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Suspect in JonBenet Ramsey Murder Arrested in Bangkok, Thailand; Update on the Middle East Crisis

Aired August 17, 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: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. It's one of the most notorious cold cases and it's hot again. An arrest in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The suspect, the leads and the main question now, is it the right man? LIVE FROM starts right now.
Let's get straight to the newsroom, Carol Lin with details on our top story. Carol?

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra just a short time ago I talked with the director of the Tri-State Airport in Wayne County, West Virginia. He confirmed that that airport is still closed and that right now agents are getting a robot in to take some suspicious items out to a field probably to detonate it. Earlier today Kyra, bomb sniffing dogs at that Tri-State Airport detected something suspicious. They think it was confirmed to have something that set them off to indicate that it could be explosive materials in this female passenger's handbag. She's being questioned right now and some alert TSA agents also noticed these items that the director described as plastic containers that had some kind of a substance inside of them that set off these dogs. So right now that airport is closed, about 100 passengers and airport employees have been moved to a different building far away and commercial flights have been suspended for a time. Though the flight that this woman was supposed to get on, according to the herald dispatch, a US Airways flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, was able to take off earlier today. So Kyra she's being questioned, she apparently has lived in the West Virginia area for sometime. So it sounds like she is a local woman at least for the short time back. And hopefully we'll be able to get an aerial shot from one of our affiliates to see where in the field these items are being taken and what security officials are going to be doing with them, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right Carol thanks so much.

Will an arrest a continent away, will it close the books on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey? Well authorities are staying tight lipped right now, but not the suspect. Here's what we know. John Mark Karr a 41 year old elementary school teacher is being held in Bangkok, Thailand. He tells reporters he was with JonBenet when she died, that her death almost 10 years ago was an accident and that he's not an innocent man. Back in Colorado authorities will only say their investigation is far from over and they hope to bring Karr to the U.S. soon. Police in Thailand announced the arrest of John Mark Karr and led him into a throng of reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [Speaking foreign language]

JOHN MARK KARR, RAMSEY MURDER SUSPECT: I love JonBenet and she died accidentally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you an innocent man?

KARR: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?

KARR: Her death was an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you in the basement?

KARR: Yes, uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us about your connection to the Ramsey family?

KARR: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you get into the basement to play with her?

KARR: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how do you feel now? How are you being treated?

KARR: I'm being treated okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long had you known JonBenet?

KARR: No comment on that.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Obsession, confession and now confusion, has the 10- year-old murder of JonBenet Ramsey finally been solved? Not so fast. Even JonBenet's father is warning everybody not to get ahead of the legal process. Our Ed Lavandera is in Boulder, Colorado where a cold case is hot news once again. Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kyra, well everyone here in Boulder, Colorado asking everyone to hit the brakes on this story, even though there's been this sensational confession by John Karr in Thailand. Prosecutors and everyone close to this case here in Boulder says everyone needs to take a step back, slow down from what is going on. So the investigation and the digging into John Karr's story has began frantically here throughout the day. But one of the people who is celebrating -- celebrating is not the best word -- but complimenting the way police and investigators are handling all of this is the University of Colorado professor, Michael Tracey, a journalism professor who started emailing with Karr about two years ago after he had produced a documentary on the JonBenet Ramsey mystery.

He says it was one of those e-mails that became kind of weird that then prompted him to turn that name and e-mail address over to authorities and we understand that that might be the first impetus that got this ball rolling toward investigators looking at John Karr. But that professor showing up here today at the press conference where prosecutors spoke just a short while ago, and we started pressing him for more answers as to what exactly his conversations were with John Karr, and the journalism professor was kind of slowing down from what he's been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a single thing that prompted you to say ok, I have to go to the cops now?

MICHAEL TRACEY, UNIV. OF COLORADO PROFESSOR: There was, but I'm not going to say what it is. It was one particular thing, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it a detail that hadn't been reported?

TRACEY: No, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any parts of this crime that hadn't been reported?

TRACEY: No, I'm not going to go into that, there was one particular thing.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So he really won't go into the specifics of what it was in those e-mails that prompted him to turn it over to Boulder authorities. That seems to be par for the course here in Boulder today, everyone being very tight-lipped about what exactly are the more significant details that prompted them to arrest John Karr in Thailand yesterday morning. Even as you mentioned, Kyra, JonBenet Ramsey's father asking everyone to slow down on this arrest and see how things play out here in the days ahead. We anticipate in the next few days, John Karr will be brought back here to Boulder and perhaps then we can start hearing some more of these details that prompted authorities to arrest him. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera in Boulder, Colorado. Thanks Ed. Well John Karr's family insists that he didn't kill JonBenet Ramsey. Karr's brother Nate tells CNN, "This whole thing is ridiculous." Nate Karr tells the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" he's sure his brother is innocent, he says he hopes DNA tests can be done as soon as possible to exonerate him.

John Mark Karr claims he's who done it, but a million how done its remain. How did he know JonBenet? How did he get into and out of the Ramsey's house? Did he act alone? Was he even in Boulder, Colorado when the murder took place? CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins me once again from New York. DA Mary Lacy was -- I know here we go again. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: I cannot answer those questions again.

PHILLIPS: I know, ok, but these are the questions, remaining, Jeffrey Toobin ok, you are a legal analyst, these are all the questions that people are wondering because, seriously, Jeff, if you look at all the news conferences, if you look at what John Mark Karr had -- yeah, John Mark Karr had to say, there's still a lot of gaps, a lot of loopholes. He even said -- well, there's reports that he said to this general in Thailand right that he drugged JonBenet and then had sex with her. Well the autopsy that we all know about and has been made public record said that she didn't have any alcohol or drugs in her system, so a lot of discrepancies.

TOOBIN: Let me put a different question to you.

PHILLIPS: Oh, now I'm the legal analyst.

TOOBIN: Is he a guilty sicko or an innocent whacko. I mean because that's really what it comes down to here.

PHILLIPS: That's what everybody is asking, considering his past, right.

TOOBIN: Right. I mean, you know, here's a guy who fled in Petaluma, he fled child porn charges, very suspicious, although it's not a conviction. And he goes all over the world according to this resume. He's been in South America, he's been in Asia, he winds up in Bangkok which is notorious for its child sex trade and then he gives this bizarre confession. But, you know the world is full of crazy people who confess to crimes that they didn't commit. Now that is one possibility here. It is also possible that he is the guy who did it. But there are so many questions that you answered, that you asked, starting with was he even in Boulder, Colorado on Christmas of 1996? His ex-wife says no, he was in Alabama. Now that's something that will have to be determined by the evidence. There was DNA evidence on JonBenet's clothing. Does the DNA match his DNA? If it does, I think it's all over, but we don't know. And if there's anything we learned in this case is that after the Ramseys went through years of horrible speculation linking them to the crime falsely, I don't think we should make the same mistake with John Karr.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey let's look at that confession once again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you concerned at all about a false confession?

MARY LACY, BOULDER DA: We can't comment on the evidence in this case at this time. I apologize for continuing to say I can't comment. I'm sorry. Since the affidavit is under seal, I can't comment on that at this time.

KARR: Her death was an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you in the basement?

KARR: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us about your connection to the Ramsey family?

KARR: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you get into the basement to play with her?

KARR: No comment on that.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So he says "I did it," but then backs off and doesn't want to give any other specifics. One former FBI agent says, look, he may be obsessed with this case and he wishes that he would have been a part of the case.

TOOBIN: Well, that is possible. And the other thing, if you look at his confession, he says it was an accident. Well we know that JonBenet Ramsey was killed by a garret, which is a horrible way to die and a very intentional way to kill someone. So it's a confession that doesn't make much sense. And then you add to it this frankly rather ridiculous news conference held by Mary Lacy where she gets up in front of the world's press to say no comment. I don't really understand why you hold a press conference. I mean there's nothing that says she has to hold a press conference, but once she holds a press conference, why do it and then just say "no comment"?

PHILLIPS: We wanted some information, exactly.

TOOBIN: Right. I mean the one thing she did say was -- you know, she implied, at least, is that the reason they brought down the case when they did, is they were afraid he was going to flee and they were afraid he was going to abuse his students where he was teaching in Bangkok. Those are legitimate reasons to arrest someone but they don't really say anything about what the evidence is against him in the Ramsey case. So she held this press conference and said nothing, which, all of this -- what really needs to be done now if you want to know what happened --

PHILLIPS: DNA, we want to here what happened to the DNA, right?

TOOBIN: We want to hear that and we also want to see what's in the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant because they have filed an arrest warrant, they have said for the following reasons we believe there is probable cause that John Karr committed murder and these are the reasons. That has not been disclosed. Presumably it will be disclosed when he is brought to an American courtroom and arraigned for the first time. Until that point, it's really all speculation.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.

TOOBIN: Ok Kyra. PHILLIPS: Patsy Ramsey died in June still in the minds of many, under suspicion. And her sister Pamela Paugh spoke to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" about Karr's public admissions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA PAUGH, PATSY RAMSEY'S SISTER: I didn't actually watch it but I heard it this morning and to that I would say a couple things, one, no you didn't love JonBenet, I loved JonBenet. Second of all, it sickens me that this person has paraded as a schoolteacher. I am a school teacher. There is a difference between yearning to help children learn and yearning to make them sex toys. And saying it was an accident, well, by what accident were you even in her home? By what accident did you tie something around her neck and choke her? By what accident did you put an eight-inch crack in her skull? These things are not accidents. Accidents are falling off the couch and bumping your head when you are a toddler.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well start your morning with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien on "AMERICAN MORNING" 6:00 a.m. eastern. Straight ahead, cold case for years, but once a hot topic that gripped the nation. We're going to look back on the JonBenet Ramsey case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: No gunfire, no missiles just convoys. Lebanese troops, thousands of them fill in the space left by departing Israeli army. They're moving fast and Lebanese commanders expect 15,000 troops will be south of the Litani River by tomorrow. Another sign that life in the Middle East is trying to get back to normal, well the Beirut airport landed a commercial jet today. The first one in weeks. Israeli war planes bombed the runways early in that conflict as you remember.

Well, the Lebanese army was not a factor in the month long cross- border war but it certainly has a key role in keeping the cross border peace. CNN's Karl Penhaul is in south Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under the glare of dark lights, Lebanese army engineers build a steel bridge to span the river Litani. They're preparing the way for thousands more Lebanese troops to stream into southern Lebanon to begin policing the cease- fire between Hezbollah and Israel. How did you begin to put the bridge together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot see too good.

PENHAUL: As dawn breaks, the first trucks rumble over. The bridge creeks under the weight of low loaders and antiquated armored personnel carriers. Beneath, a wreck of the original bridge bombed by Israeli jets. This unit's first mission, occupy terrain, as Israeli forces pull back south of the border after a month long war. In the coming weeks, Lebanese troops will try to ensure that battle hardened Hezbollah militia disarms. The guerrilla force has prove itself to be better equipped and tougher than the national army. And in Marjayoun(ph), the arrival of the Lebanese army was welcomed by locals.

TRANSLATION OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am very relaxed and happy now and I believe in my children's future, we are here to welcome the army.

PENHAUL: United Nations peacekeepers are backing the cease-fire effort and will get reinforcements over the next two weeks. These Lebanese soldiers seem confident at first but when we asked them about the challenge of forcing Hezbollah to turn in its guns and rockets, one wags a finger and the conversation dries up.

(on camera): Lebanese and United Nations troops may be facing a difficult task, as you can see from the posters and the flags, this is most definitely Hezbollah country. Guerilla fighters can blend in with the local community and can easily hide their weapons.

(voice-over): Hezbollah commanders have said their fighters will not demobilize. They're emboldened after resisting Israel's war machine. Dozens more Lebanese troops, the advance party of a planned 15,000 strong force landed in the southern port of Tyre Thursday afternoon. The Lebanese flag hoisted high, assault rifles at the ready, admit the thunder of caterpillar tracks. Ahead of them, the battle to build a lasting peace. Karl Penhaul, CNN, south of the Litani river, Lebanon.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Another ruling in the UK airline terror case. We'll see what it means for Scotland Yard and the suspects. Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Another step forward in the British airline terror investigation, even as Scotland Yard backs off its latest arrest. A man arrested Tuesday was freed last night, once police found no connection to the alleged plot to blow up planes with liquid bombs. Earlier a judge in London okayed the holding of 23 other suspects without charge for several more days.

Now the woman who caused a London to Washington airline flight to land in Boston yesterday landed in court today. 59-year-old Katherine Mayo of Braintree, Vermont faces federal charges after her outburst aboard United Airlines flight 923. An affidavit from an FBI investigator says that Mayo demanded to see an air marshal repeatedly, fidgeted and kept saying people wanted to see inside her bag. Well the affidavit says later that flight attendants refused to let Mayo use one of the lavatories and she urinated on the floor. At that point other passengers and flight attendants handcuffed her and fighter jets escorted the plane to Boston. Mayo also kept talking about Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOSH MAYO, SON: She might have had a stressful time in Pakistan, just getting out of Pakistan and combined with the long flight, she might have just had a rough time. Unfortunately, things were taken out of hand.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well Mayo claims that she was terrified, not a terrorist and that her outburst arose from claustrophobia.

Well President Bush signed a major pension overhaul into law this afternoon. But what does that mean for workers. Cheryl Casone live from the New York Stock Exchange with all the details. Hey Cheryl?

CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well hey there Kyra. You know the pension bill that President Bush signed today will favor 401k retirement savings plans over company funded pension plans. And in essence, this puts the burden of saving for retirement on the person, not the company. The law forces companies with traditional defined pension plans to fully fund them within the next seven years, although it does make an exception for the struggling airline industry. Critics of the bill say the changes will ultimately weaken the pension systems. We shall see. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well everyone's talking about their 401k plans. Will it make any changes?

CASONE: Well you know it will. It does give companies the right to automatically enroll new employees in 401k plans. It will be interesting to see if companies actually do that, is that in their best interest. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, about one-third of workers don't sign up at all. Now this allows financial firms to offer them investment advice, a change critics say is a conflict of interest. Another controversy here. Now, if companies automatically enroll workers in 401k plans, 3 percent of worker's pay does go into the accounts automatically. That could be increased to 6 percent over three years. Companies will be required to match the first 1 percent of pay and contribute half of the next 5 percent. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about this week's -- well is the rally still going on, on Wall Street?

CASONE: You know it's been an interesting day today, a little up and down, a little back and forth. The gains aren't as dramatic as the last two days that we've had, stocks though are modestly higher right now. The Dow industrials right now adding about 14 points, the NASDAQ Composite is gaining just a quarter of a percent right now. Shares of Dow component Hewlett-Packard are up more than 1 percent but off their earlier highs. The company topped their quarterly sales and profit forecasts and raised its current outlook. HP also gaining more ground against rival, Dell, which, this should be interesting, is going to report their earnings after the close on the hills of that big laptop battery recall. On the other end of the spectrum, Merck falling about 6 percent. A federal judge in New Orleans ordered the pharmaceutical giant to pay about $51 million for misrepresenting the risk of its Vioxx arthritis pain killer. And a New Jersey judge threw out a verdict favoring Merck in a separate trial. Well that is the latest from Wall Street. A lot going on this afternoon. I'm going to be back in about a half an hour with a full roundup of the trading day. Stay with us. LIVE FROM will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Warrant lists and apparently unwarranted, a federal judge in Detroit today pulled the plug on those controversial government wiretaps of certain international phone calls and e-mails. The White House is reacting strongly. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins me now with the latest. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you Kyra. And just a few minutes ago we received a statement from the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow reacting to this ruling, I'll read a little bit of it for you.

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