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Suspected Mass Murderer Caught; L.A. Airport Security Scare; Former Colombian Presidential Candidate Realeased
Aired July 02, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so, he's bald, he's barrel- chested and pulls no punches. And now he is John McCain's right-hand man.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly rampage on the streets of Jerusalem. And you are looking at the weapon.
LEMON: Falling face down and dying on a hospital floor. The video is tragic. The story, of course, is shocking.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
DE LA CRUZ: And I'm Veronica De La Cruz, in today for Kyra Phillips.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And we start with breaking news in the CNN NEWSROOM, suspicious packages on both coasts, one in Washington, the other in L.A.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve in Washington monitoring it all -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, the FBI tells us that the situation at the World Bank has been resolved.
There were no hazards found. A man showed up there at 12:45 this time, Eastern, with a small briefcase saying they were explosives inside. He was detained as police checked out the parcel he was carrying. The FBI now tells us that this man most likely will be taken to a hospital for mental observation.
Also this afternoon, out at LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, again, a man with a backpack claiming to have explosives. We're told by the Transportation Security Administration that this man was taken into custody as they continued their investigation.
We have been checking to see if there are any updates on the TSA.gov Web site. None as yet. So, we presume that situation is still in progress. And that's the very latest -- Don.
LEMON: All right, if you get any information, Jeanne, we will get back to you.
Thank you very much -- Veronica. DE LA CRUZ: And a very disturbing turn in the case of a missing girl. We're following breaking news this hour out of Vermont.
According to the Associated Press, papers filed in a federal court allege Brooke Bennett's uncle took her home last Wednesday to have sex with her. That was the day the 12-year-old disappeared. Authorities say in their affidavit this new information came from a teenage girl. She accused the uncle of trying to initiate Brooke into a sex sting and said she herself had been brought in at the age of 9.
Suspected killer Nicholas Sheley is in an Illinois courthouse this hour, where some of the charges against Sheley will be read. He was arrested last night after walking into a Granite City bar which happens to be a popular police hangout. Authorities believe the ex- convict went on a killing spree last week that left eight people dead in two states.
The bodies of two of them were found Monday behind a gas station in Festus, Missouri.
Tom and Jill Estes were last seen Sunday at a nearby motel. And Justin Reed grew up next door to the Arkansas couple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN REED, NEIGHBOR OF VICTIMS: Everybody knew them around here. Everybody was close to them. We all knew them extremely well. And it's going to be lonely without them on those Christmases and those Easters not seeing them, telling them happy Easter and merry Christmas. It's going to be lonely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Thus far, authorities say Sheley faces charges in two of the other killings. They're still processing the evidence.
LEMON: Veronica, we want to get back to our breaking news.
Jeanne Meserve joining us now in Washington to give us the latest on what is happening at LAX.
What do you have new for us, Jeanne?
MESERVE: Don, we have just gotten a communication from the Transportation Security Administration, telling us what happened out there.
At about 10:55 Mountain time, a man showed up saying that he claimed to have explosive materials in a backpack. Law enforcement officials responded, placed him in custody and found an unattended bag near a ticket counter in the international terminal.
Out of an abundance of caution, a perimeter was established. And the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad is on the scene. According to the Transportation Security Administration, south checkpoint remains open, but the north checkpoint is closed. And traffic into the terminal has been stopped, as they continue their investigation -- Don, that's the latest.
LEMON: No doubt this will have some repercussions, probably throughout the country when it -- a ripple effect on the airline.
Jeanne Meserve, we will get back to you when you get new information. Thank you very much for that.
In the meantime, we want to take you to Texas, where police believe they solved another crime spree, this one involving a man who allegedly was shot at other -- who shot at drivers, at buildings.
A 22-year-old suspect was arrested overnight in Garland, after police say he fired into a wall of a busy restaurant. No one was hurt in that incident, but at least two people have been wounded in other shootings.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JOE HARN, GARLAND, TEXAS, POLICE DEPARTMENT: The very first two shootings happened on Sunday. One of the men was shot in the hand. He's been released from the hospital. The second shooting about a little after 9:00 that night on Sunday night was shot in the stomach. He's still in the hospital, a Dallas hospital, but expected to recover.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, that suspect has yet to be identified. Police say he faces numerous charges, including aggravated assault -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: A normal quiet midday in Jerusalem shattered by violence. A Palestinian man is dead. So are three people he killed with a bulldozer he plowed down a busy street.
We have some amazing video to show you here.
Here is ITN's Lisa Adlam (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA ADLAM, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): Taking aim, an Israeli police officer has the bulldozer driver in his sights as he tries to flee the (INAUDIBLE) crowd. Another officer clings to the side of the cab and then the rampage is over, ended with a bullet at point-blank range.
This astonishing amateur footage shows the driver, a Palestinian, plowing into his target as he wreaks a path of destruction through the busy Jaffa Road (ph), leaving at least three people dead and dozens injured.
In his wake, a packed commuter bus turned on its side, cars and vans crushed, drivers and passengers trapped in the wreckage, an act of terror according to police.
MICKEY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE SPOKESMAN: He crushed everything and anything that was in sight. He struck a bus and a number of other vehicles that were completely in fact squashed. As a result, a number of people have been seriously injured. The rescue operation is continuing. There are a number of different areas along the main road.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a big truck. It came through (INAUDIBLE) and drove on. It hit cars and (INAUDIBLE) the bus. There was a motorcycle (INAUDIBLE) which came and shot the guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Citizens, civilians of the state Israel are being targeted by extremists, while the state of Israel is trying to do everything so reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Among the Palestinians, there are those who are deliberating murdering civilians.
ADLAM: The driver, who lived in the Arab area of East Jerusalem, was a construction worker here helping to build a new rail system on a road which has seen numerous suicide bombings in the past, memories of which were all too clearly brought back to those caught up in the fear and chaos he left behind today.
Lisa Adlam, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: All right, time now for a quick check of the markets and where the price of oil is heading today, again, advancing on a government report that crude stockpiles fell by two million barrels last week. Stocks have been kind of a mixed bag today. We are going to be getting the latest numbers from Susan Lisovicz, who is at the New York Stock Exchange. It looks like the Dow has dropped, though, 75 points.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar weakening more, falling against the euro and the yen.
And the price of gas, of course, issue number one for many. And for the third consecutive day, we have a new record high price at the pump. According to AAA, the national average now for a gallon of regular unleaded is $4.09 a gallon.
So, $4.09 a gallon, it's impacting Fourth of July travel for some, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Nearly a third of those questioned say plans for the Independence Day weekend have changed due to the record high price of gas.
But nearly seven in 10 say that their plans have not changed. So, what's going on? Why didn't Detroit automakers see what many of their foreign competitors saw, the trend to smaller and more energy- efficient cars?
We're going to try to answer that coming up with an automotive expert. He's going to be joining us in about 10 minutes.
LEMON: Time to talk politics. A call to service from Senator Barack Obama. We heard from him this afternoon in Colorado, which could be a key battleground state come November. Colorado voted Republican in 2004. But a state poll last week showed Obama leading John McCain by five percentage points. Now, this is Obama's third visit this year to Colorado, where he laid out his plan for a national service program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Through service, I found a community that embraced me, a citizenship that was meaningful, the direction that I had been seeking. Through service, I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger American story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A shakeup in John McCain's presidential campaign. This man, take a look at him, Steve Schmidt, is taking over campaign operations, while campaign manager Rick Davis takes on a lesser role.
Now, Schmidt ran California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign and is known for his aggressive political style. The shakeup comes amid complaints from some Republicans about how the campaign has been handled so far.
Meantime, McCain is talking trade today in Colombia, the first leg of a three-day trip to Latin America. Barack Obama opposes a proposed Colombian free trade pact. McCain supports it. And he says Hispanics will support him.
Listen now. And please note, the senator is pausing for translation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think my support is going to be good. I come from a Western state. I come from a border state. I received 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in my last reelection. I understand the issues and the challenges. And I'm confident of significant support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. So, whoever the next president is, his role as commander in chief will be immediately tested amid a very unpopular war.
We have the numbers from our latest war poll. Let's go ahead and crunch them with CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
Hi, Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: How are you?
Yes, we have a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out today. And we asked about the war and whether you agree with the war or favor or oppose the war in Iraq. And take a look at these numbers -- 30 percent favor the war in Iraq -- 68 percent oppose it. Now, those favorable numbers, very low. They have been that way for a long time. Even though violence is down in Iraq, the war does not remain -- is not very popular at all with the American public.
We also asked Americans what they think the next president should do. Should the next president withdraw troops from Iraq or keep them in? Take a look at these numbers. Only about a third of Americans say keep the troops there. About -- almost two-thirds of Americans say remove the troops from Iraq.
And remember, Veronica, Iraq is one issue, one issue where John McCain and Barack definitely do not see eye to eye.
DE LA CRUZ: Right. I understand that you have some other poll numbers for us as well, some poll numbers that are definitely not good news for the president.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, President Bush, his approval rating. We asked Americans, do you think the president is doing a good job? Do you agree with him? Do you approve of his job or not?
Thirty percent in our brand-new poll which was taken over the weekend, 30 percent of Americans approve of the president's performance -- 68 percent disapprove. These numbers have been very low for quite some time. He's been down in the low 30s for about two years.
And the question a lot of people are going to ask is, president a Republican. You have got John McCain running for president. Will the president's numbers bring John McCain down? Right now, it doesn't appear they're doing that, because if you look at the head to head between McCain and Obama, it's pretty close. Obama is only up by about five.
John McCain has done a pretty good job over the years if distancing himself from the president on some key issues. He agrees with him on a lot, but he does also disagree a lot. So, I think that's one of the reasons why the president's low approval rating isn't hurting John McCain as much as you think it would.
DE LA CRUZ: All right, Paul Steinhauser is CNN deputy political director.
Paul, it's nice to see you. Thanks so much.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, a Japanese TV ad that is a takeoff on Barack Obama's presidential campaign has been pulled because of racial overtones. That story straight ahead in our Political Ticker.
And you can keep up with all of the day's political happenings on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. It's coming up at the top of the hour of. LEMON: And this next story is creating quite a stir. You will be hearing the national anthem a lot this Fourth of July week. One singer who was asked to do it, well, she put her own spin on that song. The cause was personal, but the effort has been very public.
Dayle Cedars of affiliate KMGH in Denver has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAYLE CEDARS, KMGH REPORTER (voice-over): One month prior to the state of the city, jazz singer Rene Marie knew that she would not sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" if asked.
RENE MARIE, SINGER: It just doesn't represent me.
CEDARS: Instead, she sang the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing," commonly referred to as the black national anthem, to the melody of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
MARIE: And I wanted to express how I do feel about living in this country as a black woman.
CEDARS: But no one, including the mayor, was prepared. And many were caught off guard and even offended.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This woman owes all of Colorado and Denver an apology for being so incredibly rude. My guess is she's pretty proud of her high school stunt.
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, MAYOR OF DENVER: She was making an artistic expression in a ceremonial role. So, obviously, that's inappropriate.
MARIE: What I did say to the mayor was that there was no disrespect to his office intended at all.
CEDARS: But Rene says art is supposed to make people think. And even though she knew she was taking a risk, she thought of her parents, who stood up for desegregation.
MARIE: They took matters into their own hands basically. And that's what you have to do. You can't wait to be asked. Sometimes, you just have to do it.
CEDARS: And she would do it again, she says.
MARIE: I have no regrets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, we would like to hear your thoughts on the anthem controversy. Shoot an e-mail to cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. And we will be reading some of your comments on the air a little bit later on this hour -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, the United States wants Zimbabwe punished over its very troubled and much criticized presidential election. It was a vote that saw one man, incumbent Robert Mugabe, virtually standing alone and reinstalled as president. A draft U.N. resolution reportedly suggests a list of new tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe's government, among them, a proposal that the U.S. Security Council freeze the assets of President Mugabe and more than 10 of his closest officials.
Also, the U.S. wants travel bans slapped on more than the 130 Zimbabwean officials already not allowed to enter the United States. It is the official U.S. position that President Mugabe should not have been reelected.
LEMON: The U.S. auto industry stung by the oil crunch and the tough economy. Why didn't the big three see it coming? We will hear what an expert has to say.
DE LA CRUZ: Plus, they're angry over those soaring fuel prices. Truck drivers in India face off with police in several cities and the situation gets nasty.
LEMON: And more evacuations on the front lines of those big wildfires California. We have got the latest for you.
DE LA CRUZ: And the burgers are sizzling, the hot dogs are ready. So, who would you rather sit down with for a Fourth of July barbecue, Barack Obama or John McCain? We will find out what a new survey says.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. We have some breaking news into the CNN NEWSROOM.
And it is from Colombia. It involves former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She has been rescued. And that's according to the country's defense minister. Also, three other American hostages with her also rescued from rebels.
Now, in case you don't know who Ingrid Betancourt is, if you have not paying attention to the international news with all of us, she was kidnapped back in February of 2003 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green after she decided -- that's the party she was with -- after she decided to campaign in an area of high guerrilla presence in spite of the warnings from the government.
Police and military told her not to do so. This is a live picture now from Colombian national television. Again, she was an activist. Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is known as the FARC.
To get more information on this, on how she was rescued, we are going to go to CNN en Espanol correspondent Juan Carlos Lopez, who is going to give us the very latest.
What are you hearing there, Juan Carlos? JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Don, what we're hearing is that Ingrid Betancourt, who was a former presidential candidate, and the three American contractors have been freed.
Now, the details are still coming in. The Colombian government holding a press conference as we speak. They were in the same part of Colombia where other hostages were freed by the rebels. Now, according to the Colombian government, in this case, they were rescued and not freed by the rebels.
This is still something we're waiting to confirm. That's the official version from the Colombian government. Obviously, a huge story, Don, because some of these hostages, for example, the three American contractors, had been under FARC control for five-and-a-half years. They were in a surveillance plane as part of Plan Colombia that was attacked by FARC rebels. Then, they were never able -- they were never found.
And now they are freed and it seems they are OK. Also, Ingrid Betancourt, big international campaign looking for her release and other members of the Colombian army and police. Some of them have been held in the jungle in conditions that were sometimes compared to concentration camps. The images were very dramatic, if you saw how they were held in barbed-wire fences.
It is a very big story in Colombia. And the interesting thing is Senator John McCain was in Colombia. And I happened to speak to him this morning and ask him about the three American contractors and what the efforts -- what efforts were under way to gain their release. And he said that he had spoken about this with President Alvaro Uribe last night, and that he was told that every effort was being made to gain their release and their release to safety.
There was a case of 10 -- at least 11 members of a state congress in Colombia. They were murdered by FARC rebels in an incident where two factions believed the army was attacking them and it ended up being crossfire. And these members of the state legislature ended up dying. So, it is a very big story -- Don.
LEMON: And, Juan Carlos, just to give people some background on this information, as you said you spoke with John McCain about the contractors this morning.
We have been talking about Ms. Betancourt, but there are also three other men who were involved here, Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, and Marc Gonsalves, also. And they were private contractors. They were in Colombia as part of the U.S. government's drug eradication program.
And in 2003 they were flying low over rebel-held territory on an anti-drug surveillance mission when that plane crashed. And some very interesting -- you say that this was a big story in Colombia. But it also has a connection to France as well and had been covered very heavily in the media there, Juan Carlos.
LOPEZ: Yes, Betancourt, who was a presidential candidate at the time of her kidnapping, happened to be a dual citizen. She held French and Colombian citizenship, and there was pressure from the French government and from governments all over the world to gain her release. It hadn't worked.
And part of the delay in her release was that many considered that for the FARC they were holding as a way of exerting pressure on the government. So she was probably the highest profile of the hostages that were still under rebel control in Colombia.
I also heard that it was the three American contractors, Ingrid Betancourt, and army and police members from Colombian. And there is one member of the Colombian armed forces who has been under FARC control since 1997, so, different cases, very dramatic cases, but obviously a very interesting story.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes.
And let's look at -- these are some pictures now of her, of Ms. Betancourt there. And it's interesting because you were talking about her French -- she has French ancestry, Juan Carlos. She also has Italian ancestry as well, so really just sort of worldwide implications. She is a citizen of the world, but again running for president under the Green Party as it's called over there when in 2002 -- and they warned her that she should not be in the areas where she was supposed to be, that there was a high guerrilla presence. And in spite of those warnings, she decided to go in that area anyway. That was in 2002, February 23.
But then the contractors in this case in this incident were not abducted until 2003, almost a year later, when they were flying over doing an anti-drug surveillance mission.
LOPEZ: Yes.
And to give more context to Betancourt's kidnapping, she was running for president. And there was a negotiation, there was a process going on between the government of the then-President Andres Pastrana and the FARC rebels. They were granted a very large demilitarized zone.
And when that process failed and the government ordered FARC to leave that territory, Ingrid Betancourt decided to go in. It was very close to that year's election. She was warned by then President Andres Pastrana not to go. And she decided that she had to as a candidate and that she would not be limited to where she could go.
LEMON: Right.
LOPEZ: She was kidnapped with one of her top campaign staffers. And that staffer was released last year.
So, this is a very awaited development and it comes on the day when John McCain leaves from Colombia to Mexico.
LEMON: Yes, and just by coincidence, you were speaking to him about the contractors there.
I have to ask you this, though, because we have seen so many stories about businessmen and wealthy people and really people from all walks of life being abducted in Colombia. And then we never hear from them again. The odds that they would release her along with these contractors, that's pretty astonishing.
LOPEZ: Well, that's why we're still waiting to sift through the information the Colombian government is providing to see if they were freed or they were rescued by the armed forces. That's when we will know, because for the FARC having hostages like the three Americans, like Ingrid Betancourt, was a very important political asset.
And obviously, with their safe release, that asset goes away. So, we have to see what the -- how the -- what the circumstances surrounding this release were.
LEMON: And I have got to ask you this, Juan Carols. If my information is correct, is there a leader or member of the FARC who is on trial now in Washington?
LOPEZ: Yes, there is. He was extradited. He is known size as Simon Trinidad. He was convicted under a conspiracy charge for kidnapping. He was tried for narco-trafficking. He wasn't convicted, but he is serving a sentence. He is one of two FARC members who are servicing sentences in the U.S.
And the rest of the FARC leadership is wanted by the U.S. for their involvement in the trafficking of cocaine towards the U.S.
LEMON: All right, stand by, Juan Carlos Lopez.
We just want to tell everyone here, in case you're just joining CNN, we have some breaking news in and it's coming from Colombia. It involves the kidnapping of a presidential candidate there in 2002. Her name is Ingrid Betancourt. Her as well as three other U.S. contractors, Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, and Marc Gonsalves, all released today, not exactly sure of the circumstances, if they were released or if they rescued by members of the military.
And with us to explain all of this from our international unit is Juan Carlos Lopez. We're going to get back to him. He's getting some information for us now.
How does this affect America exactly? How does this affect -- and I'm getting some new information here. OK. OK.
Juan Carlos Lopez is getting some new information for us. And he's going to join us in just a little bit.
But, again, breaking news into the CNN NEWSROOM, a case that has gone on since 2002, when this presidential candidate was abducted and then held for hostage in Colombia. And then one year later, three American contractors on a mission, an anti-drug commission there, also abducted as well and held together by members of the FARC, which is the Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia. We're going to continue to follow this developing story, our international unit in this newsroom really on top of it. And you can probably hear the hum and the buzz in the newsroom. We are going to continue to follow this.
Meantime, we Gates move on to some domestic news here in the United States.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, that's right. We are going to be talking about the U.S. auto industry stunned by the oil crunch and the tough economy. So, why is it that the big three -- did they see it coming? Did they? We are going to hear what an expert has to say, all of it.
That's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Hi there I'm Veronica De La Cruz live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We are following breaking news into the CNN NEWSROOM and it involves a Colombian presidential candidate that was kidnapped back in 2002. We're talking about Ingrid Betancourt, she was a member of the green party. She was campaigning and went into territory that she was told not to go into and then was abducted by the FARC there, which is the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia. We are being told here at CNN that she has been let go or rescued, along with three American contractors. Joining us now by phone is someone on the ground in Colombia. CNN's Karl Penhaul. Karl, help us make heads or tails of this. Do we know if she was released or do we know if she was actually rescued by some military force?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The head of the Armed forces and Colombia's defense minister just finished a press conference in Bogota. They're saying very clearly that Ingrid Betancourt, the three Americans and 11 members of Colombia's security force who were also being held hostage by the FARC rebels were, in fact, rescued. The defense minister and his chief of the armed forces went on to explain somewhat the operation. They say that the rescue took place in eastern Colombia in a jungle, an area of jungle and glass plains there.
They say this was after weeks or possibly even months of careful reconnaissance and infiltration of the guerrilla force itself. Of late the guerrilla force has been riddled with infiltration. And it seems that the army used this to their advantage. As you say, Ingrid Betancourt has been released. She was running for president when she was kidnapped six years ago. The three American military contractors, they were taken hostage five years ago when their plane crashed into southern Colombia. It's not clear if the 11 security force members who have also been rescued, how long they have been held. But in general terms, some of those hostages have been held more than 10 years now. LEMON: Karl, do we know if anyone had any contact besides the people who went into rescue them, is anyone talking about the condition of these people who were held hostage?
PENHAUL: No. So far, we haven't heard from the defense minister or the head of the armed forces what the condition of these released -- these rescued hostages is. What the armed force chief did show us were two helicopters. They weren't military helicopters. They were painted apparently white and orange as if they were rescue helicopters, search and rescue helicopters. Those were the helicopters that flew into the area and took these hostages back to freedom after so long in captivity. What the head of the armed forces also said, he mentioned that at least two rebels have been captured.
But it's still not clear whether perhaps these were two rebels who decided that they were going to desert. In the past few months, the government has stepped up pressure on the rebels and has been offering very large rewards to the guerrillas if they hand themselves and their hostages in. It could be in conjunction with the infiltration operation by members of the armed forces then some of these guerrillas simply decided to desert and hand themselves in with these hostages. But I'm sure that will come out in the next few hours.
LEMON: All right, thank you very much for that. Our Karl Penhaul on the ground there reporting. Really some superb reporting there and summing all of this up for us. We weren't sure at the beginning of this whether or not Ingrid Betancourt has been rescued or simply had been let go. But according to our man on the ground, who had just come from a press conference, he is saying that this came from military force and that they went into the eastern Colombia jungle and found these people there. He's saying 11 members of Colombian security forces were rescued and three members of -- three American members, contractors there, also were rescued. Thomas Howes, Keith Stansel(ph) and Marc Gonsalves.
So very interesting information coming out of that. We have someone on the phone here and I'm not exactly sure. We have Justin Loeber who is the publicist for Ingrid Betancourt. Joins us by telephone. Have you spoken to her and does this news come to you as a surprise or did you know they were going in?
VOICE OF JUSTIN LOEBER, BETANCOURT'S FORMER PUBLICIST: Yes, hello. Unfortunately, this is the first time I'm hearing that dear Ingrid has been freed. I was very fortunate enough to work with her on her book, which was called "Until Death do us Part." Her life to save Colombia. When Ingrid was running for president, her entire country of government shunned her. What she decided to do was write a book, which was really a cover for her political manifesto.
She revealed that the government was definitely in bed with the FARC and also made it clear that America was in the same bed too. And sadly, a few months after her publicity campaign in 2002, Ingrid was kidnapped and right now is the first time we're hearing that she's been released.
LEMON: Again, you are saying the government was in bed. Which government was in bed?
LOEBER: Well, the Colombian government. She was revealing that the government was in bed with the FARC. And also, she was explaining to the Americans that if you give aid to Colombia, you're also in bed with them too. So she was opening up a very, very strong wound that obviously bit her in a big way, you know, for her own personal life. But she had an extraordinary story. As a matter of fact, for years, she was afraid of being kidnapped.
She sent her own children and family away to another country. For years communicated with them via a webcam because she did not want them to be kidnapped. Unfortunately, it happened for her. But if anyone was going to survive a brutal ordeal such as this kind of kidnapping, it was Ingrid.
LEMON: I have to say that, her son, we have just gotten a quote from her son Justin, it says, "This is the most beautiful news of my life." You can certainly understand why he feels this way.
LOEBER: Absolutely. Her son and her daughter were little children when I worked with Ingrid. For a mother to not see their children grow up and to not be even privy to her -- the death of her father, her mother is fighting her whole family has been fighting for years for her freedom. I am sure they are breathing a sense of good will and spirit with this news.
LEMON: All right. Justin Loeber, hearing about this really from watching the news or either getting a phone call and saying that this was great news for him. We appreciate you joining us today in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you very much.
LOEBER: Thank you for having me.
LEMON: Also her son saying, this is the most beautiful news of my life. Let's get some official news now from the State Department. Elise Labott joining us by telephone. What information from the State Department can you give us Ms. Labott?
VOICE OF ELISE LABOTT, STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Don, senior State Department officials are saying this was a complete Colombian operation in its planning and execution. Really giving praise to the Colombian military forces. One official I talked to earlier called the operation brilliant, a huge success. U.S. ambassador William Bronfeld is on his way right now to the Colombian air base where the hostages were brought. The state department is in the process of reaching the families of these three hostages. The families had no idea that this was taking place. The U.S. was briefed about the operation before it took place. But U.S. officials are really leaving this to the Colombians to explain the operation, to make sure that everyone knows that this is really a job of the Colombian military. They're just concentrating on getting those hostages safe and sound out of Colombia and back to the U.S. -- Don?
LEMON: All right, producer at the state department, Elise Labott, we appreciate that and we appreciate all the folks who have called in, especially our Karl Penhaul on the ground there, coming from a press conference saying that she was actually and the rest of the people who were held hostage, were actually brought out because of military force. They were rescued and not released. Ingrid Betancourt and at least 14 other people held hostage, rescued in Colombia. That is our breaking news here today in the CNN NEWSROOM. And of course, "THE SITUATION ROOM" following this broadcast in about 20 minutes will have information for you as well. Veronica?
DE LA CRUZ: Here's what's coming up. The U.S. auto industry have been stung by the rising price of fuel also the tough economy. The big question here is why didn't the big three see it coming? We're going to talk to an expert about it.
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DE LA CRUZ: While Toyota was building the Prius, General Motors was producing the Hummer. We all know that size does matter these days but we now know that bigger doesn't mean better when it comes to cars and gas mileage. Paul Ingrassia is a Pulitzer Prize winning financial journalist, he joins us now from our New York studio. Hello to you, Paul.
PAUL INGRASSIA, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, CONDE NAST PORTFOLIO: Hi Veronica, how are you?
DE LA CRUZ: I'm doing wonderful thanks for asking. The big three American automakers, Chrysler, GM and Ford. They used to literally be numbers one, two and three, now we're seeing Japanese automaker Toyota slide in there. What happened here, why was Toyota creating the Prius when GM was building the Hummer?
INGRASSIA: Well quite simply what happened was General Motors was blinded really by the great profits that the industry had made over trucks and SUVs over the last 20 years. It really isn't all that different to be honest with you from large parts of the news industry and the newspaper industry having trouble adjusting to the internet. They had a business model that worked for a while and then all of a sudden it stopped working.
DE LA CRUZ: They had a business model that worked for a while. But why not follow the trend? You go to Europe or you go to Asia and you see on those continents lots of people driving these very small, fuel efficient cars.
INGRASSIA: Right, they really had cost structures here that really precluded them from making profits on small cars. Don't forget, General Motors has three retirees for every active employee and they're paying their health care benefits and their pension benefits for all of those retirees. I'm not saying that they made a wise decision here, don't get me wrong, what I'm saying is they really made a decision based on the economics of their business, which were flawed frankly.
DE LA CRUZ: I do understand that when it comes to automobiles, trucks actually bring in more money for the automakers.
INGRASSIA: Absolutely. Trucks are far more profitable than small cars. In the last few years really, in the last decade or so, the only vehicles they could really make profits on were trucks. SUVs, minivans, big pickup trucks, that sort of thing. They really weren't producing any profits on cars. As a matter of fact, earlier in this decade, Ford really considered getting out of the car business entirely just to focus on trucks. Fortunately, they did not go quite that far.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, there's some breaking news on the wire today. I think Susan Lisovicz was talking about it earlier. She was talking about General Motors. Can you go ahead and bring us up to speed on what's happening there and how this is going to affect the company?
INGRASSIA: Sure. I think what really happened is that Merrill Lynch came out with a report saying that General Motors is going to have to raise about $15 billion of new capital and that bankruptcy is not out of the question for GM. I haven't seen the report. But I will say this. If $15 billion of new capital is needed to keep GM going so they don't run out of money before they really get their products realigned, that's a lot of money to have to raise. Their entire market capitalization, the whole value of General Motors on the New York Stock Exchange today is less than $6 billion. So $15 billion is between two and three times the amount of the entire worth of the company today in the stock market.
DE LA CRUZ: So what does this mean, is this going to shutter the plants is this the end for GM?
INGRASSIA: Hopefully, it's not the end for GM but it's going to be a very dicey time for them over the next couple of years to get their product lineup revamped so they're selling more small cars and producing more small cars. They're going to have to have enough cash to stay in business. They're really burning a lot of cash right now. So what the Merrill Lynch report said today was, it's dicey. It's a close call.
DE LA CRUZ: All right, Paul Ingrassia is a Pulitzer Prize winning financial journalist. Paul we do thank you for your time today. Nice to see you.
INGRASSIA: Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: The economy is issue number one. We're going to bring you all the latest financial news weekdays at noon Eastern. You can always tune in to find that. It is info that you need on the mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch, plus much more. "ISSUE #1", you can tune in at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
LEMON: He was convicted of swindling investors, sentenced to prison and then faked a suicide. Today, Sam Israel is no longer on the lam. Police confirmed that the fugitive hedge fund manager turned himself in this morning in Southwick, Massachusetts. Israel disappeared last month on the day he was supposed to report to federal prison. Authorities found his car on a bridge over the Hudson River north of New York City. The words "suicide is painless" were scrawled in dust on that car. Israel was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bilking investors out of $450 million.
State and federal investigators have been digging on property east of Atlanta looking for clues to four unsolved killings. It was 1946 when four black sharecroppers were pulled from a car and dragged to Morris Ford Bridge and shot to death. Authorities won't say if they found anything or what led them to this particular location. The case was officially reopened by former governor Roy Barnes nearly eight years ago.
DE LA CRUZ: We'll decide later which one of them will end up in the oval office. But for now, which one, Barack Obama or John McCain? Which one would you rather invite to your summer barbecue?
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DE LA CRUZ: All right. So we've been getting your viewer comments on that national anthem controversy that happened in Denver.
LEMON: Yes, that's right.
DE LA CRUZ: An African-American singer replaced the standard lyrics with those of the so-called black national anthem. We wanted to go ahead and get to some of your e-mails. This first one is from Melody in Atlanta and she says, "As one who is working hard to improve the image of black women in this country, it is painful when I see our black sisters do stuff that is most disrespectful and inappropriate." She goes on to say, "You can be artistic on your own time. You weren't invited to be artistic, you were invited to sing the national anthem at an official government event."
LEMON: Ok so Veronica here's what Randy writes, he says, "I'd say good for her. I'm a black male in a small town in east Texas and I recently experienced what a judicial lynching feels like. So those who are offended by her should try and place themselves in the shoes of an African-American."
DE LA CRUZ: Forman doesn't agree, he says, "I think she should be deported to whichever country will take her. If she doesn't like this country's national anthem then she should get out." Don I just wanted to mention, that the e-mails that we received, an overwhelming response was definitely against her performance.
LEMON: The producer here said he had to struggle to find one person who agreed with her and we found one and that's it. But overwhelmingly, they said she should have done what she was supposed to do and sing the national anthem.
DE LA CRUZ: Right, exactly.
We are just weeks away from our unparalleled television event "Black in America." Don't miss this groundbreaking documentary, it's coming July 23rd and 24th on CNN worldwide.
LEMON: This will have to do and I hope I can get through it here. Because we want to tell you about a member of our CNN family and she is gone. And I want to take some time to tell you about her. Her name is Chanda Taylor, she was a producer. She lost her battle with brain cancer. She was just 35 years old.
As a child, she wanted to know how news people did their job, as an adult she became one of the people she admired. After graduating from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Chanda's career took her from Miami to Detroit, to right here in Atlanta where she was president of the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. Chanda was spirited, she was enthusiastic, but she also was calm and cool. Something of a rarity in a newsroom. She never lost a bit of energy, her sense of humor or her smile even in her last days. Good-bye, Chanda. We will miss you.
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DE LA CRUZ: If our nation's capital smells funkier than usual today, we may now know why. National Geographic Kids magazine helped organize the world's longest known chain of shoes. The record is pending further review from Guinness. In all it was about 10,500 shoes all donated. Heel to toe, the shoe chain goes more than a mile and a half distance wise. It's all part of a Nike's reuse a shoe program, recycling sneakers into athletic surfaces. A mile and a half.
Oh yes, this land is your land. But this record is theirs. 2,052 people strummed in sync, setting a new world record for largest guitar ensemble. The concert in Concord, California, was led by 60's singer Country Joe McDonald and it smashed the previous mark set last year in Germany, when 1,802 people banged out "Smoke on the Water." Right in time for the Fourth of July weekend.
LEMON: Yes, this is just the time as well, throwing some burgers on the grill, popping the top on a nice cold drink, ah the joys of summer. To add a little politics to the mix, who would you rather invite to your summer cookout. John McCain or Barack Obama? Well, it is Obama hands down. According to an "Associated Press," Yahoo! News poll, he beats McCain in the barbecue poll 52 percent to 45 percent. Men are about evenly split while women prefer Obama by 11 percentage points. What does that say. Who knows.
DE LA CRUZ: Wasn't Don Lemon on that question?
LEMON: No.
DE LA CRUZ: I voted for you.
LEMON: I would eat everything, so nobody would invite me. I'm a pig, especially if there's seafood.
Susan Lisovicz standing by on Wall Street with a final look at the trading day. Hey Susan.
DE LA CRUZ: Hey Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don and Veronica. Well, this is an important day, because it's the first time this year the Dow industrials will close a session in bear market status. That is commonly defined as a 20 percent decline from a recent high, it was in October of last year. What would weigh on stocks? Oil settled with a new record high, above $143 a barrel. And also Starbucks, United Health, they're laying off workers. American is furloughing flight attendants and we get the big jobs report for June tomorrow. I'll cover that as well. See you then.
DE LA CRUZ: All right Susan, thanks so much. Unfortunately our time is up here.
LEMON: Now that's right. Every day, 4:00 we have to hand it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM." But this time it's Mr. John Roberts. Take it away, John.
