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Pond Drained for Clues to Teenager's Disappearance; Suspected Bomber in London Attacks Arrested; U.S. Troops May Withdraw in Spring; Congress Wades Through Documents on Roberts; Scouts Rescue Fellow Scout from Bear
Aired July 27, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: First this hour, the search for Natalee Holloway takes a dramatic turn. Investigators have been at work all day and night, draining a flood pond that could hold some answers in the two-month long investigation.
For more on what's going on and what led investigators to this pond, I'm joined on the phone by CNN's Susan Candiotti, live in Palm Beach, Aruba.
Bring us up to date, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
The springboard for this, what generated the activity at this pond, is a witness, a witness who over the weekend told authorities that he has -- claims to have seen a judge's son and two brothers, all named as suspected in Natalee Holloway's disappearance, although none of them has been charged.
This witness says that he saw the three of them in a car as he was driving his own car the night that Natalee Holloway disappeared.
Now this pond is located near a racket club where that witness says he saw the three young men from his own vehicle. Law enforcement sources tell CNN that this witness, who is a gardener by trade, had no specific information about the pond. However, they are searching it, I'm told, because of its proximity for that racket club.
Now, normally this pond holds about two inches of water, but after Hurricane Emily swept through not long ago it dumped a whole lot of rainwater in it and it filled up to about two feet. That's why it's taking them so long to drain it. They've also had to bring in additional pumps.
Now, Kyra, also this day one of the suspects, Joran Van Der Sloot, was back in court with his lawyer. His lawyer is appealing a decision that allowed investigators to take a DNA sample from Van Der Sloot. However, that sample has already been taken, so at this point the lawyer presumably is trying to stop its use. We're expecting a decision about that later on in the week.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti live there from Aruba as that pond is considered -- or continued to be drained, looking for clues to lead to Natalee Holloway. Other news across America now.
A massive search is underway in Philadelphia for this pregnant mother, missing now for nine days. Twenty-four-year-old LaToyia Figueroa was last seen leaving a doctor's appointment. She was supposed to pick up her 7-year-old daughter afterwards but never made it. A $10,000 reward is being offered in this case.
The wife of the notorious BTK serial killer has been granted an emergency divorce. A Kansas judge waived the usually 60-day waiting period for Paula Rader. She said her mental health was in danger. Now her former husband, Dennis Rader, pleaded guilty last month to killing 10 people during a 17-year crime spree.
An investigation underway into a deadly plane crash in Delaware. This plane was attempting to land at a private airfield yesterday when it crashed and hit an SUV. Two people inside the vehicle were killed. All three people aboard the plane survived.
Caught by surprise in the middle of the night after a predawn raid. A man suspected of trying to blow up a London train is now being grilled by British police.
CNN's Nic Robertson on the scene in Birmingham.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That man, 24-year-old Somali Yasin Hassan Omar, captured this morning, it is believed, on this road here. An early morning raid. During that raid police say that they had to taser him, that high voltage electronic stun gun before they could bring him into captivity.
Residents say that they saw him being taken out of his house, put in a police car. Police now, we understand, have taken him to a high security central London police station where he's currently undergoing questioning.
Now, we talked to some of those residents who came out. One lady that I talked to said that although she had no idea that these people were living so close to her, she did say that she has seen some very strange activity going on at that house over the last two weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there was possibly one of them or even two of them that were living there previously, on foot, that's not as noticeable as four men. They were drawn to my attention because four men and a car kept parking and coming and going. I saw it from my front window.
ROBERTSON: Now, three other men were also arrested in the early morning hours of this morning here in Birmingham. Those three men, we understand, are being held in a Birmingham police station, perhaps an indication that they are not quite as central to the police investigation into the bombings of last week as Mr. Omar.
But Mr. Omar now, it appears from all the information we have, the first of those bombers from last week whose bombs failed to go off. The first of those bombers now to be brought into police captivity.
There are two other raids that have been going on today. Again, in the early hours of this morning in the north of London. So far police report no arrests in those raids. The detention this morning of Mr. Omar, though, perhaps getting one step closer to the other three most wanted men in the country at this time.
Police also say during the raid they discovered a suspicious package. They brought in a bomb disposal team to deal with that. In the course of doing that, they evacuated some 200 families from this area. Those families still held out, still not able to get back into their homes.
But it does seem at this time that the police have now captured one of those suspect bombers from last week, Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24- year-old Somali. He's been living in Britain since 1992. He is a legal resident. He came here when he was 11 years old. Now he's in police captivity.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Birmingham.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld back in Baghdad with a stern message for Iraqi leaders: get tough and get moving to stem the flow of insurgents. For the U.S. troops there, some light at the end of the tunnel so we're hearing.
CNN's Aneesh Raman has the story from Iraq's capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wherever the U.S. secretary of defense goes, so follow questions about coalition troop size in Iraq. And on a surprise visit Wednesday, Rumsfeld's top commander here tackled that issue, suggesting possible troop reduction following the general elections in December, an answer punctuated with a number of ifs.
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES: If the political process continues to go positively, and if the development of the security forces continues to go as it is going, I do believe we'll still be able to take some fairly substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer of next year.
RAMAN: A scenario heavily reliant on Iraq itself. Ahead of meetings with both the president and with the prime minister, Secretary Rumsfeld voiced strong concerns on border security...
RUMSFELD: Well, it's important for them to work with their neighbors to see that the behavior of, particularly Iran and Syria, improves. It has been harmful and Iraq is a big country...
RAMAN: And on meeting the looming deadline, now just weeks away, to finish writing a constitution for a public referendum in October, something Rumsfeld sees at risk of crumbling, bluntly warning Iraqi politicians that they must move forward and that compromise is necessary.
From the Iraqi prime minister, agreement. And, along with a call for speedy withdrawal of foreign troops, a caveat.
IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We do not want to be surprised by withdrawals that are not in connection with our Iraqi timing.
RAMAN (on camera): With the ongoing insurgency the months to come here are critically important: a constitutional referendum, another round of national elections and the installation of Iraq's first permanent government. A process also, it seems, critical to the Bush administration.
Raman Aneesh, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The docudrama continues in Washington over the paper trail left by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. With an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 pages released by the National Archives, you can bet there's a lot of eyestrain in the beltway.
CNN's Dana Bash gives us the Cliff Note version.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.
Well, nothing like a good old fashion document dump to keep us busy. And that's what Democrats say here, is that the White House is giving them -- gave them six boxes of documents, 20 years old. Something that they actually didn't even ask for.
What they really want to see from the White House are some documents from when John Roberts was in the solicitor general office during the first President Bush's administration, where he wrote a briefing arguing against Roe v. Wade. The White House says that's not going to happen. That falls under attorney client privilege and what you're seeing there should be sufficient. That and many, many more boxes coming from the Reagan library.
Now, as Roberts makes his way around Capitol Hill again today, doing courtesy calls, meeting with some key senators, these documents do give us some insight about him as a young lawyer.
He suggested, for example, on affirmative action that it is a failure. He said it required, quote, "recruiting of inadequately prepared candidates."
He also supported legislation to limit the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over abortion, over bussing, over school prayer.
The documents also show something very interesting and that is that on his first day on the job he was assigned to help Sandra Day O'Connor with her nomination process and he advised her not to answer specific questions. There you see it a quote from one of the documents from 1981.
"The proposition that the only way senators can ascertain a nominee's views is through questions on specific cases should be rejected. If nominees will lie concerning their philosophy, they will lie in response to specific questions, as well."
And the question, Kyra, about what Roberts will and will not answer is already a key flash point between this White House and Democrats. And Democrats are essentially saying that because his record is so thin, because he only sat on the district bench for such a short time, that he should be answering questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Most opinion leaders and scholars think that asking a nominee to answer questions about a specific already decided Supreme Court case is an appropriate line of questioning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Republicans note that some of President Clinton's nominees like Ruth Bader Ginsberg also declined to answer specific questions about her views on cases that could come before the court.
But this is all talking about confirmation hearings, Kyra, that have not been set yet. That is also a point of contention up on Capitol Hill, exactly when they will start. Republicans want them to start the last week in August. Democrats say they need one more week, at least -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And we'll keep talking about it. Dana Bash live from the White House. Thank you.
And for background on John Roberts and an in-depth explanation of the confirmation process you can log on to CNN.com/politics.
Meanwhile, another steaming fresh pile of political controversy has erupted in the funny pages. About a dozen newspapers yanked or edited "Doonesbury" installments this week. At issue, a nickname that cartoonist Gary Trudeau used for White House staffer Karl Rove.
Rove has testified in the federal grand jury probe over who leaked the name of a CIA agent. Well, in the comic, the president is grumbling over the allegations and says Rove is really earning his nickname.
As a staffer asks, "Boy Genius?"
Bush yells, "Hey, Turd Blossom, get in here."
Though Trudeau is well known for pushing political buttons, he didn't come up with this nickname. It was coined, oh, yes, by Mr. Bush himself. Still ahead on LIVE FROM, a hike in the woods turns into havoc in Alaska.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX BENSON, ATTACKED BY BEAR: He was like 10 to 20 feet away from me. And looked up at me and just charged and just jumped on top of me, grabbed my arm and thrashed his head around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Lucky for him, he wasn't alone. We're going to tell you what happens after a Texas Boy Scout gets attacked by this bear.
Later how about your water color? Try swimming on your back and painting a work of art all at the same time. This man can. We're going to tell you how on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: President Bush will speak this evening for a massive gathering of Boy Scouts in Virginia. He's expected to talk leadership and service and choices. But beneath a cloud of sadness and loss.
And you know, tragedy struck the annual jamboree this week when four scout leaders died in an electrocution accident. They were raising a tent, and it touched a live power line.
Jamboree organizers decided to continue the event, which has drawn more than 40,000 scouts from all around the world. It officially began today.
Four men died, three from Alaska, one from Ohio. Three others were injured. A memorial service is planned for this evening at the jamboree site. The Army's Fort Roy Hill (ph) south of Washington is where it will be.
A spokesperson for the Boy Scouts of America calls Monday's accident the worst scouting accident in decades.
Well, a different Boy Scout in a different place. He was in Texas and he's very lucky to be alive today. He's recovering this weekend from an encounter with an Alaska resident, a big hairy one that didn't want to share his trail.
Barry Carpenter from our Dallas affiliate KDF -- KDAF has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARRY CARPENTER, KDAF CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifteen-year- old Alex Benson is recovering at his Plano home. On Friday Alex and other scouts from Troop 262 were near the end of a 50-mile hike on Resurrection Trail, a remote area less than a hundred miles from Anchorage. Alex turned the corner and came eye to eye with a huge brown bear. BENSON: He was like 10 to 20 feet away from me. And he looked up at me and charged and just jumped on top of me, and he grabbed my arm and thrashed his head around.
CARPENTER: The bear tore flesh from his arm requiring dozens of stitches. Then the bear bit his leg, sinking a tooth all the way to the femur bone. Alex had only one hope.
BENSON: Get over here with the gun.
CARPENTER: A fellow scout ran back down the trail and told a scout leader, who was carrying a .45 caliber handgun.
BENSON: While this was going on I was yelling and kicking and screaming, and the adult was firing into the air and so that scared it off.
CARPENTER: Alex was flown to an Anchorage hospital, where doctors treated bites to his arm and leg. This is a picture along the trail just days before the attack. Fellow scouts dropped it off, the same scouts that came to his aid after the attack and fashioned a tourniquet out of torn shirts.
Medical officials in Alaska were impressed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think that's just a testament to Boy Scouts, you know, teaching first aid and, you know, that sort of thing.
CARPENTER: Potential life savers with a sense of humor. They gave Alex this hat that says, "Bite me, Alaska." Notice the bill: it has bear claw marks sewn right in.
Alex can laugh now, but for a brief moment after the attack he thought he was going to die.
BENSON: I had my jacket on and I couldn't see the wounds. Then when I took off the jacket and saw that it was just -- that it was just a flesh wound, I was OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Barry Carpenter there from Dallas affiliate KDAF, thank you. And doctors expect Alex to make a full recovery and credit the quick thinking and correct first aid by his fellow scouts for his relatively good condition.
We're just getting word from overseas. According to Metropolitan Police, they are now looking for a new suspect in the London bombing. This is what Peter Clarke had to say just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP_
PETER CLARKE, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: This evening we're also releasing a new picture. It is of the man we believe tried to set off a bomb at Shepherd's Bush on the 21st of July. The first picture we released showed him at Westbourne Park underground station. In that picture he was wearing a short sleeved, dark blue England football shirt and dark trousers. After running from Shepherd's Bush station, we believe that he threw away the blue England football shirt. It may have been turned inside out and was stained, quite possibly with mud.
We think it was left in McFarland Road near Wood Lane at about half past 12 on the 21st of July. If you found this shirt or picked it up or saw it, please call the anti-terrorist branch hotline.
Having thrown away the shirt, he was later seen wearing a white vest. The new picture we are showing tonight shows him on a Number 220 bus. We think he got on the bus in Wood Lane at about 20 past 1 and stayed on to the end of the route at Mapleton Road, Wunsworth (ph). This is near the junction of Garret Lane, close to the Armsdale (ph) Center.
He got off the bus at seven minutes past 2. We need to know where he went. After he got off the bus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Police there in London once again looking for another suspect. Now you saw that picture they're looking for with regard to those London bombings.
Well, straight ahead Red Sox pitcher Matt Clement on the receiving end of the ball last night. We're going to tell you how he's doing today.
Plus, making a splash in Virginia. Why these ponies are swimming 200 yards to get to the other side.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Get ready for the hard to watch video of the day. And we're talking about Boston Red Sox pitcher stopping a wicked line drive with his head. Roll it, Roger.
Here it goes. Oh! That's right. Tampa's Carl Crawford at the plate gets off a hard shot right at the pitcher. Matt Clement, Clement goes down with everyone at Tropicana Field holding their breath. It looks bad, but remarkably Clement was not seriously injured. Team doctors say he never lost consciousness, but he spent the night in the hospital for observation.
It happens. The plate and the pitcher are only 60 feet apart, folks.
Well, the heat wave gripping most of the country is causing record energy demand. And or some companies that's good news -- Susan.
(STOCK REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan. Look forward to it. Thank you so much.
Have you ever watched that annual wild pony swim that takes place in Virginia shore? Well, unfortunately, it was obscured by fog this time around. But last year, well, here's video.
This morning between 150 and 200 wild ponies made the swim to Chincoteague Island. They were corralled. They'll be sold at auction tomorrow. The annual swim thins the herd of ponies that roam free on a national wildlife refuge.
Well, that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM on this Wednesday. Lisa Sylvester joining us now for a look at what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."
Hi, Lisa.
LISA SYLVESTER, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, there, Kyra. Thank you very much.
How conservative is the president's Supreme Court nominee? A look at some newly released documents on John Roberts could give us some clues. We've been pouring through the papers.
Plus we'll tell you why Mr. Bush had to head to the hill today to lobby members of his own political party. All this and much more when I go "INSIDE POLITICS" in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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