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Islamic Jihad Group Claims Responsibility for Hadera Attack; Possible Indictments in CIA Leak Case; Grand Junction Hoax

Aired October 26, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Lines are growing longer and tempers shorter in the wake of Hurricane Wilma in South Florida. Some people waited for hours yesterday just to get the basic supplies. We're talking ice and bottled water. Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is visiting the state today to assess the damage and relief efforts. President Bush is due to visit tomorrow.
The man largely blamed for the poor federal response to Hurricane Katrina reportedly planned to resign days before the monster storm plowed into the Gulf Coast. According to "The Washington Post," e- mail released by congressional probes show that former FEMA chief Michael Brown was on the verge of announcing his resignation. The chair of the Senate probe says that may explain his apparent detachment during the aftermath.

Tests confirm mounting fears in Croatia. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in wild swans. As a result, the European Union has issued a temporary ban on importing live poultry, game or feathers from Croatia. That virus has killed at least 62 people in Asia.

Movers and shakers in Washington D.C. on the edge of their seats today. They are awaiting possible indictments in this CIA leak investigation. Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will join me to talk about that, also Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

And then there's this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded very friendly to us. And we thought, you know, we could adopt this one as a soldier, adopt-a soldier. Because we've always wanted to do that, wanted our station to do that. And then follow her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: An entire town caught up in the story of one woman who was going off to war, or at least that's what she said, and the loss of her fallen hero husband. The radio tale has a surprise and disappointing ending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I want to show you the first pictures we're seeing here at CNN. This is the scene in the Israeli town, the coastal town of Hadera, where there was an explosion that killed at least four people earlier today.

Our John Vause is in Jerusalem to tell us more about the pictures and information just coming into us here at CNN -- John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

A couple of things we can bring you up-to-date with. CNN has now learned from an Islamic Jihad in Gaza that they were responsible for this blast in the Hadera marketplace. There's still some confusion whether or not this was, in fact, a suicide bombing or whether it was some kind of explosive device left in a bag in front of a falafal stand in this marketplace in Hadera. If it was, in fact, a suicide bombing, it is the first suicide bombing since August 28th, that was in Besheva, which injured about 20 people.

We've also learned that alongside the four people who were killed, five people, according to the Israeli emergency services, are listed in a critical condition. A few others are also listed as serious. There are still patients being treated at the scene right now, among the 20 or so who have been hurt. Some of them are still being treated at the scene. Others are being taken to a nearby playing field and are being treated there by ambulance crews.

There is also the threat at the scene of a secondary explosion. Israeli sappers (ph) are in that marketplace, checking for any other explosive devices which may have been left in the area. That is not an uncommon practice. It's happened many times before in Israel, that after the initial blast there's been a second, sometimes even a third explosion.

Also we know that the area, all the roads into and out of the city, have been sealed off, while Israeli security services look for those who may have helped, if it was, in fact, a suicide bomber, transported the suicide bomber to the scene. Or if it was an explosive device, to try and find those who left this device in that marketplace in Hadera -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And you were saying there was no amount of time before the group Islamic Jihad taking credit for it?

VAUSE: Yes, very much so, claiming responsibility for it. Saying this was, in fact, revenge for the death of a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank on Monday night. He was killed in Tulkarem during an IVF raid. At the time or shortly after the death of this jihad leader, the group vowed that it would carry out a revenge attack, vowed revenge for the death of this militant leader. It looks as if that revenge has been carried now on the people of Hadera, with at least four people dead, five others in a critical condition -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And you were saying this took place in a marketplace. What about the time of day? Would it have been a crowded time of day?

VAUSE: Yes, it happened about 40 or 50 minutes ago now, just at the top of the hour, going on about 4:00. Yes, it would have been busy. We're in a holiday period here. We're just coming to the end of the Jewish holidays. A lot of people may have extended that to take off for the weekend, that kind of thing, so it would have been busy. This is a small town, it's near some very ancient ruins, so it's a fairly popular place. It's right on the water, about 40 miles north of Tel Aviv.

So these marketplaces usually are quite busy, especially in the late afternoon when it's getting a little bit cooler and people come out and start enjoying the evening, that kind of thing. So yes, it would have been busy. Not overly busy, not overly crowded, not like a holiday weekend or anything like that. But there would have been quite a few people there.

And we've seen this time and time again, not just here in Israel, but also in other places around the world. These are what are considered soft targets. There was an alert put out by the Israeli security services, warning that this kind of thing could happen. The police, the army were put on high alert. As always, there were road blocks in and out of Israel, in and out of Jerusalem. Cars being checked, people being stopped, I.D.s asked for, that kind of thing. But there were also warnings that, of course, that there's been such a long period of time since the last bombing that maybe the people have got to become just a little bit complacent -- Daryn.

KAGAN: John Vause, live from Jerusalem with the latest pictures we're seeing from Hadera and the latest information, as well. John, thank you.

We're going to bring you a story from here in the U.S. in just a minute. You might remember her as the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. Well, Cindy Sheehan gained national attention for her anti-war protest. We'll tell you what she is starting today.

And in Colorado, a woman is hailed for her sacrifices in the Iraq war. Something, though, didn't add up about this story. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are keeping our eyes on Washington D.C. You see one of our cameras on the White House, and one on the federal courthouse in Washington D.C. We're waiting to see if the grand jury, the federal grand jury that has been investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity is meeting today, and if there will be indictments. There are speculations that indictments could come today.

Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us from New York to talk about the probe and talk about a little bit, almost like a primer of what to watch for.

Jeffrey, good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Daryn.

KAGAN: First, let's talk about the possible crimes that could come in an indictment.

TOOBIN: OK, there are really sort of two general categories of crimes that Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, has been investigating. One is, remember this all goes back to the leak to our colleague, Robert Novak, in his column in "The Chicago Sun-Times," the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, who was an undercover CIA agent. It is a crime to intentionally release the name of a CIA agent who is undercover. So there is a group of crimes related to improper disclosure of secret information.

KAGAN: Right, and let's start right there with something that you said, intentional. It's a very high bar that a prosecution has to meet here. You have to say that someone meant to and that somebody knew that this information was classified, and that this person was undercover.

TOOBIN: You're exactly right, and in fact, this specific statute that Fitzgerald is investigating, as I understand it, there has never been a trial where someone has been convicted of violating this statute. That's how rarely it's been prosecuted. There was one guilty plea, someone pled guilty to violating it, but there has never been a jury conviction so that gives you some idea of how difficult, how rare it is for a prosecution in that case.

The other group of crimes that he's investigating, and he specifically sought and received authority from the Justice Department to do that, was obstructing his own investigation, people possibly lying in the grand jury, lying in interviews with him and FBI agents, obstructing justice, that sort of universe of crimes. Those are the two areas he's looking into, and we'll see, we all assume, by the end of the week, if any charges come out of this.

KAGAN: Well, and I think if is a good word, too, because it's entirely possible there will be nothing.

TOOBIN: It is entirely possible that there will be nothing. And what's different about the Fitzgerald investigation from, say, the Kenneth Starr investigation, the Kenneth Starr investigation, he was what's called an independent counsel. There was a law under which he was appointed where he was supposed to file a report -- and everybody remembers the famous Starr report -- about what his findings were. Pat Fitzgerald has no authority, so it's possible that he may shut down at the end of the week, no indictments, no report. So we may never find out what, if anything, he learned in this investigation.

KAGAN: He'll just say, thank you very much for your time.

If there are indictments, of course, politically it would be very damaging, because I think we would expect, we've heard from the White House, if anyone is indicted they would step down, they would step aside. That could happen, but in terms of an actual crime, how serious would these charges be?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, again it depends on which crime it is. Certainly if it is the substantive offense of disclosing classified information improperly, or purgery in the grand jury, it would almost carry some jailtime, you know, not a lot. We're not talking about multi, multiyear sentences here, but these are all felonies we're talking about, federal crimes, and you know, people could definitely go to jail.

KAGAN: I want to change the channel here for a second and ask you one question about Harriet Miers and her Supreme Court nomination. She has handed in yet another set of answers to a questionnaire to the Senate and her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, not that far away. This one continues not to get a lot of support, especially from conservatives.

TOOBIN: You know, she is -- I would say this nomination, you know, is in trouble. It doesn't mean she's going to lose, and I think today is very important. Because the reason why the senators rejected the first questionnaire is that she didn't talk enough, in their view, about her work as White House counsel, what...

KAGAN: But now as an attorney you know you're getting into a kind of funny, gray area there, just in terms of attorney/client privilege.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And an Monday, President Bush said, you know, we're drawing a red line there, just making your point that we are not going to be talking about what kind of advice she gave me. That is protected, as you said. So in addition to the sort of substantive fight about whether she's qualified and whether her background is appropriate, it looks like there may be a fight over this questionnaire, whether she will release the information that the senators want, so watch for that, when the questionnaire revision becomes public later today.

KAGAN: Oh, we will be watching, Jeff.

TOOBIN: All right.

KAGAN: It is interesting times in Washington D.C.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. It's a good time to be a legal analyst.

KAGAN: I was going to say, good time to be a lawyer? Different topic. Different topic. Jeff, thank you.

TOOBIN: See you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Other news today, symbolic die-in will be held outside the White House starting this evening. These vigils are being held through Saturday to mark 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan is among the activists at this week's event. You might remember she led an anti-war protest outside of President Bush's ranch this summer.

Well, now matter how Americans feel about the war in Iraq, many still support the U.S. troops, and that makes the following story troubling for so many people.

Sean Callebs looks at what happened when a radio station decided to adopt a soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT SR. JOHN, RADIO PERSONALITY: I'm just here, I'm looking for funny stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, when are you going to do the redneck church?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To Grand Junction, Colorado, they are simply Robert and Libby, radio personalities who often take phone calls, including one they got months ago from Amber Kenney, a young woman from Grand Junction who said she was off to join the army and begin boot camp.

JOHN: Sounded very friendly to us. And we thought, you know, we could adopt this one as a soldier, adopt a soldier, because we've always wanted to do that, want our station to do that. And then follow her.

CALLEBS: It was the beginning between a six month relationship between the community and Amber, who was merely a voice on the radio. Libby heard it from listeners all the time...

LIBBY JACKSON, RADIO PERSONALITY: Oh, tell Amber hi for us.

CALLEBS: While she said she was in boot camp, Amber's calls were broadcast to Grand Junction all the time, for a period six months. The community was really falling for this patriotic woman, and her husband Jonathan (ph), who listeners learned was already serving in Iraq.

Then, in February, there is day Iraqis went to the polls, a dreaded phone call for all to hear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you guys heard the news?

JACKSON: No, what?

JOHN: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband was killed over in Iraq, in active duty.

JACKSON: Amber, no!

JOHN: No!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

JOHN: When? When? When? When?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard Saturday afternoon.

JACKSON: Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So.

JACKSON: Oh, Amber.

And I was sickened. I thought it was like -- it felt like somebody in my family had died.

CALLEBS: Amber told the station because Jonathan died, she had been discharged from the service and was back in Grand Junction. Robert and Libby said the town of 45,000, that got to know Amber over six months, now rallied around her. Sympathetic calls, offers of assistance.

Homefront Heroes, a veteran support group, was eager to pitch in. Phylis Derby started the organization and says Amber described her husband's heroic death.

PHYLIS DERBY, HOMEFRONT HEROES: He died saving an Iraqi child. And they were moving children out of the area and he got caught in the crossfire.

CALLEBS: But Amber's story had holes in it. Libby and Phylis scanned the Department of Defense Web site. Not a word about Jonathan Kenney. And when Amber says her husband's body was being flown to Iowa, no mention in the local newspapers. Amber left this message with Derby after a reporter called the Iowa funeral homes, looking for confirmation of the soldier's death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not going to find that funeral home because the funeral home that he's at is not listed, and the family owns and they do not want to be contacted by any media.

CALLEBS: Libby spent a weekend questioning herself and the emotional investment in Amber's story.

JACKSON: And I came to work the next morning and got the newspaper. And opened it up and said woman's story of lost soldier may be a hoax. And I just -- I was just sick. I mean, sick.

CALLEBS: It was all a big lie.

JACKSON: We dragged everybody in this, you know? People are going to quit giving to Homefront Heroes. What are we going to do?

CALLEBS: We couldn't get Amber, whose real name is Sarah Kenney, to speak with us. Her family says she has a job now, but wouldn't say what and that Kenney is doing well and working to put this behind her.

(on camera): The people in Grand Junction were furious that they'd been duped. The county prosecutor says he got dozens of angry calls from people who wanted Sarah Kenney punished. The D.A. thought her actions were unforgivable, even immoral, but did this big lie constitute a criminal act?

PETE HAUTZINGER, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Originally when it first broke, it wasn't clear what her motivation was. CALLEBS (voice-over): District Attorney Pete Hautzinger charged Kenney with criminal impersonation. That's usually associated with underage drinkers or impersonating an officer. A stretch, he thought, but Sarah Kenney had received no money, so he was in unchartered territory. Hautzinger wouldn't have to test his case in court. Serving as her own attorney, Kenney pleaded guilty to a felony, never explaining why she had lied.

HAUTZINGER: She had some good things going for her. I give her a lot of credit for having fallen on her sword and taken full responsibility for what she did.

CALLEBS: People tell us they hardly ever see her out. And while people window shop, Kenney is on probation for four years and has to undergo counseling. Kenney did apologize, but no one who embraced her then wants anything to do with Sarah Kenney now.

DERBY: My gut reaction was, why would you do this? Why would you lie?

JACKSON: She's just a liar. I mean, she didn't try to steal anything. Well, she did break everybody's heart.

CALLEBS: It took a while for Robert and Libby to actually trust callers again, but they did, eventually even adopting troops. But before these pictures went up on the wall, the two made sure these guys were the real thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report was from our Sean Callebs. The Homefront Heroes group has been collecting donations for the Kenney family -- they had been -- and all of that money was returned.

Coming up, a 2-year-old boy put in danger allegedly by his own mother. It happened on the tracks of a San Diego trolley. We're going to tell you what happened to the boy and to the mother after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: And now to San Diego. A mother is behind bars. Her toddler is in protective custody, after she allegedly pushed the child in front of a trolley. The incident happened last night. The trolley driver was able to stop, and the child was not hurt.

Ahead in our next hour, Florida is cleaning up after Wilma. Thousands are still picking up the pieces in New Orleans. Coming up, anger there over levee failures after Katrina. Residents want to know why it happened and how the government plans to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

We're following a developing story about an explosion in the Israeli coastal city of Hadera. Just minutes ago, Israeli police confirmed that it was a suicide bombing. CNN has learned that the militant group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli medical services report at least four people have died, several people are wounded. We'll have a live report, just ahead.

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