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Three Western Hostages Rescued in Iraq; Police Step Up Search For Two Missing Milwaukee Boys; Wal-Mart Aims For Deep Pockets

Aired March 23, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour. You're watching LIVE FROM.
The bouncer denies he is a killer. Darryl Littlejohn faced a New York judge last hour on charges of having murdered a grad student he met at his bar.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has an update now -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, tremendous drama here at New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

The mother of Imette St. Guillen, as well as her sister, arrived in court to seek justice for the murder of Imette, the 24-year-old graduate student from John Jay College.

Inside the courtroom, they were sobbing, as Darryl Littlejohn entered. Through his attorney, Mr. Littlejohn pled not guilty to the charges, murder one and murder two, first- and second-degree murder.

Now, Mr. Littlejohn, through his attorney, has also said he absolutely was not the right person, and that the police have been fingering him incorrectly. His defense attorney elaborated on that just moments ago outside of the courtroom.

And the sister of Imette St. Guillen also made comments. She said that the family does have faith in the justice system. And then she began breaking down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRA ST. GUILLEN, SISTER OF IMETTE ST. GUILLEN: Imette was a good person, a kind person. Her heart was full of love, a love she willingly shared with her friends and family.

She had a passion for life and a thirst for seeing the world and learning new things. With Imette's death, the world lost something very special, far too soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Imette St. Guillen was last seen on February 25th leaving a bar in Manhattan. And witnesses told police that they did see Darryl Littlejohn escort her out of the bar.

Seventeen hours later, her body was found in an isolated lot, far away in Eastern Brooklyn. And she was nude. Her hands had been bound, her legs bound, and she also had been raped, as well as strangled -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And now authorities believe that Littlejohn could be a person of interest in other murder cases, right?

CHERNOFF: Yes.

In fact, the police commissioner said that much this morning. He said -- he said that the police are continuing to investigate other rapes, as well as a kidnapping, and that they continue to believe he's a -- quote -- "person of interest" in those cases, even though, in two of the cases, Mr. Littlejohn appeared in a lineup, and the victims were unable to identify him.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff live from New York -- thanks, Allan.

Three more car bombs, 33rd -- 33 deaths in Baghdad today. Sixty other people were hurt in attacks against a police station, a security checkpoint, and a funeral procession.

The other big news from Iraq, the rescue of three Western hostages -- coalition troops credit good intel and quick action.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Originally clean-shaven, over the months in captivity, their hair had grown longer, their beards bushier.

At the moment of their freedom, in the early hours of Thursday morning, their captors, who took these videos, were not around when the British and American special forces came to rescue them.

MAJOR GENERAL RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: We conducted an assault on the house. And, inside the house, we found the three hostages in good condition. There were no kidnappers there at the time.

ROBERTSON: Seventy-four-year-old British physicist and peace activist Norman Kember, 41-year-old James Loney, the coordinator of the Christian Peacemaker Team, and 32-year-old Canadian engineer Harmeet Sooden had been held for 118 days.

Their kidnappers demanded the U.S. release all Iraqi prisoners, but it was a detainee picked up only hours before the raid that led to their freedom.

LYNCH: The key point is, it was intelligence-led, and it was information provided by a detainee, that, from the time we found the intelligence to the time we released the hostages was eight hours, or -- correction -- three hours.

ROBERTSON: On a day when suicide car bombers killed more than 30 people, wounded more than 60 others in Baghdad, the operation to free the Christian Peacemaker Team was welcome news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was several weeks in the planning. And, as I said, the British troops led it up, played a -- a key role in it, although, of course, it involved troops of other nations as well. So, I'm delighted.

ROBERTSON (on camera): A British Embassy spokesman said the three men were relaxing and enjoying their newfound freedom inside of the security of the embassy compound.

Norman Kember told a British official -- quote -- "It is great to be free. I'm looking forward to getting back to the U.K."

(voice-over): When the men were kidnapped in western Baghdad last year, there were four of them -- the fourth, a 54-year-old American Quaker, Tom Fox.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9 of this year, after three months of captivity with his fellow Peacemakers. We had longed for the day when all four mean would be released together. Our gladness today is bittersweet.

ROBERTSON: For the three survivors, the worst days of their lives now over.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, it was welcome news for the brother of freed Canadian hostage James Loney. He got the good news from his father in a phone call after midnight.

Just a short time ago, we spoke with Ed Loney by telephone from Vancouver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD LONEY, BROTHER OF FREED CANADIAN HOSTAGE JAMES LONEY: At first, I didn't believe it. It sounded like a dream, and I thought maybe -- you know, maybe this was a joke or something.

And, then, my dad said: "No, no, no. I spoke with him. We talked him -- to him on the phone."

And I was like: "Great. This is fabulous."

(LAUGHTER)

LONEY: "Fantastic." And, then, my wife and I hugged, and we had a little cheer. And it was great. And we are just so happy that this has all been resolved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Once again, that was Ed Loney, brother of James Loney, one of the three hostages rescued today in Iraq.

Now a CNN fact check -- who are the Americans still held hostage in Iraq? Here is a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-eight-year-old freelance journalist Jill Carroll is the most recent American to be abducted in Iraq. She has been shown three times on Middle Eastern television since her kidnapping on January 7 of this year.

Jeffrey Ake of Indiana was kidnapped from a Baghdad construction site on April 11 of last year. He was last seen two days later on video.

Dean Sadek was kidnapped in Baghdad on November 1, 2004.

And Aban Elias, an Iraqi American businessman, was captured on May 3 of 2004 by a group calling itself the Islamic Rage Brigade. He was last seen in a video three days later on an Arab news channel.

And truck deliver Timothy Bell is still unaccounted for, after his convoy was attacked near Baghdad international Airport on April 9 of 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A critical day for prosecutors in the death-penalty case against al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui.

Justice correspondent Kelli Arena with some developing news -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the judge has actually just called a recess in the trial. She says that she has to have a closed hearing on a matter that she did not disclose to those sitting in the courtroom observing.

But right before that, the prosecution did rest with its last witness, former FBI agent Aaron Zebley, who basically told jurors that, if Zacarias Moussaoui had told the truth to investigators, and allowed them to search his belongings, that, through investigative means, the FBI could have located more than half of the September 11 hijackers.

Now, what juries have to buy is that the FBI would have been able to conduct that investigation in the three weeks between Moussaoui was arrested and, of course, the September 11 attacks.

And, Kyra, that testimony followed testimony yesterday from an aviation expert, who also said that there were certain security precautions that could have been put into place, had aviation officials known about the plot, for example, not allowing short-bladed knives, like those used by the hijackers, on board aircraft.

Two strong witnesses in a row, Kyra, but following a very choppy time for the defense -- as you know, several witnesses pointing to some bureaucratic problems they had along the way, in terms of getting any attention to Moussaoui in the first place.

PHILLIPS: Kelli Arena, thanks so much. Appreciate the update.

ARENA: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, straight ahead, we are talking about no clues, no trace, just fear.

Milwaukee police step up the search for two boys now missing for almost four days. Family members speak out -- coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The call goes out for volunteers to help search for two Milwaukee boys missing now for four days. Police are focusing on a one-mile circle around the boys' homes. A couple of parks are nearby. And police are on foot, in the air, and on horseback.

Today, they brought in specially trained dogs. Police tell us they are getting hundreds of phone calls on their tip line, but, so far, no sign of the boys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE SCHWARTZ, SPOKESWOMAN, MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: One possibility, of course, could be that maybe the boys are -- are with a classmate. You know, we find that hard to believe at this point. This has been so many days now, but we don't know. We are looking at all possibilities. We are looking at all options for where they could be.

So, we're asking those parents of any children that have, you know, children that go to school with these boys to search their attics, the crawlspaces. We want them to look in garages, in cars, in the trunks of cars. We want them to look anywhere they can where small children might hide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So far, businesses in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin have put up $17,000 for the safe return of those boys.

A Caribbean cruise shattered by sirens -- passengers chased out of their cabins by fire. Investigators say careless smoking may be to blame for all of this -- more than 100, possibly as many as 150, cabins blackened -- one person dead, apparently of a heart attack. About a dozen others were sickened by the smoke. The damaged ship, the Star Princess, is now docked in Montego Bay, 3,800 passengers and crew still aboard.

A scenic side trip, a horrifying accident, 12 Americans killed -- it happened in northern Chile, where a tour bus plunged down a ravine. The victims, on a South American cruise, had arranged for the tour themselves when they got into port. Investigators say the company was not cleared to operate those tours. The bus driver was among four people who survived the crash. He reportedly has told investigators he swerved to miss an oncoming truck.

Let's get straight to Carol Lin, working a developing story in Tennessee -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Such a mystery, Kyra, such an unlikely murder victim.

Thirty-one-year-old Brian Winkler was a pastor in a small church in Selmer, Tennessee. He was found dead, shot to death in his bedroom in the parsonage. Actually, some of his congregants went to go find him when he didn't show up for a church meeting.

His wife and three young daughters are missing. And investigators are simply stumped. This is what the Tennessee Bureau of -- of Investigation said a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEAL BURKS, SELMER, TENNESSEE, POLICE CHIEF: ... approach. If there is someone with them, we need to know that. They need to be sure to give their police department or their law enforcement agency all the information they know about it when they call in...

QUESTION: What leads...

BURKS: ... because we do not know what happened.

QUESTION: What leads you to think they are in danger?

BURKS: Well, I mean, he is deceased. And it was not natural causes. We have ruled this a homicide. So, therefore, we would feel that they are in danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Now Kyra, there has been a statewide Amber Alert issued for this family. They believe Mary Winkler and her three children may be in the family van. It is a 2006 gray Toyota Sienna. And they are asking anybody for any sort of sightings to find out what happened -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Carol Lin, thank you so much.

LIN: Sure.

PHILLIPS: War in Iraq is one thing, but politics, says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is a battlefield he won't venture into. The subject came up in an unflinching news conference you may have seen right here on LIVE FROM.

CNN senator Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre was right there in the thick of things, asking his own tough questions.

Hey, Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, you know, it is an open secret here at the Pentagon that the U.S. military would like to reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq in the coming year. But you can't get Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to acknowledge that, or even go as far as President Bush did, when he acknowledged that U.S. troops would likely be in Iraq past 2008.

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said, it is not simply something he is going to speculate on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I -- I think guessing about things like that -- I mean, you -- you would have to define it. It would take a lot of time.

I mean, we -- we -- we may be helping to train and equip some forces in Iraq in -- in 2009. Are we making plans to do that? We are -- we're making plans to assist the Iraqis and the Afghans in training and equipping their forces, so that they can take over the responsibility.

And, as the president said, it's condition-based. I'm not going to get into speculating about specific numbers or on specific dates. It just isn't fruitful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld said -- repeated the same old mantra, that the U.S. troop levels in Iraq will be dictated by the conditions on ground.

And he noted that a previous administration, the Pentagon, the Defense Department, predicted that U.S. troops might be out of Bosnia in as little as six to eight months, and they were still there 10 years later -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jamie, I couldn't let this go, but you couldn't seem to get the secretary to acknowledge something else that you tossed out at him. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Do you feel at all embattled at this point in your tenure, given the fact that...

RUMSFELD: No. No.

MCINTYRE: ... aside from the retired two-star general calling you incompetent and asking you to step down in an op-ed over the weekend, you also had a -- a column from Maureen Dowd, in which she quoted an unnamed administrative official, saying that you don't pull the same sway in meetings, and that you're treated as -- quote -- "an eccentric old uncle who's ignored." RUMSFELD: I see.

(LAUGHTER)

RUMSFELD: You like to repeat all of that stuff, don't you?

(LAUGHTER)

RUMSFELD: On camera? Did you shoot -- did you get that?

(LAUGHTER)

RUMSFELD: Let's make sure you got it.

He loves that stuff. It's a sure way to get on camera. You will be on the evening news.

(LAUGHTER)

MCINTYRE: I know you like to have the facts in the premise of the question.

(CROSSTALK)

RUMSFELD: Yes, I do. I -- and you did it very well.

(LAUGHTER)

RUMSFELD: No.

QUESTION: You could do one-arm pushups and put all this to rest.

RUMSFELD: No. The answer is no.

MCINTYRE: Do you hold the same sway in meetings?

RUMSFELD: Oh, come on. I'm not going get into that.

Pam (ph)?

QUESTION: Sir, in your opening statement, you said...

RUMSFELD: If you believe everything you read in Maureen Dowd...

(LAUGHTER)

RUMSFELD: ... you better get a life.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, Jamie, I want to know if you heard from Maureen Dowd or...

(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: ... if you heard more from the secretary of defense after that news conference.

MCINTYRE: Yes. I think he was a little annoyed about that.

But, you know, he...

(LAUGHTER)

MCINTYRE: He -- he -- in his 73 years, he has developed a pretty thick skin. He is also pretty much a master of these kind of events.

And he pretty -- pretty successfully managed to turn it around and make it about me asking him the question, and not so much about some of the criticism of -- of him. But, you know, he has said in the past that this kind of criticism comes with the territory.

It was interesting. Back in the days when he was getting a lot of favorable publicity several years ago, and was referred to as sort of a rock star defense secretary, he -- he, in a conversation with me one time in the hall said: You know, just wait. It will just be a matter of time before it will be going the other way.

So, he knows it comes with the territory. But, you know, it was the first time we had a chance to ask him about some of this criticism. And we just wanted to see what he was going to say.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're our rock star. We love it when you give him those tough questions.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, thanks so much.

All right, let's get to Bonnie Schneider. There is a tornado warning, I'm being told, in Florida. Bonnie has got the forecast.

What is the deal, Bonnie?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, right now, this tornado warning goes for parts of Broward County, including the city of Coral Springs.

It is a Doppler radar-indicated tornado, meaning a tornado has not been spotted. But, looking at Doppler radar, as we get a closer look at the radar picture, you will see that the storm looks pretty strong. And, according to the National Weather Service, they have seen some rotation with this cell that is moving through the Coral Springs area right now.

That's right here in northeastern Broward County, just to the north of Fort Lauderdale. And now it looks like that cell is moving now into Pompano Beach.

Now, this storm system is very powerful, frequent lightning strikes. We are seeing very gusty winds, 30 miles per hour or greater. So, if you're in Broward or you're to the north, in Palm Beach County, just stay inside. Let the storm pass, because this could turn out to be a serious situation.

Once again, the tornado warning for northeastern Broward County goes until 4:15 p.m. So, it's -- actually goes for quite a while, because the conditions are favorable to get more rain in the area. As we look at the big picture, what you will see is a stream of precipitation that's coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.

Look at all this moisture that is coming in. We have an area of low pressure down here in the Gulf. This is working to the east, tapping into all this moisture. So, stormy conditions for South Florida will persist throughout the afternoon. And I will keep a close watch on it for you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie, thanks so much.

Well, the world's largest retailer says goodbye, guns, hello, espresso.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Wal-Mart takes aim at well-heeled shoppers in Texas -- next on LIVE FROM.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Let's go to Wal-Mart. Let's go to Wal-Mart. We will spend all day and fill up 10 shopping carts with ping-pong balls and bird seed and a lot of crap that we don't need. Yes, honey, let's go to Wal-Mart now. Well, you might get robbed. You might get...

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: That sounds like me when I was 12. We are -- it was Liberace? Wow. That's some mean "Chopsticks."

Well, you remember how Boston reacted to the British tax on tea? Well, imagine the response in Beijing to a tax on chopsticks. Will Chinese pooh-pooh the higher cost of eating a pu-pu platter? And, really, how happy can you be if a happy family comes with a 5 percent consumption tax on utensils? Well, China hopes to cut down on the use of disposable chopsticks that require millions of trees to be cut down every year.

And even well-off people like a bargain, right? Well, Wal-Mart certainly thinks. The world's biggest retailer has a new strategy to bring deep pockets into stores.

CNN's Ali Velshi, who is pretty deep himself, has the lowdown.

Ali Velshi, OK, now, have you heard this song?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Well, you might get robbed. You might get shot. And that's just the Wal-Mart parking lot.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Yes, I have.

PHILLIPS: Scott Riegert (ph) found the Wal-Mart song. Who -- what the heck? Don't people -- why are people writing songs about Wal-Marts?

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Because 100 million people...

PHILLIPS: So we will play them on CNN?

VELSHI: Because 100 million people go through there every week. This company sells more than $300 billion worth of stuff a year. It employs more than a million people.

People have songs about Wal-Mart.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: And part of the issue here is that you said even rich folks want a bargain.

A bargain is something that you would get somewhere else that you can get at Wal-Mart for cheaper. So, what happens is, higher-income folks do go to Wal-Mart to buy groceries and essentials and things like that. But there seems to be some disconnect. They seem to associate lower prices with lower quality. And Wal-Mart is still not getting a -- a higher-income audience.

So, today, in Plano, Texas, Wal-Mart has opened its first what it calls laboratory store. It is an upscale Wal-Mart.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, what's going to be different? When you say upscale, what are we going to see?

VELSHI: Well, I -- you know, I hadn't really thought about the -- what -- what it is, until I -- I learned a little about this. The aisles are wider. They're 18 inches wider than a traditional Wal-Mart store.

There are 2,000 products in there that they're calling premium products. The uniforms are different. They don't have the aprons or the vests. They -- they are going to have polos and khakis.

The dressing room doors are full-length. I didn't know that was what a -- what fancy people like. And there will be grocery baggers when you get your groceries.

What it won't have is guns. As you mentioned earlier, they're not selling guns; they're not selling -- there's less fishing gear and auto supply, because the company said the people they are trying to attract don't sort of -- they are not big do-it-yourself-ers, fewer public announcements in the store.

The cash registers, Kyra, are even quieter. And you are not allowed to have any layaway at this Wal-Mart. They also have a sushi store. They will sell organic products. And their wine collection will reach as high as $500 a bottle.

PHILLIPS: All right. I have been to Plano, Texas. And let me tell you right now, people are not going to be happy about not being able to get...

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: ... their guns for hunting. I'm telling you that right now.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: But that North Texas area has a very popular -- it is a very retail-rich area. So, Wal-Mart likes experimenting in areas like that, sort of a -- a low-risk venture for them, Kyra, because, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. They say they are not implementing these upscale stores all over the country. They just want to see whether some of the stuff that they try there actually works, because rich folks do actually go to Costco and Target. But they're not -- Wal-Mart is not getting a piece of that action.

PHILLIPS: Hmm. I'm surprised, because they always have such good deals.

All right. So, do you think we are going to see more popping up like this...

VELSHI: No.

PHILLIPS: ... throughout the country?

VELSHI: No.

PHILLIPS: No?

VELSHI: One of the -- one of the problems, Wal-Mart stores, they have got 6,200 around the world, but they always have a battle when they try and go into a neighborhood anyway.

But, in the end, people get a good deal, and they like low prices. They really had a battle trying to get into these slightly higher -- upscale areas. Folks don't want stores like Wal-Mart in those areas.

So, this is -- Wal-Mart says this is really a lab to see what works. They listened to focus groups, developed some of this stuff, and they are going to test it out. So, you know...

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

VELSHI: ... it will be interesting to see. You might see some of these changes. Maybe you can get those full dressing room doors.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: I didn't know that was such a -- a big thing -- quieter cash registers.

PHILLIPS: I didn't know that either. Maybe it's so the little kids can't run under the doors, you know?

VELSHI: That's probably exactly what it is.

PHILLIPS: All right, next story is just for you, Ali Velshi, OK? You ready for this?

VELSHI: I'm ready.

PHILLIPS: All right.

The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but a squeaky chair earns a lawsuit in Bristol, England. Ex-art teacher Sue Storer says her former school owes her big time for a nervous breakdown brought on by her classroom chair. Storer says that the chair made a rude noise every time she sat down.

We won't get into too much detail here. She says it was especially embarrassing at parent-teacher conferences -- adding insult to injury, when new chairs arrived at the school, Storer says male teachers got them. She was left with the flatulent furniture.

Well, New York's Central Park attracts tourists of all size and shape. But when a coyote hit town to see the sights, it was quite a sight itself. We will cut to the chase -- when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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