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A Raid Overnight at Mosque in Albany, New York; Preliminary Hearing of Pfc. Lynndie England Resumes Today

Aired August 05, 2004 - 08:30   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: Welcome back everyone, 8:30 here in New York. CNN tracking the story out of Albany, New York that broke just a short time ago.
Apparently a raid overnight at a mosque in Albany, New York. We understand there have been arrests.

Kelli Arena working this story from her post in Washington by telephone now.

Kelli, what do you have?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Bill.

We're told that two men, a man named Ya Seen Arif, who was the imam at that mosque, and Mohammed Hoosain, who was the founder, were involved in a sting operation.

These two men, according to law enforcement sources, were trying to launder money to help another individual who they believe to be a terrorist but who was actually an FBI agent buy a shoulder-fired missile.

The investigation is not yet closed, it is ongoing, and so we -- it is possible that we may see more arrests, we may find some linkages with some other investigations, but as of now law enforcement sources only saying that these two individuals, who are both affiliated with the Masjid As-Salaam mosque in Albany are under arrest.

The indictment against them has been unsealed. We could hear more either during a statement, or from an official at the Justice Department, later on today -- but right now, the Justice Department is not commenting, Bill.

HEMMER: Kelli, let me try a few things here --and I know it's early, and I completely understand that this is an ongoing situation.

Is there any connection to this situation in Albany with the terror threats we've been reporting for the past several days?

ARENA: No. Not at all. We're told that it's an isolated incident not at all connected to the recent concern or the raising, the partial raising, of the terror alerts.

HEMMER: Also, how long have they been watching that mosque? Is there any answer on that? ARENA: Well, that's -- that's a good question, Bill. I tried to get a sense of that.

I've been told for some time. They have had certain individuals at the mosque under surveillance -- obviously not the mosque in general, but certain individuals that are associated with it.

The slice of the investigation continues, lots of people very tight-lipped, because this isn't a done deal.

HEMMER: All right, let me try another one. About six to eight months ago in the New York City area, there was a sting operation in Manhattan where they found a man trying to obtain shoulder-fired missiles either in this city or in -- across the Hudson in New Jersey. Is there any link there?

ARENA: Not so far. Not that I've heard of. I won't rule it out, Bill, but I have not heard that yet.

Obviously, you know, there are unfortunately a lot of these missiles on the black market. There -- you know, these things are usually isolated. Like I said, the investigation is ongoing, but no one making that connection for me.

HEMMER: All right Kelli, thanks. I'll cut you loose there and when you get more we'll take you, all right? Thanks, Kelli.

Kelli Arena working in D.C. on that story out of Albany, New York. More when we get it here.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Very good. The preliminary hearing of Pfc. Lynndie England resumes today at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Yesterday the judge heard the first eyewitness testimony against the young woman at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

Bob Franken has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lynndie England was described by members of her former unit as an unreliable, undisciplined solider at Abu Ghraib Prison who failed to show up for work because of her sexual activities.

But the testimony also focused on more substantive charges. Graphic charges of brutality. England and everyone on the courtroom listened to a speakerphone as Specialist Matthew Wisdom, a guard at Abu Ghraib, told of the night in November of last year when he witnessed what he called the actual abuse, the beatings.

In one case, he described how he entered the cellblock and encountered inmates forced into simulated oral sex. He also said he heard the voice of Lynndie England exclaiming the prisoners were starting to get aroused. Wisdom said one of the other guards, who is also being charged, derisively shouted, "Look at what these animals do when we leave them alone for 10 seconds."

It was a day of telephone testimony, with defense lawyers, for their part, trying to make the case that the prisoner treatment was often directed by military intelligence officers.

One of the guards did acknowledge that the intelligence wing could sometimes get authorization to decide on conditions for inmates.

LT. COL. GREG WOODS, MILITARY ATTORNEY: The defense will be permitted the opportunity to call any witnesses they would like to call at the end of the government's case.

FRANKEN: Before then, more prosecution witnesses to try and make the case to go forward with charges that could put Lynndie England in prison for 38 years.

Bob Franken, CNN, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The preliminary hearing is expected to last through tomorrow. England is one of seven soldiers charged in this scandal -- Bill.

HEMMER: Twenty-five minutes now before the hour. They were young women, mostly prostitutes, who turned up dead in the Green River of Washington State.

The victims' invisible to some but not to David Reichert. He was a lead investigator who pursued Gary Ridgeway, the so-called "Green River Killer," for almost 20 years.

David Reichert has written a book about his hunt for the notorious serial killer. It's called "Chasing the Devil." He talked with us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): Why was it so hard to find this man?

DAVID REICHERT, AUTHOR, "CHASING THE DEVIL": Well, Gary Ridgeway picked the -- I hate to say it -- the perfect victims.

These were young girls working the streets whose job it was to get into a car and drive away, so all he had to do was drive up to a curb, roll down the window, open the door, make a deal for sex. They'd get into his truck, they'd drive off into the night and they'd disappear.

No struggle, no screaming, and the witnesses were usually drug addicts and -- or homeless people, alcoholics and sometimes the bodies weren't found until six years later. HEMMER: Wow. Twenty years you investigated this case. About mid-'80s, 1984-85, Ted Bundy contacted you. What did you learn from him?

REICHERT: What Bundy told us was that he thought he could get us into the mind of Gary Ridgeway, and so we flew to Florida, listened to what he had to say.

And he told us that Ridgeway would go back to the scenes, he'd have sex with the dead bodies. He had -- oh -- probably had some interest in pornography, had a -- had an abnormal relationship with his mother -- and all of those things did apply to Gary Ridgeway.

But they also applied to Ted Bundy.

HEMMER: So you searched Ridgeway's home. At one time, you were suspicious of him and others were, as well. Why could you not catch him then?

REICHERT: We didn't have the evidence. What we had was probable cause that got us into the house, that gave us permission to search his house. Also gave us permission to take a sample from him. And that was that piece of gauze that we had him chew on that gave us the sample of his saliva that matched with the evidence that we collected in 1982.

We did a thorough investigation of that crime scene and made sure that the evidence at that scene was collected and preserved along with the saliva that was collected on that gauze.

HEMMER: When it came time to tell the families of the victims, what was that experience about for you?

REICHERT: Well there's -- there's a couple of things that -- that stand out for me with the families. One, when I had to go to their house and tell them that I found their daughter and she was dead. That's one of the most difficult things in this line of work that any cop can do.

When we finally caught Ridgeway, I spent three days with every family member explaining to them what was going to happen at the plea hearing and that Gary Ridgeway was going to plead guilty, and that he was going to have a life in prison sentence rather than death penalty. Majority of the families were in favor of that -- there was a small number that weren't.

It was very hard; it was emotional, it was gut wrenching. It was a difficult thing to do.

HEMMER: He was spared the death penalty, and there was a lot of discussions back in your home state as to why this happened and what you get out of it essentially. After that decision was made, what did you learn from him?

REICHERT: He led us to four other bodies. Three were identified and those families now know that their daughters are dead. They'd been waiting for almost 20 years to find out -- they had hoped that their daughter was still alive.

We also learned about 41 other cases, 41 other lives that he had taken. And by the way, those cases not only did he confess to but we had corroborating evidence then that we placed together that we charged him with those 48 murders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again that's David Reichert, the lead investigator who pursued Gary Ridgeway, the author of "Chasing the Devil." Ridgeway was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now Heidi.

COLLINS: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan. Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning. The media will be allowed in for the first time today as more hearings get underway for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

Yesterday, five of the first eight detainees refused to appear. The hearings are meant to determine which of the 580-some detainees are properly held as enemy combatants or which should be released.

Alabama death row inmate James Barney Hubbard is expected to be executed tonight. He's 74. He'll be the oldest prisoner executed in decades.

Hubbard wants the Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. He claims he is too old and sickly to be put to death. The federal appeals court refused to block his execution. He killed an elderly woman back in 1977.

Five cases of E. coli infection in Minnesota and Wisconsin are now linked to a beef recall. The company is called Carneco Foods. Its recalled 497,000 pounds of meat after people got sick from E. coli, they all recovered. The meat, ground beef patties, was distributed to Sam's Club stores in ten states.

And now, when you call 911, you expect the operator to help you or at least to be awake. Well, listen to the snoring on this 911 tape:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: (Snoring)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 911 operator...

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAGAN: Yes, well last week in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Patricia Berg called 911 after hearing a prowler. As she was talking to the operator he fell asleep. Everything turned out OK. The caller is angry. She's complained to the police department and they are reviewing the incident. Heidi, I guess the 911 operator is on permanent midnight shift duty and for any of us who have worked those weird hours, you know it's hard to stay awake.

COLLINS: Yes, but calling for help -- what was the emergency?

KAGAN: There was a prowler -- she thought there was a burglar at her house and...

COLLINS: Is that all? Yikes.

KAGAN: Thank goodness that's all.

COLLINS: All right don't let that happen to you in Glen Burnie. All right. Thanks so much Daryn.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING a new home for Mario, Donkey Kong, and the rest of Nintendo -- well, Bill Gates has some explaining to do. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" on that.

HEMMER: Also, a new drug to fight depression. Sanjay tells us about it in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A new antidepressant for adults will be available later this month after getting a green light from the FDA. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with details on all of this.

Sanjay, hello.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. The drug is called cymbalta, just approved yesterday by the FDA to treat major depression.

People are pretty excited about this drug because it appears to be what is called a dual mechanism drug, working not only on the psychological symptoms of depression, but also on the physical symptoms as well.

Works really on two chemicals in the brain, seratonin -- a lot of people know that name because of other antidepressants, but also norepineephrine. Treating both those might help the psychological and physical symptoms.

Heidi, a lot of people have physical symptoms of depression as well as the psychological ones. The psychological ones -- well -- are well-known but the physical signs also present. Vague aches and pains sometimes. Headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue, back pain, changes in appetite.

And people who are depressed -- a lot of people have these symptoms from time to time but in people who are depressed, oftentimes they are amplified. The theory out there is that if you treat both the psychological and physical symptoms of depression, you're going to make a patient better overall and increase their chance of being cured or not -- going into remission from depression.

One study showed that on medications like this one, cymbalta, patients are three times more likely to actually go into remission from depression Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. What about the side effects, though, of this drug?

GUPTA: Yes, the side effects are there. That's a good question. They are mild with cymbalta. They are very similar to other antidepressants. Take a look at the list of some of the side effects of cymbalta in particular. You're going to have nausea, dry mouth, for example. Constipation, decreased appetite, fatigue, increased sweating.

Another side effect that people talk about a lot with regard to antidepressants -- sexual side effects -- they are present with cymbalta as well although they appear to be a little bit diminished compared to some of its counterparts, Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, Sanjay, there's always been concern about suicidal tendencies whenever you use an antidepressant, especially for young people. Is this drug, then, safe for young people or young adults should they need to use it?

GUPTA: Not approved for young people, that is, under the age of 18. Now the antidepressants really aren't approved for that. You're talking about a specific trial. When this drug, cymbalta sort of the back story -- when it was being approved there was a story of a young person back in February who took this particular medication and subsequently committed suicide.

The case was investigated. These are very difficult situations for obvious reasons. Is it the drug that's causing these suicidal tendencies, or is it the disease of depression itself? Sometimes that's hard to figure out. With regard to cymbalta, though, the FDA did investigate that particular story and still says that this drug is ready for approval. In fact, approving it yesterday.

Suicide and antidepressants is something that's gotten a lot of play lately with regard to cymbalta anyways there appears to be no definitive link, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning. Sanjay thanks.

Still to come going to turn the corner now to "The Cafferty File." Some new ads about to hit the airways bring new meaning to the term boob tube. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, welcome back everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Big jobs report due out tomorrow so Wall Street will probably be treading water today and Bill Gates made a joke about buying Nintendo, only somebody didn't understand it was a joke.

Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A little bit of lost in translation. We've got the United States, Japan, and Germany. I'll tell you about that in a second.

Let's talk about what's going on in the markets. Yesterday the price of oil backed off from a record high down to $43 a barrel -- well, gee, that's still up there.

Mixed day on the Street. You can see here we've got a little bit of gain out of the Dow. Nasdaq slipped back. And as Jack mentioned the big jobs report for the month of July coming out tomorrow morning and I agree with Jack Cafferty, wholeheartedly, as usual.

Today's kind of going to be a blah day on the Street because we're going to be waiting for that jobs report tomorrow.

Weekly jobless numbers came in a few minutes ago and actually came in looking pretty good so that may be setting us up for something.

CAFFERTY: What's the estimate? $250 -- 300,000, right?

SERWER: Yes, that's about right.

CAFFERTY: Supposed to be a robust number.

SERWER: Yes. And obviously big implications here for the political campaigns.

CAFFERTY: All right, so Gates isn't going to buy Nintendo.

SERWER: Well, we don't really know. There was a German journalist at a press conference, a little party, in Redman, Washington yesterday and he reported a joke that Bill Gates told apparently.

Bill Gates said regarding a Nintendo -- the former president and a large shareholder: "If Hiroshi Yamauchi calls, he'll get me on the line right away."

Now this is a guy who you know controls the destiny of Nintendo. Microsoft makes the Xbox, of course, and has long been rumored to be interested in buying various other game companies. Nintendo of course makes Super Mario and Donkey Kong.

CAFFERTY: I've got all that stuff.

SERWER: But could you imagine Gates with Donkey Kong and you know the mind fairly reels. I mean fairly being the operative word there. Right?

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Andrew.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Thank you for that.

SERWER: Thank you for that.

CAFFERTY: Checking the scoreboard now. Number of days since the 9/11 Commission made recommendations for protecting the country against terrorism: 14.

Number of recommendations adopted by the United States Congress: zero.

We're going to keep counting, kids.

SERWER: Are you listening out there?

CAFFERTY: Here's the "File." Couple in London quit smoking. They did 50 cigarettes a day. They didn't quit for their own health but because the health of their orange winged parrot was in jeopardy.

J.J., as he's known around the house there, according to the vet was suffering from poor air quality thanks to the second hand smoke. He had severe respiratory problems and his owners checked themselves into an anti-smoking clinic where they stayed for five weeks and the vet now says J.J. the parrot is doing much better.

SERWER: Isn't that nice of them?

CAFFERTY: The worst part about running for political office is the stupid stuff you have to do for the news media. They're called photo ops. Look at this.

This was yesterday in Iowa. This -- I mean -- these are the two guys running for the highest office in the land making abject fools of themselves with ears of corn.

It's just -- I mean it's just stupid and while they were both in the same town out there in Iowa someplace, Davenport, one of the quad cities, three banks yesterday in Davenport, Iowa were knocked off while these two guys were in the cornfield with their ears in their hand.

SERWER: For real?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

COLLINS: For real.

CAFFERTY: Yes, for real. And the cops think it may be -- you know -- that all the robbers are related.

SERWER: Yes. CAFFERTY: One other item here and then we'll toddle along. Prime time television commercials advertising breast implants coming to ABC this fall.

Some outfit called Mentor Corporation scheduled to debut six prime time commercials during the program on ABC called "Extreme Makeover." The company says it wants to create a quote classy elegant ad...

SERWER: Classy.

CAFFERTY: ... targeting the working woman or mother. There is no word yet whether there will be any advisories about the potential complications that can arise from breast augmentation surgery or for that matter why its supposedly a good idea to get breast implants in the first place.

I don't think we need this in prime time.

SERWER: Mentor is the name of the company, isn't it?

CAFFERTY: What was it?

SERWER: Mentor.

CAFFERTY: Mentor.

HEMMER: They robbed three banks in Davenport yesterday.

CAFFERTY: Really?

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: And they got one guy.

CAFFERTY: Well that's where I heard it.

SERWER: It wasn't Nader, was it?

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: I don't believe so -- who do you think they're voting for?

CAFFERTY: Are there any openings on the "Today Show?" Just across the street over there.

HEMMER: You don't even have to catch a cab. You can just walk. Easy.

Following the story out of Albany, New York news that federal agents have raised a mosque there overnight. We'll get the very latest in a moment when we continue after this my friend Jack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired August 5, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone, 8:30 here in New York. CNN tracking the story out of Albany, New York that broke just a short time ago.
Apparently a raid overnight at a mosque in Albany, New York. We understand there have been arrests.

Kelli Arena working this story from her post in Washington by telephone now.

Kelli, what do you have?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Bill.

We're told that two men, a man named Ya Seen Arif, who was the imam at that mosque, and Mohammed Hoosain, who was the founder, were involved in a sting operation.

These two men, according to law enforcement sources, were trying to launder money to help another individual who they believe to be a terrorist but who was actually an FBI agent buy a shoulder-fired missile.

The investigation is not yet closed, it is ongoing, and so we -- it is possible that we may see more arrests, we may find some linkages with some other investigations, but as of now law enforcement sources only saying that these two individuals, who are both affiliated with the Masjid As-Salaam mosque in Albany are under arrest.

The indictment against them has been unsealed. We could hear more either during a statement, or from an official at the Justice Department, later on today -- but right now, the Justice Department is not commenting, Bill.

HEMMER: Kelli, let me try a few things here --and I know it's early, and I completely understand that this is an ongoing situation.

Is there any connection to this situation in Albany with the terror threats we've been reporting for the past several days?

ARENA: No. Not at all. We're told that it's an isolated incident not at all connected to the recent concern or the raising, the partial raising, of the terror alerts.

HEMMER: Also, how long have they been watching that mosque? Is there any answer on that? ARENA: Well, that's -- that's a good question, Bill. I tried to get a sense of that.

I've been told for some time. They have had certain individuals at the mosque under surveillance -- obviously not the mosque in general, but certain individuals that are associated with it.

The slice of the investigation continues, lots of people very tight-lipped, because this isn't a done deal.

HEMMER: All right, let me try another one. About six to eight months ago in the New York City area, there was a sting operation in Manhattan where they found a man trying to obtain shoulder-fired missiles either in this city or in -- across the Hudson in New Jersey. Is there any link there?

ARENA: Not so far. Not that I've heard of. I won't rule it out, Bill, but I have not heard that yet.

Obviously, you know, there are unfortunately a lot of these missiles on the black market. There -- you know, these things are usually isolated. Like I said, the investigation is ongoing, but no one making that connection for me.

HEMMER: All right Kelli, thanks. I'll cut you loose there and when you get more we'll take you, all right? Thanks, Kelli.

Kelli Arena working in D.C. on that story out of Albany, New York. More when we get it here.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Very good. The preliminary hearing of Pfc. Lynndie England resumes today at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Yesterday the judge heard the first eyewitness testimony against the young woman at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

Bob Franken has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lynndie England was described by members of her former unit as an unreliable, undisciplined solider at Abu Ghraib Prison who failed to show up for work because of her sexual activities.

But the testimony also focused on more substantive charges. Graphic charges of brutality. England and everyone on the courtroom listened to a speakerphone as Specialist Matthew Wisdom, a guard at Abu Ghraib, told of the night in November of last year when he witnessed what he called the actual abuse, the beatings.

In one case, he described how he entered the cellblock and encountered inmates forced into simulated oral sex. He also said he heard the voice of Lynndie England exclaiming the prisoners were starting to get aroused. Wisdom said one of the other guards, who is also being charged, derisively shouted, "Look at what these animals do when we leave them alone for 10 seconds."

It was a day of telephone testimony, with defense lawyers, for their part, trying to make the case that the prisoner treatment was often directed by military intelligence officers.

One of the guards did acknowledge that the intelligence wing could sometimes get authorization to decide on conditions for inmates.

LT. COL. GREG WOODS, MILITARY ATTORNEY: The defense will be permitted the opportunity to call any witnesses they would like to call at the end of the government's case.

FRANKEN: Before then, more prosecution witnesses to try and make the case to go forward with charges that could put Lynndie England in prison for 38 years.

Bob Franken, CNN, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The preliminary hearing is expected to last through tomorrow. England is one of seven soldiers charged in this scandal -- Bill.

HEMMER: Twenty-five minutes now before the hour. They were young women, mostly prostitutes, who turned up dead in the Green River of Washington State.

The victims' invisible to some but not to David Reichert. He was a lead investigator who pursued Gary Ridgeway, the so-called "Green River Killer," for almost 20 years.

David Reichert has written a book about his hunt for the notorious serial killer. It's called "Chasing the Devil." He talked with us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): Why was it so hard to find this man?

DAVID REICHERT, AUTHOR, "CHASING THE DEVIL": Well, Gary Ridgeway picked the -- I hate to say it -- the perfect victims.

These were young girls working the streets whose job it was to get into a car and drive away, so all he had to do was drive up to a curb, roll down the window, open the door, make a deal for sex. They'd get into his truck, they'd drive off into the night and they'd disappear.

No struggle, no screaming, and the witnesses were usually drug addicts and -- or homeless people, alcoholics and sometimes the bodies weren't found until six years later. HEMMER: Wow. Twenty years you investigated this case. About mid-'80s, 1984-85, Ted Bundy contacted you. What did you learn from him?

REICHERT: What Bundy told us was that he thought he could get us into the mind of Gary Ridgeway, and so we flew to Florida, listened to what he had to say.

And he told us that Ridgeway would go back to the scenes, he'd have sex with the dead bodies. He had -- oh -- probably had some interest in pornography, had a -- had an abnormal relationship with his mother -- and all of those things did apply to Gary Ridgeway.

But they also applied to Ted Bundy.

HEMMER: So you searched Ridgeway's home. At one time, you were suspicious of him and others were, as well. Why could you not catch him then?

REICHERT: We didn't have the evidence. What we had was probable cause that got us into the house, that gave us permission to search his house. Also gave us permission to take a sample from him. And that was that piece of gauze that we had him chew on that gave us the sample of his saliva that matched with the evidence that we collected in 1982.

We did a thorough investigation of that crime scene and made sure that the evidence at that scene was collected and preserved along with the saliva that was collected on that gauze.

HEMMER: When it came time to tell the families of the victims, what was that experience about for you?

REICHERT: Well there's -- there's a couple of things that -- that stand out for me with the families. One, when I had to go to their house and tell them that I found their daughter and she was dead. That's one of the most difficult things in this line of work that any cop can do.

When we finally caught Ridgeway, I spent three days with every family member explaining to them what was going to happen at the plea hearing and that Gary Ridgeway was going to plead guilty, and that he was going to have a life in prison sentence rather than death penalty. Majority of the families were in favor of that -- there was a small number that weren't.

It was very hard; it was emotional, it was gut wrenching. It was a difficult thing to do.

HEMMER: He was spared the death penalty, and there was a lot of discussions back in your home state as to why this happened and what you get out of it essentially. After that decision was made, what did you learn from him?

REICHERT: He led us to four other bodies. Three were identified and those families now know that their daughters are dead. They'd been waiting for almost 20 years to find out -- they had hoped that their daughter was still alive.

We also learned about 41 other cases, 41 other lives that he had taken. And by the way, those cases not only did he confess to but we had corroborating evidence then that we placed together that we charged him with those 48 murders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again that's David Reichert, the lead investigator who pursued Gary Ridgeway, the author of "Chasing the Devil." Ridgeway was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now Heidi.

COLLINS: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan. Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning. The media will be allowed in for the first time today as more hearings get underway for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

Yesterday, five of the first eight detainees refused to appear. The hearings are meant to determine which of the 580-some detainees are properly held as enemy combatants or which should be released.

Alabama death row inmate James Barney Hubbard is expected to be executed tonight. He's 74. He'll be the oldest prisoner executed in decades.

Hubbard wants the Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. He claims he is too old and sickly to be put to death. The federal appeals court refused to block his execution. He killed an elderly woman back in 1977.

Five cases of E. coli infection in Minnesota and Wisconsin are now linked to a beef recall. The company is called Carneco Foods. Its recalled 497,000 pounds of meat after people got sick from E. coli, they all recovered. The meat, ground beef patties, was distributed to Sam's Club stores in ten states.

And now, when you call 911, you expect the operator to help you or at least to be awake. Well, listen to the snoring on this 911 tape:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: (Snoring)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 911 operator...

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAGAN: Yes, well last week in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Patricia Berg called 911 after hearing a prowler. As she was talking to the operator he fell asleep. Everything turned out OK. The caller is angry. She's complained to the police department and they are reviewing the incident. Heidi, I guess the 911 operator is on permanent midnight shift duty and for any of us who have worked those weird hours, you know it's hard to stay awake.

COLLINS: Yes, but calling for help -- what was the emergency?

KAGAN: There was a prowler -- she thought there was a burglar at her house and...

COLLINS: Is that all? Yikes.

KAGAN: Thank goodness that's all.

COLLINS: All right don't let that happen to you in Glen Burnie. All right. Thanks so much Daryn.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING a new home for Mario, Donkey Kong, and the rest of Nintendo -- well, Bill Gates has some explaining to do. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" on that.

HEMMER: Also, a new drug to fight depression. Sanjay tells us about it in a moment.

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COLLINS: A new antidepressant for adults will be available later this month after getting a green light from the FDA. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with details on all of this.

Sanjay, hello.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. The drug is called cymbalta, just approved yesterday by the FDA to treat major depression.

People are pretty excited about this drug because it appears to be what is called a dual mechanism drug, working not only on the psychological symptoms of depression, but also on the physical symptoms as well.

Works really on two chemicals in the brain, seratonin -- a lot of people know that name because of other antidepressants, but also norepineephrine. Treating both those might help the psychological and physical symptoms.

Heidi, a lot of people have physical symptoms of depression as well as the psychological ones. The psychological ones -- well -- are well-known but the physical signs also present. Vague aches and pains sometimes. Headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue, back pain, changes in appetite.

And people who are depressed -- a lot of people have these symptoms from time to time but in people who are depressed, oftentimes they are amplified. The theory out there is that if you treat both the psychological and physical symptoms of depression, you're going to make a patient better overall and increase their chance of being cured or not -- going into remission from depression.

One study showed that on medications like this one, cymbalta, patients are three times more likely to actually go into remission from depression Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. What about the side effects, though, of this drug?

GUPTA: Yes, the side effects are there. That's a good question. They are mild with cymbalta. They are very similar to other antidepressants. Take a look at the list of some of the side effects of cymbalta in particular. You're going to have nausea, dry mouth, for example. Constipation, decreased appetite, fatigue, increased sweating.

Another side effect that people talk about a lot with regard to antidepressants -- sexual side effects -- they are present with cymbalta as well although they appear to be a little bit diminished compared to some of its counterparts, Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, Sanjay, there's always been concern about suicidal tendencies whenever you use an antidepressant, especially for young people. Is this drug, then, safe for young people or young adults should they need to use it?

GUPTA: Not approved for young people, that is, under the age of 18. Now the antidepressants really aren't approved for that. You're talking about a specific trial. When this drug, cymbalta sort of the back story -- when it was being approved there was a story of a young person back in February who took this particular medication and subsequently committed suicide.

The case was investigated. These are very difficult situations for obvious reasons. Is it the drug that's causing these suicidal tendencies, or is it the disease of depression itself? Sometimes that's hard to figure out. With regard to cymbalta, though, the FDA did investigate that particular story and still says that this drug is ready for approval. In fact, approving it yesterday.

Suicide and antidepressants is something that's gotten a lot of play lately with regard to cymbalta anyways there appears to be no definitive link, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning. Sanjay thanks.

Still to come going to turn the corner now to "The Cafferty File." Some new ads about to hit the airways bring new meaning to the term boob tube. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: All right, welcome back everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Big jobs report due out tomorrow so Wall Street will probably be treading water today and Bill Gates made a joke about buying Nintendo, only somebody didn't understand it was a joke.

Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A little bit of lost in translation. We've got the United States, Japan, and Germany. I'll tell you about that in a second.

Let's talk about what's going on in the markets. Yesterday the price of oil backed off from a record high down to $43 a barrel -- well, gee, that's still up there.

Mixed day on the Street. You can see here we've got a little bit of gain out of the Dow. Nasdaq slipped back. And as Jack mentioned the big jobs report for the month of July coming out tomorrow morning and I agree with Jack Cafferty, wholeheartedly, as usual.

Today's kind of going to be a blah day on the Street because we're going to be waiting for that jobs report tomorrow.

Weekly jobless numbers came in a few minutes ago and actually came in looking pretty good so that may be setting us up for something.

CAFFERTY: What's the estimate? $250 -- 300,000, right?

SERWER: Yes, that's about right.

CAFFERTY: Supposed to be a robust number.

SERWER: Yes. And obviously big implications here for the political campaigns.

CAFFERTY: All right, so Gates isn't going to buy Nintendo.

SERWER: Well, we don't really know. There was a German journalist at a press conference, a little party, in Redman, Washington yesterday and he reported a joke that Bill Gates told apparently.

Bill Gates said regarding a Nintendo -- the former president and a large shareholder: "If Hiroshi Yamauchi calls, he'll get me on the line right away."

Now this is a guy who you know controls the destiny of Nintendo. Microsoft makes the Xbox, of course, and has long been rumored to be interested in buying various other game companies. Nintendo of course makes Super Mario and Donkey Kong.

CAFFERTY: I've got all that stuff.

SERWER: But could you imagine Gates with Donkey Kong and you know the mind fairly reels. I mean fairly being the operative word there. Right?

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Andrew.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Thank you for that.

SERWER: Thank you for that.

CAFFERTY: Checking the scoreboard now. Number of days since the 9/11 Commission made recommendations for protecting the country against terrorism: 14.

Number of recommendations adopted by the United States Congress: zero.

We're going to keep counting, kids.

SERWER: Are you listening out there?

CAFFERTY: Here's the "File." Couple in London quit smoking. They did 50 cigarettes a day. They didn't quit for their own health but because the health of their orange winged parrot was in jeopardy.

J.J., as he's known around the house there, according to the vet was suffering from poor air quality thanks to the second hand smoke. He had severe respiratory problems and his owners checked themselves into an anti-smoking clinic where they stayed for five weeks and the vet now says J.J. the parrot is doing much better.

SERWER: Isn't that nice of them?

CAFFERTY: The worst part about running for political office is the stupid stuff you have to do for the news media. They're called photo ops. Look at this.

This was yesterday in Iowa. This -- I mean -- these are the two guys running for the highest office in the land making abject fools of themselves with ears of corn.

It's just -- I mean it's just stupid and while they were both in the same town out there in Iowa someplace, Davenport, one of the quad cities, three banks yesterday in Davenport, Iowa were knocked off while these two guys were in the cornfield with their ears in their hand.

SERWER: For real?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

COLLINS: For real.

CAFFERTY: Yes, for real. And the cops think it may be -- you know -- that all the robbers are related.

SERWER: Yes. CAFFERTY: One other item here and then we'll toddle along. Prime time television commercials advertising breast implants coming to ABC this fall.

Some outfit called Mentor Corporation scheduled to debut six prime time commercials during the program on ABC called "Extreme Makeover." The company says it wants to create a quote classy elegant ad...

SERWER: Classy.

CAFFERTY: ... targeting the working woman or mother. There is no word yet whether there will be any advisories about the potential complications that can arise from breast augmentation surgery or for that matter why its supposedly a good idea to get breast implants in the first place.

I don't think we need this in prime time.

SERWER: Mentor is the name of the company, isn't it?

CAFFERTY: What was it?

SERWER: Mentor.

CAFFERTY: Mentor.

HEMMER: They robbed three banks in Davenport yesterday.

CAFFERTY: Really?

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: And they got one guy.

CAFFERTY: Well that's where I heard it.

SERWER: It wasn't Nader, was it?

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: I don't believe so -- who do you think they're voting for?

CAFFERTY: Are there any openings on the "Today Show?" Just across the street over there.

HEMMER: You don't even have to catch a cab. You can just walk. Easy.

Following the story out of Albany, New York news that federal agents have raised a mosque there overnight. We'll get the very latest in a moment when we continue after this my friend Jack.

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