Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Florida Turnpike Killings News Conference; Gulf Oil Threats; Arson Wildfire in California
Aired October 27, 2006 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You're with CNN. You're informed.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on this Friday, October 27th. In fact, here's what's on the rundown now.
On the front lines in California. Firefighters battle a raging wildfire. Now there is talk of murder charges.
HARRIS: In Florida, new developments in the case of a slain family found along a turnpike. We'll hear from the sheriff momentarily.
COLLINS: And looking for single females to get them to the polls. Are they the key to this election?
We're bringing it to you from the NEWSROOM right now.
HARRIS: And let's get you to West Palm Beach, Florida, now. The news conference with new information on the Florida turnpike killing is under way.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SHERIFF KEN MASCARA, ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA: ... as a possible random act of violence on a family traveling on the Florida turnpike, our investigation quickly led us believe this was a deliberate act of premeditated murder on the Escobedo family for drugs, money or both. St. Lucie County sheriff's detectives traveled to Texas and confirmed that the victim, Jose Luis Escobedo, had a brother, Jose Manuel Manuel Escobedo, who was involved in a significant heroin and cocaine distribution organization.
With the strong likelihood of drug involvement as a possible motive in the murders, we asked for assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, commonly referred to as the DEA. Within 24 hour of the murders the DEA became involved in our investigation.
That investigation has resulted in the execution of a search warrant at about 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25th, in the 6400 block of Garden Court, within the Brier Bay (ph) development in Palm Beach County. Because it is a sealed search warrant, I cannot reveal the nature of the evidence recovered in that search. However, I can tell you that our investigators are reviewing evidence to determine any possible connection of that evidence to the Escobedo murders.
As a result of the evidence obtained in that search warrant, four individuals were arrested. They are to my right, to my left, your left, Lillana Lopez (ph). Her criminal history includes three felony charges, two misdemeanor charges, the most recent May 10th, 2006, in which she was arrested for cocaine trafficking.
To my left, your right, Daniel Troya's (ph). Criminal history includes eight felony arrests, two misdemeanor arrests, most recently charges of escape, burglary, and drug charges.
The next one is Danny Viella (ph). Past criminal history includes 10 felony arrests, four misdemeanor arrests, most recently July 14th. Charges include the sale and delivery of cocaine.
And last, Ricardo Sanchez, past criminal history includes six felony arrests, 11 misdemeanor arrests. Again, charges including cocaine trafficking, cocaine possession, as well as weapons possessions.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office now considers these four individuals people of interest in the Escobedo murder investigation.
I cannot express enough my appreciation to Sheriff Rick Bradshaw (ph) and many members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office who have assisted us in all phases of the investigation, including the execution of the search warrant and subsequent recovery of evidence at the victims' home.
I also want to express my sincere appreciation to Port St. Lucie Chief of Police John Skinner and the members of the Port St. Lucie Police Department who have assisted us in our investigation.
Also assisting is the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Marshal Services, the 19th and 15th judicial circuit state attorney's office for their dedication, support, personnel and resources in this ongoing investigation.
Finally, I want to thank the public for their outpouring of support and information. We have made progress but we need more information.
That is why again I'm here to ask the public for help with any information they might have concerning these subjects in custody, as well as any connection these subjects have to the Escobedo family. We also need your help in locating one additional person of interest, and his photo is listed on the end.
Last night the van registered to him that we had as a vehicle of interest was recovered and is currently being processed. I ask that anybody with information to call our sheriff's tip line which is still activated at 772-462-3230, the Palm Beach Crime Stoppers number at 1- 800-458-8477, or the Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers number at 1-800- 273-8477.
And that's it.
Thank you.
COLLINS: All right. So there you have the new information coming in to us from that news conference out in West Palm Beach there. Still asking for the public's help in this -- murders of the Escobedo's family, the mother, the father, and the two small boys.
They have told us, as you may have heard, apparently that the brother of the father, Escobedo, Jose Manuel Escobedo, apparently was involved in a significant heroin and cocaine distribution organization. The DEA became involved in this case just 24 hours after the murders. So now there is a search warrant, but it's sealed, so therefore they cannot reveal any of the evidence.
What we do know in the new information today is that because of that evidence, four people have been arrested. They are still looking for a fifth who is apparently the owner or the licensed owner of a red van that they believe to be connected to these murders.
We want to get to Susan Candiotti, who is standing by live in West Palm Beach to tell us more -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, this is the first time that authorities have indicated that they are working with three possible motives: drugs, money, or both. So this is something that has been long suspected but never spoken out loud by authorities, sort of the 800-pound gorilla in the room when they were talking about the possible motive involved in this case, the nearly inexplicable murder, so gruesome, of this family of four. Their bodies shot execution-style on the side of the Florida turnpike just two weeks ago.
We have also known for some time that the younger brother of Mr. Escobedo, who was murdered, the younger brother has been a fugitive for several months now. He was to report to a work camp, a federal work camp in Louisiana several months back but did not.
He had been convicted of a drug conspiracy charge, cocaine charge, sometime ago and was sentenced to 10 years, but wound up eventually at a work camp. Again, never showed up there. This is a fugitive that they have been looking, as they have been looking to talk to a number of people over the course of this investigation -- friends, associates, relatives, and now we learn that that search warrant that was executed at an address in West Palm Beach has led them to certain evidence they will not yet describe, they consider to be significant to this case.
One of the pieces of information we learned, again, is a little more clarification on that van. They put out the photograph of it last night. I believe that that van is connected to one of the addresses of these four people -- a 1999 red Dodge Conversion van that they would like to fine, as well as its registered owner, Michael Najalis (ph), who is from Lake Worth, Florida -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Susan, interesting as well, we heard the list of charges and felony charges all four of these people that are in custody right now had. They have been in trouble before.
CANDIOTTI: They have. A number of them on drug charges, these four people that they listed, one woman and three men.
They are in custody, were picked up earlier in the week, and were released, as we understand it, and are being held at this time on those unrelated federal drug charges. Again, police at this time being very careful to label them only as people of interest to the case so far.
COLLINS: That's right. People of interest.
All right. Quickly, I just want to give this phone number if I could, too. They are still asking for the public's help in that fifth suspect that could be connected to this murder. That number, 772-462- 3230. We'll try to get it up for you in case you may know anything.
HARRIS: And we want to quickly get you to a developing story out of the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is there.
And Barbara, U.S. military expressing concerns about a new terror threat in the Middle East?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Tony. The U.S. Navy has just issued a statement from Bahrain, the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters, saying that they are very aware at this hour of reporting of an al Qaeda threat against oil terminal facilities in Saudi Arabia and other threats against Western interests in Saudi Arabia.
All of this began earlier today when a Royal Navy -- a U.K. Royal Navy office in Dubai put out a statement warning commercial shipping transit in the Gulf. Now the U.S. Navy saying, "We support the recommendation that commercial mariners be especially vigilant while transiting the Gulf."
What we are learning is that U.S. Navy warships, British navy warships, as well as ships, military warships from other countries in the region, are patrolling the Persian Gulf this morning, especially some of the approaches, we are told, the seaborne approaches to the Rostinura (ph) oil terminal, some of the largest oil terminals in the world operated by Saudi Arabia.
What sources are telling us is that in the last couple of weeks, there have been a series of reports, intelligence reports about potential threats against Western interests in Saudi Arabia. They're not really sure how to take this because what they tell us, of course, is there is a consistent flow of reporting about potential al Qaeda threats against Saudi Arabia, against oil facilities. This goes on, unfortunately, fairly routinely.
But whatever has happened in the last couple of weeks, it clearly has caught the interest of the maritime world. So now these warships are staying in international waters, they are patrolling out there, keeping an eye on things. And the Saudi government also is very aware, nobody's getting overly excited yet, but there's a lot of caution, a lot of eyes watching.
And, of course, one of most interesting things we will watch, I believe, will be to see what happens to oil prices, whether the futures market reacts to this threat and whether there's any spike in oil prices in the coming hours as this information becomes more broadly known.
HARRIS: Great. OK. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon.
Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
COLLINS: Back to that raging wildfire in southern California. This time yesterday we told you it had burned 800 acres. Now it has tripled, 24,000 acres at best guest, and four firefighters trapped in its path were killed.
Investigators say the arsonist could be charged with murder. That's right, arson, that is what they suspect in that blaze you're looking at live from our affiliate KTLA out of California.
Joining us now by phone is Patrick Chandler. He is a spokesman for the Riverside County Fire Department.
Patrick, how do things look to you and the fire crews out there battling this thing at this very moment?
PATRICK CHANDLER, SPOKESMAN, RIVERSIDE COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: Well, so far at this moment, 23,500 acres have been burned, and it's about five percent contained right now. There were 10 structures destroyed, homes were actually destroyed due to this fire. There's been high winds, and firefighters have been having to deal with really steep and inaccessible terrain.
COLLINS: Boy, that's a tough one, that's for sure. When you talk about these 10 homes, we know that people have evacuated from the area. How many more structures roughly are in jeopardy?
CHANDLER: Well, earlier we had reports that about 500 homes were threatened, as well as about three commercial properties.
COLLINS: Wow. What are they going to be able to do today, Patrick? Is it too windy to fly the aircraft to dump the slurry? Are you going to be able to do that, do you think, throughout the course of the day?
CHANDLER: Well, so far today I haven't got any reports that our people will not be able to use their aircraft. So, you know, information's still coming right now. But I haven't heard any -- gotten any reports that we wouldn't be able to use the aircraft today.
COLLINS: All right.
Patrick Chandler, we appreciate your update on this.
Once again, from the Riverside County Fire Department.
Thank you.
HARRIS: And we're just moments away from getting a piece of tape of a meeting earlier this morning between President Bush and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The two expected to talk about the increased role of NATO, that stepped-up role of NATO forces in Afghanistan taking on the Taliban militias there.
We understand the two men did take a couple of questions first on Iran, but the president is going to be talking about comments from Vice President Cheney on the controversial interrogation technique known as waterboarding.
Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm proud to welcome the secretary general of NATO here to the Oval Office. We've just had a fascinating discussion.
First, Mr. Secretary General, you've been a very strong leader. As a matter of fact, you've made NATO a values-based organization that is capable of dealing with the true threats of the 21st century.
I appreciate your leadership. I particularly appreciate the fact that you have led the 26 nations of NATO into Afghanistan to help this young democracy.
You know what I know: that the real challenge for the future is to help people of moderation and young democracies succeed in the face of threats and attacks by radicals and extremists who do not share our ideology, have, kind of, a dark vision of the world.
I appreciate the fact that you're reaching out to global partners, nations which share our values but have not been considered -- necessarily considered a part of NATO.
I want to thank your view of making sure NATO continues to provide the opportunity for other nations to join NATO.
I'm looking forward to Riga. The Riga summit is a time for us to celebrate the great successes of this partnership, Mr. Secretary General. And I will be there reminding our partners that we have a lot of work to be done in the noble cause of peace.
So welcome.
JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Mr. President, thank you very much. And thank you for giving me your time.
I can echo your words. NATO is delivering security in the 21st century. And that means defending values, and that means defending values not only in Europe, but far away from NATO's traditional area. And the case in point, of course, is Afghanistan, where there was a regime which was grossly violating human rights, no women's rights, public executions. There we are trying to assist the Afghan government to establish democracy, to establish human rights, to establish those values.
And let me say that when in those actions of NATO, of those brave NATO soldiers, civilians are killed, as happened two days ago, that's always a tragedy. That's a tragedy.
But let me convince you to look at the broader picture. They are against democracy. Girls did not go to school when the Taliban was running Afghanistan. Now they go to school. Now there is a president. Now there is a government.
Civilian victims are a tragedy, but we are there in favor of democracy. They are there to destroy democracy and they are there to destroy our values.
Mr. President, I'm looking forward to the Riga summit, where we will see a 21st-century NATO delivering security in many, many places of the world, with 50,000 soldiers, including many Americans, on three continents.
That is the challenge. But I can tell you that NATO is up to the challenge. NATO is delivering security. And NATO will continue to do this, indeed, with its present, but also with global partners. Because terrorism, proliferation, failed states and failing states are global threats we have to face and to counter on a global scale.
Mr. President, once again, thank you very much for being here.
BUSH: Yes, sir.
Now, I'll answer a couple of questions this morning.
QUESTION: What does it say to you that Iran is doubling its enrichment capacity?
BUSH: It says to me that we must double our effort to work with the international community to persuade the Iranians that there is only isolation from the world if they continue working forward on such a program.
And I've read the speculation about that's what they may be doing. But whether they've doubled it or not, the idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. And it's unacceptable for the United States and it's unacceptable to nations we're working with in the United Nations to send a common message.
QUESTION: Sir, do you agree with (inaudible) when it comes to interrogating terror suspects?
BUSH: This country doesn't torture. We're not going to torture.
We will interrogate people we pick up off the battlefield to determine whether or not they've got information that'd be helpful to protect the country.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: I understand people here in Washington have already determined the outcome of the election. As I said in my press conference the other day -- you know, I've seen it before where people start measuring the drapes in their new offices before the vote has been counted. In other words, they're taking the people's vote for granted.
This election is going to be determined by how our candidates run locally. And I believe if they continue to emphasize the big issues -- keeping taxes low and protecting the American people -- we'll win. And so we'll see how the outcome comes.
I know there's a lot of speculation here in Washington, D.C., and there's a lot of fascination about the -- listening to these pundits and people who are giving their opinions.
All I can tell you is what I see. I see enthusiasm amongst Republicans. I see candidates who are saying, "Vote for me. I will work to make sure America doesn't get attacked again." And I'm seeing candidates saying, "I understand that if we run up your taxes like the Democrats do, it's going to hurt this economy, and so we'll keep your taxes low."
Thank you all very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm proud to welcome secretary-general of NATO here to the Oval Office. We just had a fascinating discussion.
BUSH: And I'm seeing candidates saying, "I understand that if we run up your taxes like the Democrats do it's going to hurt this economy, and so we'll keep your taxes low."
Thank you all very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And there you have it. The president and the NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, at a meeting from earlier this morning and then at the end of that taking questions from reporters.
NATO and the 26 nations of NATO, as you heard, providing security in hotspots around the world, including Afghanistan right now. Those nations coming together for a meeting, the NATO summit, in the coming weeks in Latvia.
The president taking a couple of questions, one of which was on comments made by Vice President Dick Cheney on the radio this morning. And the conversation was about waterboarding. We've been able to get our -- we do have the sound. I was about to read the transcript of the comments, but you heard the president say that the United States does not condone torture.
Here are the comments from Vice President Dick Cheney on a radio program this morning.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrorist interrogations in that debate is another example. And I have had people call and say, you know, "Please let the vice president know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it if it saves American lives."
I mean, again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat, would you agree?
RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat, for example, is -- with respect to our ability to interrogate high-value detainees like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed provided us with enormously valuable information about how many there are, about how they plan, about what their training processes are and so forth. We've learned a lot.
We need to be able to continue that. The Congress recently voted on this question of the military commissions and our authority to continue the interrogation program. It passed both houses, fortunately.
The president signed in into law. But the fact is, 177 Democrats in the House -- or excuse me, 162 Democrats in the House voted against it. And 32 out of 44 senators, Democratic senators, voted against it.
We wouldn't have that authority today if they were in charge. That's a very important issue in this campaign, are we going to allow the executive branch to have the authority, granted and authorized by the Congress, to be able to continue to collect the intelligence we need to defend the nation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you agree a dunk water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?
CHENEY: Well, it's a no brainier for me, but I -- for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in.
We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we're party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to able to do that. And thanks to the leadership of the president now and the action of the Congress, we have that authority and we are able to continue the program.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HARRIS: And once again, those are comments from the vice president on WDAY radio, not this morning, but on Tuesday, talking about the controversial interrogation technique known as waterboarding.
COLLINS: Our Jamie McIntyre is embedded with NATO forces in Afghanistan this week. He is joining us now via broadband from Kabul.
And Jamie, just as we finish up that meeting, showing it to our viewers, President Bush and the secretary-general, what are your thoughts as you stand and you look around at what you see from Afghanistan?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, last two days I've been following around a top NATO commander, General James Jones. He has been on an inspection tour here. He has his own concerns about how the mission is going in Afghanistan, although he remains consistently optimistic that over the long run, NATO is going to succeed.
And one of the things you find as you travel across the country is that, while there's no argument that there's intense fighting go on in the south and the Taliban has been resurgent to a point that's been somewhat surprising to NATO initially, you can go to other parts of the country and see amazing signs of success, including here in the capital, Kabul.
Today we visited some of the provisional reconstruction teams they're called, the areas where they're trying to deliver, you know, basically basic improvements in quality of life to people in Afghanistan in an attempt to bring them toward the Karzai government and away from the influence of the Taliban. And in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, where we went today, U.S. troops have an amazing rapport with the community there.
We were able to walk outside the base into the community, talk to a lot of the children who gather around. It was a very safe area. We never felt threatened, there haven't been any attacks there in some time. A peaceful part of Afghanistan. And that's the model that NATO needs to spread across the country if they're going to have success.
General Jones is convinced that militarily they can't win in Afghanistan, they can own beat the Taliban back. But in order to really win the people over they've good got to deliver goods and services. And that's one of the reasons he's brought a lot of experts with them on this trip to try to find ways to accelerate that and attack the other big problem, the drug problem. He brought the drug enforcement administrator from the United States here to come up with new ideas on how to get that on a faster track as well.
So, the impression you get traveling around Afghanistan is -- well, the first impression you get is it's not Iraq. There are many areas that are safe and easy to get around, and where American and NATO troops are welcome. And the other one is, there's a huge way that they have to go if they're going to bring this country all under one central government -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And Jamie, it certainly sounds like General Jones and the secretary-general, NATO secretary-general, are on the same page. We have heard the NATO secretary-general say before that there is not just a military component here, it is also civic and developmental.
MCINTYRE: Yes. In fact, that's really -- it's really the more important part in some ways, because the military piece is just really an application of power. But after that, it really is the political end.
And the other thing that I would just say is that NATO is on the hook here. They have signed up for this mission and they really have no option but to see it through and to try to bring some success out of this, no matter how long it takes.
And by the way, it's going to take longer than General Jones is going to have, because he's going to be stepping down after a long, distinguished military career, in just about five or six weeks as a supreme NATO commander. So he won't be around to see this, but it's -- some people say there's a window of about six months, others say perhaps even shorter. But there's a real recognition this is a critical point where they've got to deliver those real improvements to the Afghan people or risk losing them back to the Taliban.
COLLINS: Particularly in the south, as you mentioned.
All right. Jamie McIntyre, live from Afghanistan.
Thank you, Jamie.
HARRIS: Getting personal about politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want me to tell you about the first time I did it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the best time is in the fall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like to do it in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When was it? What year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of personal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told everybody. I had such a big mouth about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: What are we teasing here? Move over soccer moms? So- called Sex and the City voters -- oh, I get it -- are turning heads this election.
The story in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Not acting. Michael K. Fox responds to criticism of his appearance in political ads. We'll have that in the NEWSROOM as well.
Stick around, everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Here is what we know on the deadly wildfire in southern California. The Riverside county fire has swept across some 24,000 acres. That's about -- imagine this -- 38 square miles.
The wind-driven flames trapped five firefighters. Four have died. The lone survivor has burns over 95 percent of his body.
Authorities say the fire was intentionally set and the arsonist will face murder charges if caught. Fire officials say the arsonist created a virtual death trap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL PETERS, CALIF. DEPT. OF FORESTRY: The dynamics of a wild land fire, that's the most deadly fire that firefighters face. More firefighters die in wild land fires across the United States than in structure fires almost every year, with the exception of 2003, because the dynamic shifts so readily. You could have a sudden wind change and the fire is on you, whereas before you were in a safe zone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Personal ads of the political persuasion. Wanted, single women who happen to be free on November 7th, not for dinner and a movie, but for a date at the ballot box.
CNN's Dana Bash explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maryanne Randazzo is 27 years old. She has never voted before, and won't this year either.
MARYANNE RANDAZZO, WAITRESS: I don't feel like it's going to change -- change my life.
BASH: She's just too busy working at her father's pizza parlor in suburban Philadelphia.
RANDAZZO: Just because I'm stuck in this place. I work six days a week, 60 hours-plus. So, honestly, it's because I really don't have time.
BASH: And politics turns her off, especially the negative campaign ads.
RANDAZZO: It bores me. I flip the channels, to be -- to be honest with you. BASH: Maryanne is one of a jaw-dropping 20 million unmarried women who did not vote in 2004. That's 41 percent of single women, compared to 29 percent of married women who didn't go to the polls.
Now a nonpartisan group is hoping these ads will get their attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want me to tell you about the first time I did it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the best time is in the fall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like to do it in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sexy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a beautiful thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAGE GARDNER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, WOMEN'S VOICES, WOMEN VOTE: Even though 20 million did not vote, 27 million did. So, they are a potent political force.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: I want to quickly take you back to Southern California. We have a live news conference going on here for some details in the progress of that fire. Let's listen in.
JEANNE WADE EVANS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Jess Mclean (ph), fire engine operator, was 27 years old, had seven years of service. He was a resident of Beaumont. Jason MacKay (ph), assistant fire engine operator, was 27 years old and had five years of forest service experience. Four years as a volunteer firefighter. He was a resident of Failon (ph). Daniel Hoover Najera (ph) was 20 years old, Was in the his second season of firefighting. He was a resident of San Jacinto (ph). Pablo Certa (ph), who remains in critical condition, is a 23-year-old firefighter, and he's a resident of Fountain Valley.
The five forest service employees were on engine crew 57 on the San Jacinto ranger district. They were dispatched early yesterday morning to assist in a state-managed wildfire, the Esperanza incident. They were engaging in structure protection and firefighting activities when they were overrun by flames. The accident investigation is ongoing. Our very deepest condolences go out to the families and friends at this very tragic time. All of us here on the forest and all of us in this fire community are suffering a great loss today.
QUESTION: Could you tell us, at the time, do you have any information about how this happened, or how fast it happened, what they were actually trying to do to save their own lives?
EVANS: Right now, that's all under investigation, and news of that will be forthcoming as that information comes.
QUESTION: Can you tell us anymore about their families?
EVANS: The direct can talk more about them as the people.
There is a foundation that's set up for the fallen firefighters, and we'll get that information out right after this press release.
QUESTION: How will that tragedy shape the way you all continue (INAUDIBLE)?
EVANS: Right now all of the employees in the San Jacinto ranger district are standing down on the fire.
We will always be looking for firefighter safety as our first priority, no matter what incident we're in.
There's always instructions for firefighters safety at all of these briefings every morning.
COLLINS: All right, we are listening in to a U.S. Forest Service information officer talking about the latest and most specifically the deaths of four firefighters, fighting the Esperanza Fire in California. We continue to look at pictures of this massive, massive wildfire that apparently has been sparked by an arsonist. That investigation ongoing. Also the investigation ongoing as we just heard into the deaths of these firefighters who we understand were engaging in structure protection, in other words, trying to protect some homes, building, that were in the wake of this terrible fire. They were just apparently overrun by flames. This happens in awful, fast, fast-moving fires, like the within you were looking at now.
It is a 23-year-old, a fifth firefighter, who is still in critical condition, we understand, 95 percent of his body is burned. We'll continue, of course, to watch that situation, as well as of course the fire.
HARRIS: And, Heidi, you were talk about pictures telling the story here, and certainly, well, a lot of bravery being displayed I these firefighters. We want to show you more of these pictures.
Tim Walton captured some amazing video of this fire. Tim joins us now.
Tim, where were you? How did you -- give me the circumstances under which you were able to capture the pictures we're going to show folks?
TIM WALTON, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Well, I arrived at the fire about 8:00 last night. I came from my home in the Bay Area, came to this event as a fire photographer. That's one of the things I do. I'm a news cameraman, but also a fire photographer. So I've been sharing my videotape with the U.S. Forest Service and the CDF and local fire departments for about 25 years. So that's how I came to be here.
HARRIS: All right, Tim. Tim can you sort of testify to the speed with which this fire seemed to just sort of inundate this area?
WALTON: Well, this was -- last night, the pictures really don't tell the story, though, because it -- they always seem to not really show the scope of how it looks in person. But I will tell you that this fire was building on this area, had been obviously moved through thousands of acres before, and it was the wind was coming out of the north at what seemed like 35, 40 miles an hour. And as these firemen do what they do, which is lineup with their engines at every one of the structures and look for a safety zone, a place to be -- that you can escape to, and watch these -- this fire come at you, it's quite a sight. And it could scare the daylights out of you.
And you have to sort of keep yourself calm and take pictures, in my case. And in their case, do their jobs, and that's protect these structures.
HARRIS: Tim, did you ever have real concerns about your own safety?
WALTON: I always have real concerns about my safety, and that's a priority to me. I will not enter a fire or cross a fire line without all of my safety gear, and knowledge of the terrain and knowledge of where this fire's moving. I monitor every radio frequency that's available to me, that the fire agencies are using, and you better listen up and you better understand. You better not go down that road.
HARRIS: Tim, talk to us about these firefighters. You do this a lot, as you mentioned. Talk to us about these firefighters, the ones who have given their lives to fight this, and the bravery and courage displayed by these firefighters who now have the task of taking on this huge fire.
WALTON: Well, I don't fully -- I haven't fully seen the scene, I haven't seen the fire scene where these forest service firefighters were killed. I don't really know the circumstances that well.
I do know, though, that whatever they were doing they did it with probably a lot of confidence that they would not have to deal with any major issues; it would be routine. Yes, it was a wildfire coming at them, but these things can turn in a moment, and that's -- that looks like what happened with these four people. It's really a shame. It didn't have to happen as we know. This is an arson fire, which makes it really hard. It makes it a heartbreak for everybody.
HARRIS: Tim, appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Thanks for your pictures.
WALTON: You're welcome. Thank you.
COLLINS: Coming up next, war and politics, the economy and politics, and don't forget, dirty politics. We'll talk all these major issues, coming up just 11 days to midterm elections. Two political experts talk strategy, a discussion (INAUDIBLE) ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Interesting, at the top of the hour we brought you the press conference out of Florida, where the investigators who are handling the investigation of the Florida Turnpike murders gave us an update on the arrests of four people in custody in West Palm Beach on federal charges. And working through -- the investigators working through the connection to the actual turnpike murders.
At the end of the conference came this statement from one of the officials, Lieutenant Jerry Rothman of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department, a spokesman, who said, "We feel comfortable that the shooter, or shooters, is one of these people."
Once again, four people under arrest now in connection on unrelated federal charges. But clearly, what this sheriff's spokesman from St. Lucie County is suggesting is that they have the person, or persons, who committed this horrible act of violence, killing this family of four, leaving their bodies on the turnpike, the Escobedo family, husband, wife and two small children, as you see here. But the sheriff's spokesman did add, we are not ready to charge the shooter or shooters yet.
We will continue to follow this story throughout the course of the afternoon for you.
COLLINS: So much going on here today. We want to go back to the story that we were bringing you about personal ads of the political persuasion regarding single women who might just happen to be free on November 7th. Of course not for dinner or anything, but for a date instead at the ballot box.
Once again, Dana Bash explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maryanne Randazzo is 27 years old. She has never voted before, and won't this year either.
MARYANNE RANDAZZO, WAITRESS: I don't feel like it's going to change -- change my life.
BASH: She's just too busy working at her father's pizza parlor in suburban Philadelphia.
RANDAZZO: Just because I'm stuck in this place. I work six days a week, 60 hours-plus. So, honestly, it's because I really don't have time.
BASH: And politics turns her off, especially the negative campaign ads.
RANDAZZO: It bores me. I flip the channels, to be -- to be honest with you. BASH: Maryanne is one of a jaw-dropping 20 million unmarried women who did not vote in 2004. That's 41 percent of single women, compared to 29 percent of married women who didn't go to the polls.
Now a nonpartisan group is hoping these ads will get their attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want me to tell you about the first time I did it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the best time is in the fall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like to do it in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sexy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a beautiful thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAGE GARDNER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, WOMEN'S VOICES, WOMEN VOTE: Even though 20 million did not vote, 27 million did. So, they are a potent political force. And they are the fastest growing demographic we have in this country.
BASH: In 2004, they were dubbed "Sex and the city" voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: So, which district do you vote in?
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: Whichever one is near Barney's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: But most single women are nothing like Carrie Bradshaw.
GARDNER: Half of them make $30,000 or less. Thirty-six percent move every two years. So, it -- they have very difficult lives.
BASH: Nonpartisan grassroots group are working to get out the single-female vote, going door to door with information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, November 2 is when it's going to be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: November 7.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, November 7. I'm probably not a good candidate for this, because I'm not really into politics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're the perfect candidate.
ANNA GREENBERG, POLLSTER: If you look at polls this election cycle, they're most likely to say the country is going on the -- in the wrong direction. They hate the war in Iraq. They feel like the economy has not helped them over the last five or six years. So, I think you could expect unmarried women, if they vote, to vote pretty Democratic.
BASH: Back at the pizza parlor, Maryanne says she would vote Democrat, because of the war and:
RANDAZZO: Health insurance, it's going -- I know I have -- I'm on my own health insurance. It's -- it's so expensive for just a single female.
BASH: But she's not even registered to vote, and the deadline has passed -- maybe next time.
Dana Bash, CNN, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Joining us now to talk about the election, Amy Holmes, a political analyst, and former senior speechwriter for Senate Majority Leader Bill First. She is in New York.
And in Washington, Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist and a former DNC press secretary.
Thank you both for being with us today.
Let's just quickly touch on that demographic, if we could. Amy, to you first. Will Republicans go after the single female in this midterm election?
AMY HOLMES, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, with only a week and a half to go, they're going to be focusing on their voters and getting their voters to the poll. That was a cute ad. Oftentimes, sex sells, but I think in this case, it's very unlikely that women in that age group have historically had a low voter turnout.
COLLINS: Jenny, does sex sell enough to get them to voting booths?
JENNY BACKUS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think so. I think the Democrats have really taken advantage of this really key voting demographic. They started some programs in 2004 to get more unmarried women out. The group that you featured there, Women's Voices, Women's Vote, has done a great job on both sides of the aisle to get more women registered.
I think the war in Iraq being such a central issue this election cycle, I think you could actually see a lot more young, single and unmarried women coming out to vote, because they're so mad about this war.
COLLINS: But as we heard -- just last week we spoke with both the RNC chair and the co-chair for the DNC, and the agendas of the Republican Party versus the Democratic Party are very different. In fact, Iraq was not really on the Democratic agenda. Much more domestic issues, like minimum wage and health care. The Republicans are still talking about security and the economy.
Amy, what is it that is going to get Republicans, as far as you see it, into those voting booths?
HOLMES: Well, I think for Republican voters, the top two issues are national security and the economy. And it is worrying that when Howard Dean was on this very network and had the top three priorities. National security, the economy, protecting our borders -- none of those things made the list. You wonder if it would make even the top ten.
So for Republican voters, they're really focused on those big issues. Also the Republican candidates just -- they need to go out, they need to campaign, reconnect with their constituents, compare and contrast with the Democratic agenda. And they've got a lot of firm ground to stand on.
COLLINS: Jenny, what exactly is the Democratic agenda, with regard to national security?
BACKUS: Well, it's the same agenda all the way down the line, and it starts with one simple word, which is change. The voters in this country, -- again, whether you're Independent, Republican or Democrat -- are totally fed up with what they're seeing in Washington.
COLLINS: Change to what?
BACKUS: Change to getting out of Iraq, change to having a real plan, change to not having a defense secretary go into complete meltdown on national television when asked real important questions about benchmarks and goals in Iraq. Minimum wage, I disagree with Amy. Raising the minimum wage will do a lot to help the economy, will do a lot to help those women that you just featured, the unmarried women that you just talked about.
COLLINS: So you see my question. If Iraq and security is the major issue that you are saying Democrats will go to the voting booths and cast their ballots on, I wonder why Howard Dean did not mention that on our program here.
BACKUS: But he did. He did mention minimum wage. And I think it's inherent on Iraq. I mean, Howard Dean has been a very outspoken critic of the president's Iraq policy, going back to before he was even the DNC chair. But I think the bottom line is -- I mean, this week you saw the administration struggling, struggling to change the language that they're using in Iraq, but yet absolutely unwilling to change the policies that they have.
And that's why you're getting frustration with independent voters and Republicans, and that's why you're seeing a lot of Republicans doing election week conversions in terms of all of a sudden they've been staying the course, staying the course, and now putting they're up ads in the last 11 days saying well, maybe I want to do something different.
HOLMES: If I could jump in here?
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. Amy, let me get back to you.
HOLMES: If I could jump in here, I think what you're hearing, again, is, no agenda. Senator Schumer himself said they were not going to roll out an agenda because, quote, "it would be too easy of a target for the Republican opponents."
COLLINS: All right, let me jump in here really quickly, because we are running out of time. Dirty politics, as far as what we have been seeing here. There have been quite a few races now with midterms a few days away, a week and a half or so, that have gotten, once again, probably no surprise, pretty dirty. Amy, is this the right course of action for a midterm election that is most expensive in history?
HOLMES: Well, you know, going into an election typically is when the negative ads come out, and it comes from both sides. Unfortunately, because they work, because they do get the attention of those voters, those 20 percent of voters who are still undecided. So...
COLLINS: But don't we hear from voters everywhere that they get bored, they turn it off, they gear in the opposite direction when they hear all this negativity?
HOLMES: You know, that's very interesting. They say that, but they do listen and they do work. And that's why both parties use them.
COLLINS: Last word, Jenny?
BACKUS: I think it's a little different this election cycle. I think people are so turned off with the scandals in Washington and the Foley, Abramoff, with the disaster in Iraq. They're angry, they don't want any more negativity, they just want solutions and answers. And I think that's going to help the Democrats, because they're campaigning on a positive change message.
COLLINS: And whoever has all of the solutions, I bet, wins the vote. How about that?
BACKUS: Exactly. Exactly.
COLLINS: Brilliant!
Amy Holmes and Jenny Backus, we appreciate your time here today. Thank you.
HOLMES: Thank you. BACKUS: Thanks, Heidi.
HARRIS: And quickly, let's get you back to West Palm Beach, Florida and CNN's Susan Candiotti.
Susan, new developments in the investigation into the brutal murders of that family of four along the Florida Turnpike. Something interesting at the end of that news conference?
CANDIOTTI: That's right. And what's particularly interesting is that the sheriff very carefully, during the course of the news conference, labeled four people that are in custody as being people of interest. They are in custody and already made a first appearance on unrelated drug charges.
But then after the news conference, one of his lieutenants, a spokesman for the department, added the following, quote: "We feel comfortable the shooter or shooters is one of these people." So that's a significant statement to make.
Also, we know that the sheriff's office is looking for a fifth person. He is the registered owner of a red 1999 Dodge Conversion van. They're looking for that van and they're looking for that registered owner.
We can tell you that the four people that are in custody already made an appearance this morning in Ft. Pierce, Florida, in federal court. They are being held for the time being without bond, until that there is a hearing on November 3rd about that. The sheriff would not say either way whether they have confiscated any weapons in this case. That could be significant, and perhaps explain and they feel comfortable in making the statement about how comfortable they are that the people, the killer, might be already in custody.
HARRIS: And I know that you'll continue to follow this for us throughout the course of the afternoon, Susan. Appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. Kyra Phillips, Don Lemon, the team, working hard to bring you the very latest on several big stories, as you saw here, all developing today.
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next, with news happening across the world and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great weekend, everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
