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American Morning
Cyclone Glenda; Immigration Battle; Pleading for Jill Carroll; Preacher Killed; Jill Carroll Released
Aired March 30, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody, to a split edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien coming to you from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Hey, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.
I'm Miles O'Brien in New York.
Severe weather warnings across the central part of the country right now, heavy thunderstorms, damaging winds and the threat of some strong tornadoes. Our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, standing by.
Also, another major storm is battering the Australian coast at this hour. We're live there with the latest.
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush crosses the border. He is in Mexico this morning. He is debating security and immigration issues. We'll take you live to Mexico today.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE CARROLL, JILL CARROLL'S SISTER: There's no one I hold closer to my heart than my sister, Jill, and I'm deeply worried about how she is being treated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Jill Carroll's twin sister, Katie, making her first public plea more than three months after he sister's abduction, she wants proof that her sister is alive.
And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever I wear, wherever I go, yes means yes, no means no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever I wear, wherever I go, yes means yes, no means no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever I wear, wherever I go, yes means yes, no means no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: A student march against sexual assaults on the campus of Duke University and a call for strong action against that embattled lacrosse team.
Will it be a shot in the wallet for SUV owners? The government sets a new mileage standard.
We begin this morning with severe weather brewing in the Central Plains of the U.S., heavy thunderstorms, hail, high winds, the threat of dangerous tornadoes.
Chad Myers, our severe weather expert.
Good morning, -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.
It's going to be one of those days. One of those days that you need this, your weather radio, your NOAA weather radio. If you hear that in your home, you need to be taking cover.
This is the radio you need, not the old kind, but the kind you can actually program for your county, maybe the county to your west as well, so that you know storms are coming. You can get them at RadioShack. Get them at -- all kinds of places have those. They're called S-A-M-E, SAME, S-A-M-E weather radios. That's the one. Those are the ones you can program. They're about 50 bucks. But, hey, 50 bucks to save your life, that's not too bad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad Myers, back with you in just a little bit.
MYERS: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: Now to Australia where people are fleeing for higher ground. A severe tropical cyclone slamming into the country's northwest coast. Gusts are topping 155 miles an hour as we speak. Dangerous storm tides are expected.
Nick Way of Australia's Network 10 is on the phone now from the coastal town of Karratha.
Nick, tell us what's going on?
NICK WAY, NETWORK 10-TV REPORTER: Well, it's been one hell of a day over here. We're actually parked outside that icon of American capitalism, McDonald's, actually, and half the sign has blown away. It just says "onald's" here. So it's really hit hard here today.
Everyone actually, at this moment as we speak, is actually heaving a bit of a sigh of relief because there was about 500 people who were evacuated from low-lying areas. But they're just, as we are speaking now, received the word that they can actually get home because the cyclone has veered off to the west.
They say these computer models they just -- they don't know what they're going to do, they can model them, but they just don't know exactly what they're going to do. So she's veered off to the west. But it is threatening another town, Adet (ph), further down the coast, a very small settlement.
M. O'BRIEN: Nick, this is the sixth cyclone that has hit that part of Australia this year. Busy cyclone season, I guess, huh?
WAY: Well, it sure is. I mean, call it -- you know there are some people who think it's the greenhouse effect and it's increasingly severe weather sort of events like this. They were forecasting about four or five. This is the sixth, and everyone here is praying that it's the last.
There is one little place, a little -- a parcel of property, what you'd call a ranch. We call it over here a cattle station. It's been hit -- almost a direct hit by this Cyclone Glenda, and the two people, we believe, are OK who were at -- just hammering the ranch. But they weathered it out inside a concrete shelter, I believe.
M. O'BRIEN: Nick Way is with Australia's Network 10.
Thanks for being with us, Nick -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The immigration battle is going to be the big issue in Washington, D.C. today. U.S. immigration policy also critical to the Mexican economy. All that at the top of the agenda when President Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox this afternoon.
White House correspondent Elaine Quijano in Cancun, Mexico. She's covering today's meetings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): President Bush sits down with the leaders of Mexico and Canada later today. And at the top of the agenda, border security and illegal immigration.
Mr. Bush arrived here in Cancun last night. His visit comes at a time when the immigration debate in Washington is boiling over as Congress takes up the issue.
Now before he left Washington, President Bush reiterated that, in his view, improving border security also means including that proposed guest worker program. That notion, though, of course has infuriated some of President Bush's fellow conservative Republicans who see it as amnesty.
Now as for President Bush's schedule this morning, he will take part in a rare sightseeing tour for him. He will stop and take a look at the Mayan Ruins of Chichen Itza before beginning his round of meetings with Mexico's President Vicente Fox and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Cancun, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: While the immigration battle heats up in Mexico and in Washington, D.C. today, we're going to talk about what's at stake with California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. That's coming up live in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
Lou Dobbs going to join us live from Cancun in our 9:00 hour, talk about what we can expect from the summit. Tonight, he's anchoring a "BROKEN BORDERS SPECIAL REPORT." That's live from Mexico at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
An illustration now at the lack of security at some of the nation's ports. A congressional study found that shipping containers could easily contain anything from dirty bombs to terrorists themselves. The surprising thing though may be which countries are cited for being the biggest threats. Japan, France, the United Kingdom cited as failures in screening containers that are headed for the U.S. -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: A desperate, emotional plea for a U.S. hostage in Iraq. Jill Carroll's twin sister, Katie, on Arab television, Wednesday, appealing for her sister's release.
Nic Robertson live in Baghdad for us this morning.
Nic, tell us about that plea and tell us what we know about Jill Carroll at this point.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the plea was broadcast about half past 11 in Baghdad last night. The plea from Katie Carroll, Jill Carroll's twin sister, really an emotional appeal, appealing to the people of Iraq to come forward. She said that she was desperate to know about the condition of her sister, that this was the first appeal the family had made in over two months. She said that no family should have to go through what they're going through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And it's been nearly two months since the last video of Jill was broadcast. We've had no contact with her, nor received any information about her condition. There is no one I hold closer to my heart than my sister, Jill, and I'm deeply worried about how she is being treated. No family should have to have their loved one taken from them in this way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now the appeal really did seem to reach out to families here in Iraq. Katie also mentioned an Iraqi mother whose daughter had been kidnapped. And this Iraqi mother, when her daughter was returned to her, had also talked about Jill Carroll and her plight. The family, Katie said, that if anyone had any information and to come forward, she says, somebody would be listening -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Nic, it's been a long time since we've heard anything from Jill Carroll or her captors. What are people saying about that? Is silence perhaps good news?
ROBERTSON: Well, you know as we saw recently with the Christian peacemaker team, there was nothing heard from them for a long period, yet the three out of the four of them came through that OK. They were released just last week. And I think there is that hope here that Jill will be released unharmed.
Certainly we've talked to Iraqis on the street here and everyone we talked to says, yes, you know she was here, she was a good person, she was working to inform the world about the plight of the Iraqi people, and, yes, she should be released.
Indeed, "The Christian Science Monitor" a couple of months ago put out a public service announcement here in Baghdad to draw attention to Jill's plight. And certainly it's something that it seems that the Iraqi people are sympathetic to and certainly that's something that it seems her family really wants to play on at the moment -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The woman who is accused of gunning down her husband, a minister in a small Tennessee town, is headed back to court today. A preliminary hearing scheduled this morning for Mary Winkler. Is it going to finally provide some answers to her mystery?
Rusty Dornin has more for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The question on everyone's mind is, will prosecutors reveal why Mary Winkler told police that she killed her husband, Matthew, as a popular and charismatic minister in Tennessee? The judge is expected to consider whether to set bail for the mother of three and is likely to turn over the case to a grand jury who will decide the final charges against Mary Winkler.
Meantime, a family friend told CNN that Matthew Winkler's parents went to Alabama shortly after the woman was arrested and confronted her, personally, and told her that they loved her and forgave her for what she had done. An incredible act of forgiveness from a family of three generations of ministers.
Rusty Dornin, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in our 9:00 hour Eastern Time, we're going to be joined by Mary Winkler's attorney -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: After three months now, Randal McCloy is going home today. He's talking about the Sago Mine disaster. McCloy, of course, as you know, the sole survivor, says he has only fragmented images of the 41 hours he spent waiting to be rescued and he tries not to think of them. He's carefully planning what he'll say to the families of the 12 men who died in the mine, his comrades. And he has no idea why he was the only survivor of the explosion and the exposure to toxic air.
His doctors will talk about that at a news conference, 8:30 Eastern Time this morning. And we do expect Randy McCloy may speak as well. We, of course, will bring that to you live right here on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.
Coming up, looks like baseball is ready to act on steroid allegations against Barry Bonds and some other stars.
S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, new standards for getting better mileage in those gas-guzzling SUVs. We're going to take a look at what that could mean for all of us at the pump.
And then a dustup on Capitol Hill to tell you about, one congresswoman's run-in with police. That story up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, a little Van Halen on this Thursday morning. Playing the hits for you here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Carol Costello is in the newsroom looking at some other stories for us.
Good morning, -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles, and good morning to all of you.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney says she regrets a confrontation, perhaps a physical confrontation, with a Capitol Hill police officer. It seems the officer didn't recognize her, asked for her I.D. when she tried to get into a House office building.
McKinney's office released this statement, and I'm going to read you an excerpt now.
"It is the expectation of most members of Congress that Capitol Hill police officers know who they are. I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents. Unfortunately, the police officer did not recognize me as a member of Congress and a confrontation ensued."
One account says McKinney punched the officer. Another, that she pushed him in the chest with her cell phone. The officer is now considering filing charges. A legal curveball. Major League Baseball launching an investigation into possible steroid abuse. At the center -- at the center, rather, San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds. Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will likely oversee the inquiry. The official announcement is expected today. The launch comes just days after the release of a new book, "Game of Shadows," that alleges steroid abuse by Bonds and other players.
The first full day of deliberations in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, he could be sentenced to death for not telling authorities beforehand about plans for the September 11 attacks.
In the meantime, a federal judge has sentenced a Virginia man to 30 years in prison for plotting to kill President Bush. Lawyers for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali say he was tortured. They are planning an appeal.
A showdown may be brewing over Iran's nuclear program. The United Nations Security Council is giving Iran 30 days to suspend any enrichment of uranium or face possible sanctions. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Berlin this morning. She's meeting with other foreign ministers on what to do next about Iran.
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor could make an initial appearance before a war tribunal this week. He's being held under heavy security in a United Nations back court in Freetown, Liberia. He was caught after escaping on Tuesday. Taylor will stand trial for crimes in connection with the rebel fighting in Sierra Leone over control of the diamond fields.
And a new crew is heading to the International Space Station. A Russian rocket blastoff overnight from Kazakhstan. American Jeffrey Williams among the crew, he's the one waving right at the top of the picture there. The other members include a Russian and the first-ever Brazilian astronaut. And so happy trails to them -- Chad.
MYERS: That video of that rocket going up looked it was from 1967, though. Here's another rocket going up. It's the same picture. We don't need to take another picture. We -- don't waste the film.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
M. O'BRIEN: And you know, Chad, that is the exact same launch pad that Yuri Gagarin launched from 35 years ago next month.
MYERS: It is? Well, it could be the same video.
M. O'BRIEN: And so, yes, so we could save a lot of money. Who needs to send cameras?
MYERS: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Kind of looks the same, doesn't it? All right.
Thank you, -- Chad. MYERS: All right. All right.
M. O'BRIEN: Of course we could say that about weather casts, couldn't we,...
MYERS: Well, sure.
M. O'BRIEN: ... at certain times of year, right?
MYERS: Rewind Wednesday's.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much.
MYERS: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: Layoffs going on right now, gosh, in important places at Delta Air Lines, I guess.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know they have these strike talks going on. They are trying to save money with their pilots.
If you see pilots on strike in Atlanta today, well, they're not really on strike. They might look like they are. They're doing a practice run, Miles, which is something...
M. O'BRIEN: We're just acting. I'm just acting.
LEE: ... a little different. I've never heard of an airline doing this. I've never heard of a practice strike. But anyway, that's the plan for the pilots.
They're negotiating with the company, as we speak, and they have an April 15 deadline to work things out. If they are not able in arbitration to get a ruling, then the carrier is requesting that the contract can be voided. So they're gearing up, in a sense.
M. O'BRIEN: So they just want to see what it's like to be on the picket line. You know how...
LEE: I guess. Make sure they can do everything smoothly.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
LEE: Flights are still going to be -- the flights are still going to be flying.
Also, Delta laying off 1,000 managers and administrative employees. The company's marketing chief is leaving. Not sure if he's doing that on his own or not, and they're not refilling that position. So, gives you an idea of what's happening at Delta.
M. O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, as long as you're keeping us abreast of airline news,...
LEE: Did you just make that up off the cuff? M. O'BRIEN: I did, and pretty good. Sorry.
LEE: Hooters Air is being grounded, -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Sorry.
LEE: No, that's OK.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm so sorry.
LEE: Of course the airline featuring women in orange short shorts and tight T-shirts on flights is going to be grounded in mid- April. The carrier is still going to fly private charters for sports teams or private groups. Hooters Chairman, Bob Brooks, says the flying industry is in a terrible mess. He says I've got a fair amount of money, but I don't have enough to fix this animal.
I have to tell you, you know flight attendants typically not known for making a whole lot of money, they get a lot of perks. These women, I hope they're making a lot of money to deal with that, a private jet, a sports team, you know.
M. O'BRIEN: You can only imagine what might ensue.
LEE: I hope they're making some serious cash.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEE: Yes.
That's it.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
OK, well thank you very much, Carrie, and I'm so sorry.
LEE: OK. That's all right.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm so sorry to see Hooters Air go.
LEE: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: It was...
LEE: Maybe you can get one last-minute flight in there, Miles, before they cancel.
M. O'BRIEN: It was just more proof what a great country we live in, Soledad, but there is or was a Hooters Air.
S. O'BRIEN: I know, and they got to wear the short shorts. You know you're right, triple whatever you think they're making.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's all about the wings, actually.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead... M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning,...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: ... we're going to take a more personal look at the nation's immigration battle for you. An undocumented worker and his boss speak out about the issue that's dividing our country.
Then later, if you're worried that that ticking you're hearing is your biological clock, well there's a new test that could tell you how fertile you are.
Those stories are ahead on this split edition of AMERICAN MORNING coming to you live from Washington, D.C. and New York. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Some breaking news for you, and good news it is. We are told by the FBI and "The Christian Science Monitor" that U.S. hostage Jill Carroll has been released and released safely. She was kidnapped, as we just told you, on January 7. Freelance writer for "The Christian Science Monitor" who had been living in Baghdad for quite some time.
And just a few moments ago, we aired for you her twin sister's appeal, which aired on Al-Arabiya. There you see Jill Carroll, some of the video which we have been showing you these past months as her family and as "The Christian Science Monitor" and as the U.S., in general, has made an appeal to her hostage takers to release her.
We are told by the FBI and by "The Christian Science Monitor" she is free and she is safe. And we have all of our reporters and folks working on this right now. The minute we get some more information for you, we'll get it to you. Great news!
COSTELLO: Yes, so many questions, too, as to...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... how did this release come about?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: You know they were requesting that all women prisoners be released from Iraqi jails, and some women prisoners were released, although they said it had nothing to do with Jill Carroll.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: But you wonder if it did? You wonder who negotiated? Lots of unanswered questions.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, I mean there was -- it was, as we say, and at the time it was an odd coincidence that those prisoners were released. Not all of the female prisoners were released. And in any case, that was the original demand. We haven't heard that demand repeated lately. As a matter of fact, there's been silence from her hostage takers.
Soledad, of course, spoke with her family in the course of all of this. And I know you haven't had a chance to get a hold of them, but can you imagine the relief that they must have this moment?
S. O'BRIEN: It's incredible. I mean what wonderful news. And in fact the silence that you're talking about just brutal for the family members. We certainly saw Jill's twin sister, Katie, mentioning exactly that, give us some proof that my sister is still alive.
Wonderful news, of course, for the family members, just the most painful thing to have absolutely no way to really communicate directly with the hostage takers. And so they were doing interviews in the hopes of sending out a message that Katie, of course, on Al-Arabiya last night. What terrific news, and I think not just for the family members, of course, but for everybody who has been watching this case so closely.
COSTELLO: Hey, Soledad, I have a question, I know her family, you know, appealed to the captors on Arab television and on American television. Do you know if they did anything else? If they, perhaps, hired a negotiator or...
S. O'BRIEN: There was a lot being done behind the scenes, of course, as is always the case, frankly, in these kinds of things. Negotiations going on on numerous levels. And of course they're so incredibly sensitive that until you know the details come out, we really don't know everything that happened. But, yes, absolutely, there were very careful messages.
When I interviewed Jill Carroll's mom, and what an incredibly strong woman, who was clearly telegraphing to her daughter, if you can hear me, you know, stay strong, but she was worried, literally, Carol, about every single word that came out of her mouth. That you know she was terrified, frankly, that you know you could say the wrong thing the wrong way accidentally and somehow set into motion a terrible chain of events. And so she -- they all were very, very nervous. I mean, the stakes, as she said, so incredibly high.
COSTELLO: Well especially after that one of those Christian workers, the American, was killed.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: You know the people he was captured with survived, they released them, but not him. And I can't...
M. O'BRIEN: The one American.
COSTELLO: The one American.
M. O'BRIEN: Three others released safely. So, yes, that was a troubling piece of news.
I just -- we just were talking to Nic Robertson about the fact that there had been silence for so long. And the question I asked Nic was, you know is silence good in this case, because that is what happened in the case of those Christian relief workers. Not much was said for a very long time.
Nic, first of all, let's go back, we were talking about the appeal. And you just never know whether those appeals resonate or even get to the right ears. I suppose it's possible, in this case, that might have had an impact.
ROBERTSON: We don't know, Miles. This is clearly something that's been going on for some time and there have been a lot of people working towards trying to free Jill from captivity.
We certainly are aware that her situation now is, according to "The Christian Science Monitor," she is in the right hands. It doesn't appear yet that she is in safe hands. It still appears to be something very much that is an ongoing situation. But according to "The Christian Science Monitor" here in Baghdad, she now is -- quote -- "in the right hands." Whether or not that appeal late last night on television here in Iraq contributed to this it's not clear at the moment -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I'm sorry, Nic, let's clarify then, you're saying the right hands but there's some issue as to whether she might be safe, we don't know yet?
ROBERTSON: Miles, as far as we're aware, this is an ongoing situation right now and it all appears to be moving towards a very positive resolution. But it appears that, at this moment, she is not in the hands of U.S. Embassy officials here or in the hands of the U.S. military here. That this is a process of winning her freedom. And the best way that it's been put to us, at the moment, is that she is in the right hands. This is the process of her freedom being established, if you will.
But I think when we look at a safe situation here in Baghdad, what is safe? That would be perhaps when you're in a protected environment that has security around it, perhaps within the International Zone or perhaps at an international hotel where there's tight security. What we understand, at the moment, is, again, that this a process and that she is in the right hands -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Actually, let's send it over to, Soledad -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, Nic, I want to ask you a question. What I found fascinating over the last several months has been the messages the family members and friends have been very clearly sending. Not only updating those of us in this country about what's been happening or what they've been hearing, but really sending very clear messages to her captors about her love for the Iraqi people and her love for covering stories and getting to the essential truth. I thought that was a very interesting strategy. ROBERTSON: Absolutely. And it's one that -- who -- really has resonated here very much in Iraq. People recognize that. They do recognize that a journalist, like Jill, trying to do a positive job, if you will, for the Iraqi community, draw world attention to their plight. And certainly that has been recognized. And it is upon those sort of family ties and the role of women in the community here and the importance of women with their families that has resonated in the community.
This was a woman. Jill is a woman. She was working here to draw the plight of Iraqis to the world. And within that context, within the very sort of family-orientated culture that is here in Iraq, that really has resonated -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I tell you, it will be such an incredible story that she has to share when she is finally in U.S. embassy hands and eventually makes her way back to her family members. I am always curious to know how much people who are taken hostage, how much they know.
Do they hear the pleas from their family members? Do they know that people are looking for them and what's going on? Are they kept completely in the dark by their captors? What are they told?
She's going to have an amazing story to tell. And gosh, we certainly hope and pray that she is brought to the right hands, as you say. But the U.S. -- from the right hands to the U.S. embassy, and then eventually into her family's hands very, very quickly.
ROBERTSON: Well, certainly that's what we heard from the -- from the Christian peacemaker -- team members who were released last week, that they really didn't have an idea about how much support across the world had been outpoured for them, how much effort had gone in to win their release.
They were really staggered to know just how many people had been writing letters highlighting their plight, trying to support their families in their hours of need. And very likely that -- they're still going through the process of coming to terms with that. And, of course, it appears as if Jill is on the verge of beginning to find out everything that has been done to try and -- to try and win her freedom -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It will be fascinating to get her reaction on that, too, because, of course, the outpouring of love and support for her family and for her situation and for her personally, as well, pretty amazing.
You know, it has been incredibly interesting to me -- and Carol was sort of referencing it before, Nic -- all the levels at which negotiations take place. We certainly were able to see the pleas on camera, whether they were talking to me or they were talking on Arab media. But, of course, there are many other layers and many other levels in which there are negotiations happening, right?
ROBERTSON: Oh, absolutely. And I think perhaps key in all of this have been -- have been the Iraqis, if you will.
Jill, after all, was on her way to interview an Iraqi politician. They are people like that who would perhaps feel a responsibility.
Of course we don't really know any of the details at this time. But also intelligence plays a critical role in trying to win people's freedom as well. And we saw this again going back to the Christian Peacemaker Teams released last week.
Knowing who were the kidnappers seemed to be very, very important there. The information that's come out subsequent to their releases indicated that the person that provided that information perhaps was one of the kidnappers, that they had decided to offer up information for -- for who knows exactly what reason.
So it is that kind of information. And we don't know if that has been at the -- has led to Jill's release at this stage. But it's the intelligence-gathering, it's the information that can be gathered from people that are willing to pass on those tiny snippets. And that's exactly what the appeal that was launched last night was trying to do, trying to trigger emotions in people, trying to make people realize Jill was a caring person, is a caring person, cared for the Iraqis, was an important member of her community, was an important member of her family, was a woman trying to get that across to Iraqis, hoping perhaps that there would have been people that might have seen Jill, that might have been close to her, maybe aware that something wrong was going on in a neighboring house or just had an inkling that something was going on.
And just that tiny piece of information can trigger with -- with intelligence-gathering a lot more information. Again, I believe we'll probably learn many, many more details in the coming hours about exactly what has happened here -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely. And as you say, you know, really a scavenging for details, every little possible detail.
Anybody who's just joining us right now, we should update for you that Jill Carroll, the U.S. journalist kidnapped on January 7, has been released. She is in, we are told, the right hands and is beginning to make the beginnings of her trip to freedom, hopefully heading into the hands of the embassy and then eventually and hopefully very quickly the hands of her family members, who have been desperate for any word of her for -- since her kidnapping on January 7.
Nic, the list of people who -- who added their names to this list of support, some really, I thought, interesting Iraqis. People you wouldn't necessarily think who would say, listen, this young woman needs to be released.
ROBERTSON: Well, we've heard from people on the streets here, as well as some of the -- some of the politicians. It's really no secret to Iraqis that the journalists working here are really trying to show the world what's happening. And certainly the politicians here, the Iraqi people, do appreciate that. Of course they, many times, caught in dilemmas, particularly the average Iraqi person on the street. It's dangerous for them to be seen talking to a Westerner. But people we have talked to have been brave enough to -- you know, to go on camera and say, you know, Jill should be released.
She was doing a good job. And that takes -- in Iraq in these days, that takes a deal of bravery from people. So I think the level with which it has been felt here among Iraqi people that she should be released has been tremendously strong -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It has been fascinating to see -- to see that, and to also see how in all of the statements, as you mentioned, the fact that Jill is a woman, female, the fact of her background and what she covered and the stories that moved her, and the fact -- you know, the terminology I have found fascinating in all these sort of on-camera negotiations.
They use words like "return her to protection of her family members." And again, her mother, who I spoke to, just absolutely put thought into every single word that came out of her mouth in our interview, knowing that some words could be interpreted the wrong way or just stumbled over and it could put her daughter's life at risk.
ROBERTSON: Absolutely. And I think it's very interesting that it was Jill's twin sister who made the latest appeal, hoping perhaps here that Iraqi women may have been somehow involved in the holding of Jill.
If we think about the groups that are doing the kidnapping, they are very, very fundamentally extremist in their Islamic beliefs. And in those beliefs, women deal with women, men don't deal with women.
Perhaps if there was a way in Jill's captivity that she was -- that women were dealing with her, perhaps what we were seeing from the family was trying to reach out to the women who might have been close to her during her captivity and the hope that they would feel that she was a decent and honorable and good person, and that they wouldn't want to see any harm come to her, and reach out to the women in Iraq.
Again, these are all details that we -- that are supposition from what we have been able to see. But in Iraqi culture, that would be tremendously important in the Arab world to appeal to the women, to appeal to the family as a unit.
The tribe and family here are very, very strong. Perhaps stronger than a lot of us actually realize. That it is the family here that really counts.
There are extended families living together, and by an appeal by a family member, by a woman in particular, by the women, would have perhaps, if women had been in touch with Jill or close to Jill, perhaps they might have been able to provide some sort of information. Again, we just don't know exactly what has led to this situation with Jill today, that she's on her way to freedom, it appears. And hopefully we will learn a lot more about that and exactly how this whole process unfolded, exactly what Jill went through, exactly what her time was like in captivity. And obviously more important, that she speaks to her family soon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, right. I think you're right about the women appealing to women, Nic. And also, frankly, you cannot look at Katie, Jill's sister, on camera and not see Jill in her twin sister's face. I mean, obviously they are very similar looking.
Nic, thank you. Obviously we'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning on this.
Let's get to Miles back in New York first, though -- Miles.
ROBERTSON: Well, Soledad, if I can -- Miles, if I can...
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Go ahead, Nic.
S. O'BRIEN: Go ahead, Nic.
ROBERTSON: Soledad, Miles, I'm sorry.
M. O'BRIEN: No.
ROBERTSON: We're just getting information here as we're going on. We've just heard that Jill has now been able to speak with her -- with her family and that she is in safe hands.
So I think what we're seeing, the progression now. She's made it into safe hands. She's been able to talk to her family. We can only begin to imagine the relief that they're feeling. But this process we talked about from the right hands now to the safe hands, and she's been able to talk to her family.
M. O'BRIEN: Excellent news. Nic Robertson, glad we got that in.
And with that, let's turn it -- joining us on the line is Orly Halpern. She's with "The Jerusalem Post." She herself became a captive as an acquaintance of Jill's.
And Orly, it's great news, isn't it?
ORLY HALPERN, "JERUSALEM POST": Yes, it's fantastic news. I am so thrilled to hear this.
I was held hostage for a short period when I was a correspondent for (INAUDIBLE), and at that time it was just the beginning. It was probably the first days of anyone being taken hostage. It was in April of 2003.
Now things in Iraq have gone so much for the worst that an American hostage being released is -- comes really as a surprise. And I'm -- I'm just thrilled to hear it. I think that it's also a sign that there are still some sane and balanced people in the Iraqi resistance in which -- with which the U.S. government can -- can talk to, that are not the same as the terrorist element. M. O'BRIEN: Yes. I guess sane and balanced is a relative term here when you are talking about this group of people that would be associated with people who would take people hostage this way.
As you look back on it and as I look -- reflect on it, it seems as if the family and the "Christian Science Monitor" did a pretty good job of sending out a very controlled message. What do you think?
HALPERN: I think that is true. I think also the fact that -- that she is known among Iraqis and in the Iraqi media as being a very fair journalist, and the fact that she's a woman also helped her. But in the end, if she were taken by, let's say, the wrong group, by jihadi elements, as an American she would have had no chance.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? It wouldn't matter -- even -- even people who embrace Islamic law, as much as many of these terrorists claim to do, which has -- would -- would make it very difficult for them to harm a woman in any way, you think she still might have been harmed?
HALPERN: I think as an American and the very perverted way that these people and wrong way that these people are interpreting their religion, these jihadi terrorist types, they would have found an interpretation that would have suited themselves.
M. O'BRIEN: What do you -- this -- this tactic of hostage- taking, it continues, but the -- it doesn't -- doesn't meet with success generally, does it?
HALPERN: No. But it does and it does not. In her own case, women were released from Iraqi prisons within days of the first video calling for the release of Iraqi women.
M. O'BRIEN: Of course it claimed to be a coincidence, of course.
HALPERN: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
HALPERN: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: So I guess you could say in this case the hostage- takers could learn a lesson that this does work.
HALPERN: They could. And it's very problematic answering their calls. It's very problematic because it encourages more hostages to be taken.
We also know that there have been cases where people have been -- where hostage-takers have been paid off. So they have -- I wouldn't say that across the board, their -- this method has been unsuccessful. It has been in cases successful for them, even if it is to get money which they can use for purposes of buying more arms for their struggle.
M. O'BRIEN: Give us a sense -- I know you were held captive for a much shorter period of time. HALPERN: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: But if you could just give us a sense of what it's like to be in that position.
HALPERN: Well, I think it really depends on the individual that's taken captive. And I think the main difference is whether you are -- there are two issues. One is whether you speak Arabic or not. And two, who you were taken captive by.
If you speak Arabic, you are already at a greater advantage than someone who isn't because you can understand what's being said and you can negotiate yourself with the people that you're with. And that's extremely important. If you go to Iraq as a journalist and you don't know Arabic, you're really, really in a bad position, particularly if you are taken hostage.
In my case, I speak Arabic and so does -- and so does Jill.
So, the other thing is whether you have been taken hostage by criminal or jihadi elements or by people that consider themselves to be real resistant, people that just want to end the U.S. occupation. And they can be spoken with and they -- in my own case, they were the ones that prevented me from being harmed.
They released me from my original captors who were criminal type, who had intended at least killing the person who was with me, if not -- well, maybe not myself. But there are types you can speak to and there are types that you cannot.
And so I think these two issues, the language and your captors, are the main issues that will affect you as a hostage. And I was quite lucky because I had been caught by Ba'athists, taken by Ba'athists from criminals, and they treated me well. And they were convinced -- when they understood that I was a journalist, they released me. And also because I spoke Arabic, so I could explain to them that I was journalist and not a spy for the CIA, which was what they were afraid of.
S. O'BRIEN: Orly, clearly you were incredibly lucky. This is Soledad in Washington, D.C., Orly.
How long does it take -- and I know that your captivity was brief, certainly when you consider what Jill Carroll has been through. How long does it take you to get out of captivity and sort of feel normal again? If ever?
HALPERN: I'll tell you, I -- in my personal case -- I mean, of course it depends on the person -- I think I did feel normal -- pretty normal afterwards. I mean, within a couple -- I mean, I was back at work the next day. And I stayed in Iraq for many more months.
The only thing that I think is residual in my personal case is that I was -- I was taken hostage when I was driving an armored car through the desert past the villages near Falluja just when the Marines were starting their first operation on Falluja back in April of 2003. So at that time we were ambushed, my -- another colleague and myself in the car.
We were ambushed by two truckloads -- two truckloads of Iraqi men who were just -- they overtook us from the side, from the left side, and I saw them driving in front of us -- ahead of us, and the people in the back of the truck were shooting with their Kalashnikovs and what other weapons they had at us, at my face.
And it was a bulletproof window, but I forgot that and I ducked. But that was -- that was such a frightening moment. And that, for months and months after that, whenever a car overtook me from either side, I had that sense that somebody was about to open fire on me.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow.
HALPERN: But that's all. I think besides that I'm pretty normal.
S. O'BRIEN: Gosh. And you consider how long Jill has been held captive. And, of course, I mean, what wonderful news for her family members today, who have been desperate for any word, but there's going to be a lot that she's going to have to deal with. You know, you can't even imagine sort of what -- what that process will be like to -- I mean, your captivity, as horrific as it was, really in comparison short compared. And, you know, you talk about any time a car passes you being panicked that someone is going to open fire on you, that's -- and, you know, she's got a long road ahead of her I would have to imagine.
HALPERN: Oh, absolutely. I can't -- I really, really can't imagine what she's going to -- what she went through and what she's going to have to go through to get over, if ever, the trauma that she went through. I mean, mine was nothing in comparison.
S. O'BRIEN: What wonderful news for her family today, though. What a terrific -- what terrific news to be able to report after so many reports of no news from Jill -- Jill Carroll's family -- for Jill Carroll's family from her hostage-takers.
Orly, thank you for checking in with us and talking with us. We certainly appreciate it. And again, your story, just incredible insight for us. We thank you for telling it again to us again this morning.
Let's get back to Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson has been watching this for us from Baghdad.
And Nic, it's probably worth recapping for folks who are just tuning in that we've just gotten the word within the past really 20, 30 minutes that Jill Carroll has been released. She is safe. She has spoken with her family. This after her being first held captive back on January 7.
And when last you spoke, we had just gotten the confirmation that she had actually had some communication with her family, which is great news indeed. As I understand it, we're going to -- there should be a news conference from U.S. Military officials coming up in about an hour and 10 minutes from now.
What else do we know, Nic?
ROBERTSON: Well, we're beginning to get some details about this operation, but it appears at this stage that Jill, from what we've been told, was first released into the right hands.
It appears at this stage, at least, that before she has sort of come into official custody, if you will, that perhaps there has been a stage in her release that has involved Iraqis. Again, we just don't have clear details about this at the moment. But perhaps these people have been involved in winning her release and that this process then has taken her from the right hands, good people, we understand, to safe hands, which appears to be more the sort of safe custody of U.S. officials of some type.
Again, the details are only -- are only now beginning to come -- become clear. And perhaps we'll begin to understand a little bit more later of exactly where Jill was being held -- exactly where Jill was being held and exactly how she came to get into the right hands and this process all began -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, as you've been talking, Nic, we have been looking at some of the video which was released while she was in captivity, now nearly three months. And you can -- you can -- just from the video you can see it was quite a roller-coaster ride for her, that tremendous emotional video, one of them.
You've had a chance to talk to former captives over the years. And, of course, we won't know what specifically happened to Jill until we get a chance to talk to her. And we're glad we're going to be able to do that. But generally, what did they tell you about what it is like to be in that hellish circumstance?
ROBERTSON: Very much as Orly was describing just a few minutes ago. What happens in the initial phase is people come to question the hostage, that Jill would have faced sort of an inquisition-type phase where people would have asked her to prove that she was who she said she was, that she was a journalist.
They would have wanted clarification on that. They wanted ways to prove it.
I talked to a British journalist who was kidnapped just before Jill was. And his captors, he had to explain to them how to go and Google his stories. And he was desperate to make sure that they found the sort of good stories, if you will, that they didn't find his sort of older things, writing about other issues in other countries.
So very intense phase.
That initial phase then sort of passes off into a period of captivity, then a camera is brought forward. People are told to make statements. And I've heard this from a number of people who have been -- who have been kidnapped here. And they say that they are quite often intimidated, sometimes beaten before this -- before they make the video statements. That they are told to appear scared, that they're told to appear afraid, that they're told that this is up to you to make it appear as if you are appealing for your life.
Then it's really a matter of just waiting. I've talked to people after that, and they say they've even demanded that their kidnappers give them some better food.
Some of them -- the Christian Peacemaker Teams talked about being able to wander around without -- without having their hands tied all of the time. That the people talking to them, some can be mean, some can be quite nice. Some can be really caring.
And it would be very likely that there will be some people that Jill will have identified as perhaps nice people who have been looking after her, in relative terms. That wanted to take better care for her. And it's been very interesting to look at those videos.
We saw Jill wearing that big head scarf. When one thinks, who would have put that on her, would that have been a man? Would he know how to put that on her? Or would it have been a woman who was involved in dressing her in the scarf, as she perhaps wouldn't have known how to tie it so neatly herself.
So it appears that perhaps there was a woman's hand involved here. Again, we'll know more about that later from Jill.
But the whole period of being released is a very sort of tumultuous and confusing period, often. People have told me that afterwards, they're thinking about their captors, would they really have killed me, could I have escaped at this stage, could I have done anything different, what's going to happen to the people that were holding me? A lot of confusion, a lot of questions that will need to be answered for them, Miles.
And sometimes they really won't get those answers. It's impossible for them to find out -- to find out these things.
M. O'BRIEN: It's got to be a jumble of questions and emotions that all collide at all one moment for Jill Carroll. We're glad that in the end it's all -- it's a happy day to report.
Thank you, Nic. We'll be back to you in just a little bit as details come in.
Let's get back to Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.
We want to go to Rajiv Chandrasekaran. He is a former "Washington Post" reporter, a former colleague of Jill Carroll's, and also a friend as well.
Rajiv, thank you for talking with us.
Give me a sense of how you are feeling when you hear this truly incredible and wonderful news?
RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN, FMR. "WASHINGTON POST" REPORTER: Oh, just so incredibly happy, Soledad. I mean, this has been bubbling forth now for -- for a little bit more than an hour.
We had gotten some -- some word here very quietly into "The Post" newsroom about her release. She's been seen by a couple of my "Washington Post" colleagues in Baghdad already. And we have been hearing about this -- obviously couldn't report is right away because we were concerned about her safety and didn't want to potentially compromise her safety.
But it has been just an incredible well of emotion here all morning. Jill is a -- is a close friend of mine, somebody who I have known since before she went to Iraq, somebody who worked briefly for "The Washington Post" when she arrived in Iraq, and, you know, somebody whose captivity, like for so many of my colleagues in the world of journalism and foreign correspondents, captivity was such a devastating blow.
You know, I can't be happier this morning. It's just -- it's the outcome that we have all been hoping for, and just an incredible -- incredibly heartwarming development here -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I think those sentiments are echoed by everyone, even those of us who have never met in person Jill Carroll.
Rajiv, let me ask you a question. You mentioned that she's been seen by your colleagues at "The Post." What have they told you about how she appears, what she said, what kind of situation she's in right now?
CHANDRASEKARAN: They say that she's in good condition. Now, admittedly, being held hostage for -- for almost three months is, you know, an incredible and unspeakably difficult, draining ordeal, as Nic had been describing. But they say that she appears to be, given the circumstances, in good condition.
Now, admittedly, these are preliminary reports. They're sketchy. The folks who have looked at her -- our (ph) physician, she's not been examined as we know, at least, by American physicians at the embassy or by other officials. But she seems to be in good spirits.
And again, from what I hear, seems to be also incredibly overjoyed at her own release. And, you know, it goes without saying here. And has been, you know, talking to members of the Iraqi political party, where -- to whom she was released and to some journalists here. And it's my understanding that she's sort of in the process of being transported to a safe location in Baghdad at this time.
S. O'BRIEN: Can you explain to me, Rajiv, the circumstances under which your colleagues saw her? Give me -- explain to me what kind of capacity they saw her in.
CHANDRASEKARAN: It was my understanding that upon her release she had contacted one of my colleagues. She's very friendly with some of the staffers at "The Washington Post" bureau there, and she reached out to them to let them know that she was OK. And we sent people over in her direction right away to ascertain that she was OK and to just make sure that these reports were true and to try to ensure that she gets to safety.
S. O'BRIEN: We had heard just from a few minutes ago from a former hostage who talked about even in her own brief captivity how tough it can be to get over sort of what this other hostage had been through.
Tell me a little bit about Jill's personal fortitude, because obviously it's going to be something she's going to have to rely on heavily as she now recovers now that she's in safe hands, thank god.
CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, she is an incredibly young woman who -- you know, for whom Iraq was sort of the first real major foreign assignment, the first war she's ever covered. But she is a courageous, spunky young woman who, you know, in her mid 20s decided to forego a career in Washington and move out to the Middle East, to learn Arabic, felt this great commitment to telling the story of Iraq and the Iraqi people.
And so, you know, she's a woman of uncommon conviction and courage. And I really think that will help -- you know, help drive her through her recovery from this. And it will, admittedly, by all accounts, will have to be a long and challenging ordeal, I'm sure, for her now even after her release.
But I know her well. And she is -- she's just an uncommonly strong woman. And I have -- I have every belief that she will be back on her own two feet very soon. And, you know, I think she has such a commitment to reporting that, you know, I don't -- I think it will be very likely that before long she'll be out reporting stories that we'll be reading perhaps in the paper that she was working for, the "Christian Science Monitor," or other publications, but she'll be back out at it, I have no doubt about that.
S. O'BRIEN: After her mother spends about a month hugging her and kissing her and welcoming her back home. It's great to hear you say the words "uncommonly strong woman."
Rajiv Chandrasekaran a good friend of Jill Carroll's.
That's wonderful. And as you say, yes, that's what she's going to rely on to recover from this horror.
Thank you for talking with us, Rajiv. We certainly appreciate it.
CHANDRASEKARAN: Good to talk to you, too, Soledad. I'm glad we can talk under such great circumstances like this today.
S. O'BRIEN: You are so absolutely right about that. Thanks.
Let's get back to Miles in New York -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Soledad.
Just to reset the deck for you, for those of you who are just tuning in near the top of the hour now, American hostage Jill Carroll, after nearly three months in captivity in Iraq, has been released. She's safe and unharmed, according to U.S. law enforcement officials and the "Christian Science Monitor."
The Washington bureau chief for the monitor, Dave Cook, saying this is a wonderful day. Understatement, indeed, as Jill Carroll walks away free after a harrowing ordeal of nearly three months.
We are tracking her whereabouts right now. And we are expecting in about an hour's time a briefing from the U.S. military which may shed a little bit more light on what led to her release on this morning.
We were telling you just before we got word of her release of an emotional appeal made by her twin sister Katie which aired on several Arab media outlets just over the pat 24 hours, including Al-Arabiya. Unclear whether that had any link or if that was purely a coincidence to her release. Safe and sound on this morning.
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