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American Morning

Ramsey Case Confession; Crisis In The Middle East; Terror Case; Ramsey Murder Suspect

Aired August 17, 2006 - 06:59   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
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 now from Bangkok with more -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, chaotic is probably the best way to describe the press conference that happened earlier this afternoon here at the immigration detention center, where he is now being held. He was allowed to meet with the press. They swarmed around him, and that's when he made his on-camera admission.

Here's the video from that press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I loved JonBenet very much.

QUESTION: Mr. (INAUDIBLE), we're from the Associated Press. Can you just give us a brief statement, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love JonBenet and she died accidentally.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE). Are you an innocent man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, as you can see, he's visibly shaken by the experience, but authorities say he is cooperating. Also at that news conference were Thai immigration officials and also Ann Hurst. She's a U.S. embassy representative. She explained some of the charges that were being brought up and also the process by which they were able to track him down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN HURST, U.S. IMMIGRATION CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Boulder County's district attorneys office received information that a subject was providing information and might be connected to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Upon investigation, we were able to identify that subject and that is John Mark Karr. He was arrested yesterday. The investigation continues. He'll be removed to the United States within the next week. And at that time, he will be taken to the Boulder County D.A.'s office and will be taken into custody there and the investigation and subsequent trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUBERT: Now according to Ann Hurst, those charges are all being brought up by the state of Colorado. Among them murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. As those charges are all related only to the state of Colorado, not to Thailand, that could certainly expedite the process, bringing him back to the U.S. within a week.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Atika, what do we know about the circumstances surrounding his arrest?

SHUBERT: What we know is that FBI officials were there when he was arrested just outside of an apartment that he was renting in south Bangkok. Apparently he was renting that apartment for some time. And officials here had been tracking him for a number of weeks. He was then arrested and detained here at the Immigration Detention Center. The reason he's detained here, again, is because this is a crime involving a foreign national. And again, because they are putting priority on getting him back to the U.S. for prosecution.

O'BRIEN: Atika Shubert in Bangkok, thank you very much.

John Karr's confession may finally lift that umbrella of suspicion, as it was described, that has haunted John and Patsy Ramsey for nearly 10 years. Ed Lavandera live in Boulder where JonBenet Ramsey was killed. Of course, Patsy Ramsey died in June. But apparently she knew that investigators were kind of honing in on Karr, didn't she?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what John Ramsey has said. He said that the investigation had reintensified in the last three to four months and that Patsy Ramsey was aware of that. And as you mentioned, the Ramsey family lived under that umbrella of suspicion. Many people, even as they were mourning the death of their daughter, never really able to let go of the fact that perhaps one of these parents might have been involved in that. But John Ramsey says yesterday morning he received the phone call that perhaps will put an end to all of that, finally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIN WOOD, RAMSEY ATTORNEY: They have always had confidence that this day would occur. Knowing the evidence and knowing them, I have shared that confidence.

LAVANDERA, (voice over): If, in fact, the suspect, John Mark Karr, proves to be the mysterious intruder the Ramseys said entered their Boulder home in 1996, murdered their daughter and left a bizarre ransom note, the family may finally be vindicated.

PAMELA PAUGH, AUNT OF JONBENET RAMSEY: In my mind there was never any need for vindication, because I knew from the depths of my heart that Patsy, John, Burke, no one in my family ever harmed JonBenet. We've lived on that truth. We've stood on that truth. And now the facts are going to bear that out.

LAVANDERA: The break in the decade-old case comes too late for Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet's mother, died of ovarian cancer in June. But John Ramsey says his wife was aware before she died that investigators were closing in on a suspect.

JOHN RAMSEY, JONBENET'S FATHER: 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.

LAVANDERA: For years, the Ramseys themselves were suspected in the sensational child murder case, subject to intense public scrutiny, at one point living under an umbrella of suspicion.

JOHN RAMSEY: Let me address very directly. I did not kill my daughter JonBenet.

PATSY RAMSEY, JONBENET'S MOTHER: I am appalled that anyone would think that John or I would be involved in such a hideous, heinous crime. But let me assure you that I did not kill JonBenet.

WOOD: They understood why they were going to be investigated. I'm not sure they ever understood how the investigation could have initially been handled by such inexperienced investigators. And I'm not sure that anyone was prepared for the media frenzy that really consumed, not only the public, but actually at the time consumed members of the law enforcement group that was initially in charge of the investigation.

LAVANDERA: Now the arrest of a suspect in JonBenet's murder could bring the family a degree of closure.

WOOD: I know that he feels some sense of relief. I know that he feels that this is a major step potentially in the final resolution of the case.

LAVANDERA: But John Ramsey, after years of trying to clear his family's name, is being cautious.

JOHN RAMSEY: Based on what happened to us, I don't think it's proper that we speculate or discuss the case. I think it's important that justice be allowed to run its course and do its job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And in just a few hours, the prosecutors here in Boulder will perhaps lift the veil a little bit on exactly what will happen next in this case. They will hold a news conference here at 10:00 a.m. local time, 12:00 Eastern.

Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Ed Lavandera. We'll have much more throughout the morning on this stunning development on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. In about 15 minutes, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will join us. We'll ask him about Karr's confession and whether that could impact the trial one way or another later.

And a little later we'll speak with Pamela Paugh, JonBenet's aunt, and we'll hear more about how the family is reacting.

Next hour we'll hear from a former FBI criminal profiler who was hired by the Ramseys, always believed their innocence, see what he has to say.

And as Ed just mentioned, a news conference from the Boulder district attorney, noon Eastern time. CNN with live coverage of that, of course.

Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's head to the Middle East now.

More Lebanese troops headed to southern Lebanon today, along with United Nations troops. The Lebanese soldiers will be taking over territory from the Israeli army. Anthony Mills is in Beirut to tell us more.

Hello, Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.

That deployment is now rapidly getting underway according to a high-ranking army source here. Three brigades of between 1,800 and 2,000 troops have already crossed the Litani River into that southern suede of Lebanon that they, in conjunction with the international United Nations troops, are supposed to be taking away from the control of Hezbollah. Another brigade is on its way down there and yet another one is set to arrive in the coastal city of Tyre, down in the south, below that Litani River line. So really getting underway this deployment.

The question, though, remains, what exactly is going to happen to Hezbollah. It's a guerrilla army. A lot of people say that it's likely to just melt away, blend in back to the civilian population. A lot of the Hezbollah fighters come from the south, stash its weapons somewhere, hide them away. No indication from the Lebanese government at this stage that there will be any sort of house-to-house searching for weapons. And, in fact, they don't want any confrontation at all with Hezbollah. So it may well be that at some point in the future they do reemerge to fight another day.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Anthony Mills live from Beirut this morning.

A suspect arrested Tuesday in that British terrorist probe is released a day later. Police say the man had no connection to the alleged terrorist plans. On another front, an intelligence official says Pakistani authorities are hunting for three men who were in contact with some of the suspects in custody. CNN's Robin Oakley is live in London to tell us more.

Hello, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol, from a pretty rainy London.

Well, police have been given further time to hold 23 of the suspects in the alleged plot to blow up airliners mid-air with liquid explosives. In the meantime, they are searching some 20 properties and some woods at High Wycombe, not far away from London. And a senior official said yesterday that material of a substantial nature had been found, which is perhaps one reason why the courts are prepared to go on having these men held. They can be held -- men and three women that is. They can be held up to 28 days under the terrorist laws introduced in Britain after the London subway bombings last July.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin Oakley live in London this morning. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Happening in America.

In Texas today, he was convicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy. Now lawyers for Enron founder Kenneth Lay would like to erase those convictions because Lay died before he could have an appeal. But federal prosecutors beg to differ.

The port back to normal in Seattle today. Authorities determining that container that you see there, two of them there, explosive-free. Bomb-sniffing dogs had detected a possible scent of explosives, caused the shutdown of the port yesterday and a lot of disruption. The container originated in Pakistan.

In New York, 11 injured yesterday after a fire broke out on a Brooklyn subway track. Firefighters used ladders to reach the elevated tracks, evacuated about 60 from two trains. The incident affected thousands of rush-hour commuters on five subway lines.

In Rome, New York, a teenage girl was killed and four other teens injured yesterday when a car collided with a train. Three of the four injured remain in critical condition. The fourth in stable condition. Officials said the accident is under investigation.

And in Chicago, another collision. Two people killed when an Amtrak train hit a car west of Chicago. The car pulled into the train's path. When it hit, none of the passengers on the San Francisco-bound train injured, according to an Amtrak spokesman.

Finally, in Akron, Ohio, some angry Girl Scouts say they're owed $9,000 from adults who pledged to pay for cookies they've already received. Scouts are taking it all to court. The troop leaders and the parents could face judgments and garnishments if the Girl Scout district prevails.

COSTELLO: Got to pay for the Thin Mints, don't you?

O'BRIEN: That's right. You'd better.

COSTELLO: All's relatively quiet on the weather front. So let's go it the man who knows.

Chad Myers, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a confession in the JonBenet Ramsey killing. What happens now? CNN's Jeffrey Toobin will be here to guide us through the legal process that is ahead.

COSTELLO: Also, the alleged kingpin of one of the world's most notorious drug cartels captured at sea. Find out why the feds say this was not your typical bust.

O'BRIEN: And later, a deadly superbug that is puzzling doctors. Why is it infecting more and more children? We'll have that for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Happening this morning.

Coalition forces in northeastern Afghanistan killed eight extremists after coming under fire. That's according to a coalition military spokesman. No coalition casualties reported.

In Iraq, west of Baghdad today, another U.S. soldier has been killed. That raises the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the start of the war to 2,603.

President Gerald Ford remains hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis where he's undergoing an unspecified series of tests. At 93, he is the oldest living former president.

President Bush will today sign the Pension Protection Act. It encourages employees to stock more money away for their retirement. It is the biggest overhaul in the 25-year history of 401(k) plans.

O'BRIEN: Well, it was a remarkable scene in Bangkok just a few hours ago. Forty-one-year-old John Karr, paraded by the authorities there, making this chilling statement about the death of JonBenet Ramsey nearly 10 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MARK KARR, SUSPECT: Um, her death was an accident.

QUESTION: So you were in the basement?

KARR: Yes. QUESTION: Can you clarify your connection to the Ramsey family?

KARR: Um, no comment.

QUESTION: How did you get into the basement?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Says he was there when she died. It was an accident. He says he loved JonBenet Ramsey.

Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joining us now.

What a scene. I was thinking of Lee Harvey Oswald . . .

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Through the basement. Jack Ruby coming up. He wasn't handcuffed. There didn't appear to be any security. It's a whole different system, obviously. But a remarkable thing which could have ripples on a trial ultimately here.

TOOBIN: Certainly. I mean that if there is a trial and if John Karr disputes that he was the person who causes JonBenet's death, that is admissible evidence in court.

O'BRIEN: It is?

TOOBIN: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: OK.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. That was not a coerced statement in any way and that's something that could be introduced by the prosecution in court.

O'BRIEN: All right. A skeptic among us might say if someone wanted to get some attention, this would be a way to do it. Usually what happens in investigations, there are things we don't know about in the public. It's hard to imagine because we know so much about this case.

TOOBIN: Given how much publicity.

O'BRIEN: But there probably are some things that they will use in order to essentially verify. Because there are nutty people who will say, hey, I did this, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. Well, there are two things here. One is, what did he say to the authorities about the precise details of the investigation? Does any of that match up with facts that have not been publicly known? The other very important factor is, there were DNA tests in this case done in 2003 that indicated DNA related to an unknown male person on JonBenet's underwear. That has never been tied to anyone before. I mean, a responsible investigation, and I assume this is one, would have tested Karr against those results at this point. If that's a match, then this case is over.

O'BRIEN: All right. So it's possible that has already occurred, even prior to his being apprehended?

TOOBIN: Yes indeed.

O'BRIEN: Before we became aware of it at least anyhow.

TOOBIN: Right.

O'BRIEN: There's a reminder here, I think, for all of us, about how all of us, human beings, reporters, lawyers, prosecutors, can put blinders on. And in this case you had, it seemed at least as a viewer watching it all unfold, as if the authorities there were convinced the parents did it for a long time.

TOOBIN: I mean you can't imagine -- none of us can imagine the horror that the Ramsey family has gone through. The death of a six- year-old daughter. To live with that -- I mean that horror by itself. Then to be widely suspected of the crime. And then, of course, Patsy Ramsey dying. So, you know, Raymond Donovan was the secretary of labor during the Reagan administration and he was acquitted of some charges. And he said a question that all of us should answer. He said, you know, where do I go to get my reputation back? Who do I see about that? That's a question that's occurred to me a lot in this Ramsey situation.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's a question we in the media should be asking of ourselves.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. I mean, you know, we don't know who committed these crimes and, you know, we shouldn't speculate about these things. We shouldn't speculate about Karr's situation, even though from his own mouth we've heard a lot of things.

O'BRIEN: All right. So he's apparently not going to fight extradition, so we'll see him in the U.S. apparently soon. Colorado does have the death penalty. I looked it up, though. They've only used it once in 30 years.

TOOBIN: Very peculiar situation. And there are only two people on death row. It's in a sort of legal limbo. The Supreme Court a couple of years ago ruled out the death penalty if judges alone impose it. They say juries have to impose it. Colorado has not put its laws in accordance with the Supreme Court precedent. Doesn't mean that Karr's situation, if we get to that, means he could not get the death penalty. But Colorado is one of these peculiar states where there is technically a death penalty on the books, but essentially no one's been executed.

O'BRIEN: Given what we just saw this morning in his admissions, is it at all likely this would be a case that would be plaid or is it -- that seems unlikely in a case of this magnitude and given the nature of the charges.

TOOBIN: Well, certainly you could have a plea bargain that -- I mean a situation like that, you could have a plea bargain with the death penalty off the table, just an agreement for life in prison. One of the issues, certainly given all that's gone on here, is some sort of mental state defense that -- you know, insanity. That is, obviously, something a lawyer will want to explore. But certainly, after the press conference today, we'll know a lot more about how the authorities were led to John Karr. I don't know that. I don't think anyone knows that at this point. And what kind of evidence there is against him.

O'BRIEN: And how did he come to know JonBenet Ramsey now too?

TOOBIN: If he did.

O'BRIEN: Well, he may not have.

TOOBIN: Well, he seemed -- I mean he loved her, but, I mean, you know, I followed this case closely. I covered it. His name had never come up as far as I'm aware. John Ramsey yesterday in his interview said he didn't know John Karr. So, you know, whether he thinks he knew her or what was going on there, that's again something we're going to need to know a lot more about.

O'BRIEN: Of course she was a beauty pageant queen. You know, a star in some sense in that realm and, you know, she would have been known to people.

TOOBIN: Something you'll need to know. But, I mean, how many six-year-olds know people and their parents don't know that they know them? I mean it would seem odd. But oddness is certainly the touchstone of this case.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

Jeffrey Toobin, thanks.

TOOBIN: See you later.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

Coming up on the program, more on that stunning arrest and confession. How is the Ramsey family taking this news? You can only imagine the swirl of emotions going on now. We'll talk to JonBenet's aunt and get some insights on that.

Plus, we'll bring you an update on that laptop computer battery recall. The ones that were overheating and catching fire. Now it seems this recall's not going so smoothly. Carrie Lee is here "Minding Your Business." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: You know, I have been dreading this, because my Dell Computer has one of those batteries that could possibly burst into flames and explode. And Carrie Lee is here to kind of guide us all through what you need to do if you have a battery like that.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

COSTELLO: And I'm dreading it.

LEE: You and a lot of other folks, Carol. Dell's website, its phone lines have been clogged. We're talking, of course, about the battery problems with Sony batteries placed in some Dell laptops. We talked about this earlier in the week. Here's a shot of some of those laptops. About half a dozen that did catch on fire. So some problems here.

Imagine the headaches for corporations. Not only individuals, but I.T. departments around the country. Some of them faced with the prospect of testing, potentially having to swipe out hundreds of laptops for their employees. Now Dell says the corporations will have access to their direct sales and support teams. But, still, it's going to take about 20 days to get those replacement batteries.

Now on the individual end, and as we said, the Dell recall, 4.1 million batteries on the individual end. People really clogging the lines, the phone number, 866-342-0011. The AP reporting hold lines of up to 30 minutes and then again waiting up to 20 days to get a replacement battery. So no easy task here for Dell.

COSTELLO: So I guess that you just remove the battery and use your plug-in battery.

LEE: You have to use your plug-in until you get the replacement battery. And they're doing the best they can. They had 28 million hits on the website when this first happened. Something like 100,000 phone calls. That just in the first day.

O'BRIEN: Well, let me ask you this.

LEE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: If Sony made the battery, why isn't Sony stepping up to the plate here and helping out here one way or another?

LEE: Sony, well, they're the ones who are going to have to pay for it and they don't know how much it's going to cost yet. We'll see if this shows up in Sony's next quarterly profit report. By the way, Sony, of course, makes batteries for other corporations. No other companies at this time saying that they are going to recall. But, still, good news here potentially for Sony competitors. And Sanjo is a big one. That stock was up yesterday.

O'BRIEN: I'm told if you call the number you hear Vovaldi (ph). So it's an opportunity to, you know . . .

LEE: The Four Seasons.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: To relax a little bit.

O'BRIEN: Enriching yourself I guess. All right. COSTELLO: Yes, that would make me feel better.

LEE: But a 30 minute hold time, you know, frustration on top of frustration.

O'BRIEN: A little more involving than you want I think these days.

All right, thank you very much, Carrie.

LEE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Top stories are straight ahead, including the arrest and stunning confession in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey. We'll talk to JonBenet's aunt and we'll find out how the family is handling all of this.

And later, a so-called super bug infecting children at an alarming rate. Why doctors say it is the perfect storm of infectious diseases, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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