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American Morning
Ramsey Murder Case; The Week Ahead in Politics
Aired August 21, 2006 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: 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, which is where JonBenet Ramsey was killed.
In Baghdad, the second trial for Saddam Hussein is now under way. Hussein is charged with genocide and war crimes against Iraqi Kurds back in the late 1980s. He refused to enter a plea. Well, a judge did it for him.
And in Egypt, a train collision north of Cairo has killed at least 51 people, 138 others injured.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez, sitting in for Miles O'Brien.
Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: Well, nice to have you. Thank you for helping us out. Appreciate it.
SANCHEZ: My pleasure.
O'BRIEN: Miles takes some vacation.
John Mark Karr waking up in a 6x9 foot cell in Los Angeles this morning. The man is suspected of killing JonBenet Ramsey. He arrived back in the United States just about six hours ago.
We've got correspondents in California and Colorado today.
Let's begin with Drew Griffin. He sat right behind Karr on the flight.
Drew, good morning.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And John Karr is in here in the correctional center in Los Angeles in isolation. Really, his life hasn't changed much since Thailand. He was in a small cell there with two guards watching him over the whole time.
It was that bizarre flight that separated Thailand from here in Los Angeles, where John Karr was somewhat of an odd celebrity on board. When he boarded the flight, suddenly you realized just how many media types were on board. They came out from every corner of that plane, six or so cameras focusing on this man as he was getting settled for this 15-hour flight.
He was not handcuffed. That was Thai Airways' decision not to allow any handcuffs on board. But he was being escorted by three officers, two from the Federal Immigration Center, Customs Enforcement, and one district attorney investigator from Boulder, Colorado. They said, even without handcuffs, they were in control of him the whole way. But as you're about to hear, some of the fellow passengers who were stunned to learned who was on board their flight were also stunned to find out that he was not in handcuffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little bit of a shock. I've been following it in the Bangkok press, so, 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 premium innocence, you know, the American way. And part of me is a little bit -- I don't know, a little bit wanting to shy away from the whole thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: It was just a creepy feeling that a lot of people had. Even some of the flight attendants, who said they weren't scared when the cameras were on, were telling us, you know, really, they were. They had to serve this guy, and they were a little creeped out by the whole affair.
The only time you noticed anything odd was when he got up to go to the bathroom. This is John Mark Karr. The officers said that he was not allowed to lock the door, so they physically stood there next to him as he used any bathroom, keeping one foot propped on the door so that it would not close. And then towards the end of the flight, Soledad, John Mark Karr, who's somewhat meticulous with his appearance, made sure to comb his hair, change his shirt, put on his tie, and get ready for another celebrity walk-down, as you were, this one at the jetway at the front of the plane.
So, a very odd flight, but a safe flight. And now he is safely tucked away in this prison, or in this jail, awaiting extradition to Colorado, whenever that will take place.
O'BRIEN: Drew Griffin for us this morning.
Drew, thanks.
When will it take place? That's sort of the question -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Now to Boulder, Colorado, to find the answer to that question, possibly. And it's a little more complicated than you might think.
Ed Lavandera is following this part of the process for us.
This thing could be as long as 10 days, right, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be. It just depends on -- I think we'll find out in the coming hours just how quickly this extradition process will take. And Boulder authorities here are fully expecting to have him back here in the next couple of days, if he does not fight extradition.
If for whatever reason he does decide to fight the extradition, that could slow down this process by several -- perhaps weeks. So we'll see how that plays out throughout the day.
But we do know as well that investigators here in Boulder have been work going throughout the weekend. And the real question is here is the trip that John Karr is about to make to Colorado.
Is this going to be the first time he's ever set foot in Boulder, or was he here 10 years ago? And there has just not been a lot of information that we've been able to gather over the last few days as to anyone who could place him here.
We only met one person who says he met John Karr face to face. That was 10 years ago in Paris. It doesn't really help you out in terms of this case and what happened here 10 years ago.
But authorities say that -- or the last public comments that they had was they made -- still have a lot of work to do in this investigation. That was last Thursday. We know they've been work going throughout the weekend, and it's really kind of a race against the clock. If for whatever reason if prosecutors aren't fully prepared to file charges against him, that could be a problem, because we were told by a spokeswoman yesterday that they have 72 hours, three days to file the murder charges against John Karr once he is here in Colorado -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Ed Lavandera, following that part of the story for us.
We thank you, Ed.
Now, be sure to stay tuned to CNN for the latest developments in the John Karr case. Tonight, Larry King will have an exclusive interview with Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood and Michael Tracey, the Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In American morning this morning, just take a listen to this.
Let's roll the tape, guys.
You can hear the hail of gunfire. It happened during a tense standoff in Texas. Three police officers, one state trooper wounded on Sunday in Midlothian, Texas. That's just southwest of Dallas. Authorities say the gunman died when he shot himself. Two accused serial killers face a court hearing later this morning in Arizona. The men are accused of a string of random late- night shootings in Phoenix.
In new York, rapper Busta Rhymes has been busted. He's accused of attacking a man for spitting on his car. He was released. He's due back in court, though, on October 24th. Back in 2004, Busta Rhymes got six months probation for assaulting a woman at a concert.
More rain in the forecast for an already storm-saturated Alaska. Floodwaters receding, though, after they cut off access between the state's two largest cities, Fairbanks and Anchorage. At least 150 residents were forced from their homes over the weekend.
And take a look at these pictures from Colorado. At least two tornadoes swept through the Bennett area. That's just outside of Denver.
Wow. Look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's heading right for us. We've got to go. We've Got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Yes, you've got to go. Stop taking the pictures. Got to go.
Witnesses say funnel clouds were not on the ground very long and nobody was hurt, which is very good news.
Let's get right to Chad. He's got the latest for us on the forecast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Weekend box office now. "Snakes on a Plane" -- I'm dying to see that -- slither to the top of the box office weekend. It was a bumpy ride, though. The Samuel Jackson thriller, which achieved nearly cult status on the Internet before its debut, brought in just about $15 million, kind of a modest sum.
The NASCAR spoof "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" finished a close second. "World Trade Center" was in third. The college comedy "Accepted" -- has anybody even heard of that, "Accepted"? Not really -- that was close behind. And the Disney dance film "Step Up" rounded off the top five.
I'm dying to see -- I love movies about dance-offs. I just -- ever since "Fame," I love those movies.
SANCHEZ: You know what would make you a good dancer? Having snakes on the dance floor.
O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. It would make you a fast dancer, that's for sure.
SANCHEZ: We'll tie them together, folks.
Saddam Hussein back in court. It's the first day of the trial number two, and we're going to be in Baghdad for you.
O'BRIEN: The first Democratic election in Congo took place in more than 50 years. The vote was weeks ago. Still no winner in sight.
Jeff Koinange is going to join us from South Africa this morning with an update on what's happening there.
SANCHEZ: Also, can President Bush help or hurt Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections when he goes out campaigning for them, as he will begin doing tomorrow? We'll ask a political insider.
Stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Anthony Mills in Beirut, where there's uncertainty about the deployment of an international force that's supposed to be taking control of south Lebanon in conjunction with the Lebanese army, and where defense minister Elias Murr has threatened to clamp down harshly on anyone who tries to fire rockets into Israel from south Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Michael Holmes in Baghdad.
Not guilty was the plea put down for Saddam Hussein, not that he said it himself. He refused to enter a plea on charges of genocide and war crimes. So the judge did it for him.
It was the usually defiant Saddam. He also wouldn't state his name when ordered, saying, "You know me."
It was day one of trial two, this time concerning the slaughter of Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeff Koinange in Johannesburg. Well, they waited more than four decades, and they'll have to wait a little longer. Congo's first democratic elections in more than 40 years is going to a runoff. Results coming out indicate the incumbent, Joseph Kabila, gained 48.4 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, gaining a little over 20 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: For more on these or any of our top stories, you can go right to our Web site, cnn.com.
SANCHEZ: And still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Senator Joe Lieberman, just how much support is he getting from Republicans? We're going to ask senior "Hotline" editor John Mercurio about that.
O'BRIEN: Plus, a morning train commute is deadly in Egypt. Take a look at these pictures.
We'll have details of what happened straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: 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 is waiting to be extradited to Boulder, Colorado, which is where JonBenet was killed.
In Egypt, a train collision north of Cairo has killed at least 51 people, 138 others are estimated injured.
And in Moscow, at least seven people dead after an explosion ripped through a marketplace. Three of the victims were children. The cause is still not known.
SANCHEZ: President Bush getting ready to stump for his fellow Republicans, or at least the ones who are invited. And Joe Lieberman, newly-minted Independent, has his Democratic roots showing these days.
Let's take a closer look now at the political week ahead. John Mercurio, senior editor of "The National Journal's Hotline" is joining us now from Washington, as he does every Monday at this time.
Let's start with Joe Lieberman, because interestingly enough, he seems to be needing Republicans to be re-elected in his own home state, curiously enough, and yet yesterday he had this to say on "Face the Nation"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I am a Democrat. Look at my voting record. I voted 90 percent of the time with the majority of Democrats in the United States Senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Isn't that kind of like spitting in the eye of the folks who are trying to give you a good look?
JOHN MERCURIO, SENIOR EDITOR, "HOTLINE": Sure. I mean, well, I think this is the Joe Lieberman that we're going to be seeing for the next two and a half months.
Look, on some days he's going to sound a heck of a lot more like Dick Cheney, like he did right after his primary when he was attacking Ned Lamont. And on some days he's going to sound much more like a Democrat in the mold of Bill Clinton.
The polling that came out last week did show him ahead by about 12 points, but it also showed him with just 35 percent of the Democratic support. That's, I think, what they consider to be the most fertile ground for expanding that base that he has right now. He has Republicans locked up, which is sort of ironic, and I think he has a good show of Independents.
SANCHEZ: But hold on. But if he has Republicans locked up and he's going on "Face the Nation" and other shows and saying, look, I'm a Democrat, I only vote Democrat, why would Republicans vote for him?
MERCURIO: Because that's the sort of ironic and bizarre nature of this campaign, which is that, look, he is known for having lost this Democratic primary because he's a little bit too close to President Bush among Democrats. And I think that Republicans in the state are responding to that, but the Bush administration also responding to that.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Let's talk about the Bush administration, and President Bush in particular. He's going to be doing some campaigning now for some congressional candidates. Tomorrow he's going to be in Minnesota. I think he's going to be campaigning for Michelle Bachmann. But I understand it's going to be a very private affair.
Why so private?
MERCURIO: Well, I mean, this has been the story line that we've know about for the past couple of months with this president, Republican candidates distancing themselves from him in their districts and their states. His polling has been below 40 percent in most states for the past year or so.
This race is sort of interesting. Michele Bachmann a very conservative candidate in a swing district. She's actually saying that she's excited about the president coming. She's got five kids, they're all going to get haircuts so they can have pictures taken with President Bush.
The more interesting story in Minnesota is the congressman that she's trying to replace, Mark Kennedy, now running for the Senate, distancing himself in a statewide race, a state like Minnesota, which is relatively Democratic. He doesn't want to be seen with the president. He raised money with him earlier this year. At this point, though, he's trying to distance himself both in advertising and other things, which is interesting for Kennedy, because he has fashioned himself during his short House political career as a very, very loyal Bush Republican in 2002 and 2004.
SANCHEZ: That's a real about-face.
Is this an isolated incident or is this a beginning of a trend around the country? Any other states where you see something like this going on?
MERCURIO: Oh, it's definitely the beginning of a trend. We've been seeing it in states all across the country.
The difficult thing, I think, for a lot of Republicans who are running in these Senate races, these statewide race, is that some of the most competitive Senate races for Republicans are in states where Bush is extremely unpopular, states like Washington State, states like Rhode Island, where his approval rating is in the low 20s.
SANCHEZ: John, we're down to 30 seconds, but I've got to ask you about the "Macaca" incident. Of course we're talking about George Allen and what he said about a -- about an Indian-American.
MERCURIO: Right.
SANCHEZ: The president's going to be going down to campaign for him now, I understand. Could this end up tarnishing the president in any way? And what's the effect going to be on George Allen's supposed presidential hopes?
MERCURIO: Well, I think his presidential hopes are the ones he has to be concerned about. He looks like he's relatively safe for his re-election campaign for the Senate.
Look, I don't think the Bush administration was happy with George Allen for what he said. It would be a dramatic departure for them to have canceled the event or anything like that. This had been previously scheduled. John McCain actually campaigned for Allen last week after the "Macaca" thing came out. It's something I think everybody on the Republican side just sort of wishes would go away.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Unfortunately, it might be there for quite a while.
John Mercurio, we thank you.
MERCURIO: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: "Hotline" senior editor John Mercurio is with us every Monday.
Soledad, over to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Ahead this morning, the British oil giant BP facing a possible legal showdown in Alaska. We'll tell you what it could cost you in just a moment.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, you heard about all of BP's pipeline problems. That's hard to say. But could a lawsuit be in the works is the serious question.
Carrie Lee is minding our business for us this morning.
Andy's on a little vaca.
Good morning.
I'm going to guess, yes, a lawsuit could be in the works.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is one in the works, and now there could be some more problems here because Alaska's attorney general is now asking for documents. He's ordered BP and its partners, mainly ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, to release some documents relating to this giant Prudhoe Bay oilfield shutdown. You'll remember hearing about this. This is all relating to what they're saying could be corrosion management practices.
Now, of course you'll remember BP earlier this month shut down the eastern half of Prudhoe Bay. It produces eight percent of the United States oil, and they're looking at a government-ordered inspection turning up serious corrosion problems.
Now, this follows a shareholder lawsuit filed last week. Shareholders basically saying, well, BP knew there were some problems with this, they didn't make the right steps, they didn't want to spend the money to be preventative in making sure the pipeline would operate properly, and so costing shareholders money. So now Alaska's attorney general getting involved as well.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting, because BP really touts itself as environmentally-minded all the time, don't they?
LEE: They -- you know, they do. And obviously Prudhoe is not up and running to full capacity. It's going to take some time. They're hoping by early November at the earliest to get there, but, still, costing people a lot of money and a lot of aggravation for BP.
SANCHEZ: I bet.
LEE: Talking about money, let's do a quick check on the markets.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SANCHEZ: What else have you got coming up? LEE: We have a company -- a drugmaker dealing with potentially thousands of lawsuits relating to one of its prescription drugs. We're not talking about Merck and Vioxx. A totally different story.
SANCHEZ: Look forward to finding out who they are.
LEE: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Carrie.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Here's a look at some of the stories we're working on for you this morning.
The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey killing arrives in the U.S. What's next for John Mark Karr? We'll tell you.
Texas police are searching for a motive after an eight-hour standoff that ends with four law enforcement officers injured. And the gunman apparently killed himself.
A possible setback in the Middle East. New attacks as peacekeepers begin to arrive in Lebanon.
Saddam Hussein is back in court. It's day one of his new trial.
And, was fired for being a woman? Well, this teacher was told she can't give bible classes to men.
We'll explain it all just ahead.
First, though, a check of the forecast. Chad's got that. He's at the CNN center.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
John Mark Karr, the man who has confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey, is back in the U.S. It was quite a flight, though, from Thailand. Business class, fine dining, and no handcuffs.
Why did he get the royal treatment?
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's gunfire. A lot of gunfire. It erupted during a deadly standoff. Several officers are shot. This morning, a Texas town is asking, why?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A Sunday school teacher fired because her pastor says women cannot teach men. He says it says so right in the bible, that women must be subservient to men. A big controversy brewing in Watertown.
O'BRIEN: And Hillary Clinton, love her or hate her?
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