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American Morning
Marines Block Main Roads Into Fallujah; 'BTK Strangler'
Aired April 05, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The set is falling apart today. Here, you want a copy of AMERICAN MORNING?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It sure is.
HEMMER: You come and get it right here.
COLLINS: Just five bucks for that.
HEMMER: Cheap too.
Welcome back, everybody. It's 7:30 here in New York. Welcome to Monday. Heidi is in today for Soledad.
Good morning to you again.
COLLINS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Some stories this half-hour.
Marines moving in on Fallujah, the operation is called Vigilant Resolve, trying to capture a group of killers in that town. Barbara Starr with much more on this from the Pentagon, watching it quite closely from there, in a moment here.
COLLINS: Also, the former police chief of Wichita, Kansas, with us this morning to talk about a serial killer he started hunting nearly 30 years ago. The BCK strangler is now possibly back in the Wichita area. We'll talk about how the killer has managed to stay hidden for so long.
HEMMER: What a story that is, too, in that part of the country.
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: Top stories now this morning.
A leading Republican calling on the U.S. to extend the deadline for transfer of power in Iraq. Richard Lugar, the senator, says the new government may not be able to deal with the violence by the 30th of June. He says a dialogue and a debate on that issue is needed now.
Meanwhile, more violence is being reported in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Followers of a radical Muslim cleric clashing there with U.S. patrols. At least 13 U.S. troops have died since Saturday. Much more on Iraq in a few moments here. From Paris, still overseas, more than a dozen suspected terrorists are in custody today after a series of raids by the French authorities. Those suspects are being held in connection with a deadly terrorist attack in Morocco that killed 33 about a year ago. The identities of the suspects have not yet been released.
From Spain today, investigators are giving credence to a threatening letter purportedly sent from al Qaeda in Europe. The message was faxed to a Spanish paper just as five suspects, including the reported mastermind of the Madrid train bombings, blew themselves up in a suburb of Madrid this weekend. The letter vows to turn Spain into -- quote -- "an inferno" if its troops do not withdraw from Iraq and from Afghanistan.
This country now. Firefighters are battling blazes in several parts of Florida. Near Jacksonville, encroaching flames and heavy smoke forced officials to close part of I-95 for the weekend. And in south Florida, a fire forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes in southwest Miami Dade County. Fires near the Everglades are finally under control after consuming about 3,300 acres there.
Dozens evacuated in Texas, too, after a series of weekend thunderstorms ripped through the southern portion of the state. Heavy winds and up to a foot of hail in some places knocked out power lines. Flash flood watches also issued for parts of Texas and in New Mexico.
(WEATHER BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to get to Iraq now. U.S. Marines are on the move in the Iraqi city of Fallujah this morning. That's the site of last week's gruesome killings of four U.S. civilians.
CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning joining us with more on all of this.
Barbara -- good morning to you.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Heidi.
Well, Fallujah, in the heart of the Sunni heartland, now in lockdown. Nobody in. Nobody out. The pictures have not yet come out of Fallujah, but we do know from sources that both tanks and concertina wire is now surrounding the city, controlling access to that region.
As the U.S. Marines continue their effort to reassert control over that very troubled city and get a handle on the violence there. We are also told AC-130 gunships and Apache helicopters now moving in, also conducting operations from the air. All of this now expected to last for the next several days -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Pentagon officials are concerned about a young cleric by the name of al Sadr. Tell us what this is all about.
STARR: Well, this is the rest of the violence, of course, that has broken out in Iraq over the weekend. Followers of the radical Muslim cleric, Moqtada al Sadr, are having some violent activities, riots in Sadr City outside of Baghdad over the weekend. Several U.S. troops killed.
And now, since yesterday, a response under way in Sadr City as well. U.S. tanks, helicopters moving in.
The coalition administrator, Paul Bremer, making it very clear what the coalition plans to do about the violence incited by this cleric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: Effectively, he's attempting to establish his authority in place of the legitimate authority of the Iraqi government. And as I said yesterday, we will not tolerate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: But here at Pentagon, officials early this morning are saying absolutely, no change in U.S. policy, no additional U.S. troops planned to be sent, and that the coalition will stick with the plan of turning sovereignty over to the Iraqis by June 30 -- now less than 100 days from now.
Even as the security situation continues to deteriorate, officials say they have no choice but to move forward, stick with that plan. They say that they understood there would likely be more violence as that date approaches, that various factions would be jockeying for position, but they will deal with it. And they say no plan to change the U.S. strategy at this point -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Barbara Starr live at Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.
HEMMER: It's about 23 minutes now before the hour.
Thirty years ago, a serial killer stalked the usually quiet streets of Wichita, Kansas. He killed seven people, and now someone claiming to be the BTK strangler has sent a letter to a local newspaper in Wichita revealing information only he could know.
From Wichita, the city's former police chief, Richard LaMunyon, is with us. He was in charge during the spree of the so-called "bind, torture and kill strangler."
Chief, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Nice to have you here.
RICHARD LAMUNYON, FMR. CHIEF, WICHITA POLICE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Is there any doubt that the killer responsible for these murders is now trying to get back in touch with authorities?
LAMUNYON: No, there is no question that this latest communication is from the strangler, and it referenced a 1986 case that we investigated regarding...
HEMMER: And what are the details, chief, of the communication on March 19? What did he send?
LAMUNYON: Well, basically in that particular case, he sent a driver's license of the victim and a Polaroid shot of the crime scene. So, we're confident that it's from the BTK strangler.
HEMMER: In total, there are eight murders attributed to him. What links these eight murders?
LAMUNYON: Well, basically there is no commonality in terms of the individual victim. However, the M.O., the methodology in which the murders were perpetrated were very clear that they're all from the same individual. This individual also craves attention, obviously. He even sent us letters suggesting names that we might give him and things of that nature.
And so, as we went through the investigative process, of course, we solicited the help of many, many behavioral science people and did everything within our power at the time to try to isolate that individual and identify him. We were successful in putting together a good foundation, a background, but we were never able to specifically identify the individual.
HEMMER: Why do you think now, chief, 25 years later, why emerging from this silence?
LAMUNYON: You know, I've thought about that. I really think that there is a real distinct possibility this person wants to tell his story. He's obviously in his late 50s, perhaps even up into his 60s now. And he's been dormant, so to speak, for many, many years. So, I think there is a real possibility at this point, at least given my impression of him over the years, that he'd like to tell his story.
HEMMER: Wow! About 30 years ago, the first murder, a husband was killed, a wife was killed, two of their children were killed inside of their home. Police have said consistently that that is the one case that they believe the most clues lie. Why do you believe that may be the case going back to 1974?
LAMUNYON: Well, we believe -- we're fairly confident in our mind that that was, in fact, his first murder scene. And we believe that at that point, for lack of a better term, he was learning his trade. He was going through rituals.
We also know that the father came back in that particular case and interrupted what was going on. We also have evidence from that scene. We were very careful during those days to preserve everything that we could on film, as well as preserve items that were taken from there.
So, also today we have a lot more technology that's available to us that was not available 30 years ago, so the department is refocusing on that one, as I think they should do.
HEMMER: Richard LaMunyon, thanks for talking with us. Best of luck to you and everybody else there in Wichita, Kansas.
LAMUNYON: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
LAMUNYON: Thank you.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, what really happened among the jurors behind closed doors at the Tyco trial. Two of the jurors are going to sit down and talk with us about it.
HEMMER: Also the practical joker Ashton Kutcher. Did he put one on over everyone? Find out next in our "90-Second Pop" in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: More music that will stick with you all day long. It's time once again for "90-Second Pop." Today, Punk'd again. You'll never guess who wants a reality show. And, could two star-crossed stars get together once again?
Here to discuss it all is humorist Andy Borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold," "New York" magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard, and Toure, contributing editor at "Rolling Stone" magazine.
My goodness, we have so much to get to.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Yes.
COLLINS: First of all, Sarah, Punk'd. I mean, we thought we had heard the last from Ashton Kutcher.
BERNARD: Well, he Punk'd us. He's coming back.
COLLINS: Yes.
BERNARD: And I think this is completely a response to the fact that his last two movies have just completely tanked. "Butterfly Effect" was a really, really bad film. And the critics actually singled out the fact that he has no talent. He's a really bad actor. So, I think this is one of the things that he -- really, he's a better celebrity than is he an actor. And this is a vehicle for him to do that. He's really...
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": But this was always the plan, right?
COLLINS: That's what I was going to say. Wasn't this always the deal?
TOURE: Of course, e said, I'm not going to do Punk'd anymore, so that the celebrities would think, OK, I can let my guard down, and if they call me to go to do something stupid, then it won't be Punk'd. I mean, everybody in Hollywood is constantly worried about...
BERNARD: That's making him sound like he's a punk genius.
TOURE: No, no, no, no.
BERNARD: I think he's just in.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: He has a prank -- he loves praying pranks on people. And I really think that's what his last three films were all about, actually.
BERNARD: Right, we were Punk'd by his (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BOROWITZ: We were Punk'd again or tanked, as he would say.
COLLINS: Oh, silly us. All right. Andy.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: Your pals, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston.
BOROWITZ: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: OK, what's the deal here? Because Bobby Brown is looking for his own TV reality show. He might want to check in with Ashton on this.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: And as we know, Whitney has recently, you know, checked in for drug rehab.
BOROWITZ: Right.
COLLINS: What's going on here?
BOROWITZ: OK.
COLLINS: I mean, do people want to watch, first of all, do you think?
BOROWITZ: Well, here is the concept, first of all. Bobby Brown wants to do a reality show that would show like a day in the average life of Bobby Brown. And, you know, I've got news for Bobby. That show is already on TV. It's called "Cops." But...
BERNARD: Bad boys.
BOROWITZ: ... you know, I don't know. I mean, his wife has had some trouble, is in rehab. Once again, Bobby Brown's timing is exquisite. I think it's just a great time for a reality show.
TOURE: I mean, if there is anybody who would be the black Osbournes, family, wildness...
BOROWITZ: That is true. TOURE: ... a little drug doing, lot of cursing, it would be the Browns.
BOROWITZ: That's right.
TOURE: So, you know...
BERNARD: So, when did this happen that reality shows became like the panacea for celebrities who have, you know, has-been careers? This is like what they do now. I mean, that was the case with the Osbournes a little bit.
BOROWITZ: Right.
BERNARD: Jessica Simpson, she wasn't, you know, living up to the Brittney expectation. So, it's kind of like a natural thing that he'd want to do this. I mean, this is the model.
BOROWITZ: It's a time for healing.
BERNARD: Right.
BOROWITZ: And I think that's what a reality show is all about.
TOURE: It's amazing that to this level.
BERNARD: Family values.
TOURE: And we remember, like, in like '88, he was like the king of America.
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE: The don't be cruel, every song on the album was incredible. And now look. What do we do?
BOROWITZ: Toure, it's his prerogative.
COLLINS: All right, moving right along. I know, Toure, you want to talk about this new movie, Nicole Kidman's new movie...
TOURE: Yes.
COLLINS: Oh, you love it. "Dogville."
TOURE: Oh, it's awesome.
COLLINS: Right? Why is it getting so much buzz?
TOURE: Well...
COLLINS: The reviews, you have to admit, have been mixed.
TOURE: The reviews have been mixed, but that's because certain critics are stupid. It was an awesome, awesome film. It's three hours long. So, you've got to bring a lunch. But, I mean, like, it's fun. It's Nicole Kidman. It's smart. The sets are smart. The dialogue -- I mean, it's very much like a critique of America and the brutality of America and...
BOROWITZ: I've got to admit. I screwed up, because I thought that "Dogville" was a Disney film, and my kids hated it.
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Hated it.
BERNARD: Can we talk about "the anti-Americanist?" Because this guy, Lars Venture (ph), has never been to America.
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: Am I right?
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: So, how can you make this movie about small-town America and insult us in this way?
BOROWITZ: And he's from...
BERNARD: He's never even been here.
BOROWITZ: He's from Denmark, and I've got news for him. Denmark is not so great either. They don't have Nascar there.
BERNARD: Oh, you're terrible.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: Quickly, Toure, tell us what it's about, so that (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Nicole Kidman comes to a small town that seems very nice and sweet and quickly becomes not so nice and sweet.
COLLINS: Oh, OK. So that's that. All right, so we've got to ask you a really quick one before we go. Nicole, Tom, getting back together? Just rumors? What do you think?
BERNARD: And this is the Punk'd thing coming back again.
COLLINS: Oh!
BOROWITZ: I am just a hopeless romantic. I hope it's true. I've still got my fingers crossed for Liza and David. So, I mean, I think that I really would like to see it happen.
COLLINS: You never know.
BOROWITZ: You never know. COLLINS: Such a romantic. Hey, guys, thank you so much. Appreciate your time as always, Andy, Sarah and Toure. Thank you again -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi, still to come here, tough words from Major Legal Baseball today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get caught this year, you're a moron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Steroids on a lot of minds today. Most teams get set to open their season. The president even getting in on the act. We get a live report from Cincinnati in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A couple of sports notes for you. Tonight in San Antonio, the men from the University of Connecticut take on Georgia Tech. The winner gets it all, the national title, and you get to find out what your brackets do.
Also, the women's final is set. The UConn women held off Minnesota 67-58 last night. UConn has won the women's title two years in a row. Their opponent is from Tennessee, the Lady Volunteers. The Lady Vols win their third straight close game, holding off LSU 52-50 the final there. Never have the men and women from the same school won the national title in the same year. We'll see if it happens this year.
Also from baseball, opening day for Cincinnati. Certainly special. Parades through the tour, kids take the day off from school. The Reds is the first professional baseball team going back to 1869. But there is this ugly black mark taking some of the shine off the sport this year.
And Josie Burke live inside of Cincinnati's great American ballpark for more on this.
Josie -- how is the mood across baseball today? Good morning.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Bill, normally opening day is the day that every single baseball fan looks forward to with so much anticipation, because it is the one day every season when anything is still possible.
And, of course, today you find that usual wealth of hope that you always find in opening day, but it comes along with a measure of concern over what to do about steroids.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE (voice-over): For months, the cloud of illegal steroid use has hovered over Major League Baseball superstars. With the dawn of a new season, the steroid questions still remain, but for now not all fans are asking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, it hasn't really bothered me too much at all, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love when opening day comes around. If those guys have sustain steroids and whatnot, then obviously they shouldn't play. But I don't think it's going to affect baseball at all.
BURKE: Five to 7 percent of the players tested positive for steroids in last season's first-time screening instituted by the Players Association and the owners. That triggered another testing phase this season. But under the rules, it would take multiple positive tests over several years for a player to be suspended. And even some ballplayers admit that is too lenient.
RANDY WOLF, PHILLIES CATCHER: If you get caught this year, you're a moron. You know, basically, last year, OK. You wanted one more year where you wanted to get away it. You were one in that 5 to 7 percent. Fine. But this year if you get caught, you deserve any kind of punishment you get.
CURT SCHILLING, RED SOX PITCHER: I don't think that we wanted the policy to be in place so people could get away with it. I think we wanted to phase something in that we could see whether we trusted how it was going to work.
LANCE BERKMAN, ASTROS OUTFIELDER: I want to get the cloud of suspicion completely eliminated from the game. And if we can do that, I'm all for it. I mean, you know, however that has to happen, whether it be testing everybody and making the test results known, or I mean, you know, whatever they want to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE: We've all seen the interest that Washington has taken in the subject of steroids over the past couple of months. But today, when Washington comes here to Cincinnati, it will be for a different reason. The vice president, Dick Cheney, is taking part in the pre- game festivities. Bill, he's scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Josie, thanks. Josie Burke there live in the queen city, Cincinnati. thanks.
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the question of the day.
JACKSON: Maybe we should change this to "good morning Cincinnati."
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: It's just one day. I mean, it's a huge deal. COLLINS: OK.
HEMMER: For decades, Cincinnati had the first opening game in all of baseball. They take the elephants down 5 street.
CAFFERTY: Do they still have the first --
HEMMER: No, they don't. The tradition is...
CAFFERTY: OK, so I rest my case.
HEMMER: Not a problem.
CAFFERTY: Good morning, Cincinnati.
HEMMER: Good morning, J.C.
CAFFERTY: It looks like there is some snags in the jury system. Friday, the judge in the Tyco case was forced to call a mistrial because of outside pressure on juror No. 4, whose identity was published in a couple of papers.
Martha Stewart's lawyers want a knew trial. They say one of the jurors in that thing lied about his past.
And Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, says he can't find an impartial jury. He wants that trial moved for a second time.
So, the question is: Should the jury system be changed in some way? Interesting ideas.
Jean in Pass Christian, Missouri: "Did you ever ask yourself why the O.J. dream team needed a jury consultant? The problem is not with the juries. It's with lawyers. The judge should ask prospective jurors if they personally know anyone involved in the case. And if not, they're on. Period."
Paul in Hellertown, Pennsylvania: "Serious consideration should be given to hiring full-time trained professional jurors. Otherwise, we'll continue to see juries whose deliberations are often driven by three fundamental questions: Does the accused look like he may have shot the victim? Does the victim look like he needed shooting? And is it time we go to lunch yet?"
Tom writes: "The correction solution would be one similar to Great Britain's. Criminal cases should be off limits to the news media until after a verdict has been decided. This would allow for impartial juries to be seated and verdicts based on the facts, not the media spin."
John in Lexington, Kentucky: "In cases involving defendants with such huge amounts of money" -- i.e. the Tyco case -- "and friends like Rupert Murdock who can fatally disrupt the trial, it should be tried by a judge, period." Murdock is the guy who owns the "New York Post," which published juror No. 4's name in the Tyco trial. And Mike in Madison in New Jersey writes this: "Require all law school graduates to act as jurors for three full years after their graduation. The result would be better jurors and even better, fewer lawyers."
COLLINS: There you go.
HEMMER: Yes, but the media, what would we talk about, huh?
CAFFERTY: Is Toobin still here?
HEMMER: COLLINS: We'll get him for you.
HEMMER: He's just a short phone call away.
CAFFERTY: You know, the media is culpable in some of this -- this, you know, intense competitiveness, particularly in the high- profile trials, the Michael Jackson things and stuff like that, to get the scoop, get the angle, get...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: It's on 24-hour cable too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Back in a moment here. Iraq Shiite Muslims taking to the streets. Violent results there. The U.S. responding to the brutal killings from a week ago. All of the details live from Baghdad, and there are many today on this Monday morning. Back in a moment here.
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Aired April 5, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The set is falling apart today. Here, you want a copy of AMERICAN MORNING?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It sure is.
HEMMER: You come and get it right here.
COLLINS: Just five bucks for that.
HEMMER: Cheap too.
Welcome back, everybody. It's 7:30 here in New York. Welcome to Monday. Heidi is in today for Soledad.
Good morning to you again.
COLLINS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Some stories this half-hour.
Marines moving in on Fallujah, the operation is called Vigilant Resolve, trying to capture a group of killers in that town. Barbara Starr with much more on this from the Pentagon, watching it quite closely from there, in a moment here.
COLLINS: Also, the former police chief of Wichita, Kansas, with us this morning to talk about a serial killer he started hunting nearly 30 years ago. The BCK strangler is now possibly back in the Wichita area. We'll talk about how the killer has managed to stay hidden for so long.
HEMMER: What a story that is, too, in that part of the country.
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: Top stories now this morning.
A leading Republican calling on the U.S. to extend the deadline for transfer of power in Iraq. Richard Lugar, the senator, says the new government may not be able to deal with the violence by the 30th of June. He says a dialogue and a debate on that issue is needed now.
Meanwhile, more violence is being reported in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Followers of a radical Muslim cleric clashing there with U.S. patrols. At least 13 U.S. troops have died since Saturday. Much more on Iraq in a few moments here. From Paris, still overseas, more than a dozen suspected terrorists are in custody today after a series of raids by the French authorities. Those suspects are being held in connection with a deadly terrorist attack in Morocco that killed 33 about a year ago. The identities of the suspects have not yet been released.
From Spain today, investigators are giving credence to a threatening letter purportedly sent from al Qaeda in Europe. The message was faxed to a Spanish paper just as five suspects, including the reported mastermind of the Madrid train bombings, blew themselves up in a suburb of Madrid this weekend. The letter vows to turn Spain into -- quote -- "an inferno" if its troops do not withdraw from Iraq and from Afghanistan.
This country now. Firefighters are battling blazes in several parts of Florida. Near Jacksonville, encroaching flames and heavy smoke forced officials to close part of I-95 for the weekend. And in south Florida, a fire forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes in southwest Miami Dade County. Fires near the Everglades are finally under control after consuming about 3,300 acres there.
Dozens evacuated in Texas, too, after a series of weekend thunderstorms ripped through the southern portion of the state. Heavy winds and up to a foot of hail in some places knocked out power lines. Flash flood watches also issued for parts of Texas and in New Mexico.
(WEATHER BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to get to Iraq now. U.S. Marines are on the move in the Iraqi city of Fallujah this morning. That's the site of last week's gruesome killings of four U.S. civilians.
CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning joining us with more on all of this.
Barbara -- good morning to you.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Heidi.
Well, Fallujah, in the heart of the Sunni heartland, now in lockdown. Nobody in. Nobody out. The pictures have not yet come out of Fallujah, but we do know from sources that both tanks and concertina wire is now surrounding the city, controlling access to that region.
As the U.S. Marines continue their effort to reassert control over that very troubled city and get a handle on the violence there. We are also told AC-130 gunships and Apache helicopters now moving in, also conducting operations from the air. All of this now expected to last for the next several days -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Pentagon officials are concerned about a young cleric by the name of al Sadr. Tell us what this is all about.
STARR: Well, this is the rest of the violence, of course, that has broken out in Iraq over the weekend. Followers of the radical Muslim cleric, Moqtada al Sadr, are having some violent activities, riots in Sadr City outside of Baghdad over the weekend. Several U.S. troops killed.
And now, since yesterday, a response under way in Sadr City as well. U.S. tanks, helicopters moving in.
The coalition administrator, Paul Bremer, making it very clear what the coalition plans to do about the violence incited by this cleric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: Effectively, he's attempting to establish his authority in place of the legitimate authority of the Iraqi government. And as I said yesterday, we will not tolerate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: But here at Pentagon, officials early this morning are saying absolutely, no change in U.S. policy, no additional U.S. troops planned to be sent, and that the coalition will stick with the plan of turning sovereignty over to the Iraqis by June 30 -- now less than 100 days from now.
Even as the security situation continues to deteriorate, officials say they have no choice but to move forward, stick with that plan. They say that they understood there would likely be more violence as that date approaches, that various factions would be jockeying for position, but they will deal with it. And they say no plan to change the U.S. strategy at this point -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Barbara Starr live at Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.
HEMMER: It's about 23 minutes now before the hour.
Thirty years ago, a serial killer stalked the usually quiet streets of Wichita, Kansas. He killed seven people, and now someone claiming to be the BTK strangler has sent a letter to a local newspaper in Wichita revealing information only he could know.
From Wichita, the city's former police chief, Richard LaMunyon, is with us. He was in charge during the spree of the so-called "bind, torture and kill strangler."
Chief, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Nice to have you here.
RICHARD LAMUNYON, FMR. CHIEF, WICHITA POLICE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Is there any doubt that the killer responsible for these murders is now trying to get back in touch with authorities?
LAMUNYON: No, there is no question that this latest communication is from the strangler, and it referenced a 1986 case that we investigated regarding...
HEMMER: And what are the details, chief, of the communication on March 19? What did he send?
LAMUNYON: Well, basically in that particular case, he sent a driver's license of the victim and a Polaroid shot of the crime scene. So, we're confident that it's from the BTK strangler.
HEMMER: In total, there are eight murders attributed to him. What links these eight murders?
LAMUNYON: Well, basically there is no commonality in terms of the individual victim. However, the M.O., the methodology in which the murders were perpetrated were very clear that they're all from the same individual. This individual also craves attention, obviously. He even sent us letters suggesting names that we might give him and things of that nature.
And so, as we went through the investigative process, of course, we solicited the help of many, many behavioral science people and did everything within our power at the time to try to isolate that individual and identify him. We were successful in putting together a good foundation, a background, but we were never able to specifically identify the individual.
HEMMER: Why do you think now, chief, 25 years later, why emerging from this silence?
LAMUNYON: You know, I've thought about that. I really think that there is a real distinct possibility this person wants to tell his story. He's obviously in his late 50s, perhaps even up into his 60s now. And he's been dormant, so to speak, for many, many years. So, I think there is a real possibility at this point, at least given my impression of him over the years, that he'd like to tell his story.
HEMMER: Wow! About 30 years ago, the first murder, a husband was killed, a wife was killed, two of their children were killed inside of their home. Police have said consistently that that is the one case that they believe the most clues lie. Why do you believe that may be the case going back to 1974?
LAMUNYON: Well, we believe -- we're fairly confident in our mind that that was, in fact, his first murder scene. And we believe that at that point, for lack of a better term, he was learning his trade. He was going through rituals.
We also know that the father came back in that particular case and interrupted what was going on. We also have evidence from that scene. We were very careful during those days to preserve everything that we could on film, as well as preserve items that were taken from there.
So, also today we have a lot more technology that's available to us that was not available 30 years ago, so the department is refocusing on that one, as I think they should do.
HEMMER: Richard LaMunyon, thanks for talking with us. Best of luck to you and everybody else there in Wichita, Kansas.
LAMUNYON: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
LAMUNYON: Thank you.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, what really happened among the jurors behind closed doors at the Tyco trial. Two of the jurors are going to sit down and talk with us about it.
HEMMER: Also the practical joker Ashton Kutcher. Did he put one on over everyone? Find out next in our "90-Second Pop" in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: More music that will stick with you all day long. It's time once again for "90-Second Pop." Today, Punk'd again. You'll never guess who wants a reality show. And, could two star-crossed stars get together once again?
Here to discuss it all is humorist Andy Borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold," "New York" magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard, and Toure, contributing editor at "Rolling Stone" magazine.
My goodness, we have so much to get to.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Yes.
COLLINS: First of all, Sarah, Punk'd. I mean, we thought we had heard the last from Ashton Kutcher.
BERNARD: Well, he Punk'd us. He's coming back.
COLLINS: Yes.
BERNARD: And I think this is completely a response to the fact that his last two movies have just completely tanked. "Butterfly Effect" was a really, really bad film. And the critics actually singled out the fact that he has no talent. He's a really bad actor. So, I think this is one of the things that he -- really, he's a better celebrity than is he an actor. And this is a vehicle for him to do that. He's really...
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": But this was always the plan, right?
COLLINS: That's what I was going to say. Wasn't this always the deal?
TOURE: Of course, e said, I'm not going to do Punk'd anymore, so that the celebrities would think, OK, I can let my guard down, and if they call me to go to do something stupid, then it won't be Punk'd. I mean, everybody in Hollywood is constantly worried about...
BERNARD: That's making him sound like he's a punk genius.
TOURE: No, no, no, no.
BERNARD: I think he's just in.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: He has a prank -- he loves praying pranks on people. And I really think that's what his last three films were all about, actually.
BERNARD: Right, we were Punk'd by his (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BOROWITZ: We were Punk'd again or tanked, as he would say.
COLLINS: Oh, silly us. All right. Andy.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: Your pals, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston.
BOROWITZ: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: OK, what's the deal here? Because Bobby Brown is looking for his own TV reality show. He might want to check in with Ashton on this.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: And as we know, Whitney has recently, you know, checked in for drug rehab.
BOROWITZ: Right.
COLLINS: What's going on here?
BOROWITZ: OK.
COLLINS: I mean, do people want to watch, first of all, do you think?
BOROWITZ: Well, here is the concept, first of all. Bobby Brown wants to do a reality show that would show like a day in the average life of Bobby Brown. And, you know, I've got news for Bobby. That show is already on TV. It's called "Cops." But...
BERNARD: Bad boys.
BOROWITZ: ... you know, I don't know. I mean, his wife has had some trouble, is in rehab. Once again, Bobby Brown's timing is exquisite. I think it's just a great time for a reality show.
TOURE: I mean, if there is anybody who would be the black Osbournes, family, wildness...
BOROWITZ: That is true. TOURE: ... a little drug doing, lot of cursing, it would be the Browns.
BOROWITZ: That's right.
TOURE: So, you know...
BERNARD: So, when did this happen that reality shows became like the panacea for celebrities who have, you know, has-been careers? This is like what they do now. I mean, that was the case with the Osbournes a little bit.
BOROWITZ: Right.
BERNARD: Jessica Simpson, she wasn't, you know, living up to the Brittney expectation. So, it's kind of like a natural thing that he'd want to do this. I mean, this is the model.
BOROWITZ: It's a time for healing.
BERNARD: Right.
BOROWITZ: And I think that's what a reality show is all about.
TOURE: It's amazing that to this level.
BERNARD: Family values.
TOURE: And we remember, like, in like '88, he was like the king of America.
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE: The don't be cruel, every song on the album was incredible. And now look. What do we do?
BOROWITZ: Toure, it's his prerogative.
COLLINS: All right, moving right along. I know, Toure, you want to talk about this new movie, Nicole Kidman's new movie...
TOURE: Yes.
COLLINS: Oh, you love it. "Dogville."
TOURE: Oh, it's awesome.
COLLINS: Right? Why is it getting so much buzz?
TOURE: Well...
COLLINS: The reviews, you have to admit, have been mixed.
TOURE: The reviews have been mixed, but that's because certain critics are stupid. It was an awesome, awesome film. It's three hours long. So, you've got to bring a lunch. But, I mean, like, it's fun. It's Nicole Kidman. It's smart. The sets are smart. The dialogue -- I mean, it's very much like a critique of America and the brutality of America and...
BOROWITZ: I've got to admit. I screwed up, because I thought that "Dogville" was a Disney film, and my kids hated it.
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Hated it.
BERNARD: Can we talk about "the anti-Americanist?" Because this guy, Lars Venture (ph), has never been to America.
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: Am I right?
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: So, how can you make this movie about small-town America and insult us in this way?
BOROWITZ: And he's from...
BERNARD: He's never even been here.
BOROWITZ: He's from Denmark, and I've got news for him. Denmark is not so great either. They don't have Nascar there.
BERNARD: Oh, you're terrible.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
COLLINS: Quickly, Toure, tell us what it's about, so that (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Nicole Kidman comes to a small town that seems very nice and sweet and quickly becomes not so nice and sweet.
COLLINS: Oh, OK. So that's that. All right, so we've got to ask you a really quick one before we go. Nicole, Tom, getting back together? Just rumors? What do you think?
BERNARD: And this is the Punk'd thing coming back again.
COLLINS: Oh!
BOROWITZ: I am just a hopeless romantic. I hope it's true. I've still got my fingers crossed for Liza and David. So, I mean, I think that I really would like to see it happen.
COLLINS: You never know.
BOROWITZ: You never know. COLLINS: Such a romantic. Hey, guys, thank you so much. Appreciate your time as always, Andy, Sarah and Toure. Thank you again -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi, still to come here, tough words from Major Legal Baseball today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get caught this year, you're a moron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Steroids on a lot of minds today. Most teams get set to open their season. The president even getting in on the act. We get a live report from Cincinnati in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A couple of sports notes for you. Tonight in San Antonio, the men from the University of Connecticut take on Georgia Tech. The winner gets it all, the national title, and you get to find out what your brackets do.
Also, the women's final is set. The UConn women held off Minnesota 67-58 last night. UConn has won the women's title two years in a row. Their opponent is from Tennessee, the Lady Volunteers. The Lady Vols win their third straight close game, holding off LSU 52-50 the final there. Never have the men and women from the same school won the national title in the same year. We'll see if it happens this year.
Also from baseball, opening day for Cincinnati. Certainly special. Parades through the tour, kids take the day off from school. The Reds is the first professional baseball team going back to 1869. But there is this ugly black mark taking some of the shine off the sport this year.
And Josie Burke live inside of Cincinnati's great American ballpark for more on this.
Josie -- how is the mood across baseball today? Good morning.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Bill, normally opening day is the day that every single baseball fan looks forward to with so much anticipation, because it is the one day every season when anything is still possible.
And, of course, today you find that usual wealth of hope that you always find in opening day, but it comes along with a measure of concern over what to do about steroids.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE (voice-over): For months, the cloud of illegal steroid use has hovered over Major League Baseball superstars. With the dawn of a new season, the steroid questions still remain, but for now not all fans are asking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, it hasn't really bothered me too much at all, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love when opening day comes around. If those guys have sustain steroids and whatnot, then obviously they shouldn't play. But I don't think it's going to affect baseball at all.
BURKE: Five to 7 percent of the players tested positive for steroids in last season's first-time screening instituted by the Players Association and the owners. That triggered another testing phase this season. But under the rules, it would take multiple positive tests over several years for a player to be suspended. And even some ballplayers admit that is too lenient.
RANDY WOLF, PHILLIES CATCHER: If you get caught this year, you're a moron. You know, basically, last year, OK. You wanted one more year where you wanted to get away it. You were one in that 5 to 7 percent. Fine. But this year if you get caught, you deserve any kind of punishment you get.
CURT SCHILLING, RED SOX PITCHER: I don't think that we wanted the policy to be in place so people could get away with it. I think we wanted to phase something in that we could see whether we trusted how it was going to work.
LANCE BERKMAN, ASTROS OUTFIELDER: I want to get the cloud of suspicion completely eliminated from the game. And if we can do that, I'm all for it. I mean, you know, however that has to happen, whether it be testing everybody and making the test results known, or I mean, you know, whatever they want to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE: We've all seen the interest that Washington has taken in the subject of steroids over the past couple of months. But today, when Washington comes here to Cincinnati, it will be for a different reason. The vice president, Dick Cheney, is taking part in the pre- game festivities. Bill, he's scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Josie, thanks. Josie Burke there live in the queen city, Cincinnati. thanks.
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the question of the day.
JACKSON: Maybe we should change this to "good morning Cincinnati."
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: It's just one day. I mean, it's a huge deal. COLLINS: OK.
HEMMER: For decades, Cincinnati had the first opening game in all of baseball. They take the elephants down 5 street.
CAFFERTY: Do they still have the first --
HEMMER: No, they don't. The tradition is...
CAFFERTY: OK, so I rest my case.
HEMMER: Not a problem.
CAFFERTY: Good morning, Cincinnati.
HEMMER: Good morning, J.C.
CAFFERTY: It looks like there is some snags in the jury system. Friday, the judge in the Tyco case was forced to call a mistrial because of outside pressure on juror No. 4, whose identity was published in a couple of papers.
Martha Stewart's lawyers want a knew trial. They say one of the jurors in that thing lied about his past.
And Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, says he can't find an impartial jury. He wants that trial moved for a second time.
So, the question is: Should the jury system be changed in some way? Interesting ideas.
Jean in Pass Christian, Missouri: "Did you ever ask yourself why the O.J. dream team needed a jury consultant? The problem is not with the juries. It's with lawyers. The judge should ask prospective jurors if they personally know anyone involved in the case. And if not, they're on. Period."
Paul in Hellertown, Pennsylvania: "Serious consideration should be given to hiring full-time trained professional jurors. Otherwise, we'll continue to see juries whose deliberations are often driven by three fundamental questions: Does the accused look like he may have shot the victim? Does the victim look like he needed shooting? And is it time we go to lunch yet?"
Tom writes: "The correction solution would be one similar to Great Britain's. Criminal cases should be off limits to the news media until after a verdict has been decided. This would allow for impartial juries to be seated and verdicts based on the facts, not the media spin."
John in Lexington, Kentucky: "In cases involving defendants with such huge amounts of money" -- i.e. the Tyco case -- "and friends like Rupert Murdock who can fatally disrupt the trial, it should be tried by a judge, period." Murdock is the guy who owns the "New York Post," which published juror No. 4's name in the Tyco trial. And Mike in Madison in New Jersey writes this: "Require all law school graduates to act as jurors for three full years after their graduation. The result would be better jurors and even better, fewer lawyers."
COLLINS: There you go.
HEMMER: Yes, but the media, what would we talk about, huh?
CAFFERTY: Is Toobin still here?
HEMMER: COLLINS: We'll get him for you.
HEMMER: He's just a short phone call away.
CAFFERTY: You know, the media is culpable in some of this -- this, you know, intense competitiveness, particularly in the high- profile trials, the Michael Jackson things and stuff like that, to get the scoop, get the angle, get...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: It's on 24-hour cable too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Back in a moment here. Iraq Shiite Muslims taking to the streets. Violent results there. The U.S. responding to the brutal killings from a week ago. All of the details live from Baghdad, and there are many today on this Monday morning. Back in a moment here.
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