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American Morning

John Mark Karr Still Talking; Tom Cruise Saying Bye-Bye to Another Long-Term Relationship

Aired August 23, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Lavandera in Boulder, Colorado.
John Mark Karr might not be confessing before the cameras anymore, but according to our sources, he's still talking. I'll have the details, coming up.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Marines who thought they were done with the military, well, maybe not.

I'll have that story coming up.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Chad Myers in Atlanta.

We do have significant airport delays expected today, some of them as long as an hour. Charlotte already socked in, but thunderstorms are going to plague most of the southern half of the country.

That story coming up.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.

Tom Cruise is saying bye-bye to another long-term relationship and each side is taking digs at the other. Why it all became mission impossible, coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez in today for Miles.

O'BRIEN: We're following some breaking news out of the Netherlands this morning.

A Northwest Airlines jet bound for Mumbai, India turned back to Amsterdam. Just a few moments ago, we spoke with Dutch journalist Marijn Tebbens. This was the scene on the ground as he described it.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MARIJN TEBBENS, DUTCH JOURNALIST: Well, what we know is that apparently briefly into the flight, some passengers apparently behaved strange. That is according to sources that we just spoke to. And that was the reason for the pilots to turn the flight around and to head back to Schiphol Airport, the main airport here in the Netherlands. And that plane was escorted by two Dutch F-16s.

O'BRIEN: You say strange, which could be behavior that could cover a lot of ground there.

Any more details on what that strange behavior was?

TEBBENS: No. Apparently it was -- it sounded to me as just unruly passengers, not too serious, and yes, just strange behavior. That's all that I've been -- that I've been able to hear from the authorities. And apparently at 11:39 local time, which is about two hours ago, the plane landed safely. Some people, about 11, were questioned, but none are detained at this point by the Dutch police. It's still unclear if that flight will continue with those same people back to Mumbai, Bombay, where it was heading to, in India.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

O'BRIEN: Here in this country, the Pentagon is preparing to activate as many as 2,500 Marine Reservists. It is the first involuntary call-up since the beginning of the Iraq War.

Let's get right to CNN's Barbara Starr.

She's at the Pentagon for us -- hey, Barbara, good morning.

STARR: Good morning to you, Soledad.

A lot of us civilians may not realize it, but when a Marine finishes the four years of active duty, they still might owe four additional years under their contractual obligation to the U.S. military. That's what's happening now.

A group called the Individual Ready Reserve -- that's a pool of Marines -- well, now the Marines say they're going to take 2,500 Marines out of that pool, folks who still have that four year contractual obligation, and call them back to active duty. They're hoping to get volunteers to fill those 2,500 slots, but if they don't, they will call them back involuntarily.

They will get five months notice, then they will be called back for 12 to 18 months.

The Marines say this isn't a shortage in recruiting, but, indeed, due to the war, that they have a number of high demand jobs that they just can't fill any other way. That includes billets in combat, communications, intelligence, engineering and military police.

And as you might expect, of course, the Marines who have already just finished their combat tours in Iraq are perhaps most concerned that they will be sent immediately back. The Marines say anybody who's just come out of a combat zone will be the last to be sent back there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: But Barbara, it sounds like what they're telling you is contradictory. I mean how can they both say well, it's not a shortage in recruiting, but we're having problems filling the following jobs?

I mean those are completely contradictory, aren't they?

STARR: To some extent, I suppose you could say that. But what the Marines are emphasizing is in the current -- in the current environment, that they do have a number of what they call high demand jobs. They need experienced people. These are people who aren't just brand new, necessarily, into the Corps, not just those brand new recruits. They need people with experience in some of these jobs and they are going to go back and look for the ones that they already have on their roster.

It's not something that they like to do, but under -- and, again, as I say, a lot of us civilians find this hard to understand. You figure once you hang up your uniform and finish your enlistment, that's it. But actually not. When you do sign a military contract, the fine print says there might be an additional four year period or so when they can call you back to active duty. And they say because of the high demand, that's what they're going to do now.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, thanks -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: A U.S. airliner has been turned around. As a matter of fact, we're getting our very first pictures now of the plane on the ground. It's a developing story that we've been following for you.

There it is just to the right of your screen.

See it right there?

It's a Northwest Airlines underneath that -- what's -- what appears to be a KLM plane. But it's a Northwest plane that we're talking about.

Two Dutch fighter planes accompanied this plane. They had to turn it around. It was and its way to Mumbai, which used to be called Bombay, by the way. Back to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport Wednesday. A Dutch air traffic control spokesperson said the plane was in German air space when they had to turn it around.

Not exactly sure exactly what the details are as to what happened on this.

Soledad, you talked to one of the reporters there on the ground who was able to clear up some of that information for us, right?

O'BRIEN: Yes, he said it sounded as if there was some kind of disturbance, one source told him.

But we're getting a statement now from a spokeswoman from Northwest Airlines. Her name is Christian Hefferts (ph). And she says: "Northwest Flight Number 42 from Amsterdam to Mumbai, with 149 passengers, returned back to Amsterdam when a couple of passengers displayed behavior of concern" is how she's characterizing it. "Northwest is cooperating with the appropriate government officials. Flight Number 42 is canceled today. It'll be traveling to Mumbai tomorrow and passengers are being accommodated in local hotels."

Of course, it's the behavior of concern, that's the part we are interested in finding more details about, now that we know that, in fact, Flight Number 42 is going to make its way to Mumbai tomorrow. Mumbai, of course, the site of a major terror tech bombing attack, actually, just about a month ago.

We're going to obviously continue to update this developing story for you as we follow it out of Amsterdam today.

SANCHEZ: Yes. That one involved commuter trains killing more than 180 people. And we'll certainly continue to follow this thing.

Meanwhile, here's another story. People increasingly seeing the war in Iraq as separate from the war on terror and that's affecting their politics. The Opinion Research Corporation polled more than 1,000 people just a few days ago.

On terrorism, 48 percent of the people said that Republicans would do a better job. But on the war in Iraq, 47 percent favored Democrats over Republicans.

CNN's Ed Henry is at the White House this morning.

He's following these developments, as well -- good morning, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.

You know, this poll showing once again that if Democrats are able to frame the mid-term elections as a referendum on the war, on Iraq, Republicans will be in trouble on election night. So the conventional wisdom, of course, has been when you look at that second number about the broader war on terror, if Republicans can only refocus, reframe the mid-term election about that broader war on terror, the president scores better.

And that's why at his press conference on Monday, you saw the president repeatedly come back to the notion that if we do not stop the terrorists in Iraq, they're going to follow us here to the United States.

But this new poll suggests that maybe the American people are not buying that notion that Iraq is the central front in the broader war on terror. There's another number within this poll. Asked about Iraq, 52 percent of Americans say it has been a "distraction from the war on terror." Only 44 percent of Americans say that Iraq is essential to the war on terror.

And that's why one moment at that press conference on Monday may be significant for another reason. You remember the president bristling at one point when he was questioned about whether or not the war in Iraq has made the Mideast more unstable.

The president citing the threat from 9/11, the ongoing threat post-9/11. And then a reporter pressed him, well, what did Iraq have to do with the World Trade Center bombings, the plane crashes there?

And the president said, "Nothing."

Well, that's different from what Vice President Cheney and other Bush officials did in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Now, the president and others separating out 9/11 and Iraq may be based on these polls. The American people are separating those out, as well. And that could be bad news for Republicans.

You remember the 2002, 2004 elections. The Republicans won that largely by focusing on the broader war on terror -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks so much.

Ed Henry following that story from the White House.

Now, for years the face of they're has been Osama bin Laden. A new CNN survey shows 74 percent of those polled say they believe that bin Laden is planning another attack on the U.S. Fifty-eight percent said it is likely that the United States will be able to capture or kill bin Laden.

The Opinion Research Corporation conducted this poll on behalf of CNN.

By the way, speaking of bin Laden, don't miss "IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BIN LADEN." It's a "CNN PRESENTS," a special two hour investigation with host Christiane Amanpour, tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN -- Soledad, over to you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

John Karr, the suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, is awaiting a trip to Boulder, Colorado to face charges in the 10-year- old case. Karr agreed to not fight extradition during a hearing in L.A. yesterday and now there's some new details about what he's telling investigators.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Boulder this morning -- hey, Ed, good morning.

(AUDIO GAP)

O'BRIEN: Hey, Ed, I'm going to stop you there because obviously we're having some audio difficulties. Why don't we check that out.

You want to try again guys?

Let's see if we can hear you this time around -- Ed, go ahead.

LAVANDERA: Can you hear me, Soledad?

O'BRIEN: No. We're obviously having some problems.

We can see your lips moving, Ed, but we can't hear your report.

So obviously we're going to have to fix that.

We'll get back to you in just a couple of minutes.

OK, let's first take a look at some of the weather stories going on today.

SANCHEZ: Yes. He sounds very faint, to say the least, right?

CNN is your hurricane headquarters, as you know, and we have a new storm on our hands this morning. It's the fourth named storm of the season in the eastern Atlantic. It's about 380 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, Tropical Storm Debby. And you can say it with a smile because all our experts are saying it's expected to pick up speed in the next 24 hours, but it seems to be heading north, way north.

Severe weather expert Chad Myers, none better, at the CNN Center. He's been checking on it this morning and nothing has changed, right -- Chad.

MYERS: This week is going to cost me some coin, isn't it, if you keep talking like that?

Good morning, Rick.

Good morning, everybody.

We do have a storm now, Tropical Storm Debby, and I think all we're going to do with Debby is just get rid of the letter D and go on to Ernesto, because here it is, the Cape Verde Islands. We do expect it to move into the Central Atlantic and then make a big button hook all the way to the north and to the northeast.

It's a 45 mile per hour storm now. Maybe some higher gusts, but I haven't found any. As the storm turns to the north, it will probably even most east of Bermuda and then make a big right-hand turn up into the colder North Atlantic. And a hurricane, tropical storm, whatever, it needs warm water to develop.

Well, guess what we have here? A bunch of clusters there, a couple of clusters of thunderstorms in some very warm water getting into warmer water near Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire, and eventually on up into the Caribbean, where some potential for development is going to be there.

We'll keep our eyes out to see whether that becomes Ernesto or not.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Let's get back to our conversation about John Karr, of course, the suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

We mentioned he's awaiting a trip now to Boulder, Colorado, facing charges in this case that's now a decade old. He agreed that he wouldn't fight extradition, as we told you just a moment ago. And there's more details about what he's been telling investigators.

Ed Lavandera is in Boulder for us -- Ed, let's try this one more time with good audio this time around -- good morning.

LAVANDERA: We'll see if it's working now.

Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There you go.

You're perfect.

LAVANDERA: All right.

All right.

We'll take it from there, then.

We, you know, the scene around John Mark Karr has changed dramatically from the moment he as, you know, paraded before the cameras, talking before the cameras. We won't see any of that anymore. But people who have been close to John Mark Karr since he was taken into custody in Thailand have said some rather interesting things over the last day to us.

First of all, a police officer in Thailand who says he heard John Mark Karr say that he had had sex with JonBenet Ramsey in the house back in December of 1996.

Also, from a law enforcement source in Los Angeles, who says that he heard John Mark Karr saying that he doesn't understand how people could question how he could have gotten into the Ramsey house. Of course, there's been a lot of confusion and a lot of people trying to dig up just how he could have gotten into the Ramsey house, and that's been one of the points of contention in what he has had to say so far.

But John Mark Karr overhead saying, according to our source in Los Angeles, saying that he had snuck into the house around 5:00 the evening of Christmas on December -- in December of 1996, before the Ramseys had gone off to a Christmas party, as well.

One other note. People probably heard, might have heard early on in this that John Mark Karr's family in Alabama and Atlanta had been saying that they would be able to find a picture of John Mark Karr that shows that they were with him in December of 1996, that Christmas season. So far, the family says they have not been able to find that, only a picture of his three children with them. And they say it would have been incredibly strange for that family not to be together and that's why they think he was with them in 1996 when all of this happened.

Right now we're expecting -- waiting to see when John Mark Karr will be brought to this jail here in Boulder, Colorado. But the sheriff says he will not many any announcements as to when he -- John Mark Karr -- about his travel arrangements and only said that he will confirm when he has arrived as he's been booked and his mug shot has been taken -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I'm not surprised by that. I would imagine they have lived through this media storm, frankly, and they probably are not looking forward to doing that again.

Ed Lavandera is in Boulder for us.

Ed, thanks.

LAVANDERA: Sure.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, Iran is saying it's ready for talks, serious talks, in fact, they say, on their nuclear program. However, they're not backing down. We're going to look at what that means for the U.S. and for possible Mideast stability.

O'BRIEN: Also, there's still no word on two journalists kidnapped in Gaza nine days ago.

Why have they been held captives for so long?

It's very unusual there. We'll update you on their situation.

SANCHEZ: And then later, the man who helped land the first ever TV interview with Osama bin Laden. An inside view into the life of the world's most notorious terrorist.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Iran's refusal to announce a suspension of their uranium enrichment program comes as no surprise to many people. Willingness, though, to enter into further serious negotiations, as they put that, could be a positive step. There's more than a week to go before a key Security Council deadline.

Let's get right to Mark Bowden.

He is the author of "Guests of the Ayatollah."

He's the national correspondent for the "Atlantic Monthly," as well. He's in Wilmington, Delaware this morning.

It's nice to see you, Mark.

Thanks for talking with us, as always.

The response from Iran was positive in some ways, of a response, but yet, also, they never agreed to kind of the critical thing, which was to suspend the uranium enrichment program.

What do you make of this not quite yes, not quite no?

MARK BOWDEN, AUTHOR, "GUESTS OF THE AYATOLLAH," "ATLANTIC MONTHLY": Well, it sounds like brinksmanship to me. I mean, if you're ever around a threatened transit strike where the union is, you know, promising to go out and the management says there's no way they can pay what the union wants, you know, that's the way you play the negotiations game.

And, you know, I think Iran is probably well advised to push the U.N. and to see whether this coalition that the United States has put together will hang tough enough to impose sanctions that really mean anything. And that's really -- I mean the U.N. is hardly a well-oiled machine. So I think it's a worthwhile bet.

O'BRIEN: So, let's talk about the sanctions. As you point out, it's not quite a well-oiled machine. Sanctions have been used in the past as a threat.

What -- how effective are they?

BOWDEN: Well, they can be very effective, but they have to be uniform. If one country refuses to import Iranian oil or imposes a particular economic sanction and another country just picks up the slack, obviously they have no effect at all. So you need, you know, a concerted, united front to make sanctions work. And if there's -- I mean, I think from Iran's perspective, there's but -- it's by no means certain that kind of united front exists. And so it seems to me it makes sense that they're going to continue to push before they give up anything.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, and it's Russia and China that are usually the holdouts in that united front that you talk about.

Why did they consistently not want to be part of the team?

BOWDEN: Well, because Iran is a, you know, a big player in the Middle East. It has one of the largest oil reserves. It's sitting on top of one of the largest oil reserves in the region. And, you know, I think that, you know, other countries which have had trading ties and closer ties with Iran than the United States over the last 25 years, frankly, have more to lose by imposing these kinds of sanctions.

And, you know -- and I think there also are political reasons. You know, I don't think there's that kind of unity in the world that, you know, everyone wants to see the United States' priorities prevail in the Middle East.

O'BRIEN: How do you think the war in Lebanon, the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel involving Lebanon, has affected all of this?

BOWDEN: Well, I think that it probably has hurt Iran, I think, because it illustrates their potential for creating havoc in the region in a very direct way. I mean we know that Iran was the primary supplier of Hezbollah, which was raining rockets on Israel over the last few months. And I think that if they're developing a nuclear program and if they have connections with terrorist agencies that are willing to, and capable of shooting these missiles toward Israel or anyone else, it makes them, I think, a more dangerous player in the region and ought to make, I think the rest of the world -- other countries in the world -- see the danger posed by Iran.

O'BRIEN: The official deadline, we should mention, is the Thursday, August 31st.

Mark Bowden is the author of "Guests of the Ayatollah."

He's also a correspondent for the "Atlantic Monthly."

Nice to see you, Mark, as always.

Thanks.

BOWDEN: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Rick.

SANCHEZ: Here's what's coming up.

The suspect in that double murder near Virginia Tech -- it seems that he was a legendary on the campus before his arrest according to a lot of the students there. We're going to explain that.

Also, the polls say the Republicans have the upper hand on the terrorism issue, but one GOP congressman is finding out that may not be the case, at least not in his district. Why his reelection campaign may signal trouble for Republicans, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

Tom Cruise is in the middle of another high profile split, not with his fiance, but with Paramount Pictures.

CNN entertainment correspondent, Brooke Anderson, is joining us live now from Los Angeles -- Brooke, I can't believe what Sumner Redstone is quoted as saying about him. Those are strong words.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really strong words, Rick, and it's pretty shocking. And like you say, he is still with his fiance. Last we heard, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are still together. But Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures are not, Rick.

It seems Paramount Pictures does not have Tom Cruise as their top gun-anymore. Each party has a different version of what actually happened and Tom Cruise's recent off-screen antics are taking center stage in this contentious war of words.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): It's a Hollywood break up of monumental proportions. Tom Cruise and his long time producing partner, Paramount Pictures, are splitting up.

Their 14 year relationship produced mega hits like "Top Gun"...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "TOP GUN," PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: I'm losing control. I'm losing control. I can't -- I can't control it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: "Days of Thunder."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "DAYS OF THUNDER," PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

CRUISE: We can fix it right here.

But what's it going to be?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The "Mission Impossible" franchise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE," PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can understand you're very upset.

CRUISE: I'm afraid you have never seen me very upset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And "War of the Worlds."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "WAR OF THE WORLDS," PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

CRUISE: Get on!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: movies that made more than a billion dollars in domestic ticket sales alone.

But the once happy union is coming to an end in a classic he said/he said scenario.

In an interview with the "Wall Street Journal," Sumner Redstone, the chairman over Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures, said: "As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

That conduct Redstone is apparently referring to includes a public relations blitz for Scientology, a bizarre sit on Oprah's couch, where he professed his love for Katie Holmes...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW," COURTESY HARPO PRODUCTIONS)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: The boy is gone. The boy is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And a confrontational interview with "The Today Show's" Matt Lauer, in which he spoke out against taking certain prescription drugs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TODAY SHOW," COURTESY NBC)

TOM CRUISE: Just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn't enough. You should be a little bit more responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The Cruise camp disagrees with Redstone's version of the break up. A representative for Cruise/Wagner Productions tells CNN it was their decision to part and they're setting up another operation financed independently. Cruise's business partner, Paula Wagner, tells the "Wall Street Journal" that Cruise's behavior has not cost Paramount box office receipts. But his last movie, "Mission Impossible 3," grossed $133 million domestically, a disappointment considering "Mission Impossible 2" earned $215 million, proving the old Hollywood adage -- you're only as good as your last picture.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON: We are also awaiting response from the Church of Scientology on Redstone's comments about Cruise's behavior. Cruise's personal publicist is referring all questions to Cruise/Wagner Productions. And, again, Cruise/Wagner Productions told us, hey, we are the ones who wanted out. This was our decision. Paramount came up short in the negotiations. And about a month ago Paramount did say they were in discussions to renew the deal.

So, Rick, if Cruise who is the one who severed ties here. It's proof that the business climate in Hollywood is changing, a lot of belt-tightening going on by the studios, cutting costs, reducing their overhead, all to improve their bottom line.

But at this point it is a case of he said/he said and we will keep you updated on what happens.

SANCHEZ: But if it was Cruise who severed it, then, Brooke, I'm wondering why would Sumner Redstone say his recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount? I mean he's coming out and saying look, we're letting him go because of the way he's been acting, right?

ANDERSON: Right. It's anybody's guess as to why Redstone would say that if this was Cruise's decision to sever ties with Paramount. And Paula Wagner from Cruise/Wagner Productions has said that basically, you know, they're really surprised that Redstone is negotiating this or talking about this in the press, that they do not negotiate publicly. But about a month ago, Paramount did say that they have the utmost respect for Cruise and that they were, indeed, negotiating a deal with him to renew the deal.

So, it's anybody's guess as to why Redstone would say something like that.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

We get a feeling there may be more to this, but...

ANDERSON: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: ... we expect that you'll be letting us know soon.

ANDERSON: There usually is, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

Appreciate it.

Now, coming up, a revealing look inside the life of the world's most notorious terrorist. We're going to talk to the man who got Osama bin Laden to give his first ever television interview.

Also, it's been nine days since two journalists were kidnapped in Gaza.

Why have they been held longer there than any hostages there in the past?

We'll get to that, as well, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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