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Ramsey Case Suspect; Virginia Prisoner Escape; London Terror Plot; Karr Extradited to U.S.

Aired August 21, 2006 - 11:29   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the latest on the JonBenet Ramsey case, what we know right now.
Suspect John Mark Karr is being held under tight security in a Los Angeles jail cell. Officials say guards are under orders to check on him every 15 minutes. Karr is out of reach of other inmates who may target suspected child molesters.

Karr will face a much different menu than what he enjoyed on his flight. He dined on business class fare of roast duck, prawns and pate. It's not clear when Karr will be extradited to Colorado.

Let's go to the latest from Los Angeles. And that's where we find our Dan Simon standing by.

Dan, not -- he's not on a business class flight anymore, is he?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, he's not. Good morning, Daryn.

He is in a 6 x 9 cell here at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles. His plane touched down around 10:00 local time last night. The folks with Customs, they went on the plane, they immediately took him off and processed him. Then he was taken aboard a helicopter and brought here to the central jail here in downtown Los Angeles. They took his mug shot. They also took off -- he also took off his shirt and tie. They gave him the standard prison blues and tennis shoes. No patte (ph) and wine here. He's going to get strictly jail fare. In terms of the conditions he now faces, we talk to a sheriff's department spokesperson. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WHITMORE, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He will be housed. He'll be in a single cell in isolation. And he will have -- whenever he moves, there will be deputies with him. He will be separated out from the general population. He will be safe and secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Daryn, as you mentioned, still no word on when he's going to be extradited to Colorado. We are told he actually waved extradition hearings. But still not clear if there actually has to be a court hearing for that extradition to take place. We're trying to get some clarity on that and hope to bring you that information a bit later on. Back to you.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, Dan, it processes this way. Since he lands in L.A., this is where he had to go through customs. This is why he's there now and why there's that extra step of getting him back to Colorado.

SIMON: Right. You know, when he landed in Colorado, he was actually the first person taken off the plane. He had to go through customs like everybody else. But they took him to a private facility so there wouldn't be really a distraction with the other passengers. And from there the Los Angeles Police Department actually took him into custody for a brief time and then did the handoff to the sheriff's department. They boarded him on that helicopter and then brought him here. And then he was basically booked like every inmate here except he's being kept in isolation.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Dan Simon is in Los Angeles. Thank you.

Let's go to Ed Lavandera. He's in Boulder, the next scheduled stop for John Karr.

Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, you know, the pressing question here is trying to figure out that when John Karr does land here in Boulder, and prosecutors believe that will happen in the next couple of days, will it be the first time he's ever set foot in this city or has he already been here? That question still looming largely over this case.

Over the last few days, with everyone digging on this story, trying to report whatever news we can, we've only come across one person who says they've met John Karr face-to-face. And that meeting took place four years ago in Paris. Not in Boulder. And that person told us over the weekend that they don't have any recollection of John Karr ever saying whether or not he had ever visited Boulder. He knew a lot about the city, but couldn't really say for sure if John Karr had ever been here.

Of course, that will be a big part. Because, as we know, investigators who have been working throughout the weekend on this investigation and last Thursday said they still had a lot of work to do, have been worked around the clock over this weekend trying to dig as much information up on John Karr as possible. That investigation has led them to Alabama and parts of California as well.

And there's a little bit of a race against the clock for these prosecutors. Once he touches down here, they have three days to file charges against John Karr. And if there's any problem going on with the investigation, not that we know that, because they haven't talked since last Thursday, there is a little bit of that race against the clock feeling I suspect. Daryn.

KAGAN: Interesting. Ed Lavandera live from Boulder. Thank you.

A lot of interest in this story. So we want to let you know that Larry King will have an exclusive interview with the Ramsey family attorney, Lin Wood. Also Michael Tracey. He's that Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern.

Coming up after the break, we're learning a lot more details about the alleged airline terror plot coming out of the U.K. Who's been charged and what's the evidence that police say they have? We'll tell you more about that.

Also, riding shotgun with a big tornado. See more of this video with our Chad Myers straight ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Fascinating news conference out of Scotland Yard today where we learned more about the charges that have been filed against 11 of the suspects in the U.K. terror plot. Eight of them have been charged with conspiracy to murder. Three others face other terrorism related charges. And 11 are still in custody.

Some of the evidence we're hearing about for the first time, police saying they have surveillance, both video and audio, that took place before August 10th. They found bomb making materials, including chemicals and wiring. And a number of videos that they call martyrdom videos. A number of searches as well. So Scotland Yard for the first time since those arrests on August 10th giving details of what led to the arrest of so many individuals in and around London last week.

Have a serious situation developing here stateside in Virginia at Virginia Tech. It's the first day of classes and a gunman is on the loose. Our Tony Harris has more details on that.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, it is. As you mentioned, it's a serious situation. Classes have been canceled. The campus at Blacksburg has essentially been shut down there at Virginia Tech. University employees have been told to stay in their offices and lock the doors. Students who live on campus have been told to return to their dorm rooms and lock the doors. And here's why. Local police are trying to capture a prisoner who escaped shortly after being transported yesterday from the county jail in Christiansburg to a hospital in Blacksburg for a leg injury.

We have a picture of the suspect. There it is. The suspect is 24-year-old William Charles Morva and he was being held on suspicion of robbery. Now since the escape yesterday, police say Morva overpowered a sheriff's deputy at the hospital where he was being treated, took his gun, then shot and killed an unarmed hospital security guard. And this morning as police were closing in on him, he alleged shot another police officer on the Huckleberry Trail, killing that officer. There have been a number of report there of sightings of the suspect on the Tech campus, possibly in the student center. That particular report did not bear out. But there is a lot, as you can imagine, of police activity right now on and around the Virginia Tech campus as police try to catch this suspect who has now allegedly killed two officers who were trying to get him back behind bars.

The suspect, once again, here's the picture, 24-year-old William Charles Morva. The campus there at Virginia Tech University shut down. University employees have been told to go back to the offices and lock the doors. Students have been told to go back to their dorms and lock the doors. And if you're wondering why he was in jail in the first place, Daryn, he was attempting to rob a deli. We'll keep an eye on the situation for you.

KAGAN: All this on what was supposed to be the first day of class.

HARRIS: That's right.

KAGAN: All right. Thank you for that.

Still ahead, an inspiring story. A church that looked like it could have been a casualty of Katrina. But a Gulf Coast church is fighting back. One church destroyed by the hurricane, but the congregation lives on. We'll tell you what their plans are almost one year later. Coming up, a talk with a minister with a mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check the markets. They've been open a couple hours. And it's blah Monday. You can see the Dow is down 43 points. The Nasdaq also headed south. It is down 17 points.

Watching a serious situation that's developing out of Blacksburg, Virginia. That's the home of Virginia Tech. That campus, on the first day of classes, is in lock down because of this man. Police on the hunt for him. Twenty-four-year-old William Morva.

He was in custody on charges of trying to rob a Blacksburg deli. His trial was set for later this week. But he is now accused of killing an unarmed security guard when he escaped from a Blacksburg hospital yesterday. He shot a police officer this morning near Virginia Tech. All this going on while police look for him. Today is the first day, as I mentioned, of classes at Virginia Tech. The search on for William Charles Morva.

Getting interesting details this morning out of Scotland Yard about the airline terror plot. Police there revealing for the first time the charges that have been filed against 11 of the suspects. Also, a lot of information about the evidence they say they have already gathered. Our Robin Oakley is live from London with more on that.

Robin, hello.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, this is the first charging information we have heard from the Crown Prosecution Service, which makes those kind of decisions in Britain. And it's the first report we've had from the police, from the metropolitan police, on the progress of the investigation.

First, the charging. Eleven individuals all together of the 23 being held have now been charged. Eight of them are facing double charges. One is conspiracy to murder in the alleged plot to blow up airliners with liquid explosives over the Atlantic. Those who have been accused -- charged with conspiracy to murder, also being charged under the new anti-terrorism act of 2006 with attempting to commit an act of terrorism.

Three other individuals have been charged with lesser offenses. Those involve things like possession of articles useful to terrorism. And failing to disclose information which could have prevented an act of terrorism.

Then from the police, we've had details of some of the kind of evidence that has been found and that will be used against these individuals. No specific evidence, of course, allotted, as it were, to any individual at this stage. But what -- Peter Clarke, who is the head of anti-terrorism measures at Scotland Yard, said that they had found explosive material. That included hydrogen peroxide, electrical components and documents of use in the assembling of explosives. Also, martyrdom videos had been discovered in which some of those charged were obviously making claims in advance of the expected atrocities, the blowing up of the airliners. And Peter Clarke said that the video and audio surveillance evidence, which the police had gathered before the disclosure of the alleged plot on August the 9th, 10th, was highly significant.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Very interesting details coming to light today. Robin Oakley live from London. Robin, thank you for that.

As I was saying, we have a developing story coming out of Virginia. Blacksburg, Virginia. Virginia Tech. The campus is in lock down as -- well, this is video from last night. But daytime, police are searching for this man. They say he shot an unarmed security guard and a police officer. We'll have more on that story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The Virginia Tech campus is in lock down as police there search for a gunman. Tony Harris has the latest on that.

Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, Daryn, twenty-four-year-old William Charles Morva. He was being held on suspicion of robbery. He escaped as he was being transported to a local hospital there in Blacksburg for a leg injury, a sprained wrist, a sprained leg. And he escaped. And then apparently he overpowered a sheriff's deputy at the hospital, then shot and killed an unarmed hospital security guard. We get more on the story now from reporter Rachel Depompa of our affiliate there in Blacksburg WDBJ.

RACHEL DEPOMPA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rachel Depompa in Blacksburg, Virginia, right outside of the Virginia Tech campus where we've had a police officer shot and killed this morning in Blacksburg. A suspects has been on the run for two days now, Charles William Morva. Yesterday, a deputy was taking him to an area hospital when that officer was overpowered, shot and then a security guard at the hospital was shot and killed. The suspect, William Charles Morva, went on the run.

He's been on the loose and this community and this morning at 7:15 in the morning, Corporal Eric Sutton (ph) with the Montgomery County Sheriff's office, lost his life. He was fatally shot. Morva was seen on the Huckleberry Trail, which is a well-known trail in this area that people hike and bike on. That area is surrounded. Police are on alert. It's tense right now here in Blacksburg.

The Virginia Tech campus is shut down. They had a false alarm earlier today where a student center was shut down because they thought they had a sighting of him.

So it's a tense time right now here in Blacksburg. Police are on the lookout for this suspect. They say he is armed and dangerous and people need to stay away. We've already had three shootings. Two people have been killed in two days.

Back to you.

HARRIS: And the suspect, again, 24-year-old William Charles Morva. Police are asking for your help. If you know anything about this suspect, if you can identify him, if you've seen him, you can call the local Blacksburg authorities.

And, Daryn, if you're wondering why he was in jail in the first place, he was attempting allegedly to rob a deli. A delicatessen. We'll keep an eye on it.

KAGAN: Clearly a situation that has spiraled out of control there in Blacksburg, Virginia.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Tony, thank you.

HARRIS: Sure thing.

KAGAN: As it's been for much of the summer, a very newsworthy morning, including President Bush holding a news conference. He did that from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Eastern. The president went on a number of topics, including the possibility of civil war in Iraq. This is what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear a lot of talk about civil war. I'm concerned about that, of course. And I've talked to a lot of people about it. And what I found from my talks are that the Iraqis want a unified country. And that the Iraqi leadership is determined to thwart the efforts of the extremists and the radicals and al Qaeda. And that the security forces remain united behind the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: This on a day when there are new poll numbers out on President Bush from the Opinion Research Corporation. Let's go ahead and take a look at those. The question asked to the respondents, "how is President Bush handling his job as president?" Forty-two percent approve. These asked during the time of August 18th to 20th. Fifty- seven percent disapprove.

"Is President Bush honest and trustworthy?" Forty-four percent said yes. Fifty-four percent said no.

And the third question, "does President Bush agree with you on the issues?" Forty-one percent said yes. Fifty-seven percent said no. Just to put this in perspective for you, the interviews were with 1,033 adult Americans conducted by telephone from August 18th to 20th, again, by the Opinion Research Corporation.

KAGAN: We will have much more on what's happening in Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Also, stepping onto U.S. soil and one step closer to charges. We'll have the latest on John Mark Karr and the suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey case. Karr right now is being held in a Los Angeles jail after a 15-hour flight from Thailand. Coming up next, an extradition hearing that could take place as early as today. If Karr waives his right for extradition, he could soon be on his way to Colorado. Officials there plan to charge him with murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, are building their case against Karr. We will take you to Boulder in a moment. First, though, a bizarre experience for John Karr's fellow passengers on the flight from Thailand. Our Drew Griffin was on board that plane and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After a 15-hour calm flight, John Mark Karr was faced at the door of the plane with about a half a dozen customs agents who immediately took him off the plane and whisked him into custody immediately. With John Mark Karr were the two customs agents and the Boulder district attorney's investigator who escorted him on this very long, long flight from Bangkok, Thailand, to here at Los Angeles International Airport.

During the flight, very little movement out of Mr. Karr. He would not answer any questions. Did not want to be bothered. The only time you noticed anything was when he got up and went to the bathroom. And you can see that the agents actually made sure that bathroom door stayed open, even while he was inside using it.

There was no handcuffs on him. Thai officials would not allow that from the airlines. Some passengers were a little bit upset. Take a listen to this one man who found out only at the gate when Mr. Karr passed him by that this accused murder was going to be on his very long flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little bit of a shock. I've been following it in the Bangkok press. You know, it's a little bit of the celebrity factor. But, you know, part of me is a little bit disgusted and part of me is a little bit, you know, kind of -- wanted to presume innocents.

GRIFFIN: John Mark Karr will now be held here in Los Angeles until he can be either extradited or sent to Colorado to face murder charges in the case of JonBenet Ramsey.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: As the story develops, Larry King will have an exclusive interview with Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood and Michael Tracey. He's the Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern.

Also what to tell you about what we've been watching out of London today. Scotland Yard revealing information about 11 of the suspects that are in custody. They have been charged with a variety of offenses, including eight of them have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

Scotland Yard also revealing some of the evidence that they have been able to gather over the last week or so, including, they say, bomb making materials, including chemicals and wires. Video recordings, including martyrdom videos, and a surveillance, including video and audio, that all took place before August 10th.

About a minute left in our hour. Let's get the latest on what's happening out of Virginia Tech which has the campus in lock down today.

Tony.

HARRIS: That's right, Daryn, just want to give you the latest on this before we go to our programming for the rest of the afternoon and keep this story on your radar.

Police are looking for this man, 24-year-old William Charles Morva, who was being held on suspicion of robbery. He was being transported to a local hospital from Christiansburg to Blacksburg in Virginia when he escaped. And since that time, he has allegedly shot two police officers who were trying to recapture him and get him back behind bars. We will keep an eye on the situation. The university is on lock down, as you mentioned. We'll keep an eye on this throughout the afternoon.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Tony, thank you for that.

That's going to wrap up our couple hours together. I'm Daryn Kagan. Keep watching CNN. YOUR WORLD TODAY is up next with news happening all around the globe and here at home.

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