Update on Spain Bombing, Political Upheaval; Van Packed With Explosives Found Outside U.S. Consulate in Pakistan
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is Monday, March 15. From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for being with us this morning. Spain's prime minister elect says he will keep his campaign pledge. He will recall Spain's 1,300 peacekeeping troops from Iraq by June 30. That means he'll take those Spanish troops out of Iraq. Police in Karachi, Pakistan head off a potential threat to the U.S. consulate. A large bomb left in a stolen van outside the consulate is defused. Court is dark in the Scott Peterson trial today, but defense attorney Mark Geragos is still busy. He plans to file a motion for a second change of venue. In Fresno, California, police are investigating whether the suspected killer of nine family members was helped by one of the victims. And a Tennessee woman falls 60 feet to her death from an amusement park ride. Police and the ride's maker are trying to find out why. We update the top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 6:15 Eastern. This hour's top story, links to al Qaeda, no definitive evidence yet, but Spain's Conservatives are out of office and Spanish troops are getting out of investigate. Live to Madrid now and CNN's Alessio Vinci, where a moment of silence is now being observed -- Alessio, tell us about it.</s>ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That moment of silence has not started yet. I'm standing at the Atocha train station in central Madrid. It is here that last Thursday most of the victims were killed when the bombs exploded on the train. We understand that that moment of silence about to start any time soon. We're going to pause for that when that happens. But in the meantime, I wanted to share with you a little bit of what's happening around us here. As you can see, at the main entrance of the train station, there are still candles and flowers and messages that the thousands of people, tens, thousands of residents here of Madrid and the people arriving here have laid down in respect of the victims that have died here. As you can see, some of the candles are still lit; many, many, many flowers; a lot of messages, of course, also on the walls of the train station, messages blaming both ETA, al Qaeda, blaming the government for bringing this country to war. It's been a very difficult time for the Spanish people here ever since Thursday. Those terrorist attacks also came at a time of a national election where the Conservative Party, up until the moment those attacks took place, was leading in all the polls. Those attacks then took place and in the days following that attacks, a change of mood in the country that led to the victory, to the unexpected and surprise victory of the Socialist Party against the Conservative government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who has been blamed in this election pretty much for dragging this country into a war. Now, it is still unclear exactly who may have committed those attacks. However, investigators now are leaning towards the possibility of involvement of Islamic militants, including possibly al Qaeda. People here really punished the country -- punished the government for dragging the country into a war -- back to you, Carol.</s>COSTELLO: And, Alessio, is it for sure that those Spanish troops will be pulled out of Iraq?</s>VINCI: Well, this is the, one of the campaign, one of the main campaign pledges that the incoming prime minister has made throughout the political campaign. However, he also has said that he would not withdraw those troops if the United Nations were to pass the resolution in support of a military presence, of an international military presence backed by the U.N. Therefore, it is unclear how the U.N. is going to vote in the coming months, up to the moment where the United States is going to hand over to an interim administration in Iraq. So if there were to be a U.N. mandate, a U.N. resolution calling for an international military presence in Iraq, at that point possibly those 1,300 troops that Spain is contributing to the multinational force will remain. Again, it's just a small fraction, less than one percent of the total military presence in Iraq, but nevertheless the coalition of the willing, if you want, really needs the support of all the countries, including Spain -- back to you, Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, the symbolism here is quite important. Alessio Vinci reporting live from Madrid this morning. A van packed with explosives was found outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan two days before Colin Powell, the secretary of state, is due to arrive in that country. Let's head live to Ash-Har Quraishi. He's live in Pakistan, in Islamabad this morning -- what happened, Ash-Har?</s>ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, officials tell us that a major disaster was averted this morning as a paramilitary troop that was posted outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi saw this van being parked by either one or two individuals near the compound and he approached that van, in which he found some suspicious material and he called the bomb disposal experts to come in. And what they found was a 750 liter tank filled with liquid explosives connected to two detonators and a timer. Now, this happened early in the morning, before employees of the U.S. consulate arrived on the scene. The understanding or the assumption by officials is that they were trying to time this to explode when employees were going to the U.S. consulate. Now, the bomb disposal unit was able to disarm this bomb. It was moved away from the consulate and then disarmed. Now, back in June of 2002, an explosion did go off in front of the U.S. consulate that killed 14 Pakistanis. We understand that it was a very similar type of setup inside of a van that was detonated at that time. Since then, the U.S. consulate in Karachi has raised its walls, has moved its personnel further back into the compound and this road that is used for traffic is usually closed off for just this type of incident. So a major disaster averted today -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Certainly so. Ash-Har Quraishi live from Islamabad this morning. A year, a year already gone by, shock and awe and the war in Iraq began one year ago this week. And this was the scene back then -- anti-war protesters taking to the streets around the world, from here to London to Madrid to Istanbul. Back then, rallies inside Iraq were orchestrated by President Saddam Hussein against the U.S. invasion. But the U.S. did invade. And after about six weeks of combat, Saddam Hussein's government fell. Before all of that, just days before the invasion, Iraq was trying to work a diplomatic angle to end the crisis. CNN's Nic Robertson was one of the few correspondents in Iraq at that time and as he reported, the mood was tense.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that Iraqi officials are very aware of the divisions at the U.N. Security Council. They know that the diplomatic clock, if you will, is ticking down right now. They know that the timing of meetings at this, right now, is very critical and hence it appears they have thrown their card into this, into the mix right at this very critical time. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.</s>COSTELLO: Of course, a lot has changed since our Nic Robertson filed that report. There is an interim constitution in Iraq and a march toward a democratically elected government. How is the one year anniversary resonating for Iraqis? Let's head live to Baghdad and our bureau chief, Jane Arraf -- hello, Jane.</s>JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. You know, a lot of Iraqis are looking forward, as well as back. And a year ago, we have to remember, this threat of war hanging over them, it was an incredible atmosphere, one we had actually seen many times before. This was a country where a lot of people have lived through three wars. And in between those wars the almost constant threat of war. So then they were concerned, they were terrified about the prospect of the bombing, about what would happen. Now, a million things have changed. There are so many things that have changed -- the democracy that you mentioned, that march towards it. But there's still so much uncertainty and there's still quite a lot of fear about exactly what is going to happen in this new Iraq, this new country that's really being created out of the ashes of what happened after the war -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: On the subject of Saddam Hussein and his possible trial -- and I know it's pending and it probably will take some time -- what is the feeling about that amongst the Iraqi people?</s>ARRAF: Well, almost every Iraqi, I would venture to say, really wants him brought back to stand trial. And the things they want to do to him, many of them, really aren't -- don't bear repeating. But they want -- and let's be clear about this -- they want vengeance. People really want revenge, those of them who have had their lives ruined, those of them who have been touched by this, those of them who have lived through more than 30 years of dictatorship. Now, there still is some support out there for Saddam Hussein. But the vast majority of people do want to see him brought back. They want him in Iraqi hands and they want to be able to ask him those questions that they were never able to ask him -- why did you do all of this? Carol?</s>COSTELLO: Just one more question, because I'm curious. You, as a correspondent working a long time in Baghdad, how have things changed for you, as far as your job goes?</s>ARRAF: It is like another planet. I covered Iraq under Saddam probably more than five times longer than I've covered it without Saddam, and I still have many moments where I look out and I'm absolutely amazed that there are demonstrations going on, that there are -- that we can walk out in the street with a camera, not under supervision. In some senses, Carol, it's almost harder because of the security. There are a lot of security restrictions here, just as there were a lot of restrictions under Saddam. But this is an almost entirely new country, for good and bad, with all of the joy and terror that that entails. And people who have been here, people who have lived here feel it most acutely, what an incredible difference this is, this new Iraq, for good and bad, as I say. The future is uncertain but the present is really quite amazing -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Jane Arraf reporting live from Baghdad this morning. All this week, CNN will have coverage of the Iraq -- coverage of Iraq, rather, one year later. we'll talk to journalists, the generals and the soldiers who were there, some who are still there, and we'll follow up on some of the stories CNN reported from Iraq just one year ago. To the forecast center. Let's check in with Chad right now -- good morning.</s>COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad. And -- Chad?</s>CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, ma'am?</s>COSTELLO: As you know, we are starting something new here on</s>DAYBREAK. MYERS: Yes?</s>COSTELLO: It's called the morning coffee quiz.</s>MYERS: Right.</s>COSTELLO: You could win your very own DAYBREAK coffee mug.</s>MYERS: That we're just making right now.</s>COSTELLO: That's right.</s>MYERS: They're not even made yet.</s>COSTELLO: No, they're still in the factory somewhere, I don't know. But you could win your own DAYBREAK coffee mug if you answer two news questions. Just before 7:00 Eastern, we'll ask you two questions based on the news in this hour. You can e-mail your answers to us at daybreak@cnn.com. We'll pick the winner tomorrow morning at 10 minutes after 6:00 Eastern. If you are selected and you are correct, you get the DAYBREAK coffee mug. It's that simple.</s>MYERS: We guarantee it'll look better than that one.</s>COSTELLO: Yes. Yes. A much better design. So we'll ask you two questions just before 7:00 Eastern and then the next day we'll announce the winners and we'll send the winners or winner the coffee mug.</s>MYERS: And I will turn the letters.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, you will. You're our Vanna White. Thank you, Chad.</s>MYERS: I'd buy a vowel -- back to you.</s>COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, record high prices at the pumps -- is there no end in sight? And taking no chances -- travelers try to prevent more terror on public transportation. And on the trail, the latest volleys between the Kerry and Bush camps. And they love their Luciano -- we'll tell you why there is so much applause for Pavarotti. This is DAYBREAK for March 15.