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Suspects in Miami Arraigned on Terror Charges; Seriously Ill Child Kidnapped From Seattle Hospital; Firefighter Drowns In Ohio Floods
Aired June 23, 2006 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The headlines probably caught your attention but in Chicago it's business as usual at the Sears Tower, one of the reported targets in a failed attack plan.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us, again. Phil (sic), I'm assuming everybody is going on with their day as usual?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really, in fact, Kyra, if you weren't paying attention to the news today, you wouldn't think there was anything out of the ordinary around here. I am just half a block away from the base of the Sears Tower in Chicago's loop and it looks like it would on a typical beautiful Friday.
At a news conference this afternoon, Chicago officials, including one of the owners of the Sears Tower and the managing director of the building, said why. They said the information they had about this alleged plot gave them no indications to believe that it went beyond talk and represented a credible threat that would have led to a plot that was going to be put into action.
Let's hear now from Chicago police's superintendent Phil Cline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL CLINE, CHICAGO POLICE: What this investigation illustrates is that law enforcement officials, at the federal and local levels, have taken aggressive steps to thwart and disrupt the potential for a terrorist attack to be executed. The bottom line is none of these plans materialized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: When you talk to some of the people who are in this area, Kyra, they haven't liked to hear about this story. But as far as we can see, they haven't made any changes in where they have walked, what they have done today. they took in the information and went forward.
PHILLIPS: Keith Oppenheim, thanks so much.
Well, a short time ago I spoke with a former prosecutor, Paul Callan. He's raising doubts about the government's case as it stands right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAUL CALLAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: When you read the indictment, the FBI informant seems to be the initiator of most of the ideas regarding what's going to be done. He agrees to supply machine guns and boots and military equipment to the group. It looks like he's suggesting that they take an oath to al Qaeda. He claims that he is the link to al Qaeda. So the FBI informant is very, very active in this conspiracy. I think it may spell trouble for the government over the long run in proving this case before a jury.
PHILLIPS: Do you think the informant crossed the line?
CALLAN: Well, I do know that the line is a very difficult thing to figure out when you have an informant on the ground. I mean, obviously we need informants, because we have to be in a position to infiltrate these cells and to break up these cells. But, on the other hand the informant can't be the person who suggests the commission of the crime. Otherwise that creates the defense of entrapment and lets the defendants in the case be acquitted and get away with the crime. SO, it's a difficult situation determining where the line is.
PHILLIPS: So as you read what was said back and forth between the informant and these various suspects, for example, Narcille Batiste (ph) further detailed his mission to wage a full ground war against the United States, in order to "kill all the devils we can" in a mission that would be just as good or greater than 9/11, beginning with the destruction of the Sears tower. What do you, I mean, are these real terrorists? What do you make of that statement? And do you think that statement was encouraged by this inform in any way? Sounds like he is coming straight out and saying what his plans were.
CALLAN: Well, you know, the government is going to say this was a homegrown terrorist cells. These ideas were their ideas, and the FBI just happened to have an informant in place to observe the activities and apprehend the suspects. But defense attorneys are going to come forward and what they are going to say is, you know, these people, they were given the idea of doing these acts by the FBI informant. They are not really criminals. Maybe they are not too smart. Maybe they are not too organized. Maybe they are anti- American. But this is really loose talk. It's not a conspiracy.
And of course, one of the things we have to be careful about in conspiracy indictments, you can't indict somebody for just loose talk. I mean, there are a lot of people who criticize the American government, who criticize the Bush administration, who criticize law enforcement authorities. That's not a crime in the United States. It becomes a crime only when the criticism is coupled with an overt act to do something wrong, something criminal.
The question is here, did they engage in overt acts that went over the line of loose talk to the point where you have a sustainable federal conspiracy charge? And, obviously, the attorney general feels very strongly that they moved and they broke up this cell at a time when they could make out a case in federal court. But I'm betting you will see quite a battle once defense attorneys get on the scene and start tearing this indictment apart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight now to the news room, Carol Lynn working details on a developing story for us, Carol?
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, there has been a kidnapping of a desperately ill 9-month-old babe, kidnapped by his biological mother. The baby's name is Riley Rogers, nine months old, was last seen with his mother Tina Carlsen, who apparently put the baby, this critically ill infant, inside a bag and snuck her very sick son out of the Seattle Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. The last seen, she was driving a 1987 American model of a Jeep Wagoneer station wagon.
The license number is 990LFZ. There is a statewide amber alert issued. The mother does not have custody. The baby was in state custody and scheduled for surgery, Kyra. So the Seattle police cannot be any more clear. They have said this child will die imminently if he is not treated. So, let's hope that this mother comes to her senses, brings this baby back. This baby needs surgery right away.
PHILLIPS: Alright, we'll follow. I guess we are seeing a picture there of the mother on this web site, Carol. We just brought it up. That's what the mother looks like. That's the first picture we're getting of her. So this is the woman that authorities are looking for. This is from King's web site out of Seattle.
LIN: Tina Carlsen, 35 years-old. She's a white female, blond, five foot two, about a 140 pounds, last seen wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. Other descriptions of her, she was wearing a ponytail. She was slightly stocky in build. She also goes by the name of Tina Marie Chiu. But she's driving a Jeep Wagoneer station wagon and she has this little boy who is desperately ill.
PHILLIPS: Alright, Carol Lin, thank you.
Well, it looks and feels like a heart attack, but emotions are the trigger. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains broken heart syndrome next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the symptoms say heart attack, but it's not. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us broken heart syndrome may be the ultimate link between body and mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years ago, Karen and Denny Schillings took a family trip on a pontoon boat much like this one in the Baltimore Harbor.
DENNY SCHILLINGS, BEREAVED FATHER: Suddenly we were all under the water and under the boat.
GUPTA: Karen thrashed below the murky water, struggling to reach the surface. Denny had already reached the surface, but no sign of the Schillings' daughter, Karin (ph), and her boyfriend, Andrew. Karen and Denny Schillings were rescued and Karen treated for hypothermia at Johns Hopkins.
KAREN SCHILLINGS, BEREAVED MOTHER: Then later in the evening, Denny came back in to tell me that they had called off the efforts that night to find Andrew and Karin. Not too long after that is when the chest pains started.
GUPTA: Karen's first thought -- I'm having a heart attack.
(on camera): When it comes to chest pain and numbness down the arm, that's a heart attack?
K. SCHILLINGS: That's right.
D. SCHILLINGS: Exactly.
GUPTA: But they were saying it sounds like a heart attack, it looks like a heart attack, but not a heart attack.
K. SCHILLINGS: I knew something wasn't going right, that something was happening that they hadn't seen before.
GUPTA (voice-over): What they were seeing was called broken heart syndrome.
DR. ILAN WITTSTEIN, CARDIOLOGIST: A person can come in with all of the same signs and symptoms of a heart attack, but unlike a heart attack, where there's permanent damage done to the heart muscle, with broken heart syndrome, you really have a temporary dysfunction of the heart muscle.
GUPTA: It's caused by a sudden stress or trauma. And unlike a traditional heart attack, people with broken heart syndrome have no evidence of heart disease.
Dr. Ilan Wittstein was a consulting physician on Karen Schilling's case.
WITTSTEIN: She'd experienced stress perhaps on multiple levels -- the physical stress of being underwater, being in freezing cold temperature, the absolute fear.
GUPTA: Cases like Karen's illustrate the profound impact that the brain and emotions can have on the heart.
DR. JAMES YOUNG, CLEVELAND CLINIC: We know that there is clearly a link between emotions, emotional stability, and well-being.
GUPTA: Karen has not had any heart problems since Karin's funeral.
K. SCHILLINGS: There are a lot of things about this that maybe have changed my perspective on life. I'm happy that Karin and Andrew are together, because that's what they wanted. So that's a good thing. Also, the idea that I should live my life now to make Karin proud, and that's what I've tried to do.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And doctors aren't sure why broken heart syndrome almost always affects women, mostly middle aged and post-menopausal.
Sanjay's report first aired on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," which you can catch weeknights at 10:00 Eastern.
Taking stock after two stormy days. Neighborhoods, in some cases entire communities, in central and northern Ohio are fighting floodwaters and loss of power today. One person, a firefighter drowned, trying to save two teens trapped by the fast-rising waters.
Reporter Joe Pagonakis of CNN affiliate WEWS was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE PAGONAKIS, WEWS REPORTER (voice-over): Pitts Road in Wellington in Lorain County left swamped out, a half mile section underwater. Two teens trapped in this Jeep Cherokee forced to climb into the trees above them to survive.
Wellington rescue crews, its dive team, the Lorraine County Sheriff's Department, respond, but their rescue boat is tossed about, caught in the trees. A team of emergency workers try to pull the boat back into position.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait! Stop! Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow!
PAGONAKIS: But then big trouble. A diver overcome by the racing current. Team members try to pull him in. The water keeps pulling him under. Then rescue teams have no choice they pull the diver in quickly. He's taken in plenty of water. They work feverishly to maintain a pulse.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Chet Adin (ph) an 16-year-old Ashley Jordan (ph) are being rescued. Family members watch the drama as it unfolds. The teens rescued by Officer Paul Johnston with the Finley State Park.
RANGE PAUL JOHNSTON, FINLEY STATE PARK: I got up to the kids and as I wedged the front of the boat up to the tree, they were able to get on the front of the boat and get in the boat. And we just broke through the branches of the trees with all the power I got on the boat. We broke through and...
PAGONAKIS: A dramatic rescue captured by News Channel Five cameras. Two teens saved, a diver in trouble. We watch and listen to the dramatic reunion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the diver, Al Anderson Jr., was pronounced dead at a Cleveland hospital. He was 47 years old.
The rain would be welcome, but not the winds. Storms are in the forecast for Sedona, Arizona, this afternoon. Firefighters are worried that the winds could blow burning branches, quote, "all over the place. " They've been battling the wildfire since Sunday. It's burned about 33,000 acres, but no homes or businesses so far. Fire crews say for the moment, their lines are holding.
Portraits of sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are guys that could be doing exactly what I'm doing. They could be going to class. They could be living a normal life in their hometowns. But they're in, you know, a foreign country, you know, sacrificing a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: One man's emotional gift to the families of fallen U.S. troops, just ahead on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More on that terror raid in Miami. Six men in custody, a seventh in Atlanta. The Feds claim their wannabe holy warriors, al Qaeda allies hell-bent on striking American landmarks, but hampered by poverty and lack of expertise.
Here's what we know. All seven suspects are named in a federal indictment charging terror and conspiracy. The indictment lists their possible targets as the tallest building in America, the Sears Tower in Chicago, and FBI facilities in Miami. A man who claims to know the suspects say they are soldiers in a religious group called the Seas of David.
He says the group bends the teaching -- or blends the teachings, rather, of Christianity and Islam and he insists that the group is peaceful. We've heard all day what the government has to say, but listen to this now.
Friends and families of several of those arrested speaking this morning to CNN affiliate WPLG.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVAIN PLANTIN, TERROR SUSPECT'S COUSIN: You can't fault them for trying to find God because God is a -- Sonny (ph) is a religious person, he believes in God. He's a humble guy. He goes to work every day, he comes and takes care of his family, his sister with five kids.
That's the only thing he's guilty of doing, you know what I'm saying? But as far as charging him with terrorist acts, no. And also if they come to find out he's innocent, there's going to be lawsuits pending against the Feds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Actually, our Drew Griffin actually got that interview, and he's also talk to the suspect Stanley Grant Phanor's mother. Phanor is allegedly known as his fellow suspects as Brother Sonny. She says her son is a church-going Catholic.
Success in the latest test of a U.S. missile defense system. The Pentagon says a U.S. warship intercepted and shot down a short-range missile fired from Hawaii. The exercise comes among growing concerns over North Korea. It is reportedly planning to test a long-range missile capable of hitting the U.S. The U.S. says there's just no connection.
Portraits of sacrifice -- an Illinois man is using his talent to honor the memories of U.S. forces who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
CNN's Jonathan Freed has a story you probably saw this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the hands of a 22-year-old college student, sketching the portrait of a soldier killed in Iraq. Cameron Schilling has made it his mission to draw every fallen soldier from his home state of Illinois. It's a mission motivated by a sense of duty and a measure of guilt.
CAMERON SCHILLING, ARTIST: These are guys that could be doing exactly what I'm doing. They could be going to class. They could be living a normal life in their hometowns, but they're in a foreign country, you know, sacrificing a lot.
FREED: So Cameron is sacrificing his time and giving his sketches to the soldiers' families.
SCHILLING: I started posting on different Web sites that this is what I want to do. I just got some responses back. They'd send me a picture and I'd draw the picture and I'd send it to them in the mail, so that's how the first six of them got done.
FREED: But the project grew from six to 126, at last count. Once Illinois' lieutenant governor discovered Cameron's work and invited him to sketch all of the state's fallen soldiers. Cameron had to post the soldier's names on his wall to keep track of his work.
(on camera): Is it difficult for to you come in here and look at that list?
SCHILLING: It's difficult to see it grow.
FREED (voice-over): The state displayed the portraits at a Memorial Day event in Chicago. More than 30 families were there.
Marine Lance Corporal Sean Maher was killed in an ambush in February, 2005.
(on camera): When you look at the sketch, is it giving you something from your son that you didn't have before?
DANIEL MAHER, FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER: Comfort, the fact that you could see his eyes, the fact that he was looking at you. Even though it was a sketch and it wasn't in color, it was a warm feeling, the sketch itself. And ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For someone who didn't know him.
SCHILLING: His eyes are covered a little bit by his hat. And I kind of moved him up a little just to show more of his eyes, because, you know, that is the most important part of the sketch.
MAHER: He's staring right at me, telling me not to worry about him.
SCHILLING: He was just, I think, a couple years younger than I was, so it's kind of just hard to, you know, grasp that.
FREED (voice-over): Cameron feels his sketches highlight what he calls the definition of sacrifice.
Jonathan Freed, CNN, Charleston, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A brutal attack on the basketball court? Take a look at this. 14-year old Coulter Vestal gets clotheslined and pummeled in at a youth basketball game in Kansas in March. The district attorney is holding off on charges because both boys are minors, but the victim's father wants the other player charged.
They appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COULTER VESTAL, ATTACKED DURING GAME: I had no idea that it was even going to come. In basketball, I never thought that anything like that would ever happen.
DALE VESTAL, COULTER'S FATHER: As soon as I saw the punching when the other player climbed on his back, I ran onto the floor along with the coach from the opposing team, and a couple of other spectators went out to kind of break this up. It was a scary thing to watch when it's your son that's on the floor and unresponsive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right.
Ali Velshi -- I don't know how to go from a story like that to you. I apologize. That was a little -- yes, kind of some downer news. Sorry Buddy.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, no kidding. PHILLIPS: That's not how you used to play basketball, right?
VELSHI: Yes, can't you tell? I have got that athletic look. People ask me that. They stop me on the street all the time and they sort of say -- they're looking at me. A lot of people mistake me for Bruce Willis, you know that, right?
PHILLIPS: Oh, of course. You're much better looking.
VELSHI: Right, if you cover up the top of my head and the bottom of my head and just look at my nose, totally Bruce Willis.
PHILLIPS: So everybody is talking about this big Fed meeting next week. What's the deal?
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