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CNN Live Saturday
John Mark Karr Coming to America Soon; Lebanon Threatening to Halt Troop Deployment After Raid; FBI Teaching Troops To Investigate Bombs
Aired August 19, 2006 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," John Mark Karr coming to America soon. That's according to authorities in Thailand, where Karr was arrested this week as a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. An airline official says Karr is bound for Los Angeles tomorrow.
The first French peacekeepers have arrived in Lebanon, but Lebanon is warning it may drop out of the effort to enforce the fragile cease-fire. Lebanese officials accuse Israel of violating the truce with a commando raid in the Bekaa Valley today. Israel says it was stopping the flow of arms to Hezbollah before peacekeepers arrive.
With tensions in the Middle East already running high, Iran began conducting war games today. An Iranian commander says his army is ready for any confrontation with Israel.
Another top athlete under suspicion. The Associated Press says five-time Olympic medallist Marion Jones failed an initial test for performance-enhancing drugs at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in June. If a second sample also tests positive, Jones faces a minimum two-year ban from competition.
In Mesa, Arizona, a freeway chase with a baby on board. Police say they tried to stop a car with expired tags and the driver sped away with his two passengers, a woman and her 3-month-old baby. The car finally hit a guardrail.
Police tried to distract the driver with a diversionary explosion. They finally used a police dog against him right there. And police say after all of this the baby will be OK.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Your next update is coming up at 2:15 Eastern.
And welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead this hour, what kind of school blows things up for its students? Stay tuned for that answer.
And later, our legal team takes up the wiretap ruling that has President Bush so upset this week.
But first to our top story, the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. Here's what we know right now.
Suspect John Mark Karr is expected to arrive in the United States from Thailand late tomorrow or early Monday. He is facing charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the 1996 death of the 6-year- old beauty queen, but there are growing concerns about Karr's surprise confession. A law enforcement source says Karr knows gruesome details about the murder scene that are known only to the medical examiner and investigators.
And experts are looking for handwriting clues that might connect Karr to a ransom note found inside the Ramseys' home.
Let's go to Bangkok, Thailand. That's where John Mark Karr is right now awaiting deportation.
Our Stan Grant is there -- Stan.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Fredricka.
In fact, this is the last night that John Karr will spend in Bangkok. He's in this cell at this detention center here behind me. He's been here since Wednesday, when he was charged for the killing of JonBenet Ramsey.
U.S. officials have been visiting him here. They describe him as being in good condition. They say that he's been passing the time reading books and watching television, in particular news reports about his case. And also eating a meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
We've managed also to catch up with a fellow inmate, someone who was sharing a nearby cell. And he had this to say about Karr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, as I was saying, he's in a room with two other guys. But he said all the stories that they are saying, everything is not true. Some are false. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's all I've got to say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRANT: Yes, so as you can see there, a fellow inmate leaving. He's also being deported for visa violations, saying that John Karr is saying that some of the things being said about him are untrue. Exactly what that is, though, will become a bit clearer, I suppose, once he returns to the United States.
On that score, Sunday afternoon Bangkok time, he'll be taken from this cell to the airport. He'll stay there for a few hours and then board a plane flanked by security guards to fly directly to Los Angeles -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Stan Grant in Bangkok, thanks so much.
Well, JonBenet Ramsey's tiny little face still haunts the town of Boulder, Colorado. And now the town is braced for the arrival of John Mark Karr, whose confession is being questioned.
Our Peter Viles joins me now from Boulder -- Peter.
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, one of the questions that we'd like to have an answer to and we don't today is, when will this man come to Boulder? Has he ever been here before is another question.
But he arrives in Los Angeles tomorrow night. We had assumed, which is always a risk in our business, that he would come to Boulder shortly after that. But in talking to the D.A.'s office today here in Boulder, they say there are a number of scenarios and that he might not come directly to Boulder.
Remember, he does face child pornography charges in the state of California. So it is possible -- possible that he could face those charges or be held in California before he comes here. We just don't know the answer to that the. The D.A.'s office says no decisions have been made.
The D.A.'s office, of course, has not been very forthcoming with details on this case. That's their prerogative. But in that vacuum of information, since we don't really know entirely what this case is based on, there has been mounting criticism of the D.A. for bringing these charges before she said her investigation was completed.
Earlier today, a civil rights lawyer on CNN made that case, that this was much too early to bring this -- this arrest. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: There's been an arrest. You conduct an arrest after you've done an investigation.
What is this? No DNA has been tested yet from this man. His handwriting hasn't been tested. So we don't know what is really going on here, whether this is an attention seeking-person or whether or not this is a true cold-blooded killer who killed a little girl.
And that's why what's dangerous here and what's troubling here is that people are speculating in the same way they were speculating that the Ramseys were guilty. We have nothing yet, and we need to admit we have nothing. And there should not have been a disclosure without at least a DNA test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: Well that is one lawyer's opinion. We should mention, though, there is some facts to this case we do know, that this man has made a confession on television in public. And we could assume he has talked to investigators, too, in Thailand.
So, he has confessed. He said that he was in the house, that it was an accident that JonBenet died. And when he was asked if he was innocent, he said no. So there is some reason to bring charges against him.
Additionally, CNN has learned from law enforcement that he has mentioned some details about the condition of JonBenet Ramsey's body that only someone who was at the crime scene would have known about. So it's not like there is absolutely nothing to this case, there just isn't enough for people here in Boulder who have been living with it to have a lot of faith that this is the guy right now.
Just quickly, in the local newspaper, "The Rocky Mountain News," one of the columnists writing today that this is absolutely not the right guy. Yes, he may be delusional, he may be whacked out, he may be a sociopath, but he did not kill JonBenet Ramsey.
So there is a lot of skepticism here in Boulder and in Denver, as well, as to whether they have the right person -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Lots of strong opinions on all sides.
Peter Viles, thanks so much from Boulder.
Well, it seems like everybody has a lot of questions about this case, from Karr's strange confession, to DNA and other expected evidence. The case is far from closed, however. We'll ask our legal team about all of that. That's coming up in about 20 minutes from now.
And this programming note, Larry King will have an exclusive interview with the Ramsey family attorney, Lin Wood, and the Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's Monday at 9:00 Eastern.
Several developments today in the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East. Lebanon's defense minister is threatening to halt deployment of Lebanese army troops in the country's south following an Israeli commando raid. Elite Israeli troops carried out an operation against Hezbollah forces in the Bekaa Valley today. Israel says the operation was aimed at disrupting weapons transfers from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.
In the meantime, French troops began arriving in Lebanon to help enforce the U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement.
CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, is following all the developments. He joins us live now from the Lebanese capital -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Thanks, Fredricka.
Serious developments on the cease-fire front here in Lebanon. The defense minister, as you were saying, threatening to basically unravel the deployment that's still continuing of Lebanese troops to the south of this country, and that's a cornerstone for the cease-fire resolution that came into effect almost a week ago. It would have to go to cabinet for approval, but it certainly is a threat that United Nations officials are taking very seriously indeed.
There was a top level security meeting here just a few hours ago. That concluded that, in the words of the prime minister, Fouad Siniora, Israel had committed a flagrant violation of the truce conditions.
What happened is that a lightning raid was conducted by Israeli commandos in the Bekaa Valley early -- early this morning. It was targeting a bastion of Hezbollah fighters. It was a firefight. The Israelis lost one soldier in that exchange of fire, and as a result of that, the whole process of establishing a stable border zone with Israel is now put in jeopardy.
Terje Roed Larsen, the Middle East envoy here, is now trying to sort things out, calm things down. But also, at the same time, as a result of this raid, and as a result of nations who are planning or thinking about sending troops here, perhaps having second thoughts, Larsen says he has a number of things to worry about.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERJE ROED LARSEN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY: Needless to say, there is a reluctance amongst many countries to contribute troops simply because of the security situation. So these are my two worries, a worry related to the potential troop contributors and a worry related to possible retaliation from Hezbollah, which again could escalate the situation and, in worse case, bring it out of control. This is why it's now so important that all parties concerned act with utmost restraint.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SADLER: Now, some reinforcements for U.N. peacekeepers already in Lebanon have arrived, but just 49 of them. Basically, Fredricka, that's a drop in the ocean compared to the overall force level that was envisaged at 15,000 to match 15,000 Lebanese troops almost all on the ground in south Lebanon. So at the moment this cease-fire does seem somewhat wobbly under the present conditions -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Brent Sadler in Beirut.
Thank you.
With bombs exploding in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military heads back to school. Bomb school, that is. Can it help them stay ahead of the ever-changing insurgent tactics?
And later, our legal eagles weigh in on the case against John Mark Karr. What is the most important thing to keep in mind?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A quarter past the hour. Here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
It started with a stunning admission. Now John Mark Karr, the man suspected of killing JonBenet Ramsey, is due back in the U.S. tomorrow. Karr is wanted in Colorado on charges of murdering JonBenet 10 years ago. He told reporters this week in Thailand that her death was an accident.
Despite a U.N. cease-fire, fighting erupted today in southern Lebanon. Israeli commandos hit Hezbollah targets in a bid to disrupt weapons shipments before peacekeepers arrived. Lebanon threatens to stop deployment of its troops to the south if the U.N. does not respond to the Israeli action.
War games are under way in parts of Iran. Iran has routinely held military exercises over the past two decades, but these come at a time of tension in the region. State television says the military is testing new weapons and tactics against a potential enemy.
President Bush promised to defeat terrorism and establish democracy in Iraq and Lebanon. His promise came during his weekly radio address today. Democrats countered that Americans will be safer if the U.S. begins a phased pullout of troops from Iraq.
White House or bust. A Katrina survivor is towing his FEMA trailer from New Orleans to Washington. He wants to thank President Bush and the American people for what they've done so far and remind everyone that the rebuilding job in the Gulf is not complete, and he'll discuss it over a Cajun dinner with the president in the FEMA trailer. But before that, I'll talk to Rockey Vaccarella live in the 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Your next update is coming up at 2:30 Eastern.
It's the kind of thing you want to practice before doing it for real. The FBI is teaching U.S. troops how to investigate bomb blasts before they face the real thing in war zones.
Kelli Arena reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Iraq and Afghanistan, lethal truck bombs are a constant threat. When they explode, U.S. troops are forced to become crime scene investigators, a role few are prepared for. The FBI is trying to change that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a record breaker, guys. This maybe the biggest crime scene we've ever had.
ARENA: At the FBI's large vehicle bomb school, bomb technician Kevin Miles oversees the construction of a 4,000 pound truck bomb.
Another 400 pounds is loaded into this smaller vehicle to recreate a real life scenario experienced by U.S. troops in Baghdad in which a suicide bomber attacks those who have responded to the first blast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, four, we're going fire in the hole. Shot one. Fire in the hole shot one!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Push it!
ARENA: The second explosion also goes off without a hitch.
The next day, students are brought in to try to figure out what happened.
(on camera): Debris from these explosions scattered almost 4,000 feet, creating a 374-acre crime scene. With only 45 students investigating the bombings, instructors here think that maybe they gave them a little more than they could handle.
(voice-over): An advanced team does a preliminary search of evidence. And all are keenly aware of the clock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Afghanistan and Iraq, if you get an hour you're lucky. I've seen it where you only had it 15, maybe 20 minutes on the ground due to the area may not be secure.
ARENA: This Navy lieutenant commander expects to be redeployed soon, and for security reasons, doesn't want his name used.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I've got a an engine number.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An engine number?
ARENA: Team photographs and flag pieces of potential evidence and swab a vehicle caught in the crossfire for explosive residue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any indicator of any type of initiation device, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. They might have it up over on that end, then, hopefully.
ARENA: They eventually find most of what they're looking for, including batteries and a telephone key pad they determine was used to trigger the second bomb.
Robert Pursley, a 27-year law enforcement veteran, says the training is invaluable, in part because he expects terrorism to make its way back to U.S. soil.
ROBERT PURSLEY, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We've had our incidents here already, that's an indicator. And that's why we're doing this training.
ARENA: Kevin Miles said more than 400 people signed up to take the course. To keep up with the enemy, he's constantly modifying his classes but not his message.
KEVIN MILES, FBI BOMB TECHNICIAN: The evidence is out there. And if they know where to look for it, they'll find it.
ARENA: Kelli Arena, CNN, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And when we come back, Christiane Amanpour talks to an al Qaeda widow about life with Osama bin Laden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Life with bin Laden meant living without.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There were windows without glass. Just a big hole in the wall. And it was the middle of winter. There was no bathroom, no kitchen. We really thought we had gone back to the middle ages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Stay with us. More of that straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's been almost five years since the September 11th attacks, and Osama bin Laden remains on the loose. This Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, "CNN PRESENTS" will air a special documentary, "In the Footsteps of bin Laden". It's a profile of those who know him and those who follow his teachings. One of those people is the widow of a suicide bomber.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour has a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Malika El Aroud (ph), a devout Muslim who had emigrated from Morocco as a child, was living in Belgium when she first saw Osama bin Laden on television. His image mesmerized her and her husband, Abdessattar Dahman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He was watching. There was a fascination, a love. It was very clear. And I felt the same. Osama had a beauty in this face. It is a stunning face.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): May God give victory to the young men who perform jihad to win His approval. May God give us patience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): When you hear his voice, it makes you want to stand up right away and leave and join him.
AMANPOUR: And that's what her husband did when he traveled to Afghanistan in 2000. Malika El Aroud followed the next year.
Life with bin Laden meant living without.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There were windows without glass, just a big hole in the wall. And it was the middle of winter. There was no bathroom, no kitchen. We really thought we had gone back to the middle ages.
AMANPOUR: Her husband, who had spent six months in al Qaeda training camps, was given a secret deadly assignment, one that would move bin Laden closer to his ultimate goal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He told me he would be home in 15 days.
AMANPOUR: That would be the last time she would ever see him.
Then, the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud (ph), a friend of the U.S. and legendary leader of the Northern Alliance, a formidable Afghan militia. Two men claiming to be television reporters arranged an interview with Massoud. They were suicide bombers armed with explosives. One had them strapped to his body, the other hidden in the camera.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: There's no doubt that bin Laden ordered the assassination of Massoud. He knew that the 9/11 attacks would likely provoke some kind of American reaction, and he needed the Taliban to protect him. So what he gave them was the one thing they desired most, which was Massoud's head on a plate.
AMANPOUR: The explosion killed Massoud. It also killed one of the two attackers, the cameraman. The other assassin was executed by Massoud's men. He was Abdessattar Dahman, Malika El Aroud's husband. This had been his secret mission, and she was very proud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And watch a special "CNN PRESENTS," "In the Footsteps of bin Laden". Our team traveled to four continents to learn about Osama bin Laden and his power over those who do his deadly bidding.
That's this Wednesday night, August 23rd, 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
Well, we've heard a lot about John Mark Karr, but what do we actually know about the legal aspects of this case? Avery Friedman and Richard Herman join me next to talk about what the prosecution must do now.
And a trickle of U.N. troops into Lebanon has started, but what challenges does the U.N. face?
Jim Clancy reports from Lebanon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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