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Roadside Bomb Kills 10 Marines; Questions Raised about Alito's Abortion Views; Community Looks for Answers to Belgium Suicide Bomber

Aired December 02, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight justice has been served with Mr. Kenneth Boyd.

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KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: In life he was just another killer. In death a North Carolina grandfather becomes a landmark in the annals of U.S. law enforcement.

I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN center in Atlanta. We're looking at 29 years of capital punishment. Is it justice or vengeance? LIVE FROM starts right now.

We begin with a costly day in Iraq. Ten Marines die on a foot patrol. It happened in Fallujah, a roadside bomb. Now the deadliest single attack against United States forces in four months. The news broke late this morning, and we're still receiving details.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson standing by live in Baghdad.

What's the latest that you know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, that roadside bomb was made from several large artillery shells that were placed close to where the Marines were patrolling.

Marines generally patrol along the road quite spaced out, each Marine covering the other Marines. The indications are, at least at this early stage, that it must have been a very large explosion to kill so many Marines, to kill 10 of them.

We also understand that 11 Marines were injured, seven of those Marines, and this explosion happened yesterday, seven of those Marines, their wounds light enough that we're told that they have been now returned to active combat, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic, were Iraqi forces working with the Marines on this operation?

ROBERTSON: That's not clear at this stage. Typically, they would quite often be. We do know that in Ramadi close by Marines there on an operation with Iraqi army soldiers, about 300 Marines, 200 Iraqi army soldiers. On this particular patrol that's not clear at this time, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What do we know about the other operations that are taking place? Was this part of Operation Shank, or is that another operation to fight the insurgency, Nic?

ROBERTSON: From what we can see, it was another operation. Operation Shank was going on or due to go on about 20, 25 miles away in the town of Ramadi. This one, this operation was on the outskirts of Fallujah. We know that Fallujah is now a much more stable city, but beyond the confines of the city, it's still understood there are -- is, at least, a lot of insurgent activity, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Nic, it hasn't even been 48 hours since the president's speech about progress in Iraq and taking down the insurgency. Now we are seeing a group of Marines killed like this, the second biggest since what we saw in Haditha with regard to the Marines. What's going on? What's the problem? You're there on the ground.

ROBERTSON: You know, this is what commanders are studying all the time, and one of the things that's very, very fascinating is just almost at the time that this incident, killing the Marines, was going on there was a briefing by a two-star general, General Rick Lynch, in Baghdad. He was talking about how suicide bombings have gone down, how roadside bombs had gone down, but he gave a very prescient warning.

And obviously, the information about when these soldiers were killed and when it's been made public, there was a time lag. He may well have had an indication of this. He certainly didn't make it clear, but he said, "Look, although attacks have been down it's very likely in the run-up to elections in less than two weeks that there will be spikes in violence."

And he was very clear. He said there could be very bloody and horrific attacks, and that appears now to be what's happened, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Nic Robertson, we'll continue to check in with you there, live in Baghdad. Thanks, Nic.

Meanwhile, working another story in the newsroom. Tony Harris, what's the situation?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kyra, we're following this developing story that we first started reporting to you in the last half hour, 40 minutes or so, an unspecified threat at this time.

Let's put up that picture right now for everyone to see. This is out of New Haven, Connecticut.

An unspecified threat has led to the closures of several courthouses in Connecticut. Live pictures now, as we mentioned, of New Haven. And let's take a look at the map right now.

Activity, a lot of police activity at the courthouse in New Haven. And in a moment we'll get back to our affiliate there who's supplying some pictures for us. And right now the picture is again from WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut.

Once again, Kyra, just to sort of bring you up to date on this and up to speed, we're tracking what, at least at this point, is an unspecified threat that has led to the closures of several courthouses in Connecticut. We will continue to work this story and get as much information as we can for you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tony.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: We'll continue to follow those live pictures and check in with you. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, just in time for Christmas travel, airport screeners will be changing their routine, we're told.

The Transportation Security Administration confirmed today that it's removing some carry-on luggage restrictions but increasing random passenger checks. The changes will go into effect December 22.

Now, as of that date, airline passengers will be allowed to carry scissors less than four inches long, knitting needles, tweezers, nail clippers, and tools less than seven inches long. We still can't figure out why the specific inches.

But flight attendants object to these changes, saying that it's a mistake to let passengers carry any sharp-edged objects, even small ones. The TSA says that, by easing restrictions on small items, that screeners can increase their vigilance against more serious threats.

Now, officials note that large cutting instruments and large tools are still banned.

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KIP HAWLEY, TSA ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Tools with cutting edges, bludgeons, crow bars, hammers, saws, and drills will continue to be prohibited, along with any tool that is more than seven inches long. Please note: contrary to early rumors you may have heard, TSA is not removing items like ice picks, box cutters, or knives of any kind from the prohibited list.

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PHILLIPS: The TSA says that random searches will be expanded in a bid to keep would-be terrorists off guard. Instead of just patting down backs and abdomens, screeners will be able to pat down your arms and your legs below the middle of your thigh. But the TSA says that screeners will have more discretion to forgo random searches based on age and gender.

Well, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news that affects your security.

Now, Alito and abortion, two words you'll hear a lot in the next several weeks as President Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee appeals for support on Capitol Hill and beyond.

The nominee met this morning with the chairman of the all- important Senate Judiciary Committee, who says Alito pledged not to let his personal views affect his constitutional interpretations. In any event, Arlen Specter says that the nominee deserves due process.

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SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I don't want to see Judge Alito prejudiced or have his hearing in the "Post" or the "Times" or on TV. I just don't want to see that happen. And I'm really still furious about what happened to Harriet Miers. Her nomination wasn't only prejudiced; it was obliterated.

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PHILLIPS: CNN's Ed Henry watching all this from the front row. Ed, is the abortion the issue that could obliterate Alito?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the potential fear of Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter. That's why he met today with Judge Alito. It's also a concern at the White House.

Specter said he met with Alito today after some discussions with the White House about trying to get Judge Alito's side out here, out in the public domain and, amid concerns from Democrats and some moderate Republicans like Specter, who supports abortion rights, that maybe Judge Alito wants to get on the high court in order to try to chip away at or overturn Roe v. Wade, the legal right to an abortion in the United States.

At issue here is a 1985 job application we've already heard about weeks ago, in which Judge Alito, trying to get a position in the Reagan Justice Department, basically said he does not believe the Constitution guarantees the right to an abortion, and now an '85 memo that came out after he got that job, in which he basically was playing a key role in devising a strategy for the Reagan administration to chip away at Roe v. Wade.

Very important, Specter said today he pressed Alito on those points and Alito said, No. 1, people need to know he believes there's a, quote, "sharp distinction" between his role as an advocate in 1985 and his role as a judge or as a justice on the high court.

And most important, Judge Alito said that a matter like Roe v. Wade is a matter that is, quote, "embedded in the culture," end quote, of the United States and thus, he would take very seriously stare decisis, what we've heard over and over, respect for legal precedent.

That basically is a suggestion, not an outright saying or a delineation but a suggestion from Judge Alito that he would not try to overturn Roe v. Wade.

He also cited the example of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who in 1974 opposed Miranda rights when it was up on the docket, but then upheld Miranda rights in 2000 when he was chief justice.

So basically, Judge Alito once again trying to spend the signal that, despite any personal views he may have, and I stress may have, against abortion, against the legal right to an abortion, as a justice he's suggesting he would not push to overturn Roe v. Wade -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now what you were just reading there off your notes, were you talking about the questionnaire that Alito filled out, the questionnaire that had to go back and forth with Harriet Miers and that wasn't satisfactory? Now we're learning more about how he answered these questions?

HENRY: That's right. The 1985 -- the second 1985 memo I was referring to is, in fact, from the questionnaire. Much like Harriet Miers had to fill one out, so did Judge Alito. That came in this week.

And in the context of that, there was a 1985 memo laying out that, in fact, Judge Alito, who was not a judge then, but Mr. Alito at the time, as a young Justice Department official, was playing a key role in devising the Reagan administration strategy to chip away at Roe v. Wade, maybe potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.

The other memo we've known about for weeks. That was actually a job application, the same year in 1985.

But the bottom line here is the White House getting Judge Alito out there for this private meeting. As you know, Judge Alito can't come out and hold a press conference now. So he needs to use someone like Arlen Specter as a vessel to get his opinions out there. That's what he's doing right now, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Ed, do you think his nomination is in trouble?

HENRY: I think that's -- I would not go that far right now. I would say that it's -- there are certainly some tough questions, specifically on abortion. Democrats are trying to broaden it out to say it's privacy issues, not just abortion but a whole umbrella of privacy issues.

But so far I still think that there is maybe not a consensus but there's a feeling in the hallways that Judge Alito is still doing OK, much better than Harriet Miers as well.

But there's also a feeling that he's not doing as well as Chief Justice John Roberts and that there's more of a concern. And even Arlen Specter conceded today that this could potentially be a heavier lift than Chief Justice Roberts, because there were just so many more opinions.

Judge Alito has been on the federal bench for 15 years. He was handling some 250 cases a year, issued 300 opinions. And in the words of Arlen Specter, that gives you a lot more targets.

So I would hesitate to say he's in trouble, but certainly the White House is a bit concerned about the way this is going, the way some of these memos are being played in the media. But I don't think it's in trouble just yet, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry on the Hill. Thanks, Ed.

Blue skies or storm clouds? Prosperity ahead or disaster in the making? The U.S. economy is a complicated thing, as you well know, and you know what they say about economists. Lay them all -- lay them all end to end, and they still won't reach a conclusion. Question mark.

Well, this morning President Bush took note of and, in his words, a bright and vibrant economy, as evidenced by a 4.3 percent growth in third quarter GDP and some robust payroll numbers.

Now, the Labor Department calculates 215,000 new jobs in the month of November, the most since July. Unemployment, because it's calculated differently, held steady at five percent.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economic horizon is as bright as it's been in a long time. The foundation for growth is strong. It's based upon low taxes and restrained government spending, legal reform, incentives for saving and investment.

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PHILLIPS: Cut to Alan Greenspan, the outgoing chairman of the Federal Reserve, for decades and for a few more weeks the voice of U.S. monetary policy, of course. And in two speeches today at London, Greenspan warned that budget deficits and trade barriers pose a double-barreled threat to the U.S. economy.

Quoting now, and stay with me, "If the pernicious drift toward fiscal instability in the U.S. and elsewhere is not arrested and is compounded by a protectionist reversal of globalization" -- you with me so far? He's already lost me. "The adjustment process could be quite painful for the world economy."

We told you it was complicated. We'll have more later. We'll try to fish it out.

All right. Here's an easy word. Merci. A French woman's first word, actually, as she thanked her doctors as she awakened from landmark surgery to replace part of her face.

The 38-year-old woman, who doesn't want her name revealed, suffered severe facial injuries last May when she was mauled by a dog. Well, those injuries made it difficult for her to speak or eat and were getting worse.

Doctors say the woman's deteriorating condition spurred them to operate, an operation that some have criticized as unethical. At a post-surgery news conference today they defended their decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. JEAN-MICHEL DUBERNARD, TRANSPLANT SURGEON (through translator): The fact that she's now able to chew, to talk, and no longer has this inert paralyzed face, the fact we now also found out new ways of treating paralysis. People who have lost their sensitivity and mobility can be helped by what we do.

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PHILLIPS: Well, these computer images illustrate the placement of the tissue and the muscle that were taken from a brain-dead donor after her family consented. The team expects feeling will eventually be completely restored in the graft area, which includes the nose, lips, and chin. They say while the patient won't exactly resemble her old self, neither will she completely resemble the donor.

The woman is on drugs to fight infection so that her body won't reject the graft. She's also being monitored by a team of psychologists.

Belgian bomber. What drove this woman to travel to Iraq and become Europe's first female suicide bomber? We'll have a report from her hometown.

The news keeps coming. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: More now on that suicide bomber that wiped out every stereotype. She wasn't from the Middle East, and she wasn't a man. Not only was this suicide bomber a woman but a woman from Western Europe who apparently went to Iraq for the purpose of killing Americans.

CNN's Jim Bittermann went to the woman's hometown in Belgium to try to understand if there's more to this story than just one disenchanted female.

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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of the grimy steel plants of southwestern Belgium, in one of the poorest parts of the country, the residents of a working-class neighborhood were stunned to read in the morning paper what had become of the girl next door.

Thirty-eight-year-old Muriel Degauque had become the first European woman to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq. She blew herself up in November in one of the scores of attacks each month targeting U.S. troops.

But why? Why would someone who graduated from the girls' school here, who occasionally went to mass at the Church of St. Louis, and worked at the local bakery, turn herself into a human bomb in a far off war?

Her aged parents closed their house and went into seclusion at a local hospital when they heard the news. But those who knew Muriel painted a picture of a young woman with problems: first drugs, then alcohol.

The woman who lived two doors down remembered that Muriel's parents were happy when she converted to Islam and cleaned up her life to marry her first husband.

But after a divorce her second husband, an Islamic radical, was a different story. The two were last seen living on this street in Brussels. They took a trip to Syria last summer, returned, and then drove off to Iraq. The husband was killed in combat there a few days before his wife.

(on camera) The shock and surprise that a woman who grew up around here could end up a suicide bomber in Iraq has raised another concern: that just as her increasing radicalism went undetected, others too might be following a similar course.

(voice-over) A Belgian terrorism expert fears the couple could serve as a model for some.

CLAUDE MONIQUET, SECURITY ANALYST: The man and his wife which went to Iraq and which died together against the American. This is -- I'm afraid it could be a success story in the jihadist movement.

BITTERMANN: After Muriel's story hit the news, Belgian police rounded up 14 suspected members of a terrorist network who had been under observation for months. But they said they knew nothing about Muriel until she became what they're calling here the Belgian kamikaze.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Monceau-Sur-Sambre, Belgium.

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PHILLIPS: Back here in the states, Tony Harris once again working that story out of the newsroom -- Tony.

HARRIS: Just scribbling a last couple of notes here.

PHILLIPS: You're figuring it out right now. That's OK. As our viewers can see, you're working the computer.

HARRIS: We're working it.

PHILLIPS: The live pictures behind you...

HARRIS: That's right. That's right. That's a picture of New Haven, Connecticut. Thanks to our affiliate there for providing that picture for us. Just some information that we're getting on the computer here.

And as you mentioned, Kyra, we're following that story, developing right now as we speak out of Connecticut.

Wayne Sanford, here's a bit of new information. He is the deputy commissioner for the Department of Homeland Security in Connecticut. And he's telling us a moment ago Kyra, we were calling these threats unspecific. Well, it's very specific now.

Bomb threats were actually called in to multiple courthouses around the state. So a number of those courthouses have been closed down in Connecticut, New Haven, Rockville, New London, Danielson and New London (sic). These pictures that you're seeing now are from New Haven.

We can tell you that in addition to the facilities being closed down, the courthouses, judicial offices, and a couple of other buildings in the nearby vicinity have also been closed down. They've been cleared. Everyone's been evacuated out.

Obviously, the local authorities are involved in this, but we can also tell you that the FBI is involved and that they are sweeping these buildings right now. Exactly what you would expect right now.

But once again, we're looking at a situation where we've got a number of judicial buildings, courthouses, New Haven, Rockville, New London, Danielson and other places in the state of Connecticut that have been shut down now, evacuated now, sweeps ongoing. More information to come, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Tony Harris, thank you so much. We'll keep checking in with you and those live pictures via our affiliate there, WFSB.

Now, a CNN exclusive: John Negroponte on the war on terror. America's first director of national intelligence gave our David Ensor some insights into the state of the union of several previously separate intel and counterterrorism agencies.

David, what did you learn?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Ambassador Negroponte pointed to the new national clandestine service, which puts all operational officers, spies, if you will, under one boss, and the new national security branch at the FBI. And he said the intelligence community is getting better organized to collect and analyze intelligence as well as to go after terrorists.

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JOHN NEGROPONTE, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR: I certainly believe America is safer since 9/11. And I believe that from an intelligence point of view that our intelligence effort is better integrated today than it was previously. I think we're doing a good job at bringing together foreign, domestic, and military intelligence. And in addition to that, of course, we are on the offensive against al Qaeda and its affiliates around the world.

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ENSOR: He did stress, Kyra, though, there's a lot more work to do. This office has been working for less than a year -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: David, let's talk about the response to potential threats like what happened in the New York subways and then what happened with regard to the Baltimore tunnels. Remember, we were leading the newscasts with it, and then one ended up being a hoax, the other one not really sure.

What does he say about that type of response? No matter what the call is, they've just got to go for it?

ENSOR: You know, he didn't want to second-guess what authorities in New York and Maryland did. As you imply, some critics have said that Negroponte's office should have been more forceful, even more public, maybe, advising that the intelligence on the threats was questionable. He seemed in the interview to feel that they did about right in those cases. Here's how he's put it.

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NEGROPONTE: I think you could say in some respects the system worked here. We had information. We had threat information, which was of perhaps -- while perhaps of questionable reliability, nonetheless, because of the importance of the target and the magnitude of the risk, it was -- it was considered important to pass that information to local authorities.

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ENSOR: And Kyra, there's much more to this interview. We talked about how he prepares to brief the president, whether he has enough control of the budget, and we also asked him about who's going to prepare Secretary Rice to answer the questions we're hearing every day now about reports of CIA prisons in Europe. She's going to Europe next week. So she's going to have to have some answers -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll listen for that.

Also, did you get a chance to talk to him just about the response he's been receiving and if he thinks this National Intelligence Department is working because as you know, pre-9/11 the talk was these agencies, CIA, FBI, other intel agencies weren't communicating, weren't sharing information.

So by having him in this position, does he think it's working? Is the communication working better?

ENSOR: He believes it is. He believes they've made a real difference with getting the intelligence community kind of working better, getting people playing there, their position on the team better.

He does warn, though, that it's a long process. This thing was stood up a little less than a year ago in law, and he actually was put into office in April. So he's -- he really just getting started. But at the same time he insists the country is safer.

PHILLIPS: All right. And just as we're talking about this, David Ensor, perfect segue to Tony Harris in the newsroom, talking about these threats on these courthouses in Connecticut.

Tony, you've got more information?

HARRIS: I sure do, and a guest with us who can shed some more light on this. Of course we're talking about the story of threats being made now on the court system in Connecticut. On the line with us right now, Kyra, is Richard Blumenthal, who is the Connecticut attorney general.

Richard, are you there? Hello.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Hi, I am with you.

HARRIS: Richard, good to talk with you. Thanks for taking your time out.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

HARRIS: I understand that you've been evacuated out of one of these buildings in question. Is that correct?

BLUMENTHAL: Our lawyers are evacuating the courthouses. That is really as much as we know at this point. Lawyers for the attorney general of the state have been told that they need to depart the courthouses because there has been a threat.

What's very unclear at this point is the source of the threat, what exactly has been the threat, and we're simply removing our attorneys from those courthouses.

HARRIS: Exactly where are you located? Are you in New Haven? Which city are you in?

BLUMENTHAL: My office is in Hartford, but we have lawyers all around the state who try cases in the courthouses, and they've ceased those activities and presumably other court personnel and the public have been evacuated, as well.

HARRIS: Richard, Wayne Sanford, I don't know if you know who he is, but have met him, the deputy commissioner for the department of homeland security in Connecticut, is telling us that bomb threats were actually called into the courthouses. Had you received that information?

BLUMENTHAL: We've been told that there were bomb threats, unspecific threats made this morning by telephone to the governor's office, apparently. None of this information has been confirmed. All of it is tentative at this point. But we are taking the steps of telling our lawyers that they should remove themselves from the courthouses.

HARRIS: As -- in the case that you're talking about now, in the fact that these threats have not been confirmed, this procedure that's in place, do you agree with it, this process of clearing out the buildings to the extent that you have -- this is not a small undertaking -- with what are at this point unconfirmed threats?

BLUMENTHAL: I agree that these steps seem to be the necessary procedures to protect personnel who may be conceivably in danger. We don't know enough at this point to say what the nature of the threat is, how credible, necessarily, it may be, but certainly we have an obligation to protect the public as well as our own lawyers and other personnel who work in the courts and public servants who work hard at their jobs. And so we're taking these steps as a precaution.

HARRIS: OK. Richard, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

HARRIS: Richard Blumenthal, who is the Connecticut attorney general. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tony, thanks so much.

HARRIS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Still ahead on CNN, the Death Row debate. It's never gone away, and it's front page news today, mostly because of what happened this morning in North Carolina. The whole story and the emotional discussion when LIVE FROM continues.

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