More Work To Be Done in JonBenet Ramsey Case; Lebanese Troops Moving South of Litani River In Accordance With Cease-Fire
BLITZER: Welcome back. We turn now to a very different kind of legal drama, a stunning arrest and confession in the 10-year-old murder of a child beauty queen. John Mark Karr is being held in Thailand where he told reporters he was with JonBenet Ramsey when she died, and that her death was an accident. But authorities in Colorado caution today there is much more work to be done in this case. CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us now live from Boulder -- Ed.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, if Boulder prosecutors had their way, nobody would be talking about John Karr today, but that's certainly not the case anymore after he was paraded before those cameras in Thailand and essentially confessing to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. But prosecutors, given every opportunity to say that this is their man, that this is the person they've been looking for for 10 years, didn't even come close to saying that. In fact, tempering much of the public opinion here in Boulder, saying that everyone needs to slow down, take a step back and let the legal process work its way out.</s>MARY LACY, BOULDER, COLO., DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We should all heed the poignant advice of John Ramsey yesterday. He said, "Do not jump to conclusions, do not jump to judgment, do not speculate. Let the justice system take its course."</s>LAVANDERA: And there's a lot of questioning going on right now as to the credibility of John Karr. One thing in particular that's interesting to look at is that, according to a police general in Thailand who told CNN that he had been told by an American investigator that John Karr admitted to drugging and having sex with JonBenet Ramsey before she was accidentally, quote, "killed," but according to the autopsy report from JonBenet Ramsey 10 years ago, it showed there were no drugs or alcohol in her system. That's one of the things out there that is poking a little bit of holes in the credibility of John Karr at this point. Of course, it's very early and there's still a lot of work to be done as prosecutors here in Boulder are saying today -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: So, Ed, so what you are suggesting in terms of the credibility is that there's some sense out there -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that maybe this guy just made it up, claims to have murdered JonBenet Ramsey when, in fact, he didn't?</s>LAVANDERA: Everyone is reading between the lines here with the prosecutors being very tempered in their comments today, JonBenet Ramsey's father being very tempered, others who have had communication with John Karr. No one coming out and saying that this is the guy. Everyone saying let's, you know, slow the process down here. That has really turned the attention back onto John Karr and saying all right, what is he saying exactly and what proof does he have that he was the one that did this, besides being the one that's in front of the cameras, essentially confessing to such a crime. So really the focus has really kind of turned around here today onto him.</s>BLITZER: Thanks very much, Ed Lavandera on the scene now. We're going to continue to watch the story. By the way, the public got a first glimpse of John Mark Karr in a remarkable and chaotic appearance before reporters in Thailand. With no lawyer on hand, Karr answered questions about where he was when JonBenet died and what happened to her. Take a listen. Here's some of what he said.</s>JOHN MARK KARR, SUSPECT IN RAMSEY CASE: I love JonBenet and she died accidentally.</s>QUESTION: Are you an innocent man?</s>KARR: No. Her death was an accident.</s>QUESTION: So you were in the basement?</s>KARR: Yes.</s>BLITZER: And we will have more on this case, the JonBenet Ramsey case, coming up in the next hour here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Other important news we are following, especially here in the Middle East, the Lebanese army now making good on a key provision of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. About 2,000 troops marched across the Litani River today into areas of southern Lebanon that had been held until now by Israeli forces. Army officials say they hope the full contingent of some Lebanese 15,000 troops will be deployed in southern Lebanon by tomorrow morning. Another sign of the truce still holding, the first commercial flight landed back at Beirut International Airport since the war broke out. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed the runways -- the airport's three runways during a month of fighting. Let's go live to Beirut, CNN's Jim Clancy on the scene for us with other developments -- Jim.</s>JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Good evening from the Lebanese capital, Wolf. What the world saw today in Lebanon was really more the deployment of a country's political will than any military force. As you I said, thousands of troops fanned out south of the Litani River. We could see those troops all over Lebanon making their way to the Bekaa Valley. They will go down southward from there and deploy at Marjayoun and other locations, some of that deployment already completed. UNIFIL troops moving forward to take over Israeli positions, all of this aimed, in a way, to help the Israeli troops get out of Lebanon. The Lebanese soldiers were greeted with rose water and rice, flowers thrown at them in some places, applause from people that lined the roads. Many people believe that these troops should have been deployed six years ago when Israel initially withdrew from southern Lebanon. At the same time, as you noted, another sign Israel is easing up on Lebanon, at least in the air blockade, there were flights flying in and out of Beirut International Airport this day. One of them, a Middle East Airlines -- that's the Lebanese flag carrier flight -- coming in from Amman, Jordan with passengers and cargo. It made a round trip flight back out to Amman. We understand Royal Jordanian is going to be flying in here soon and there could be scheduled flights as soon as next week. One sad note in all of this, Wolf, and that is that there were two more casualties today, two children killed by a cluster bomb down very close to the border at Nahura (ph). That according to the United Nations. Back to you.</s>BLITZER: Thanks very much, Jim Clancy in Beirut with the latest, a very important story we're watching. Coming up, do stories like today's ruling on domestic wiretapping and last week's foiling of the airline terror plot have a political impact? We will take a closer look and see if either party is profiting right now. Next hour much more in our top story. I will ask the two top members of the 9/11 Commission about the domestic spying ruling. Stay with us. You are in the SITUATION ROOM.