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American Morning
Cedar Flag Flies in South Lebanon; JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case
Aired August 18, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Cedar flag flies in South Lebanon. Lebanese troops rolling into that part of the world for the first time in 40 years.
Could it be the end for Hezbollah?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Fifteen minutes of fame or brutal killer? Inconsistencies in the JonBenet Ramsey murder confession.
The White House ready to battle the court over its wiretapping program. Your freedom of speech is on the line.
O'BRIEN: Some scary images from North Korea. U.S. officials say a nuclear bomb test may be in the works. And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABU ABDULLAH, BRITISH RESIDENT: My honorable sheikh, Osama bin Laden, and Sheikh Ayman el-Zawahiri, I love these people dearly for the sake of Allah. I couldn't express how much I love these people.
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You love Osama bin Laden?
ABDULLAH: Oh, yes. I love him more than myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Wow!
More than a week after the alleged British terror plot in London, meet a British Muslim leader who says the West deserves to be attacked.
All that on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Is he a killer or a liar?
John Mark Karr yesterday told the world he killed 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey nearly 10 years ago. Today, his story may be unraveling. Karr is in custody in Bangkok, Thailand right now and that's where we find CNN's Atika Shubert -- Atika. ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was no dramatic press conferences like there were yesterday when John Karr made those startling admissions. But we have been able to find out a little bit more detail about what happened during his arrest, including an interview with the Thai immigration chief, in which he gave some more insight into that initial admission by John Karr.
Here's what the Thai immigration chief had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. SUWAT THAMRONGSRISAKUL, CHIEF OF IMMIGRATION: My officer told him that you know that you have a warrant, an arrest warrant, from the U.S. with first degree murder? And he stayed quiet, keep quiet. He kept quiet. And then in the morning he said, "It's not first degree, it's second degree."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHUBERT: Now, we've also had a chance to talk to some of the people that were interacting with Karr here in Thailand, including some of the people that were staying at the guesthouse where he was renting an apartment since December. They said he was a loner, he was never seen with anybody, he kept to himself, but that he paid the rent on time.
We've also been able to talk to school officials in two schools, international schools, where he worked here in Bangkok, working, apparently, with elementary schoolchildren. He only worked with them very briefly, only for a few weeks. They decided not to hire him, they say because he was too strict with the students there -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Atika, is he being interviewed by anybody related to U.S. law enforcement, for example, the FBI, the FBI office there in Bangkok?
SHUBERT: We do know that the people from the U.S. Embassy that are spearheading this at the moment are part of the Immigration Service, which is under the Department of Homeland Security, in this case. They have been in to see him. At least two different officials went in today to see him. They have made no comment. We don't know what was exchanged in that.
The information that we've been getting in terms of what he has been saying has all really come from Thai officials. And they haven't been interrogating him or interviewing him. They've really just been having what they describe as casual conversations with him. Really, Thai officials say they're just holding him here, waiting for American officials to take over with the investigation.
O'BRIEN: Atika Shubert in Bangkok.
Thank you very much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In the meantime, in Boulder, Colorado, where JonBenet was killed the day after Christmas in 1996, it's been a long roller coaster ride of emotions. And just when some thought the ride was over this morning, it is clearly not.
CNN's Ed Lavandera outside the former Ramsey home.
He joins us live with more -- good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, it's a few days ago that John Ramsey had said in an interview that this case really reignited over the last three or four months, a lot of that spurned on by this professor at the University of Colorado, a journalism professor who had been corresponding with John Karr. And he had talked about these e-mails that he had been sending him, that at some point they became rather disturbing.
Well, this morning, in the "Rocky Mountain News" newspaper here in Denver, there is some portions of some of those e-mails that were written from Karr to this professor, Michael Tracey, at the University of Colorado.
One of them reads, in part: "JonBenet --" he asked this professor -- let me give you a little bit of background -- to read this letter here at this house for JonBenet Ramsey on one of the anniversaries of her death.
He wrote: "JonBenet, my love, my life, I love you and shall forever love you. I pray that you can hear my voice calling out to you from my darkness, this darkness that now separates us."
Obviously, rather disturbing.
And one of the other ones -- one of the other e-mails also read: "I will tell you that I can understand people like Michael Jackson and feel sympathy when he suffers, as he has." He goes on to write: "I am trapped in a world that does not understand -- that we do not under -- " or he does not understand, is the way that e-mail read.
So, again, it just adds to that confusion that is surrounding John Karr at this very moment. You know, you read things like this and it suggests to, obviously, the journalism professor and these prosecutors who are following this case, that this is someone they needed to look into.
But there is a good deal of information and other facts that just don't line up with what he's saying at this point.
So, again, more elements that just add to this confusing situation here in Boulder -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It is confusing. And, you know, those e-mails don't exactly point to him murdering anyone. But certainly he was -- he seemed to be obsessed with JonBenet.
We're going to talk to an expert a little later and we'll run- those by him. Very strange.
But thank you for bringing that to our attention. Ed Lavandera live in Boulder this morning.
O'BRIEN: A milestone in Southern Lebanon. Just moments ago, Lebanese troops rolled into the town of Shaba, the scene of heated fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah not long ago.
Look at the scene. They were greeted by a cheering crowd waving the flag of the country of Lebanon, not the yellow flag of Hezbollah. The fact of the matter Lebanese national troops have been there in no less than 40 years.
CNN's Anthony Mills live in Beirut.
We don't want to get too carried away by one picture. We sort of have blinders on, Anthony. Clearly, there's a lot of support there left in Southern Lebanon for Hezbollah. But nevertheless, an encouraging scene.
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is an encouraging scene, Miles.
However, it should be noted that for the moment, supporters of the army, people who are welcoming the army, do not see it as in any way at odds with Hezbollah. For the moment, it isn't taking on Hezbollah and there's no indication that it will forcefully take on Hezbollah to disarm it or move it out of that area.
And for as long as that doesn't happen, then it is highly likely that people living down there who have seen a lot of violence, who have seen much conflagration, violent conflagration over the last few years, over the last six years, the Shaba Farms area, that border was really an area where there were often flare-ups between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas who were fighting, they said, to liberate that area of land.
So people down there welcoming at least a semblance of stability. And as long as the Lebanese Army doesn't take on, forcibly, Hezbollah, then there is likely to be continued support for that army. The dangerous thing would be, Miles, if the Lebanese Army were, under certain circumstances, to find itself opposed to Hezbollah, if the Hezbollah weapons were just placed away, kept out of view and then suddenly emerged at some point and the Lebanese Army, in conjunction with international forces, had to take on the Hezbollah fighters and try to disarm them. Then we might see that support for the Lebanese Army ebb rather rapidly -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So, just to get this straight, for the moment, at least, it's not mutually exclusive to be a supporter of Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army?
MILLS: It is possible, at this stage, to be a supporter of both. They are not mutually exclusive. They are both seen, at this stage, to be defending Lebanon's interests. The problem would come if the Lebanese Army was perceived by the Shia Muslim, predominantly Shia Muslim supporters of Hezbollah to be working against the interests of Hezbollah. And, of course, let's not forget that there are a lot of Shia Muslims in the army and the army could split -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills in Beirut, thank you very much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: A big defeat for the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. A federal court has ruled it is unconstitutional and says the government is overstepping its bounds. The judge wrote: "It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights."
She went on to say: "There are no hereditary kings in America."
CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins us live with more reaction to this -- hello, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Carol.
Well, you're right, a clear setback for the Bush administration. But White House Press Secretary Tony Snow says that the administration couldn't disagree more with the federal judge's ruling. The Bush administration calls the NSA surveillance program legal and necessary.
Now, as the president left the White House yesterday en route to Camp David, where he's going to be spending the next couple of days, he was asked the question about the judge's ruling. He ignored that question.
But Attorney General Alberto Gonzales staunchly defended the NSA program, saying it is reviewed periodically and said the administration plans to continue using the wiretaps until an appellate hearing next month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We disagree with the decision, respectfully disagree with the decision of the judge. And we have appealed the decision. And we -- there is a stay in place and so we will continue to utilize the program to ensure that America is safer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the ruling and the debate over the surveillance program comes just 80 some days before the Congressional mid-term elections. And as we've seen lately, the president and Republicans have been trying to tout their national security credentials ahead of that election. But Democrats have pounced on this federal judge's ruling, saying -- they are trying to make the argument, essentially, that the Bush administration has mismanaged the war on terrorism.
So, Carol, even as the legal maneuverings are underway, you can see the political maneuvering is well underway, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
And those legal maneuverings could go on for quite some time, right?
QUIJANO: Well, that hearing is set for September 7th. And that is sort of the next big step in the process. But the big question was yesterday, when this ruling first came out, whether or not these wiretaps were going to continue.
And as we heard the attorney general say, at this point, certainly, the administration intends to continue using that. And we'll have to see what happens at the hearing next month.
COSTELLO: Elaine Quijano live at the White House this morning.
Coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk about the ruling with former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
North Korea may be posing a new threat this morning. Military and intelligence officials say Pyongyang could be getting ready to test a nuclear weapon underground.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live -- this is pretty disturbing, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, disturbing, Carol.
But, you know, the emphasis is on could be, because one is never really sure what the North Koreans are up to. Very little visibility into that country.
But U.S. intelligence analysts, about a week ago, apparently saw a change in a piece of imagery they were looking at, at a North Korean underground nuclear test site, or what they believe is such a test site. They scoured another piece of overhead imagery. Not sure if it was from an airplane or a satellite. And the change that they saw -- they saw some suspicious activity there. Apparently a number of bundles of wire and cable on the ground had been dropped off.
What could those wires and cables be used for?
Well, they could be used to wire the site so that in the event of a test, North Korean technicians, of course, could monitor it from some safe distance away. That would be the most likely use, they say.
But no one can really be sure at this point, we are told, if that's what's in the works. It's always possible that the North Koreans deliberately put the material there, knowing that the U.S. imagery would see it and try and figure out what will go on.
So officials say it's one indicator. They're watching very carefully but drawing no firm conclusions yet about just what the North Koreans might be up to.
COSTELLO: Well, I would suppose that there are plans being formulated right now on what to do in case they really do test their nukes.
STARR: The Bush administration's position is to remain on the diplomatic front on that, to work through the international organizations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to work through the so-called six party talks, especially to use China as a lever with North Korea. That is a country that does still communicate with the North Koreans. And the hope is that it doesn't, of course, get to that point of a test and that the diplomatic front still works.
COSTELLO: Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning.
Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the forecast for the weekend.
Chad Myers at the Weather Center -- hello, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
Coming up on the program, big tobacco-loses big in court. But some folks think the cigarette companies got off easy. We'll tell you why.
COSTELLO: Also, Senator Joe Lieberman goes from loser to leader in a little over a week. We will have the reasons behind his reversal of fortunate in the Connecticut Senate race.
O'BRIEN: Plus, a notorious radical Muslim cleric denouncing the West. He says 9/11 was just a punch in the nose that America deserved.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Senator Joe Lieberman's political fortunes are rising. Yes, he lost the Democratic primary, but it may be a case of so what?
CNN's Mary Snow now on how the loser is now the leader in the closely watched Connecticut Senate race.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shedding his Democrat only coat, Senator Joseph Lieberman, as an Independent, now has a 12- point lead over Ned Lamont, the Democrat who beat Lieberman in last week's primary.
SEN. JOE LIBERIAN, (D), CONNECTICUT: I'm encouraged, but I'm ready for a tough fight.
SNOW: In a new poll, Joseph Lieberman leads the three-way race with 53 percent of the vote to Ned Lamont's 41 percent, among likely voters. Republican Alan Schlesinger trails with only 4 percent. The poll also shows Lieberman with overwhelming support among Republicans and a large lead among Independents.
STU ROTHENBERG, "THE ROTHENBERG REPORT": The Connecticut general election is really about independence. And Lieberman has to appeal to Independent voters, he has to get their support and he has to continue to display his independence from both parties.
SNOW: Political observers say there is a risk to Lieberman if he appears too cozy with Republicans. And what appeared to be national GOP support is certainly drawing attention. This week, the White House declined to endorse the Republican candidate in the Connecticut Senate race. It's not endorsing Lieberman, but Vice President Dick Cheney went out of his way to praise the Senate veteran and take a jab at the Democrats who defeated him.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Dean Democrats have defeated Joe Lieberman. Their choice instead is a candidate whose explicit goal is to give up the fight against the terrorists in Iraq.
SNOW: That sparked a strong reaction from Ned Lamont.
NED LAMONT, (D-CT), SENATE CANDIDATE: I think I would just tell Vice President Cheney that we don't need any sermons on the meaning of 9/11.
SNOW: Lamont blasted Lieberman and Republicans for tying last week's thwarted terror plot to the Iraq war.
At a rally last week, Lieberman said: "If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes."
(on camera): As Lamont fights back against the notion that Democrats are soft on national security, he's getting the support of some high profile Democrats, like former Senator John Edwards, who came here to Connecticut to campaign for him; also, former presidential candidate John Kerry launched an online fundraising effort for him.
Mary Snow, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Mary's report first aired on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
You can catch Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" weeknights -- or weekdays, rather -- at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Coming up, the White House's domestic wiretapping program is ruled unconstitutional.
How big a setback is it for the Bush administration?
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will join us live. Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULLAH: America deserved a punch in the nose, you know? As a measure (ph)...
RIVERS: But 3,000 people died that day.
ABDULLAH: Three thousand people was like a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of Muslims that have been killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: An angry message for the West from a notorious Muslim cleric. Meet a man who says President Bush is a fair target.
That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: It's been a week now, but in Great Britain, still no charges in that alleged airliner bomb plot. Twenty-three British Muslims still being held while police build their case.
The case once again putting a spotlight on the radical fringe and the radical clerics who inspire them there.
CNN's Dan Rivers with one person who uses religion as a license for hatred and violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RIVERS: What was your reaction, for example, on September the 11th?
ABDULLAH: Every sincere Muslim was pleased because America deserved a punch in the nose. You know, as a measure (ph)...
RIVERS: But 3,000 people died that day.
ABDULLAH: Three thousand people was like a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of Muslims that have been killed.
RIVERS (voice-over): Abu Abdullah calls himself a cleric, but his extremist views may be repugnant to the vast majority of Muslims; in fact, anyone who believes in god.
One of the most outspoken Muslims in Britain, he's an associate of convicted terrorist Abu Hamza, who's serving seven years in prison for inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder and is wanted in the United States for trying to establish terror camps in Oregon.
But Hamza's friend, Abu Abdullah, is still free, despite expressing views that come very close to inciting and glorifying terrorism. But he hasn't been charged with any crimes. ABDULLAH: My Honorable Sheikh Osama bin Laden and Sheikh Ayman el-Zawahiri, I love these people dearly for the sake of Allah. I couldn't express how much I love these people.
RIVERS (on camera): You love Osama bin Laden?
ABDULLAH: Oh, yes. I love him more than myself.
RIVERS (voice-over): Abdullah tries to use the Koran to justify terror.
ABDULLAH: The Muslims that have the -- obviously want to take up arms against the West, it's their Islamic right to do so. Islam is a peaceful religion, but at the same time, Islam is allowed to defend itself.
RIVERS (on camera): It's allowed to defend itself, you'd say.
Is it allowed to attack the West?
ABDULLAH: Absolutely. If this person is killed by the West, then we have our rights to take it out on the West, those mainly, the army, the British or the American Army, government buildings, where they legislate from, banks...
RIVERS: So it's -- they're fair game?
ABDULLAH: Well, it's absolutely -- of course it's fair game for the Muslim.
RIVERS: So Tony Blair is a legitimate target?
ABDULLAH: Absolutely.
RIVERS: George Bush is a legitimate target?
ABDULLAH: Absolutely. Yes.
RIVERS: Do you think that America and Britain will be subjected to further attacks?
ABDULLAH: They should be.
RIVERS: A lot of people will be horrified by what you're saying, that they think that you are bringing nothing but chaos and death and destruction and misery.
ABDULLAH: Hmm, well, I'm not here to please the West or to please people's understandings. My people are being killed all over the world in many, many countries.
RIVERS: But that doesn't...
ABDULLAH: It's not stopping.
RIVERS: ... justify killing other people. ABDULLAH: It does justify it. Of course it justifies it.
When is it going to stop?
You people need to know we're not going to take it anymore. You want to know why Muslims in this country are understanding what they understand? They're sick of the West. They're sick of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I owe this country nothing.
RIVERS (voice-over): And this from a man born and brought up in the United Kingdom, who only converted to Islam later in life.
(on camera): But do you think god really wants Muslims to go out and kill innocent people in the name of Allah (ph)?
ABDULLAH: God doesn't instruct Muslims to go out and kill innocent people. God...
RIVERS: But that's what you're advocating.
ABDULLAH: No, no, no, that's what you're saying. That's the terminology you're using and the words that you're actually using.
RIVERS: Well, let's clarify this. Are you saying now...
ABDULLAH: We call it self-defense. The difference between me and you is faith. The difference between me and you is trying to enjoin and forbid evil. The difference between me and you, I live for the sake of god and you live for the sake of the devil.
RIVERS (voice-over): Dan Rivers, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Submitted for your approval.
We'll leave it at that.
Coming up, a federal judge rules the government can't listen to your phone calls without a warrant.
But the White House isn't dialing in its opposition.
We'll talk to an early supporter of the domestic spying plan.
Plus, an update on Fidel Castro's health and why Cuba has reportedly mobilized thousands of troops.
Stay with us for more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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