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American Morning

Amber Alert Arrest; Bush's Plunging Popularity; Alito's Abortion Letter

Aired November 15, 2005 - 09:01   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Two parents dead and now two teenagers captured in Indiana. The big question, is one of them an accomplice or a victim? A live report ahead.
President Bush this morning looking for friends in faraway places after losing more support at home. We'll check out the latest bad news in the polls.

And Judge Samuel Alito and abortion right. Could a newly released document offer some smoking gun proof on how he would rule on the high court?

The fallout 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.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.

Some news to report on the cell phone bandit. She has allegedly been caught, or the person police believe is the cell phone bandit has been nabbed. A busy -- quite a busy person.

Between October 12 and November 4...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes?

S. O'BRIEN: That's not a very large window. They believe this woman here, who's now been identified as Candace Rose Martinez (ph) of Chantilly, Virginia, apparently knocked over four Wachovia banks.

M. O'BRIEN: Only Wachovia. It's one of the many questions we're going to ask. Of course she's going to need to be making a phone call this morning to an attorney, but apparently she is in the midst of being questioned by authorities now. We're going to check in with one of the authorities there in Fairfax, Virginia, and ask her what we know about the motive and...

S. O'BRIEN: I know, it's curious to know who was she talking to and what was she saying while she was on the phone?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. The motive. It's money, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: It's like you're knocking off a bank. Don't you think you'd have the ability to focus on it?

M. O'BRIEN: You would think.

S. O'BRIEN: One would think. That's ahead.

First, though, let's talk about another somewhat strange case. A teenage murder suspect faces extradition today. His name is -- 18- year-old David Ludwig, and he's accused of killing his girlfriend's parents in Pennsylvania.

He was arrested in Indiana on Monday after a high-speed chase. It ended when that car right there, that red Jetta, crashed right into a tree.

His girlfriend, 14-year-old Kara Beth Borden, was in the car as well. Neither one of them was injured in the crash.

The arrest happened in Belleville, which is west of Indianapolis. And it's about 600 miles from where the murders took place in Pennsylvania.

Let's get right to CNN's Allan Chernoff. He's covering the story for us.

Allan, good morning to you.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And there are so many question marks that remain surrounding this crime. The biggest question, of course, did Kara Borden play any role in the murder of her parents? For now, the police chief here is saying Kara is absolutely not a suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD F. GARIPOLI, LITITZ POLICE CHIEF: No, she is not. She's a victim right now. And she will stay a victim unless I hear otherwise. But no, she is -- our main concern is get her home to her family, where she belongs here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Having said that, the police chief also added he certainly does want to have Kara questioned. And the police here plan to do that as soon as she is back in the state of Pennsylvania.

They plan to bring her back as early as this morning, and that should be a pretty simple affair. But bringing back the boyfriend, David Ludwig, is slightly more complicated since he is being charged with crimes, two counts of homicide, one count of kidnapping. There may be an extradition hearing this morning in Indiana, and then, after all that occurs, then he would be brought back to the state.

Now, police documents indicate that the teenagers had been dating since May. In terms of information about the teens, well, they both have Web sites. Kara Borden, on her Web site, talks about enjoying, attending prayer groups. Also, she's a soccer player. And she talks an expertise in baby-sitting.

David Ludwig has a Web site. On it he quotes lyrics from a Christian rock band, and he also talks about an interest in computers and volleyball. Certainly nothing indicating a violent history -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, certainly questions remain. Lots more to know about both of these young people.

Allan Chernoff covering the story for us this morning.

Allan, thanks for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush in Japan as we speak. He arrived earlier this morning. He'll meet with the Japanese prime minister on Wednesday before heading to an APEC meeting in South Korea. He'll also make stops in China and Mongolia.

Here at home, the president's approval ratings continue to hit new lows. A CNN "USA-Today"-Gallup poll showing just 37 percent approve of how the president is handling his job. Sixty percent disapprove.

Dana Bash traveling with the president. She joins us now from Kyoto -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

Well, you talked about the president's approval rating. You know, last week, the White House had thought maybe in Latin America he would be able to escape troubles back home. That did not happen. He was greeted by mass protests and had a meager victory, and really didn't have very many victories at all in terms of what he was able to achieve there.

Here in Asia, the White House hopes that he'll at least get a more polite reception. But if you look at our latest poll, not only the overall approval rating, but other issues like terrorism and honesty and integrity, it shows that the perception of the president back home is still quite low, even on issues that he used to being very strong on.

But it is Iraq that perhaps still gives the president's aides the most pause. Six in 10 Americans now, 60 percent, Miles, say it was not worth going war in Iraq. And that is why you saw President Bush swinging back at Democrats even as he made his way here to Asia.

He stopped in Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska to try to swipe back at Democrats who have been accusing him lately of trying to manipulate intelligence, essentially having the debate of the prewar intelligence once again just as they were having just about a year ago during the campaign. But there is something also interesting to note today, Miles. As you know, it has been sort of an old adage or an old tradition not to criticize the president while he's traveling abroad. Later today, the United States Senate will be debating his Iraq policy, and even members of his own party will be calling on the president to deliver some kind of strategy on how he can complete the Iraq mission successfully -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash in Kyoto with the president.

Thank you very much.

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito meeting with Democratic senators today. A controversial job application dating back 20 years bound to be at the top of the agenda as they confer. Alito writes about his stance on abortion and some other hot-button issues.

Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry live now for us on Capitol Hill.

Ed, the Democrats are going to be all over this one, aren't they?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. In those meetings with Senator Edward Kennedy, also Democrat Dianne Feinstein, two key Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, and also Feinstein the only woman on the Judiciary Committee where the confirmations start in January. That's important, because abortion is the hot-button issue in this 1985 memo.

Judge Alito, he was already a young lawyer at this point in 1985 in the Reagan administration. He was applying for a promotion in the Justice Department. And in this memo, the job application, he basically declared he believed, "The Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion."

He also declared firm opposition to affirmative action programs and said he took great personal satisfaction out of advancing these legal causes on behalf of the Reagan administration, because "these are causes I personally believe very strongly in."

That's something that you can bet Senator Kennedy will be harping on. He says that basically this opens the door to the suggestion that Judge Alito would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the right to a legalized abortion in America.

Take a listen to liberal activist Nancy Keenan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY KEENAN, NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: There's no doubt that he would very much either overturn Roe or basically restrict Roe to the point that it's not even applicable in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: But White House officials point out obviously 1985 is a long time ago. They don't know where Judge Alito stands now on abortion. And they're not going ask him, because they do not have a litmus test. And besides, officials say, these are his personal views, and they believe he'll be a fair justice who will be able to take those views into account, but also rule fairly -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Thank you very much, Ed.

Let's check the rest of the headlines. Carol Costello in with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

We are following a developing story out of Florida. Let's -- we're going to take you now to Miramar, Florida. That's near Fort Lauderdale, 60 miles north of Miami, actually, to be exact.

We're hearing the school bus shooting there. Police say a teenaged girl was shot in the chest on the school bus. Rescue workers say she was alert and conscious when they arrived on the scene. At least two schools in the area though are now in lockdown mode.

We'll give you an update when we learn more. But according to the AP, the girl is alert. She was treated at the scene and she is now in the hospital. As I said, we'll give you more information as we get it.

A big step forward, that's what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is calling a Mideast border deal. Secretary Rice personally oversaw the final round of all-night talks. The deal marks the first time the Palestinians would control their own border, and the Gaza- Egypt border would tentatively open on November 25.

Insurgents in eastern Baghdad targeting Iraqi police. Militants detonated a car bomb near a restaurant where police officers were having breakfast. The attack killed at least two officers and wounded several others.

North of Baghdad, an improvised explosive device went off next to an Iraqi police patrol, killing at least two people.

There are concerns this morning the levees in the Gulf Coast will not survive another Hurricane Katrina. As you know, the levees in New Orleans breached after Hurricane Katrina hit.

The new man in charge for the federal recovery effort says his teams are focused on rebuilding the levees, but right now there are no guarantees. The Louisiana Recovery Authority estimates that rebuilding the levees could cost $20 billion over the next six to eight years.

Maybe it's no surprise here, but L.A. is number one. The greater Los Angeles region is the country's smoggiest city. But the EPA says Los Angeles actually has cleaner air this year than last, but its rivals, including Houston, have also shaped up.

The so-called cell phone bandit has been caught. That means we could soon solve the real mystery: who in the world was she talking to?

Black and white video surveillance images show Candace Martinez (ph) on her cell phone while making away with the cash. Authorities say Martinez robbed four suburban Washington banks. She was arrested earlier this morning after FBI agents spotted a car linked to the robberies.

And we're going to hear much more about that rest -- arrest in the next half-hour. So many questions.

S. O'BRIEN: So true. I really would be curious to know if this is all a ploy. You know, is this sort of a prop, you know, or was she just too busy?

COSTELLO: Didn't they arrest two people with her?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they did...

COSTELLO: Two men.

S. O'BRIEN: ... because she was -- they found the car, they arrested the people in the car, who eventually led them to her.

COSTELLO: Well, I wonder if she was talking to them.

M. O'BRIEN: Could be.

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe. Saying what? I'm inside the bank. I'm robbing the bank now.

COSTELLO: Yes. Get the getaway car ready. We're -- get ready to...

S. O'BRIEN: Shouldn't they be getting the getaway car ready anyway?

COSTELLO: I don't know. I'm just guessing.

S. O'BRIEN: As a rule. I'm not a robber. How would I know.

M. O'BRIEN: Whatever happened to just keep it running?

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly. That's what I was thinking.

Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a look at the weather this morning. Bonnie Schneider at the CNN Center with the latest forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to have more on that Alito abortion letter. With so many issues on the table, why is it Roe v. Wade that's essentially become the litmus test for Supreme Court nominees? We'll take a look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, Dr. Gupta will stop by, tell us about the newest outpatient procedure. Let's see, you go -- you pay for the cheeseburger, you get the Big Mac, and then the third window you get the angioplasty. One-stop shopping, right?

And next, a 37-year-old woman allowed to marry a 15-year-old boy. Now she's charged with child molestation and she's pregnant. We'll ask the D.A. what's going on here ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A Georgia woman is spending her honeymoon behind bars. She's accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year- old boy, a friend of her son's, and that boy is also her new husband. Now, if that's not enough, the boy's family says she's also pregnant with his child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY HAYLES, BOY'S GRANDMOTHER: I have never heard such sickness in my life.

S. O'BRIEN (voice over): Judy Hayles is outraged that her 15- year-old grandson was having an affair with a 37-year-old woman, Lisa Lynette Clark, and that her grandson and Clark were legally allowed to marry last week in Gainesville, Georgia. Georgia law allows a minor to marry if the couple has a child or if the woman can prove she's pregnant.

A day after the couple's wedding, Clark was arrested and charged with child molestation.

HAYLES: A piece of garbage. Pure garbage. She is a pedophile, plain and simple.

S. O'BRIEN: Ms. Hayles, who's also the boy's legal guardian, says the relationship between Clark and her grandson had been going on for nearly two years. She didn't find out about it until this summer.

HAYLES: I found all these love letters. And the more -- I thought they were from a little school kid. But the more I read, I found it was her.

And I confronted him with it. And he said, yes, he'd been having an affair with her, sex with her.

S. O'BRIEN: As for the justice of the peace who married them last week in a ceremony in his driveway, he says he's not sure he'd do anything differently.

JOHNNY TALENT, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE: I don't know. I mean, they had their license. So, I mean, they were legal as far as I was concerned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Lee Darragh is the Hall County district attorney, and he says he thinks he's got enough to build a case of child molestation against Lisa Clark.

Thanks for talking with us this morning.

A lot of this is based on this law in Georgia which just sounds bizarre. You've got to get permission from your parents to get married if you're 16 or under, unless the bride's pregnant. Then you don't need parental permission. That just sounds completely contradictory and, frankly, wrong, right?

LEE DARRAGH, HALL COUNTY, GEORGIA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, I think that's an interesting aspect of this case that's not really related to whether or not this person could be charged with and tried for child molestation. The fact of the mater is -- and I think it's important for the public to know in connection with this case -- that all of the acts of alleged molestation occurred prior to any marriage having taken place in this case.

S. O'BRIEN: So the fact that the couple's now married, does that have any impact whatsoever on what you can do as the district attorney marching forward with charges?

DARRAGH: No. Again, the fact of a subsequent marriage after a molestation having taken place does not either mitigate the molestation nor change the possible punishment, or anything of that nature.

S. O'BRIEN: Doesn't it a little bit though? I mean, because now you've sort of got the punishment of the alleged sexual predator, the wife, the new wife in this case, who is pregnant. Do you really want to put her in prison? And is the number one eyewitness to any alleged molestation the husband, soon to be father to be?

DARRAGH: Well, I think it's important not to at this point talk about the facts of this particular case, but I will address the issue generally, because this is really no different than a 37-year-old man, for example, getting a 14 or 15-year-old woman pregnant, then marrying her in an effort to avoid being prosecuted for the molestation that occurred prior to the marriage.

S. O'BRIEN: Which begs the question, shouldn't the law be changed? I mean, why would someone be allowed to get married if clearly when you're talking about under 16, 16 years old as the limit there, there's child molestation going on if they can -- I guess (INAUDIBLE).

DARRAGH: Well, I suppose really that that's a legislative issue rather than an issue that would be one that would be important for me to consider. If the Georgia legislature wants to look at the law because of this case, or because of any other similar case, and decides that something else needs to be done, that would be up to the Georgia legislature.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about the boy's legal guardian, his grandmother. We heard from her in that piece just a moment ago. She's obviously absolutely furious.

She says she's going try to get the marriage annulled. Can a third party do that in a marriage? Does she have any legal leg to stand on?

DARRAGH: Well, I'm not familiar with what all she's going to be able to do civilly in connection with trying to get that marriage annulled or change that circumstance. The fact of the matter is that it does not change whether or not the molestation charges that have been brought in this case can be sustained.

The fact of the marriage, if that occurred in this case, which apparently from the news reports it did, does not change the fact that she can be prosecuted for child molestation involving her activity with the young man.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think you have an open and shut case here?

DARRAGH: Well, I'm not going to comment on the quality of the evidence or the nature of the evidence. I think that the charge has been made, and based on the information that I have, it is a case on which I should go forward. And I intend to do that.

S. O'BRIEN: I think that's a long way of saying, yes, Soledad, I do.

Lee Darragh is the district attorney for Hall County, Georgia.

You think you have a strong case there. Thanks for talking with us this morning. Kind of an -- kind of an odd story.

DARRAGH: Well, you know, I'm not so sure that I would put that word in my mouth, but I can say that I do intend to go forward.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. I'll buy that. Thank you, sir.

DARRAGH: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, Dr. Sanjay Gupta making a "House Call" for us today, talking about drive-through angioplasty. Patients get to go home a lot sooner, but what are the risks?

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's not quite as simple as a tooth cleaning, but it's getting there. Angioplasty in the morning, home by evening, eating that Big Mac by night.

Sanjay Gupta joins us now from the CNN Center.

I was kind of joking about having a drive-through window where you get the Big Mac and the next window is angioplasty. It's one-stop shopping.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, in fact, they're calling it drive-through angioplasty. One of the big thing that's coming out of the American Heart Association conference, looking at this for some time.

Angioplasty, for those of you that don't know, is actually where you take a little catheter and you put it into some of the arteries in the heart to try to stent them open, open them up so the blood flow is better.

Usually there's two types. There's a traditional, and now the newer kind of drive-by angioplasty. And they have some differences.

That's an actual balloon actually going up in the heart vessel.

It usually requires an overnight stay, but now you're seeing some differences. Traditionally, they put the catheter in through an artery in the groin, and with the new drive-through it's actually an artery in the wrist. Less bleeding with the drive-through versus the traditional.

And then also, the drugs are different that you have to give for the two procedures. The traditional 12-hour drug infusion, that makes sure that you have to stay there overnight. The drive-through just a one-time oral pill. And as you mentioned, Miles, go home within the same day.

And in case you're curious, they studied this. About a thousand patients had the drive-through angioplasty, as they're calling it, and they found that the results were really not much different from the traditional angioplasty. Plus, you get lower cost and less time in the hospital.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow. It's interesting. You know, I'll certainly take the wrist over the groin any day of the week. There's no question about that, given the choice.

Let's talk -- you were -- you just came out of a big meeting, the American Heart Association, correct?

GUPTA: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So, a lot of talk about women and heart disease. Tell us about that.

GUPTA: Yes. You know, this is sort of one of my bugaboos. And we've been talking about this for some time.

A lot of people don't realize. A lot of doctors don't even realize this, but the biggest killer of women in this country is heart disease. Same as men. A lot of people think it's breast cancer, or something like that. In fact, heart disease kills about 10 times as many women as breast cancer does. A lot of doctors, a lot of people don't pay as much attention to it. For example, if a woman goes into the emergency room with chest pain, it's more likely to be chalked up to something like indigestion versus actual heart disease.

One of the studies that I thought was interesting was looking at a very popular medication, Staton (ph) medication, which is a cholesterol-lowering drug. And they found that if men and women went in with the same cholesterol levels, women were actually much less likely to actually be prescribed that medication.

So we're still not there yet in terms of thinking about heart disease as a woman's disease. The gender gap still exists -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, Soledad just decided she's giving up bacon.

GUPTA: Wow.

M. O'BRIEN: No more bacon.

GUPTA: My work here is done.

M. O'BRIEN: No more bacon.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: She says she wrote it out there, no more bacon.

S. O'BRIEN: I didn't realize that. Maybe I should be on Staton (ph), because I have high cholesterol. I shouldn't be eating bacon.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, this is part of our auditing of the New You program. All right?

GUPTA: You got it. That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: No more bacon for Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to freelance it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Dr. Gupta. Send me your bill.

M. O'BRIEN: Always good to have you drop by, Sanjay.

We've got some more health news coming up as well. Dr. Drew Pinsky -- we're heavily populated with doctors this morning -- will join us live to talk about an alarming trend. More and more kids trying to get high off of household items like cologne and body sprays. And this is nothing to fool around with.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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