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CNN Live Today

Death Row Escapee

Aired November 04, 2005 - 11:12   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's President Bush answering some reporters' questions at the Summit of Americas in Argentina.
Among the highlights, on Karl Rove, his deputy chief of staff, he once again said he would not comment on the ongoing investigation into the CIA leak.

On his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sam Alito, he says he would have liked the hearings with the Senate to start before Christmas, but instead they have a January start date.

And on his low poll numbers back here at home, the president says he is not concerned at the historically low approval numbers. He says instead he is focusing on his agenda for the American people.

Much more ahead. We're going to go back to the incredible rescue that took place in a river in Washington State. A rescue with a happy ending. A harrowing rescue, indeed.

Also, in Texas, a death row inmate on the loose.

All that is just ahead after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's show you these pictures again. A dramatic river rescue we are following as it unfolded. Just a short time ago, authorities managed to reach the driver of an SUV that was struck in the middle of the Pilchuck River north-northeast of Seattle.

This is in the Seattle area near Lake Stevens. At one point the vehicle was nearly submerged in the fast-moving river. The driver though now on dry land.

On to Texas. A manhunt is under way there for a death row inmate who escaped from a county jail in Houston, Texas. Authorities say he managed to change out of his prison jumpsuit and into civilian clothes. And he had a fake I.D.

Reporter Reggie Aqui of our affiliate KHOU joins us from Houston with the latest.

Reggie, this is just credible.

REGGIE AQUI, REPORTER, KHOU: It really is. And if I were to tell you this is how someone was going to escape from prison, you would say, no way, that's isn't going to work. All he really did was walk out the front door. There wasn't any violence. There was no commotion, no argument. This is all he did.

He walked out the front. And no one knew the better until a couple hours later.

Now, here's how he did it. We just talked to the sheriff's department a few minutes ago, and they tell us it was a series of major mistakes that allowed this guy to get out.

Take a look at a picture of the man we're talking about. He was on death row for killing two people. His name is Charles Thompson. And he killed two people back in 1998.

Now, what he had was essentially a get out free card. It was a little I.D. that he apparently made up to make it look like he was working for the district attorney's office. And he somehow smuggled in both that I.D. and some civilian clothing.

He changed out of that jumpsuit he was wearing, put on the civilian clothing, left the room where he was meeting with his attorney, and simply strolled down the hallway. He talked to a sheriff's deputy there. The sheriff's deputy didn't quite buy his story, so that first deputy said, "No, I'm not going to let you into the public side of the jail. You're going to have to stay on this side."

So he just took the elevator downstairs, talked to a couple more deputies. And at one point the deputy bought the story enough to allow him to go into the lobby. That's the public side, the free side of the jail.

Once he got into the lobby he was pretty much home free. All he had to do was make up an excuse. He said he had a partner waiting for him outside the jail. He walked outside, and he hasn't been seen since.

So, a manhunt is now under way, as it has been underway since 3:30 yesterday. They've gotten some tips here of possible sightings, but so far no solid leads that would get this guy back in jail -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, he might actually be telling the truth in a way. Didn't he have to have some kind of help if he had a fake I.D. and access to civilian clothes?

AQUI: Well, that's what they think. And, of course, the rules here at the jail are that no one visiting is supposed to bring anything in and hand anything over to the inmate. But somehow he was able to get these materials, and somehow he was able to change into those clothes which he should have never had.

You know, we did talk to the sheriff's department, and they say that they are very frustrated about this, because they're saying, you know, this was a long list of defenses that they had set up so that this would never happen. And somehow it failed on every single level. And I should also mention that the family of the victims in this case are just beside themselves. They cannot believe that they are going through this trauma all over again.

They thought they were completely done with this. And now they are worrying for their lives, because this man has threatened those family members while he's been in prison.

KAGAN: Well, and also, it has its own legal drama that goes with it, because he got the death sentence, but then he had to go through sentencing again. What was the catch there? And why -- but in fact he did end up being sentenced yet again.

AQUI: Right, because he actually appealed this to the Texas Supreme Court. He made it to that appeals process, and there they held up his conviction. So they said, you know, you're still guilty of these murders, but they did allow him to come here to Houston to get the sentencing part of his trial redone.

They did that on Friday. And the jury once again said you're going back to death row, which must have prompted him to come up with this plan to get out of jail.

KAGAN: Reggie, what about the neighborhood that this jail sits in? I bet there are a lot of concerned people there.

AQUI: We're in downtown Houston. So we're talking about all the major corporations in Houston. There are, of course, people who live around here, too.

They are worried, but I think at this point they are thinking that he probably got out of here as soon as possible and is on to other towns or perhaps surrounding areas. It's really the family of those victims that people are most concerned about, because he's made it very clear, he actually had several murder-for-hire plots that authorities were able to stop behind bars because he wanted to get back at the witnesses who put him in here in the first place.

KAGAN: Well, we will be checking back with that. Reggie Aqui with our affiliate KHOU.

Reggie, thank you for bringing us the latest on the hunt for that death row escapee.

There are lingering questions about what happened at a New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The latest on the investigation into possible mercy killings. It's a CNN exclusive, and it's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Now to France. That is where much of the country is on edge after an eighth straight night of rioting.

Warehouses were set on fire and cars were torched. The rioting has spread to about 20 neighborhoods near Paris, and even to Dijon, in southeastern France. The rioters are said to be angry over unemployment. And some say they are discriminated against because they are Muslim.

The protests started more than a week ago when two teenagers were electrocuted while trying to escape police.

Our Chris Burns -- actually, we'll get back to that story in a moment.

Here are other stories making news overseas this morning.

Israelis are today marking the tenth anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. He was gunned down by a peace rally -- at a peace rally by a Jewish extremist. Rabin helped broker Israel's first peace deal with the Palestinians and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat.

An ecological nightmare off the coast of Chile. A Hong Kong oil tanker crashed into the rocks. Oil from the tanker spread along several miles of the Chilean coast. Volunteers are now scrambling, trying to save wildlife in the area.

Experts have now patched up the ship and stopped the oil from seeping out. Officials say it will be sometime before they know the full extent of the environmental damages.

Last night's MTV Awards, Europe Music Awards, saw rocking rekindling of pop queen Madonna. She's now 47. The Material Girl stole the show with her first live televised performance of her new single titled "Hung Up."

She's looking good.

Madonna says she feels good to know she can still get up and dance. The singer broke her hand, her collarbone and cracked a few of her ribs while falling from a horse back in August.

That's just what Chad Myers does for a warm-up on any given day when he's getting ready for the weather.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Forty-seven, Daryn?

KAGAN: Yes.

MYERS: How is that possible?

KAGAN: Sounding younger all the time, Chad.

MYERS: That's -- yes, that's not even middle age yet, right?

KAGAN: Yes.

MYERS: Good morning.

KAGAN: Forty-seven, it's the new 20.

MYERS: Well, she looks good.

KAGAN: Yes, she does.

How does the weather look?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Good tip. That's why you're the weather guy.

Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

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

Vigorous anti-American protests are accompanying President Bush's attendance at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a harsh critic of Washington, is one of the principals leading the rally.

If you were with us live, you saw this live earlier today on CNN, a dramatic river rescue we were following as it unfolded. And there is the man being dragged to safety.

It happened just a short time ago as authorities managed to rescue the driver of an SUV stuck in the middle of the Pilchuck River. This is in the Seattle area near Lake Stevens. At one point the vehicle was nearly submerged in the fast-moving river.

The manhunt is under way for an escaped death row inmate. Harris County, Texas, authorities say 35-year-old Charles Thompson simply walked out of a Houston jail yesterday afternoon shortly after being resentenced to death. Deputies say Thompson was wearing khaki pants, a blue shirt, tennis shoes, and had a fake I.D. from the attorney general's office.

The Labor Department reports that 56,000 new jobs were added last month. It's not that much, but about half of what was expected. Analysts, though, say it's a sign that the nation's job market is slowly regaining its footing after Hurricane Katrina. The unemployment rate dipped to five percent.

And in Philadelphia, the city transit strike looks like it may go on for a while. A union spokesman says he doesn't expect new talks to begin anytime soon. The five-day-old strike has been especially hard on students. Public schools are trying to negotiate with the area's commuter rail service to honor tokens that students normally use to ride city buses and trolleys.

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