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Britain: Satellite Data Show Troops Were in Iraqi Waters; Troop Withdrawal from Iraq?; Daycare Hostages in Philippines Free

Aired March 28, 2007 - 11:00   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 again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on Wednesday, the 28th day of March.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Britain says its ship was never in Iranian waters. And London says it has satellite evidence to prove it. Iran promising to release one of 15 British troops it holds soon.

HARRIS: President Bush says it again just moments ago, and it was loud and clear. He will veto congressional measures that set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

COLLINS: Numerous affairs and several children, all while on the job in an isolated corner of the country. Confessions of a priest in the NEWSROOM.

Some new twists and turns in the heated standoff between Britain and Iran over the seizure of a group of British troops. Britain now says it has proof those troops were in Iraqi waters.

With us now, Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, how much will this evidence help?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is what the U.S. intelligence and, of course, the British say this morning is absolutely evidence that that British naval ship and those British military personnel were inside Iraqi waters when they were taken captive by the Iranians. This is something the Pentagon is staying very low key about, but make no mistake, watching very carefully the developments minute by minute.

Earlier today, at the Ministry of Defense in London, there was a release of some new information, some new imagery about the entire incident that the British government says absolutely proves their personnel were inside Iraqi waters. Let's put up a very interesting picture for our viewers to take a look at that will explain some of the latest developments. This, let's hold that picture for just a minute and explain it to everybody. What you are seeing, Heidi, is a British Lynx helicopter flying overhead, flying over the ship, the cargo ship that was undergoing inspection at the time of the incident.

Now, you can see there is a hand-held GPS device there, a British person taking the GPS, the exact coordinates, that show, according to the British, and the U.S. agrees, that the whole incident took place 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters. That is -- this picture was taken some time after the incident, but it was verified that the cargo ship had not changed its position.

Actually, the cargo ship was very cooperative with the inspection. They stayed put where they were. This coordinate, this satellite reading was taken. Everybody says in the British government and the U.S. government, this proves that the British boarding party was inside Iraqi waters.

Now, of course there are news reports today that it is possible the female British hostage will be released within the next day or so. That is something everybody is waiting for. But, Heidi, there is a lot of caution, a lot of effort to try to make this all happen, still through diplomatic channels, make it all very low key and get it resolved as quickly as possible -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Well, not to simplify things too much here, Barbara, but if there's evidence, if they can prove that the positioning was in Iraqi waters, why aren't the hostages free?

STARR: Well, you know, a lot of this has to do with domestic issues inside Iran. You will recall, of course, that apparently the Iranian military elements that took these British personnel were elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval force, which under that government is somewhat separate from the central government, from the central military force.

They operate somewhat independently at times. They have been said to have been responsible for other incidents at sea, according to military officials in the United States. So, they may well have their own agenda.

You know, and no one is forgetting that there are still five Iranian Al Quds force members, members of that Revolutionary Guard force, being held by the United States inside Iraq for their involvement in -- or said involvement in attacks inside Iraq. So, there is a matter of some tension between all the parties in the region.

Everybody's trying to make sure those tensions don't ratchet up. And, of course, all of it complicated somewhat by this recent U.S. naval exercise to add something into the mix in the next -- in the last couple of days in the Persian Gulf. So, everybody is -- a lot of tensions running high. Everybody trying to keep it low key -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And so very quickly, Barbara, is there any word or any talk about the Brits maybe then negotiating with some one else outside of the actual Iranian navy proper, by way of the Iranian National Guard?

(CROSSTALK)

STARR: Right. Let's be clear. Everybody's aware of all the parties involved here, that there are various elements of the Iranian government involved. But from the British point of view, to be very clear, there is no negotiation.

They want their people back, they want them back immediately. That's the position of the British government. Whatever may be going on behind the scenes, the British say they are not negotiating, but they are certainly very aware of the multiple sensitivities here -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good.

Barbara Starr from the Pentagon for us.

Thanks, Barbara.

And British sailors Faye Turney the only woman among that group of British sailors and marines now being held by Iran. A closer look at what we know about her.

She is 26 years old, and a married woman with a 3-year-old daughter. She is from Plymouth in southwest England. A few days before she was seized, Turney was interviewed on the HMS Cornwall. She talked about the dangers she faces in the military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAYE TURNEY, DETAINED BRITISH SAILOR: My parents made sure that I was under no allusions that I could and can go to war any time. And that's the choice I made. So, it's always been -- sometimes it comes (INAUDIBLE) to be in the navy, but you've got to have it in the back of your head that sometimes you may be called upon. And when you do, you just have got to deal with it and go on with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: British sailor Faye Turney now expected to be released by Iran in the next day or two. Also want to let you know we will be going directly to Robin Oakley, our correspondent there in London, for more on this story in just a few minutes.

HARRIS: But right now, let's take you to Humboldt, Tennessee, and give you an update on this chemical fire that we've been following this morning.

Firefighters battling this large chemical fire that seems, at least at the moment, to be under control. Don't know that for sure. Don't want to get out too far ahead of the story here.

Officials have confirmed that homes and business in the immediate area of the fire have been evacuated. Approximately 500 to 600 people have been evacuated. The good news here, no reports of any injuries. We will continue to watch this situation and bring you an update as we get more information.

A showdown now over Iraq. Senate Democrats plow ahead, demanding a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. President Bush refusing to back down.

He spoke on the topic just minutes ago, and you heard it here in the NEWSROOM.

CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano has the very latest.

Elaine, good morning to you.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Well, he will not back down on this idea of a troop timetable. That was the overarching message from President Bush today.

As you noted, he delivered a speech here just a short time ago in Washington, and he laid out his reasons why, specifically by citing what he says is progress, essentially, when it comes to the Baghdad security plan. The president, interestingly, also, did something that we've heard him do before, and that is invoke the September 11th attacks as a reminder of why he says it is necessary to continue the war on terror in full force. But the president made very clear to Democrats that he will veto legislation that includes a troop withdrawal time frame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The House and Senate bills have too much pork, too many conditions on our commanders, and an artificial timetable for a withdrawal.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: I have made it clear for weeks, if either version comes to my desk, I'm going to veto it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: He made it clear there is no room for negotiation when it comes to the idea of putting what he says are artificial conditions on military commanders. The president citing that General Petraeus, of course, leading the efforts for the Baghdad security plan, making progress there. But the president continuing to make the argument, Tony, that the U.S. military needs to be able to operate unencumbered, without arbitrary deadlines, in order to successfully complete the mission -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, someone has to make a move here.

White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano for us. Elaine, thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A bizarre hostage situation in the Philippines is over. Dozens of preschool children and their teachers now free. The owner of their daycare center in custody.

CNN's Anjali Rao is in Manila, with the story unfolding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANJALI RAO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The hostage drama finally came to an end after the 32 children and their four teachers were trapped on the bus for 10 hours in the blazing Manila heat by the main hostage- taker, Jun Ducat. The children are now in hospital, being looked at by doctors in case they've suffered any physical ailments while they were on board the bus.

As for Jun Ducat himself, he and his company have been rigorously questioned by police in manila and is expected by doctors in case they suffered any physical ailments while they were on board the bus. As for the school's owner, himself, he and his accomplice have been questioned rigorously by police here in Manila. Tomorrow, they are expected to be charged with kidnapping, abduction and child abuse.

Still, though, it appears that his demands were met. The government has said that they will give the children at the daycare center that he founded, the 145 of them, free education, all the way until they finish college, which is pretty amazing, considering the state of tertiary education in this country. So many children don't make it at all because of the cost of sending your child to further education.

Quite amazingly, though, Jun Ducat has an enormous amount of support here. When he was setting the children free, rather than being berated by the thousands of people gathered there, others were holding up placards saying, "We support Jun Ducat," "Don't punish him."

People were lighting candles to support his drive for better education for this country's poor. And we know that there are so many of them still in this country. Many people still living on less than $2 U.S. a day. In fact, the educational needs are in a very dire state at the moment.

Many children going to school, where they don't have teachers, they don't have resources. Some of them even having to take lessons in toilet blocks and hallways, something that Jun Ducat says he hopes will be a thing of the past, particularly in the run-up here in the Philippines to midterm elections later this year.

Anjali, Rao, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: "AMERICAN MORNING'S" Soledad O'Brien goes in for a house check to answer your health questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, you're going to feel like you're kind of gradually getting wrapped up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Can full-body scans help in the fight against cancer? We'll tell what you Soledad found straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A new health recommendation to tell you about this morning that affects more than a million women. The American Cancer Society says women with a high risk of breast cancer should get annual MRI scans. That's in addition to regular mammograms.

MRIs can be an effective tool in spotting potential problems, but can they help you spot cancer in its early stages?

"AMERICAN MORNING'S" Soledad O'Brien had a full-body scan to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dr. Lee -- Soledad. How are you? Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Nice to meet you.

O'BRIEN: OK, so where do we start?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So first, I'm going to show you the machine, before we have to get dressed. So this is where you're going to have the whole body MRI. We need to have you change into the gown and remove anything that's magnetic, and then we'll bring you in and get you set up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the money spent on R&D, and still the hospital gowns are really unattractive.

O'BRIEN: You look great!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You lied, but that's OK.

So you're going to feel like you're kind of gradually getting wrapped up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: I'm doing great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you can see on these images the whole body scout, so you're already getting a feel for what we can see on the MRI machine. We get a feeling for the kind of images that we can see in Soledad's brain, her cerebellum. If there were a tumor, it would tend to be bright on these images.

OK, I think we're done.

O'BRIEN: Wow. That's pretty cool, huh?

When you look at this, is there anything that sticks out to you as, hey, I'd like to check this out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From these images. for example, we can see your pelvis, we can see your ovaries. They look fine. Your kidneys look good, and your liver looks good. We don't see anything.

The problem with a whole-body MRI screening exam is it can't be all things to everybody. If you just ask us to focus on the brain and make sure you don't have any brain tumors or aneurysms, or any other vascular diseases, we can do a good job. If you ask us to do that and image the whole body and make sure you don't have breast cancer, and lung cancer and liver cancer, it's really not possible right now.

O'BRIEN: Is there going to be a day, though, when someone really could come in and say, listen, I want to do a head to toe and see if I have cancer, any kind of tumor or growth that I should be concerned about? And you could scan them high resolution, and really say, yes, I see this. Early stage, we can catch it, we can fix it, we can give you surgery. I can save your life with a full-body scan? How far away is that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so, I really hope so. It's just a matter of time and a matter of research money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. The address, cnn.com/health.

COLLINS: Paper or plastic? Grocery shoppers in San Francisco won't have to deal with that dilemma too much longer. The city has approved a ban on plastic grocery bags, the kind made from petroleum products.

Large supermarkets and drugstores can let customers choose between paper, cloth or new types of plastic made from things like corn byproducts. Some grocery stores call the ban unreasonable. Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to go sign the measure into law. It will take effect in six months for grocery stores, one year for pharmacies.

A breathtaking new way to see the Grand Canyon. You've seen it here on CNN, and now you can experience it for yourself. Come on, brave people.

The skywalk opens to the public today. The huge glass-bottom deck stretches 70 feet over the rim of the Grand Canyon. It offers views 4,000 feet below to the canyon floor.

Journalists got a sneak peek earlier this month. Builders say the gigantic horseshoe structure can with stand 100 mile-per-hour winds and holds several 200-pound people at a time.

HARRIS: More twists than turns in a heated standoff. Britain lays out what it says is proof Iran illegally seized 15 of its sailors and marines. The latest coming up in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A priest addicted to sex. He even admits using church money to buy it. And there is more to this story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In case you may have missed it, just a few moments ago President Bush said in a speech to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Washington that he wood veto any supplemental spending bills regarding troop withdrawal in the situation in Iraq, even after the passage of those bills in both the House and Senate.

We now have House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commenting on what the president said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, we're a long way from that. I remember early last week I was told that we weren't going to pass the bill in the House. And then when we passed it, I was told it wasn't going to pass in the Senate. And here we are.

HARRIS: In the six 1960s, Father Jim Jacobsen was sent to remote Alaskan villages to spread the word of God. Turns out he was robbing some of the villagers of their innocence. One of those villagers is Don Slats. Now, years later, Don he is about to find out exactly how he is connected to Father Jim.

Here, again, is CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN (voice-over): Growing up, Don Slats knew he was different than other kids in his Alaskan village. There were cruel jokes. He felt like an outcast. But he asked only one time about his family secret.

SLATS: When I was a teenager, I asked my mom, you know, because there's different things about me. My eyes were lighter. Different color hair was coming out of my face. You know, I would look at it in the mirror.

And so I asked my mom, and I've never questioned my mother, you know. And, you know, she told me that yes, you might have another father, you know, but this is your family, you know. It just went as far as that. You know?

GRIFFIN: Now in his 30s, Don Slats has filed a novel lawsuit against Father Jim Jacobsen and the Society of Jesus.

DNA testing shows without a doubt Father Jacobsen is his biological father. Slats is suing for years of unpaid child support for his own childhood.

Despite her shame, his mother has also revealed another secret. She claims Jacobsen raped her repeatedly. Other village women have come forward to say Jacobsen raped them.

As for Jacobsen, he denies the rapes but admits he can't even remember Don Slats' mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yet you had sex with her, didn't you?

JACOBSEN: I must have had. I believe -- I know that I didn't force her. I don't remember any particular time that I had sexual relationships with her, but I'm positive I didn't force her or anybody else.

GRIFFIN: In fact, Jacobsen, in his deposition, partly blames the women. Women, he says, who knew he felt isolated, lonely. And when night fell, there would be the knock, he says, on his door.

JACOBSEN: There would be, like 9:30 at night, the village light plant would be turned off. So you just had -- which meant that everybody was at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So she was the initiator? She started -- she initiated the sex?

JACOBSEN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did?

JACOBSEN: Well, it was a -- it was a -- it was like she flirted with me and I flirted with her.

GRIFFIN: Jim Jacobsen now lives here, a retirement home for priests on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where according to his superiors, he's under close supervision. Jacobsen refused to talk to CNN.

But he did ask Father John Whitney, who now heads the Society of Jesus for Oregon Province, about Father Jim Jacobsen's case.

(on camera) How did this happen? How did this guy happen for so long?

FATHER JOHN WHITNEY, SOCIETY OF JESUS, OREGON PROVINCE: You know, if I -- if I had the answer to that, I don't know. It's an incredibly difficult -- I find it -- some of the revelations that are coming out in the public are just coming to me, as well.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Whitney admits mistakes were made, warnings overlooked. Jacobsen was even confessing his sins to fellow priests in Alaska, and yet none alerted superiors.

WHITNEY: And so he was allowed, and I make no excuses for it. I don't find -- this a difficult job for me, because I find it hard to unconscionable that people weren't more proactive, more active in this.

But I think nobody directly was coming forward saying, "This happened to me" until far later.

GRIFFIN: The Jesuits have just ordered to settle Don Slats' lawsuit. The nearly $2 million settlement includes life-time counseling for him, his mother, another biological son of the priest, and for another woman who claims she was raped.

In his deposition, the priest wishes he had been more closely supervised and offers this to his victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we're tape recording and videotaping this deposition. And it's possible that your children and grandchildren could see it one of these days. Is there anything you want to say to them?

JACOBSEN: Well, I'm sorry that they were put in this position by my actions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything you want them to know or remember about you?

JACOBSEN: Well, I'm sorry that they have to know that I'm a priest who didn't -- religious -- didn't live up to his vows and his obligations, as a priest in their village.

GRIFFIN: Don Slats says in the far away place he grew up, the place the church sent Father Jacobsen, they were all just trusting lambs.

SLATS: They understand that us native people, and the villages hold them up to a pedestal, that they're higher than any authority. They're -- they sit at the right hand of God. That's what you're taught in catechism.

GRIFFIN: Don Slats left the Catholic Church when he was 13.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Anchorage, Alaska.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: No pushing at the pool, a rule this coach apparently forgot. Who's the swimmer and why is the man so mad? Find out coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Going too far to make a point. A Ukrainian coach scuffles -- I guess that's a scuffle -- with his swimmer/daughter. Now he's in trouble. Details ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: They're outside. Their friends are inside. Sheep in the house. And the neighbors aren't the only ones raising a stink. That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: An angry Ukrainian coach takes it out on his swimmer/daughter. Now Mihel Zukof (ph) is banned from going anywhere near her. Australian television station caught this couple on tape at the world championships that were under way in Melbourne. The altercation ended when television staffers alerted police. Zukof is set to appear at the Melbourne magistrate's office tomorrow. The head of the Melbourne competition call Zukof's behavior, quote, "unacceptable."

HARRIS: Neighbors raising a stink about the stink. Authorities say a suburban Raleigh home was turned into zoo, and the homeowner now faces possible charges.

Jay Christian (ph) of affiliate WTVD has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY CHRISTIAN (ph), WTVD REPORTER: These lambs are among 77 haired sheep found outside and inside an apex home Monday. Police say the owner David Watts lives upstairs and kept some of them inside his house downstairs. Several were in the backyard among carcasses and skulls. Thirty were in such poor health, veterinarians euthanized them on the spot.

DR. KELLI FERRIC, N.C. STATE VETERINARIAN: A flap of hoof will actually curl around under the bottom of the foot, and it traps moisture, mud and bacteria. And many of these sheep had deep infections into the bones of their feet.

CHRISTIAN: Neighbors called police when the animals got loose and wandered in the cemetery, but they've complained before.

CINDY TALBERT CONCERNED NEIGHBOR: The smell, the stench coming from, you know, that house alone was really bad, and the flies.

CHRISTIAN: Cindy Talbert says she and other neighbors were always told that a town ordinance on the books for years allows livestock, even here, just three driveways away from a downtown main street.

TALBERT: If there are 75, 60, 80 sheep in a backyard, in a city? I don't think that's healthy, seriously. I think the ordinance needs to be changed.

CHRISTIAN: And the mayor says they're doing that. Animal control says they've talked with the owner at least three times in two years, even earlier this month, but there was little they could do.

MIKE WILLIAMS, WAKE COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL: We can't take someone's property unless we feel it's a violation of people's personal property rights.

TALBERT: Vets say signs of death were obvious.

FERRIC: I think that there are animals that may have died over a year ago, and animals that have died in the past few days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Hey, you already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until noon Eastern. Now you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7, right on your iPod.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now with Don Lemon and Fredricka Whitfield.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. See you tomorrow, everybody.

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