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American Morning
Michael Jackson Case; Missing Girl; BTK Serial Killings
Aired March 01, 2005 - 09:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Michael Jackson trial opens with scandalous accusation from each side, but did one side fail to connect the dots in opening statements?
Just hours from now, the man suspected of being the BTK serial killer goes before a judge for the first time.
And the Northeast getting hammered by another hard winter storm. Digging out on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: See, he lived an hour longer than we thought he would, didn't he...
O'BRIEN: He's shrinking, though.
HEMMER: ... the snowman out there.
Good morning, everybody. We are going to go back to Wichita, Kansas, this hour. Just hours away from the first court appearance for Dennis Rader. He's the suspect in the BTK serial killings.
We'll talk about why it took so long for police to zero in on what turned out to be a neighbor in Kansas and what that says about the profiling in these cases. A former FBI profiler is our guest in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Police in Florida say they received nearly a thousand leads in the case of that little 9-year-old girl who's gone missing. None of them, though, leading anywhere in the case. The latest on that in a moment, and also what police are trying now as they search for Jessica Lunsford.
HEMMER: A tough story there.
Back to Jack now.
What's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Is that democracy that's threatening to break out in the Middle East, or are we simply seeing the spread of more and more instability as one country after another either has elections or talks about having elections. What's the endgame going to look like? AM@CNN.com
HEMMER: All right, Jack. Thanks for that.
To the headlines again. Here's Carol Costello.
Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill, Soledad, Jack. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," Pope John Paul II is speaking for first time since undergoing a tracheotomy. A top Vatican cardinal says he visited the pope in his Rome hospital room earlier today and the pontiff apparently spoke in both German and Italian during the visit. As you know, the pope had surgery last week.
Authorities in Chicago are looking into the apparent shooting deaths of two family members of a federal judge. According to local media reports, the judge found the bodies of her husband and mother last night in their Chicago home. The judge was once a target of a white supremacist. No word yet on whether there is a connection between the cases.
The man accused of taking part in an alleged plot to assassinate President Bush is set to appear in court today. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is expected to face a judge for a detention hearing in Washington this afternoon. His lawyer says he wants to show Ali is not a flight risk and should be released on bail.
And millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is reaching his 12th hour of what he hopes will be a record-breaking flight. Fossett launched a single-engine global flyer from Kansas yesterday, and he hopes to land back here -- back there, rather, on Thursday in Salina.
He's now over the Atlantic Ocean and should approach the African coastline in less than two hours. In his last message to mission control, Fossett said he experienced some light turbulence.
But Chad, he is doing just fine.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: He is. He's at 43,000 feet, Carol, way out there in the middle of the Atlantic, out by the Azores. If you want to go on and see it, it's VirginAtlanticFlightTracker -- what was it? Help me, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, no, I'm going to look. We'll have it for you, Chad.
MYERS: VirginAtlanticFlight -- something.com. Help me out here in a minute.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Some shocking new details this morning to tell you about, Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. The judge released previously sealed documents, including the full grand jury indictment and transcripts of the grand jury testimony. Meanwhile, the prosecution will bring its first witness in today after Jackson's attorney finishes his opening statement. Rusty Dornin has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The accusations on both sides were graphic and sometimes bizarre. District attorney Thomas Sneddon told the jury Michael Jackson lured young boys to his bedroom. Sneddon said, "Instead of milk and cookies, you could substitute wine, vodka and bourbon." Sneddon said flight attendants will testify Jackson gave children alcoholic drinks on trips taken on Jackson's private plane, including the accuser and his brother.
Sneddon says a Jackson aide told the boy's mother her life was in danger if she turned her back on Michael Jackson. Sneddon told jurors Jackson conspired with four employees to try and stop the family from talking about the alleged molestation, even offering the boy a $75,000 watch. The defense then launched an all-out attack on the boy and his mother, claiming they were money hungry, and accused the family of using the boy's illness to trap other celebrities into giving them money.
MICHAEL CORDOZA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: If you believe half of what the defense is putting out about the mother of the victim, I don't know how a jury's going to believe this case beyond a reasonable doubt.
DORNIN: And when Jackson left court, he flashed his fans a sign that all is well.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to some insight on those explosive opening statements. CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin in Santa Maria, California.
Hey, Jeff, rate for me how the prosecution and the defense did.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: A three on a scale of 10 for the prosecution, an eight on a scale of 10 for the defense. It was really a dramatic difference. Very unusual at this stage of the case. But I thought it really was a striking difference between the two.
O'BRIEN: How about the reaction from the jurors when they're hearing all this -- this very salacious information?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, it's funny, the jury looked like a group of people at the first day of school. They were nervous, they didn't know exactly where to sit. This is often what happens in a big case.
The jurors are very conscious of being looked at by all of us in the press, by this very full courtroom. I think they were going out of their way not to react, but they were certainly very attentive, and they had a lot to listen to.
O'BRIEN: You and I, I think, from the get-go, spoke about how this case is going to focus on the mother of the alleged victim in this case. And certainly no different indications yesterday as well, right?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. One of the most memorable moments from Tom Mesereau's opening statement was, at the time the prosecution claimed that this woman was being held against her will, essentially kidnapped by Michael Jackson and his so-called conspirators, Mesereau read a list of the purchases she made and where she was shopping. And I tell you, it was hilarious.
You know, Banana Republic, bikini waxes, leg waxes, you know, bras, underwear. She was buying everything under the sun at all these different department stores at a time when she claimed she was being essentially kidnapped. It was devastating. And her testimony is really going to be -- you could sell tickets for that one.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, the timeline I think is going to be very, very critical in this case.
TOOBIN: Timeline was really a revelation to me, because both sides agree that this period in early February 2003 when the Martin Bashir documentary was broadcast was crucial. The prosecution claims that was the time that Michael Jackson and his co-conspirators, you know, clamped down on the family, essentially kidnapped them, said, you can't talk to the authorities.
What the defense pointed out is that that time after those allegations surfaced, that was the only time Michael Jackson is accused of molesting this child, which seemed somewhat improbable. That time period is going to be crucial. And it will be very important today because Martin Bashir is the first witness we'll hear from.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, we talked a little bit the past weeks about the celebrities who have been named as potential witnesses in this case, but Jay Leno, it seems like he actually might take the stand, right?
TOOBIN: You know, we were laughing about that last week because of all these sort of celebrities. What possibly could they have to do with the trial?
But Mesereau had this very effective point of claiming -- and we'll see what the testimony is -- that Jay Leno was essentially shaken down by this family, and he, unlike Michael Jackson, said, I want nothing to do with these people. They seem like grifters to me. And if that's true, if that testimony pans out -- and it sounds like that Leno will certainly be a defense witness in this trial -- that could be very helpful for the defense because that's the claim here, that this family are not victims, they're shakedown artists.
O'BRIEN: Ooh, and that's just day one. Another day.
TOOBIN: It's a lot to listen to.
O'BRIEN: Jeff, thanks.
TOOBIN: OK, Soledad.
HEMMER: Now to the hunt for a missing Florida girl, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. That full-scale search is over, but authorities are now awaiting child abduction experts who are on their way to help.
CNN's Sara Dorsey back in Homosassa Springs in Florida.
Good morning, Sarah.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
It is day six here. And investigators are really no further along in this case than they were on day one.
The sheriff is telling us he is still confident that they can bring home Jessica Lunsford, that missing 9-year-old girl, alive. But he says in order to do that, the search tactics are going to be changed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): Since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last Thursday, her neighbors and others have come out in overwhelming numbers to search for the little girl. But after five disappointing days of no clues and no leads, the Citrus County sheriff called off the volunteer portion of the search.
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: We have searched an enormous area without any true direction. And if we continue that, we're just spinning our wheels.
DORSEY: The Lunsford family released more pictures of Jessica, pleading with the public not to give up hope.
MARK LUNSFORD, FATHER: It's been overwhelming the people that's showing up, and hor far widespread this is getting to be. And I just know that the wider spread we make it, the sooner Jessie gets home.
ANGELA BRYANT, MOTHER: It's just very confusing and aggravating, but I know she's going to come home. It's just -- it's hard to explain.
DORSEY: Law enforcement officials openly admit frustration with this case, as experts from across the country are brought in to help.
DAWSY: I became frustrated with a group of the investigators today. Not at them, but just at the amount of knowledge and the people I've got here. We're all trying to find that little piece of the puzzle. And that's the reason why we're pulling all these stops out.
DORSEY: The emotional toll on the family and the community has been great. Jessica's family continues to believe she was kidnapped and is begging for her return.
RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: Please bring Jessie home. Don't harm her. She don't deserve this. No child does.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: Now, throughout this case, the sheriff has been hesitating on whether to call this a kidnapping or a runaway. But yesterday the sheriff did come out saying they do not believe that Jessica left this house on her own.
From here, search experts are going to be brought in with canines. They're going to go back over about a three-quarter-mile area with a fine tooth comb, we're told not necessarily looking for Jessica, but clues that may have been missed the first time around -- Bill.
HEMMER: We wish them luck. Sara Dorsey, thanks, in Florida this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The man accused of being the BTK serial killer will hear the charges against him today. Dennis Rader is suspected of 10 murders in the Wichita, Kansas, area. The first was more than 30 years ago. But it was only recent evidence that allowed police to make an arrest.
Candice DeLong is a former FBI profiler. She's in San Francisco this morning.
Candice, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.
CANDICE DELONG, FMR. FBI PROFILER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Police feel very confident that they've got the right guy. And if, in fact, they do, do you think that, in fact, he started communicating again with the TV stations and ultimately the police because he wanted to be caught?
DELONG: No, I don't think anyone wants to be caught. Nobody -- why would anyone want to spend their golden years in prison? I think he probably was definitely wanting to be in the limelight again.
We don't know yet when his last kill was. We suspect that the last one was 1991. It's possible, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he's been killing all along, that he just resumed...
O'BRIEN: Why would you say -- why do you say that? Why would you not believe, in fact, that he would stop for a period of time before starting up communications again?
DELONG: Most serial killers don't stop until they're caught. Sometimes there is a hiatus. Of course, we know in the -- although he wasn't a sexual serial killer, the Unabomber did stop for five or six years after he thought he had been seen.
It just would be an unusual thing for someone to stop that kind of activity for such a long period of time. I'm simply saying I wouldn't be surprised.
O'BRIEN: What about the role that publicity plays? You kind of mentioned it just a moment ago. He told Larry Hatteberg -- or Larry Hatteberg the reporter said that he wrote a letter in the 1970s that said, "How many people do I have to kill to get my name in the paper?" Very frustrated, in fact, that a letter that had been sent was sort of left in the mailroom and discarded to some degree.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: Is that typical?
DELONG: It can be. Many serial killers have injected themselves into investigations one way or another, or taunted the police. Sometimes they taunt the family. And other serial killers don't want anything to do with the media.
A famous one that come to mind, Ted Bundy, never was involved in that kind of activity, and went to great lengths to see that the bodies of the women he killed were not found. So it can go either way. But it's not unusual for someone who has good verbal skills and is glib and gregarious to get involved in activity where they're communicating with the police. Zodiac Killer did it back in the '60s.
O'BRIEN: They certainly want the challenge of that. He's been described -- Dennis Rader, the suspect, has been described as the president of his church, a good neighbor, people loved him. I mean, it is almost, frankly, a cliche.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: Quiet guy, everybody loved him. You're laughing. Why are you laughing?
DELONG: No, I'm just -- isn't it all just perfect? It made me think of John Wayne -- I'm laughing through my tears, by the way. John Wayne Gacy killed so many young boys, and it turned out he entertained children as a clown.
O'BRIEN: So then is it just typical of that -- I mean, I guess what people always want to know is, explain that dichotomy. How is it that someone could be -- if indeed this man is convicted, can be president of their church group and then also be facing sentencing or facing trial for...
DELONG: Involved in the activities that they're charged with.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. I mean, that, I think, is the hard part for the community to get their minds around.
DELONG: Well, it is hard. But I think we all have multifaceted personalities. We don't all have a secret life where we're killing when no one else knows.
It seems such a dichotomy, but these crimes, as we know, are almost always committed in private. And it's a very, very secret part of the individual's life that he or she is able to compartmentalize and just keep that little killing part of their life over here.
And then during the day, in their waking hours, many of these people are married family men. They're -- of course we know of nurses and doctors that have been serial killers. And when they're not killing patients, they're taking very good care of them.
O'BRIEN: I'll tell you, much more is going to come out about this. I think it's just going to be fascinating to know what was at the end of the day behind -- behind all of this.
DELONG: Oh, I think so, too.
O'BRIEN: Candice DeLong, nice to talk to you. Thank you.
DELONG: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, is Osama bin Laden teaming up with Iraq's top terrorist? New details today involving some new intelligence information and a possible attack aimed at the U.S. We'll get to it.
O'BRIEN: And how about this? A bitter reminder that winter isn't over yet. We are braving the elements live up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: It was enough to build a snowman, albeit a very small snowman here in New York City. We are expecting about 10 inches on the ground overnight. Did not quite get that much.
I think overall New York City really dodged a bullet on this storm based on the forecast that we were told last night when we went to bed. However, west of here, in places like Clifton, New jersey, a bit of a different story.
Chris Huntington is tracking down the commuter traffic this morning there.
Chris, how are you doing? Good morning there.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.
We're doing fine here. And so, frankly, are the folks of Clifton. Probably about six inches here in Clifton, about 20 miles due west of Manhattan. But other areas in the region, Newark Airport, for instance, even closer to New York City, nine inches of snow there. But you move further west and further south and you get to some areas that were hit particularly hard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON (voice-over): Roaring in like a lion, the first of March has delivered a late season noreaster, ravaging parts of the Eastern Seabord. The storm stretched all the way from North Carolina to Maine. A foot of snow fell in some parts of the Tarheel State, and more is expected today.
At one point, more than 11,000 homes in North Carolina lost power. In Virginia, more than 10 inches fell, causing dangerous conditions. Police there reporting more than 100 weather-related traffic accidents.
Further north, more headaches in the busy Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston as snow and low visibility covered roads and runways, making for frustrating delays by land and air. Advice for travelers: slow down and be patient.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON: And you'll certainly want to be patient if you're considering flying anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard. LaGuardia Airport here in New York City -- or I should say 20 miles or so away from here, reporting 2.5 hour delays. And that may even be on the optimistic side.
Now, the storm has moved north and east from here. It is sweeping its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Heavy bands of snow reported in Connecticut, Rhode Island, heading towards Boston.
You get up into Albany, which is pretty much due north of where we are right now, very, very heavy snow just a few hours ago. Move a little bit east from there into Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Mass. seeing very, very heavy snow. Boston should be feeling the full brunt of the final punch of this first wave of snow within the next couple of hours.
The prediction, though, is that there will be another wave following, perhaps in a few hours from now. And then maybe even another little dose this evening. But only a couple of inches expected then -- Bill.
HEMMER: You think about some people, Chris, getting their third storm in eight days. March 1st, nonetheless, as winter really going out with a big lesson for us here in the Northeast.
Thirty degrees locally here in New York. We may get some sunshine a bit later today. So says Chad. If that's the case, not much is going to be sticking around, including our little friend down here, Frosty Jr.
Back inside to Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my. He actually looked much bigger in the shot than when you weren't standing next to him. That is a little, teeny- weeny snowman. All right, Bill. Thanks.
Coming up this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, the man accused of being the most notorious homegrown terrorist in America, Eric Robert Rudolph. A new book says he's got more in common with Osama bin Laden than you might think. We're going to talk with the author just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Back to Jack with the "Question of the Day."
Good morning again.
CAFFERTY: Good morning.
Seminal events taking place in the Middle East, but what will the results be? Massive demonstrations in Lebanon brought down the longstanding Syrian-backed government. Elections taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. This last weekend, Egypt's President Mubarak announced he'll allow his nation's first- ever multiparty elections.
The democratic dominoes are in place in the Middle East, but the process continues to be tested by deadly fundamentalist bombings in Iraq and elsewhere. So the question this morning is this, is the Middle East moving toward democracy or instability?
Gerard writes: "As hard as it is for some people to accept, President Bush was right. Iraq and Afghanistan have planted the seeds of democracy in reminiscent manner that solidarity did in Poland, spreading the ideal to the Soviet empire that ultimately collapsed a few years later."
Dave in Japan writes: "I'm sorry, but U.S. security does not require that you aggressively try to install secular democratic governments in countries that give absolutely no hint of wanting them. And all the talk in Washington of democracy spreading, while at the same time protecting tyrannies in countries like Saudi Arabia, is an embarrassing, shameful hypocrisy."
Mike in Florida writes: "Moving toward instability? I haven't seen a stable Middle East since my family and I left Tehran with the shah in power in 1958."
And Bob in North Carolina writes: "It's both, Jack, plain and simple. As the forces of democracy continue to grow in the Middle East, those opposed will increase their efforts to destabilize the situation."
O'BRIEN: Interesting thoughts. And I think the last guy really kind of nails it. I mean, you can do both, no question about that.
CAFFERTY: Long road ahead.
O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that either. All right, Jack, thanks.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Well, this is a terrifying twosome. Is the most wanted terrorist in Iraq teaming up with the most wanted terrorist in the world? Frightening new details about a possible attack aimed at the United States ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 1, 2005 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Michael Jackson trial opens with scandalous accusation from each side, but did one side fail to connect the dots in opening statements?
Just hours from now, the man suspected of being the BTK serial killer goes before a judge for the first time.
And the Northeast getting hammered by another hard winter storm. Digging out on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: See, he lived an hour longer than we thought he would, didn't he...
O'BRIEN: He's shrinking, though.
HEMMER: ... the snowman out there.
Good morning, everybody. We are going to go back to Wichita, Kansas, this hour. Just hours away from the first court appearance for Dennis Rader. He's the suspect in the BTK serial killings.
We'll talk about why it took so long for police to zero in on what turned out to be a neighbor in Kansas and what that says about the profiling in these cases. A former FBI profiler is our guest in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Police in Florida say they received nearly a thousand leads in the case of that little 9-year-old girl who's gone missing. None of them, though, leading anywhere in the case. The latest on that in a moment, and also what police are trying now as they search for Jessica Lunsford.
HEMMER: A tough story there.
Back to Jack now.
What's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Is that democracy that's threatening to break out in the Middle East, or are we simply seeing the spread of more and more instability as one country after another either has elections or talks about having elections. What's the endgame going to look like? AM@CNN.com
HEMMER: All right, Jack. Thanks for that.
To the headlines again. Here's Carol Costello.
Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill, Soledad, Jack. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," Pope John Paul II is speaking for first time since undergoing a tracheotomy. A top Vatican cardinal says he visited the pope in his Rome hospital room earlier today and the pontiff apparently spoke in both German and Italian during the visit. As you know, the pope had surgery last week.
Authorities in Chicago are looking into the apparent shooting deaths of two family members of a federal judge. According to local media reports, the judge found the bodies of her husband and mother last night in their Chicago home. The judge was once a target of a white supremacist. No word yet on whether there is a connection between the cases.
The man accused of taking part in an alleged plot to assassinate President Bush is set to appear in court today. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is expected to face a judge for a detention hearing in Washington this afternoon. His lawyer says he wants to show Ali is not a flight risk and should be released on bail.
And millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is reaching his 12th hour of what he hopes will be a record-breaking flight. Fossett launched a single-engine global flyer from Kansas yesterday, and he hopes to land back here -- back there, rather, on Thursday in Salina.
He's now over the Atlantic Ocean and should approach the African coastline in less than two hours. In his last message to mission control, Fossett said he experienced some light turbulence.
But Chad, he is doing just fine.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: He is. He's at 43,000 feet, Carol, way out there in the middle of the Atlantic, out by the Azores. If you want to go on and see it, it's VirginAtlanticFlightTracker -- what was it? Help me, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, no, I'm going to look. We'll have it for you, Chad.
MYERS: VirginAtlanticFlight -- something.com. Help me out here in a minute.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Some shocking new details this morning to tell you about, Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. The judge released previously sealed documents, including the full grand jury indictment and transcripts of the grand jury testimony. Meanwhile, the prosecution will bring its first witness in today after Jackson's attorney finishes his opening statement. Rusty Dornin has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The accusations on both sides were graphic and sometimes bizarre. District attorney Thomas Sneddon told the jury Michael Jackson lured young boys to his bedroom. Sneddon said, "Instead of milk and cookies, you could substitute wine, vodka and bourbon." Sneddon said flight attendants will testify Jackson gave children alcoholic drinks on trips taken on Jackson's private plane, including the accuser and his brother.
Sneddon says a Jackson aide told the boy's mother her life was in danger if she turned her back on Michael Jackson. Sneddon told jurors Jackson conspired with four employees to try and stop the family from talking about the alleged molestation, even offering the boy a $75,000 watch. The defense then launched an all-out attack on the boy and his mother, claiming they were money hungry, and accused the family of using the boy's illness to trap other celebrities into giving them money.
MICHAEL CORDOZA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: If you believe half of what the defense is putting out about the mother of the victim, I don't know how a jury's going to believe this case beyond a reasonable doubt.
DORNIN: And when Jackson left court, he flashed his fans a sign that all is well.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to some insight on those explosive opening statements. CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin in Santa Maria, California.
Hey, Jeff, rate for me how the prosecution and the defense did.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: A three on a scale of 10 for the prosecution, an eight on a scale of 10 for the defense. It was really a dramatic difference. Very unusual at this stage of the case. But I thought it really was a striking difference between the two.
O'BRIEN: How about the reaction from the jurors when they're hearing all this -- this very salacious information?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, it's funny, the jury looked like a group of people at the first day of school. They were nervous, they didn't know exactly where to sit. This is often what happens in a big case.
The jurors are very conscious of being looked at by all of us in the press, by this very full courtroom. I think they were going out of their way not to react, but they were certainly very attentive, and they had a lot to listen to.
O'BRIEN: You and I, I think, from the get-go, spoke about how this case is going to focus on the mother of the alleged victim in this case. And certainly no different indications yesterday as well, right?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. One of the most memorable moments from Tom Mesereau's opening statement was, at the time the prosecution claimed that this woman was being held against her will, essentially kidnapped by Michael Jackson and his so-called conspirators, Mesereau read a list of the purchases she made and where she was shopping. And I tell you, it was hilarious.
You know, Banana Republic, bikini waxes, leg waxes, you know, bras, underwear. She was buying everything under the sun at all these different department stores at a time when she claimed she was being essentially kidnapped. It was devastating. And her testimony is really going to be -- you could sell tickets for that one.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, the timeline I think is going to be very, very critical in this case.
TOOBIN: Timeline was really a revelation to me, because both sides agree that this period in early February 2003 when the Martin Bashir documentary was broadcast was crucial. The prosecution claims that was the time that Michael Jackson and his co-conspirators, you know, clamped down on the family, essentially kidnapped them, said, you can't talk to the authorities.
What the defense pointed out is that that time after those allegations surfaced, that was the only time Michael Jackson is accused of molesting this child, which seemed somewhat improbable. That time period is going to be crucial. And it will be very important today because Martin Bashir is the first witness we'll hear from.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, we talked a little bit the past weeks about the celebrities who have been named as potential witnesses in this case, but Jay Leno, it seems like he actually might take the stand, right?
TOOBIN: You know, we were laughing about that last week because of all these sort of celebrities. What possibly could they have to do with the trial?
But Mesereau had this very effective point of claiming -- and we'll see what the testimony is -- that Jay Leno was essentially shaken down by this family, and he, unlike Michael Jackson, said, I want nothing to do with these people. They seem like grifters to me. And if that's true, if that testimony pans out -- and it sounds like that Leno will certainly be a defense witness in this trial -- that could be very helpful for the defense because that's the claim here, that this family are not victims, they're shakedown artists.
O'BRIEN: Ooh, and that's just day one. Another day.
TOOBIN: It's a lot to listen to.
O'BRIEN: Jeff, thanks.
TOOBIN: OK, Soledad.
HEMMER: Now to the hunt for a missing Florida girl, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. That full-scale search is over, but authorities are now awaiting child abduction experts who are on their way to help.
CNN's Sara Dorsey back in Homosassa Springs in Florida.
Good morning, Sarah.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
It is day six here. And investigators are really no further along in this case than they were on day one.
The sheriff is telling us he is still confident that they can bring home Jessica Lunsford, that missing 9-year-old girl, alive. But he says in order to do that, the search tactics are going to be changed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): Since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last Thursday, her neighbors and others have come out in overwhelming numbers to search for the little girl. But after five disappointing days of no clues and no leads, the Citrus County sheriff called off the volunteer portion of the search.
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: We have searched an enormous area without any true direction. And if we continue that, we're just spinning our wheels.
DORSEY: The Lunsford family released more pictures of Jessica, pleading with the public not to give up hope.
MARK LUNSFORD, FATHER: It's been overwhelming the people that's showing up, and hor far widespread this is getting to be. And I just know that the wider spread we make it, the sooner Jessie gets home.
ANGELA BRYANT, MOTHER: It's just very confusing and aggravating, but I know she's going to come home. It's just -- it's hard to explain.
DORSEY: Law enforcement officials openly admit frustration with this case, as experts from across the country are brought in to help.
DAWSY: I became frustrated with a group of the investigators today. Not at them, but just at the amount of knowledge and the people I've got here. We're all trying to find that little piece of the puzzle. And that's the reason why we're pulling all these stops out.
DORSEY: The emotional toll on the family and the community has been great. Jessica's family continues to believe she was kidnapped and is begging for her return.
RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: Please bring Jessie home. Don't harm her. She don't deserve this. No child does.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: Now, throughout this case, the sheriff has been hesitating on whether to call this a kidnapping or a runaway. But yesterday the sheriff did come out saying they do not believe that Jessica left this house on her own.
From here, search experts are going to be brought in with canines. They're going to go back over about a three-quarter-mile area with a fine tooth comb, we're told not necessarily looking for Jessica, but clues that may have been missed the first time around -- Bill.
HEMMER: We wish them luck. Sara Dorsey, thanks, in Florida this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The man accused of being the BTK serial killer will hear the charges against him today. Dennis Rader is suspected of 10 murders in the Wichita, Kansas, area. The first was more than 30 years ago. But it was only recent evidence that allowed police to make an arrest.
Candice DeLong is a former FBI profiler. She's in San Francisco this morning.
Candice, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.
CANDICE DELONG, FMR. FBI PROFILER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Police feel very confident that they've got the right guy. And if, in fact, they do, do you think that, in fact, he started communicating again with the TV stations and ultimately the police because he wanted to be caught?
DELONG: No, I don't think anyone wants to be caught. Nobody -- why would anyone want to spend their golden years in prison? I think he probably was definitely wanting to be in the limelight again.
We don't know yet when his last kill was. We suspect that the last one was 1991. It's possible, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he's been killing all along, that he just resumed...
O'BRIEN: Why would you say -- why do you say that? Why would you not believe, in fact, that he would stop for a period of time before starting up communications again?
DELONG: Most serial killers don't stop until they're caught. Sometimes there is a hiatus. Of course, we know in the -- although he wasn't a sexual serial killer, the Unabomber did stop for five or six years after he thought he had been seen.
It just would be an unusual thing for someone to stop that kind of activity for such a long period of time. I'm simply saying I wouldn't be surprised.
O'BRIEN: What about the role that publicity plays? You kind of mentioned it just a moment ago. He told Larry Hatteberg -- or Larry Hatteberg the reporter said that he wrote a letter in the 1970s that said, "How many people do I have to kill to get my name in the paper?" Very frustrated, in fact, that a letter that had been sent was sort of left in the mailroom and discarded to some degree.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: Is that typical?
DELONG: It can be. Many serial killers have injected themselves into investigations one way or another, or taunted the police. Sometimes they taunt the family. And other serial killers don't want anything to do with the media.
A famous one that come to mind, Ted Bundy, never was involved in that kind of activity, and went to great lengths to see that the bodies of the women he killed were not found. So it can go either way. But it's not unusual for someone who has good verbal skills and is glib and gregarious to get involved in activity where they're communicating with the police. Zodiac Killer did it back in the '60s.
O'BRIEN: They certainly want the challenge of that. He's been described -- Dennis Rader, the suspect, has been described as the president of his church, a good neighbor, people loved him. I mean, it is almost, frankly, a cliche.
DELONG: Right.
O'BRIEN: Quiet guy, everybody loved him. You're laughing. Why are you laughing?
DELONG: No, I'm just -- isn't it all just perfect? It made me think of John Wayne -- I'm laughing through my tears, by the way. John Wayne Gacy killed so many young boys, and it turned out he entertained children as a clown.
O'BRIEN: So then is it just typical of that -- I mean, I guess what people always want to know is, explain that dichotomy. How is it that someone could be -- if indeed this man is convicted, can be president of their church group and then also be facing sentencing or facing trial for...
DELONG: Involved in the activities that they're charged with.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. I mean, that, I think, is the hard part for the community to get their minds around.
DELONG: Well, it is hard. But I think we all have multifaceted personalities. We don't all have a secret life where we're killing when no one else knows.
It seems such a dichotomy, but these crimes, as we know, are almost always committed in private. And it's a very, very secret part of the individual's life that he or she is able to compartmentalize and just keep that little killing part of their life over here.
And then during the day, in their waking hours, many of these people are married family men. They're -- of course we know of nurses and doctors that have been serial killers. And when they're not killing patients, they're taking very good care of them.
O'BRIEN: I'll tell you, much more is going to come out about this. I think it's just going to be fascinating to know what was at the end of the day behind -- behind all of this.
DELONG: Oh, I think so, too.
O'BRIEN: Candice DeLong, nice to talk to you. Thank you.
DELONG: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, is Osama bin Laden teaming up with Iraq's top terrorist? New details today involving some new intelligence information and a possible attack aimed at the U.S. We'll get to it.
O'BRIEN: And how about this? A bitter reminder that winter isn't over yet. We are braving the elements live up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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HEMMER: It was enough to build a snowman, albeit a very small snowman here in New York City. We are expecting about 10 inches on the ground overnight. Did not quite get that much.
I think overall New York City really dodged a bullet on this storm based on the forecast that we were told last night when we went to bed. However, west of here, in places like Clifton, New jersey, a bit of a different story.
Chris Huntington is tracking down the commuter traffic this morning there.
Chris, how are you doing? Good morning there.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.
We're doing fine here. And so, frankly, are the folks of Clifton. Probably about six inches here in Clifton, about 20 miles due west of Manhattan. But other areas in the region, Newark Airport, for instance, even closer to New York City, nine inches of snow there. But you move further west and further south and you get to some areas that were hit particularly hard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON (voice-over): Roaring in like a lion, the first of March has delivered a late season noreaster, ravaging parts of the Eastern Seabord. The storm stretched all the way from North Carolina to Maine. A foot of snow fell in some parts of the Tarheel State, and more is expected today.
At one point, more than 11,000 homes in North Carolina lost power. In Virginia, more than 10 inches fell, causing dangerous conditions. Police there reporting more than 100 weather-related traffic accidents.
Further north, more headaches in the busy Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston as snow and low visibility covered roads and runways, making for frustrating delays by land and air. Advice for travelers: slow down and be patient.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON: And you'll certainly want to be patient if you're considering flying anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard. LaGuardia Airport here in New York City -- or I should say 20 miles or so away from here, reporting 2.5 hour delays. And that may even be on the optimistic side.
Now, the storm has moved north and east from here. It is sweeping its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Heavy bands of snow reported in Connecticut, Rhode Island, heading towards Boston.
You get up into Albany, which is pretty much due north of where we are right now, very, very heavy snow just a few hours ago. Move a little bit east from there into Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Mass. seeing very, very heavy snow. Boston should be feeling the full brunt of the final punch of this first wave of snow within the next couple of hours.
The prediction, though, is that there will be another wave following, perhaps in a few hours from now. And then maybe even another little dose this evening. But only a couple of inches expected then -- Bill.
HEMMER: You think about some people, Chris, getting their third storm in eight days. March 1st, nonetheless, as winter really going out with a big lesson for us here in the Northeast.
Thirty degrees locally here in New York. We may get some sunshine a bit later today. So says Chad. If that's the case, not much is going to be sticking around, including our little friend down here, Frosty Jr.
Back inside to Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my. He actually looked much bigger in the shot than when you weren't standing next to him. That is a little, teeny- weeny snowman. All right, Bill. Thanks.
Coming up this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, the man accused of being the most notorious homegrown terrorist in America, Eric Robert Rudolph. A new book says he's got more in common with Osama bin Laden than you might think. We're going to talk with the author just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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O'BRIEN: Back to Jack with the "Question of the Day."
Good morning again.
CAFFERTY: Good morning.
Seminal events taking place in the Middle East, but what will the results be? Massive demonstrations in Lebanon brought down the longstanding Syrian-backed government. Elections taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. This last weekend, Egypt's President Mubarak announced he'll allow his nation's first- ever multiparty elections.
The democratic dominoes are in place in the Middle East, but the process continues to be tested by deadly fundamentalist bombings in Iraq and elsewhere. So the question this morning is this, is the Middle East moving toward democracy or instability?
Gerard writes: "As hard as it is for some people to accept, President Bush was right. Iraq and Afghanistan have planted the seeds of democracy in reminiscent manner that solidarity did in Poland, spreading the ideal to the Soviet empire that ultimately collapsed a few years later."
Dave in Japan writes: "I'm sorry, but U.S. security does not require that you aggressively try to install secular democratic governments in countries that give absolutely no hint of wanting them. And all the talk in Washington of democracy spreading, while at the same time protecting tyrannies in countries like Saudi Arabia, is an embarrassing, shameful hypocrisy."
Mike in Florida writes: "Moving toward instability? I haven't seen a stable Middle East since my family and I left Tehran with the shah in power in 1958."
And Bob in North Carolina writes: "It's both, Jack, plain and simple. As the forces of democracy continue to grow in the Middle East, those opposed will increase their efforts to destabilize the situation."
O'BRIEN: Interesting thoughts. And I think the last guy really kind of nails it. I mean, you can do both, no question about that.
CAFFERTY: Long road ahead.
O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that either. All right, Jack, thanks.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Well, this is a terrifying twosome. Is the most wanted terrorist in Iraq teaming up with the most wanted terrorist in the world? Frightening new details about a possible attack aimed at the United States ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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