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American Morning
Huge Car Bomb Explosion in Central Baghdad; American Abducted by Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia
Aired June 14, 2004 - 08:00 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: Good morning.
A massive car bombing exploding in Baghdad, big enough to tear buildings apart, and leaving more than 70 dead or wounded today.
A tornado season still carving up the Midwest. More dramatic videotape from over the weekend. And the storms just keep coming.
And almost overnight, hybrid cars are the hottest thing in the car industry. But do they deliver what they promise?
Those stories and a lot more this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Other news that's making headlines this morning.
The family of an American contractor kidnapped in Saudi Arabia is praying that authorities are going to be able to find him. Forty- nine-year-old Paul Johnson was abducted over the weekend. We're hoping to hear from family members this morning; in fact, in this hour. If that, indeed, does happen, we'll bring that right to you.
HEMMER: Also this hour, Jeff Toobin's back in a moment looking at the week ahead in the Scott Peterson murder case. Can the defense attorney, Mark Geragos, convince the jurors that police actually botched the investigation? We'll take a look at that in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And former President George Bush turning 80 years old, throwing a party, taking it all the way up to the air.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to one of the paratroopers who jumped out of that plane with the former president.
HEMMER: Yes. And about 14 people waiting for him on the ground when he arrived, too. Got him right back on his feet -- Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Bargain tickets to Iceland. It could be a new hot spot for your summer vacation. The problem is when you get there, you're in Iceland.
And Mozart for Murderers -- find out how a Mexican prison is handling its toughest criminals, coming up in The File in a little while. The File in a while. I like that.
O'BRIEN: It works.
CAFFERTY: It'll be in The File in with while.
O'BRIEN: You're going to rap for the rest of the show?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Come on. I look forward to that then, definitely. All right...
CAFFERTY: Yes, the show would be about eight seconds long.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: A powerful car bomb exploded in central Baghdad this morning. At least 13 people are reported killed. The bomb seems to have been aimed at Western workers. It went off as a convoy of SUVs, the type used by contractors, was passing through central Baghdad.
Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf live from the Iraqi capital for us this morning -- Jane, good morning.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
The blast was strong enough to jolt this hotel, which is many blocks away. And at the scene there was smoke rising, flames in places, and the saddest sight of people trying to dig out bodies of Iraqis from the rubble of the collapsed building.
Now, most of the victims were Iraqi. But the giants, as you mentioned, appear to be Western, a convoy of three vehicles that was traveling on this very busy street towards a major intersection, 12 people in all. In between them, electrical contractor workers on the main power plant in the south of Baghdad and their security personnel. Five of them were killed, according to American officials, coalition officials, one of them American, two Britons and one French.
As for Iraqis, all together, in between the foreign nationals and Iraqis, more than a dozen killed and up to 60 people injured -- Soledad.
And officials here warn that there may be much more to come in the next couple of weeks.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I was going to ask you about that.
And, Jane, I've got to tell you, this videotape is just utterly remarkable.
But among Iraqis, is the expectation now that, in fact, this violence is going to get worse as we get closer and closer to the handover date?
ARRAF: There is, Soledad. There's a real fear that every day people are going to wake up to this, to the sound of explosions, to the site of bodies, to the sound of sirens wailing. There's no expectation that it's going to level off. Rather, the contrary, that these car bombs, these suicide bombs, these political assassinations that we're starting to see are going to increase in a more desperate manner until we get to handover, and even possibly after -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jane Arraf for us this morning in Baghdad.
Jane, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Also from overseas, the son of the American man missing in Saudi Arabia expected to speak at a press conference this hour. In fact, that may happen in the State of Florida. A militant group with ties to al Qaeda claimed to be holding Paul Johnson as a hostage. Johnson's son lives in Cocoa, Florida.
And Gary Tuchman has this report from there this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another family living a kidnapping nightmare. Inside this home in Brevard County, Florida, they're praying for the safety of a father and husband, Paul Johnson, believed to have been taken hostage in Saudi Arabia.
His son found out about his father, not from the U.S. government, but from a TV station.
PAUL JOHNSON III, KIDNAP VICTIM'S SON: This should not have happened. They -- this could have been very preventable, you know, on Lockheed Martin's part.
TUCHMAN: Johnson is an employee of Lockheed Martin, but the company is not giving out information. A Web site affiliated with al Qaeda displayed a passport sized photo of the 49-year old Johnson, as well as a driver's license and a business card, and made the claim their kidnapping victim is an Apache helicopter specialist.
JOHNSON: I just want my father to come safe.
TUCHMAN: Family and friends have been coming by the home to pay vigil. One of the friends saying the State Department has now officially contacted the family.
Members of the news media tried to offer comfort to Paul Johnson's son. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just try to think positive. And you know, you just got to keep positive thoughts in your head. When you start thinking negative, you know, just trying to stay positive. Trying to keep everybody strong, you know. Everything's going to be OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And it's possible, again, the son may speak this hour. When it happens, we'll get you there live to Cocoa, Florida.
In the meantime, though, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, comes to the Pentagon for meetings today, as the U.S. presence in his country grows and as the focus on al Qaeda there once again intensifies.
Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon there -- Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, the war that is not Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has been heating up for several weeks now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has doubled to nearly 20,000 in recent weeks, the long awaited spring offensive now under way in June, a senior Pentagon official tells CNN. Some question the timing. Is this the last push to find Osama bin Laden before the November elections? Did the White House put Afghanistan on the back burner because of the Iraq insurgency?
PETER MANIKAS, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE: It really fell off the radar screen, didn't it? That's very unfortunate, I think.
STARR: Now, plenty of action. In the last three weeks, U.S. warplanes have dropped more than 20 tons of bombs and fired more than 7,000 airborne cannon rounds at targets near Kandahar, near Shkin, along the Pakistan border, and near Tarin Kowt. A U.S. military official says insurgents are fighting in unexpected ways.
Recently, Marines encountered more than 100 anti-coalition forces northeast of Kandahar, one of the largest groupings of enemy forces in recent months and new attacks on civilians in areas that were thought to be safe. Five aide workers with the group Doctors Without Borders killed in northwest Afghanistan. Eleven Chinese road workers killed in northern Afghanistan when gunmen stormed their camp.
U.S. intelligence officials say remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda continue trying to disrupt September elections.
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: We need more security assistance forces for our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Afghanistan. We hope that the NATO deployment which is being considered will take place before elections.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And, Bill, just this past weekend, more fighting along the Pakistan side of the border. The Pakistanis engaging in a number of heavy firefights. Pakistani officials say they have captured a number of al Qaeda suspects, including a man they believe is the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Here in the U.S., the trial of Scott Peterson resumes today in Redwood City, California. The defense will again try to use cross-examination of witnesses to make its case that somebody else killed Laci Peterson.
Joining us this morning to talk about a little bit of that is senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin -- good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
O'BRIEN: We wrapped up last week with a look at the prosecution's strategy, which seemed to be, one, moving very slowly, and also kind of going in like a back door, not starting off with the most dramatic pictures or even the dead body, but kind of creating this look at Scott Peterson's demeanor, things like that.
How unusual is that and do you think it can work?
TOOBIN: Well, it could work because jurors -- we pay a lot of attention to tactical issues, and ultimately jurors look at things all together. And the key evidence will come out one way or another. But it certainly was not the grabbiest way to start this case. They are proceeding chronologically. You know, Laci disappears -- how does Scott behave December 23th, 24th, as opposed to showing her -- the discovery of her body in April and then moving back.
O'BRIEN: Is it because everybody knows the story?
TOOBIN: I don't think you can operate on that assumption as a prosecutor or as a defense lawyer. After all, these jurors were picked because they did not have preconceived notions. They probably are not the best informed about the case.
So, you know, you have to operate, I think, as if the jurors were hearing about this material for the first time.
O'BRIEN: At the end of last week we heard from a neighbor, Susan Medina, about a burglary at her home in which some guns were stolen.
What's the relevance of her testimony?
TOOBIN: This was actually a very big theme for the defense. And I, my impression is it went in very successfully for the defense. There was a burglary December 23rd or 24th basically across the street from the Petersons. Not only was a gun taken, some jewelry taken, some things were not taken. Cash was not taken, which suggested, according to the defense, that the burglary was interrupted in the middle, which would go to the defense theme that Laci interrupted and was then accosted.
In the prosecution's favor, they have said they are going to call as witnesses the people who were caught in that burglary. Much of the material was recovered so they are going to, in effect, solve that crime for the jury and say it has nothing to do with Laci's disappearance.
O'BRIEN: Modesto police, according to the defense, intent on making Scott Peterson a suspect, really right from the get go.
Was that botched? I know that's what the defense is trying to paint.
Or, if you look at the statistics, when someone's missing or someone's murdered, they're usually killed by somebody they know. And I think pregnant women sort of statistically, again, have the highest likelihood of being killed by their own spouse.
TOOBIN: That seems to me a rather weak theme on the part of the defense, the idea that look at how they focused on Scott right away, this was a rush to judgment. I mean how could you not look at Scott Peterson when a wife disappears mysteriously and there are no witnesses? I mean that is one of the defense claims. But I can't believe that's going to turn the case in their favor.
O'BRIEN: Not a lot of emotion from Scott Peterson.
Do jurors care?
TOOBIN: You know, sometimes they do. Very -- in the Jayson Williams case, the jurors talked a lot about Jayson's demeanor on the -- as he sat watching the trial. They called him Jayson, which was interesting. You know, the Peterson case, it really may matter that he -- he didn't show much demean -- much emotion, apparently, according to the police or in court.
O'BRIEN: Yes, before...
TOOBIN: It's very hard to know what's the right demeanor to have. Martha Stewart struggled with this, I know. It's just -- there's no one right answer.
O'BRIEN: Are you stoic or are you unfeeling, is kind of the big question?
TOOBIN: Exactly. Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff, thanks, as always.
TOOBIN: You got it.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, 11 minutes past the hour. Most of the power is back on today in Kansas City, Missouri. Multiple tornadoes tearing through Kansas and Missouri. About 70,000 left in the dark there. Those storms spawning several tornadoes like this one in Mulvane, Kansas. Check out the debris from this mobile home sucked into that fierce twister clearly on the videotape. Six of the twisters passed south of Wichita.
The Kansas governor declared 12 counties to be disaster areas. That's it videotape of the day, quite clearly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: It is now 13 minutes past the hour.
Time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today with Heidi Collins -- good morning again.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.
And good morning, everybody.
A new report shows U.S. military commanders may have known about abuse at Iraqi prisons two months earlier than previously thought. According to the "New York Times," internal military documents show interrogators at Abu Ghraib Prison cited incidents back in November. The "Times" reports that military officials in Baghdad acknowledge having reviewed abuse reports, but it is not clear if any incidents were investigated.
Pakistani officials say nine people are under arrest, suspected of being al Qaeda members. Weapons and explosives also found during the military operation there. Officials say the detainees were involved in recent attacks in Karachi. One of the men is believed to be a close associate of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Here in the U.S. now, some golf fans were left in the dark as they watched the Buick Classic. Sergio Garcia, with a seven foot birdie puck here, to win. But TV viewers got only a few glimpses of the final two holes after ABC ended its coverage to show "America's Funniest Home Videos."
Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam adds a seventh Major to her career. Sorenstam shot one over 72, winning her second straight LPGA championship by three strokes.
And for a second straight weekend, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" casting its spell over moviegoers. The latest installment of the boy wizard series taking in just over 35 million bucks at the box office.
"The Chronicles of Riddick," starring Vin Diesel, came in second. And Soledad's a big fan. And "Shrek 2" fell to number three. "The Stepford Wives" and that huge hit, "Garfield," rounded out the top five. So...
O'BRIEN: You go, Vin. That's all I can say.
HEMMER: That golf story gives new definition 30 years later, so, to the Heidi rule.
COLLINS: I was just going to say that.
HEMMER: A different Heidi.
COLLINS: I get a lot of grief about that.
HEMMER: Remember in the late '60s, breaking away from the Super Bowl?
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I thought Brad was going to keel over when they said that they were going to break off. And then they went to "America's Funniest Home Videos."
COLLINS: I hope it was funny, I mean really funny.
O'BRIEN: Actually, it wasn't, because I watched the first three minutes of it. Not good at all.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi.
CAFFERTY: Plus they -- didn't they refer their viewers over to ESPN, which they also own, except that ESPN was carrying a baseball game at the time so they couldn't show it either, except they could just do cut-ins once? I mean it's just stupid.
HEMMER: You were watching.
CAFFERTY: No, Ted Fine (ph) was watching. This...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: ... Ted Fine, who was home last week on paternity leave...
O'BRIEN: Because he had a new baby girl.
CAFFERTY: No, his wife had a new baby girl.
HEMMER: Nice. That is nice, right.
CAFFERTY: Ted just sat around and said how much do I have to pay to the doctor, how much do I have to pay to the hospital? Well, congratulations to the Fine (ph) family and...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Young Frank is doing well.
CAFFERTY: But that -- I mean that's terrible, to refer people over to a network that's not carrying the golf.
O'BRIEN: Truly, I thought Brad was going to keel over.
HEMMER: Brad being your husband?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Who, yes -- this is -- you should explain that to people, who Brad is.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I thought he was going to just lose it completely. He survived.
CAFFERTY: Next week, Bill Clinton begins his massive book tour for his memoirs. And him being out in the public eye again will undoubtedly invite the comparisons, inevitable probably that they are, to John Kerry. And some people in the Democratic Party are a little concerned at this point, not that John Kerry is not doing well. He is. In some of the national polls, he's ahead of Bush and he's, in fact, in the last couple of weeks, extended his lead.
But they're concerned that his campaign doesn't have real sharp definition yet. Besides undoing a lot of George Bush's stuff, what exactly do you want to do for us and with us, if you're the next president?
So the question is will Bill Clinton's book tour help or hurt John Kerry's campaign?
And we're getting some interesting responses.
David in Oviedo, Florida: "Clinton's book tour will definitely help Kerry by keeping Kerry out of the news. Sometimes the best way to beat an opponent is to let them beat themselves. And George Bush has been doing that for months now."
Betsy in Ashburn, Virginia writes: "Kerry needs to stand on his own, put together a strong statement on the path he would take us down. At this point, I don't know where he really stands on some very important issues."
Steve in Annandale, Virginia: "June is essentially unimportant in the big picture. It's a lull before the national conventions. June will be a nostalgia month -- Reagan funeral reminding Republicans why they're Republican; Clinton's book tour reminding Democrats why they're Democrats."
Alma in Baltou (ph) -- I don't, what's Baltou?
O'BRIEN: I don't know.
HEMMER: B-A-L-T-O?
CAFFERTY: This is not enough of an address, Alma. But we'll read it anyway: "I think the tour will help Kerry, since, in addition to questions about the contents of the book, the campaign will also come up. Clinton answers, no doubt, will reflect positively on Kerry."
And David writes from Crescent City, California: "Shame on you, Jack. George, Sr." -- meaning George Bush -- "is a great guy. He really is an inspiration. I've decided to mark my 76th birthday next week by jumping out of my car. I will -- I'll practice a few slow speed jumps in the supermarket parking lot before doing the rush hour thruway jump on the actual day."
HEMMER: Padding included.
Steve's probably got it right, though. Once you come out at the end of July, the first part of August, when the rest of the country really starts to focus on this election, Kerry is going to emerge from his convention, Bush will emerge from his and then we get into September and the debate season goes leading right into the election.
CAFFERTY: And boy won't that be exciting.
HEMMER: Well, I tell you...
O'BRIEN: It's been interesting, though, that a...
HEMMER: We'll be waiting.
O'BRIEN: ... a couple of viewers have said that they think Kerry being out of the news is actually a very good thing.
CAFFERTY: It couldn't hurt.
O'BRIEN: Sort of like he can't do any harm.
CAFFERTY: I would rather watch the guy jump out of his car in the supermarket parking lot.
HEMMER: Who is that, David?
O'BRIEN: You go, David.
HEMMER: Send us the videotape.
CAFFERTY: That would be David, yes.
O'BRIEN: Seventy-six. He's funny.
Well, still to come, we're going to show the pictures of the president take -- the former president taking a plunge. What is it like to fly through the sky strapped to a man who was once the leader of the free world? We're going to talk to the guy who knows, right there, live from Texas, in just a moment.
HEMMER: He had a big job.
Also this hour, hybrid cars are supposed to be more fuel efficient. But are buyers being taken for a ride? We'll look at that in a moment. O'BRIEN: And they're young and they're rich and they're famous, but the Olsen twins had even more reason to celebrate over the weekend. In "Minding Your Business" -- yes, it's a business story -- as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Former President George Herbert Walker Bush took a flying leap yesterday and he liked it so much he did it again. Mr. Bush was celebrating his 80th birthday. He did it once on his 75th birthday, as well, so he says. He wasn't even a bit nervous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, this was a real thrill for me and I felt no fear in the hands of these, the most qualified, the best paratroopers we've got in our military. They were absolutely fantastic and for me to get a chance to jump with the Golden Knights, I'll tell you, it's a dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The former president jumped strapped to Staff Sergeant Brian Schnell of the Army's Golden Knights.
And Staff Sergeant Schnell joins us this morning from College Station in Texas.
Nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
It looked like it...
STAFF SERGEANT BRYAN SCHNELL, U.S. ARMY'S GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Good morning, ma'am.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
It looked like it went well.
How did it go?
SCHNELL: It went excellent. President Bush was definitely the perfect student.
O'BRIEN: Really? What kinds of things did you have to tell him ahead of time? Was he at all nervous?
SCHNELL: No, he wasn't nervous at all. We had him in the wind tunnel and obviously he's jumped before and he did great.
O'BRIEN: He had about 60 seconds of free fall. What happens in those? I've never gone sky diving. What happens in those 60 seconds? Are you chatting it up with the president? How does it work?
SCHNELL: Well, when you're in free fall, you can't actually talk to somebody because of the noise from all the wind.
O'BRIEN: When did they tell you that you were going to be doing a dive with the former president of the United States?
SCHNELL: Well, we actually jumped twice. The second jump we planned to do an AFF, or accelerated free fall. Because of the weather, the clouds and the wind, we couldn't do that, because the winds were above 14 miles an hour and we wanted to make sure that we did the safest thing possible.
O'BRIEN: Was he really disappointed? I know that he had said that he really wanted to do sort of the jump -- the solo jump.
SCHNELL: He really was disappointed and so were we. Maybe we'll get a chance to do that in the future.
O'BRIEN: What's the pressure like, knowing that you're going down with the president and you've got to be -- I mean you've got to be careful with whoever you're jumping with, I'm sure.
SCHNELL: Definitely, yes.
O'BRIEN: But there's got to be an added pressure when it's the former president of the United States.
SCHNELL: Well, there wasn't too much pressure. It was more like honor. The Army was definitely honored, on its 229th birthday, to help celebrate his 80th.
O'BRIEN: He has said that he really, in addition to wanting to fulfill his own goal for his 80th birthday, that he also wanted to get out there and show people that just because you're in your '80s, there's still lots of things that you can do.
Do you think he was able to achieve that? And do you agree with that?
SCHNELL: Absolutely. I'm 33 years old and I don't think I could go by his itinerary at 80.
O'BRIEN: Really, he was...
SCHNELL: He's got a lot of energy.
O'BRIEN: He's getting a lot in.
So in 50 years, you're not going to still be skydiving?
SCHNELL: You know, I hope so.
O'BRIEN: Staff Sergeant Brian Schnell joining us this morning.
Congratulations to you on a job well done.
SCHNELL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure the former president had the same thing to say to you, and all your team, as well.
Thanks for being with us.
SCHNELL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, some say he's a hero. Others say he's a criminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fired it up into the air, in addition, and setting his head away, I fired across from it as, you know, kind of like in the Navy. They fire a shot across a bow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: What's an ex-soldier to do? Now he's kicked out of the Army. We'll take a look at that ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING quick news at cnn.com/am, there for you 24-7.
In a moment, car makers say they'll save you money on gas, but hybrids might not be all they're cracked up to be. A bit of advice today from "Consumer Reports," still to come this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Live in Cocoa, Florida, this is Paul Johnson III, the son of Paul Johnson, kidnapped over the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
JOHNSON: My father's company, Lockheed Martin, they've been great. They've been keeping me informed and the embassies, they've been keeping me informed. You know, everybody's been trying to do what they can to make sure my father comes back in one piece.
Like I say, I mean whoever is responsible for this, you know, I would trade in a heartbeat with my father. He doesn't deserve this and I plead with y'all to please let my father go. He don't deserve it. We all, we all got to do jobs, you know, and he just does not deserve what has happened. And I just, it's very hurtful to cope with something like this. I've never been through nothing like this in my whole life. And I don't know nobody that has, you know? And so it's just very hard.
And like I said, you know, I really appreciate you guys keeping my father's name fresh with everybody. I think that's very important that nobody forgets about it, you know. And we just all got to pray.
TUCHMAN: All our thoughts are with you and your family right now. You just brought up something, coping. How are you and your family coping with this? What are you doing? JOHNSON: I don't know how you cope with something like this. You know, I finally got some sleep last night, I was up for two days straight, and my body just finally took over and I shut down.
You know, and I feel -- I don't know what I feel. It's very hard to say. You know, it's like I said, I would change shoes with my father in a heartbeat. I just hope for his safe return, and I hope everybody's praying. And that's all I can do is pray and hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you heard anything at all, Paul? Anything new?
JOHNSON: No, sir. There's nothing new. I have not heard nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has the State Department told you anything that has given you more information than you had yesterday?
JOHNSON: No, sir, but they are keeping me informed and, you know, I thank all of them for keeping contact with me. And just, you know, it means something when somebody calls and, you know, it's even just to say we're here with you, you know. And -- Because it's very tough.
HEMMER: Extremely difficult time for the family of Paul Johnson. That's one of his sons, Paul Johnson III, in Coco (ph), Florida.
His father was kidnapped over the weekend working for Lockheed Martin, an Apache helicopter specialist. He said he's been in Saudi Arabia since 1992.
You heard one of the questions from our own Gary Tuchman about coping at this point, Paul Johnson saying he finally got some sleep last night. He was up for about two days in time, hoping for a safe return. And again, he said many times, "I'm just praying and hoping."
And when you consider the fate of two other westerners, about a week ago a BBC cameraman was shot and killed in Saudi Arabia. Over the weekend, also, a man identified by the U.S. embassy as Kenneth Scroggs, he was also picked up and killed, as well.
A lot of concern happening today in Florida for the fate of Paul Johnson, the American.
O'BRIEN: And his son saying that he would be happy to exchange his place for his father's in a heart beat, if he possibly could.
So they're still waiting for some word. He said he's heard nothing new, as well.
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Aired June 14, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
A massive car bombing exploding in Baghdad, big enough to tear buildings apart, and leaving more than 70 dead or wounded today.
A tornado season still carving up the Midwest. More dramatic videotape from over the weekend. And the storms just keep coming.
And almost overnight, hybrid cars are the hottest thing in the car industry. But do they deliver what they promise?
Those stories and a lot more this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Other news that's making headlines this morning.
The family of an American contractor kidnapped in Saudi Arabia is praying that authorities are going to be able to find him. Forty- nine-year-old Paul Johnson was abducted over the weekend. We're hoping to hear from family members this morning; in fact, in this hour. If that, indeed, does happen, we'll bring that right to you.
HEMMER: Also this hour, Jeff Toobin's back in a moment looking at the week ahead in the Scott Peterson murder case. Can the defense attorney, Mark Geragos, convince the jurors that police actually botched the investigation? We'll take a look at that in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And former President George Bush turning 80 years old, throwing a party, taking it all the way up to the air.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to one of the paratroopers who jumped out of that plane with the former president.
HEMMER: Yes. And about 14 people waiting for him on the ground when he arrived, too. Got him right back on his feet -- Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Bargain tickets to Iceland. It could be a new hot spot for your summer vacation. The problem is when you get there, you're in Iceland.
And Mozart for Murderers -- find out how a Mexican prison is handling its toughest criminals, coming up in The File in a little while. The File in a while. I like that.
O'BRIEN: It works.
CAFFERTY: It'll be in The File in with while.
O'BRIEN: You're going to rap for the rest of the show?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Come on. I look forward to that then, definitely. All right...
CAFFERTY: Yes, the show would be about eight seconds long.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: A powerful car bomb exploded in central Baghdad this morning. At least 13 people are reported killed. The bomb seems to have been aimed at Western workers. It went off as a convoy of SUVs, the type used by contractors, was passing through central Baghdad.
Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf live from the Iraqi capital for us this morning -- Jane, good morning.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
The blast was strong enough to jolt this hotel, which is many blocks away. And at the scene there was smoke rising, flames in places, and the saddest sight of people trying to dig out bodies of Iraqis from the rubble of the collapsed building.
Now, most of the victims were Iraqi. But the giants, as you mentioned, appear to be Western, a convoy of three vehicles that was traveling on this very busy street towards a major intersection, 12 people in all. In between them, electrical contractor workers on the main power plant in the south of Baghdad and their security personnel. Five of them were killed, according to American officials, coalition officials, one of them American, two Britons and one French.
As for Iraqis, all together, in between the foreign nationals and Iraqis, more than a dozen killed and up to 60 people injured -- Soledad.
And officials here warn that there may be much more to come in the next couple of weeks.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I was going to ask you about that.
And, Jane, I've got to tell you, this videotape is just utterly remarkable.
But among Iraqis, is the expectation now that, in fact, this violence is going to get worse as we get closer and closer to the handover date?
ARRAF: There is, Soledad. There's a real fear that every day people are going to wake up to this, to the sound of explosions, to the site of bodies, to the sound of sirens wailing. There's no expectation that it's going to level off. Rather, the contrary, that these car bombs, these suicide bombs, these political assassinations that we're starting to see are going to increase in a more desperate manner until we get to handover, and even possibly after -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jane Arraf for us this morning in Baghdad.
Jane, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Also from overseas, the son of the American man missing in Saudi Arabia expected to speak at a press conference this hour. In fact, that may happen in the State of Florida. A militant group with ties to al Qaeda claimed to be holding Paul Johnson as a hostage. Johnson's son lives in Cocoa, Florida.
And Gary Tuchman has this report from there this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another family living a kidnapping nightmare. Inside this home in Brevard County, Florida, they're praying for the safety of a father and husband, Paul Johnson, believed to have been taken hostage in Saudi Arabia.
His son found out about his father, not from the U.S. government, but from a TV station.
PAUL JOHNSON III, KIDNAP VICTIM'S SON: This should not have happened. They -- this could have been very preventable, you know, on Lockheed Martin's part.
TUCHMAN: Johnson is an employee of Lockheed Martin, but the company is not giving out information. A Web site affiliated with al Qaeda displayed a passport sized photo of the 49-year old Johnson, as well as a driver's license and a business card, and made the claim their kidnapping victim is an Apache helicopter specialist.
JOHNSON: I just want my father to come safe.
TUCHMAN: Family and friends have been coming by the home to pay vigil. One of the friends saying the State Department has now officially contacted the family.
Members of the news media tried to offer comfort to Paul Johnson's son. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just try to think positive. And you know, you just got to keep positive thoughts in your head. When you start thinking negative, you know, just trying to stay positive. Trying to keep everybody strong, you know. Everything's going to be OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And it's possible, again, the son may speak this hour. When it happens, we'll get you there live to Cocoa, Florida.
In the meantime, though, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, comes to the Pentagon for meetings today, as the U.S. presence in his country grows and as the focus on al Qaeda there once again intensifies.
Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon there -- Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, the war that is not Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has been heating up for several weeks now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has doubled to nearly 20,000 in recent weeks, the long awaited spring offensive now under way in June, a senior Pentagon official tells CNN. Some question the timing. Is this the last push to find Osama bin Laden before the November elections? Did the White House put Afghanistan on the back burner because of the Iraq insurgency?
PETER MANIKAS, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE: It really fell off the radar screen, didn't it? That's very unfortunate, I think.
STARR: Now, plenty of action. In the last three weeks, U.S. warplanes have dropped more than 20 tons of bombs and fired more than 7,000 airborne cannon rounds at targets near Kandahar, near Shkin, along the Pakistan border, and near Tarin Kowt. A U.S. military official says insurgents are fighting in unexpected ways.
Recently, Marines encountered more than 100 anti-coalition forces northeast of Kandahar, one of the largest groupings of enemy forces in recent months and new attacks on civilians in areas that were thought to be safe. Five aide workers with the group Doctors Without Borders killed in northwest Afghanistan. Eleven Chinese road workers killed in northern Afghanistan when gunmen stormed their camp.
U.S. intelligence officials say remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda continue trying to disrupt September elections.
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: We need more security assistance forces for our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Afghanistan. We hope that the NATO deployment which is being considered will take place before elections.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And, Bill, just this past weekend, more fighting along the Pakistan side of the border. The Pakistanis engaging in a number of heavy firefights. Pakistani officials say they have captured a number of al Qaeda suspects, including a man they believe is the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Here in the U.S., the trial of Scott Peterson resumes today in Redwood City, California. The defense will again try to use cross-examination of witnesses to make its case that somebody else killed Laci Peterson.
Joining us this morning to talk about a little bit of that is senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin -- good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
O'BRIEN: We wrapped up last week with a look at the prosecution's strategy, which seemed to be, one, moving very slowly, and also kind of going in like a back door, not starting off with the most dramatic pictures or even the dead body, but kind of creating this look at Scott Peterson's demeanor, things like that.
How unusual is that and do you think it can work?
TOOBIN: Well, it could work because jurors -- we pay a lot of attention to tactical issues, and ultimately jurors look at things all together. And the key evidence will come out one way or another. But it certainly was not the grabbiest way to start this case. They are proceeding chronologically. You know, Laci disappears -- how does Scott behave December 23th, 24th, as opposed to showing her -- the discovery of her body in April and then moving back.
O'BRIEN: Is it because everybody knows the story?
TOOBIN: I don't think you can operate on that assumption as a prosecutor or as a defense lawyer. After all, these jurors were picked because they did not have preconceived notions. They probably are not the best informed about the case.
So, you know, you have to operate, I think, as if the jurors were hearing about this material for the first time.
O'BRIEN: At the end of last week we heard from a neighbor, Susan Medina, about a burglary at her home in which some guns were stolen.
What's the relevance of her testimony?
TOOBIN: This was actually a very big theme for the defense. And I, my impression is it went in very successfully for the defense. There was a burglary December 23rd or 24th basically across the street from the Petersons. Not only was a gun taken, some jewelry taken, some things were not taken. Cash was not taken, which suggested, according to the defense, that the burglary was interrupted in the middle, which would go to the defense theme that Laci interrupted and was then accosted.
In the prosecution's favor, they have said they are going to call as witnesses the people who were caught in that burglary. Much of the material was recovered so they are going to, in effect, solve that crime for the jury and say it has nothing to do with Laci's disappearance.
O'BRIEN: Modesto police, according to the defense, intent on making Scott Peterson a suspect, really right from the get go.
Was that botched? I know that's what the defense is trying to paint.
Or, if you look at the statistics, when someone's missing or someone's murdered, they're usually killed by somebody they know. And I think pregnant women sort of statistically, again, have the highest likelihood of being killed by their own spouse.
TOOBIN: That seems to me a rather weak theme on the part of the defense, the idea that look at how they focused on Scott right away, this was a rush to judgment. I mean how could you not look at Scott Peterson when a wife disappears mysteriously and there are no witnesses? I mean that is one of the defense claims. But I can't believe that's going to turn the case in their favor.
O'BRIEN: Not a lot of emotion from Scott Peterson.
Do jurors care?
TOOBIN: You know, sometimes they do. Very -- in the Jayson Williams case, the jurors talked a lot about Jayson's demeanor on the -- as he sat watching the trial. They called him Jayson, which was interesting. You know, the Peterson case, it really may matter that he -- he didn't show much demean -- much emotion, apparently, according to the police or in court.
O'BRIEN: Yes, before...
TOOBIN: It's very hard to know what's the right demeanor to have. Martha Stewart struggled with this, I know. It's just -- there's no one right answer.
O'BRIEN: Are you stoic or are you unfeeling, is kind of the big question?
TOOBIN: Exactly. Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff, thanks, as always.
TOOBIN: You got it.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, 11 minutes past the hour. Most of the power is back on today in Kansas City, Missouri. Multiple tornadoes tearing through Kansas and Missouri. About 70,000 left in the dark there. Those storms spawning several tornadoes like this one in Mulvane, Kansas. Check out the debris from this mobile home sucked into that fierce twister clearly on the videotape. Six of the twisters passed south of Wichita.
The Kansas governor declared 12 counties to be disaster areas. That's it videotape of the day, quite clearly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: It is now 13 minutes past the hour.
Time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today with Heidi Collins -- good morning again.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.
And good morning, everybody.
A new report shows U.S. military commanders may have known about abuse at Iraqi prisons two months earlier than previously thought. According to the "New York Times," internal military documents show interrogators at Abu Ghraib Prison cited incidents back in November. The "Times" reports that military officials in Baghdad acknowledge having reviewed abuse reports, but it is not clear if any incidents were investigated.
Pakistani officials say nine people are under arrest, suspected of being al Qaeda members. Weapons and explosives also found during the military operation there. Officials say the detainees were involved in recent attacks in Karachi. One of the men is believed to be a close associate of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Here in the U.S. now, some golf fans were left in the dark as they watched the Buick Classic. Sergio Garcia, with a seven foot birdie puck here, to win. But TV viewers got only a few glimpses of the final two holes after ABC ended its coverage to show "America's Funniest Home Videos."
Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam adds a seventh Major to her career. Sorenstam shot one over 72, winning her second straight LPGA championship by three strokes.
And for a second straight weekend, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" casting its spell over moviegoers. The latest installment of the boy wizard series taking in just over 35 million bucks at the box office.
"The Chronicles of Riddick," starring Vin Diesel, came in second. And Soledad's a big fan. And "Shrek 2" fell to number three. "The Stepford Wives" and that huge hit, "Garfield," rounded out the top five. So...
O'BRIEN: You go, Vin. That's all I can say.
HEMMER: That golf story gives new definition 30 years later, so, to the Heidi rule.
COLLINS: I was just going to say that.
HEMMER: A different Heidi.
COLLINS: I get a lot of grief about that.
HEMMER: Remember in the late '60s, breaking away from the Super Bowl?
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I thought Brad was going to keel over when they said that they were going to break off. And then they went to "America's Funniest Home Videos."
COLLINS: I hope it was funny, I mean really funny.
O'BRIEN: Actually, it wasn't, because I watched the first three minutes of it. Not good at all.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi.
CAFFERTY: Plus they -- didn't they refer their viewers over to ESPN, which they also own, except that ESPN was carrying a baseball game at the time so they couldn't show it either, except they could just do cut-ins once? I mean it's just stupid.
HEMMER: You were watching.
CAFFERTY: No, Ted Fine (ph) was watching. This...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: ... Ted Fine, who was home last week on paternity leave...
O'BRIEN: Because he had a new baby girl.
CAFFERTY: No, his wife had a new baby girl.
HEMMER: Nice. That is nice, right.
CAFFERTY: Ted just sat around and said how much do I have to pay to the doctor, how much do I have to pay to the hospital? Well, congratulations to the Fine (ph) family and...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Young Frank is doing well.
CAFFERTY: But that -- I mean that's terrible, to refer people over to a network that's not carrying the golf.
O'BRIEN: Truly, I thought Brad was going to keel over.
HEMMER: Brad being your husband?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Who, yes -- this is -- you should explain that to people, who Brad is.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I thought he was going to just lose it completely. He survived.
CAFFERTY: Next week, Bill Clinton begins his massive book tour for his memoirs. And him being out in the public eye again will undoubtedly invite the comparisons, inevitable probably that they are, to John Kerry. And some people in the Democratic Party are a little concerned at this point, not that John Kerry is not doing well. He is. In some of the national polls, he's ahead of Bush and he's, in fact, in the last couple of weeks, extended his lead.
But they're concerned that his campaign doesn't have real sharp definition yet. Besides undoing a lot of George Bush's stuff, what exactly do you want to do for us and with us, if you're the next president?
So the question is will Bill Clinton's book tour help or hurt John Kerry's campaign?
And we're getting some interesting responses.
David in Oviedo, Florida: "Clinton's book tour will definitely help Kerry by keeping Kerry out of the news. Sometimes the best way to beat an opponent is to let them beat themselves. And George Bush has been doing that for months now."
Betsy in Ashburn, Virginia writes: "Kerry needs to stand on his own, put together a strong statement on the path he would take us down. At this point, I don't know where he really stands on some very important issues."
Steve in Annandale, Virginia: "June is essentially unimportant in the big picture. It's a lull before the national conventions. June will be a nostalgia month -- Reagan funeral reminding Republicans why they're Republican; Clinton's book tour reminding Democrats why they're Democrats."
Alma in Baltou (ph) -- I don't, what's Baltou?
O'BRIEN: I don't know.
HEMMER: B-A-L-T-O?
CAFFERTY: This is not enough of an address, Alma. But we'll read it anyway: "I think the tour will help Kerry, since, in addition to questions about the contents of the book, the campaign will also come up. Clinton answers, no doubt, will reflect positively on Kerry."
And David writes from Crescent City, California: "Shame on you, Jack. George, Sr." -- meaning George Bush -- "is a great guy. He really is an inspiration. I've decided to mark my 76th birthday next week by jumping out of my car. I will -- I'll practice a few slow speed jumps in the supermarket parking lot before doing the rush hour thruway jump on the actual day."
HEMMER: Padding included.
Steve's probably got it right, though. Once you come out at the end of July, the first part of August, when the rest of the country really starts to focus on this election, Kerry is going to emerge from his convention, Bush will emerge from his and then we get into September and the debate season goes leading right into the election.
CAFFERTY: And boy won't that be exciting.
HEMMER: Well, I tell you...
O'BRIEN: It's been interesting, though, that a...
HEMMER: We'll be waiting.
O'BRIEN: ... a couple of viewers have said that they think Kerry being out of the news is actually a very good thing.
CAFFERTY: It couldn't hurt.
O'BRIEN: Sort of like he can't do any harm.
CAFFERTY: I would rather watch the guy jump out of his car in the supermarket parking lot.
HEMMER: Who is that, David?
O'BRIEN: You go, David.
HEMMER: Send us the videotape.
CAFFERTY: That would be David, yes.
O'BRIEN: Seventy-six. He's funny.
Well, still to come, we're going to show the pictures of the president take -- the former president taking a plunge. What is it like to fly through the sky strapped to a man who was once the leader of the free world? We're going to talk to the guy who knows, right there, live from Texas, in just a moment.
HEMMER: He had a big job.
Also this hour, hybrid cars are supposed to be more fuel efficient. But are buyers being taken for a ride? We'll look at that in a moment. O'BRIEN: And they're young and they're rich and they're famous, but the Olsen twins had even more reason to celebrate over the weekend. In "Minding Your Business" -- yes, it's a business story -- as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Former President George Herbert Walker Bush took a flying leap yesterday and he liked it so much he did it again. Mr. Bush was celebrating his 80th birthday. He did it once on his 75th birthday, as well, so he says. He wasn't even a bit nervous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, this was a real thrill for me and I felt no fear in the hands of these, the most qualified, the best paratroopers we've got in our military. They were absolutely fantastic and for me to get a chance to jump with the Golden Knights, I'll tell you, it's a dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The former president jumped strapped to Staff Sergeant Brian Schnell of the Army's Golden Knights.
And Staff Sergeant Schnell joins us this morning from College Station in Texas.
Nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
It looked like it...
STAFF SERGEANT BRYAN SCHNELL, U.S. ARMY'S GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Good morning, ma'am.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
It looked like it went well.
How did it go?
SCHNELL: It went excellent. President Bush was definitely the perfect student.
O'BRIEN: Really? What kinds of things did you have to tell him ahead of time? Was he at all nervous?
SCHNELL: No, he wasn't nervous at all. We had him in the wind tunnel and obviously he's jumped before and he did great.
O'BRIEN: He had about 60 seconds of free fall. What happens in those? I've never gone sky diving. What happens in those 60 seconds? Are you chatting it up with the president? How does it work?
SCHNELL: Well, when you're in free fall, you can't actually talk to somebody because of the noise from all the wind.
O'BRIEN: When did they tell you that you were going to be doing a dive with the former president of the United States?
SCHNELL: Well, we actually jumped twice. The second jump we planned to do an AFF, or accelerated free fall. Because of the weather, the clouds and the wind, we couldn't do that, because the winds were above 14 miles an hour and we wanted to make sure that we did the safest thing possible.
O'BRIEN: Was he really disappointed? I know that he had said that he really wanted to do sort of the jump -- the solo jump.
SCHNELL: He really was disappointed and so were we. Maybe we'll get a chance to do that in the future.
O'BRIEN: What's the pressure like, knowing that you're going down with the president and you've got to be -- I mean you've got to be careful with whoever you're jumping with, I'm sure.
SCHNELL: Definitely, yes.
O'BRIEN: But there's got to be an added pressure when it's the former president of the United States.
SCHNELL: Well, there wasn't too much pressure. It was more like honor. The Army was definitely honored, on its 229th birthday, to help celebrate his 80th.
O'BRIEN: He has said that he really, in addition to wanting to fulfill his own goal for his 80th birthday, that he also wanted to get out there and show people that just because you're in your '80s, there's still lots of things that you can do.
Do you think he was able to achieve that? And do you agree with that?
SCHNELL: Absolutely. I'm 33 years old and I don't think I could go by his itinerary at 80.
O'BRIEN: Really, he was...
SCHNELL: He's got a lot of energy.
O'BRIEN: He's getting a lot in.
So in 50 years, you're not going to still be skydiving?
SCHNELL: You know, I hope so.
O'BRIEN: Staff Sergeant Brian Schnell joining us this morning.
Congratulations to you on a job well done.
SCHNELL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure the former president had the same thing to say to you, and all your team, as well.
Thanks for being with us.
SCHNELL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, some say he's a hero. Others say he's a criminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fired it up into the air, in addition, and setting his head away, I fired across from it as, you know, kind of like in the Navy. They fire a shot across a bow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: What's an ex-soldier to do? Now he's kicked out of the Army. We'll take a look at that ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING quick news at cnn.com/am, there for you 24-7.
In a moment, car makers say they'll save you money on gas, but hybrids might not be all they're cracked up to be. A bit of advice today from "Consumer Reports," still to come this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Live in Cocoa, Florida, this is Paul Johnson III, the son of Paul Johnson, kidnapped over the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
JOHNSON: My father's company, Lockheed Martin, they've been great. They've been keeping me informed and the embassies, they've been keeping me informed. You know, everybody's been trying to do what they can to make sure my father comes back in one piece.
Like I say, I mean whoever is responsible for this, you know, I would trade in a heartbeat with my father. He doesn't deserve this and I plead with y'all to please let my father go. He don't deserve it. We all, we all got to do jobs, you know, and he just does not deserve what has happened. And I just, it's very hurtful to cope with something like this. I've never been through nothing like this in my whole life. And I don't know nobody that has, you know? And so it's just very hard.
And like I said, you know, I really appreciate you guys keeping my father's name fresh with everybody. I think that's very important that nobody forgets about it, you know. And we just all got to pray.
TUCHMAN: All our thoughts are with you and your family right now. You just brought up something, coping. How are you and your family coping with this? What are you doing? JOHNSON: I don't know how you cope with something like this. You know, I finally got some sleep last night, I was up for two days straight, and my body just finally took over and I shut down.
You know, and I feel -- I don't know what I feel. It's very hard to say. You know, it's like I said, I would change shoes with my father in a heartbeat. I just hope for his safe return, and I hope everybody's praying. And that's all I can do is pray and hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you heard anything at all, Paul? Anything new?
JOHNSON: No, sir. There's nothing new. I have not heard nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has the State Department told you anything that has given you more information than you had yesterday?
JOHNSON: No, sir, but they are keeping me informed and, you know, I thank all of them for keeping contact with me. And just, you know, it means something when somebody calls and, you know, it's even just to say we're here with you, you know. And -- Because it's very tough.
HEMMER: Extremely difficult time for the family of Paul Johnson. That's one of his sons, Paul Johnson III, in Coco (ph), Florida.
His father was kidnapped over the weekend working for Lockheed Martin, an Apache helicopter specialist. He said he's been in Saudi Arabia since 1992.
You heard one of the questions from our own Gary Tuchman about coping at this point, Paul Johnson saying he finally got some sleep last night. He was up for about two days in time, hoping for a safe return. And again, he said many times, "I'm just praying and hoping."
And when you consider the fate of two other westerners, about a week ago a BBC cameraman was shot and killed in Saudi Arabia. Over the weekend, also, a man identified by the U.S. embassy as Kenneth Scroggs, he was also picked up and killed, as well.
A lot of concern happening today in Florida for the fate of Paul Johnson, the American.
O'BRIEN: And his son saying that he would be happy to exchange his place for his father's in a heart beat, if he possibly could.
So they're still waiting for some word. He said he's heard nothing new, as well.
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