Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Hamas Claims Victory; All-Night Hostage Standoff Ends Without Gunfire

Aired January 26, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The militant group Hamas claiming victory in the Palestinian elections. What that means for peace with Israel. The U.S. keeping a close watch. We are live in the West Bank.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. The SWAT teams swarm in and all-night hostage standoff ends without gunfire. We're going to take you there live for the very latest on this developing story.

M. O'BRIEN: And a speeding truck kills seven siblings. Investigators still not sure why it happened. We have a live report ahead, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: We begin this morning in the West Bank, where a Palestinian election could be a stunning blow to hopes for peace in the Middle East. The group that advocates suicide bombing and the end of a Jewish state in the Middle East now controls the Palestinian government.

John Vause live in front of the Election Commission in Ramallah on the West Bank.

John, good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

There's a lot of talk coming from both sides this morning, and none of it good for the peace process. From Hamas, saying that once its government, there will be no negotiations with Israel. It will not be disarming. It will not recognize Israel's right to exist.

From the Israeli side, the acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saying that Israel simply cannot trust a Palestinian leadership in which Hamas plays a dominant role. And Hamas will be playing a dominant role, expected to win 80 out of 132 seats in the Palestinian parliament, a lot more than anyone predicted. Everyone thought it would get around 40 percent of the vote.

If these numbers are true -- and they're not coming from the officials; they're coming from Hamas election observers in the counting booth, it would mean that Hamas won about 70 percent of the overall vote after a massive turnout; 77.7 percent of the Palestinian (INAUDIBLE) vote cast their ballot yesterday. So whichever way you look at it, it is a mandate to Hamas.

M. O'BRIEN: John Vause in Ramallah on the West Bank. The winds of political change blowing, as well as the winds in general. Thank you.

President Bush says he will not deal with Hamas until it accepts Israel's right to exist.

Reaction now from the White House. Elaine Quijano there.

Good morning, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

The White House, of course, is keeping a very close eye on the developments unfolding in the Middle East, and it was about a year ago or so during the State of the Union address of course that President Bush outlined one of his major foreign policy goals, and that was spreading and helping to support democracies worldwide, including the Middle East. Therein lies the dilemma for the United States. If Hamas, which the U.S. has labeled a terrorist organization, does become part of the Palestinian government, certainly the Bush administration, which is fighting a war on terrorists, is in an awkward position.

Now even though the official election results are not in yet, President Bush did comment on Hamas yesterday. In an interview with the Wall Street journal, he said, quote, "A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace, in order that it to keep the peace." He went on to say, "And so you're getting a sense of how I'm going to deal with Hamas if they end up in positions of responsibility. And the answer is: not until you renounce your desire to destroy Israel will we deal with you," end quote.

So for now, Miles, the White House watching and waiting to see what happens, but certainly a complication for the president's vision of a two-state solution, of a Palestine and an Israel living side by side peacefully -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Certainly a complications.

Elaine Quijano, North Lawn of the White House, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A hostage situation in California has ended with a pack of cigarettes. Police swarmed in, no shots were fired. The bank is in Exeter, California, just about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Let's get right to Peter Viles. He's in Exeter for us this morning.

Hey, Peter, good morning.

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

A peaceful end to a hostage standoff here that could have gone the other way, because the man holding the hostage was armed, involved some very clever police work at the end. He was down to one hostage. He had started with eight, had released five, two had escaped. By this morning, he was down to a single hostage, and the hostage negotiators played a trick on him. He said he wanted some cigarettes. They brought some cigarettes to the door of the bank, stepped back and said someone is going to have to come get these cigarettes. At that point, the hostage taker and the hostage were separated, as the woman, the final hostage, a bank employee, came to get the cigarettes. At that time, we have it on tape -- I'm not sure we're seeing it now -- they grab this woman, take her away. Now we have the bank robber in the bank with no hostages. They go in and grab him, and the whole thing is over in a matter of a minute or so.

Caught on tape our cameraman here, Jim Castell (ph). The whole thing was over about a half an hour ago.

Later, the sheriff's department came out and gave a little bit of an explanation about how this all happened. Here is part of this explanation about how all of this happened about a half an hour ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't an exchange. An opportunity presented itself and the SWAT members were able to retrieve the hostage, and the suspect had no more negotiating bargaining tools with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VILES: So some very clever police work. The hostage is -- or the bank robber rather, the attempted bank robber, is in custody right now. We're told his name is Jess Martinez. He's 47. He's from Basalia, which is about 20, 30 miles away from here. But all of this ended peacefully. No shots were fired. No one is injured. The eight hostages were taken about 5:00 last night at this Bank of America branch are all free and unharmed -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Peter Viles for us with an update and a happy ending really to this story. Thanks, Peter.

In just a few minute we're going to talk with Sergeant Chris Douglass of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department for more on this story -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Florida, an awful crash to tell you about. Seven kids, aged 20 months to 15 years old, killed when a truck hit their car that was stopped. The truck moving at full speed. The kids' car was stopped behind a school bus. The locations is Lake Butler, Florida, about 60 miles southwest of Jacksonville.

Rusty Dornin is live now at Union County High School, where two of the girls were freshmen.

Rusty, first of all, is school going to be open today? Will there be counseling for kids who go there today?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: School will be open, and there will be grief counselors here, Miles. We've just learned from law enforcement officials that the driver of the truck, Alvin Wilkerson (ph), was apparently cited about five years ago for driving under unsafe conditions. Of course they're trying to figure out now how exactly it did happen. It was a clear day. It was a straight road. It was the middle of the afternoon. The school bus was unloading students. The car, full of the seven children, was parked behind it at a full stop when he came, failed to stop, smashing into the car, and of course killing those seven children in the car that were all members of one family, ranging in age from 21 months. The 21 month-old was in the process of being adopted, and then up to 15, two 15-year- old girls. And one of those 15-year-old girls was driving the car.

We just heard another heart-breaking piece of news in what is a very close-knit community here, that one of the family members, they're not confirming exactly who, one of the family members of those victims, a 62-year-old man, did die of a heart attack last night after he heard the news. So some very heart-breaking things going on in this community right now, and as you said, the grief counselors will be coming this morning, and investigators are still trying to peace through exactly what happened. There are no charges against that driver as of yet, but one of the officers here said they are expecting charges forthcoming.

M. O'BRIEN: The tragedy compounded, Rusty, by the loss of that 62-year-old man. Let's talk about the driver of the van -- or excuse me, the driver of the car, 15 years old, and that of course is illegal, but there's no indication that she did anything wrong, correct?

DORNIN: No, not at this point, and apparently she had her learner's permit. Of course, you're supposed to have an adult in the car. But the aunt of the girl did tell CNN that they knew apparently that she had been driving. She dropped off one of the children a little earlier and that they were getting ready to go to church. This accident only happened about two miles from their home.

M. O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin in Union County, Florida, where it will be a very, very difficult today, and many days ahead for that matter.

Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: So far U.S. officials are keeping silent about a development that could affect the fate of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll. Carroll's kidnappers have threatened to killer her unless all the women who are being held by the U.S. and Iraq are let go. Well, now the U.S. is releasing hundreds of Iraqi detainees, and that group includes five women. Could there be a connection?

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is at our bureau in Washington this morning.

Hey, Bob, good morning. BOB FRANKEN, CNN NAT. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And still no official word that the five women have been released. We're told by U.S. military sources that it is going to happen today. It's all part of a delicate dance that the government of the United States does not even acknowledge because, says the administration, it does not negotiate with terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): The deadline set by Jill Carroll's kidnapers has passed, and still there is no word on her fate. The freelance journalist working for "The Christian Science Monitor" was last seen on this tape, January 18th.

Since then, her parents have made several TV appeals direct to her captors.

JAMES CARROLL, JILL CARROLL'S FATHER: Your story is one that can be told by Jill to the whole world. Allowing her to live and releasing her will enable her to do that.

FRANKEN: The kidnapers held for the release of all female insurgent prisoners in Iraq. Government officials say there are nine and that the five being let go are not in response to these demands, but security experts say it still sends the wrong signal.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INST.: You have to assume, as with any situation like this, that if you give in an inch, you may give in a mile, because you may have a lot more of the problem.

FRANKEN: No one in the federal government will comment, for fear of disrupting whatever's going on behind the scenes. The issue of female Iraqi prisoners is a sensitive one for Muslims.

FAWAZ GERGES, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: It's a highly explosive issue. It has really become terribly, terribly volatile in relations between Iraqis who oppose the American presence and the American presence in the country.

FRANKEN: Meanwhile, expressions of support are pouring into the "Christian Science Monitor" Web site, which the family says is providing some comfort.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And now we're hearing that the five women have been released, but still, the silence now is deafening, but the desperate hope for all those who care for Jill Carroll is that no news might not be bad news -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We all certainly hope so.

Bob Franken for us in the Washington bureau. Thanks, Bob.

Ahead this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, I'm going to talk to a friend of Jill's, a young woman who is a reporter as well, and who also barely escaped kidnapping herself. We've got that story just ahead.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we're finding out about another big case of identity theft, this time more than 200,000 people are affected. We've got details on that ahead in a moment.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, Louisianians say they're getting short- changed. They and asked for a $30 billion bail-out post-Katrina. And now the White House is offering a small fraction of that. How will they ever be able to put their lives back together?

S. O'BRIEN: And then more on the hostage situation, the standoff we told you about in California, ended just about an hour ago. We'll get a look at how the police were able to end it without firing a shot. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Look at these picture. They came in just a little while ago. This is in central California, Exeter, California. That's South Central, a long, tense standoff ends without any bloodshed. Police happy to report that. And it basically ended by a little bit of a trick.

And joining me now in Exeter, California, Sergeant Chris Douglass from the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

Sergeant, congratulations on a good ending to what was a situation that must have caused an all of lot of tension overnight. How did it all end so peacefully?

Can you hear me, sergeant?

SGT. CHRIS DOUGLASS, TULARE CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Yes, yes, I can hear you, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: How did it end so peacefully?

DOUGLASS: Oh, we are very grateful for it ending so peacefully. What happened in the end is our sheriff's departments STEP team, also known as the SWAT team, along with our negotiators, had some negotiations in regards to a pack of cigarettes. Our STEP team did bring those cigarettes out to the bank doorway, and at that time, a situation presented itself where we were able to retrieve the hostage and detain the suspect.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, what's a STEP team? Is that a SWAT team?

DOUGLASS: The STEP is the sheriff's tactical enforcement personnel, also known as the SWAT team. M. O'BRIEN: All right, so when you say a situation presented itself, can you be more specific? What happened? Did the suspect in this case -- did he become separated from his hostages and they just lunge on him?

DOUGLASS: I don't know all of the specifics on the actual positioning of the hostage in comparison to the suspect. I do know that the cigarettes were placed at the doorway, and when the hostage did come to the doorway in order to obtain the cigarettes, the situation did present itself to where the hostage could be removed from the building and the suspect could be detained.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, so the hostage was sent to get the cigarettes, and then was allowed free and safe and thus, the situation was neutralized.

What were the demands through all this?

DOUGLASS: I don't have the specifics on all of the demands as the negotiations were going on. That is part of the criminal investigation, and Chief Bush will be doing a press conference in regards to that information. He will be holding that later today. I don't have the exact time for that right now.

But again, I don't have all of the specifics on that, the specific negotiation terms that they came through.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, what -- tell us, as far as arresting the suspect, he was armed, I presume. Did that go off without a hitch for the SWAT team?

DOUGLASS: Yes, it did. There were no shots fired. There was no injuries to any of the hostages, and he has been detained safely.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, and what do with he know about the suspect? Can you shed any light on him?

DOUGLASS: We do have his name. His name is Jess Martinez (ph). He is 47 years of age. He's from the Visalia area, and we do have that he is an Hispanic male.

M. O'BRIEN: And does he have any prior convictions?

DOUGLASS: That information I don't have at this time. That's part of the investigation that's being done by Exeter Police Department.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Have you had a chance to talk to anybody who has held captive and gotten a sense of how they're doing this morning?

DOUGLASS: I have not had that opportunity. I do know that we did take each of the hostages into a private area and debrief them, and I'm not privileged to that information right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much for your time, Sergeant Chris Douglass. I know you've got a lot on your hands now, but we appreciate you spending a little bit of time with us -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Just what possess a mother to drive around her kids around in the trunk of her car? That's certainly what police officers in Maryland were wondering when they pulled a woman over last year. Well, now she is set for sentencing in the case.

CNN's Kathleen Koch has details with this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It looks like a normal traffic stop on a warm June day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get them out of the back. Get them out of the back.

KOCH: But then 37-year-old Lenora Lucas (ph) of Thurmont, Maryland, goes to the trunk and out come her 9-year-old son, 3-year- old daughter and an 8-year-old friend. Lucas puts the children in the car, and Sergeant Shawn Tyler (ph) then begins questioning her and filling out the citation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would you let your kids ride in the trunk?

KOCH: Sergeant Tyler had seen Lucas put the children in the trunk in the parking lot of a video store, followed her and made the stop. He notices she has a special driver's license.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you do for a living? Drive a school bus?

KOCH: At the time Frederick County Maryland officials said Lucas had not driven for the school system in three years. She was convicted in November of three counts of reckless endangerment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Lenora Lucas faces 15 years in prison. It's likely though she's only going to get probation. Sentencing is scheduled for about 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time this morning.

Coming up, an update on the efforts to save kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll. Five Iraqi prisoners released today. Is that giving hope to Jill's loved ones. We're going to check in with a friend of Jill's. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Richard Hatch, remember him from "Survivor."

SERWER: I do, yes. S. O'BRIEN: Kind of a schemer.

SERWER: Yes. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Definitely a schemer actually. It paid off in "Survivor" not so much in court, or in real life. The first ever "Survivor" champion is now in jail for tax evasion. We'll tell you how much time he's really looking at when we talk to his lawyer, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(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