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American Morning

Hamas Election Victory; American Kidnapped in Iraq; California Hostage Standoff Over

Aired January 26, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
The roadmap to peace leads to a cliff, and a cliffhanger victory for a political party that supports suicide bombings and wants an end to the Jewish state. Where next?

We're live in the West Bank.

He didn't fight, but he didn't quit either. A hostage-taker may wish he had given up the smokes. We'll tell you how a pack of cigarettes ended a long, tense ordeal in a California bank.

We're there live.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

What was this woman thinking when she put her kids in the trunk of her car? She's paying for it now. We'll explain. A live report just ahead.

And always controversial Kanye West, does he really have a Jesus complex, is it just a passion for publicity? We'll take a look on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us.

It is a new day in the Middle East, and the forecast for peace is grim. The Palestinian group Hamas, which is roughly translated as "zeal," known for its zealous support of suicide bombers and equally zealous contempt for the state of Israel, is now in power. Hard to imagine now how there will be peace with Israel.

John Vause is live in front of election commission headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank.

John, what can you tell us?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, they're still waiting for those official election results, but whether it's 75 seats or 80 seats in the 132 parliament doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Hamas is walking away with a landslide win, and the ruling Fatah party could be reduced to just a handful of seats in that parliament.

Now, the problem, of course, is, where does the peace process go from here? Hamas saying that negotiations with Israel are simply not on the agenda. Israel saying that while Hamas is armed and committed to the destruction of Israel, there can be no peace negotiations either.

But the real power in Palestinian politics rests with the president, Mahmoud Abbas. He's expected to make a major announcement once those official results come out. And, of course, if Abbas wants to continue on with the peace process, if the Israelis are willing, then the parliament will have (ph) his efforts. So for Abbas a lot at stake here, and there are threats from the president that if he can't get his agenda through, then he may walk away, he may just simply resign -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, John, you mentioned Abbas. He encouraged Hamas to participate in the election. There'll be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking about this. Has he expressed any regrets about that?

VAUSE: No. Quite the opposite, Miles.

He was talking about the celebration of Palestinian democracy. In fact, he really had no choice about allowing Hamas to run. There was a ground swell of support for Hamas to take part in these parliamentary elections which had been delayed time and time again. The last one was held 10 years ago.

So his theory was to get Hamas into the mainstream of politics, get them into government, and maybe that would moderate their views. No one actually expected Hamas to walk away with this crushing victory -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: John, is it likely their views will be moderated, though?

VAUSE: Well, certainly the statements that we're getting from Gaza over the last couple of hours, certainly nothing being moderated about that. But over the campaign they did tone things down a little, and in the last couple of hours we did speak with a couple of the new members of the Palestinian legislative council from the Hamas side, saying that they will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with a capital in east Jerusalem.

That's roughly, you know, the Oslo Peace Accord, the deal which Arafat was negotiating over. But that would only be a temporary suggestion, and they would leave the ultimate struggle, the destruction to Israel to future generations. So certainly no toning down of their language in the long term -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: John Vause in Ramallah. Thanks much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We're just getting word that the president is set to hold a news conference from the White House briefing room this morning. It's set to take place at 10:15 a.m. Eastern. It's going to cover a range of topics, we're told.

CNN, of course, is going to have live coverage. We are suspecting that the president will likely have reaction to what we've been talking about all morning, the Palestinian elections.

Turning to Iraq now, 419 prisoners being released from U.S. custody, including five Iraqi women. And that's raising some hopes for abducted American journalist Jill Carroll, even though the U.S. says that her kidnapping and the prisoner release are totally unrelated.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken developing -- following developments, rather, for us this morning from Washington.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And of course that is the official policy of this government. It has been for a long time. It does not negotiate with terrorists or abductors, but we also know that a lot is going on behind the scenes. It is really a delicate dance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice over): The deadline set by Jill Carroll's kidnappers has passed and still there is no word on her fate. The freelance journalist working for the "Christian Science Monitor" was last scene on this tape January 18. Since then, her parents have made several TV appeals direct to her captors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CARROLL, JILL CARROLL'S FATHER: Your story is one that can be told by Jill to the whole world. Allowing her to live and releasing her will enable her to do that.

FRANKEN: The kidnappers called for the release of all female insurgent prisoners held in Iraq. Government officials say there are nine, and that the five being let go are not in response to these demands. But security experts say it still sends the wrong signal.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: You have to assume, as with any situation like this, that if you give in an inch, you may give in a mile, because you may have a lot more of the problem.

FRANKEN: No one in the federal government will comment for fear of disrupting whatever is going on behind the scenes. The issue of female Iraqi prisoners is a sensitive one for Muslims.

FAWAZ GERGES, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: It's a highly explosive issue. It has really become terribly, terribly volatile in relations between Iraqis who oppose the American presence and the American presence in the country.

FRANKEN: Meanwhile, expressions of support are pouring into the "Christian Science Monitor" Web site, which the family says is providing some comfort.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FRANKEN: But what we have now is a silence that is deafening. About the only hope, really, is that the absence of news could be construed, Soledad, as at least not bad news.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, let's certainly hope so.

Bob Franken for us this morning out of our bureau in Washington.

Thanks, Bob.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it was a trick but no treat for a would-be bank robber in California. A 10-hour hostage ordeal ends peacefully with a pack of cigarettes.

It all took place in Exeter, California. That's roughly halfway between L.A. and San Francisco.

Peter Viles in Exeter this morning for us.

Peter, bring us up to date.

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, folks here in Exeter are waking up to some excellent news. Overnight, when they went to bed, there would have been a hostage drama going on, originally eight hostages through the night. Five released and two escaped. So one hostage remained this morning.

Police did something very clever. We have the videotape of that last hostage being rescued, and then seconds later police go in, or a S.W.A.T. team goes in, and apprehends the man who was holding these hostages without a struggle.

Now I'll tell you how they did it. They played a trick on this guy.

In the negotiations, the man holding the hostages said, "I would like some cigarettes." They brought a pack of cigarettes to the door of the bank, laid him at the door, and said to him over the phone, "You've got to come out and get the cigarettes, buddy."

He decided to send a hostage out. They said, "Great." They grabbed the hostage, took her away. Now he's got no bargaining chips.

They go in and grab him. The whole thing is over. No shots are fired. Nobody is hurt. All eight hostages, Miles, released unharmed.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Peter, strategically, if you're a hostage- taker, that was a bad move, clearly. What sorts of charges, what do we know about the suspect?

VILES: We don't know a whole lot about him. We know his name is Jess R. Martinez. He's 47. He lives in Visalia, which is about 20 miles down the road.

We expect to hear about charges later today. The police here are going to hold a press conference at 8:00 local time, which is in about two hours. So we should learn more there.

We haven't heard anything from the police on the record about why he did this or his behavior or anything. There have been some wire service reports that we have not confirmed that said he wanted a car at one point during the middle of the night.

We haven't confirmed that. We hope to hear that from the police later today -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Some good, quick thinking. Creative police work there.

Peter Viles, thanks a lot -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Police say that they have interviewed the truck driver responsible for that terrible crash in northern Florida. Seven children died in the crash.

The driver apparently told them he just wasn't paying attention when his tractor trailer slammed into the back of a passenger car. It happened on Wednesday afternoon in Lake Butler, which is 60 miles southwest of Jacksonville.

Rusty Dornin is live at the Union County High School. Two family members who attended the school, two girls, are now dead in that accident.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, very tough day here at Union County High School for the students, as well as the faculty. Very close-knit community.

They had a faculty meeting this morning to talk to teachers to talk to them about what happened and how to deal with the students. They're going to have some grief counselors here later this morning.

Also, overnight a horrific development as far as this family is concerned. Barbara Mann, who is the mother of all seven of those adopted children, lost her father overnight. When he heard the news about the crash, he had a massive heart attack.

Now, our affiliate, WJXT, did an interview with Barbara Mann. It was a very painful interview to hear and see, but let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA MANN, MOTHER OF VICTIMS: They're just happy children, my babies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: That was Barbara Mann, again, the mother of those adopted children that were killed in that crash. And they are looking at the truck driver, of course, and they say charges, some charges, are likely in this case, but they are not saying what those are -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Rusty, thanks.

A quick question for you. How's the truck driver doing? We know he's been transported to the hospital. What kind of condition is he in?

DORNIN: Apparently, he has just minor injuries. And just one other thing to add about it. They do say that there were absolutely no skid marks before that crash. So apparently he did not break. He was not paying attention, apparently didn't see them at all, because he didn't break. And they're estimating that he was traveling probably at least 60 miles an hour or more.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely brutal for that poor mother. What a devastating story.

Rusty Dornin with coverage for us this morning.

Thanks, Rusty.

Other stories making news. Carols' got those.

Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Good morning to all of you.

Another reminder for you. President Bush set to hold a news conference from the White House briefing room. That's set to take place at 10:15 a.m. Eastern. We of course will have live coverage for you. We're hearing the president will talk about a range of topics, but we suspect he will face some tough questions about the Palestinian elections.

A Maryland woman who let her kids ride in the trunk of her car is being sentenced right now. Lenore Lucas (ph) is charged with reckless endangerment.

You're watching a police dashboard camera showing Lucas (ph) being stopped last summer in Frederick County, and you'll see her son, a friend, then Lucas' (ph) daughter get out of the trunk. She says the kids just wanted to be in there to play while she drove around. The prosecutor is seeking probation.

A stolen laptop could mean a lot of trouble for thousands. Ameriprise Financial says it has notified 226,000 people that their names and other personal information was in that laptop. The computer was taken in November outside of Minneapolis.

The FTC says nearly 10 million people every year fall victim to identity theft.

And finally, our favorite British politician, George Galloway, can throw away that red bodysuit. To the relief of many, he's been voted out of Britain's "Big Brother House." That's a reality show in Britain.

We've all seen his antics in the house. There was the red leotard that I mentioned. He also acted like a cat drinking -- who could forget that? Boy, was that a lot of fun.

And so after left the house, someone showed him all the headlines he made while inside. His reaction, "Oh, dear."

I just wish I could do the British accent, but I can't.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, dear.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, dear.

COSTELLO: Oh, dear.

S. O'BRIEN: What a disgrace. What was I thinking?

COSTELLO: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carol.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's get a forecast.

Chad is a big fan.

S. O'BRIEN: Chad can do that accent.

M. O'BRIEN: He's in the Galloway fan club.

S. O'BRIEN: Come on, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I'm not even sure, is it on in America?

M. O'BRIEN: It is on our program, that's for sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we've brought enough of it...

MYERS: Over and over and over, I know.

S. O'BRIEN: Come on, the red leotard alone is worth watching.

MYERS: Thanks. I'll pass.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

Still to come, believe it or not, we're just a few months away from the next hurricane season.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: When does hurricane season start again?

M. O'BRIEN: June 1. And New Orleans' levee repairs, they aren't done. Are they going to be ready in time? We'll ask some questions about that.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, you know lots of people blame video games, of course, for overweight children. But there's a new breed of games out there. And you're looking at it right there. These games could be key to shedding some pounds in kids.

We'll talk about that in "House Call" this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: And later, a crown of thorns and a new controversy for Kanye West. A closer look at the flap over Kanye's hip-hop Jesus ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, is a government land grab under way in New Orleans? The Army Corps of Engineer says it needs more land for levees. And they're willing to pay, but apparently not enough.

We are joined now by Lieutenant Colonel Murray Starkel. He is deputy commander for the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans.

Good to have you with us, Colonel.

First of all, why do you need the land? Is this to build higher levees or stronger levees or both?

LT. COL. MURRAY STARKEL, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: It's primarily -- Miles, it's primarily for stronger levees because the flood walls that were there on top of the Mississippi River levees have failed because of the hurricane. It's a better engineering solution to do a levee enlargement.

In order to do that levee enlargement, we need to acquire additional land. It's about 54 more acres of land.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So basically you're increasing the footprint of the berms which support the levees, right?

STARKEL: Yes, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Fifty-four acres. We're talking about Plaquemines Parish now. This is south of New Orleans. You met -- I don't know if you personally were there, but the Corps met with residents last night.

Let's listen -- want to listen to one resident and hear his point, because it reflects a lot of the concerns there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't see how you can put fair market value, the word "fair" and "market value" when you are going to use -- pay the people in the Buris (ph) area and the Port Sever (ph) are for their property and use January 2006 in the same sentence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Essentially, what she is saying is fair market value should be the value before Katrina.

Is that fair?

STARKEL: Well, Miles, it's -- the fair market value, we're mandated by law to use the fair market value at the time that we acquire the land. And so we're acquiring the land in January of 2006, and that's what we're using.

Now, the fair market value, we will arrive at that based on its highest and best use in the comparable areas around there. What we also explained last night was that if some of the structures, the residential areas were impacted by the hurricane, and then by our acquisition of land, that we will pay for the relocation of the people from those areas.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. But...

STARKEL: In other words, we will find a comparable structure.

M. O'BRIEN: But you see the irony here.

STARKEL: Go ahead, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Your levee fails, making -- rendering the land less valuable. You want to buy it at the less valuable price, then fix the levee so that the land values will go back up. You can see how a resident would react to that and say no way, right?

STARKEL: Right. I understand -- I understand the dilemma there, Miles. But we will do everything we can to get to a good fair market value for them. And we do have the ability to look at, well, what will the values be in the future as the levees are fixed.

And we can go into the negotiations with them. If we cannot settle it amicably between the land owner and the Corps of Engineers, it will be resolved in federal court. So there will be a chance for them to (INAUDIBLE) on the fair market value that we determine.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course the federal court has Supreme Court rulings on eminent domain. It could just very well be this land is taken and these people are left without what they consider a fair price.

STARKEL: Well, we hope that doesn't happen, Miles. We're going to do everything we can. And we are going to give them a fair market value and a just -- an equitable settlement for the just amount of the property that we are taking. M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Let's talk about how the project is going. You know, you've kind of got a short-term goal here of June 1 to get the levees at least where they were prior to Katrina, maybe a little better, we hope.

How are you doing on that project?

STARKEL: Right. We're doing very well.

We're going to meet our goals of 1 June to have all of the levees and flood walls repaired to the pre-Katrina elevations. And in some instances, that results because we can allow for design overbuild and a settling of the levees and larger levees that will be slightly higher and flood walls that will be slightly higher to allow for further settlement.

We've also just recently gotten additional funding and authorization to continue to repair those levees that had minor damage or no damage and raise those to their design elevations. And again, we're allowed to build in some overbuild and allow for settlement.

That is covering the entire metropolitan New Orleans area. And the goal to get that done is September 2007. We're going to meet that goal of June of 2006 in order to get that...

M. O'BRIEN: OK. So June 1...

STARKEL: Yes, we will.

M. O'BRIEN: ... you're going to stick to that. You feel good about that.

Let me ask you this. A lot of what we discovered in retrospect is that those levees were not built right in the first place. And whatever happened there, the sheets were not put deep enough and they didn't get down to the proper type of soil that it needed to be in, didn't have a firm footing.

Can you assure us now the Corps is doing it right this time?

STARKEL: Yes, I can. Miles, we're doing -- we're doing -- we're taking all those things into account. Everything that the inner- agency Performance Evaluation Task Force has found we've looked at. And we're incorporating those lessons learned into our rebuilding of these structures.

And as we go forward on further designs and further raises in the target to meet the September 2007, we're taking all that into account.

M. O'BRIEN: Lieutenant Colonel Murray Starkel, the Corps of Engineers in New Orleans.

Thanks for your time. Good luck on your project.

STARKEL: Thank you, Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, folks say video games help make kids fat. Some games, though, might be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to losing weight in children. We've got that in "House Call" this morning.

And how about Kanye West? Does he have a Jesus complex? Kind of dressed up like Jesus on the cover of "Rolling Stone." We'll take a look at the controversy this morning.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: In this morning's "House Call," it's sort of like hopscotch on turbo drive, a dance video game that is giving kids, believe it or not, a real workout.

Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen tells us more about a dance craze that could actually trigger a fitness revolution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Video games, lots of hours on couches, teenage obesity, they all seem to go together. But what about a video game that might also be a weight loss aid? It's called Dance, Dance Revolution.

Two years ago we met John Polchowki. He was spending up to three hours a day playing video games alone in his room. Then he got hooked on DDR.

JOHN POLCHOWKI, VIDEO GAME PLAYER: As I kept on playing, I got better. And also, it was getting to be a really good workout. And I tried to use that to become -- to make it a goal and lose a lot of weight from it.

COHEN: After plague the game for one to two hours every day for a year, along with eating healthier, he started to lose weight. John eventually lost 70 pounds.

POLCHOWKI: I was able to do it whenever I want. I don't need to get other people.

COHEN: Today John is a 19-year-old sophomore at Fairfield University. He doesn't have much time for DDR anymore, but he's managed to keep the weight off by remaining active and playing sports like basketball with friends.

But John's mother knows that he probably could never have done it without DDR.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to lose weight, I think, without doing exercise also. So -- and this was something he enjoyed.

COHEN: Dr. Richard Adler is a pediatrician who's been tracking active video games and their success in fighting obesity.

DR. RICHARD ADLER, PEDIATRICIAN: There's never been anything that I have seen that has the potential for increasing physical activity like this. It has the potential for being absolutely tremendous in terms of its impact on children.

COHEN: There are no official numbers on how many kids have lost weight with these games, but manufacturers are developing more interactive games involving skate boarding, fighting and more dancing. Maybe other kids will see some of John's success.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: You can learn more about the dance -- the video dance revolution, DVR, at getupandmove.org -- getupandmove.com. What am I saying dot-org -- dot-com, obviously. And they're obviously making money hand over fist now.

M. O'BRIEN: Get up and move.

All right.

Coming up, the Sundance Film Festival, it's an A-list event. Amid the glitterati, Al Gore? How did he get an invite? The former veep, as it turns out, is a leading man. And he's making the rounds with the likes of Larry David, who has actually pronounced him very funny, really.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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