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American Morning

Arrest in Massachusetts Murders of Mother, Daughter; The War on Terror; Breathing Uneasily

Aired February 09, 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 to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee, in for Soledad.

We're following several developing stories this morning.

O'BRIEN: We have an arrest in the Massachusetts murders of a mother and daughter. You remember this one. Police grabbed the husband in England.

We are live with the latest. This is just developing.

Warships sent to Yemen to try to block a key escape route. It's in response to that prison escape of several al Qaeda operatives we've been telling you about.

Live to the Pentagon for more on that.

VERJEE: Special investigators in Alabama today looking for more clues in the church fires there. We're going to talk to the pastor of one of those destroyed churches.

Firefighters gain an upper hand on wildfires in southern California. But will the Santa Ana winds cooperate?

O'BRIEN: And then there is this: they said U2. They walk away with the lion's share of Grammy gold. We've got the winners and the losers ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

We begin, though, with big news.

We begin with big news. For those of you following the Entwistle murder case, authorities in Britain have arrested Neil Entwistle. And he is now charged with the murder and shooting death of his wife and baby outside Boston last month.

Jason Carroll in Boston. He joins us on the phone with the latest.

Jason, what can you tell us?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know that that arrest happened at 7:00 a.m. local time. He was arrested in London, England, by Scotland Yard officials. We are told that that arrest happened at the Royal Oak tube station. That's in northwest London. And Neil Entwistle was arrested on a provisional extradition warrant. He has been charged with two counts of murder, one count of illegal possession of a firearm, and one count of illegal possession of ammunition.

Of course, the big question is extradition. Will he waive extradition? Will he fight extradition?

If he waives extradition, that will be a speedy process. If he fights extradition, it will be a lengthy process. That according to the Middlesex district attorney. That means it could be a while before he's back here.

What is the next step? Well, we are told what will happen next is Entwistle will appear before a magistrate court in London. That is a court that handles civil, family and criminal types of cases. That could happen, he could appear before that judge either today, that could happen tomorrow. We are unsure at this point when that will happen.

The Middlesex district attorney here in Massachusetts is planning to hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. At that point we're hoping to get some more details about this arrest -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jason, was there a significant break which led to this arrest? In other words, was new evidence uncovered? Do we know anything along those lines, or are we going to have to wait for that news conference?

CARROLL: I think what we're going to have to do is we're going to have to wait. It could very well be that there was a break in the case. It could be that investigators here had evidence but they really have been sitting on it for a while. It could be one, it could be the other.

They have not been giving a lot of information out. We have not heard from the family, from the -- Rachel Entwistle's family. They have been in seclusion.

So at 10:00 a.m., probably, we're going to get some of those details in terms of was there a break in the case, was there not a break in the case? But obviously they feel as though they have enough evidence to issue the arrest warrants.

O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll on the line with us from Boston.

That district attorney's press conference is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. And of course that's right as the president is due to be speaking, so Daryn Kagan will be juggling both of those stories with -- for you.

We invite you to tune in to CNN, and then also cnn.com/pipeline if you want to follow one of those stories in particular -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, a CNN "Security Watch" now. We are just about 50 minutes away from President Bush's comments on the war on terror. That at 9:55 Eastern. CNN will bring that to you live. The president is expected to talk about, among other things, a thwarted airline terror plot back in 2002.

CNN's White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now with more on that.

Suzanne, what more do you have on that?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, this is one of 10 plots that the president has referred to in the past, and the White House has even issued information about those plots previously. But we're told that they're going to offer more details about how it was discovered, how it was actually thwarted.

We don't know exactly what those details are, but the White House has given us some information about this. It is a West Coast airliner plot. It was mid-2002. The U.S. disrupted a plot to attack multiple targets on the West Coast using hijacked airplanes.

Also, the White House putting out information saying that the plotters included at least one operational planner that was involved in the September 11 attacks. The White House previously releasing that information about this particular plot.

We also know the president is going to defend his domestic spying program. So we'll see whether or not they actually give us more detail about how they managed to find out who was involved and how they broke up that particular attack.

So that is something that the president will highlight.

The other aspects of this, of course, are things that we've heard before, the global war on terror. He'll also make tribute to the National Guard about their work in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, the rescue efforts there -- Zain.

VERJEE: At the White House, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

We'll have live coverage on CNN of the president's comments this morning. That will begin at 9:55 Eastern.

Stay with CNN also day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Also, we want to go now to someone equally as reliable to give us the headlines, Carol Costello.

Hi.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you, Zain.

And good morning to all of you. We're watching a developing situation in the Middle East right now. A number of international warships are now moving into the waters off the coast of Yemen. Barbara Starr is reporting that they are trying to block any possible prisoners from escaping the country.

You'll remember 23 suspects escaped from a prison in Yemen last week. Among them, the alleged mastermind behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

A Shiite Muslim holiday marred by a suicide bombing in Pakistan. At least 15 are dead. It happened during a procession in northwest Pakistan. There's been no claim of responsibility.

A somewhat more peaceful scene in Baghdad, despite the swords you see there. Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim marking the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson 1,300 years ago.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales back on Capitol Hill this morning. He's expected to give some classified details about the Bush administration's wiretapping program.

The White House did agree to release these details. The announcement coming the same day that Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was drafting legislation aimed at getting the Bush administration to turn over more information to a special court.

Ukraine's president is calling for unity after an out-and-out brawl in the parliament. Check out these pictures.

Can you imagine this scene on the U.S. Senate floor? I be some of you might enjoy that.

Anyway, I digress.

The brawl started just moments before President Viktor Yuschenko's -- Viktor Yuschenko was due to speak. It seems member of the rival communist party wanted to put up banners criticizing the president. His faction defended him, and at least one lawmaker ened up with a bloody nose. But no other injuries really reported.

Dangerous and dry conditions in parts of southern California. A massive wildfire in Orange County, east of Anaheim, has now grown to more than 8,300 acres. But the good news is those fierce Santa Ana winds are expected to die down a bit today, and that could give firefighters a chance to fully contain the fire.

A much smaller fire near Malibu is nearly out. The fire which broke out Wednesday forced some schools to shut down.

And in case you missed it, yes, U2 came out on top at the Grammy Awards last night, walking away with the most trophies, five -- count them, five in total, including the big one for album of the year.

Kanye West and Mariah Carey walked away with three each, but Kelly Clarkson, she beat out Mariah Carey for best pop song and got the Grammy -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I just idolize Kelly Clarkson. I'm so happy for her.

COOPER: She's the cutest girl, though, isn't she?

O'BRIEN: She is cute. She's a big -- the family, the kids love Kelly. You know.

COOPER: And very talented.

O'BRIEN: We're an "Idol" house. We're an "Idol" house. And they're big on Kelly. So best to her.

Let's get the forecast in now. Chad Myers a big Kelly Clarkson fan, way back when, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I'm just so priced that Bo Bice got shut out. I just don't know where he was.

Congratulations to John Legend, too, though. I mean, he really -- he really brought on...

O'BRIEN: You're a Legend fan, huh?

MYERS: Yes, I really am.

O'BRIEN: Well, you are a legend yourself. So therefore...

MYERS: Maybe in my own mind.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: But thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Coming up, we're going to bring you more on that string of church fires in Alabama. We're going to be talking to a pastor whose church was destroyed. How is his congregation dealing with the disaster?

O'BRIEN: Medical news. Everybody gets them, everyone has a great way to stop them, right? That's right. Yes, that's it.

We're talking about the hiccups. But imagine what life would be like if they never went away. You'll meet the hiccup-hobbled man next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The past two weeks, since we first began telling you about the story of the Entwistle family outside of Boston, Massachusetts, in Hopkinton, we've been telling you that the authorities there have had only one publicly identified person of interest, Neil Entwistle, the father and husband of those who were murdered. Well, I guess it should come as no surprise to you then that we are telling you this morning he's been arrested by authorities in Great Britain. But there are all kinds of legal issues which lie ahead.

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeff Toobin is here to walk us through international extradition, American and British law, and all the things that could lie ahead.

First of all, very clear extradition treaties obviously between the two countries here.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Right.

O'BRIEN: But that doesn't make it uncumbersome, does it?

TOOBIN: It doesn't make it a simple process.

In 2003, the United Kingdom, Great Britain, changed their law in response actually to 9/11 to make it easier to extradite terrorism suspects to try to expedite this process a little. But it still can be very cumbersome if Neil Entwistle doesn't waive extradition and decides to fight the case.

O'BRIEN: Let's make an assumption here for just a moment that he does in fact decide to fight this.

TOOBIN: Right.

O'BRIEN: That may or may not bear itself out. But what could conceivably happen if he chose to fight it?

TOOBIN: Well, extradition then becomes a legal proceeding in England, in the English courts, subject to all the appeals that an English criminal case can have, which means it could go to the high court, which is their appellate court. It can go to the House of Lords. It can even be appealed from the House of Lords to the European Court of Justice which is in Strasbourg, France, all of which can take and has taken, in some cases, as long as three years.

O'BRIEN: Three years potentially, all the way to European governmental boards. So it's an appeal process which you could call exhaustive.

TOOBIN: You can certainly call it exhaustive and exhausting.

O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly.

If, in fact, he made a decision not to go this route, how quickly could Neil Entwistle be back on U.S. soil?

TOOBIN: Oh, it could be within the week.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

TOOBIN: It's simply a matter of signing a piece of paper if you waive extradition. It's fairly simple -- a simple process somewhat like what happens in the United States when someone is arrested in one state and can be extradited to another. If they waive extradition, it's fairly simple.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about a provisional arrest warrant. Does that imply that there was or was not a significant break in the case? In other words, did they find a new piece of evidence and say, ah, we've got the warrant, or is this -- is there a clock ticking right now?

TOOBIN: You know what? I don't know.

O'BRIEN: OK.

TOOBIN: What I do know, a provisional arrest warrant suggests that the authorities in the United States were worried that Entwistle would flee. That's really why a provisional arrest warrant is used, because basically that is, it says to the British authorities, stop everything, stop him, and then we have 60 days. We in the United States have 60 days to put forth the legal justification for the arrest.

But a provisional arrest warrant is designed so that someone who was abroad can be held while the legal machinery gets going. So it -- I don't really know what it means about the evidence, but it does mean that they are worried about flight.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, clarify one thing in my mind, though. There's that 60-day timeline to sort of put up, or whatever. And then there's the extradition timeline. Does the extradition begin after that period of time when the evidence is supposed to be brought forward?

TOOBIN: Right.

O'BRIEN: OK.

TOOBIN: That's the -- once the evidence is brought forward...

O'BRIEN: I see.

TOOBIN: ... that will begin the extradition process. But it's going to be a lot longer than 60 days.

O'BRIEN: This literally could go on for years?

TOOBIN: Literally for years.

O'BRIEN: All right.

TOOBIN: The extradition is famous in legal circles as one of the slowest-moving legal processes. And as you know, a lot of legal processes are pretty slow.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jeff Toobin, thanks for coming in and shedding some light on all that. Appreciate it.

TOOBIN: All right.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, more on the developing story out of the Middle East as well. Warships are moving into position to block a possible terrorist escape route from Yemen. We'll go live to the Pentagon. Barbara Starr's been working that story for us.

Plus, more on that string of church fires in Alabama. A pastor whose church was destroyed will join us. We'll see how his congregation is coping ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE (HICCUPS): Excuse me.

For those who suffer from it, it's a truly living hell. We're talking about the hiccups, but not just the usually case of the hiccups. Imagine being like Robert Smith. That was a man who has had them for four years.

This morning, in "House Call," Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has Smith's painful story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Robert has the hiccups from the moment he wakes up until he tries to go to sleep. And when he's sleeping, the hiccups come back and wake him up. It's not uncommon for him to get the hiccups at least 12 times a day.

When most of us hiccup, our diaphragm twitches. Usually we swallow too much air or we've eaten too much, too fast. But chronic hiccups, which can make your life miserable, generally stem from something else in the brain, chest, or abdomen.

ROBERT SMITH, HAS HAD HICCUPS FOR FOUR YEARS: Sometimes I think I'm going to choke to death. It's just that bad. But it's painful.

GUPTA: Regular home remedies and drugs normally prescribed for chronic hiccups did not work for him. But he developed some home remedies of his own.

SMITH: I drink a bunch of water sometimes and it would come back. I take -- I walk around with a cigar and I take the cigar and tear the end off it and light it, and then inhale it, exhale it, and hold it in. It might stop it for an hour, then it will come back.

GUPTA: Having hiccups that won't stop has had an impact on every aspect of his life.

SMITH: It affects my work habit. It affects my relationship with people.

GUPTA: Robert was desperate to find a way to make it stop.

SMITH: I went to almost every doctor in Montgomery. Then I went to UAB in Birmingham six times. No help. Then I went to Atlanta at the Emory Clinic. No help.

GUPTA: So he went to New Orleans to see Dr. Bryan Payne, who's a neurosurgeon at the LSU Health Sciences Center. He has treated three other chronic hiccup patients with some success by implanting what is called a Vagus Nerve Stimulator.

A battery for the stimulator is implanted in the chest and the stimulator wire is wrapped around the vagus nerve in the neck.

DR. BRYAN PAYNE, NEUROSURGEON, LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER: The reason that we decided to try it was because we essentially blocked the vagus nerve and got a brief period, several hours, of hiccup-free time.

GUPTA: Robert had the device implanted three months ago, but so far it's only had minor success because it takes time to find the right setting.

SMITH: If I could stand that pain every 10 minutes, I can -- I can deal with it. I mean, if he has to cut off some thumbs and say it will stop me from the hiccups, I'll (INAUDIBLE). That's how bad the hiccup is. It ain't nothing near what you just saw me go through.

GUPTA: A few days later, when Robert was back in Montgomery, back at work, his hiccups are back, as well. This time we see him using his water remedy.

SMITH: I take a cup of water. I drink it down. Just drink it down. And then drink about two good cups of water.

It will stop it. It might stop it five minutes. It might stop it 30 minutes.

GUPTA: Less than an hour later, the hiccups are back, again. So he uses his other tried and true method for making it stop, smoking a cigar.

SMITH: Sometimes it stops it for hours. Sometimes it don't work, sometimes.

GUPTA: So Robert waits for the hiccups to return and for someone to make it stop. Until then, he keeps a cigar close by because he knows it's just a matter of time until he'll need it again.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Frequent hiccups can actually be a sign of a much larger problem, and the best thing to do is to ask your doctor.

You know, there are all these traditional home remedies for things like that.

O'BRIEN: Boy, he is so far beyond that, though. I feel terrible for him. VERJEE: Yes.

O'BRIEN: What an awful way to go through life.

Coming up, we'll have an update on Operation Slap Shot. It's that hockey betting scheme that shines a light on Wayne Gretzky's wife.

And big-name designers aren't the only ones showing off their stuff at Fashion Week. The trials and tribulations of a young designer trying to hit it big ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A ring around Yemen. Warships on the way to the Gulf region to try to stop some escaped terrorists from fleeing.

Our CNN "Security Watch" with Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, who has been telling us about this developing story.

Barbara, what more can you tell us now?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Miles, indeed, a number of international warships in the last 48 hours have moved into the waters off of Yemen. They will stay in international waters, 12 nautical miles off the coast. And they will patrol those waters looking for any of those 23 escaped terrorists who got out of a Yemeni high-security prison last week.

Many of them related to al Qaeda. One of them in particular, this man, Jamal al-Badawi. He is related to the Cole attack back in 2000. He is just one of the many that the U.S. wants to see back in custody.

These warships are an international coalition, but they are under the command of a senior U.S. Navy admiral. They will patrol, they will look at boats. They will look at shipping in this area, see if there's any suspicious activity. But it will be a very difficult job.

There is concern the men will try and escape by sea. Yemen, however, has a very long coastline. So this will be very difficult.

What we can also tell you is there is a growing concern about America's security in Yemen. What sources, very senior sources are telling us now who have direct knowledge of the situation, if these men are not caught within the next month, if they remain at large, the U.S. may have to reconsider its own presence inside Yemen, the U.S. Embassy there, of course, very small U.S. military contingent in the capital city of Sanaa. But there are a number of Americans in the country, and the longer these men, these al Qaeda terrorists remain at large, the greater the security risk to Americans.

One last point, Miles. The U.S. has now verified essentially that tunnel that they escaped from. A good deal of concern the tunnel was very sophisticated, very well engineered. And those who escaped left behind some messages in that tunnel that are of concern to U.S. intelligence. They are looking at those right now -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: You mean threats of possible attacks? Is that what you're talking about?

STARR: Well, there are some messages that broadly we can tell you do describe the people, some of the past operations that they had been involved in. And we are not being give an lot of details, but in fact there are some messages that were left in the cell on the wall as graffiti that are of concern. They are said not to involve the U.S., but perhaps are indeed threatening -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Ominous note.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon watching this for us.

Stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, still to come, we're going to bring you the latest on the Alabama church fires and find out from a pastor how his congregation is coping with the loss of their church.

Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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