels of polls last week which showed that the president's trust rating among the American people had hit a new low.

This poll shows from "Newsweek" that the president, when asked about the president's job as president, Mr. Bush's job as president, the approval rating was 36 percent. That is the lowest of his president -- of his presidency. The disapproval rating is 58 percent.

People were also asked about the president during the last three years in office. Fifty-six percent say he won't be able to get much done. Thirty-six percent say he can be effective.

So not the kind of polls that this White House likes to see -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Those are not the numbers you want to look at.

KOPPEL: No.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Andrea, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A developing story we've been following for you out of Pennsylvania. A mother and father dead, their 14-year-old daughter missing, and the suspect, her 18-year-old boyfriend. An Amber Alert has been issued for Kara Beth Borden. Police think she was kidnapped at gunpoint by her boyfriend, David Ludwig.

Amy Buckman, with our affiliate WPVI, has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMY BUCKMAN, REPORTER, WPVI: Police here in Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are looking for leads following the issuance of an Amber Alert yesterday morning. Police are looking for a 14-year-old girl named Kara Beth Borden.

She is believed to be with an 18-year-old who may be her boyfriend. His name is David Ludwig.

Police believe that Ludwig shot Kara Beth's parents after a confrontation over the relationship between the 18-year-old and the 14-year-old early Sunday morning. Kara is described as a 5'1 tall brunette who has blonde highlights in her hair. She ways about 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt with the word "Killer" on the front, along with blue jeans and black sneakers.

They are believed to be traveling in David Ludwig's parents' car. That's a red Volkswagen Jetta with the Pennsylvania license place EHH- 0994.

Police really don't know where this pair may have gone. They say they could be anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania, or, in fact, anywhere up and down the eastern seaboard.

David Ludwig should be considered armed and dangerous. And anyone who spots them or their car is asked to call their local police.

Reporting form Warwick Township, Pennsylvania, I'm Amy Buckman for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check some other headlines. Carol Costello in.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is promoting the Middle East peace process. Secretary Rice shuttled between Jerusalem and Ramallah today. She met with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.

Rice is trying to help both parties work out an agreement on easing restrictions at Gaza borders. She has not come up with a deal, but said it was within sight.

Hundreds of foreign dignitaries are honoring former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Among those in attendance, former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. We're just getting these pictures in for you.

The memorial ceremony now under way in Jerusalem. Today marks 10 years since the former prime minister was assassinated. There is word that Britain could start pulling its troops out of Iraq next year. British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the withdrawal would begin only if Iraqi forces are ready to take over security responsibilities. Some 8,500 British troops are now in southern Iraq.

And it could be the world's most expensive mushroom, $112,000. I'm sure it's the world's most expensive mushroom. That's apparently how much an anonymous buyer paid for this rare white truffle.

The posh fungi is about 2.5 pounds. It's described as roughly the size of a small handbag. It was sold at a charity auction. The buyer cast the winning bid via a satellite link-up from Hong Kong. So he really, really wanted this truffle.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think the cost is what's most disturbing about that story, or do you think that it's described as the size of a small handbag?

M. O'BRIEN: Ooh.

S. O'BRIEN: A hundred and twelve thousand bucks, that's a lot of money for a little piece of fungus.

COSTELLO: Truffle.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It is a fungus or a fungi? Because fungi would be more than one. Right?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I don't know. I'm going to get right on Google.

COSTELLO: I'm going right now to check.

M. O'BRIEN: But for that kind of money, I'd like multiple fungi.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think it's just one big old fungus.

M. O'BRIEN: Among us.

S. O'BRIEN: Among us.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: That was a good one. I like that.

Weather now. Bonnie Schneider has a look at that.

Hello. Good morning.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad and Miles and Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: The pressure. One more good day. That's it, everybody. SCHNEIDER: One more good day.

S. O'BRIEN: Take advantage of it.

M. O'BRIEN: Must have fun now.

S. O'BRIEN: Right now. If you don't have a lunch date outside, get one right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Call in sick. Bonnie said it was OK. Call in sick.

S. O'BRIEN: It's only 9:12. If you haven't gotten out of bed, stay in bed. No. Get up, call in sick.

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, isn't it good we got up at 3:45? Because we can enjoy the day.

S. O'BRIEN: Woo hoo. I feel so blessed.

Thanks, Bonnie.

Ahead this morning, you know the conventional wisdom was bundle upon or you're going to catch a cold. Well, the experts said, no, a cold is a virus. It has nothing to do whether you're warm or not. Not. A study out now says eventually mom was right.

M. O'BRIEN: Mom was right. Mom is always right.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And eat your chicken soup while you're at it, and put on your galoshes.

S. O'BRIEN: All true.

M. O'BRIEN: And then this. Does the White House have low expectations for the president's trip to Asia? Those record-low poll numbers at home, how will they affect the trip overseas, if at all?

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Believe it or not, this is the face of terror. Saijida Mubarak al-Rishawi, 35 years old, whose husband was involved in that attack in Jordan in the same hotel room, and who perished in that attack, a successful suicide bomber, her bomb didn't go off for whatever reason. We're not exactly sure.

In the meantime, she is being interrogated by Jordanian authorities. Her brother, now deceased, was at one time chief deputy to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who we all know by now is the head of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Interesting turn of events. A chilling turn of events.

Joining us from Los Angeles to talk a little bit about it is CNN security analyst Ken Robinson.

Ken, good to have you back on the program.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about, first of all, what's going on right now, interrogation of this woman. First of all, in -- what do we know about Jordanian tactics, and what do you suppose she might know?

ROBINSON: Well, Jordanian tactics are not the same as those in the West, and they're pretty direct. But it appears that this woman is responding...

M. O'BRIEN: So when you say direct, is she being tortured?

ROBINSON: I don't think so.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

ROBINSON: I think she's responding to the direct approach...

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

ROBINSON: ... which is, did you do it? Yes, I did, and here's how I did it. She appears to be reconciled with her fate, and she's simply answering exactly what she did and what her role in it as she knew it.

M. O'BRIEN: Why did you think the Jordanians were so quick to put her videotaped confession on television?

ROBINSON: I think it was very important for the king to be able to demonstrate that his security services were involved in solving this problem. It also demonstrates so that they can hear her accent and know that she was from Iraq and not a Jordanian.

They make very clear distinctions between accents and between family names of knowing tribally where someone is from to show that it wasn't a Jordanian issue, it was an Iraqi issue, it was outsiders.

M. O'BRIEN: Why are Iraqis exporting this brand of terrorism?

ROBINSON: Well, I don't know that it's Iraqis. I -- you know, it is -- it's interesting that Iraqis have chosen to become suicide bombers.

We haven't seen a lot of that. We've seen a lot of Sunnis from Saudi Arabia or from Syria do it. This is, in my mind, an interesting point.

The issue of Zarqawi exporting and trying to attack the Hashemite kingdom is because he hates it. He wants to overthrow it. He wants to see the king gone.

He has a lot of bad blood between him and that regime. They imprisoned him before. He has been sentenced to death in absentia from there.

He tried to blow up the same hotel during the millennium, the millennium bombing plot which was thwarted by the Jordanians. And his intent is to take the Hashemite kingdom down to create instability in the Middle East and to try to take the Middle East back to the 13th century. Miles, they want to go back to Wahabiism and Salathism (ph).

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's get -- let's get a little perspective check here, because we've been talking so much about how these spontaneous demonstrations in the streets of Amman have indicated kind of a backlash there. The other side of this, and we wouldn't see any evidence of this that we could get videotape of, is this might very well create a whole new realm of recruits, Jordanian recruits, to engage in that kind of -- that kind of act in Jordan, as well as fueling the terror campaign in Iraq.

ROBINSON: Well, I think that the U.S. presence is the largest magnet toward fueling recruitment if in the -- within the Iraqi area. It has created a magnet that is drawing these jihadists from all over.

I think that because they targeted a wedding, which is the basic element of their structure of culture of union of two tribes, unions of people, the most heinous type of a target they could have selected, I think it's going to have just the opposite effect. It will be very divisive and cause the Jordanians to become very nationalistic.

Now, there are certain disenfranchised Jordanians who are really Palestinian who have been crossing over into Iraq and joining Zarqawi.

M. O'BRIEN: A quick final thought. Did the bomb really not detonate or did she get cold feet? What do you think?

ROBINSON: You know, there's really no way to tell, Miles, except for the forensics of the people that actually hold the trigger. I think it could go either way.

M. O'BRIEN: CNN security analyst Ken Robinson. Thanks a lot.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, a Monday edition of "House Call." Today we're going to take a look at a new study that may prove that mom's advice was right, bundle up or you will catch a cold.

A look at that's up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's advice I always give, dress warmly, otherwise you're going to catch a cold, of course. Now there's a new study that agrees with my advice, and the fact that the report says that catching a chill can lead right to a cold.

Professor Ronald Eccles is the director of the Common Cold and Nasal Research Centre at Cardiff University in Wales.

Nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.

RONALD ECCLES, DIRECTOR, COMMON COLD CENTER: Oh, it's great to be with you on CNN.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, thank you very much.

You know, doctors, as you well know, have often said the cold is a virus. You catch the virus. It's not because you're chilled. Your study actually completely goes against that conventional wisdom -- or wisdom from doctors, at least, right?

ECCLES: Well, it does. And what we've shown is that we believe that when the common cold is circulating within the community for everybody who has a stinking (ph) cold, there are two or three people who have got the virus but haven't yet developed the symptoms. And it's those people when you chill them who actually get the colds.

And we did this with students. We had a controlled group and a chilled group, and we showed that the chilled group had about 12 percent more colds than the controlled group. And what we're doing is really activating a latent infection.

So you still need the virus. You won't get a cold without the virus. But chilling does bring on the common cold symptoms.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, so it's really about being vulnerable to the virus that's already inside your body. I know you did it with 180 healthy people. How did you chill them? I'm almost afraid to ask what you did to the poor volunteers who took part in this study.

ECCLES: Well, we -- we did chill them. We did chill them.

There were 180. There were 90 people who were mainly students, and they dipped their feet into buckets of cold water for 20-minute periods. And the control group, they just kept their shoes and socks on and put their feet into the buckets without water.

So it was a nice control. They're both under the same conditions. And the students who were chilled in the cold water, they're the ones who got the colds. At least 12 percent more.

This is the first scientific evidence, really, to go against the previous scientific research that was done about 40 years ago. But they used a different method. They actually gave people a virus, whereas we used a more natural situation.

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I've known this all along, because whenever you're feeling worn out, you catch the cold. But here's my question for you. Can you extrapolate from feet being in ice water to your nose exposed or your hands exposed or not wearing your jacket outside? Can you -- you know, it's not just about the feet.

ECCLES: No. What happens, when you are chilled, particularly your feet, it causes an intense constriction of the blood vessels in the nose. That makes the nose colder, and it reduces the blood supply, the immune cells that fight the infection in the nose, and it just gives the virus that extra foothold to trigger a symptomatic infection.

So it's really constricting the blood vessels in the nose in the same way that dipping your feet in cold water makes the blood vessels of the skin constrict.

S. O'BRIEN: How about going out with a wet head? Do you know? Because I always say, don't walk outside with a wet head. You're going to give yourself a cold, or worse, pneumonia. Is that true?

ECCLES: Well, I think it is the same mechanism. Any cooling of the body surface such as cold hair or wet feet, we didn't do the wet hair study. Maybe that's another study we should put in motion. But we thought it was much easier -- much easier to cool the feet.

S. O'BRIEN: If you need to fly me to Wales to take over that part of the study, sir, I'm happy to fly out to Wales, because I've got a lot of theories about the common cold that I would like to see proven.

Let me get to one final question before I let you go, OK? Why do you get a summer cold then? Is that because air-conditioning chills you? That's my theory.

ECCLES: Well, colds are around in summer and in winter. It's just that we've got more colds in winter than we have in summer. And again, the idea that we put forward is that our nose is colder in the winter than it is in summer.

You can see me. I've got my scarf, I've got my coat on to protect my body temperature, but my nose is much colder this time of year than it is in the summer.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, for god's sake, go inside. I'd hate to be responsible for you getting a cold.

Ronald Eccles joins us from the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University.

What's that?

ECCLES: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Excellent. I knew I was right. It's so nice to be proven right.

Coming up this morning in "AM Pop," Madonna reinvents herself again, but is her new CD any good? We're going to take a look just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com