Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Pastor Killed; Suspicious Package Found in California Car; Nightmare Cruises; Fire Over Ice

Aired March 24, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Anything for you.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, he lies.

Betty Nguyen is at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.

Hey, Betty. Good morning.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there.

He's just trying to butter you up. You know that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Bring it on. More.

ROBERTS: Yes, I've got to come back again on Tuesday.

NGUYEN: That's true. Hey, well you have a great weekend, both of you. Get some rest.

ROBERTS: Thank you. You too.

NGUYEN: We'll see you then.

Got a lot to tell you about today, including a Tennessee community is right now dealing with a double shock. The first, a pastor found dead in his home shot in the back. And second, the pastor's wife named as a suspect in the killing. And between those two revelations, there were hours of worry over the couple's children. CNN's Rick Sanchez is following the story in Selmer, Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Wednesday nights here at the 4th Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee, parishioners gather for mid week services with their preacher. But on this Wednesday night, the preacher was missing.

CHIEF NEAL BURKS, SELMER, TENNESSEE, POLICE: We received a call that the church members of the Church of Christ here in Selmer were concerned about their pastor.

SANCHEZ: Those same church members went to his house, knocked on the door, didn't get an answer so they used their key to get in. And when they reached the bedroom, they found their pastor. Thirty-one- year-old Matthew Winkler. ROGER RICKMAN, SELMER, TENNESSEE, POLICE: He was shot in the back. No signs of struggle. No signs of forced entry or anything.

SANCHEZ: Of course, as in any homicide, police immediately sought out the victim's family to break the news to them or perhaps get some information from them. In this case though, strangely enough, the family was nowhere to be found.

JOHN MAIHR, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We're trying to find the wife and the children. I think you have that information, but they're driving a 2006 Toyota van.

SANCHEZ: Police issued an Amber Alert describing the van. It also describes the minister's wife, Mary Winkler, 32-years-old, 5'3", 120 pounds, and her three daughters who are one, six, eight and probably confused.

KEGAN HATLEY, NEIGHBOR: The girls were very nice and just sweet and the sweetest girls you could ever meet. Great attitude, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. Yes, sir, no, sir. Just raised very well. Taught very well.

SANCHEZ: Twenty-four hours later, after a dragnet that included six states, police, FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, the mother and daughters were found in Alabama.

MAIHR: The news is that they have been found in Orange Beach, Alabama.

SANCHEZ: And then police announced they now have new suspicions about the murdered preacher's wife.

MAIHR: I would say she is a suspect at this time just due to the nature of this, that she's alive and well, of course. But she does have the children. She's in the van. So we would consider her a suspect at this time.

SANCHEZ: And now it's a matter of questioning really. Authorities are telling us that Mary Winkler is going to be questioned by FBI, TBI and even locals there in Alabama. As for what she's going to be asked, they say they will ask her if she had something to do with her husband's murder.

As for the church members here, they say they're just happy that those children have been found. And as for Mary, they say, they also would like to ask her some questions.

Rick Sanchez, Selmer, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, 911 operators field 500,000 calls a day in this country. Sure, some might slip through the cracks in the system, but 27,000 of them? That's what's happened last year in Chattanooga. Twenty-seven thousand unanswered 911 calls. One woman tried to get help just this week but she found out three of four 911 dispatchers were on a break when she called. City officials say it's no excuse but they are short staffed. Now they're working on a plan now to improve 911 operations. I'll talk live with the sheriff about Chattanooga's situation in the next hour. You want to stay tuned for that.

Five days and still not a trace of two missing Milwaukee boys. We expect a police news conference next hour on the search for 12- year-old Quadrevion Henning and 11-year-old Purvis Parker. We're going to bring you that live when it happens.

Now the boys disappeared while playing on Sunday. Last night, members of the community came together to pray for their safe return and the reward fund has grown to $23,000. Family members are frantic. Police are baffled. On CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, a police spokeswoman says it's as if they simply vanished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE SCHWARTZ, MILWAUKEE POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: We don't know where they are and we have very few clues and we don't really have any hard evidence that any kind of a crime has been committed. Today we're continuing to search. We're getting hundreds of tips on the tip line that everybody has been so kind to put up on their news programs. And we're going to follow up on those tips. We're going to see if we can, you know, follow up on any of the possible sightings.

But, you know, when you have a story like this, especially when it reaches the national level, you start to get people who are seeing them everywhere. People will say, I saw them at the mall or I saw them here and we have to check out every single one of those reports. And that's what we're doing today. We're following up on over a hundred leads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now the FBI has brought in child abduction experts even though there is no evidence the boys were kidnaped.

Very, very scary. That is how some passengers describe a nighttime fire that raced through more than a hundred rooms on the Star Princess cruise liner bound for Jamaica. A smoldering cigarette left on a balcony likely cause but that's still under investigation. A 75-year-old man from Georgia collapsed on deck and died of an apparent heart attack. Eleven other passengers suffered smoke inhalation. Dr. Philip Shields shared his own experience with CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PHILIP SHIELDS, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: Looked out on the balcony and about 50 yards from my cabin there were flames coming out of another cabin that was (INAUDIBLE) the ship. And so I got my family up, my wife and my son, and we started gathering things to get out of the room and then they sounded the general alarm to go to -- they have drills where you go to stations on the ship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, we have some developing news happening right now. Let's get straight to CNN's Tony Harris in the newsroom with the latest on that.

Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Betty.

We're following a developing story out of El Monte, California, which is east of Los Angeles. Police are reporting a suspicious package inside a car. You see a police cruiser right there. Our affiliate KTT-TV is over the scene right now.

And hopefully the chopper pilot will widen this view out. And there we have it. There's a view of the car in question. The streets around this car have been closed.

Arson and explosive teams have been called in and, again, the area around the car is mostly industrial, Betty, and, again, part of south El Monte has been evacuated. We will keep our eyes on this situation and bring you the latest developments.

NGUYEN: We'll be checking in with you. Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: Sure.

NGUYEN: Well, we do have new details today on the 12 American tourists killed in that bus crash in Chile. Today their bodies are being flown back to the United States. Ten of the victims lived in the same condominium complex in New Jersey. As some friends have said, they grew up together, grew old together and on Wednesday they died together. The victims were passengers on the Celebrity cruise ship Millennium. They had booked their own excursion to a national park when their bus driver swerved to avoid oncoming traffic.

Well, a Carnival cruise is delayed due to safety violations. Inspectors found safety problems in the ship's flood and fire control systems. The Sensation left port six hours late last night. It is the ship's first cruise since housing relief workers from Hurricane Katrina.

And most dream cruises don't turn into nightmares, thankfully, but the horror stories do linger. CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken reports it has been a rough year for the cruise industry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Eleven million people went on cruises last year, but it's been a tough week for the cruise ship industry. On Wednesday, 12 Americans were killed in a tour bus crash in the mountains of northern Chile. They were on a land-based excursion from the Celebrity cruise ship Millennium. Then on Thursday, a fire broke out on board the Princess cruise ship in the Caribbean. One passenger died and at least 11 others were injured. The two incidents have renewed concerns about dangers associated with cruise ship travel. The disappearance of a Connecticut man, George Smith, from a Mediterranean cruise while on his honeymoon last summer, turned the spotlight on ship safety. Industry officials say at least 28 people have gone missing from cruise ships in the past three years and only five have been found.

There were at least 177 reports of sexual assault. Earlier this month, Congress heard testimony about high crimes on the high seas when Janet Kelly told lawmakers that a bartender on a cruise ship raped her.

JANET KELLY, CRUISE SHIP CRIME VICTIM: And I'm really hoping by coming and speaking today at Congress that they can fix it so that the next guy does get justice because it just really wasn't right how it was handled. The crew member that did this to me was actually re- employed.

FRANKEN: And it's not only crime, but illness which has created a negative perception of the cruise industry. There have been outbreaks of the Norwalk gastrointestinal virus on ships, most recently on a Royal Caribbean cruise this month.

MATT VANDERLAAN, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: The captain kept coming on making announcements saying that there was an outbreak of a virus and that we needed to take extra precautions when washing our hands and doing simple things to not to transmit it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you did all that and didn't get sick?

VANDERLAAN: I did all that and didn't get sick. But I was lucky. The rest of my group wasn't as lucky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well it is important to point out that during that same three-year period, some 25 million people boarded cruise ships from ports in North America and cruise lines stress crime on board is extremely low.

You can forget to grab your keys, your lunch, your money, anything, but not your baby girl. Police say that is exactly what happened at a metro station just north of Washington. A father rushing to catch a train parked his car and jumped on the Metro, leaving his seven-month-old daughter in the backseat of the car. People saw the baby in the parking lot and called for help. Firefighters took the child to a hospital. Now she was fine and was reunited with her mother. Meanwhile, dear old dad realized what he had done and high-tailed it back. He's been charged and could face an $800 fine and up to 30 days in jail. Just wait till he talks to momma, though.

Well, it doesn't look like the must have accessory for spring, but for courts trying to keep drunk drivers off the road, that is exactly what it is. Check it out. We'll show you how this DUI bracelet works. And a sheriff who stepped up for his people after Hurricane Katrina gets his own song.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a hurricane in Hattiesburg, so he didn't think twice. Sheriff McGee was hauling ice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Yes, he was. But now this local hero may face federal charges. We're going to explain in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We have some breaking news to tell you about. This dealing with the murder of a Tennessee pastor. Let's go now to CNN's Rick Sanchez in Selmer, Tennessee, to talk about what he's learned.

Rick.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just got off the phone with Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, Betty, just a while ago, moments ago, in fact. They have told me that they, within the hour, will issue a warrant for the arrest of Mary Winkler, first degree murder charges. After interviewing Ms. Winkler throughout the course of the evening and into the morning hours this morning, in fact, she's been interviewed by the FBI, the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, as well as local authorities there in Alabama. They say after talking to her and after getting a search warrant for several locations, they have been able to gather enough information to charge her with the death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, who is probably one of the best-known ministers here in Selmer, Tennessee, this small town that has really just been consumed by this story since we first got the news.

Parishioners went into their home, their parsonage, and they found him shot dead. A couple gunshot wounds to the back it was described to us by police. And suddenly they couldn't find the mother or they couldn't find the three daughters. And the kids are important in this story because a lot of people in this community have been really concerned about this, Betty. We're being told tonight -- I just got off the phone again with the folks with TBI and they're telling me that the children right now are in the -- have been placed with Alabama's children services but that the parents, or the family of the deceased minister, have asked for custody of those three beautiful little girls and that it seems likely that they will be placed in their care.

So it seems like police will be charging the wife of the deceased minister with his murder. That news breaking within just the last couple of minutes, Betty.

NGUYEN: Now, Rick, you say they have formulated these charges based on the interview that they've had, several interviews with Mary Winkler, the wife of the pastor who was murdered. Did they go as far as saying that there was a confession?

SANCHEZ: Well, that's exactly the question that I asked authorities with TBI. I said, is there a confession? And she said, we're just going to leave it at, we got the information from conversations that we had with her. You know, there's been a lot of talk about what her defense might be, why she may have done it.

And I think that might be cleared up somewhat, Betty. In about 20 minutes or so, they're going to be holding a news conference right here outside city hall in Selmer. We expect that some of the folks with TBI, Agent Maihr, for example, that we've been hearing from for the last couple of days, is going to give a statement. Specifically what he'll say, we don't know. But it will probably answer some of those questions, some of the outline that we haven't been able to get over the phone from the authorities thus far, Betty.

NGUYEN: You've been working this story. Have you been in contact at all with any family, any friends who may lead you to information that could suggest there were some problems that could have been seen within this family that may have led to what had happened?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Officials today have been intimating, alluding to potential problems that she has raised in the questions and in the interviews that she has done with police that may have led her to believe that she need to do what she did. As far as the specifics, police are real careful to give details. But, yes, she seems to be making some form of allegation in her defense. Exactly how she is going to explain that or how police are going to explain that within the next 15 to 20 minutes, you know, obviously remains to be seen at this point, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, it's definitely a case in which the community, as well as family members there with the Winklers, are definitely shocked by what has happened. And, of course, another shock comes with the charges that you had mentioned to be placed against the wife of the minister who was killed here. We'll be speaking with you shortly. Thank you, Rick, for that update.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

NGUYEN: In other news. You want to remember those government trailers, remember those, that got mired in post-Katrina bureaucracy? Well, some have found a new home far from the Gulf Coast. Two Oklahoma congressmen say hundreds of the manufactured homes will house families left homeless by recent wildfires. More than a thousand homes and businesses have burned in Oklahoma since November. The temporary housing could be set up within the next couple of weeks.

Many left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina suffered for days without supplies, but a Mississippi sheriff refused to sit back and do nothing. He gave an order that made him a hero to his people and a bad guy to the Feds. CNN's Sean Callebs has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Sheriff Billy McGee is a local hero in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His story, a modern twist on Robin Hood. He robbed from the federal government to give to the needy in his county.

It was six days after Katrina. Sweltering heat, steamy desperation, no food, no water and no end in sight. So the sheriff and his merry men hijacked two huge FEMA trucks loaded with ice. Like any good hero, McGee doesn't like to talk much about what happened.

SHERIFF BILLY MCGEE, FORREST COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: Just that at some point that we can see the end of the road, that this passes.

CALLEBS: The ice was under lock and key at nearby Camp Shelby. McGee gave his deputies orders to take the trucks. And when a National Guardsman tried to stop them, the sheriff had the soldier handcuffed. And they drove off with the government's ice and doled it out to those in need, a daren (ph) story for the local newspaper.

RICH CAMPBELL, HATTIESBURG AMERICAN: It's one of those stories that just it almost has a life of it its own because you've got a small town sheriff who took on the federal government basically for the good of his people.

CALLEBS: And for that, the sheriff may get prosecuted by the government. But locals remember the relentless despair after the storm and haven't forgotten the sheriff's actions. A newspaper poll showed nearly 88 percent of the county residents don't want McGee prosecuted. Reports said he had worked out a plea bargain but then the U.S. attorney in Jackson, Mississippi, recused himself because he's a former National Guardsman. Now the case is with the U.S. attorney in Baton Rouge who is deciding whether to pursue charges.

CAMPBELL: That doesn't sit well with people here, especially people in south Mississippi who lived through the frustration and the incompetence, if I could be so bold, of the federal government.

CALLEBS: As much as McGee wants the attention to go away, it won't. Bumper stickers have cropped up and, naturally, they've already got a folk song to honor their folk hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a hurricane in Hattiesburg, so he didn't think twice. Sheriff McGee was hauling ice.

CALLEBS: And it's also good fodder for lunch chat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would have probably done the same thing if I'd have been in his shoes, you know? I mean we was hurting up here for awhile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean he stepped up and did something for the people. That's it.

CALLEBS: McGee is a four-term sheriff and many here would like to see him run again, arguing his career should not come to an end over this, a sheriff who's more popular than ever after becoming a modern-day Robin Hood.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, we've got a lot to tell you about today, including new developments in the murder of a Tennessee pastor. At 11:30 Eastern, there is going to be a news conference from authorities there in Tennessee. As we just learned just moments ago from CNN's Rick Sanchez, the pastor's wife, Mary Winkler, will be charged with first degree murder. We're going to learn so much more on this when that news conference occurs at 11:30 Eastern. Just a little over an hour from now. And when that happens, we will take it live.

In other news. Planning on a big check from the IRS this year? Well, our Gerri Willis has some ideas on how to spend the extra cash.

I have some ideas, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people do. That's just the problem.

NGUYEN: Right.

WILLIS: Marketers want to get in your pocket. Well, coming up next, "Five Tips" will tell you how to spend that average $2,400. We're up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Checking out the big boards on this Friday as we round out the week. The Dow in positive territory, up $1.28. The Nasdaq also in posterity. That's up $9.

Got a lot to tell you about today, along with what's happening on Wall Street. We've got some developing stories, as well.

Obviously what we've been talking about within the past few minutes, this pastor out of Tennessee who was found shot to death in his home on Wednesday. It appears from what we've just learned from CNN's Rick Sanchez that his wife will be charged with first degree murder. We're going to learn much more on this and the circumstances surrounding this death. An 11:30 a news conference in Tennessee where authorities will be speaking to the press about what they have learned so far. So you'll want to stay tuned for that. That's about an hour from now.

We're also following another developing story, this one out of California. CNN's Tony Harris in the newsroom has the latest on that.

Hi, Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Betty, let's get you the latest information on this if we can here. Following, as you mentioned, a developing story out of El Monte, California, which is east of Los Angeles. And police, as you can see here, are on the scene of a suspicious package inside of a car. Our affiliate KTLA is over the scene for us right now. And Sergeant Paul Patterson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is on the line with us.

Sergeant, good to talk to you. Thanks for taking the time.

SGT. PAUL PATTERSON, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Good morning. How are you?

HARRIS: Well, I'm great. Great, thank you.

Just wondering, we see that you have a member of I would guess your bomb squad actually working over this car pretty good. Tell us about the operation that's unfolding before our eyes right now.

PATTERSON: At about 5:00, earlier this morning, our deputies out of our Temple station were working in the south El Monte area, made a traffic stop on this vehicle. Apparently it was speeding. During the course of their investigation and conversation with the driver, they noticed what they declared as a suspicious package. Apparently there was a package in the car with wires leading from it and that caused alarm for deputies. They have since called our arson explosives detail out to investigate the package. And they are on scene gearing up to evaluate the device further.

HARRIS: Well, they're all over this car. The one person, in particular, is all over this car right now. But, Sergeant, I have to ask you, what did the driver tell you about the package?

PATTERSON: At this time, we don't have information regarding the driver's statements. We have to wait until our detectives release that. Again, they are taking precautions. They've asked the people in the immediate area to evacuate until they're able to make a determination on this device.

HARRIS: OK. And so my understanding is, is that this is primarily an industrial area, is that correct?

PATTERSON: It appears to be, yes.

HARRIS: OK. And you have the driver obviously in custody right now?

PATTERSON: He's being detained pending further investigation.

HARRIS: Well, here's what I'm trying to understand as we watch the pictures. My guess is that the package was discovered inside the passenger area of the car, correct? Would that be a correct assumption?

PATTERSON: That's a correct assumption.

HARRIS: And now we see the member of your squad working over the trunk. Can we assume that whatever the suspicious package was that was inside the car has been dealt with?

PATTERSON: I don't know yet. Again, we have to wait until we can communicate with them and see exactly what they discovered. They are very meticulous in the way they approach these things, so they will look at every angle before making a final determination.

HARRIS: You've got that right because pieces of the car, the trunk, are being ripped out even as we speak. OK. Sergeant Paul Patterson, we appreciate your time. Thanks for the information.

PATTERSON: Thank you.

HARRIS: OK.

Betty, back to you. We'll keep watching it.

NGUYEN: Yes. It's really kind of fascinating how they're just getting in there and going to town on that. All right. We'll see. Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: Sure thing.

NGUYEN: Got a lot more coming up. We told you about just a while ago about the "Top Five Tips" on what you can do with that tax refund. How are you going to spend the money? Well, we're going to tell you the smartest things to do with it. You want to stay tuned for those tips. More LIVE TODAY coming up right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com