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Denver Broncos Player Shot Dead; U.S. Causalities in Iraq Reach 3,000; Gerald Ford Remembered
Aired January 01, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Happy new year. I'm Tony Harris. Heidi Collins is off today. For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this first day of January, 2007. Here's what's on the run down, Iraq now claiming 3,000 American lives, a poll showing military support for the president's war policy is slumping.
Ordinary Americans honoring an extraordinary man, Gerald Ford lying in staying in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. President Bush will pay respects today.
Road crews scouring highways today for stranded motorists. The Southwest and Plains hit hard by winter's fury, this hour in THE NEWSROOM.
Sacrifices and the sad reality of war. The U.S. death toll in Iraq has reached 3,000. Behind every loss moms and dads, husbands and wives, children whose lives will never be the same. Live now to our Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad. Ryan, good morning.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, the news of that 3,000 fatality for U.S. troops came just hours before the troops ushered in the new year. It is obviously a very grim milestone, more than half of those 3,000 young Americans under the age of 25. I think an equally significant number, when it comes to the U.S. troops' sacrifices, is the number of casualties so far in the war. More than 22,000 troops have been wounded since the war began. Many of -- at least some of whom would be dead if it wasn't for the advancements in battle field medicine over the last couple of decades, since the war in Vietnam.
Now, the month of December, one of the deadliest for -- the deadliest for U.S. troops in two years, a total of 111 troops killed in the month of December. But overall, if you look at the statistics for 2006, the casualty rate is pretty much consistent with 2004 and 2005. In other words, December was the deadliest month in two years, but it is not a sign of a growing trend that casualties are really skyrocketing for U.S. troops. Tony?
HARRIS: So, Ryan, this number, this 3,000, does it have any military significance?
CHILCOTE: You know, it obviously it is the measurement of sacrifice, and that's what the troops will tell you. A lot of times, they will tell you that they are making that -- these sacrifices here in Iraq really on their own. Just the U.S. Army and the Marines, a lot of them don't feel like the rest of the country is really helping out, doing its share, paying increased taxes, because this is a professional army.
So it is a measurement, I think, of sacrifice. But the troops are pretty clear that they don't think that it's a measurement of success or perhaps more importantly, failure. They say that there are a lot of other things to look at here on the ground in Iraq if you're trying to judge success or failure, the strength of the insurgency, the level of the violence. There are issues with those things, particularly here in Baghdad, out in the west of Iraq and Ramadi, where things aren't going as the troops would like to see. But they don't think that that number of 3,000 should be considered some mark of failure.
HARRIS: Yes. Our Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad. Ryan, we appreciate it. Thank you.
It's just one story out of 3,000. An American soldier's ultimate sacrifice, faces behind the numbers. That story ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
Then there's this, for the first time, more U.S. troops disapprove of how President Bush is handling the Iraq war than approve. That's from a new "Military Times" poll. Thirty five percent of service members polled say they approve, 42 percent disapprove. Only 41 percent of military members now say the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq. That's down from 65 percent in 2003.
And now only half the respondents say success in Iraq is likely in 2004; 83 percent were predicting a successful outcome. The "Military Times" says 945 active duty troops responded to the survey and the findings are not representative of the military as a whole.
How about this, 2007 off to a frigid start. Parts of the desert southwest to the great plains shivering today. The big winter storm that blew in just ahead of the new year is blamed for at least a dozen deaths. Parts of Colorado got up to four feet of snow. After barreling across the state, the snow and ice moved into the plains. Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma all feeling it. Icy roads causing lots of accidents. Tens of thousands of people across the region without power.
In New Mexico, a nightmare for holiday travelers. The storm dumped up to two feet of snow in Albuquerque, stranding hundreds of motorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been here for the last two days. I'm so miserable. I can't wait to get home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty frustrated I can't get home. They're talking about free shelters, but I live here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm already in position to have my baby at any time, so doctors are expecting me to go into labor. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Complete shock, a Denver Broncos spokesman reacting to this morning's shocking death of Darrent Williams, the Bronco's cornerback had started in the team's final regular season game news year eve. Early this morning, Denver police say he was riding in a limousine that was fired on from another vehicle. Three people inside the limo were hit. Williams was killed. Williams was in his second year with the Broncos. He was just 24 years old.
Honoring an American president, Gerald Ford lies in state in the Capitol rotunda. Today, President Bush and the first lady will be among the mourners paying their final respects. Live now to CNN's Bob Franken on Capital Hill. Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Tony. And they have just opened the rotunda again for the continuing stream of people who just want to come in and pay their respects, get a glimpse of history, to look upon the casket of a man celebrated as the accidental president, the one who, however, brought us back. He is usually credited, brought us back from the brink of Watergate and all the ill will that was consuming the country at this point.
Now he lies in quiet state. He is going to be there for the rest of the day. As you pointed out, President Bush will be coming back from Crawford, Texas, will be coming immediately here to the Capitol with Mrs. Bush. President Bush tomorrow will be delivering the eulogy at the National Cathedral. After the viewing is through here in the Capitol, where President Ford lies in state, he will be taken in his casket to the National Cathedral, across town, where there will be the memorial service, attended by various heads of state, a eulogy, again delivered by President Bush, as Gerald Ford is given his final good- bye to Washington, where he spent so many years.
He will be going back to where he spent his boyhood, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he will be finally buried at his museum, Tony.
HARRIS: And Bob, the Ford family wanted this to be a pretty straight forward, simple service. Has it turned out to be that way so far?
FRANKEN: Well, you sort of have an interesting combination. Of course, it's anything but simple or straightforward. You have all the ceremony that goes with a former head of state lying in state, but at the same token, many of the trappings that had accompanied the funeral of Ronald Reagan, for instance, have been absent. So the Ford family has tried to really be true to the tradition that Gerald Ford celebrated. That was with his touch with the common man.
As a matter of fact, members of the family, two of his sons, Jack and Steve, spent quite a bit of time in the rotunda yesterday, just chatting and thanking the mourners, the ordinary citizens who came by to look at the remains.
HARRIS: CNN's Bob Franken for us. Bob, thank you.
And CNN, of course, will bring you complete coverage of the funeral for former President Gerald Ford. The service begins at 10:30 eastern. CNN coverage will start around 8:00 eastern.
Laid to rest, is Saddam Hussein's burial resurrecting the political life of Iraq's prime minister? That story straight ahead THE NEWSROOM.
Twin toddlers found after a week. The accused kid kidnapper, their biological mother. That story in THE NEWSROOM.
New year, new law, but some of them have gone, well, to the dogs. We'll explain in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The new year, a time for resolutions and new rules. CNN's Allan Chernoff takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pistol packing judges could become the norm in Kansas. A new state law permits judges to carry concealed weapons into their courtrooms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't have no problem with that. No problem with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like that.
CHERNOFF (on camera): You wouldn't trust a judge to be a good shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, I wouldn't trust anybody with a gun. No.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): California is cracking down on pranksters. It's now illegal to ride in the trunk of a car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dead or alive?
CHERNOFF: Some live wire teens apparently have been doing it. Now it will cost them 100 dollars if caught. And anyone taking more than 25 copies of a complimentary newspaper in California could be subject to a 250 dollar fine and jail time for a second offense. It's no longer a legal offense to take home a half empty bottle of wine from a restaurant in Illinois. Patrons now get to drink every drop they paid for. Perfect for new years eve.
2007 rings in new rights for animals. In California it's now illegal to keep a dog tethered for more than three hours. If convicted of a misdemeanor, the offender could be jailed for up to six months.
(on camera): A person could actually be sent to prison for that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. I'm an animal lover, you know.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Pet owners can now show their love, under a new law in Ohio, by setting up a trust fund for their pooch.
(on camera): In Ohio you are going to be allowed to set up a trust fund for your pet. Would you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. Why not?
CHERNOFF: You already have one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talk to my kids. Everybody likes dogs, yes.
CHERNOFF: Wait a minute. You are losing your trust fund to your dog.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. That's not good.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We love our pets more than we love our kids?
Here's a look at some of the other new laws that go into effect today. Several states have raised their minimum wage. Those minimums ranged from 6.15 an hour to 7.65. Eight states now allow identity theft victims to freeze their credit reports. In Maryland it is now illegal for employers to put Social Security numbers on paychecks, and two states are enacting new laws on bullying. Alaska will provide training for schools to prevent bullying, while South Carolina requires school districts to ban harassment and intimidation.
The ball dropped in Times Square, just one of many ways to welcome in the new year. If you were snoozing when 2007 arrived, here's some of what you missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Five, four, three, two, one, happy new year.
CROWD: Ten nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Happy new year!
CROWD: Three, two, one! Happy New year.
CROWD: Three, two, one. Happy new year!
CROWD: Four, three, two, one. Happy new year!
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Still following reaction to this developing story this morning. Complete shock is the word that's coming out of Denver this morning. The Denver Broncos reacting to the loss of their star cornerback. The Broncos cornerback, his name is Darrent Williams, actually started in the team's final regular season game yesterday. Then early this morning, Denver police say he was riding in a limousine that was fired on from another vehicle. This reaction just moments ago. More information on this shooting from Denver police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point in time it's an open investigation. We are looking for the vehicle that was involved in the situation, and that's where we're at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any descriptions of the vehicle?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point in time we don't have a suspect description. We're hoping that we can talk to people, witnesses and get a good information on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Three people inside the limo were hit by the gunfire. Williams was killed, and Williams was in his second year with the Broncos. He was just 24 years old. We'll continue to follow this story.
A mystery unfolding in Thailand, who's behind the Bangkok bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 20. Several explosions ripped through the city last night, canceling new year's eve celebrations. Two more blasts hit after midnight. Officials with the military backed government are not linking the attacks to Islamic militants. They were blamed for other attacks in recent years.
A tug of war over adopted twin toddlers gets ugly. Their biological mother, accused of kidnapping them just days before Christmas. Over the weekend, all three were found in Canada. CTV's Jonathan Rotondo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN ROTONDO, CTV (voice-over): Ottawa police arrested 49- year-old Allison Lee Quetz (ph) at a residence in the Ottawa neighborhood of Sandy Hill. The children, who were taken from their home in North Carolina, were with her.
SGT. ART MAYE, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: The Ottawa police services received a tip from a member of the public and this was a result of media that was done in the area. And as a result of that, they went to the residence and took this woman into custody.
ROTONDO: The RCMP have been in close contact with the FBI since December 27th, and used resources in Kingston, Toronto and Ottawa to track down Quentz. MAYE: We had Canadian border services involved right from the beginning, and the Department of Justice as well. So all these police forces, agencies and as well the community were excellent.
ROTONDO (on camera): The twins are in the care of the Children's Aid Society and according to police are unharmed and doing well. Their adoptive parents will fly into Ottawa to be reunited with the children.
(voice-over): Quetz made a brief court appearance in Ottawa. She remains in police custody and is slated to be in superior court on Tuesday.
MAYE: She will be going through the extradition process. So she has been remanded into custody now, and so we are just going to allow that process to go through.
ROTONDO: Quetz's lawyer, however, plans to fight the extradition and keep the children in Canada, saying the adoption was carried out improperly and Quetz never wanted to give up her twins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely pressured into giving them up for adoption. God forbid that a loving mother should face criminal charges just for wanting to be with her children.
ROTONDO: The 17-month-old twins cannot be identified as long as they are in the care of the Children's Aid Society. They had moved only recently with their adoptive parents to Apex, North Carolina.
Jonathan Rotondo, CTV news, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So, imagine this, young children home alone inside a burning house. Your first instinct is to help them get out as fast as they can, right? Well, police say that wasn't the case for a Connecticut grandmother. Katie Zachary of our affiliate station WFSB has details now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE ZACHARY, WFSB (voice-over): As bad as this house fire was, Water Ford police say it could have been much worse. Three children were inside alone when it started, and when they called their grandmother for help, she told them to wait.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's unimaginable. I can't believe that somebody would do that. You know, you have to get them out. You don't know what's going to happen with the fire.
ZACHARY: Police believe 51-year-old Adwenin Nahollmick (ph) was afraid to get caught for illegally leaving her grandchildren, aged 11, 10 and seven, home alone. Court records show phone conversations during the fire. Her granddaughter said there was fire and light everywhere. It's hot. Do you want us to get out? She said, mommy will be there in just a minute, OK? During another call, her 11-year-old grandson was upset and crying. He begged his grandmother to please come home. She said his mother was on her way. He said there's no time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole house was engulfed. The trees were on fire, the bushes were on fire.
ZACHARY: Neighbors were stunned at how quickly the fire grew. Police say Nahollnick finally called 911 20 minutes after she first learned of the fire. The children's mother, Brandy Nahollnick, arrived in time to get kids out of the burning house. She told firefighters on scene she was home with her kids when the fire started. We now know that's not true.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So, at this point the grandmother and her daughter have been charged in connection with this case.
Still to come, a killing spree uncovered, now police face questioning over the deaths of more than a dozen children. That story ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
Also, it's just one story out of 3,000. American soldiers' ultimate sacrifices, faces behind the numbers.
And just hours after his season ended, violence takes his life. A Denver Broncos player killed early this morning. Details ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: 2007 off to a frigid start. People are shivering from the desert to the high plains. The big winter storm, just blew in just ahead of the new year, is blamed for at least a dozen deaths. Parts of Colorado got up to four feet of snow.
After barreling across Colorado, the snow and ice moved into the plains. Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma all feeling it. Icy roads causing lots of accidents. Some folks having some fun. Tens of thousands of people across the region without power in New Mexico.
A nightmare for holiday travelers. The storm dumped up to two feet of snow in Albuquerque, stranding hundreds of motorists. What a way to spend new year's eve, stuck in your car on a snowbound highway. That's how hundreds of motorists in New Mexico ushered in 2007. K-O- A-T Sasha Andre has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASHA ANDRE, CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): It's not much of a party, but this is where hundreds of people spent new year's eve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty frustrated, I can't get home. You know, they're talking about free shelters, but I live here. ANDRE: Drivers determined to get out of Albuquerque before 2007 opted to sit in traffic and wait.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we're trying to go back to Edgewood and have a party tonight. You know, the rest of the family is back there.
ANDRE: In this long line, everybody had a story. Carpenter lives in the east mountains, but he was at (INAUDIBLE) all day with his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She just got her gallbladder removed this morning.
ANDRE: Now he's trying to get home to take care of his dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's probably cold and hungry.
ANDRE: And Dawn Lingenfoltzer (ph) is nine months pregnant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm already in position to have my baby at any time. So, doctor expects me to go into labor.
ANDRE: As if that's not enough weight to carry, she also has four fussy kids in the back seat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The baby's cranky, and he wants to get outside and go play.
ANDRADE: But no matter how badly people wanted to get home ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we don't want to be stuck in the car all night.
ANDRADE: ... state police wouldn't budge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all shut down.
ANDRADE: The icy roads and heavy fog made this a New Year's Eve to remember - or maybe, one people would rather forget.
(END VIDEO)
HARRIS: A couple of breaking stories that we're following, want to give you an update on.
We're still following developments with a commercial Adam Air passenger plane - this story out of Jakarta in Indonesia - with more than 100 people aboard, lost contact with flight controllers on flight between a pair of Indonesian islands. Aviation authorities are gathering information from other flights at this time, which might have picked up a plane's distress signal.
The missing plane is a Boeing 737 carrying six crew and 96 passengers, including 11 children. That's the latest on that story. We will continue to follow developments there.
And developments out of Denver this morning. The Broncos reporting the death of one of their star cornerbacks, one of the Broncos' defensive stars.
The Broncos cornerback, his name was Darrent Williams. The cornerback for the team starred in yesterday's game, the season finale.
And the story goes that early this morning he was riding in a limousine that was fired on from another vehicle. Three people inside that limo were hit. Williams was killed.
The latest from Denver police just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONNY JACKSON, DENVER POLICE SPOKESMAN: This morning a little after two o'clock, there was a limousine heading northbound on Speer Boulevard when a car pulled aside their - or a vehicle pulled up aside it and fired multiple shots into the vehicle.
There were three people on board - there were three people that were struck that were on board the limousine. And at this point in time, two have been transported to the hospital and another was transported. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Williams was in his second year with the Broncos. He was 24 years old. We'll continue to follow developments in that story.
In Washington now, live pictures from the Rotunda of the nation's Capitol where the body of former President Gerald Ford lies in state, an honor guard keeping watch. The casket arrived at the capital on Saturday for an official state funeral.
Mourners have been reflecting on Ford's contributions to the country, including the pardoning of Richard Nixon. Today is the last day for the public to walk past the coffin of the nation's 38th president.
Later today, President Bush and the first lady will pay their respects. Tomorrow, Ford's remains will rest outside the Senate Chamber before a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral.
President Bush has declared Tuesday a national day of mourning. Ford is to be buried Wednesday in the town where he grew up, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He will be laid to rest near the presidential library and museum bearing his name.
CNN, of course, will bring you complete coverage of the funeral for former President Gerald Ford. The service begins at 10:30 Eastern. CNN coverage will start around 8:00 Eastern. An update now on a veteran politician who collapsed at services for President Ford. William Broomfield, a former Michigan congressman, was released from a Washington hospital yesterday. He collapsed Saturday during a service at the Capitol.
The 84-year-old Broomfield was attended by Senator Bill Frist, who is a surgeon. The Capitol doctor took over and Broomfield was taken to the hospital. Broomfield served in Congress with President Ford.
The Iraq war has now claimed the lives of 3,000 U.S. service members. As the military marks that milestone, there is this. For the first time, more U.S. troops disapprove of how President Bush is handling the Iraq war than approve. That's from a new "Military Times" poll.
Thirty-five percent of service members polled say they approve, 42 percent disapprove. Only 41 percent of military members now say the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq. That's down from 65 percent in 2003.
And now, only half the respondents say success in Iraq is likely. In 2004, 83 percent were predicting a successful outcome. The "Military Times" says 945 active duty troops responded to the survey, and the findings are not representative of the military as a whole.
Three thousand U.S. troops dead. There are names and faces behind those numbers. CNN's Cal Perry with one soldier's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN BUREAU DIRECTOR, BAGHDAD: This is one story out of 3,000, the story of a soldier far from home, fighting in Iraq, taking pictures, as all soldiers do. This one, published in "Stars and Stripes," shows a search for roadside bombs - an eerie foreshadowing of what would happen to the photographer.
Caleb arrived at the 10th Combat Support Hospital on May 4th, as thousands before him, a wounded soldier brought to his knees by war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Access guys, get the I.O. out. All right. Clear them off, guys. What's your name?
PFC. CALEB A. LUFKIN, 5TH ENGINEER BATTALION, U.S. ARMY, DIED FROM INJURIES SUFFERED IN IRAQ WAR: Caleb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, Caleb.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the clothes are going to come off, OK? We've got to ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breath deep for me, Caleb.
LUFKIN: Am I (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you having trouble breathing over there? LUFKIN: A little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A big breath.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you dare try to die on me, OK? I didn't give you permission to die.
LUFKIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), don't let me die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I won't let you die. I promise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give you - I promise. I give you my word, OK?
PERRY: These were the images transmitted by news agencies that day showing smoke rising in the distance from a string of roadside bombs, detonated in Baghdad.
And this - the brutal result of one of those bombs. Caleb's flack jacket torn apart, his boots filled with blood.
There's no reason for telling who lives and who dies in Iraq, brought in at the same time with Caleb, a soldier that medics cannot resuscitate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) here. A pretty bad injury on the right there.
PERRY: But Caleb hung on through emergency surgeries in Baghdad and Germany.
Sometimes there's only so much a body can take. He died three weeks later during surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. His heart simply gave out.
And so, Caleb returned home to Galesburg, Illinois, a fallen hero. He'd earned four medals serving his country.
Caleb's mother was too upset to speak. She wrote her eldest son a letter to say goodbye.
"You were still smiling your first day of kindergarten," the letter said. "when I found it so hard to let go of your hand.
"'I'll be OK, Mom,' you said over your shoulder at me as you trotted alone into the school with your new school backpack. It was almost more than I could bare, letting go of that little hand and releasing you into the world.
"And you said the same thing again when you went to Iraq, 'I'll be OK, Mom,' with your Army pack on your back."
She ended the letter as any mother would. Simply, "You are forever in my heart."
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Tragedy in India. Bodies discovered underground - all children, all brutally murdered. Now some question whether police could have been done more to stop the killing spree.
CNN's Seth Doane has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SETH DOANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEW DELHI, INDIA: A gruesome discovery on the outskirts of New Delhi - skeletal remains of at least 17 people, many of them believed to be children, found buried in sacks outside this suburban home.
Police continue searching for evidence, but so far 10 children have been identified. It's believed many of them were sexually abused before they were killed.
A domestic servant in the home known as Satish has been arrested, allegedly admitting to police that he abused and killed nine of the victims over the last 21 months.
There were some women who used to come out for cleaning, the area police chief says. The accused used to call them in the pretext of cleaning. He used to abuse them, and then he killed them.
Police also arrested the owner of the house, Mohinder Singh Pandher, who they say was also involved in this grizzly crime.
Excavation work continues, and hundreds of people have gathered around this house where investigators believe these brutal killings took place. The details are macabre. Police say the victims were first sexually abused, then strangled, then beheaded, their body parts placed in bags buried around the property.
As this investigation continues, some people begin to question whether police took initial reports of missing children in the area seriously enough.
At least seven police officers have already been suspended for alleged negligence. And the chief minister of the state where the bodies were found is calling the incident "unfortunate."
MULAYAM SINGH YADAV, CHIEF MINISTER, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
DOANE: "We will try to find out which police officers were responsible," he says, "also, as these incidents continued, why our police officers did not pay attention to it."
The skeletal remains are being sent for DNA testing. Meanwhile, 38 children from the same area are missing, and the fear is more bodies could be found.
Seth Doane, CNN, New Delhi. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And once again, let's take you to the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., as Americans pay their respects to the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford.
To the left side of the screen there, you see Susan Ford, the daughter of President Ford. And at various times, we understand, she has been taking a moment to greet some of the mourners who are coming by to pay their respects.
By any count, anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 people hour walked past the casket yesterday in the nine hours of public viewing. Other family members, we understand, arriving as well this morning.
The former president lying in state there at the Rotunda, the Capitol, Washington, D.C., until 6:00 p.m. this evening. We will continue to follow the scene as it unfolds, here in the NEWSROOM.
Laid to rest is Saddam Hussein's burial, resurrecting the political life of Iraq's prime minister. That story in the NEWSROOM.
And desperate for a miracle, women wanting to be mothers come to pray at the statue of this Madonna. That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Bush ready to return to the White House today. But is he ready to announce changes in Iraq?
CNN's Elaine Quijano has a look at the president's agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CRAWFORD, TEXAS: President Bush returns to Washington today to pay his respects to the late president, Gerald Ford. The president spent nearly a week on his Crawford ranch making two public appearances, one to pay tribute to Mr. Ford, the second after huddling with his war cabinet to discuss Iraq.
But the president chose not to appear before the cameras in the wake of Saddam Hussein's execution. Instead, he released a carefully crafted written statement, calling the execution a milestone, but warning that it would not bring an end to the violence.
That was underscored as the Iraq war reached a grim marker. December was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in 2006.
Still, President Bush has signaled he's not ready to announce changes to his Iraq policy just yet, saying that he wants to consult further with the Iraqi government and members of Congress. Bush aides say an announcement is expected early this month.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: From the gallows to the grave. Will Saddam Hussein's burial give new life to Iraq's embattled prime minister?
CNN's Aneesh Raman takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: In life, Saddam Hussein was obsessed with his own image, and it was everywhere. Towering statues shadowed streets. Overbearing opalescence accompanied every appearance.
And if Saddam was still in power, surely the same would have defined his burial. But in the end, it was instead a simple affair.
At a mosque in Saddam's home town of Awja, a coffin lay covered with an Iraqi flag, a sole picture placed close by in memory of the man inside - a man whose final moments speak volumes of where Iraq has been and where it is heading.
Saddam stood, noose around his neck, seconds away from the same sort of death he condemned upon others. And from the witnesses came the following: chants in honor or radical Shia cleric, Muqtada al- Sadr.
Saddam smiles and asks, "Is this how you show your bravery as men?" "Straight to hell," a voice retorts.
And then came one of the final things Saddam Hussein heard in life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
RAMAN: The name of a man killed by Saddam's regime, that of Muqtada al-Sadr's father-in-law, founder of Iraq's Shia Dawa Party, the same party of Iraq's current prime minister.
The hope by his Shia dominated government is clearly that Saddam's execution will bring closure. But mired in division and incapable of tackling sectarian violence, there is, as well, a message - that of a government taking action.
The first image broadcast on state-run TV before Saddam's execution was Iraq's prime minister signing the former dictator's death sentence.
For Nouri al-Maliki this is a rare success, a rare promise fulfilled. Days after Saddam's sentencing in November, Maliki said Saddam would not live to see the new year. And on the streets of Iraq, there is now praise for a prime minister, who over the past few months has been blamed for so much by so many.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: So, is the American military growing pessimistic on the Iraq war? New poll numbers and what they mean for a White House reviewing its war options.
Also, 2007, looking ahead. Will the new Congress reshape Washington? What about the war in Iraq? Dive into the future in the NEWSROOM.
Blasted by winter, a wide stretch of the heartland starts the new year in the deep freeze. Details coming up.
But first, Times Square, Sydney Harbor, the Eiffel Tower - big parties as the world ushered in the new year. A look now at celebrations around the globe.
(VIDEO OF NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Women making a journey of faith to one church searching for tiny miracles. Some believe their prayers are being answered.
CNN's Delia Gallagher reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ROME: Hundreds, even thousands of faithful come to this church in Rome each week. Many are women, who have all but given up on having a child, and they are desperate for a miracle.
From the outside, the Church of Sant'Agostino looks like so many in Rome. Built in the 13th century, its facade is said to be made of stones from ruins of the Roman Coliseum.
Inside, there's the tomb of Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine. And this, the "Madonna dei Pellegrini," by Caravaggio, a once controversial painting depicting the Virgin Mary in a less than sacred setting.
But look at this. This is why these women come. It's Jacopo Sansovino "Madonna del Parto" - the Madonna of childbirth.
Often accompanied by their husbands, they are drawn to the statue. They sometimes cry and always pray.
Father Bernardino Pinciarolli is the friar of Sant'Agostino. He says he has seen the sorrow and the hope in the eyes of couples who ask for something that appears to come so easily to others, but for them is so elusive.
FATHER BERNARDINO PINCIAROLLI, FRIAR OF SANT'AGOSTINO, ROME (voice of interpreter): This is the most beautiful thing to see these women and next to them their husbands with the same sadness, but at the same time, seeing that there is joy in their request.
GALLAGHER: For 500 years, believers have come here to ask for their tiny miracles.
LUISA (ph) (voice of interpreter): I have always prayed to this Madonna. I pray to her every time I've been with child. And now I'm a mother of three, so I've become devoted to her.
GALLAGHER: So many of the women who came to pray wouldn't speak to us on camera. But Luisa (ph), here to give thanks for her three healthy children, told us there are many stories of how the Madonna helped women whose only wish was to have a child.
There's no question that those who visit the Madonna believe in miracles, perhaps with good reason. Father Bernardino says the church doesn't keep count of how many babies have been born after parents came to pray at the statue.
But he does know how many have returned through the years to show their gratitude from the thousands of photographs kept carefully in albums - overjoyed parents with their newborns and baby booties, ribbons, toys pinned to the walls, tokens of thanks from thousands of grateful mothers and fathers.
FRIAR PINCIAROLLI (voice of interpreter): I have seen and heard extraordinary things. Sometimes they come here for baptisms and say, Lord, this child was given to us by Mary. It's a beautiful thing.
GALLAGHER: The Madonna and her child, bringing hope to couples who seem to have so little. The miracle of childbirth has a special meaning here.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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