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American Morning

John Mark Karr in Los Angeles Jail; Iraq Attacks; Concerns Israel-Hezbollah Truce Could Collapse

Aired August 21, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Riding in the lap of luxury, back from Thailand to face the music, confessed killer John Mark Karr is now in a Los Angeles jail.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Shots ring out in Texas. Listen to this.

(GUNSHOTS)

That's gunfire. Several police officers wounded after responding to a routine call.

O'BRIEN: And we're waiting words from President Bush this morning. The fragile Middle East cease-fire is likely to be among the topics he's addressing.

We're going to bring that to you live when it happens just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez, in for Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey killing is in a Los Angeles jail cell this morning. John Karr arrived in L.A. overnight after a 15-hour flight from Bangkok, Thailand.

CNN's Drew Griffin was on the same Thai airline flight, as Karr sat right behind him, in fact, and reports on what he's calling a surreal scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has traded in his fresh shirt and tie which he got off the plane in for prison blues, which he is now wearing inside his isolation cell here at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility near downtown Los Angeles. What a strange flight it was that brought John Karr to the United States.

He was flown business class on a Thai Airways jet with three officers surrounding him. He was in the very last row of the business section, drawing a lot of media attention to himself just by the fact that he was there and such a celebrity, as it were, in Bangkok, and now being brought here to the U.S.

On board, though, not everybody happy that, number one, this accused murder was on board, and number two, that he was wearing no kind of restraints, no handcuffs at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't -- I don't feel anything, obviously, because he's just as human as we all are. We all make our mistakes. But I do feel that being that it is the United States of America and this is -- I wouldn't blame the United States of America, but I do blame Thai Airways for allowing it to happen.

GRIFFIN: Just before arriving in Los Angeles, John Karr made sure his hair was combed, brushed his teeth and changed his clothes. He wanted to get into a very starch shirt, along with a tie. But once we got to the gate, the door was open, he was met by a group of Customs officers who immediately took him into custody, whisked him away, away from the cameras and away from any kind of media attention that would have paid attention to what he was wearing.

John Mark Karr will now wait here in Los Angeles to be extradited to Colorado.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: What's next for Karr? Let's turn to Ed Lavendera. He's in Boulder, Colorado, this morning.

Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, investigators and prosecutors here in Boulder expecting to have John Karr here in Boulder in the next couple of days, assuming he does not fight extradition. If he does decide to do that, that could delay the process here.

We're not exactly sure when that extradition hearing will be, but we suspect that those plans are moving along today. So what officials here are telling us in Boulder is they expect to see him here in Boulder within the next couple of days.

And, of course, the looming question is, will this be John Karr's first trip to Boulder or has he already been here? It's been very hard, very difficult to try to get a sense of what kind of history John Karr has here in this town. In fact, over the last couple of days we've only found one person who has ever seen the man face to face here from Boulder.

That man was the man who introduced him to the journalism professor, who eventually then began a four-year correspondence of e- mails. But that meeting took place four years ago in Paris. And even then, this man says he does not remember whether or not John Karr said he had ever been to Boulder.

So kind of a dead end there, if you will. But we do -- if you will, we do know that investigators have been working throughout the weekend in a race against the clock essentially. We were told by a spokeswoman here they have three days to filed any kind of charge these need once John Karr touches down here in Boulder -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Boulder.

Thanks, Ed.

Tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," an exclusive interview with the Ramsey family attorney, Lin Wood, and Michael Tracey, the Colorado professor who led police to Karr.

That's tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Going international.

In Egypt, rescue workers are sifting through the twisted wreckage of a deadly train crash there. At least 57 people were killed when two passenger trains collided outside Cairo during the morning commute. Police say one of the trains failed to stop at a signal. More than 120 people were hurt, and officials say the death toll could reach 70.

In Moscow now, two people are in custody in connection with a deadly explosion. At least 10 people were killed, dozens more injured when a bomb ripped through a marketplace. Officials aren't ruling out terrorism, but they say it's more likely the result of organized crime, or a dispute between two businessmen.

A new trial but the same old Saddam Hussein this morning. A defiant former dictator openly challenged the judge's authority in his second genocide trial. He even refused to give his name, saying, "You know me."

Hussein and six others are facing charges stemming from the deaths of about 100,000 Kurds in the late 1980s. Two of Hussein's defense attorneys also quit today after being denied a chance to address the court -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: The streets of Baghdad relatively calm this morning. Just yesterday, though, gunmen opened fire on a crowd of religious pilgrims. Those attacks coming even though Iraqi security forces have pretty much locked the city down.

CNN's Michael Holmes in Baghdad for us this morning.

Hey, Michael. Good morning.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Yes, it's a tragic irony, isn't it? And it says a lot about what's going on here in Iraq when only 20 deaths is cited as a cause for some celebration.

Now, this all came about because of a pilgrimage that is held every year in Baghdad. Shiites commemorating the death in the eighth century of one of the most revered imans in their history.

Last year, you may remember that there was a rumor of a suicide bomber. That caused a stampede. A thousand people were killed.

Now this year security was absolutely as tight, as you can imagine. There was a total vehicle ban. Anything with wheels, including bicycles. But still gunmen were able to launch attacks, half a dozen of them or so.

Some of the gunmen firing from rooftops and from within houses along the procession route. Twenty people killed, 300 or so were injured. Many of those in the crush that was caused as people trying to get away from the gunfire. But with 100 people a day dying in Baghdad, 20 is considered a light day -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Michael Holmes for us.

Michael, a quick question before I let you go.

Saddam Hussein's second trial is just getting under way. I guess they're back from their break now. This time around, is he as confrontational with the judge as he was in the first trial, or is that changing?

HOLMES: It seems the be the same old Saddam. Second trial, first day of that trial, and, yes, defiant. As Rick was saying before, when he was asked his name, he said, "You know me." When he was asked to plead innocent or guilty, he said, in effect, to answer that question would take several books after an exchange with the judge, who -- who was actually quite firm in his handling of the defendants.

The judge himself put in the not guilty plea, as did he with Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, who is also one of the other six accused -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Michael Holmes for us this morning. He's in Baghdad.

Thanks, Michael -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Stories happening "In America".

Police still don't know why a man opened fire on three Texas police officers and a state trooper and then killed himself. It happened after a day-long standoff. The Midlothian officers were called to an apartment complex because of a report of a broken window. The officers are now recovering.

Taking you to Arizona, the accused serial killers will face a court hearing later this morning. Two of them. Police say the men, Dale Hausner and Samuel John Dieteman, have terrorized Phoenix for the past year. They are accused in a series of random late-night shootings all over the city.

More rain is in the forecast for an already storm-saturated Alaska. But floodwaters are receding after cutting off access between the state's two largest cities, Fairbanks and Anchorage. At least 150 residents were forced from their homes over the weekend. And take a look at these pictures here. They're from Colorado. At least three tornadoes swept through the Bennett area. That's just outside Denver. Witnesses say the funnel clouds weren't on the ground very long and no one was hurt.

Time to look at the forecast now.

Funnel cloud or tornado?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Funnel cloud means it didn't touch the ground. Tornado says it...

SANCHEZ: But that one did.

MYERS: Clearly.

SANCHEZ: Yes. OK.

MYERS: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.

MYERS: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: The man behind one of the nation's most famous photographs has died. Joe Rosenthal was a young photographer for The Associated Press when he snapped a picture of Marines on Iwo Jima. It was a picture, this picture, that would define his nearly 50-year-long career.

Rosenthal often told the story about how he almost didn't climb up the hill to see the flag raising. He missed the first one. This shot is actually of the second flag raising. They decided to put up a bigger flag.

Rosenthal died of natural causes. He was 94 years old.

SANCHEZ: Have you ever -- have you ever been to the statue? Have you ever been to Washington, D.C., and looked at the statue there? It's majestic.

O'BRIEN: It's beautiful.

SANCHEZ: And the way they wrapped around it...

O'BRIEN: It's a beautiful photo, too.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And to hear him tell the story -- you can read his telling of the story of how it sounds like it was kind of an accident. He wasn't actually going to shoot it...

SANCHEZ: Yes. O'BRIEN: ... he kind of got it the last minute, he sort of aimed his camera. It's -- he sounds like he was quite -- quite...

SANCHEZ: There they are. Bigger flag.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Quite a -- he's quite a guy.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, did Israel's weekend raid in Lebanon violate that U.N.-backed cease-fire? Secretary-General Kofi Annan says yes. We're going to get a response from Israel.

O'BRIEN: Also, we'll meet a guy who's towing a FEMA trailer all the way to Washington, D.C. Why he's doing it and how he's doing it, we'll tell you just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel is holding. There are concerns, though, that the week-old truce could collapse after this weekend, when Israel raided Hezbollah sites.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Palmor joins us this morning.

It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.

Let's begin with this...

YIGAL PALMOR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Let's begin with this weekend raid.

The U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, says that this raid violates the cessation of hostilities agreement.

Do you agree or disagree?

PALMOR: No, I totally disagree. I think there was a violation -- there's an ongoing violation by the Hezbollah since day one. They declared that they will refuse all intent to disarm them and, of course, the resolution does demand explicitly the disarmament of Hezbollah.

They also declared that they will continue receiving weapons and missiles from wherever they are receiving it. Syria and Iran declared openly that they will continue supplying Hezbollah with weapons in the south.

So there's an ongoing breach of this resolution. And we don't know yet what the Lebanese army or the international force are going to do about it.

So we did hold -- we did carry out an operation which was not offensive, by the way. The soldiers only responded when fire was opened at them. They were not there in order to kill or shoot at anybody. But we did -- we did take the initiative of this operation in order to curb down the arms supplies to Hezbollah, because we simply had no other choice.

O'BRIEN: So are you saying that in fact yours was a breach, as well, but a breach that was in response to another breach?

PALMOR: I'm not sure it was a breach, because, again, it was not an offensive operation. The soldiers were not there to open fire at anybody. They only opened fire in self-defense. So I don't think it can be -- it can be considered as a breach, and I am saying that there is an ongoing breach since day one by Hezbollah and, to some extent, by the Lebanese government.

O'BRIEN: When you take a look at what was accomplished, if that's the right word, in this war -- we've made up a small graphic about -- overall, 159 Israelis kaled, more than a thousand wounded in all the fighting. Over a thousand Lebanese killed, more than 4,000 Lebanese wounded. Three billion dollars in damage done to the Beirut, Lebanese, infrastructure. Add to that there is no clear idea about when the peacekeeping forces are going to arrive.

Hezbollah has been giving out money. They appear to be very big winners, by some descriptions, giving out money to people who have lost their homes so they can buy -- fix their homes and buy furniture.

The reputation of the Israeli military has taken a big hit. The two soldiers still remained kidnapped and as yet unaccounted for.

What was gained? What has been gained?

PALMOR: One thing was very clearly gained, and that is that Hezbollah is no longer deployed on the Israeli-Lebanon border. And when I say not on the border, you have to know that they deployed and they build their fortifications on the border line itself, on the border line facing Israeli communities and municipalities on the other side. And this line of fortifications and bunkers does not exist anymore. It will not be allowed to rebuilt.

They lost plenty of other fortifications and bunkers and weapons caches and missile caches all over southern Lebanon. They've lost their headquarters in Beirut, all their operation centers, all their control and command centers in south Lebanon.

O'BRIEN: So you disagree with the argument -- forgive me for interrupting you. You disagree with the argument that Hezbollah is stronger than ever?

I mean, there are so many analysts who say Hezbollah has never been stronger because they had a strong showing against the IDF and now they won the hearts and minds of people, moderates who didn't support them before.

You disagree with that?

PALMOR: Yes. Yes, I think that you have to read Arab press throughout the Arab world, and you have to read some independent Lebanese Web sites, and you have to listen to what Lebanese and the Diaspora are saying to understand that there is some facade of support of Hezbollah back there in Beirut for political reasons.

Many people fear for their lives when the cameras are on. But when people actually say what they really think -- and I'm talking about the Lebanese here -- when Lebanese say what they think, and when informed Arab journalists actually analyze the situation, they don't see any gains for Hezbollah. It's rather the contrary.

The Hezbollah has proved itself as a major danger for the stability of Arab countries, Lebanon, first and foremost, but also other countries. And I think that all Arab moderates understand that.

Now, there is some lip service, of course, to Hezbollah because they fought Israel. And unfortunately, that is still a very popular cause among many of our neighbors. But by and large, I think that you can see a lot of dissent, a lot of criticism, and even more than simply criticism directed at Hezbollah for being at the service of Iran and doing a very, very poor service to the Arab -- to the Arab cause and certainly to Lebanon.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a final question. How is the disarming of Hezbollah going to come about? I mean, who is going to disarm Hezbollah?

PALMOR: That is a great question. And honestly, if I could give you a simple answer I would. And I think that we'd all be very happy about that. But I have no simple answer.

All I can tell you is that the Security Council has already demanded back in 2004 that Hezbollah be disarmed in the famous Resolution 1559. And now it has demanded again that it be disarmed, and it is the responsibility of both the Lebanese army and the international force to carry out and implement the Security Council resolution.

How exactly they are going to do that is unclear. At the moment we're speaking, but I hope they will find a way, otherwise Hezbollah will simply rearm, redeploy, rebuild its strength, and strike again at the moment of its choosing, which will bring us back to square one, which nobody really wants.

O'BRIEN: Yigal Palmor is the Israeli foreign minister spokesman.

Thank you for talking with us this morning. Appreciate your time.

PALMOR: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Rick.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, a show of force in Iran. We're going to there live and find out why it seems to be ready for a fight with the West.

Then it's the White House or bust for one Louisiana man. He's going to tell us why he is towing a FEMA trailer to Washington ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A Louisiana man is driving to Washington with a FEMA trailer in tow. Rockey Vaccarella wants to thank President Bush for the aid provided so far and to remind him that more is needed.

Rockey decided on the trip after a conversation he had with another Hurricane Katrina survivor. That idea became part of a documentary that is called "Forgotten on the Bayou."

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to take my FEMA trailer -- my FEMA trailer. I want to hook it up to a truck and I want to drive all the way to the White House. I want to go to the White House and I want to meet the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Rockey Vaccarella took to the road Friday. He's in Richmond, Virginia, right now, this morning. And after this interview he's going to go on and head on to Washington, D.C.

Rockey, good morning. How are you?

ROCKEY VACCARELLA, TAKING FEMA TRAILER TO WASHINGTON: Right now, I'm in Richmond, Virginia, getting ready to talk to you and pull out.

SANCHEZ: Well, I'm wondering, and many people are, I imagine, why are you driving a FEMA trailer to Washington, D.C.?

VACCARELLA: Well, you know what? A lot of media has been down there videoing (ph) the FEMA trailers and that. And I felt that it was appropriate that, you know what? Instead of having the president come down there -- he's a very busy man -- I'm going to take the FEMA trailer and we are going to go to the White House and visit him.

And I want to let President Bush know that this is what we're living in. But we are taking the high road. I'm thanking him for the FEMA trailer, thanking him for having a roof over our head, air- conditioned, cookery, and that, but let him know that the job, like many, many Americans are saying, is not nearly complete.

SANCHEZ: Six months is what it took you to get your particular FEMA trailer. And there are a lot of your neighbors that never got one or are still waiting for theirs to arrive.

Have you been satisfied with the way the federal government has handled the post-Katrina relief?

VACCARELLA: You know what? Everybody can be the Monday morning quarterback, "I should have, could have, would have" thing, and I don't go there. I stood on my roof for four hours. We stay there four days bringing people to Chalmette High (ph), rescuing them. I live in St. Bernard 41 years, born and raised there. I'm not going to question it. I mean, I'm moving forward on.

SANCHEZ: But if you sit down...

VACCARELLA: Go ahead.

SANCHEZ: If the president were -- right now the president is saying he's not going to meet with you, he's going to have you meet with somebody else instead. But if the president were to meet with you, would you be critical?

VACCARELLA: Well, you know what? I think the president will meet with me. I'm optimistic.

And when I talk to President Bush, I want to let him say, hey, you know what? There's been enough mudslinging. And I just want to let him know that, you know, thank you for the FEMA trailer, thank you for what you have done. You know?

It's a long journey from Washington to New Orleans to get down there. People think the hurricane hit and we could be down there in one day. That didn't happen.

So, you know what? That happened. It's over with. Let's move on, and let's start the rebuilding, recovery.

Let's get the children back in the parish. Let's get the -- you know, the houses being built, the area being cleaned up. And, you know, New Orleans...

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you about -- let me ask you something about Mr. Powell (ph). The president has asked instead -- in fact, they put out a statement. It essentially says that rather than meeting with the president they are going to send a very important representative of the president, Mr. Don Powell (ph), and he's going to meet with you instead.

You will meet with him, will you not?

VACCARELLA: You know what? I welcome Mr. Bob Powell (ph) with open arms. Believe me. But you know what? My goal and my mission is to meet with the president.

SANCHEZ: Well, what if the president doesn't meet with you?

VACCARELLA: Well, you know what? We're going to take a candle and a cake for dessert. We've got our FEMA gourmet back here. We're bringing our southern style food up there to him.

We'll blow out the candle and just say, you know what? He's too busy right now. And then we'll move on.

SANCHEZ: So you're...

VACCARELLA: We're not going to wait for the federal government to come bail us out. You know? We are Americans, definitely. And we are going to -- if we have to do it ourselves, we are going to do it ourselves.

SANCHEZ: All right.

VACCARELLA: But we do need his help.

SANCHEZ: Well, I'm sure somebody at the White House is taking note of this interview, and maybe you'll get them to change their minds. You sounded pretty persistent to me.

VACCARELLA: Well, I hope to. I hope to.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

VACCARELLA: And, you know -- you know, there's been, you know, a lot of -- a lot of negative publicity towards President Bush. And that's not what we are about. You know, that's not...

SANCHEZ: Rockey -- Rockey Vaccarella, thanks. Have a great trip. And we wish you the best of luck.

We'll check back with you again tomorrow, all right?

VACCARELLA: Hey, man, say some prayers for us.

SANCHEZ: All right. Take care. Bye-bye.

Soledad, over to you.

VACCARELLA: Thanks a lot.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

Coming up this morning, Iran puts its military muscle on display. Is Iran gearing up for a battle with the U.S.? We're going to take you live to Tehran just ahead.

And then, in just about half an hour, President Bush is scheduled to hold a news conference at the White House. We're going to carry that for you live. We've got a preview just ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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