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Police News Briefing on Capture of Tennessee Prison Escapee, Wife; President Bush Discusses U.S. Foreign Policy

Aired August 11, 2005 - 13:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures as we're waiting for the Roane County Sheriff's Department, a representative from that department is set up to the mics in Kingston, Tennessee. This a live shot coming to us via our affiliate, WATE, and of course we are waiting to hear more about the case we've been covering since last night.
You remember the manhunt began yesterday. And now the escaped Tennessee prison inmate that we've been telling you about, George Hyatte, 34, who had been jailed ion aggravated assault and aggravated robbery charges, in addition to his wife, Jennifer Hyatte, the woman who pulled in front of the courthouse in the van yesterday, shot a Morgan County regional correction guard to death and drove off with her husband.

Well, both, as you know, were captured -- or they surrendered rather late last night. Now we're going to hear from the Rome County Sheriff David Haggard, in Kingston, Tennessee about the state of this couple.

DAVID HAGGARD, ROANE CO. SHERIFF: I mean, what are we supposed to do, questions or comments, or what.

QUESTION: Can you identify yourself first?

HAGGARD: OK, David Haggard, Sheriff of Roane County.

QUESTION: Do you have any idea when they're coming back.

HAGGARD: Not at this time, I don't. There will be a court proceeding they will have to go through to determine if they're going to waive extradition and come voluntarily back to Roane County, or if they go what we call fight extradition and go through a governor's warrant process. That can take up to 90 days.

QUESTION: Sheriff, is there a chance (INAUDIBLE). People are saying, look, he's not going to be able to get a fair trial here. You know the question. A change of venue, is that a possibility, do you think he could get a fair trial in this county.

HAGGARD: I am sure that he could get a fair trial here in this country. Now what has happened in other cases similar to this, jury selection occurred in other parts of the state and then the jurors were chosen in the county the crime occurred in. I don't know if that would be the situation in this occurrence or not.

QUESTION: Will you seek the death penalty.

HAGGARD: That'd be a question you would have to ask the district attorney general.

QUESTION: What do you want, sir. I mean this happened in your county?

HAGGARD: Well, that would be my recommendation. I would recommend the death penalty.

QUESTION: Would you anticipate that either of them would be returned today?

HAGGARD: I have not had any contact with the TBI or U.S. Marshal Service or anyone this morning, and that's a process they are handling. The TBI is in charge of the case. And like I said, they will have to go through a judicial proceeding in the state of Ohio to see if they're going to wave extradition and come back to Tennessee voluntarily or not.

QUESTION: You would be responsible when they return. And given what occurred here, which of course is why we're all here, would you anticipate that you would put in extraordinary security measures?

HAGGARD: Well, it depends on who is going to be charged with transporting these people back to Roane County, and if it's up to my department, there would be a maximum security effort to bring those people back. So a great possibility that the U.S. Marshal Service will bring them back, and they do transport prisoners for other agencies, and that would be the most secure way that I know of to get them transported back to Roane County. And once they're here, I don't believe they would be here very long. We would request the department of corrections to put them in maximum security for the remainder of the time they would be there, going to trial.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you would requested TDOT to take custody of them.

HAGGARD: That would be my request to the Tennessee Department of Corrections. They have maximum security facilities, and that would be the safest place to keep them.

QUESTION: Sir, you've said in the past, I believe it might have been yesterday, that in the past, the courthouse personnel weren't informed that a maximum security prisoner with a violent history was coming into your courthouse here. Has that changed? Have you guys had a talk? Have you decided, you know what, we need to let people know when someone really bad is coming in.

HAGGARD: I expect those talks will take place at a later date. But right now the department of corrections has an officer to lay to rest, and I'd say that the change in policy, if there is any, that will come at a later date when we sit down and talk this all over.

QUESTION: Sheriff, are you distressed that no one from anyone from the department of corrections has actually come here to address these issues? Have they been talking to you? Because they have been mighty silent through this process.

HAGGARD: The department of corrections is working with the TBI and all the agencies involved in this manhunt, and I've only spoke briefly with some of their internal affairs officers, and I'm sure when this is all been digested and everybody has had time to think over it, that there will be conversations between the department of corrections and law enforcement agencies that are involved.

QUESTION: As far as security, what's going to be different when they're brought back here?

HAGGARD: Well, they will be brought back here under very tight security. They will have an arraignment here. And after the arraignment, my request would be that they be placed in maximum security in the prison system.

QUESTION: Where would that be? What's the closest maximum security...

HAGGARD: Well, the closest maximum security is Brushy (ph) Mountain State Prison, located in Oregon County. It's about 30 miles from here.

QUESTION: Sir, would you consider when the shootout occurred on Tuesday, would you say that you had some pretty good security then? How would you classify your security on Tuesday.

HAGGARD: Well, my security was here in the courthouse. The department of corrections security was with the inmate. And as far as I know. They were following their standard procedures. They had one inmate well shackled and two guards with him. And like I said before, the guards were totally surprised and ambushed, and there's no way to prepare for anything like that, if you've got four guards. I mean, when somebody takes you out in an ambush, you're in a total surprise situation.

QUESTION: I was going to ask you, sir, I know that you're not the lead agency in the investigation, but still you're a long-time police officer. I was going to ask your views on whether you think there were other people involved?

HAGGARD: At this point, I couldn't comment, because I don't know the information that's on the other end in Ohio. I don't know how the man got out of his restraints. I don't know how they got as far as they traveled. So I couldn't tell you at this time.

QUESTION: Sir, I think that might be the next question I was going to ask you -- Bob Testy -- there were two vehicles involved. You have no idea how that second vehicle...

PHILLIPS: You are listening to a news conference with Roane County Sheriff David Haggard in Kingston, Tennessee. Of course he's talking about the fate of those two individuals that police were on a massive manhunt for last night. They did surrender.

Here's a little background. These were actually the mugshots of the two individuals before they were arrested. You see there George Hyatte, 34. He was in jail on aggravated assault and aggravated robbery charges. He was making a court appearance yesterday. His wife who you see there, pulled up, authorities say pulled up when he was being made -- or making his way through court in front of the courthouse. She pulled up in front of a van, shot a Morgan County regional corrections guard to death and drove off with their husband.

As you know, the manhunt ended last night. They were captured. These are the mug shots of the two of them right now, what they look like as they remain in high security situation, high security lock-up. The Columbus Police Department, the SWAT team and U.S. Marshals, had moved in place around the Best Value Inn on the city's north side in Columbus, after a cab driver had taken them on a $200 cab ride from where the courthouse was to where they finally surrendered at a Columbus hotel.

Evidently, according to police reports, that cab driver checking them into this hotel and then tipping off authorities to where they were. And apparently, they gave up without a fight.

Now, tomorrow morning about 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, there's supposed to be an extradition hearing in Columbus, Ohio. We, of course, will be following all the details of that.

Now, moving onto the battle over John Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. The abortion rights group Pro Choice America is running a TV ad now opposing Roberts' nomination. Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven years, a bomb destroyed a woman's health clinic in Birmingham, Alabama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When that bomb ripped through my clinic, I almost lost my life. I will never be the same.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Supreme Court nominee John Roberts filed court briefs supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am determined to stop this ballot, so I'm speaking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Call your senators. Tell them to oppose John Roberts. America can't afford a justice whose ideology leads him to excuse violence against others Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the ad is airing on CNN and other networks and already has some crying foul.

Brooks Jackson of factcheck.org took a close look at the ad and the facts. He joins us now from Washington. Brooks, great to see you.

BROOKS JACKSON, FACTCHECK.ORG: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the ad. You check the facts, you say it's false.

JACKSON: That's right. And we don't characterize things as false very often. More often ads are misleading or twisted or distorted or out of context, but this one is absolutely false. What it says is, as you just heard, that Judge Roberts supported a convicted bomber, supported violent fringe groups, excuses violence. And, in fact, the opposite is true. He has said people who bomb abortion clinics are criminals who deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

PHILLIPS: So, in addition to the information that you say is incorrect, you say the images in the ad are especially misleading. The picture of the clinic bombing that happened nearly seven years after Roberts signed the legal brief in question. Correct?

JACKSON: Well, that's right. The images that are shown -- and, of course, a visual medium like television, images are much more powerful than the words that are spoken -- they actually do come from a blast that occurred nearly seven years after those briefs in question were filed.

And the bombing was done by Eric Rudolph, who is now serving life sentences, I believe. And that case had nothing to do with him and it had nothing to do with bombing. The word bombing was never mentioned in the briefs and the arguments. It was a lawsuit that had to do with whether a federal discrimination statute could be stretched to cover abortion blockaders, who everybody agreed were breaking state trespass laws.

PHILLIPS: Well, you also said that the ad uses that classic tactic of guilt by association.

JACKSON: Well, exactly right. Roberts was not arguing for the convicted bomber or the violent fringe groups, so-called. He was representing the government, filing a friend of the court brief. The arguments were the same as being made by the lawyers on the other side.

But interesting to note, the Supreme Court agreed with Judge Roberts, 6-3. They accepted the argument that that 1871 anti- discrimination statute, originally passed to get ahold on the Ku Klux Klan, could not be stretched to cover abortion blockaders. The argument was made they were discriminating against women. Roberts pointed out and six of the nine justices agreed that they weren't discriminating because they were blockading men and women.

PHILLIPS: So my question is, how can these ads, or how can the individuals putting these ads together, legally do this, Brooks?

JACKSON: Well, there's no law against it. And -- but a lot of people are surprised to hear that, because they're used to the Federal Trade Commission protecting us from false ads against -- about commercial products. But there are no federal laws, anyway, that cover false advertising in political campaigns or in lobbying campaigns like this one.

PHILLIPS: So there are no truth in advertising laws that exist?

JACKSON: None, and probably you wouldn't want them. When the courts look at these things, they think that -- they take the position that the first amendment, free speech, should give people the right to say what they want, and we in the news media and the public should sort it out for ourselves.

PHILLIPS: But we're talking about someone's reputation and we're talking about an incredibly high profile position. You would think at some point -- right? -- that a lawmaker would come forward and say we've got to devise something because this is nasty.

JACKSON: Well, but it's very -- a few states have tried to come up with laws against false political advertising and it's very difficult to get them to pass muster with the courts. When they do, it's very difficult to enforce them. It comes down to an interpretation by some government official about which political candidate is right or which one is wrong. And that's a decision the courts think should be mainly left to the voters. Probably not a bad idea.

PHILLIPS: Brooks Jackson, factcheck.org, of course worked for CNN for a number of years. You are always helping us to get the facts straight, something we aim to do. Brooks, thanks so much.

JACKSON: Excellent. My pleasure. Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Great to see you.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Larry Smith at the PGA Championship. There's a British Open champion atop the leader board, but it's not who you think. Details coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As you know, the president has been spending time in Crawford, Texas, at his ranch. Recently, he's been spending time also with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

They did come out just a few moments ago and speak with reporters. They've been talking about a number of issues. Withdrawal of troops from Iraq, also a number of anti-war advocates that have been camped out outside his Texas ranch, in addition to a number of other defense issues. Let's take a listen.

OK. I'm told that we're still working on getting that tape. Once again, of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the president. Here we go. They're stepping up to the mikes. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all for coming. I'm pleased to welcome Secretary Rumsfeld and members of his team back to Crawford. And I'm pleased to welcome Secretary Rice and her team.

We just had a meeting with the vice president. I had a meeting with the defense team and earlier this morning with Condi Rice and Don Rumsfeld. We'll have a joint luncheon. And then we'll visit with the secretary of state's folks.

We discussed recent developments in Iraq including the political progress that is taking place in that country. Despite the acts of violence by the enemies of freedom, Iraq's elected leaders are now finishing work on a democratic constitution. And later this year that constitution will be put before the Iraqi people for their approval.

The establishment of a democratic constitution is a critical step on the path to Iraqi self-reliance. Iraqis are taking control of their country. They're building a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.

And we're helping them succeed. We have a strategy to help them succeed. On the one hand, we're hunting down the terrorists and we're training the Iraqi security forces so Iraqis can defend themselves.

Our approach can be summed up this way: As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. And when that mission of defeating the terrorists in Iraq is complete, our troops will come home to a proud and grateful nation.

The mission in Iraq is tough, because the enemy understands the stakes. A free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will deliver a serious blow to their hateful ideology.

The second part of our strategy is to help freedom prevail in Iraq.

The recent violence in Iraq is a grim reminder of the brutal enemies we face in the war on terror. And we are a nation at war. The war arrived on our shores on September 11, 2001.

And since that day, the terrorists have continued to kill. They have killed in Madrid and Istanbul and Jakarta and Casablanca and Riyadh and Bali and London and elsewhere. And they are determined to do more harm.

And they kill indiscriminately. In other words, they don't care who they kill. And they kill because they're trying to shake our will. They're trying to drive free nations out of parts of the world so they can topple governments across the Middle East and establish Taliban-like regimes in the Middle East and turn that region into a launching pad for attacks against free people. And they will fail.

September the 11th, I made a commitment to the American people that this nation will not wait to be attacked again. And we're going to stay on the offense. And we're fighting the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere so we do not have to face them here at home.

We're also fighting the murderous ideology, the hateful ideology of the terrorists. And we're doing so by spreading freedom.

See, our ideology is hopeful and optimistic and uplifting. I've got a great optimism about the spread of freedom because I believe deep in everybody's soul is the desire to be free.

And I know that history has shown that peaceful societies are those that are free, that democratic neighbors don't war, that democracies promote peace.

In these times of war, a heavy burden falls on the men and women of our armed forces and their families.

This morning we discussed the steps we're taking to deal with the increased demand on our forces. For example, we've been working to rebalance our forces, moving about 80,000 people out of skills that are in low demand into the skills that are high demand, so we do not have to call upon the same forces repeatedly.

We've also taken steps to improve the call-up process for our Guard and for our Reserves. We've provided them with earlier notifications. We've given them greater certainty about the length of their tours. We minimized the number of extensions and repeat mobilizations.

We're working hard to ensure our troops and their families are treated with the dignity they deserve and the respect they've earned. In the war on terror, our troops are serving with courage and commitment and their courage is inspiring others.

All of our services met or exceeded their active duty recruitment goals in July. The Army, which was below its monthly recruiting targets earlier this year, exceeded its July active duty recruitment goals by nearly 10 percent, though it's still behind for the year. The Navy, Air Force and Marines are on track to meet or exceed their active duty recruiting goals for 2005.

And the troops closest to the fight continue to reenlist in impressive numbers. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are all on track to meet or exceed their reenlistment goals for the year. Americans can have pride and confidence in their all-volunteer force.

I appreciate so very much the secretaries and their teams who have joined me today. I want to thank the vice president for being here. We've had fruitful discussions so far and will continue to have fruitful discussions throughout the day.

I'll be glad to answer some of your questions.

QUESTION: Mr. President, on Iran again, has U.S. intelligence sorted out what role the new Iranian president might have played in the '79 embassy takeover? QUESTION: And will he be given a visa to attend the U.N. meeting in New York early next month?

And wouldn't denying him a visa damage the E.U.-3 negotiations on their nuclear program and inflame the anti-American sentiment that Karen Hughes -- the very thing that Karen Hughes is trying to abate?

BUSH: Really long question.

Let me start off by saying that we're still investigating allegations and/or this guy's potential involvement in the hostage crisis. We have an agreement with the United Nations to allow people to come to meet, and I suspect he will be here to meet at the United Nations.

On Iran, I can't remember the first four questions you asked on the question...

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BUSH: OK. No disrespect, by the way.

Let me just talk about Iran. As you know, the IAEA today issued a report that expressed serious concerns about Iranian decisions. And that's a positive first step.

You know, our strategy is to work with the E.U.-3, France and Great Britain and Germany, so that the Iranians hear a common voice speaking to them about their nuclear weapons ambitions.

And I appreciate the IAEA's positive first step. As you know, there'll be a report back after a period of time. And I look forward to working -- hearing what that report says.

But the point is that -- is that the world is coalescing around the notion that the Iranians should not have the means and the wherewithal to be able to develop a nuclear weapon.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. You're increasing U.S. troop strength in Iraq for the upcoming elections. What happens -- is it possible those troops will be asked to stay on longer, if needed, to help improve security?

And if I may, what happens if Iraq misses the deadline for drafting the new constitution?

BUSH: Right. As to the constitution, one of the meetings we had this morning was with Zal, our ambassador in Baghdad, and he gave us a briefing as to the progress on the constitution.

We have made it clear that we believe that a constitution can be and should be agreed upon by August 15th. And so I'm operating on the assumption that it will be agreed upon by August the 15th.

And Zal said that, you know, obviously there's some difficult issues -- federalism being one, role of religion. BUSH: Hopefully, the drafters of the constitution understand our strong belief that women ought to be treated equally in the Iraqi society.

But those are issues that still are out there. And he did say that there seems to be a spirit of cooperation and a deep desire for people to work closely together.

As for the troops, no decision has been made yet on increasing troops or decreasing troops. I know there's a lot of speculation and rumors about that.

We did, as you might recall, increase troops for the Iraqi election and for the Afghanistan elections. Seemed to have helped create security. And I know the secretary of defense is analyzing that possibility.

I also know there's a lot of folks here in the United States that are, you know, wondering about troop withdrawals. They're concerned about the violence and the death. They hear the stories about a loved one being lost to combat.

And, you know, I grieve for every death. It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one.

I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place.

I also have heard the voices of those saying: Pull out now. And I've thought about their cry and their sincere desire to reduce the loss of life by pulling our troops out. I just strongly disagree.

Pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy. Immediate withdrawal would say to the Zarqawis of the world and the terrorists of the world and the bombers who take innocent life around the world, you know, "The United States is weak and all we've got to do is intimidate and they'll leave."

Pulling troops out prematurely will betray the Iraqis. Our mission in Iraq, as I said earlier, is to fight the terrorists, is to train the Iraqis. And we're making progress training the Iraqis.

I know it's hard for some Americans to see that progress. But we are making progress. More and more Iraqi units are becoming more and more capable of fighting off the terrorists.

And remember, and that's a country where 8.5 million Iraqis went to the polls. They said, "We want to be free." And our mission is to help them have a military that's capable of defeating those who would like to dash their ambitions to be free.

Withdrawing before the mission is complete would send a signal to those who wonder about the United States's commitment to spreading freedom. You see, I believe and know that we're at war and we're at war against a hateful ideology. And the way to defeat that ideology in the long term is to spread a hopeful ideology, one that says to young girls, "You can succeed in your society, and you should have a chance to do so"; one that says to moms and dads, "You can raise your child in a peaceful world, without intimidation"; and one that says to people from all walks of life, "You have a right to express yourself in the public square."

It's the spread of liberty that is laying the foundation of peace. And it's very important for our citizens, no matter what side of the political aisle you're on, to understand that the mission is a vital mission. And it's one that will be -- that we obviously couldn't complete if we didn't fulfill our goals, which is to help the Iraqis.

QUESTION: You're referring to Mrs. Sheehan here, I think.

BUSH: I'm referring to any grieving mother or father no matter what their political views may be.

Part of my duty as the president is to meet with those who have lost a loved one. Listen, I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She feels strongly about her position. And she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position.

And I thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so.

But no, Steve, I met with a lot of families. And I have done my best to bring comfort to the families and honor to the loved one. You get different opinions when you meet with moms and dads and sons and daughters and the wives and husbands of those who have fallen.

One opinion I've come away with universally is that, you know, we should do everything we can to honor the fallen. And one way to honor the fallen is to lay the foundation for peace.

QUESTION: Mr. President, these rumors about a troop draw-down really took flight when some of your military people started talking about drawing down in spring.

What was that about? Are they out of line?

BUSH: I think there were rumors. I think there's speculation.

One of the things that we did announce was a joint Iraqi-U.S. commission to look at the security situation in Iraq.

Clearly, my position has been clear and the position -- therefore, the position of this government is clear that, as Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down. And that means that there's -- obviously, the conditions on the ground depend upon our capacity to bring troops home.

And the main condition is to whether or not the Iraqis have got the capability of taking the fight to the enemy.

BUSH: And so I suspect what you are hearing was speculation based upon progress that some are seeing in Iraq as to whether or not the Iraqis will be able to take the fight to the enemy.

In other words, you've got people -- obviously, it's important to plan, it's important to think down the road. And you've got people saying, "Well, if the Iraqis are capable, if more and more units are capable of taking the fight to the enemy, then provide an opportunity to replace coalition troops with those Iraqis."

I think that's what you're seeing. I think it's kind of what we call speculation. And a decision finally will be made by me upon the recommendation of General Casey through Secretary Rumsfeld to me.

QUESTION: Is that speculation grounded in fact to you, given the way things have gone just recently?

BUSH: Well, I am pleased with the progress being made when it comes to training Iraqi units.

One of the things I announced at Fort Bragg was our strategy to embed our troops within Iraqi units so to better facilitate the training of those Iraqi units.

And this morning, General Casey reported to me and Secretary Rumsfeld and the folks standing right back here -- reported to us that more and more units are becoming more and more capable and that the embedding process is working.

Now, there's not many that can stand alone yet, but there are a lot more that have gone from the raw recruit stage to plenty capable. In some cases, some units need no United States or coalition force help. In some cases, they need minimal help.

But the point is is that there is a matrix and we're following that matrix as more and more troops become capable and confident. And so my answer to you is that we are making progress.

I've said all along, we'd like to get our troops home as soon as possible. As soon as possible is conditions-based. And so we're monitoring progress.

The important thing for the American people to know is we are making progress. There is a political track on which we're making progress and there's a security track on which we're making progress.

And I know it's tough and I know it's hard work. But America has done hard work before. And as a result of the hard work we have done before, we have laid the foundation for peace for future generations.

And I remind people, when they think about the conflict we're in, to think about World War II, when an enemy of ours, Japan, for example, is now a loyal friend and an ally because of the hard work we did not only during the war but in the postwar reconstruction of Japan. And the sacrifices that our troops are making, our family are making, are unbelievably noble. And I am incredibly proud of our military. I know most of the American people are as well.

Listen, thank you all very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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