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Iraqi Citizens Express Outrage of Kidnapping of Jill Carroll; Two Miners Still Trapped in Another West Virginia Mine; Justice Department Indicts 11 Ecoterrorists

Aired January 20, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, LIVE FROM: You're watching LIVE FROM. We're talking about Baghdad to Boston, from Washington to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
It's a day of hope mixed with fear. Michigan-born Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old journalist for the Boston based "Christian Science Monitor" was kidnapped in Iraq January 7. Washington says it will not give in to her captor's demands, the release today of all female prisoners held by the U.S. authorities.

Carroll's family continues to work for her release. Jim Carroll went on Al Jazeera television to appeal to his daughter's captors. He called her an "innocent soul". Arab language satellite channels also carried an appeal for Carroll's release from the Sunni politician she was hoping to meet at the time of her ambush.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADNAN DULAIMI, SUNNI POLITICAL LEADER (through translator): In the name of God, in the name of religion, in the name of mercy, and all that is good in Iraq, I appeal to you to release this journalist who came to cover our events and defend our rights.

PHILLIPS: That's not a solitary viewpoint. CNN's Michael Holmes reports on the outrage inside Iraq, arising from the journalist's kidnap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGHAMISH ABDULLAH, IRAQI CITIZEN: (through translator): For the sake of all Iraqis, asking you to release Jill, the journalist, for the sake of an old man.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Voices on the streets of Baghdad in support of Jill Carroll, a reporter who, in many ways, is not your ordinary Western journalist in Iraq.

She's been here for more than two years, spent much time with the local community, speaks Arabic, dresses in Muslim clothing when out, and is known for her stories about the suffering of the Iraqi people.

So, we have seen an almost unprecedented local coverage of her kidnapping. Equally ubiquitous, calls for her release, calls that is cross the usual sectarian divides, Shiites and Sunnis saying the abduction of Carroll was quite simply, wrong. AZZA HUSSEIN, IRAQI CITIZEN (through translator): I feel pain that happened in my country. I feel like she is my daughter who was kidnapped, because they are all like our children. I feel like I was wounded.

HOLMES (on camera): It is redundant to say this is a dangerous place for Western journalists. Dozens have been kidnapped, dozens have been killed. Many media organizations have been forced to take extraordinary security measures. Some journalists rarely leave their guarded offices, not Jill Carroll.

(voice-over): While she lived in a hotel with other Western journalists and she routinely left, dressed in Islamic hijab (ph). She'd travel in local unarmored cars without guards. She told colleagues she felt safer blending in. The work she has been doing, explaining the plight of ordinary Iraqis resonates even with those who never met her.

Today, her photograph, her plight, front page news in the Iraqi capital.

SEDEQ SHAHID, TEACHER (through translator): Although I'm not one of her relatives, when I heard about her abduction, I felt pain, because she is my sister in humane.

HAMID AL-ZUBAIDI, BUSINESSMAN (through translator): I do not think those kidnappers are Iraqis or Muslims. She's only a woman doing who is doing her job showing the true image of this country, no matter if it is positive or negative. All Iraqis are denouncing this terrible act.

HOLMES: And this, from the imam of a Sunni mosque.

SHEIK ABU YASSER, IMAM (through translator): Not only women, but all kind of abductions are wrong. A human is a human, no matter if he is a Muslim or a non-Musli. People who are not from this country should be safe.

IBRAHIM AL-ABAIDI (through translator): Please release the journalist, Jill, for the sake of humanity.

HOMLES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Deadly violence, kidnappings all part of the daily routine in Iraq. Today, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military convoy, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding a third. Last night gunmen dressed like Iraqi police commandos stormed a restaurant and kidnapped five Iraqis, including a police colonel and a man who was a government body guard when Saddam Hussein was in power.

Elsewhere in Iraq, two separate roadside bombings wounded eight Iraqi police officers and soldiers.

Amid today's violence, final, but uncertified results from parliamentary elections last month. An alliance of Shiite parties won the most seats; 128, but not enough to rule without coalition partners. Minority Sunnis captured 55 seats, more than they won a year ago, when many Sunnis boycotted that vote. The coalition of Kurds won 53 seats, down from last year. Talks are expected to start soon on forming a unity government. Challenges will be heard and decided in the next two weeks.

A different town, a different mine, but another painful scene in West Virginia. Less than three weeks after a dozen coal miners died in the Sago Mine, two miners are trapped in Melville; 10 others managed to escape the fire that started deep underground in the southwestern part of the state, about 60 miles from Charleston. Bob Franken joins me now with an update.

What do we know, Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the update is, is that they've changed tactics on the rescue. They had originally decided once they got the five rescue teams in, each of about five people, 25 to 30 people engaged in the mine, they were going to circumvent the fire. It's not an explosion, like it was at the Sago Mine three weeks ago -- and look for the men who are in this sprawling, sprawling mine.

There's just any number of possibilities where they might have taken shelter, where they would have been able to get the oxygen that they need. In any case, the smoke became so, so thick that they had to change tactics, they brought up firefighting equipment and now they're trying to put out the fire that began on a conveyor belt, which caused the men to exit the mine, except for the two that somehow lost their way -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about lessons learned from the Sago Mine disaster. First of all, communication. How are family members -- who is communicating with family members and how do they know that this time they will get the proper information at the right time?

FRANKEN: Well, one of the lessons learned is that officials are being much more spare with information. They are not at all willing to speculate, at all. Who is communicating with them? The governor. What's similar is that the family members and friends are gathered at a church. This is the Free Will Baptist Church just up the road, about 100 yards up the road.

We are being kept away. Police are not allowing any of the media to be up there. Obviously, there is a bit of a difference there. The other big change is that there was a real emphatic response. The rescue teams were here very quickly, highly organized. There have been briefings for a while. They are dealing with the situation at the mine and applying the lessons that they learned after the tragedy at the Sago Mine.

PHILLIPS: Bob, are we hearing anything about safety issues with that mine? As you know, when we waited out those 40 plus hours during the sago mine disaster, we were hearing a lot about that mine, fear from family members, from previous incidents and also its safety record. Are we learning anything about this mine with regard to that? FRANKEN: Well, actually, to the contrary. What we've been told, repeatedly, is that there wasn't the same kind of record. This is owned by Massey Coal Company, I believe it was purchased in 1999. There has been no long record that we have been able to discern of safety violations.

Another thing that is important to point out is that the Sago Mine was a much smaller mine, and that brings with it advantages and disadvantages. This mine goes -- where it's entrance is, is about close to a mile away, it runs under where we're standing now and branches out in all kinds of directions and goes over there.

Of course, that means the area that can be searched is much larger, but it also means much more opportunity for somebody who got lost to find air to breathe.

PHILLIPS: Bob Franken, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you.

Dealing with disaster, if you live along the Gulf Coast and you suffered hurricane damage and you are having problems with your insurance company -- we know a lot of you are. Send us your questions or your concerns. We're going to have an expert with us to answer your e-mails. Here is our e-mail address: Livefrom@cnn.com. We'll take your e-mails in the next hour and let the insurance expert try to help you out.

Domestic terror, new arrests announced today, details straight ahead. The news keeps coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now the war on terror and Americans' privacy rights. The White House is launching an all-points defense of that controversial eavesdropping program.

Standing by for us at the White House, Elaine Quijano.

Elaine, Dick Cheney yesterday, Karl Rove today. They're out there pitching, aren't they?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They sure are, Kyra. And Karl Rove wrapping up, just in the last hour or so, he made some remarks before the Republican National Committee, here in Washington, at a meeting.

And in that speech, he defended the administration's use of that program, calling the NSA program legal, limited and necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, DEP. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Let me be as clear as I can be. President Bush believes if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats -- (APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: The program allows the government to monitor, without a court-issued warrant, the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens. The White House argues it is targeted to only the international communications of Americans believed to have terrorist connections, yet critics say the program is illegal.

And they say it threatens civil liberties as well as privacy rights. The White House, though, believes the president does have the authority both under the Constitution as well as a congressional use of force measure.

But the Republican head of the Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Arlen Specter, Kyra, plans to hold hearings on this matter on February 6 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We'll actually going to talk with Congresswoman Jane Harmon coming up in the next hour. She and other leading members were there at the White House talking about this exact issue. Do you know what happened behind closed doors?

QUIJANO: Well, behind closed doors is remaining behind closed doors, for now, Kyra. They're being very quiet, being very tight- lipped about these briefings. What they will say publicly that they have continued to keep members of Congress informed, briefed on this particular issue. As you know, there has been a lot of back and forth about the extent of those briefings.

This part of, really, the administration's continuing efforts, we understand, from congressional sources that General Hayden, Michael Hayden, who is the deputy director of national intelligence, was there, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, to meet with members of Congress about this very matter -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano, thanks so much.

A message today from the government to radical environmentalists. Nearly a dozen activists charged by the feds for allegedly going too far. The Justice Department says they're terrorists. The story from Washington now, Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.

Give us more details, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there were 11 individuals who were indicted today. The government says they participated in a campaign of domestic terrorism that spanned across five states on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.

This is a 65-count indictment. Eight of the individuals are in custody, but three of them are not. They are believed to be overseas. Both the ATF and the FBI have been working on this investigation for nearly a decade, Kyra. Because some of these incidents date back to 1996.

We heard from the attorney general, from the ATF director and FBI director, Robert Mueller. Here's what he had to say a little bit ago.

Whoop! We don't have that sound, Kyra. I'll continue yakking at you.

The incidents, there were 17 incidents all together. Ranger stations in Oregon, lumber companies, ski resorts in Vail, Colorado, meat companies in Oregon as well. Many, many incidents that are outlined that this group -- they're calling this a domestic terror cell, allegedly participated in, Kyra.

We had a problem with the server. I apologize, Kelli. We'll go ahead and go to that sound and talk about it right now.

ARENA: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, DIRECTOR, FBI: Today's indictment marks the culmination of an intensive investigation by the FBI, as well as our partners, including ATF. An investigation focused on a group of individuals who have committed numerous violent acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes, but terrorism is terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Can we talk about how dangerous these individuals are? And, also, how widespread across the country are we talking about, Kelli?

ARENA: Well, much of this activity takes place out on the West Coast. And there has been, according to government officials, 1,200 such incidents between 1994 and 2004, resulting in millions and millions of dollars in damages.

The one fear, Kyra, is that sooner or later, it's going to cost a life. And that is the concern. So far, that has not happened, but FBI, ATF, always say that sometimes it's just a matter of luck that certain people weren't in facilities when they were set on fire. And they say, look, there's a big difference between protesting and advocacy and criminal activity; and this is criminal activity.

PHILLIPS: Justice correspondent Kelli Arena. Thanks, Kelli.

ARENA: You're welcome, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Streets are virtually empty, schools are closed, and power stations are running full bore with Russia in the grip of a deadly freeze. More now from our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's no stranger to the cold, but this is Russia's deepest freeze, for decades. In the capital, thousands are staying indoors as forecasters predict temperatures will continue to plummet.

On the streets, already, deaths from exposure are creeping higher. More than 20 people are said to have died, as Russia shivers in polar conditions. This is no place for the city's thousands of homeless to survive.

"It's hard," says Boris. "But what can we do? We keep moving from place to place to keep warm. If the policeman is nice, he will only ask are you OK, not frozen yet."

Russia's crumbling power stations are running at full capacity as demand for energy soars. Officials deny gas exports to Europe have been reduced to meet local needs. Across this vast country, school children are missing classes. Some villages without power have been evacuated. Transport is slowly grinding to a halt as temperatures plunge.

(on camera): It is staggering, just how low the temperatures across this country have plunged. Out here on the frozen Moscow River, the sun is having its affect and it's warmed the air to minus 30 degrees centigrade, a frigid 22 degrees Fahrenheit, below.

What's amazing about this country is the ability of ordinary Russians not just to live on, but to embrace this climate.

(voice-over): And embrace it, they do. The Siberian cold snap has coincided with the Orthodox Festival of Epiphany. Religious Russians come to pray and bathe in icy lakes and rivers. Medics are on standby in case the experience proves too much.

"It feels just great," this swimmer insists. There have been some surprising casualties of the cold, like this sea lion with pneumonia. They're rubbing cognac on him as a cure. Others seem less bothered by the arctic conditions. Just a chance for them to bask in Russia's big freeze.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Twenty-five years ago today, a national nightmare ended. Coming up a look back at the Iran hostage crises. We'll talk with one of the ex-hostages and hear his story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Whether it's about tasting good or looking good beer brewers are trying to buck a recent trend. They're launching a new ad campaign to tout the finer aspects of beer. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Americans are drinking more liquor and wine and less beer. Beer accounted for 53 percent of alcoholic beverage sales in 2004, but that percentage dropped to 51.4 percent in 2005. The share of liquor sales in this past year rose to 32 percent and wine was up nearly 17 percent.

There are more than a few reasons why the trend may be happening, an aging population is one possible explanation. Studies show wine drinkers are more likely to be older, female and better educated. Beer drinkers are more likely to be young, male and less educate educated.

Another possible cause for people switching from wine to beer could be increased health consciousness. A new study of grocery sales finds that wine buyers are more likely to buy fruit, vegetables, cooking oil, and low-fat cheese. While beer buyers more often fill their carts with butter, sugar, chips and soft drinks.

All that said, it is important to note that beer still accounts for more than half of all alcohol sales in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Check out these numbers. An ugly day on Wall Street. Markets just tanking.

Susan Lisovicz, what's going on?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's pretty simple to understand. There are two factors that usually drive the stock market, fear and greed. And there's no question there is a lot of fear in the marketplace this week.

Why? We've already seen severely higher oil prices. Right now, up $1.62 to $68.50 a barrel. You're starting to get into the stratosphere on oil prices. But also this week, we're starting to see big, influential companies report their quarterly earnings. There's a lot of nervousness, anxiety about what they're going to say about the last quarter and the quarter going forward.

We've had a bunch of high-profile misses this week. Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, Yahoo!, the big Internet player today. We had GE, which makes everything from light bulbs to jet engines, disappointing the Street. We had Motorola, which was soft on its forecast, Citigroup, another Dow component, disappointing the Street. So you had these two things converging.

Why are oil prices going so high, for instance? Well, Iran, tensions with Iran, an OPEC producer; Nigeria, another OPEC producer, unrest there. Al Qaeda's audio tape that came out yesterday, traders have told me, no, that certainly doesn't bolster confidence in the market.

We saw gold earlier today, Kyra, this is traditionally a haven, when there is a lot of fear in the market place; we saw it hit 25-year highs earlier today. It's back down from that, but the point is, there's a lot of fear in the marketplace.

Finally, I just want to mention, we had a big rally at the beginning of the year. Remember, we were talking about a lot of excitement about the New Year and perhaps as January goes, so does the new year? Well, there's a sense now with what we're seeing, maybe it's time to step back a little bit.

So, you're seeing this vicious rally, the worst of the new year. We have tremendous volume here, well over a billion shares. So much higher than normal in terms of the declines in the market; we're seeing decliners beating advancing stocks by a two to one margin. We ended the year for the Dow Jones industrials at 10,717. Right now we're at 10,735. So, we're sort of getting back to where we ended 2005.

Remember, 2005 sort of ended with a whimper. It's all playing out in the marketplace today. It's pretty ugly.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned Iran. It's funny. Because I held on to "The New York Times", the front page of the business section, "Oil markets are jittery over the possibility of sanctions against Iran". Also talking about Iraq, so a lot of people wondering, of course, what's the bottom line as a consumer? Are my gas prices going to go up?

LISOVICZ: There's no question it will trickle down to gas prices, and that is another thing that really sends a shudder through investors, because when you see sharply higher energy prices, it affects everyone. It affects consumers and their discretionary income. It affects corporate profits.

Right now, in the very early stages of their earning season, we've only had about -- not even a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting. We've had about a quarter of those that are reporting missing estimates. That is a little bit higher than what you normally see.

And, of course, that can all work out completely different by the time everybody weighs in. But it's not lending confidence to the markets right now.

And, as you mentioned, the geopolitical concerns, Iran has just emerged in the last few weeks with its nuclear program. That's something that just doesn't go away in a day, as well as the fact that there's a lot of demand for oil. Not only the U.S., the biggest consumer, but India and China. Those are emerging nations, emerging economies and they use a lot of oil. There's not a whole lot of extra oil in the world if there's a disruption, it causes problems, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz, thank you so much. We'll talk again soon.

And Susan and I were talking about Iran. Do you know what happened 25 years ago today? Our next guest will never forget it, he is one of the 52 U.S. citizens held hostage in Iran. Barry Rosen joins me live straight ahead.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you, more LIVE FROM, next.

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