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American Morning

Ramsey Murder Case; Pilgrims Attacked; Crisis in the Middle East; 'Welcome to the Future'

Aired August 21, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Morning. Welcome, everybody. It is Monday, August 21. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez in for Miles.

And here's a look at the top news this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: The suspect in the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey back in the U.S. now. John Mark Karr arrived in L.A. last night from Thailand. He's waiting for extradition to Boulder, Colorado. No word on when he's going to make his first court appearance.

SANCHEZ: In Egypt, at least 51 people are dead after two passenger trains collided and caught fire. Another 138 are injured. The accident happened just north of Cairo.

S. O'BRIEN: In Baghdad, the second Saddam Hussein trial begins before the first one has even ended. The former Iraqi leader refused to enter a plea today on charges of genocide and war crimes, so a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. The charges are connected to his crackdown on Iraqi Kurds back in the late 1980s.

SANCHEZ: In Midlothian, Texas, near Dallas, three police officers and a state trooper are recovering after being wounded during an eight-hour standoff. Police say 25-year-old Richard Miles shot at the officers as they investigated a report of a broken window yesterday. The gunman apparently killed himself afterward.

S. O'BRIEN: My gosh, that's got to be at least 50 or 60 shots fired there.

Let's get right to Chad Myers. He's got a look at the forecast this morning.

Good morning to you, -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Mr. Sanchez, you picked a perfect week to go to New York City.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but, boy, I'll tell you what, trying to get out of Atlanta yesterday was tough.

MYERS: Wasn't it ugly. SANCHEZ: Three-hour delay at Hartsfield as a result of those storms that went through.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And when I was leaving my house to get here, lights were out, trees were down, violent stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: Well good weather here, as Chad said.

MYERS: That's right, we get that.

S. O'BRIEN: Finally, relax for the week, it's all good.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

SANCHEZ: I'm fine now.

S. O'BRIEN: The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey killing back in the United States this morning. John Karr flew in overnight from Bangkok. He's being held in a Los Angeles county jail. His next stop is Boulder, Colorado, which of course is the scene of the crime.

We've got correspondents in both places. Let's begin with Drew Griffin. He sat right behind John Karr on the flight back.

Hey, Drew, good morning.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

A fairly uneventful but very long flight. Fifteen hours in that plane in which John Mark Karr was kind of a surprise celebrity on board. People on board the Thai Airways flight had no idea he was going to be there until all of a sudden he and the police showed up at the gate, literally right outside the plane. And then for the next 15 hours, he was eyeballed the whole way from Bangkok to here in Los Angeles, two immigration officers, federal officers, along with one district attorney's investigative person from the Boulder D.A.

And I believe you can see pictures of him on board the plane. He basically stayed to himself. He was in business class, which is bringing some attention, but the last row of business class, nestled against a window. The only time he ever got up was to go to the bathroom and then needed to be escorted by both male officers to the bathroom, could not shut the door whatsoever while he was using that bathroom, and then right back to his seat.

Many of the passengers on board that flight just stunned that he was there. And some actually complaining to us that they didn't want him on that flight. Take a listen to this.

S. O'BRIEN: Drew, it sounds like we don't have that interview, but I can -- I'm not surprised at all, frankly, to hear that a passenger wouldn't necessarily want to be sitting in business class with a man who's accused of a high-profile murder.

Let me ask you a question, though, in those shots, he doesn't have cuffs on. You can see he's sitting next to another officer. There are photographers all around him in some of the shots that we could see. Why wasn't he cuffed?

GRIFFIN: Apparently Thai Airways has a policy where they don't allow people to be cuffed. I asked that specifically of these officers. They said, look, we're flying on Thai Airways, we have to respect their wishes, they did not want handcuffs. And then they said to me, quite frankly, if there's any trouble, we can handle it. I believe it. The one officer sitting directly next to him was a very large and well-built officer, Gary Phillips (ph) with Immigration Custom Enforcement.

And you know this person, he is an accused murderer, but he's accused, if he did it, of killing a 6-year-old little girl. He is not an imposing figure. I think, Soledad, either on our video, and certainly not in person, they felt that at no time was he a danger to anyone.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you one other question, he seems very passive, almost not even paying attention to the host of cameras that were around him. What was he like? What was -- what were his actions like on board that flight?

GRIFFIN: You know I've been watching him now for several days. In Bangkok the same way. He's kind of glassy-eyed and in a daze, but very cognizant of the fact that he is going to be on camera. Prior to his arrival getting off the plane here in Los Angeles, he was combing his hair. He insisted on changing his shirt and putting a tie on. So he's well aware of the cameras, but he then just kind of ignores questions or his eyes are kind of glazed over as he passes by those cameras. I really can't make this guy out heads or tails. I don't know where he's coming or going from. He just seems like a very odd sort.

S. O'BRIEN: Drew Griffin for us this morning. As we mentioned, Drew sitting right behind the suspect on that lengthy flight from Thailand.

Thanks, Drew.

Let's take you now to Boulder, Colorado. That's where Ed Lavandera is reporting for us today.

Ed, when exactly do we expect that Karr is going to be back in Colorado?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well it looks like it will take at least a couple of days. There's still a little bit of confusion as to exactly what will happen over the next couple of days. Boulder officials here in Colorado are fully expecting an interstate extradition hearing to begin the process of bringing him here to Colorado. We'll see how that plays out later today. So if that -- if he waves his right to extradition, which many people believe he will do, that will kind of speed up the process and we'll have him here within the next couple of days. If for whatever reason he does decide to fight extradition that could delay it by several weeks.

We do know that investigators here at the D.A.'s office in Boulder, Colorado were working throughout the weekend building their case. We were told by a spokeswoman for the D.A.'s office yesterday that once he reaches here in Colorado, they have 72 hours to file charges against him.

We bring that up because, if you'll remember, the only public comments that the D.A. has made in this case was last Thursday when she said that they were still investigating, that they had a lot of work to be done. So there is some question as to whether or not they are ready to file those charges against him. But we do know that they have been working throughout the weekend to make that happen -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ed, quick question for you, a notorious case, a guy who, by many descriptions, is bizarre and has been saying strange things. What's been the reaction of the community?

LAVANDERA: I think you know as kind of as Drew mentioned, I think a lot of people here are still trying to figure out just who is this guy. There aren't -- we've spent the weekend trying to find people who might have seen him here 10 years ago, might have remembered him in some way. There's only been one person who came out over the weekend and said that they had met John Karr. It was four years ago and it was in Paris. So there's still a great deal of uncertainty and kind of mystery surrounding this guy for many people here.

S. O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera in Boulder, Colorado this morning.

Thanks, Ed.

Tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," it's going to be an exclusive interview with Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood and the Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Twenty people were killed this weekend during an annual Shiite religious ceremony in Baghdad. And this morning, Iraqi leaders are praising their security forces, saying it could have been even worse.

CNN's Michael Holmes is live now in Baghdad following this for us.

Good morning, -- Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Rick.

Yes, indeed they are saying it could have been worse and it could have been. Last year, you'll remember, there was a stampede on a bridge during this same pilgrimage which honored a -- which honors a Shia cleric, an imam, a very revered figure in Shia religious history. Now there a thousand people killed last year.

This year it was very dramatic. There was gun battles in half a dozen places. But 20 killed is, ironically, in this place, a fairly low figure. There were about 300 people who were wounded, some by gunfire, many others in the panic as people raced to get away from the scene of the shooting -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Sounds like there's going to be a second trial for Saddam Hussein. And this is the one that really will give the Kurds, it seems, Michael, their day in court, right?

HOLMES: That's right. It's already under way, been under way for a couple of hours now. This is day one of trial two, if you like. Saddam Hussein and six others, including his cousin, Ali Hassan al- Majeed, whom you may know better as Chemical Ali, he commanded Iraq's north. They're on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity.

All relates to the deaths of tens of thousands of Kurds, the destruction of 2,000 villages or more using chemical weapons in many of those attacks. It was the so-called Anfal campaign of 1988, the scope of which dwarfs the first trial we saw Saddam at which was over the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys from Dujail after a failed assassination attempt.

As I say, it's already under way. We've already seen Saddam Hussein be his combative self. He refused to give his name, saying to the judge, you know me. And when asked to plead guilty, he didn't do -- plead guilty or not guilty, he refused to do so. And the judge put in an innocent plea for him -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: You know me, interesting line.

Michael Holmes, thanks so much, joining us live from Baghdad. We'll be checking back with you.

Meanwhile, the investigation of the alleged plot to blow up U.S. bound planes from Britain appears to be moving forward. Police are reportedly close to charging some of the suspects in custody and British Home Secretary John Reid says investigators have already gathered substantial material. Investigators have until today to question 2 suspects and until Wednesday to interview 21 others.

Tomorrow's scheduled execution of three Islamic militants convicted in the Bali bombings has been delayed. Indonesia's attorney general says the men have decided to appeal their sentences. The 2002 nightclub attacks killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. Officials say the bombings were carried out by al Qaeda- linked Jemaah Islamiyah. That's a terror group, by the way.

Soledad, over to you.

S. O'BRIEN: In America this morning, shocking confession from the Missouri man who was arrested for an attempted carjacking. Investigators say the man, Michael Lee Shaver Jr., told them he killed seven people. After a search of his home, police say they've already found bone fragments on the property. They are still investigating.

In Blacksburg, Virginia, police this morning searching for an inmate who escaped after he killed an unarmed security guard at a hospital. William Charles Morva had been taken from jail to the emergency room when he sprained his wrist and his leg.

In New Mexico, a big rig overturned. It caused as many as six cars to crash into the wrecked truck. No major injuries to tell you about. Lots of twisted metal forced the closure of all westbound traffic for several hours.

And another accident, this one in northern California, a tanker truck overturned into a ditch. Take a look at these pictures. Spilled at least 700 gallons of gasoline, caused some big environmental concerns near Concord as well. Due to the dangers of benzene, authorities are recommending that nearby residents stay indoors or leave the area altogether. Benzene, of course, is a carcinogen.

San Francisco, Joe Rosenthal shot indelible images of U.S. servicemen raising the American flag at Iwo Jima signaling the world -- end of World War II. He's dead. He was 94 years old. And his famous photos won him a Pulitzer Prize. The story behind these photos is such an amazing story. Great read.

Still to come this morning, the first peacekeeping troops will head into southern Lebanon. Some people say though it's too little and it's too late. We'll talk about that just ahead this morning.

SANCHEZ: Also Senator Joe Lieberman fights back. What he is saying now about the Iraq war and whether he wants to be seen as a Democratic or a Republican.

S. O'BRIEN: And Hillary Clinton in the media spotlight more than ever before. Is she the Democrat's best hope in 2008? We'll take a look at that ahead.

Plus, Carrie Lee has got business headlines this morning.

Good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Thank you, everyone.

The slowing housing market, high gasoline prices taking a toll on consumer's tastes for upscale merchandise. We'll have that story and more coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening this morning.

The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey killing is in a Los Angeles jail. John Mark Karr arrived from Thailand last night. He's waiting to be extradited to Boulder, Colorado where JonBenet was killed.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, the second trial of Saddam Hussein is under way. Hussein is charged with genocide and war crimes against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. He has refused to enter a plea thus far.

An explosion this morning in northeastern Moscow, at least seven people are dead, including three kids. The cause of the blast is still unknown -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: United Nations troops are trickling into southern Lebanon. Three thousand have been deployed, more or less, so far. It's about one-fifth of the total expected. But this weekend's Israeli commando raid on Hezbollah sites has stressed the already uneasy cease-fire.

Let's get right to CNN's Anthony Mills. He's in Beirut for us this morning.

Good morning, -- Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, that raid in Bodai, a Hezbollah stronghold to the east of Beirut, really underscored the fragility of the cease-fire. The country's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, called it a naked violation of that cease-fire. And there is concern that the longer that transpires without really thousands of United Nations peacekeepers coming in, the more dangerous it is, the more possible it becomes that this cease-fire will be broken again, possibly with the result that full-blown hostilities could start up again.

Now a short while ago I spoke to a high-ranking government source who told me that there's going to be a Cabinet session today at which that international United Nations deployment will be discussed. That government source told me there was disappointment within the ranks of the Cabinet that this deployment of United Nations troops had not been done faster and in a more forthright fashion -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills in Beirut for us.

Anthony, thank you -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Time now for a check of the forecast. Chad Myers standing by in Atlanta at the CNN Center.

I was going to call you at home last night and ask you when that thing was going to finally come to an end, man.

MYERS: You know when you get a storm close to the airport here in Atlanta, it just messes everything up and then planes have to literally scatter and get into this holding pattern that can tie -- it can take them over the Atlantic Ocean or it could take them over Alabama. And so by that time, then you've got planes in the wrong places, you have thunderstorms. And even if you do have a plane at the gate, you can't get out of there because the thunderstorms can sometimes shut the whole airport down.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Chad. Answer your phone next time, by the way.

MYERS: Sure, call me anytime.

SANCHEZ: See you later.

MYERS: All right.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, what a cover, Hillary Clinton, love her or hate her. "TIME" magazine asks readers to decide. Those are the words on the cover, by the way. Wait until you see it. Is she the Democrat's best hope to recapture the White House or something else?

Also, the weekend box office where "Snakes" versus "Ricky Bobby." Who slithered to the top?

S. O'BRIEN: There's a hint right there.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. What a strange title, "Snakes on a Plane." Also, who got left in the dust?

Stay with us. This is AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Here's some business news. The company that's trying to buy Disney's ABC Radio business for $2.7 billion apparently wants to change the deal.

Carrie Lee has your business headlines and she's joining us now.

It's like I want to take it back.

LEE: Well it might not be worth $2.7...

S. O'BRIEN: You can't do that.

LEE: ... after all, because this is -- things are very different from when the terms were first discussed in February. We're talking about Citadel and Disney's ABC Radio assets.

Well over the past couple of months, Citadel shares have really come down, down about 27 percent. And Disney's ABC assets haven't been performing very well either in terms of radio. So if Citadel shares continue to come down, could trigger a clause in this purchase agreement that could guarantee Disney a bigger payout. So the deal terms probably not going to be what they originally thought.

Also, here's a rather interesting trend, the high price of gasoline and the slowing housing market taking a toll on consumer purchases for high-end luxury goods. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that over the past decade we've become more prosperous, people liking things like a $4 cup of coffee, a $400 handbag, you know who you are out there.

Well companies like Starbucks, Whole Foods, William Sonoma have all reported disappointing sales recently, and that could not bode well when we hear more about quarterly profit reports. Also, their share prices have come down. Interesting, because you hear about lower-end consumers maybe going to dollar stores, discounters, but "Wall Street Journal's" survey saying even households above the $75,000-a-year mark are starting to change their buying habits as well.

SANCHEZ: I still love the dollar store, great deals.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say, nothing is better than the dollar store. If you have children and you're not shopping at the dollar store, then you're an idiot.

LEE: To say nothing for $400 handbags, right?

SANCHEZ: That's one of the few places you can go and say I'll have two.

LEE: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: I'll have 10.

LEE: And then quickly, you've heard of Prempro, the company here, or the drug. Well there's a first lawsuit going to trial in Little Rock, Arkansas. Now this is a drug made by Wyeth. Jury selection starting today in a federal court in the first trial of 4,500 lawsuits filed across the country. They're challenging Prempro which is a hormone replacement therapy. Some women say it causes breast cancer. So another big drug company lawsuit trend or...

S. O'BRIEN: So many people predicted that was going to happen.

LEE: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

LEE: So today the jury selection starts.

S. O'BRIEN: All right.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, -- Carrie.

LEE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carrie.

A look at the morning's top stories straight ahead.

John Mark Karr is now at an L.A. jail, might not be staying there for long, though. We'll take a look at what's next for the man who has confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey.

And President Bush is ready to hit a campaign trail in support of Republicans running for Congress. How is he being met though, is it open arms? We'll take a look just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that steroids have ruined the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unprofessional athlete, they should just go out there and play the sport with what they are given and not seek enhancements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're setting the standards for the young kids at an untouchable level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely not fair to either the sports or the fans that they enhance their abilities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish it could be a level playing field. It could just be about your raw skills and your raw talent.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Instead, it seems many top athletes will do most anything to tilt the playing field in their direction. The stories we hear about are bad enough, but there are new drugs being cooked up all the time designed to slip through the testing process.

(voice-over): Dr. Don Catlin is Director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory. He says creating new enhancement drugs is simple, but developing the test to detect them is no easy task.

DR. DON CATLIN, DIRECTOR, UCLA OLYMPIC ANALYTICAL LABORATORY: Old drugs that are being revamped and turned into new drugs, they just take the molecule and tinker with it a little bit and then we don't have it in our computer file. The test has to be foolproof. To remove an athlete for competition, we've got to have it right.

M. O'BRIEN: Catlin says in order to perfect these tests the sports world should be pouring some of its billions to make the testing labs more sophisticated. He believes this, along with harsher penalties for offenders, will bring fairness back to the games.

KATLIN: There will always be people who are in last place trying to move up second to last. But you can expect to have the major winners in the big sports be drug free. That's a reasonable goal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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