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American Morning
Ramsey Case Confession; Crisis in the Middle East; Terror Case; Deadliest Month
Aired August 17, 2006 - 06:00 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. It is Thursday, August 17. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.
Here's a look at what's happening this morning.
O'BRIEN: In Thailand, a confession in the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey. Forty-one-year-old John Mark Karr tells reporters he was with the girl when she died, but he claims the death was an accident. He will be extradited to the U.S. within the week.
COSTELLO: Israel has begun giving up territory in southern Lebanon. About 2,000 Lebanese soldiers have been deployed to the region. The troops will help keep the peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
More suspects in that alleged plot to blow up British flights to the United States. An intelligence official says Pakistani authorities are hunting for three men who were in contact with the other plotters.
O'BRIEN: The deadliest month yet for civilians in Iraq, more than 3,500 Iraqis killed in July. An open letter due today voicing more opposition to the administration from some former generals and national security experts. They are calling on the president to change course.
This afternoon at the White House, the president signs a law overhauling pension law. Sweeping new rules designed to force companies to deliver on pension promises but also offering more incentives for workers to use 401(k) plans.
COSTELLO: And still no word on the condition of President Gerald Ford. He was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Tuesday for tests. President Ford, who is 93 years old, has been hospitalized four times since December.
Let's head to the Forecast Center to check in with Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
O'BRIEN: I hope you did not just hex us.
MYERS: No.
O'BRIEN: I don't think that possible, though.
MYERS: I'll knock on Formica.
O'BRIEN: Yes, knock on the green board. That's not a green screen anymore, that's an actual screen.
MYERS: No, no, that's real.
O'BRIEN: All right.
MYERS: That's $60,000 worth of real.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll be back with you in just a little bit, -- Chad.
MYERS: All right.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
MYERS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: A decade after 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was killed in her Colorado home, a stunning turn of events and a remarkable on- camera confession. It happened overnight in Thailand. John Mark Karr, a 41-year-old schoolteacher in police custody in Bangkok, appears before the media and admits he was with the 6-year-old when she died, but he says it was an accident.
CNN's Atika Shubert live from Bangkok with more, -- Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, I'm actually in front of the Immigration Detention Center where John Mark Karr is being held. It was a bit of a chaotic day today as Immigration officials here brought him out for a press conference and he did speak directly to the press about it. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
JOHN MARK KARR, SUSPECT: I loved JonBenet and she died accidentally.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Are you an innocent man?
KARR: No. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SHUBERT: Big day there with a lot of media asking a lot of direct questions. He did appear to admit to killing her. According to Thai Immigration authorities, he has also made a verbal confession to them.
Now also at the press conference was Ann Hurst. She's a representative from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And she gave some more details about how they were able to track him down and the charges that are being brought against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN HURST, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS: He has been charged by the state of California -- I'm sorry, Colorado, for first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder, felony murder, first- degree kidnapping, second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHUBERT: Now those charges have all been brought up by the state of Colorado. That may help to actually expedite his extradition to the U.S. simply because those are not charges being held here in Thailand. According to authorities, he could be returned to the U.S. within the week -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Atika, it's just -- it was -- it's chilling to listen to him. It's also remarkable, something you would never see here in the United States with a suspect being paraded by police and interrogated by the media. Is that common in Bangkok?
SHUBERT: It was certainly a bit of a chaotic scene here. He's being held at the Immigration Center, so there wasn't a lot of security here where they held the press conference. But it should also be noted that immediately after they brought him out for the press to see, he actually asked to speak to the press and that's apparently when he made that statement -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Atika Shubert in Bangkok, thank you very much.
For JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, it was a tragedy inside a nightmare as they, for many years, remained under an umbrella of suspicion as authorities in Colorado once put it.
CNN's Ed Lavandera live now from Boulder, -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well it was a tumultuous decade for John and Patsy Ramsey who lived here part of the time under that umbrella of suspicion, many people believing that they were involved in the death of their daughter. They moved away from here. But John Ramsey, in a phone interview yesterday, saying that he had found out about the arrest yesterday morning and also says that the investigation had intensified in the last three to four months and that his wife knew about it before she died two months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RAMSEY, FATHER OF JONBENET: She knew that they were working very diligently on it and that they had a suspect and that they were in the process of locating him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: As you might imagine here in Boulder, the news spreading very quickly among people who have been paying close attention to this case for the last 10 years. We have sensed a sense of excitement and you know a sense of relief on behalf of many people who live here in Boulder who many of them had been friends with the Ramsey's, had been defending John and Patsy Ramsey for the last decade or so. So they say they are relieved to hear this news.
And also prosecutors here in Boulder will hold a press conference at 10:00 Mountain Time, 12:00 Eastern, and we expect to hear more details about what is going on in this case -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And do you have a sense that there is some skepticism at this point about the claims that are made by Mr. Karr or is there a sense of anger perhaps at the authorities there in Boulder?
LAVANDERA: I think it's a little early for that. We haven't heard that -- anything like that at this point. As far as John Ramsey is concerned, he said in that phone interview yesterday that he didn't want to get too far ahead of himself and wanted to wait for the justice system to play itself out to see what happens next. So everyone a little bit cautious in what they're saying so far.
O'BRIEN: All right, Ed Lavandera in Boulder, thank you very much.
We're going to have extensive coverage of the developments in the JonBenet Ramsey case. In the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we'll speak with JonBenet's aunt, the sister of the late Patsy Ramsey. And at Noon Eastern, we're expecting a news conference from Boulder from the district attorney there. Of course CNN will carry that live -- Carol.
COSTELLO: To that delicate cease-fire in the Middle East now. About 2,000 Lebanese troops crossed the Litani River today to begin taking over from the Israeli military. In the meantime, Israel says half the area south of Litani already has been turned over to the United Nations command in the region.
Let's head live to Beirut now and Anthony Mills.
Anthony, tell us more.
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The Lebanese Army is now rapidly implementing its pledge to send 15,000 Lebanese Army troops into the south of the country, south of the Litani River, to take control of that area from Hezbollah. Now that follows a few days of delay where a Cabinet meeting was postponed, a Cabinet meeting about the implementation, because of what we were told by government sources was disagreement about the implementation. But now the Lebanese Army is sending its troops south.
Lebanese Army sources told us that today already three brigades of between 1,800 and 2,000 troops have crossed the Litani River into south Lebanon. They will be joined by another brigade today of 1,800 or so and by yet another one which will land at the port city of Tyre in the south of the country, south of the Litani River, so thousands of troops heading down there. And that Army source told us that within 24 hours he expects all 15,000 Lebanese Army troops to be in place.
The question remaining, though, what exactly is Hezbollah going to do? Is it going to really just move north, move out of there, or will it blend back into the civilian population, hide its weapons in existing bunkers and then possibly reemerge at some stage to fight again?
COSTELLO: Anthony, a question for you, a Lebanese parliamentary leader is accusing Syria's president of trying to sow strife in Lebanon, how?
MILLS: That was a highly-critical speech by the leader of the parliamentary majority, Saad Hariri, son of the slain Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He accused Syrian President -- sorry, Bashar al-Asad of trying to sow strife by effectively engineering conflict in Lebanon.
He said that Syria, the Syrian regime, had the blood of the children of Qana on its hands, a reference to the attack in the course of this conflict on a house in the southern town that killed at least two dozen people, a number of children among them. And he also said that he had the blood of children in Baghdad and Gaza on his hands. So the suggestion that Bashar al-Asad is engineering conflict here for his own political gain -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Anthony Mills live in Beirut this morning, thanks.
In the investigation of that British terror case, a judge rules that police can continue to hold 23 suspects through next week without charges being filed.
Let's head live to London now and CNN's Robin Oakley.
Robin, tell us more.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN EDITOR: Good morning, Carol.
Well, these are closed court hearings. We don't get to learn much of what happens, but the police certainly, as you say, have got the right to continue to hold 23 of the suspects in the alleged plot to blow up airliners with liquid explosives. Twenty-one of them can be held for a further seven days, two of them for a further five days. And under the new British Terrorism Act that followed the London subway bombings last year, suspects can be held for up to 28 days in all without charge, though the barriers in terms of court hearings to legitimize their continued holding get higher as the period goes on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you, too, about this plane that was headed from London to Dulles that was detained at the Boston's Logan Airport. What are authorities in London saying about that?
OAKLEY: Well I think that keys into the debate we had yesterday between various European Union security ministers here in London, led by John Reid, the British Home Secretary. He was making the point that it's no use having tough new security measures for baggage examinations in London if people who get on in, say, Frankfurt or Berlin or somewhere else in Europe are not subject to the same stringent precautions.
And it seems that the lady who had this reported panic attack on the flight to Washington actually boarded initially in Dubai rather than in London. So it's not quite so much of a security breach as it might have been considered originally that she was found to have a pot of banned hand cream with her. But we have had other episodes, like a 12-year-old boy getting onto a flight with no passport or ticket -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. And then what do you do about that? I guess you have to get everybody together from all the countries to sit down and come up with a plan, something that isn't crazy.
Robin Oakley live in London this morning, thanks.
O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning.
The trains running again in New York City following a chaotic rush hour commute. Thousands of people on two Brooklyn subway trains evacuated last night after a track fire. Rescue workers had to pull some riders through windows, at least 11 suffering minor injuries.
A major port security scare in Seattle, authorities evacuated a half-mile radius around a terminal for six hours yesterday when bomb- sniffing dogs reacted to two containers from Pakistan. No explosives found, just clothes and oily rags.
Federal prosecutors aren't willing to wipe Kenneth Lay's legal slate clean, even though the Enron founder is dead. Lay's estate lawyers filed court papers asking a judge to erase his fraud and conspiracy convictions. Prosecutors aren't willing to approve the request. The government stands to gain $43 million in assets, potentially.
More rain forecast for an already flood-saturated New Mexico. In Hatch, the heavy rain breached an arroyo swamping the town in waist- deep water. Pumps have siphoned much of the water now, some folks returning home, but a flashflood warning remains in effect for the southeastern part of the state. A Girl Scout district in Ohio working on a merit badge for debt collection, the Scouts taking parents and troop leaders to court saying they did not turn in proceeds from sales of all those Thin Mints, Tagalongs and Do-si-dos.
COSTELLO: No!
O'BRIEN: The claims range from $54 to $3,500. The Scouts say they will garnish wages if they have to.
COSTELLO: I think that's against the Girl Scout's honor code.
O'BRIEN: That's a tough Girl Scout district, that's for sure.
COSTELLO: Wow!
Still to come, a somber milestone in Iraq, the deadliest month on record. We'll have a live report for you out of Baghdad.
O'BRIEN: And the days of the gold watch and the gold-plated pension may be gone, but the president is poised to approve some sweeping changes that might help you have a little more gold in your golden years.
COSTELLO: And a jailhouse confession, the breakthrough in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. We'll have extensive coverage for you this morning, including a live interview with JonBenet's aunt, the sister of the late Patsy Ramsey.
O'BRIEN: And Carrie Lee in the house, business headlines.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two very nice days of stock market gains, the Dow up well over 200 points. Can we see three for three in terms of the rally? We'll have that story coming up and more on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Happening this morning.
A confession in the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey, 41-year-old American John Mark Karr says he loved JonBenet and that her death was an accident. Karr was arrested in Thailand. He'll be extradited to the United States within the next week.
Israeli forces have begun giving up territory in southern Lebanon. They are giving control over to the U.N. peacekeepers and to Lebanese troops. And the first commercial flight has just arrived in Beirut, breaking the Israeli blockade on that city.
And at the White House today, President Bush signs the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The bill includes a huge overhaul of the 401(k) savings plan.
O'BRIEN: No end in sight for the bloodshed in Iraq. In fact, last month was the deadliest month for Iraqi civilians since the U.S. invaded more than three-and-a-half years ago. Three thousand four hundred and thirty-eight Iraqis killed, another 3,600 hurt in bombings and gunfire.
Let's go to CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.
Harris, no end in sight and it seems to be fueled, increasingly, by sectarian motivation.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's correct. And the vast majority of those civilian deaths in the last month occurred here in Baghdad, the capital city. The morgue, the central morgue in Baghdad said it received over 1,800 bodies just in the month of July.
The pattern of attacks on civilians continues. Just this morning, a bomb went off in a marketplace in Sadr City killing two people and wounding several more. The attacks occurred on the heels of more attacks yesterday afternoon on a busy commercial street in Baghdad. Two bombs went off just a few hours before curfew set in, the time when the streets were filled with people hurrying up trying to get through their daily affairs and to get home before curfew.
There was also a bombing yesterday morning on another marketplace where day laborers were out looking for work. Nine people were killed in that attack.
Now all this comes as the Iraqi and U.S. troops continue to patrol some of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods. Those patrols are being led by Iraqis and they're basically designed -- they're designed as attempts to root out some of the insurgents that are blamed -- being blamed for these attacks.
All this happens as the White House says in Washington that they have actually seen a slight decrease in the levels of violence here -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And, Harris, those patrols have actually been increased, more boots on the ground in Baghdad, so to speak. I'm curious if the U.S. troops though were to disappear tomorrow, would this violence escalate further?
WHITBECK: Well that's a good question. It might be too soon to tell. The U.S. military on the ground insists that it is the Iraqis who are taking the lead on these patrols and that they are there just in the supporting role. However, many people feel that -- many people have expressed more confidence in or more hope that the violence might decrease because they have seen more U.S. troops on the ground. The point is there are more than 12,000 troops, additional troops, on the ground in Baghdad. Of those 12,000, the majority are Iraqis.
O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad, thank you very much.
Let's get a check of the forecast now, Chad Myers at the CNN Center Weather Center.
Good morning, -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, -- Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
O'BRIEN: A man says he killed JonBenet Ramsey, but he says it was an accident. We'll take you live to Bangkok, Thailand where he is in custody. Plus, we'll go live to Boulder, Colorado where the crime occurred almost 10 years ago now.
And some severe weather in China ruining lives and taking them as well.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good day on Wall Street yesterday. Carrie Lee in for Andy Serwer with more on that and much more than that as a matter of fact.
Hello, -- Carrie.
LEE: Hello, Miles. Good morning, Carol.
That's right, the Dow up about 100 points yesterday, so putting the industrials above the 200-point level of the past few days. Basically some tame inflation data causing the gains. A lot of people thinking the Fed may have done enough to control inflation without slowing the economy too much. And that has been the goal. So the Fed now possibly in the position to stop raising rates. That's what Wall Street is thinking anyway, although, for this Thursday morning, it's looking like a flat to slightly weaker open for stocks. About three hours to go before the opening bell.
However, Hewlett-Packard out last night with a very strong profit report for the recent quarter, the stock up about 6 percent in the after-hours session. So that could help the technology sector. HP saw growth in printers and laptops, among other things. Also the company's chief, Mark Hurd, says the company's cost-cutting campaign is coming to an end. So HP may have turned the corner. Since the spring, it has far outpaced other technology stocks.
Also helping the markets lately, oil prices coming in below $72 a barrel to an eight-week low. "Wall Street Journal" also says JetBlue is now going to base flight prices from New York to Houston on the cost of a barrel of oil. They're rounding down to the nearest dollar. But if you buy a ticket today, it would cost 71 bucks. So kind of gauging what oil prices are and then corresponding their ticket prices, may be gimmicky but not such a bad idea.
O'BRIEN: Just don't try to bring the oil on the plane with you. LEE: Yes, exactly, no liquids, right.
O'BRIEN: No liquids, all right.
Thank you, -- Carrie Lee.
LEE: Sure, my pleasure.
O'BRIEN: We'll see you in just a little bit.
LEE: OK.
O'BRIEN: The morning's top stories are straight ahead, including the suspect's stunning confession on the death of JonBenet Ramsey.
And new reality taking shape in southern Lebanon today.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
A confession in the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey, 41-year-old American John Karr says the death was an accident, though. Karr arrested in Thailand. He'll be extradited to the U.S. within the week.
Israel turning over territory in southern Lebanon. About 2,000 Lebanese soldiers in the region. They'll help keep the peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
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