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CNN Live Today

Failed Terror Strike; Protesting the War

Aired August 19, 2005 - 10:59   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead in our next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY, now that a sentence has been handed down to BTK killer Dennis Rader, I'll speak with the Wichita, Kansas, television anchorman who received letters from Rader throughout the killing spree.
Find out what it's like to hunt for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in Iraq. It's a deadly but very necessary mission.

We have that as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

A group linked to al Qaeda claims responsibility for a rocket attack targeting U.S. military ships in Jordan. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of that claim. The rockets missed their apparent target and struck a warehouse. A Jordanian soldier was killed there. Details ahead in a live report.

Parts of Wisconsin are reeling this morning from a tornado that killed one person and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes. At least eight people were injured as storms ripped across central and southern Wisconsin. The National Weather Service is investigating the course of 18 possible tornadoes around the state.

The space shuttle Discovery begins its journey home to Florida today. Discovery is hitching a ride on top of a modified jumbo jet. NASA expects the shuttle to arrive back at Kennedy Space Center tomorrow after an overnight stop.

Pope Benedict XVI stressing the common roots between Jews and Christians during a visit to a synagogue in Germany today. He also told members of the congregation that the evils of the holocaust must awaken our conscience. The pope is on a visit to his native Germany.

Good morning. Welcome to CNN LIVE TODAY.

It is 8:00 a.m. in Los Olivos, California; 11:00 a.m., just past that, here in Atlanta, Georgia; and 7:00 p.m. in Baghdad.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up this hour, a failed terror strike. An al Qaeda-linked group says it targeted American warships in a Red Sea port today. The mortars did miss. The two rockets landed in Aqaba, Jordan, killing a Jordanian soldier. A third fell across the border in southern Israel.

Our Matthew Chance joins me now from there in southern Israel -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, thank you very much.

And you do indeed join me here in Eilat, the city in the south of Israel just a short distance from where all these various rocket attacks over the course of the day took place. You can see that from our position here overlooking the Red Sea, we have a good vantage point over all of those areas that were affected by these rocket attacks.

Just behind me a short distance away, the Red Sea port of Aqaba in neighboring Jordan. That's where Jordanian and Israeli authorities say at least three rockets were fired at various locations in the area. It's also where two U.S. Navy vessels were located at the times the attacks took place.

The first rocket apparently very nearly struck one of those vessels, narrowly missing the USS Ashland, which is a vessel attached to the U.S. Marine Corps. It's a Marine amphibious craft.

Nobody onboard was injured. No U.S. service personnel were injured. But that first rocket did strike a warehouse on a pier in Aqaba, killing at least one Jordanian soldier, and injuring, according to Jordanian medical officials, at least one other person.

A second rocket struck a public hospital, or the grounds of a public hospital, at least, in Jordan as well. No injuries caused there.

And as you mentioned, a third of these rockets fired from the Aqaba area came across the border, through this airspace here, and landed just a short distance from the airport here in Eilat. In fact, on top of a taxi.

Now, it happens that, according to Israeli media reports, that that rocket did not explode. In fact, they've spoken to the taxi driver whose vehicle it hit, and he's pretty much uninjured. Only slight injuries, it seems. And he's spoken of his experiences. Certainly a very near miss from his point of view.

And certainly the Israeli and the Jordanian authorities say they're working together get to the bottom of this. But at the moment it does seem to be a Jordanian-led investigation. The rocket attacks took place in Jordanian territory.

They have sealed off the port of Aqaba. They're conducting a big security operation there now, searching cars. We've seen helicopters in the area as well, scouring the arid desert plains around this area to try and fide those people responsible for carrying out these attacks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance, live from southern Israel. Thank you for that.

So how do U.S. ships protect themselves against these kind of attacks? Let's go ahead and check the facts. Naval protection measures don't directly address threats like this one, but they probably don't need to. Before U.S. ships even dock at another nation's port, advanced security teams are deployed to conduct threat assessments and coordinate with local security officials. But their focus is on the immediate surroundings, not on the possibility of an attack from several miles away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. ALEC FRASER, U.S. NAVY (RET.): They're basically against a ballistic rocket that was shout at it have no defenses. A ship has many defenses against something like an Exocet missile coming in at sea, but in port, the RAM, the rotating airframe missile, the Phalanx gattling gun with all the background return and heat coming off the shore with warehouses and building bees hind it, it's almost impossible to engage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: You may wonder whether the ship's sonar system would have alerted the crew to incoming missile, but that's unlikely. Sonar systems can detect incoming torpedoes because of the sound underwater. This rocket wouldn't have -- made much sound down there. In fact, the ship's crew may not have even known about the threat until they saw it flying by.

All that said, the targeting system of the rockets is extremely limited. If they were fired from nearby, they would have a good likelihood of hitting a target. But from several miles they don't represent a significant threat to the U.S. ships.

In Iraq today, a gunman shot and killed a city council member in Al-Shalikh, a town near Kirkuk. Aswat Omar Nayaf (ph) died in the drive-by shooting. Insurgents have killed dozens of government and local officials during their campaign of violence.

A somber ceremony in New York today marking the second anniversary of the U.N. headquarters bombing in Iraq. Secretary- General Kofi Annan said it's a chance to reflect on those who die and to honor their legacy. The attack killed 22 people, including a veteran diplomat.

Before the bombing, the U.N. had about 300 staffers in Baghdad. Today, there are just 73.

A Republican senator says the longer the U.S. stays in Iraq, the more it starts to look like Vietnam. Senator Chuck Hagel also blasted Vice President Cheney for saying the Iraq insurgency was in "it's last throes." Cheney made that remark in June.

Senator Hagel mentioned that comment on "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer yesterday. Here now is part of that exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: And maybe the vice president can explain the increase in casualties we're taking and all the other issues that I just addressed. If that's winning, then he's got at different definition of winning than I do.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What are your thoughts on this woman, Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq and has been protesting outside the president's ranch in Texas, wants another meeting with the president?

You lived through Vietnam. You were decorated. You served during the Vietnam War. Do you see a parallel emerging now on the home front as to what happened now and then? And should the president meet with Cindy Sheehan?

HAGEL: Well, there's no question there's a parallel emerging here between Iraq and Vietnam. I've said from the beginning, and still say, there are a lot of -- and mostly dissimilarities. But there are some similarities, and the longer we stay in Iraq the more similarities will start to develop.

Meaning, essentially, that we are getting more and more bogged down, taking more and more casualties, more and more heated dissension and debate in the United States, as evidenced by the situation in Crawford. So, yes, absolutely.

You now have peace demonstrations all over the country. We just had them in Nebraska. You're going to have more and more of them, and it's coming from, not all cases, but many cases, like the mother of the fallen soldier in Crawford, from the parents of these young men and women who have been killed.

As to, should the president see her? I do know that he met with her and other families prior, but I think the wise course of action, the compassionate course of action, the better course of action, would have been to immediately invite her in to the ranch. It should have been done when this whole thing started. Listen to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: As for Cindy Sheehan, she has left her protest spot in Texas for the time being. She had to go back to California after learning her mother had a stroke.

Our Ed Lavandera is in Crawford, Texas, with the latest on how Sheehan supporters are responding to her absence -- Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, the supporters here got word yesterday afternoon about Cindy Sheehan's departure, but they vowed to continue carrying on her message. They say, at this point, they feel that they have garnered so much momentum here that this is much larger than any one of -- any single protester. And Cindy Sheehan's spokeswoman telling us just also a short while ago that Cindy Sheehan does plan to return to Crawford in the next few days. Exactly when is not clear, but that she does plan to return. Yesterday afternoon, it really wasn't clear if that would be happening. But the protesters here actually planning to move closer to President Bush's site. One of President Bush's neighbors, sympathetic to the protesters here, has opened up a parcel of land literally next door to Bush's ranch, where these protesters will be moving toward here in the next few hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNN GONZALEZ, GI RIGHTS HOTLINE: There's a feeling here that's hard to put into words. I don't know if I can find words to describe it, but it's an empowerment. It's a relief of finally getting to talk, and finally getting to put into action what we've been feeling so strongly for so long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE ANDERSON, VETERANS FOR PEACE: We all have questions for George Bush, and Cindy always says, this isn't about just her. This is about all of us. This is about what has happened to our country. George Bush works for us. We don't work for him. And he needs to be accountable to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And even though there hasn't been a constant presence of Bush supporters out here at this particular site, throughout the days we do see an occasional stream of Bush supporters drying by a short while ago, about a caravan of about 20 cars driving by here in support of President Bush, and that will continue. It happened yesterday as well.

That side of the argument here saying that what -- the point has been made here, and they say that it is time for these protesters to go home. But that doesn't appear to be the case, Daryn. They say they will continue to be here until President Bush meets with them or meets with Cindy -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed Lavandera, live from Crawford, Texas. Ed, thank you.

On now to Israel and the evacuation of Gaza. It is pausing for the Jewish Sabbath.

Earlier today, Israeli soldiers used a bulldozer to ram their way inside the Gadid settlement. Most of the families in Gadid left on their own, but about 85 protesters barricaded themselves in a synagogue. The activists reached a deal with the soldiers to come out, but they insisted they be carried or escorted from the building one by one as symbolic protest.

Israel says the withdrawal is about 85 percent complete. Soldiers could wrap it up by Monday or Tuesday.

Israeli troops won't leave Gaza until October. Still, the Palestinians are making plans for a new era in that coastal strip.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Rafah, Gaza, at the international airport -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, we're here at the international airport at Rafah, which has actually been closed since the end of 2001 because of the fighting. We're -- just right now the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has shown up at this celebration. This is a celebration organized by the Palestinian Authority and attended by, we're told, the relatives of people who have been killed during the Palestinian uprising since it started in September of 2000.

This is an event organized by supporters of the Palestinian Authority. Not here, of course, are any representatives of the militant organizations. This is really part of a series of celebrations we've seen staged by the Palestinian Authority over the last week or so to mark, to celebrate, for them, the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You make an interesting point how this is organized by the Palestinian Authority. How are things working out with the struggle for control, and who's going to really run things, that or Hamas?

WEDEMAN: Well, that depends on several things. Basically, there's going to be elections here, legislative elections in January of next year, which are already the focus of intense political competition between Fatah, which is the main faction of the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

I can tell you, here in Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are very strong. The authority's grip on things, not quite so strong. So it really remains to be seen.

January will be the test. But many people here are watching very closely to see how the Palestinian Authority is going to deal with how the land that will be freed after the Israeli pullout is going to be dealt with.

KAGAN: Ben Wedeman, live from Gaza. Thank you.

The fight for survival in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty close. I consider myself lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: It takes more than luck to avoid deadly insurgent attacks. We're going to show you what U.S. troops are doing to stay alive on the front line.

Plus, an admitted serial killer begins his life behind bars. What kind of treatment can Dennis Rader expect? That story when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Dennis Rader began serving his sentence today for the BTK murders that terrorized Wichita, Kansas, over 17 years. Rader arrived at a maximum security prison in El Dorado, Kansas, this morning. He's been sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms with no chance of parole for 175 years. Kansas had no death penalty at the time the murders were committed.

The sentencing of Dennis Rader ends a long and fright frightening saga for the Wichita community. Joining me now to talk more about that, someone very familiar with the case, KAKE television anchor Larry Hatteberg.

Larry, good to see you again.

LARRY HATTEBERG, KAKE TV ANCHOR: And good to see you, Daryn.

KAGAN: This sentencing hearing was supposed to be a lot about closure for the Wichita community. Do you think it brought that?

HATTEBERG: I do think it brought that. You know, Dennis Rader has loved the publicity these past 30 years, and he loved being in control. And yesterday in the courtroom we saw Dennis Rader lose that control and actually the victims took control.

It was the first time that the victims had a chance to actually address Dennis Rader, and they took that opportunity. It was very emotional in the courtroom, and, of course, Dennis Rader then gave sort of a rambling statement, almost like he was...

KAGAN: Was that not one of the weirdest things you've ever seen, Larry?

HATTEBERG: Yes.

KAGAN: It was like an acceptance speech for an Academy Award or somebody.

HATTEBERG: Right. Somebody said it was like he was at the Golden Globes, and he thanked the prosecution, he thanked the police department, he thanked his defense attorneys, he thanked the jailers. And it just went on and on and on.

But I think one of the things that really made the victims' families mad is when he tried to associate himself with the victims families. For example, he killed a small boy, Joseph Otero Jr. And he said he tried to -- he tried to make himself like him and he said, "You know, Joseph Otero Jr. liked dogs. I liked dogs."

And then Kathryn Bright, another one of his victims, she liked to visit her grandma in the country. Well, "I like to go to the country and visit my grandmother."

He liked -- he was trying to take control. And it was all about him.

KAGAN: Yes.

HATTEBERG: But as he gave that rambling statement, we just saw him crumbling, really. Dennis Rader became a parody of himself yesterday.

KAGAN: I think the only saving grace was, as I heard, the family members got up and left the courtroom. They didn't have to listen to that and give him the pleasure of knowing he was talking to them.

HATTEBERG: That's exactly right. And that surprised him.

As Dennis Rader started to speak, there was a commotion in the courtroom. And what that commotion was, as you said, were the victims -- many of the victims' family members getting up, turning their back to him, and then walking out of the courtroom.

And that bothered him. He had to start over. He looked over at them, and he was shocked and he was surprised. He did not expect that.

KAGAN: Good for them.

You had a chance to interview him in jail before this all took place. What did you take away from that face-to-face meeting?

HATTEBERG: Well, I took away from it that here's a guy who still wanted to maintain the control. He loved the publicity, he wanted to be in the limelight. And he wanted to make sure that everybody understood that he really enjoyed talking about the killing of his victims.

Time and time again, every time I would ask him a question about that, for example, how he could kill a child, he had no trouble really talking about any of that. And he would talk about those things much as you would talk about picking up your laundry, in the same tone as tenor in his voice.

No remorse. He doesn't feel anything for his victims. He never has. I don't think he ever will.

KAGAN: You have gotten drawn into this story over the years by the correspondence that you have received, that your station has received. Do you think now that Dennis Rader is going to prison for the rest of his life you will continue to hear from him?

HATTEBERG: You know, that's going to be an interesting point. He will have some mail privileges, and he will have some phone privileges, but he'll only be able to call people who want to get a call from him, who want to accept that call. And there is probably some movement by the district attorney's office at this point to restrict contact with the media.

Now, we don't know if that will actually happen. There are First Amendment issues involved in that. We don't know if that will actually happen.

But I think he will try, because that's what Dennis Rader wants and that's what he thrives on, is being in the limelight. He loves us talking about him on television right now. For him, that is the thrill. For him, that's what gives him the thrill, just like the thrill of killing that he loved so much.

KAGAN: And because of that, there's some people who say we shouldn't even use the term "BTK," because "BTK" was a title he came up for himself, and it gives him extra pleasure of saying he's in control, and it kind of honors him in a way.

What do you think about that?

HATTEBERG: Well, I think that's -- that's probably the case. And one of the family members -- I believe it was Carmen Otero yesterday in the courtroom -- said, "I will just refer to you at 'Rader.' You do not deserve a "mister," you deserve nothing else. You are actually nothing. I will just refer to you as 'Rader.'"

And that's how many people are now starting to pick up on that, and starting to refer to him as simply Rader.

You know, Wichita, we lost our innocence 30 years ago. And I think today everybody is just terribly excited to see Dennis Rader in our rearview mirror.

KAGAN: Absolutely. And Larry, let me just say, we've been talking to you for months about this, even before he was caught, when he first started correspondence months ago.

HATTEBERG: Right.

KAGAN: And I wanted to thank you for helping us in our coverage of this just horrific story.

HATTEBERG: It's been my pleasure.

KAGAN: Yes. Thank you, Larry.

Larry Hatteberg from KAKE TV in Wichita, Kansas.

Hundreds fall ill after visiting a New York water park. What was the cause? What's being done about that? That story, when we check out today's "Daily Dose."

And up next, a deadly storm system moves through Wisconsin. Where is it heading now? A check of the nation's forecast is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: One man described it like this: he said, "The sky just exploded." Strong summer storms raking in Wisconsin, kicking up tornadoes. One twister killed a person in the Milwaukee area. More than 100 home was damaged or destroyed. The tornado was so powerful it dropped debris 16 miles away. Kind of late in the year for this kind of stuff, Rob Marciano tells us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

The military says an American Marine and Afghan soldier have been killed in combat. The incident took place in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Troops have taken on militants in fierce fighting ahead of next month's parliamentary elections.

Israel's pullout from Gaza is breaking for the Sabbath. Today, soldiers cleared out the settlement of Gadid after some resistance from protesters. Israel says the Gaza withdrawal is about 85 percent complete. They hope to wrap it up on Monday or Tuesday.

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