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CNN Saturday Morning News

Manhunt Underway For Suspect Who Murdered Seven Members Of One Family; Delays In Investigation Of U.S. Marines' Involvement In Haditha Massacre; Russian Diplomat Killed In Baghdad, Four Kidnapped; Cities Prepare For Natural Disasters; U.S. Military Field Hospitals Helping Indonesian Earthquake Victims

Aired June 03, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: One Russian diplomat dead, four others abducted in Baghdad this morning. We are following this developing story closely and we will take you live to Baghdad in just a moment for complete coverage of breaking news and today's top stories, you'll want to stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.
From the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good vacation?

NGUYEN: I had a great time. I'm glad to be back though. Did you miss me?

HARRIS: Absolutely. Come on, goes without saying, doesn't it?

NGUYEN: Whatever. Glad to know that you missed me.

HARRIS: Back in the saddle, good see you, Betty.

I'm Tony Harris. Good morning everyone, 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, 6 a.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. in Baghdad. Thank you for starting your day with us.

Our top story in just a moment, first a look at what else is happening right now in the news. An aid to Iraq's prime minister complained today that the U.S. army was too quick in clearing American troops of wrongdoing in a deadly confrontation in Ishaqi. He wants an Iraqi investigation. The U.S. military says as men as a dozen Iraqi civilians may have been killed during a raid in March. The army said U.S. troops were under attack and responded properly.

In Indianapolis, a massive manhunt continues for this man, Desmond Turner, an ex-convict who is the prime suspect in the city's worst mass murder in a quarter century. Police believe Turner is still in the vicinity where the seven family members were killed two days ago in an apparent robbery. A suspected accomplice was arrested yesterday.

In Toronto, we expect to learn more in about an hour about a series of arrests in an anti-terrorist leak. At least ten people are in custody, authorities have not confirmed reports if the suspects were plotting an attack with explosives. CNN will carry a live news conference from Toronto at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

NGUYEN: Also Iran waits for details on incentives to give up its nuclear program, but Iran's president is standing firm. He says the country won't abandon its nuclear ambition. Six world powers including the U.S., China and Russia are offering incentives to Iran. We'll offer those details as they are going to be presented in the coming days and when they are presented we'll bring them to you.

Well the federal government and five news organizations have agreed to pay Wen Ho Lee $1.6 million in a privacy lawsuit. Lee accused federal officials of leaking information he was under investigation as a spy for China. Lee was later cleared of espionage.

And in New Jersey, take a look at this more bad weather is expected -- was that a tree in a house? Yes. That tree has fallen on top of a house. Talking about this bad weather. More of it is expected today. This is video from the town of Clarksboro and some of the recent storm damage. Forecasters say heavy rain could cause flooding in some areas. For a complete coverage of all this and other breaking news as well as today's top stories you'll want to stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Now to the massacre in Indianapolis. A massive manhunt underway for a suspected killer, seven members of one family was shot and killed at their home. CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us from Indianapolis with the latest on this. Keith, do police investigators, do they have any idea where the suspect may be hiding?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they think he's on the east side of Indianapolis and that's where they seem to be focusing their search. In fact, they've been working this case throughout the night, more than 100 officers on the case. The name of the key suspect is Desmond Turner. He's 28 years old. There was a raid last night about a mile from where I am. Desmond Turner was not in the house that police searched.

However, police said that yesterday afternoon they did arrest someone they say is an accomplice, 30-year-old James Stewart and they expect he will be charged with murder. It was Thursday night that the family of seven was shot execution style inside the home behind me and police say it was a married couple, two grown children, two younger children and one grandson all murdered. Late last night the police chief of Indianapolis talked about how investigators are closing in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL SPEARS, INDIANAPOLIS POLICE: We have recovered what we believe to be substantial forensic evidence that has yet to be determined, but we're very optimistic that this will further tighten the noose around the individuals both Desmond Turner and James Stewart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Desmond Turner is still at large. He's a convicted felon. He was released on parole last November from prison and, by the way, Betty, there is going to be a funeral for six of the seven victims this Wednesday.

Back to you.

NGUYEN: You know, Keith, they've been talking about how robbery may have been a motive. We're talking about four children murdered. Four children, three children, one grandchild. Did this suspect know these people at all? Do you know?

OPPENHEIM: According to the police that at least one of the two suspects did know the people in the home and so there are questions, ongoing questions about really what was this crime? Officially it is being described as a home invasion and a robbery and also police have not identified anything yet that might have been taken from the home so they're working that aspect of it. Of course, the question is this was a retribution crime of some sort? We really don't know yet.

NGUYEN: A lot of questions surrounding it. Keith Oppenheim, thank you for that update -- Tony.

HARRIS: Investigations, allegations of atrocities in Iraq, it could all lead to criminal charges against some U.S. troops, but an army investigation has cleared troops of wrongdoing in one incident. It happened during a March raid in the town of Ishaqi. That is north of Baghdad. The army says troops there acted properly and will not face charges. Officials say U.S. forces came under attack and fired back. As many as a dozen Iraqi civilians may have died.

A dozen U.S. troops are under investigation in the shooting death of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya in April. A source says murder charges are likely against several of them. Another incident happened this week in Samarra. The military is looking into reports that soldiers shot and killed two women one of them was pregnant. The vehicle the women were in apparently sped through a checkpoint.

It may be weeks before we learn whether charges will be filed in one of the most shocking incidents. The deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha. The investigators are trying to determine whether U.S. marines massacred innocent civilians, but there have been delays in the search for answers. Details now from senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pentagon sources familiar with the investigation say the criminal probe into whether a small number of marines killed two dozen civilians in Haditha last November may take another six to eight weeks. One official tells CNN investigators are still interviewing witnesses and are trying to get the families of the victims to allow them to exhume the bodies of some victims to collect more forensic evidence.

Meanwhile, legal sources tell CNN that a number of the members of Kilo Company, the marine unit believed to have carried out the killings, are in the process of retaining attorneys, including the staff sergeant who was the most senior member of the squad. CNN has now talked to the marine officer who paid $38,000 in compensation to families of 15 victims and while he wouldn't discuss the payments or the alleged massacre, he does say when he worked with that same unit their work was first rate.

MAJ. DANA HYATT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They're good guys. They did a great job. Like I said, you've got these young kid, 18, 19, 20- year-old kids doing things that kids back here that same age would never even dream of doing.

MCINTYRE: Commanders across Iraq are underscoring that the stress of battle does not excuse murder.

BRIG. GEN. DONALD CAMPBELL, MULTINATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ: While we understand the stresses and pressures inherent in combat operations, we cannot and will not accept behavior that is legally, morally or ethically questionable.

MCINTYRE: Three marine officers were relieved of command, but one tells CNN he's being unfairly targeted by the Haditha scandal. Captain James Kimber says his firing in April was over a dispute with his superiors about media interviews given by his troops that had nothing to do with the Haditha incident.

CAPT. JAMES KIMBER, U.S. MARINES CORPS: I want to clear my name and let everybody know that I didn't have anything to do with Haditha and I wasn't anywhere near it. My marines were nowhere near it and that's the bottom line.

MCINTYRE: Kimber's attorney says his client is a war hero who is simply a victim of circumstance and that his 10-year marine career is being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The investigations in Iraq lead us to the e-mail question of the morning. You guys have been really good on this. What do you think about the recent allegations against U.S. troops in Iraq? Send us your thoughts at WEEKENDS@CNN.com and we'll read some of your responses through out the morning.

NGUYEN: Yes we've gotten really good responses on both sides. So keep them coming in.

I want to talk about a deadly attack on diplomats in Iraq now. Let's get an update on this developing story. CNN's John Vause is tracking it for us from Baghdad. He joins us. What do you know so far, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty. What we can tell you is that five workers from the Russian Embassy were driving through the upscale district in western Baghdad and they were in one vehicle when gunmen in two separate vehicles stopped their car, the gunmen got out and opened fire. We understand that one of the Russians inside the car was wounded. The four others were kidnapped.

Now the wounded man, we are told, was taken back to the Russian Embassy, but he died a short time later. The car they're in actually had diplomatic plates and there is a possibility they were targeted in all of this and it would not be the first time a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates was kidnapped just two weeks ago and released unharmed earlier this week, now this time last year the ambassador from Egypt was actually kidnapped and then later killed.

Most of the times the group Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings of diplomats but at this stage no claim of responsibility for the kidnappings of the four Russian workers from the Embassy here in Baghdad -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Still waiting for more information to come in on this developing story. Thanks for bringing us up to speed. John Vause in Baghdad. Thank you, John -- Tony.

HARRIS: Natural or man-made disasters they just happen, hard to avoid them in many cases. The question is are you and your city ready for a potential disaster of some kind? How your city ranks in disaster preparation.

NGUYEN: That's very interesting. I want to see that.

Plus an aid offensive for earthquake victims in Indonesia. U.S. marines arrive there helping those who need it the most, a report in about ten minute. That's right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Good morning, Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Lots of rain out there today especially in the northeast. Reynolds Wolf has been watching all of that, plus preparing for disasters, that's something people are really trying to do these days with hurricane season on the horizon.

(WEATHER REPORT)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. We all remember the images, just burned in our mind. New York City during the 2003 blackout. What a day that was, and Los Angeles after the Northridge earthquake. Whether natural or man made, disasters do and can happen, but what is your city doing to prepare and how fast could it rebound if disaster struck?

Well, Warren Karlenzig is the chief strategy officer for Sustainlane.com and he's in Las Vegas and we're glad to have him with us this morning. Let's go through and talk about the cities that are again kind of under the gun, if you will. Let's talk about the ones that are the five trouble spots we have.

WARREN KARLENZIG, SUSTAINLANE.COM: Sure. WOLF: OK.

KARLENZIG: The cities that are most at risk, of course, are New Orleans, Miami and San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles for all sorts of earthquake and, of course, hurricane and flooding.

WOLF: OK. I believe we actually have a still of that that we might pop up so the viewers at home can see. You mentioned San Francisco. That's understandable. The history of earthquakes you have around the bay area. Oakland, that's also understandable. Portland, Oregon. Why would Portland be on that list?

KARLENZIG: Well, Portland is prepared for a natural disaster risk in terms of having things like renewable energy, local at food supplies, alternative fuels for vehicles and a good public transit system as does San Francisco and New York City and some other major metropolitan areas in U.S.

WOLF: So they can rebound quickly is what you're saying if something bad were to happen.

KARLENZIG: Correct. The natural disaster is less likely to have longer lasting consequences in those cities.

WOLF: Again, here's a little bit of a checklist that you have and I'd like you to comment on some of these. You mentioned things that people need to do in terms of disaster preparedness. Public transit options? Tell us about that.

KARLENZIG: Absolutely, if the city has public transit options, citizens will be able to get out of the region potentially. People that don't have automobiles can use public transit to be transported around different areas of the city or out of the city entirely if they need to evacuate. Without that option it's not going to be easy for people to evacuate as easy as we saw in New Orleans.

WOLF: Another thing you had mentioned there is locally produced food and produce. We're a society where if we want it, we can just get it. You go to the store and you get it, but you're saying we need to focus locally produced produce why would that be?

KARLENZIG: Well, we look at the implications how local food can really help a region be more self-reliant. If food is coming from long-distance sources then it's more likely to be at risk during the natural disaster than if an area has its own food supply it will help it in these situations.

WOLF: OK. Sounds good.

And also you mention renewable energy for homes and offices. That's obviously a no-brainer because when you have a major disaster, power issues will be in the forefront. So you're talking solar? You're talking wind? What kind of energy sources?

KARLENZIG: Fuel cells also. During the New York City blackout, fuel cells proved to be reliable in places like police stations and hospitals and that technology is really advancing rapidly. So the more cities can use that type of technology as well as solar and wind and distributed energy sources that are renewable. The less likely they are going to get hit by being disconnected from the grid.

WOLF: OK. We talked about the doom and gloom stuff. Let's continue back with the rest of the list and lets go through the rest of those very quickly. Pop that list up one more time.

Alternative fuel vehicles, that's a no-brainer. Innovative city planning that also makes sense. Let's talk about some good news. Let's talk about the lowest-risk cities.

KARLENZIG: Well, you have cities like Columbus, Ohio, where, really, they're not at risk for earthquakes. There's no real risk of flooding and no hurricane risks. The same thing with some desert cities. They might be at risk for drought, but that's a longer lasting phenomenon. Phoenix, Tucson and all of the desert cities have very little natural disasters.

WOLF: Again the lowest risks we are talking, let see Mesa, Arizona, we're talking Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Columbus, Ohio, go Buckeyes, El Paso, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Those people should be smiling today. Despite the heat in Arizona they should be happy because they're part of the lowest risk for natural disasters.

OK, thank you for the plethora of information you gave us this morning. Have a great morning and we're going to send it back to the news desk.

NGUYEN: Yes 111 degrees in Phoenix, not so bad today after hearing that, huh, Reynolds?

WOLF: Exactly.

NGUYEN: More than 6,00 dead, that's what we want to talk about now. Thousands more homeless and injured, now U.S. marines are on the ground in Indonesia. That's good news and a good sign too, and they're looking at the grueling task and a lot of work ahead. We'll tell you about that straight ahead.

HARRIS: Our e-mail question of the morning: What are your thoughts on recent allegations against U.S. troops in Iraq? We have a handful of them we'll share with you in the next couple of minutes. It's good, good, good. Here's the address, WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Turning now to the horrific earthquake that struck the island of Java in Indonesia one week ago. More than 6,000 people are known dead. The biggest challenge now, caring for the 30,000-plus who were seriously injured. CNN's Hugh Riminton explains how U.S. military field hospitals are helping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The marines are in town. To save at least some people from this. Indonesia's medical capacity is grimly overloaded. This woman has an unstable, severely dislocated spine. The care looks painful. Like hundreds of others, she's left on a makeshift bed in a makeshift ward. This is a public corridor.

Other places are worse with the broken hip and a fractured spine 35-year-old Juma Kim (ph) gets floor space in the school. It's in places like these that the U.S. marine's medical assessment team goes looking for those they can best help. They bring them here.

Effectively, this is a combat hospital unit but what they're fighting now for the most part is infection setting in on top of already traumatic injuries. Most of these patients have been selected out of the overcrowded town hospitals where without this intervention they would lose limbs or their lives. For this young woman, more delays would have cost her leg.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found her sort of sitting on an outside passageway waiting to get to her operation.

RIMINTON: The third U.S. Marine's Expeditionary Force Unit put up this hospital in a matter of hours. Skills honed in the tsunami disaster last year's South Asia quake and in Iraq. They can't change the sheer numbers needing help, but they can make all the difference to those who make it here.

CMDR. TOM DAVIS, TRAUMA SURGEON: Most of the wounds we've done to this point have been limb threatening and these kind of injuries can become life-threatening because people can get infections throughout their entire body and die from these things.

RIMINTON: So you're saving lives here?

DAVIS: We're trying. We're doing the best we can.

RIMINTON: At least half a million people are now homeless and earthquake arithmetic is cruel. Those worst injured are also most likely to have lost their houses.

One thing the marines can't do when they send these people home is give them homes to go to.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Jakarta, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well we've been asking you all morning long what do you think about the recent allegations against U.S. troops in Iraq? That is our e-mail question. Here is some of your responses.

Veteran Benny Woodall says, " When you put our troops in harm's way just what do you expect them to do? Play Pattie Cake? It's not their fault if the bad guys hide behind the good guys. If you hesitate one second it could cost you your life." HARRIS: This is from Doug from Statesville, North Carolina. "Every time we ask about the killings at Haditha we are told that 99 percent of our troops are good people which has nothing to do with the question. It's like asking why Bob is a criminal and being told that Ted and Bill have outstanding behavior."

NGUYEN: Richard Brown says, "The charges of massacres by our marines, whether true or not, offer us the opening we've been looking for. While they are reviewing "The rules of War." Let the Iraqi forces handle the insurgents, anarchy and ethnic squabbles. After they've cleaned up the mess, bring our troops home."

What are your thoughts on the recent allegations against U.S. troops in Iraq?

On both sides, really good stuff this morning. Here is our e- mail address WEEKENDS@CNN.com. Keep those replies coming to us.

"OPEN HOUSE" is straight a ahead.

HARRIS: And if you haven't prepared for this year's hurricane season now is the time. Gerri Willis has some tips to protect your home.

NGUYEN: Next hour, more details about a series of anti-terror arrests in Canada. We'll bring you a live news conference that's slated for the top of the hour at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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