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Israel Surrounds Arafat Compound

Aired June 05, 2002 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, HOST: Breaking news making news now in the Middle East. The Israeli troops are entering Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah at this hour. You're looking now at live pictures we have coming from the West Bank. This, apparently, retaliation for a bloody suicide bombing this morning. We'll go live to Jerusalem for the very latest.

ANNOUNCER: The U.S. says this man was a key player in the September 11 attacks. But did vital information from the Philippines about this top terrorist suspect get overlooked in Washington?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Could U.S. authorities have done more to prevent September 11 with the information from the Filipino authorities?

FIDEL RAMOS, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: Yes, I think they should have done some more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll go live to Manila.

An FBI field agent who says headquarters ignored her pre-9/11 terror warnings tells her story to Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She can give us some insight into the culture of the agency. Why was there this sort of standoff between the field office in Minneapolis and the headquarters here in Washington?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Are America's highways the next target for terrorists?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY ZINKLE, FEDERAL EXPRESS DRIVER: It's a possibility that a truck is going to become the target of a hijacker, become the next means of a terrorist attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll take a ride on a big rig.

A 14-year-old girl kidnapped right out of her bedroom. Her little sister scared into silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just threatened her. Apparently, he said he would kill her if she said anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll go live to the scene of the crime in Salt Lake City. CNN's live from the Philippines, Israel, Kashmir, Capitol Hill, Los Angeles, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Here now is Leon Harris.

HARRIS: Good evening and welcome to what is going to be a very busy news hour. We're going to begin it with breaking news in the Middle East tonight right now where Israeli troops are storming Yasser Arafat's compound even as we speak. Now, this just hours after a Palestinian suicide car bomber killed 17 Israelis on a bus this morning. Let's turn now to CNN's Jim Bitterman who is in Jerusalem. He's got the very latest.

Jim, what can you tell us?

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, the Palestinians have been saying all day they expected something was going to happen in the way of retaliation and I think tonight it is. From Ramallah, we're hearing reports that about 30 Israeli tanks and APCs entered the town of Ramallah, which of course is the headquarters of Yasser Arafat and the PLO on the West Bank.

The APCs and tanks entered Ramallah and went directly toward the compound of Yasser Arafat. There's heavy fighting reported by Palestinian sources on the ground. They've heard a lot of large explosions. In fact, large explosions were heard as far away as 10 kilometers, six miles here in Jerusalem tonight.

And what exactly is happening on the ground, we don't know, but Palestinian sources say that in fact, a bridge connecting two buildings, sort of a second story bridge that connects two buildings on the Arafat compound was destroyed, that a third floor of Yasser Arafat's office was attacked as well as an intelligence building and that bullets have struck inside of Yasser Arafat's office.

Now, the exact intent of this raid, we really don't know. Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, talked with Chairman Arafat a short while ago and he said for the moment that the Palestinian president is, in fact, safe. However, he had said that he had great fear for Yasser Arafat's life. He said this is a very dangerous escalation in the events here in the Middle East and it would be a big mistake, he said, to try to take out Mr. Arafat either physically or by evacuating him off the West Bank into some other country. Now, all this comes on the heels of what was the deadliest attack here since the Israelis ended their push, their offensive into the West Bank. They ended that last month and then, this morning, there was an attack on a bus that was headed from Tel Aviv to points north in Israel -- seventeen people were killed, 13 of the 17 are reported to be soldiers as a suicide bomber pulled alongside that bus, detonated his bomb, blowing the bus off the road. As the rescue worker said, they were struck by the intensity of the -- not only the blast but the fire that followed it. More than three dozen people have been injured and have been wounded in that attack.

Now, that attack was claimed by the Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian Authority said they knew nothing in advance about that attack and they also said later this afternoon that, in fact, they were going to try to do everything they could to catch the attackers. However, that apparently is not good enough for the Israelis who are tonight storming the compound of Yasser Arafat in the city of Ramallah.

By the way, the Israeli defense forces will not say one way or another exactly what's happening. They only say that there is some activity in Ramallah tonight - Leon.

HARRIS: All right, I understand that void of information right now. As we're listening to the sounds we just had moments ago, of that live picture up there, from the West Bank, the activity seems to have stopped at least for the moment. But Jim, let me ask you something about the nature -- it's not the nature of this, but the timing of this incursion into Yasser Arafat's compound. The last time this happened it happened later into all the series of incursions. This times it seems -- it's more of an immediate reaction to that bombing this morning.

BITTERMAN: A very immediate reaction. The other thing that is sort of stunning about the quickness of this reaction is that it comes just ahead of the fact that Ariel Sharon is on his way to the United States. He delayed his trip to the United States by one day. He was supposed to leave on Friday, he's now going to leave on Saturday morning and going to fly to the United States, still planning to meet with President George Bush on Monday morning.

The -- sort of the buzz among the analysts here was that Mr. Sharon might wait until after he met with President Bush before taking any kind of action. Clearly, that's not the case because there's a lot of action going on here tonight. So this was a fairly immediate response, about as immediate as one could expect after the bus bombing today. There was an awful lot of anger with that bus bombing today. It was a bloody, bloody attack. And even though the Palestinian Authority said they had nothing to do with it, it had no advance warning about it, still people blamed Arafat.

There were a number of people, including some government ministers, who on the heels of that bus attack said that, in fact, Arafat should be taken off the West Bank and evacuated to some other country -- Leon. HARRIS: Jim Bitterman reporting for us live from Jerusalem, covering this breaking news for us there. Thank you, Jim. We appreciate that.

As Jim just mentioned, the fact that Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, is going to be visiting President Bush in the White House, and let's go right now to the White House. Our John King has been standing by there for the last hour or so.

I've been watching your reports, John. What have you been hearing from the White House so far?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, from the White House, you get a sense of on the one hand, breaking news, as we cover it tonight, on the other, a recurring nightmare, violence and a military response, once again frustrating this White House just as the president tries to advance the diplomacy.

Prime Minister Sharon coming on Monday, as Jim just noted. The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak due here over the weekend. U.S. officials had hoped from those conversations to make at least modest steps forward. Now, once again, all that called into question.

U.S. officials telling us President Bush was informed about these latest Israeli incursions into, once gain, the Palestinian compound in Ramallah just a few moments ago by his Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley.

His National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, as we speak, we are told, is making calls trying to get a full assessment of the situation. One senior official I spoke to just moments ago said, "I am not criticizing the Israelis. We know very little about what is happening so far, but this is certainly not the path to peace."

So a sense of frustration at the White House on a day when publicly the administration sharply criticized escalated even its prior criticism of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The sense of frustration here, Leon, even before what we are now seeing. The Israeli military response was that George Tenet, the CIA chief had just met with Yasser Arafat, just appealed to him to reform his security forces, to do more to stop the bombings. Those meetings break up, a bombing the next morning. A great sense of frustration here and now, uncertainty that any diplomatic progress can be made as we watch tonight another Israeli military response.

HARRIS: Yes, uncertainty definitely does rule this hour. John King there at the White House as the lights come up on the White House. Perhaps some light to be shed on this issue. John's going to be continuing to listen at the White House for any reaction from there. I'm sure John will check back in with us once he does have that. And we'll keep our eye on that story as it develops.

In the meantime, we're going to move onto other stories that we've got for you this evening. U.S. officials now say a Kuwaiti was a key player in the planning of the September 11 attacks. He's identified as Khalid Sheik Mohammed. He's a U.S. official who says that - actually, a U.S. official was telling us that Abu Zubaydah, who is an al Qaeda leader in U.S. custody right now, and he's the one who provided the information on Mohammed, describing him as a prominent member of Osama bin Laden's organization.

How prominent? The U.S. is now offering a $25 million reward for any information leading to Mohammed's arrest or conviction. The information submits (ph) suspicions that the al Qaeda officials operating from the Philippines may have prepared the blueprint for the September attacks. For the latest on this angle, let's check in now with our Maria Ressa, who checks in from Manila.

Hello, Maria.

RESSA: Hello, Leon. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is a very familiar name, a familiar face for Filipino authorities. As that point, in 1995, he was actually here, part of a terrorist cell that was based here then. He barely evaded arrest. Soon after, the FBI placed him on the FBI's most wanted list.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA (voice-over): U.S. investigators say this man, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti lieutenant of Osama bin Laden's, is one of the key planners of the September 11 attacks. Long on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a 1995 plot to bomb U.S. airliners in Asia; Pakistani investigators say he is the uncle of Ramsi Yousef, the mastermind of that plot. Both men were key figures in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

Although they failed to bring the buildings down then, they didn't stop trying. Two years later, Yousef had another plan outlined in this 1995 Filipino intelligence report obtained by CNN. "He will board any American commercial aircraft pretending to be an ordinary passenger. Then, he will hijack said aircraft, control its cockpit and dive it at the CIA headquarters. There will no bomb. It is simply a suicidal mission."

Other targets named the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The information is from Abdul Hakim Morad, who said he did structural studies with Yousef at the World Trade Center. He is also a pilot trained in four U.S. flight schools, among the first recruited for that suicide mission. He wasn't the last.

Arrested by Filipino police in 1995, Morad talked about other friends training in U.S. flight schools in transcripts of his interrogation obtained by CNN. All this information and more, says the Philippine president at that time, was handed over to the FBI.

(on-camera): Could U.S. authorities have done more to prevent September 11 with the information from the Philippine authorities?

RAMOS: Yes, I think they should have done some more.

RESSA (voice-over): The FBI did investigate the flight schools named in the documents but said it found no evidence of other planned attacks. Still, Philippine intelligence sources tell CNN, the 1995 Yousef plot may have been the blueprint for the September 11 attacks. More so if one of the leaders then, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was a key planner for September 11.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA: He is not the only link between that 1995 plot and September 11. Another man involved then, Humbali (ph), is now al Qaeda's main operator in Southeast Asia. He was videotaped meeting with two of the September 11 hijackers in Malaysia in 2000. More evidence investigators here say that al Qaeda operatives may take years to work out the details and the kinks of a plan until it finally succeeds.

Back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: Thank you very much, Maria. Maria Ressa reporting live for us from Manila.

Now, closer to home on Capitol Hill, the investigation into 9/11 security lapses goes on. As lawmakers there open a second day of closed door hearings, investigators were hearing from an FBI whistleblower. Let's go live now to Capitol Hill where our congressional correspondent, Jonathan Karl, checks in - Jon.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, this is Coleen Rowley, a name you've been hearing a lot about, and you'll be hearing a lot more about. She came to Washington today and met with investigators of the Joint Intelligence Committees. There you see her dodging reporters after her more than three-hour session with investigators. She, of course, is the person who wrote that 13-page memo to FBI Director Mueller talking about how FBI headquarters thwarted the investigation there in the Minneapolis field office of the so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui.

As you know, Agent Rowley is a member of that Minneapolis field office. She was testifying today privately, but she will be before the television cameras tomorrow for yet another committee, the Judiciary Committee, answering questions about systemic problems at the FBI and at FBI headquarters. There you see she really didn't say anything at all to reporters except that she simply couldn't comment and she wanted to find a taxicab.

Now, meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said today that if there had been one person or group of persons who had had access to all the readily available intelligence information that had been gathered by the FBI and by the CIA that he believes that September 11 could have been averted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: There is reason to believe that had one human being or a common group of human beings sat down with all that information and asked the question, "Is there a pattern here?" and then where there were gaps, said, "Let's pursue this particular trail to get additional information, that it is possible that through that process, we could have gotten two of the -- to the hijackers before they flew those four airplanes, either into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or the ground of Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: And now, Leon, we know publicly - it has been written about and talked about much, the Phoenix memo about Arab students flying at flight schools in the United States. We also know about the Minneapolis investigation, the Moussaoui case that was thwarted by FBI headquarters. But Senator Graham also said today that there are many other pieces of information, evidence of leads that were developed by the FBI and by the CIA and other intelligence agencies that were not followed up on that could have made a difference on September 11.

He said none are as explosive as the Phoenix case or the Minneapolis case, but that the committee literally on a weekly basis uncovering more evidence of leads that were simply not followed up on before September 11 -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you very much. We may hear some more news revelations tomorrow. We invite you to check out our live coverage tomorrow of the Senate Judiciary hearings on the FBI. The agency's director Robert Mueller is going to be testifying. And our live coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

And then, a little later after that, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, we'll have live coverage of FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley's testimony. So make sure you check that out.

Now, in the wake of September 11, terrorist experts are worried that trucks could be used to deliver the next terror attack to America's doorstep. And that has prompted the American Trucking Association to put its drivers on alert. CNN's Patty Davis went out with one driver and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FedEx driver Jenny Zinkle is on the look-out for terrorists on the nation's roads.

ZINKLE: It's a possibility that a truck is going to become the target of a hijacker, become the next means of a terrorist attack.

DAVIS: Zinkle is one of three million drivers of big tractor- trailers being trained by the American Trucking Association to report suspicious activity.

RICK BROWN, TOTAL SECURITY SERVICE INTERNATIONAL: They just want the kill Americans. They want to kill as many as they can.

JEFF BEATTY, AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION: Our B-52s can deliver, you know, precision munitions of 2,000 pounds. Well, you know, trucks can do that, too, and they're not nearly as sophisticated. It's knowing that and being dedicated to making sure that no truck be used as a weapon, that's our goal.

DAVIS: In late May, the Transportation Department warned that trucks hauling oil and gasoline could be targeted by terrorists. (on-camera): That follows another warning by government investigators that there aren't enough safeguards in place to prevent terrorists from getting commercial truck driver licenses.

(voice-over): Zinkle is also worried about hijackings. Last month, a truck carrying deadly sodium cyanide was hijacked in Mexico raising alarms. The truck and its cargo were later recovered.

ZINKLE: And I pick up real quickly when somebody is following me and they sit behind me for too long. That's suspicious activity and that I would report immediately to the police.

DAVIS: As she heads into Baltimore's Harbor Tunnel, Zinkle remains alert.

ZINKLE: A terrorist could put a bomb in a vehicle, leave it on the side of the road, set it for a certain time, it explodes, you've got the cars inside of the tunnel.

DAVIS: Even these two trucks parked on the side of the road raise alarm.

ZINKLE: That's suspicious also.

DAVIS: With more than 20 million trucks on U.S. roads every day, truck drivers say the U.S. economy depends on their efforts to stop terrorists in their tracks.

ZINKLE: My goal is to prevent another tragedy, another September 11. I don't want to see it anymore.

DAVIS: Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we will end this segment on a much more encouraging note. Security was tight at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle rocketed its way into orbit about two-and-a-half hours ago. The Endeavour is on its way to the international space station to deliver new residents and to pick up the current crew there and deliver them home.

The launch was delayed almost a week because of bad weather and a leaky valve. We'll have more on that and more news from the Middle East coming up in just a bit, after a break.

ANNOUNCER: Next...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And everybody up there is in shock right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A 14-year-old girl is kidnapped at gunpoint right out of her bedroom. We'll go live to Salt Lake City. This 7-year-old girl was kidnapped and killed. Today, he took the stand to testify at the trial of his neighbor, charged with the murder. A live report from outside the courthouse is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: According to the Justice Department, 359,000 children in the U.S. are kidnapped each year. The vast majority of those children are abducted by relatives.

HARRIS: Salt Lake City, Utah is the scene of an intense hunt this hour. Police there are searching for a suspect who forced a 14- year-old girl from bed overnight at gunpoint. CNN's James Hattori joins us now live from Salt Lake City. He's got the latest -- James.

JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Leon. We're in the Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City. This is where the abduction occurred early this morning. Officials just a little while ago updated us on the situation and they say that they believe now that this was not a random abduction, that someone was apparently going after 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, who as you say, was taken from her bedroom at gunpoint. They've announced a $10 reward for information leading to her safe turn or the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, talked with reporters just a little while ago and gave an impassioned plea for his daughter's return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SMART, FATHER OF MISSING GIRL: If you can hear me, Elizabeth is the sweetest girl. She's an angel and I hope that -- there's no reason to take her. I just - I can't imagine why you took her to begin with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HATTORI: This is a search that's been mounted all day, about 100 officers from the area, search and rescue crews, helicopters in the Federal Heights neighborhood, as I mentioned, which is an affluent hillside neighborhood in east of downtown Salt Lake City.

The abduction occurred around 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. this morning. A man apparently broke into the house, entered a bedroom and, at gunpoint, forced Elizabeth Smart to go with him. A sister was in the bedroom at the same time, a 9-year-old girl. And the man apparently told her that if she said anything about what was going on that she would hurt Elizabeth. So of course, the young girl did not say anything for several hours.

Of course, she eventually did -- she did tell police. Her parents, rather, who then called the police in and the investigation began. That suspect is being described as a white male, about 5'8" tall, slim build, 18 to 40 years old perhaps, wearing a white shirt, a white cap and maybe a tan jacket.

Again, Elizabeth is 14-year-old girl, five-foot-six, 105-pounds with blond hair. And police have a couple of phone numbers for anyone who might have information about her disappearance, about the abduction. One telephone number would be 801-799-3000; another 800 number would be 800-932-0190.

Leon, investigators have been out all day. They say they have some clues but no solid leads as of this moment as to what happened to young Elizabeth - Leon.

HARRIS: But James is there any hint at all, as to why this particular girl was targeted? Was there any sort of a ransom note left behind or some sort of a ransom request made or anything?

HATTORI: Well, if investigators do have any of that information, they haven't shared it with us. They have said that there apparently is no credible ransom information. Apparently, there were some bogus calls that were made in to try and - you know, for whatever reason, some sick people would do that.

As to why they would pick this girl, obviously they don't have a lot of information about that. But obviously -- apparently, she was picked over her sister. The sister was left behind. There were other kids in the house as well. There are six kids in the family. The parents were there. None of them, apparently, heard very much, about what went on last night -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, thank you very much. James Hattori reporting live for us from Salt Lake City, Utah there. We're going to hear some more from Tom Smart. He is the missing girl's uncle. He'll be with us here on CNN at the top of the hour on "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific and hopefully, we'll learn some more about this story there.

Now, we move to San Diego where the father of Danielle Van Dam took the stand today in a trial of a man who's accused of kidnapping and murdering that 7-year-old girl. Let's go live to San Diego for the latest in the David Westerfield trial. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez checks in now live -- Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, it was a very long, very tough day for Damon Van Dam on the stand today. First, he had to recall details about his daughter's disappearance and then his personal life and his credibility were questioned.

Now, earlier this morning, Damon Van Dam testified about the night of February 1, which is the night and the last time he ever saw his daughter alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON VAN DAM, DANIELLE VAN DAM'S FATHER: Danielle was reading to Dylan in his bed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Dylan's bedroom?

VAN DAM: In Dylan's bedroom, yes. She likes to help - he was just getting to that learning to read stage, and she likes to help him learn to read. So I went in that bedroom. I asked her to go jump in her bed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

VAN DAM: Putting them to bed. It was time to put them to bed. So I talked to Dylan for a minute and gave him a hug and kiss good night, tucked him in, went to Danielle's room. She had already gotten under the covers and pulled the covers up on herself, said good night, gave her a hug and kiss good night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Damon Van Dam testified that he and his wife noticed Danielle was missing and frantically called police. But under cross- examination, David Westerfield's attorney painted a very different image of the Van Dams, saying they were less than truthful to police about their activities the night before Danielle was reported missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: Many details were left out of what I told the first officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the details that you left out were your marijuana use the night preceding, isn't that true?

VAN DAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that Barbara Easton had gotten in bed with you the night before, that's true, isn't it?

VAN DAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that your wife had had some form of communication from David Westerfield the Wednesday preceding -- or Thursday preceding, isn't that right?

VAN DAM: That doesn't relate at all to anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Barbara Easton was the woman who went out dancing with Brenda Van Dam and another woman by the name of Denise Kimmel the night before the child was reported missing - Leon.

HARRIS: Thelma, how much of the story about those women came out in court today because as I understand it, there's a bit of a seamy underside here to the story here or a bit of a sex angle involved with all of them?

GUTIERREZ: Well, Leon, there sure is. And under cross- examination today, Damon Van Dam testified that he had been intimately involved with the two women that we just mentioned, Barbara Easton and Denise Kimmel. These were women who were friends of his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With regard to Denise Kimmel, when did you have sexual relations with Denise Kimmel?

VAN DAM: October 2000, I believe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And since then?

VAN DAM: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With regard to Barbara Easton, I think you told us you only had sexual relations with her on one time, is that in fact your testimony, sir?

VAN DAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But isn't it true that on at least three separate occasions you had sex with Barbara Easton in the presence of your wife?

VAN DAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you had relations with Kimmel, who else was present?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, irrelevant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Overruled.

VAN DAM: My wife and her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was that at your house?

VAN DAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In your bedroom?

VAN DAM: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: The defense is trying to paint a picture of the Van Dams as less than wholesome parents whose lifestyle could have exposed their children to other suspects out there.

Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: That's incredible. Incredible story. Thelma Gutierrez reporting live for us from San Diego. Thank you very much. We'll let you go and get back to covering that story.

We'll take a break right now. We'll be back with more in just a moment. Don't go away.

ANNOUNCER: Next...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been an anguishing case for us. We desperately wanted to find that child alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: We'll go live to Los Angeles for the latest on the boy found dead at the bottom of a swimming pool.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. We turn now to Los Angeles where the coroner's office is now out with the ruling in the death of a young boy whose body was found in the bottom of a swimming pool a couple of days after he was reported missing and after that pool had been searched a number of times. Let's go now live to Los Angeles, CNN's Frank Buckley checks in now. He's been covering the story for us this evening - Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, this is the story of Paolo Ayala, a seven-year old boy who came to this home in Hombie Hills (ph), a very nice area of Los Angeles to a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. He turned up missing during the party. There was a massive search launched in this neighborhood over the course of a couple of days.

And then police found -- or a housekeeper here at the home actually found the body in this pool on Tuesday morning, a full two days after the party took place, the body emerged in this pool. The question was at the time, according to police, the police believed that at first that the body had been placed in this pool because, after all, so many officers had been around this pool, so many parents, so many people had been around this pool.

There's no way that body could have been there. They believe it had been placed here. Then late yesterday, they changed that and said, well, we're keeping open our options. It's possible that body was in this pool all along. Today the coroner's office confirmed those findings.

CRAIG HARVEY, L.A. CO. CORONER'S OFFICE: The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner conducted an autopsy on Paolo Ayala on June 5, 2002. The findings of the autopsy have established the cause of death to be asphyxia due to freshwater drowning. The death has been ruled by the coroner to be accidental. Anatomical findings show no evidence of the body having been removed from the pool prior to discovery on June 4, 2002, at approximately 8:30 a.m.

BUCKLEY: So as unbelievable as it may seem, the officials are now saying that the body was in this pool all along. Joining me right now, Saeed Farkhondehpour, Saeed, you are the owner of this house and of this pool. You have said from the beginning this had to be an accident. Today the official findings have confirmed that. Your reaction?

SAEED FARKHONDEHPOUR, POOL OWNER: Yes, I told you earlier today, ever since we found the body in the pool and especially

(VIDEO/AUDIO GAP) HARRIS: ... some concerns of the standoff now erupting into war. Hello, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you Leon, good morning to you from Kashmir. And here the threat of war still hangs very, very heavy in the air. There had been a glimmer of hope yesterday that had been offered by India's Prime Minister

(VIDEO/AUDIO GAP)

SAVIDGE: The line of control may be one of the most ironically named boundaries in the world because it is so seldom under control. The divide between India and Pakistani forces in Kashmir is nearly as mysterious as the region it passes through. Three wars have been fought on near or even over it. Lately, almost daily heavy artillery jewels (ph) move across it.

Another interesting thing about the line of control or the Yellow Sea, as it's sometimes called, is if you look at any standard map you won't see it. It's simply not there.

Even when standing on the line of control, you can't see it. The only indication it's near are bunkers of posts and soldiers. An internationally accepted border between the two nuclear neighbors has existed for decades and in most places the line of control runs nowhere near it.

So how did it come about? It was a compromise of the last major war India and Pakistan fought essentially the front line, when the shooting stopped in 1971. On military maps, the LOC twist and twitches like an epileptic snake for 700 kilometers or about 500 miles, passing through some of the most beautiful and forbidding terrain on earth, the Himalayan Mountains.

It winds through flat plains and climbs to peaks nearly four miles high. Because of recent tensions India has more than doubled its number of troops in the region from 300,000 to 750,000.

That's one soldier for nearly every eight people who live here costing the government roughly nearly $2 million a day. It's precisely what makes the LOC so hard to guard that makes it so easy to cross. Insurgence for the Pakistani side who say they are bent on freeing Kashmir's mostly Muslim population from Indian control trek across to launch attacks.

India calls them cross-border terrorists. And since both Pakistan and India possess nuclear missiles, the line of control has recently been as something else, the brink of Armageddon, which is why talk of joint military patrols is welcome by the rest of the world as a way to reduce tensions along this invisible divide.

But whatever forces may take up the challenge, they're likely to face the same problem - discovering it's no easy job making sure the line of control lives up to its name.

The home (ph) minister of India says all of this only puts more pressure on U.S. officials that are expected to visit to the region. As you know, Deputy Secretary of State Dick Armitage is expected in Islamabad today, the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld due in the region next week. If they should fail, the home (ph) minister says the prospect of war between India and Pakistan would be very real - Leon.

HARRIS: Martin, let me ask you about the prospects for evacuations there for Americans in that region. As you know, the U.S. government, the State Department here has issued - has strongly urged people to evacuate and get out of both India and Pakistan. You've been traveling around in the countryside there, have you seen any evidence of any evacuations going on?

SAVIDGE: Well you have seen images of that taking place at the airport in New Delhi and just yesterday the British government sort of upped the ante, as far as their warning they gave to British citizens. Earlier they had said that British subjects here in India should consider leaving India as soon as possible. Now they simply say they should leave India as soon as possible. Obviously outside governments have a very real fear about war here - Leon.

HARRIS: Martin Savidge in another country, but yet and still getting behind those lines once again. You be careful Marty. I'll check back with you later on. Martin Savidge reporting live from Kashmir.

We take a break right now, but still ahead an award-winning R&B singer who had it all and now he's got something he probably didn't want. Singer R. Kelly is facing child porn charges.

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HARRIS: Yet another developing situation to tell you folks about tonight. This is, though, here in the states. This is happening just north of Los Angeles near Saugus, California, in the Santa LaQuita Valley (ph). A brush fire there has broken out within the last few hours.

We understand it's now about 200 acres and we believe that it is still growing because we're getting word that some 250 firefighters from Los Angeles County are now rushing their way out there. They're also bringing additional firefighting aircraft.

There's already six aircraft that have been battling this blaze for the last few hours. We understand that several homes are in the area. They're not necessarily being threatened right now, none have been destroyed. The conditions out there, though, are ripe for more fire because it's very dry out there and the temperatures have been in the triple digits out there. So we'll keep our eye on that situation.

Yet another figure in the music industry is in trouble with the law this evening. Grammy award singer R. Kelly was indicted today on child pornography charges. And Chicago police say that they have the tapes to prove it. More now from CNN Chicago bureau chief Jeff Flock.

(SINGING) JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: To the world, he is a multi-platinum selling R&B star best known for his Grammy award winning hit "I Believe I Can Fly". But to Chicago police, R. Kelly is a child pornographer, cuffed and arrested in Polk County, Florida, charged with 21 counts of enticing sex acts and videotaping a pornographic video with a 14-year old girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that he is a celebrity is of no importance to us. The fact that children and communities have been harmed as a result of his actions is very and extremely important to us.

FLOCK: The tape was allegedly shot here in a former church he converted to a $2-million mansion in Chicago. Police say it was made some time after October 1997 with a girl who will not turn 18 until September of this year.

EDWARD GENSON, KELLY'S ATTORNEY: Simply put, the girl that they claim that is on that tape, as my understanding, has gone in front of the grand jury and denied it's her. They do not have any evidence or any proof at all that R. Kelly is on that tape with anyone under the age of 18.

FLOCK: No comment on that from police or on why Kelly is charged with child pornography and not more serious crimes like having sex with a minor or criminal sexual assault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We brought the charges we thought appropriate based on the evidence at this stage.

FLOCK: Allegations about Kelly and underage girls have been simmering for years, and there have been at least three civil lawsuits charging Kelly with having sex with minors. He acknowledges settling two.

Kelly was arrested in Florida after Chicago police refused his attorney's offer to work out a surrender deal. Authorities here want to make it clear that while R. Kelly may be a star, they intend to treat him just like anyone else charged with a crime.

I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Chicago.

HARRIS: Let's take a look now at some other stories in the headlines this evening. Boston's embattled Cardinal Law was back under oath today. This time he was answering questions from attorneys representing people who claim they were sexually abused by reverend Paul Shanley. Law was questioned under oath last month in a separate civil suit filed by alleged victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan.

An anti-abortion activist accused of killing a doctor four years ago has arrived back in the U.S. from France. That's where James Kopp was captured 14 months ago in connection with the sniper killing of abortion provider Barnett Slepian in his Buffalo, New York home. Kopp pleaded not guilty during his arraignment this afternoon.

And the state of Oklahoma is suing the towboat captain and the owners of the barge that toppled an interstate bridge last month. Fourteen people died when the bridge collapsed and sent a 500-foot chunk of the roadway into the Arkansas River. Bridge repairs are expected to cost some $15 million.

We'll take a break right now. When we come back, we'll update you on the breaking story we have for you, the developments from the Middle East. You see a live picture here coming from Ramallah where fighting -- shooting has been under way around the compound of Yasser Arafat.

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HARRIS: We leave you now with this update on our breaking story this evening. Israeli defense forces there making their incursion, again, into Ramallah this evening. They have raided and now control the compound where Yasser Arafat is and he is still inside that compound we understand. Israeli government sources are now saying that Arafat is not a target, even though there has been heavy shelling in that region.

We'll have more for you on this at 10:00 p.m. Eastern with "NEWSNIGHT" and Aaron Brown. That's all for now. We'll see you tomorrow evening.

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