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American Morning
Fugitive Captured; New Orleans Police Shooting; Some Lawmakers Question NSA Spying on Americans
Aired December 27, 2005 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Almost 9:00 Eastern.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Almost 9:00.
COSTELLO: One more -- 20 more seconds.
O'BRIEN: Twenty -- if we wait long enough, it will be 9:00. As a matter of fact, four seconds away.
We're glad you're with us this morning.
Could be more arrests today in the case of serial rape suspects. We've got some new pictures of Reynaldo Rapalo in custody this morning.
Police caught him last night, a week after he broke out of jail, sliding down a rope made of bed sheets. The new arrests would be perhaps of people who may have helped Rapalo after he broke out of prison.
John Zarrella, live in our Miami bureau with more on all of this -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, you just know that there is a tremendous sense of relief in the Miami neighborhood known as the Shenandoah neighborhood. Between the years 2002 and 2003, Rapalo is accused of going on a serial rape spree, seven women in all. He's accused of sexually assaulting women and young girls between the ages of 11 and 79.
Those pictures you're seeing there this morning as he was being transferred from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offices back to jail. He was smiling. He was laughing, talking with police.
They said that upon his arrest last night, that he seemed almost gleeful that he was able to have eluded capture for -- for an entire week since his escape on the 20th of December, repelling down six floors, using bed sheets tied together from the jail where he was being housed. And police say that his ability to have eluded them for almost a full week means to them that he must have had some sort of assistance during the past week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIRECTOR ROBERT PARKER, MIAMI-DADE POLICE: We suspect that he had some help. You know, we took some things off of him. Unfortunately, including he had -- the fact that he is still had the blade that he used to escape.
So he had that. He had information which indicated that he had been communicating with people. So we are very much interested in talking to those individuals, and I would not be surprised that there are some arrests for people that helped him out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: It was a tip that led police last night at about 10:00 p.m. to capture Rapalo. That's what he was wearing when he was captured. You could see that he had some sort of a pink shirt on underneath this black shirt that he's wearing there.
The anonymous tipster caled police, gave them a description of the man, and a narcotics unit happened to be in the area of a shopping mall. When these police came up to him, they asked him who he was. He said that he was a homeless man from Nicaragua, continued to question him.
At that point he bolted, tried to escape. They managed to chase him down with K-9 units and arrest him.
Now, we expect -- he may well appear in court today on these new escape charges. That's yet to be determined. And he was supposed to go on trial in February, Miles, for the rape charges -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella in Miami. Thank you very much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In New Orleans, an investigation now under way into a deadly police shooting. Officers firing several shots, killing a man who was waving a knife. It is the first use of deadly force there since Hurricane Katrina, and now internal police investigators are looking into whether the killing was justified.
CNN's Sean Callebs is in New Orleans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The shooting came to a deadly conclusion right here on the corner of Felicity and St. Charles in the Lower Garden District of the city. Now, authorities say the victim forced the officers' hands by lunging at them with a knife that he had been wielding as he made his way up and down this street.
The drama began right across the street in a Walgreen's. Police say the suspect first assaulted an employee there. As he came out, he was confronted by officers who asked him to get down and surrender to authorities.
Now, we have some very dramatic pictures taken by an amateur photographer that showed just a number of officers who had surrounded this individual. They had actually hit him with pepper spray. They say it had virtually no effect. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiped his face off. You can see him wielding a knife. And police say he was acting in a menacing fashion.
When they finally did corner him, at least 10 shots were fired by officers. So the question, was it too much force? Well, here's what the New Orleans police force has to say about that.
DAVE ADAMS, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SPOKESMAN: You have several officers out here, police officers right in front of him. Life is in imminent danger. He has to back out of the way to keep from being stabbed in his chest. I don't think it was too much force.
CALLEBS: Still, some residents here in the Lower Garden District say that lethal force was not necessary. They say that this individual was well known in this area and it appeared he was mentally unstable. He was frequently seen in a fast-food restaurant talking to himself, gesturing.
Now, also, this shooting comes at a time, a difficult time for the New Orleans police officers. First, there was a very publicized beating that took place in the French Quarter that led to the dismissal of two officers. Also, New Orleans police officers were accused of looting and stealing vehicles from a car dealership at the height of Hurricane Katrina.
However, police say this case is totally different. They say the officers did what they had to do to end this situation.
Sean Callebs, CNN, in New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, Congress is out for the holidays, President Bush clearing brush at the ranch in Crawford. All's quiet in Washington, right?
Well, by definition, whenever Bob Franken is in town, not all is quiet. Bob joins us from our bureau. We would have sent him over to the Capitol, but given the dearth of the political cognoscenti there, the halls are simply to echoey (ph).
So he joins us now from the bureau.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What did you mean by that?
O'BRIEN: Cognoscenti?
FRANKEN: Well, no. I know that. But...
O'BRIEN: You're part of the cognoscenti. Capiche?
FRANKEN: Cognoscenti of dissidents, perhaps.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
FRANKEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. We've got a couple of stories. We are grasping at straws here...
FRANKEN: We are. We are.
O'BRIEN: ... because, quite frankly, there isn't much going on. But let's -- the NSA story is a big story.
FRANKEN: It's a big story.
O'BRIEN: And it would be a much bigger story were it not for the fact that nobody's home.
FRANKEN: It would be, but perhaps the NSA is following them wherever they are. They have the technology.
This is the kind of story that has in the minds of some big brother implications. We do know that the super secret National Security Agency is capable of just about monitoring anything that it feels like doing. There are some restrictions against that.
The president has acknowledged that he authorized the NSA to do some of these -- ignore some of these seeming restrictions because of the current war on terror, which the president and his followers believe authorizes a president to act almost without limit.
Now, critics are saying that the president has pushed these limits in an effort to come up with a stronger executive branch of government. And that is something that is going to dominate the debate when people get back.
O'BRIEN: So that story -- when people get back. You think that story has some real legs? I would presume it would.
FRANKEN: I would think so. I mean, the implications are huge, it's part of a larger picture where there's a real struggle going on between the executive branch, as I said, and the other branches of government, with people saying that the president has tried to recreate an imperial presidency.
O'BRIEN: All right. From a story with legs to other parts of the anatomy, Anna Nicole Smith at the Supreme Court. Just saying that is enough to keep viewers from clicking the remote, I think.
FRANKEN: Well, of course you should mark on your calendar February 28. I know you'll find some excuse to be down here to...
O'BRIEN: Fact-finding.
FRANKEN: ... cover this story, right, when Anna Nicole Smith comes up before the Supreme Court.
O'BRIEN: Do you think she'll wear that particular garb there?
FRANKEN: Well, it can only be hoped. (LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Oh, stop.
FRANKEN: Before we go on -- before we go on, we should point out that there's a reason for us discussing this. Regrettably, I've forgotten what it is.
No, no, no.
O'BRIEN: We don't really care, Bob.
FRANKEN: No, no, no.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we do. We do.
FRANKEN: We have to do this. We do.
O'BRIEN: Please do.
FRANKEN: The story is that the Bush administration, through its solicitor general, wants to argue on behalf of Anna Nicole Smith's position that the federal government -- this is exciting stuff -- and the federal courts do have a role in probate matters such as in the state of Texas where Anna Nicole has been fighting for $480 million in inheritance.
Are you still awake there?
O'BRIEN: No, I am. We know she's kind of probably a gold digger, yes.
FRANKEN: In any case -- well, I'll leave that to you to say.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
FRANKEN: But we do know that she's expected to be at the Supreme Court, and, of course, as we've all discussed, people will be mainly interested in the legal issues here.
O'BRIEN: Mainly.
FRANKEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Mainly.
Bob Franken with a front row seat already, I'm sure.
We'll see you soon -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank goodness that's over.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Probably...
COSTELLO: The testosterone was a little much for me.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it's time to move on, I think.
COSTELLO: It is. Let's give you some headlines now.
O'BRIEN: Maybe it's past time.
COSTELLO: Maybe it is.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: More than 10,000 people taking to the streets in Baghdad. They're supporting a national unity government, one that would give more power to secular politicians instead of to religious parties. Early results from the December 15 elections give the religious Shiite coalition a strong lead. Final results are expected next month.
Florida Police investigating why a bus driver would threaten to blow up a county bus. The man was arrested without incident on Monday after relatives told police about his threats. Bomb squad detectives found a homemade bomb and two hollowed-out grenades in his home.
Nearly 50 people are accused of defrauding a Red Cross program for Katrina victims. According to "The Washington Post," they allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Authorities say 17 of them actually worked at the claim center.
The Red Cross caught wind of it when officials noticed a suspiciously high number of claims in an area that houses very few evacuees.
And a new flu strain is spreading across the West. Doctors and scientists are calling it A California. That's because it was first discovered in Santa Clara County last year.
It's been jamming emergency rooms from L.A. to the Bay area. The CDC says A California is not an epidemic yet, but it could be.
As to where else the flu is causing problems, let's head to the forecast center and check in with Jacqui Jeras.
Good morning.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Coming up, you better keep an eye on what your kids are downloading, because it could get you sued. We'll talk to a mother who is stuck in a legal battle with the music industry.
COSTELLO: Also, did FEMA slow down efforts to reunite families divided by Katrina? We'll have the latest on that for you.
O'BRIEN: And later, can lasers really help people quit smoking? Lasers. "House Call" takes a look at this controversial therapy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Do you smoke or know someone who does? If so, then perhaps you know how hard it is to kick the habit. Now there is a new method to help you stop smoking, but it is not without some controversy.
Heidi Collins has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joeann Singer has been smoking a pack a day for 43 years.
JOEANN SINGER, SMOKER FOR 43 YEARS: I started smoking when I was around 16.
COLLINS (on-screen): And now you're...
SINGER: And now I'm 59. It's a long time to smoke.
COLLINS (voice-over): She's tried to quit four or five times.
SINGER: When I've tried to use the patch or to be hypnotized, that didn't work.
COLLINS: Going cold turkey didn't work, either.
SINGER: I started gaining the weight. And then you don't feel good about yourself. And then you crave the cigarette again. And it's like, "What am I doing to myself?"
COLLINS: There are 46 million adult smokers in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Joeann is one of the nearly 13 million people who try to quit each year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to ask you several questions just to figure out so I know what your addiction level is.
COLLINS: It's a tough habit to kick, though. Only 3 to 5 percent actually succeed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let it out.
COLLINS: Joeann hopes a new treatment will put an end to her smoking once and for all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to feel anything other than relaxation. It's completely painless, a low-level laser, so...
COLLINS: It's called laser therapy. Anne Penman, a former smoker and pub owner for Scotland with no medical training, says the treatment worked for her, so she marketed it...
ANNE PENMAN, FOUNDER, ANNE PENMAN CENTER: I'm so happy to see you here today. COLLINS: ... opening her first clinic in Glasgow in 1992. In the past two years, she has franchised 34 clinics in the U.S., like this one in New Jersey.
PENMAN: It's a cold, noninvasive laser. And we use it on 27 energy points on the body. We use it on points on the ears, hands, nose, and wrists. These are specifically chosen energy points to help stimulate the endorphin level.
COLLINS: Endorphins relax the human nervous system. The body produces them naturally, especially during stress, pain or exercise. Penman says that can curb a smoker's nicotine cravings when they are the strongest, just days after quitting.
The therapy costs $350 for three sessions performed by "technicians," not doctors. Penman says she has tracked the success rate of the more than 8,000 people in the U.S. and 25,000 in Europe who have tried the therapy.
PENMAN: In America, we have followed the success of our clients and have a documented success rate of 64-percent. Here in the U.K., we have followed our clients right up until six months and have a 52- percent success rate, dropping down to 46 percent at the end of the first year.
COLLINS: The numbers sound good. But the truth is, there have been no clinical trials on Penman's laser therapy. Organizations like the American Cancer Society say there are other methods to help people stop smoking with proven track records. Five nicotine replacement therapies and one anti-depressant are FDA approved and each have a 10 to 20 percent documented success rate.
The therapy has demonstrated promise, but remains unproven, says the cancer society's top expert in smoking.
TOM J. GLYNN, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: My concern with going directly to laser therapy is that you may squander an opportunity to use a method that we do have data on. I would only say that the laser therapy is something that's an absolute last resort after a smoker has made good, solid attempts to quit smoking with the proven methods.
COLLINS: Penman says a clinical trial of laser therapy is set to begin early next year. But Joeann is already a believer.
SINGER: I'm looking forward to never having another cigarette again. I really feel hopeful that this is going to be the aid that I needed to get me to quit smoking for good.
Heidi Collins, CNN, Hamilton, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, you heard Joeann. Joeann's been smoke-free since the therapy. She's gained six pounds but says the therapy has given her peace of mind and help her focus on kicking the smoking habit.
We'll keep you posted.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, you better keep a close eye on what your kids download off the Internet because what you don't know could get you sued. We'll talk to a mother of five who says that's exactly what happened to her.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A multibillion-dollar recording industry still unloading both barrels on those who download music illegally. Normally the defendants in these cases -- and there are about 17,000 of them now -- are young people, high-schoolers or college age who rip songs with impunity. But what about a 43-year-old divorced mother of five who doesn't know Kazaa from a kazoo?
She also is ensnared in that legal net, and she is fighting back. Her name is Patricia Santangelo. She joins us here and now.
Patty, good to have you with us.
PATRICIA SANTANGELO, SUED BY RECORDING INDUSTRY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: When you heard that you were going to be sued by the recording industry, as a parent my first inclination will be, well, how much is it going to cost me to just make this go away?
Was that was your first inclination?
Not really. My first was, we didn't do this.
O'BRIEN: You didn't do it.
SANTANGELO: I didn't do this.
O'BRIEN: All right. What happened with your computer, though?
SANTANGELO: What happened was that the IP address -- the Cablevision company contacted me first. They were subpoenaed by the record industry for my IP address. So actually, originally my IP address was...
O'BRIEN: This is the Internet protocol address...
SANTANGELO: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... which is like the computer's phone number, essentially.
SANTANGELO: Right.
O'BRIEN: And that's how they go out and find people who use this file-sharing freeware service. Kazaa is one of them.
All right. So go ahead. SANTANGELO: So the IP address was sued.
O'BRIEN: All right.
SANTANGELO: And I was contacted by the record industry. And to avoid being named in a lawsuit, I could have very well have settled financially.
O'BRIEN: Right. But you did not. Why not?
SANTANGELO: I was told at the time I had no music. There was no music on the computer that I owned.
I no longer lived at that same address that that IP address came from. So I told them that I couldn't sign a, you know, document stating that I was going to stop do something that was being done. And I just wasn't getting information about how it happened.
O'BRIEN: But were there songs that were downloaded perhaps by your kids, and that in some way is what led them to sue this IP address?
SANTANGELO: Yes, I'm sure that they, most likely, like I said, found a Kazaa file. The thing is, is that none of my children downloaded Kazaa onto my computer. They didn't download the file- sharing program.
O'BRIEN: OK.
SANTANGELO: Without the file-sharing program, I'm assuming that none of this would have happened.
O'BRIEN: All right. But the fact is there was some illegal music on this computer. You just didn't know about it.
SANTANGELO: I knew nothing about any illegal music.
O'BRIEN: So you don't know -- you don't -- you barely know how to check e-mail, much less know what an IP address is.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: But I mean as far as knowing what Kazaa is all about...
SANTANGELO: No, I didn't understand the process of sharing files over the Internet or anything like that.
O'BRIEN: Why do you think it's important to fight this, though?
SANTANGELO: Everything I've learned since this started. I wasn't sure at first, but I've been reading a lot about the lawsuits, and a lot of people like me are being sued. And they really didn't know. And it seems like no one's protecting us from these lawsuits.
O'BRIEN: All right. But doesn't a parent have a responsibility to police this kind of thing? And certainly from the case of the recording industry, whoever owns the computer has some responsibility over it, right?
SANTANGELO: The person that owns the computer?
O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.
SANTANGELO: Certainly. I think a lot of children have Internet access, and I did use parental controls on their AOL accounts, because that's all they use.
O'BRIEN: Right.
SANTANGELO: And I should have been notified if something was downloaded. Or, you know, I didn't even think it was possible for them to be able to do it. So I did -- I did try to set it up the best I knew how.
O'BRIEN: But, of course, you have limited technological knowledge on what to do.
SANTANGELO: I had -- exactly. And I also was working full time and had five children, who had a lot of friends.
O'BRIEN: All right. We can relate to it.
Sit tight here for just a moment. We're going to bring in the other side of this.
The recording industry joining us now is Cary Sherman from Washington. He is the president of RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America.
Cary, you just heard Patty's story. And I know you don't want to go on -- come on with her, which tells me you're a little bit walking on egg shells on a public relations front here.
Are you concerned about the message that this sends, that this woman who doesn't know much about computers is suddenly thrown into this big court case?
CARY SHERMAN, PRESIDENT, RIAA: Well, the message that we're trying to send is that uploading or downloading music without authorization on the Internet is Illegal.
O'BRIEN: I know, but is that her fault? Is that her fault, though?
SHERMAN: Well, but somebody has to assume responsibility for what's happening with kids. And I think parents need to have some kind of conversation with their kids about how to use the computer the right way and the wrong way.
I'm sure that Ms. Santangelo would be very concerned if she found out that one of her kids had shoplifted a CD and would want to know about it and take action about it. And we have to send the same message to parents and kid across the country, because what they're doing collectively is decimating the music industry. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, there is a difference here, though. If I found out my kids had shoplifted, I would go to the store owner and have the child return the item, and so on and so forth. I doubt it would end up in a lawsuit which in her case has cost $24,000 in legal fees thus far.
Is there another way to approach this problem? Because, sad to say, it's not stopping it.
SHERMAN: Well, we certainly have approached this problem with settlements. We were disappointed that Ms. Santangelo didn't take advantage of an opportunity to get rid of this case quickly, as most people have when they find that somebody in their household or somebody using their computer was in the wrong.
And we tried to be very fair and reasonable about this and take these matters up on a case-by-case basis. But the important thing is to get the message out there that this is illegal.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: It might get that message out that it's illegal, but there's also another message which comes out, which is a question of fairness. Is it fair to go after a divorced mother of five who doesn't have a lot of financial means, who really didn't know anything about this and thought she was doing all she could to protect her kids online?
SHERMAN: And we understand that point. And the reality is that an overwhelming number of people who have been sued tell us the same story, that they didn't know what was going on, they didn't know it was illegal, and so on and so forth.
O'BRIEN: And so what do you say? You just tell them -- say, tell it to the judge? Is that it?
SHERMAN: We basically try to settle at a reasonable number, taking into account all the circumstances of the particular case. In this case, if Ms. Santangelo did not do this, then she should tell us who did, and we would modify the complaint accordingly.
O'BRIEN: Oh, well that puts a parent in a tough position. You know that. Yes.
SHERMAN: Well, but parents have to assume...
O'BRIEN: Would you do that as a parent?
SHERMAN: Parents have to assume some responsibility for their kids. I would probably do what you said you would do, which would be settle the case and let that be a lesson for the kid. We had one grandfather who had those kids work off the amount that he paid to settle as a way of teaching them a lesson and making this a family event. O'BRIEN: All right. Cary Sherman, thanks very much.
Patty Santangelo, good luck.
However it turns out, we appreciate you both joining us, shedding some light on this situation.
Whatever you, do parents, know what your kids are doing on that computer. It can cost you an awful lot of money, as Patty knows -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Coming up, is your iPod making you a target for thieves?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have them on, you've signed off mentally as for paying attention to anything other than you're doing that's walking and listening to your music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll look at one what one city's doing to keep you safe. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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