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Rush to Destroy Thousands of Samples of Deadly Flu Strain; Story of Stephen Stanko's Arrest

Aired April 13, 2005 - 07:00   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 rush this morning to destroy thousands of samples of a deadly flu strain, sent to laboratories around the world. What's the risk of a global outbreak?
Captured. One of the marshals there to arrest accused killer Stephen Stanko tells how authorities got their man.

And the Vatican now opening the tomb of Pope John Paul II. And by the thousands, they still come. New tributes, 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: Good morning, everyone. 7:00 here in New York. And after those gigantic crowds we saw last week at the Vatican, they're still paying respects to the pope today. Pope John Paul ii's tomb opened to the public today. In a moment, we'll talk about some of the secret rituals for electing the next pope.

Our Vatican analyst John Allen is back with us in a moment live in Italy.

O'BRIEN: Also, what happens next in the case of three men arrested for plotting terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey? They're in custody in England, but could the have collaborators here in America? This morning, we talk to New York police commissioner Ray Kelly about that.

HEMMER: And some questions still remain too, so we'll try and shake them down.

Hey, Jack, what's happening?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

There are an estimated 80 million stray cats in the United States. Several of them formed a successful band on Long Island a few years ago. In Wisconsin they want to start shooting them. We'll talk about that, just shooting them.

O'BRIEN: Just because they're stray?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Not ones that have rabies or attack people? CAFFERTY: No, just go out and find a stray cat and put a bullet between his furry little eyes.

O'BRIEN: On a that's kind of shocking.

CAFFERTY: I think so, too.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk about that this morning. Thanks, Jack.

Well, thousands of vials full of a deadly strain of the flu virus have been accidentally sent to labs around the world. This morning, scientists are being urged to destroy them as soon as possible.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live for at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Elizabeth, good morning to you.

Explain the obvious question, how did deadly flu virus get sent to the laboratories, thousands of them?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, it has to be described as just one big whoops. The American College of Pathology routinely sends out samples of flu viruses to labs all over the world to test them, to see if they know how to do test, how to detect a flu virus. They weren't supposed to send out the Asian flu virus. That was a particularly virulent strain that in 1957 to 1958 killed millions of people. But, they said, through a contractor, through a lab that they were dealing with, that's exactly what happened, and they said it was just an accident.

So, again, this 1957 Asian flu virus was sent for testing purposes. The samples were distributed to more than 3,700 labs in 18 countries. No one born since 1968 would have immunity to the virus, because that was the last time it was included in a flu shot. Now the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization says that there is no public health threat here. They say that labs are well trained in how to deal with very dangerous viruses, and they're also trained in how to destroy them, and that's exactly what they're supposed to be doing right now, is destroying that sample -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but it kind of leads back to the question, the part that you call the big whoops, which it seems that the deadly part of this virus was mislabeled. So sure, the labs know how to deal with it, but the fact that it had been going around and mislabeled as a nondeadly virulent type of this flu virus leads to other questions about really how much danger we're all in, right?

COHEN: Well, it certainly leads to questions of how these people do their housekeeping, if you will. I mean, why in the world would a lab mislabel a virus? That's obviously a problem. But it is also important to remember a flu virus is a flu virus. So It was mislabeled. It was supposed to be one type, and it was another. But labs know that any type of flu virus has to be handled under secure conditions, that you're not obviously not going to take the sample until your purse and bring to it a cocktail party. So they were already going to handle it with care, even though they didn't know exactly which type of virus it was.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure there will be investigation into just exactly how this happened.

Elizabeth Cohen for us at the CNN Center. Elizabeth thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Now to that nationwide manhunt for the fugitive Stephen Stanko. It is now over. The ex-con suspected of killing two people and raping a teenager was caught Tuesday at a shopping mall near Augusta, Georgia. Stanko had been on the run for nearly five days.

And inspector James Ergas is with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Good morning to you, at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

JAMES ERGAS, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What led you to that site at the strip mall yesterday?

ERGAS: There were leads in the state of Georgia. There were leads nationally being pursued. During the weekend, we developed information in conjunction with information developed from South Carolina, state and local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Yesterday morning, some additional information was developed by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office that confirmed investigative leads that have already come in, and we deployed a team there from the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to conduct additional investigation.

HEMMER: How did he react when he was apprehended?

ERGAS: He was very surprised. I don't think he realized that he was captured until after he was handcuffed.

HEMMER: I understand you drove him to the courthouse in your car. Describe his behavior at that point.

ERGAS: He was very quiet, very sullen.

HEMMER: Did he say anything?

ERGAS: He was very quiet. He didn't have anything to say. Once he got to the courthouse, he told one of the investigators that he was in Augusta to see the Masters, but he couldn't get in.

HEMMER: Do you know where he's been for the past four, five days?

ERGAS: I think he's been around the border of the South Carolina/Augusta area. He may have traveled as far as North Carolina.

HEMMER: In that period too, do you have any knowledge as to whether or not he harmed anyone else?

ERGAS: Not at this point, there is an ongoing investigation involving Mr. Stanko.

HEMMER: Jams Ergas, thanks for your time. They arrested Stephen Stanko. Appreciate it -- Soledad.

ERGAS: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Another man accused of a violent crime spree, Eric Robert Rudolph, he's going to appear in two courtrooms in two different cities to take responsibility for four bombings. Among them, the bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Rudolph will appear in court in Atlanta, Georgia later today after a court date in Birmingham, Alabama about two hours from now.

In our next hour, we're going to have a live report on that appearance, the one in Birmingham.

Now to Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial, where the mother of Jackson's accuser is preparing to testify again the pop star.

We've got more from CNN's Ted Rowlands. He's in Santa Maria, California for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mother of the alleged victim in the Michael Jackson case is perhaps the most important witness yet to testify. Sources tell CNN, she has reservations about taking the stand, because of concerns about her alleged involvement in welfare fraud. The mother, who did take the stand in a pretrial hearing, received more than $100,000 from a lawsuit against JCPenney. Shortly after, she apparently filed for welfare.

ANN BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: She wants to take the Fifth Amendment, apparently, as to welfare fraud, that when she was given money from JCPenney from this lawsuit that's at issue in the case, that she didn't report it to the state, and that's a felony. So if she's asked about it, she of course puts herself in jeopardy.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday, the accuser stepfather testified about phone calls from his now wife during the time prosecutors say Jackson was holding the family hostage. The stepfather said she seemed, quote, "distressed" during the calls. Under cross-examination, Jackson's attorney suggested that the stepfather tried to cash in on the family's relationship with Jackson by negotiating with a British tabloid. The stepfather did admit negotiating, but said he was never paid anything. He also admitted asking for money in return for his family's participation in a pro-Michael Jackson video.

JIM MORET, JACKSON POOL REPORTER: He said, I want to know what's in it financially for this family right now. So again, you have another witness that the jury could be thinking, again, somebody else with their hand out. Somebody asking for money.

ROWLANDS (on camera): The stepfather is expected back on the stand when court resumes. Sources say the mother will be up after that.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The defense has ridiculed a claim that the family was held captive, noting the mother left Neverland twice, only to return before leaving for the final time, and that nobody ever called the police.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: See the video in Delaware this morning? Many are wondering what is 10 feet long, appears to be white, and is now darting in the depths of the Delaware River. They say it's a beluga whale, believe it or not, spotted near Trenton, apparently swam 80 miles upriver, now heading south, perhaps toward the Atlantic. Marine wildlife officials are on their way to the scene to investigate.

Free Willy, in the Delaware River.

O'BRIEN: Near Trenton?

HEMMER: What's going on here?

O'BRIEN: it's a nice looking animal, though. That's great.

Well, behind the scenes at the Vatican this morning, are there already signs of who the next pope will be? We're going take you live to Rome, just ahead this morning.

HEMMER: Also, Soledad, U.S. officials indicting three men with plotting to attack financial centers. Authorities say the plan was in the works for years, but is it still going on today? We'll talk about that.

O'BRIEN: The mystery behind a young midshipmen's death outside of a Naval Academy dorm. His family is left searching for answers. We'll that their story a little later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In our CNN security watch this morning, three British men suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda have been charged with plotting to attack financial buildings in New York, New Jersey and in Washington. That threat forced the government to raise the terror alert level just last summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, DEP. ATTY. GENERAL: We're here today to announce that three men who are alleged to have conducted the surveillance that resulted in that threat elevation, have been indicted by a grand jury sitting in the southern district of New York on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against people and buildings in the United States, and for providing material support to terrorists. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Ray Kelly is my guest now here. He's the New York City police commissioner.

Good morning to you. Nice to see you back here.

Try and clear up a few things with us regarding the news from yesterday. Were these men doing surveillance, or were they getting ready to blow up buildings in New York?

RAY KELLY, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: No, they were doing surveillance. They were doing very detailed, intricate surveillance of buildings. They were here on we believe several occasions. The latest in April of 2001.

HEMMER: The other question that seems to be a bit confusing, some questions as to whether or not there were connections to Al Qaeda. Can you say whether or not all three did have a connection to the terrorist group?

KELLY: Oh, I think there's no doubt that they did. I think what they said yesterday, what Jim Comey said yesterday, is it just wasn't alleged in the indictment, but clearly, Isa Al Hindi (ph), who is the main player here, was an important Al Qaeda operative. In the indictment, they talk about him being in the training camps in 1998. So he's a major player, no doubt about that.

HEMMER: The other thing that was said yesterday, as late as August 2004, this plan was still active. Does it mean it could possibly still be in the pipeline today?

KELLY: I guess it's possible. Really what this was, was a surveillance package. It wasn't tied to any specific operational plan. It was information to be used with an operational plan. Now all of that information, of course, has been taken into the government's custody, was in -- on computers, being downloaded, still being downloaded, still being analyzed. It's not, you know, to anybody's knowledge, tied to any operational plan.

HEMMER: I understand that, but these three men inner jail in Britain, right?

KELLY: Right.

HEMMER: How likely is it that some other operatives still in the New York, or Newark or Washington D.C. area working on this?

KELLY: I think it's unlikely, but not impossible. I think they've been significantly degraded as far as their ability to come here. Again, this was prior to September 11, 2001. We've done an awful lot to prevent people from coming here and to carry out operations.

HEMMER: Why are they serving time in England? KELLY: Well, because the charges against them were brought in the U.K. for plots in the U.K., in Great Britain, and also obviously this information had to do with New York. This is a, you might say, a safety-net indictment. They're going to trial, I believe, in January of next year.

HEMMER: So if they're convicted in England, what's the chance they'd ever come here anyway?

KELLY: Probably negligible, but it depends on what they're conduct convicted of and how long, it depends on how long they're in prison if they're convicted. So it's possible, probably unlikely at this stage, but I think it's a good thing to do, a wise thing to do.

HEMMER: Final question here -- some have suggested this indictment yesterday was symbolic. Almost as if you're telling them, or the group Al Qaeda or terrorists around the world who may want to do damage here in the U.S., don't mess with us.

KELLY: Yes, I think that's right. I think it's symbolic, but substantive as well, because you never know what's going to happen in another jurisdiction. You never know if they could be acquitted, or let out or let out on an easy sentence. I think it's very important to have the indictment as backup.

HEMMER: Ray Kelly, thanks.

KELLY: Good to be with you.

HEMMER: Come back and see us.

KELLY: Thanks.

HEMMER: Police commissioner here in New York City.

KELLY: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

HEMMER: In Washington, a Senate committee is mulling over President Bush's pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. After two days of hearings, the committee could recommend John Bolton's nomination to the full Senate as early as tomorrow. But in a stinging testimony on Tuesday, a former State Department official who worked with Bolton described him as, quote, "serial abuser" in his dealings with subordinates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL FORD, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE: He's a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy. There are a lot of them around. I'm sure you've met them. But the fact is that he stands out that he's got a bigger kick and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy he's kicking.

(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar, advocating Bolton's nomination, says the real issue is the level of confidence that President Bush has in Bolton's abilities.

Ahead this morning, Andy is "Minding Your Business." Prices at the pump out of control. We know that. But know some folks are resorting to extreme measures to avoid paying for gas, getting the old donkey out, for example. A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Oil prices are falling after setting record highs last week.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Hello. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, Soledad. Good to see you.

Like the rest of us, Wall Street is watching the price of oil, the price of gas on a daily basis. And now we have a six-week low hit this morning, coming down from $58 a barrel, $51 and change. That will mean gas gas prices will fall, but we've seen this all year -- up down, up, down. Demand from China appears to be easing. That's what's causing oil prices to fall. Now Wall Street liked the news. That sent stocks up yesterday.

You can see here also, minutes released from a Fed meeting suggesting that the Fed governor are not as concerned about inflation as previously thought.

Now, if high gas prices have got you down, how about horse power, or mule power? Dee Dee Beavers from Oxford, Georgia, is fed up with high gasoline prices. She's parked her pickup truck permanently in the garage and is now driving this mule nine miles to town every day. So that's one solution. I don't know if you live in the New York City area, L.A., Chicago, St. Louis, you might not have that option.

O'BRIEN: Where does she live?

SERWER: Oxford, Georgia, that's about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: So it's on a suburb.

SERWER: Yes, it's probably pretty rural out there.

CAFFERTY: Does she work at CNN?

SERWER: I don't know. She's probably late to work, isn't she?

CAFFERTY: Our headquarters are down there, right? SERWER: Yes, that's right. She might be a little late to work.

CAFFERTY: She may be going into CNN. May be a colleague of ours.

SERWER: Could be. I don't know.

CAFFERTY: You know, the thing about demand from China, somebody said the other day, the Chinese economy is about the size of Italy's. So, you know, we have created this image of this, you know, Goliath consumer all -- it's the size of Italy.

SERWER: But the supplies are so tight, Jack, even a little bit of an increase...

HEMMER: And they've got nothing but labor too, all kinds. Cheap too.

What's happening? Stray cats, huh?

CAFFERTY: Stray cats, pretty good band actually.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: What was the kid that started that band?

O'BRIEN: Brian Setzer (ph).

CAFFERTY: Brian Setzer. And then he morphed into big band music, right?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: But we digress. Cat hunting may soon be legal in Wisconsin. Residents last night voted to designate feral cats as an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers, which means any domestic cat without a collar that isn't under the owners direct control would be fair game for hunters. Proponents of the measure say free-roaming cats are killing off song and gamebirds. One animal- advocacy group estimates there are 80 million stray cats cats in this country, about as many as there are pets.

Last night's vote requires approval of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources and state lawmakers? Here's the question: Should Wisconsin legalize cat hunting? Am@CNN.com.

This is a subject actually kind of close to my heart. I have five feral cats that live in my backyard. They are tame now, because we feed them. But what we did in the beginning when they showed up, I trapped them, took them to the vet, had them neutered, got their shots, yada, yada, yada, and they're fine. You know, they don't bother anybody. They live under the deck, they hang out in the backyard and I got zippo mice problems.

O'BRIEN: That's a cute thing.

HEMMER: My heart is just getting soft for this man now.

SERWER: They're no longer stray cats.

O'BRIEN: But that's a much better alternative.

SERWER: Instead of blamming them with a shotgun.

O'BRIEN: Well, just capture, neuter them.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: I mean, you go to vet, you get a little wire trap, you put it in the backyard, you put a can of food in it, they get hungry enough, they go in there to eat, bingo, you got them.

O'BRIEN: Out in California, many vets will actually go ahead an spay them for free.

SERWER: Yes, it's not free in New Jersey, but it's not unreasonable.

HEMMER: So you're the last guy who's going to take a pellet gun in your backyard.

CAFFERTY: No, and best nobody else come around messing with my cats either, because I shoot back.

O'BRIEN: Just as I'm beginning to feel jack is getting more sensitive, it's OK to shoot the people.

HEMMER: That's right, it's the stray cat that's hanging out in my backyard. Hands off!

O'BRIEN; Glad we cleared that pick up. Thank you, Jack.

There's much more AMERICAN MORNING ahead this morning.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," Britney's got a baby on board. The pop star responds to tabloid rumors with a big announcement.

Plus, "The Emancipation of Mimi." After years of bad press, Mariah Carey is back with a new album. It is hit or a miss? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 13, 2005 - 07:00   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 rush this morning to destroy thousands of samples of a deadly flu strain, sent to laboratories around the world. What's the risk of a global outbreak?
Captured. One of the marshals there to arrest accused killer Stephen Stanko tells how authorities got their man.

And the Vatican now opening the tomb of Pope John Paul II. And by the thousands, they still come. New tributes, 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: Good morning, everyone. 7:00 here in New York. And after those gigantic crowds we saw last week at the Vatican, they're still paying respects to the pope today. Pope John Paul ii's tomb opened to the public today. In a moment, we'll talk about some of the secret rituals for electing the next pope.

Our Vatican analyst John Allen is back with us in a moment live in Italy.

O'BRIEN: Also, what happens next in the case of three men arrested for plotting terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey? They're in custody in England, but could the have collaborators here in America? This morning, we talk to New York police commissioner Ray Kelly about that.

HEMMER: And some questions still remain too, so we'll try and shake them down.

Hey, Jack, what's happening?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

There are an estimated 80 million stray cats in the United States. Several of them formed a successful band on Long Island a few years ago. In Wisconsin they want to start shooting them. We'll talk about that, just shooting them.

O'BRIEN: Just because they're stray?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Not ones that have rabies or attack people? CAFFERTY: No, just go out and find a stray cat and put a bullet between his furry little eyes.

O'BRIEN: On a that's kind of shocking.

CAFFERTY: I think so, too.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk about that this morning. Thanks, Jack.

Well, thousands of vials full of a deadly strain of the flu virus have been accidentally sent to labs around the world. This morning, scientists are being urged to destroy them as soon as possible.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live for at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Elizabeth, good morning to you.

Explain the obvious question, how did deadly flu virus get sent to the laboratories, thousands of them?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, it has to be described as just one big whoops. The American College of Pathology routinely sends out samples of flu viruses to labs all over the world to test them, to see if they know how to do test, how to detect a flu virus. They weren't supposed to send out the Asian flu virus. That was a particularly virulent strain that in 1957 to 1958 killed millions of people. But, they said, through a contractor, through a lab that they were dealing with, that's exactly what happened, and they said it was just an accident.

So, again, this 1957 Asian flu virus was sent for testing purposes. The samples were distributed to more than 3,700 labs in 18 countries. No one born since 1968 would have immunity to the virus, because that was the last time it was included in a flu shot. Now the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization says that there is no public health threat here. They say that labs are well trained in how to deal with very dangerous viruses, and they're also trained in how to destroy them, and that's exactly what they're supposed to be doing right now, is destroying that sample -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but it kind of leads back to the question, the part that you call the big whoops, which it seems that the deadly part of this virus was mislabeled. So sure, the labs know how to deal with it, but the fact that it had been going around and mislabeled as a nondeadly virulent type of this flu virus leads to other questions about really how much danger we're all in, right?

COHEN: Well, it certainly leads to questions of how these people do their housekeeping, if you will. I mean, why in the world would a lab mislabel a virus? That's obviously a problem. But it is also important to remember a flu virus is a flu virus. So It was mislabeled. It was supposed to be one type, and it was another. But labs know that any type of flu virus has to be handled under secure conditions, that you're not obviously not going to take the sample until your purse and bring to it a cocktail party. So they were already going to handle it with care, even though they didn't know exactly which type of virus it was.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure there will be investigation into just exactly how this happened.

Elizabeth Cohen for us at the CNN Center. Elizabeth thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Now to that nationwide manhunt for the fugitive Stephen Stanko. It is now over. The ex-con suspected of killing two people and raping a teenager was caught Tuesday at a shopping mall near Augusta, Georgia. Stanko had been on the run for nearly five days.

And inspector James Ergas is with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Good morning to you, at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

JAMES ERGAS, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What led you to that site at the strip mall yesterday?

ERGAS: There were leads in the state of Georgia. There were leads nationally being pursued. During the weekend, we developed information in conjunction with information developed from South Carolina, state and local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Yesterday morning, some additional information was developed by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office that confirmed investigative leads that have already come in, and we deployed a team there from the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to conduct additional investigation.

HEMMER: How did he react when he was apprehended?

ERGAS: He was very surprised. I don't think he realized that he was captured until after he was handcuffed.

HEMMER: I understand you drove him to the courthouse in your car. Describe his behavior at that point.

ERGAS: He was very quiet, very sullen.

HEMMER: Did he say anything?

ERGAS: He was very quiet. He didn't have anything to say. Once he got to the courthouse, he told one of the investigators that he was in Augusta to see the Masters, but he couldn't get in.

HEMMER: Do you know where he's been for the past four, five days?

ERGAS: I think he's been around the border of the South Carolina/Augusta area. He may have traveled as far as North Carolina.

HEMMER: In that period too, do you have any knowledge as to whether or not he harmed anyone else?

ERGAS: Not at this point, there is an ongoing investigation involving Mr. Stanko.

HEMMER: Jams Ergas, thanks for your time. They arrested Stephen Stanko. Appreciate it -- Soledad.

ERGAS: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Another man accused of a violent crime spree, Eric Robert Rudolph, he's going to appear in two courtrooms in two different cities to take responsibility for four bombings. Among them, the bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Rudolph will appear in court in Atlanta, Georgia later today after a court date in Birmingham, Alabama about two hours from now.

In our next hour, we're going to have a live report on that appearance, the one in Birmingham.

Now to Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial, where the mother of Jackson's accuser is preparing to testify again the pop star.

We've got more from CNN's Ted Rowlands. He's in Santa Maria, California for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mother of the alleged victim in the Michael Jackson case is perhaps the most important witness yet to testify. Sources tell CNN, she has reservations about taking the stand, because of concerns about her alleged involvement in welfare fraud. The mother, who did take the stand in a pretrial hearing, received more than $100,000 from a lawsuit against JCPenney. Shortly after, she apparently filed for welfare.

ANN BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: She wants to take the Fifth Amendment, apparently, as to welfare fraud, that when she was given money from JCPenney from this lawsuit that's at issue in the case, that she didn't report it to the state, and that's a felony. So if she's asked about it, she of course puts herself in jeopardy.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday, the accuser stepfather testified about phone calls from his now wife during the time prosecutors say Jackson was holding the family hostage. The stepfather said she seemed, quote, "distressed" during the calls. Under cross-examination, Jackson's attorney suggested that the stepfather tried to cash in on the family's relationship with Jackson by negotiating with a British tabloid. The stepfather did admit negotiating, but said he was never paid anything. He also admitted asking for money in return for his family's participation in a pro-Michael Jackson video.

JIM MORET, JACKSON POOL REPORTER: He said, I want to know what's in it financially for this family right now. So again, you have another witness that the jury could be thinking, again, somebody else with their hand out. Somebody asking for money.

ROWLANDS (on camera): The stepfather is expected back on the stand when court resumes. Sources say the mother will be up after that.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The defense has ridiculed a claim that the family was held captive, noting the mother left Neverland twice, only to return before leaving for the final time, and that nobody ever called the police.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: See the video in Delaware this morning? Many are wondering what is 10 feet long, appears to be white, and is now darting in the depths of the Delaware River. They say it's a beluga whale, believe it or not, spotted near Trenton, apparently swam 80 miles upriver, now heading south, perhaps toward the Atlantic. Marine wildlife officials are on their way to the scene to investigate.

Free Willy, in the Delaware River.

O'BRIEN: Near Trenton?

HEMMER: What's going on here?

O'BRIEN: it's a nice looking animal, though. That's great.

Well, behind the scenes at the Vatican this morning, are there already signs of who the next pope will be? We're going take you live to Rome, just ahead this morning.

HEMMER: Also, Soledad, U.S. officials indicting three men with plotting to attack financial centers. Authorities say the plan was in the works for years, but is it still going on today? We'll talk about that.

O'BRIEN: The mystery behind a young midshipmen's death outside of a Naval Academy dorm. His family is left searching for answers. We'll that their story a little later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In our CNN security watch this morning, three British men suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda have been charged with plotting to attack financial buildings in New York, New Jersey and in Washington. That threat forced the government to raise the terror alert level just last summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, DEP. ATTY. GENERAL: We're here today to announce that three men who are alleged to have conducted the surveillance that resulted in that threat elevation, have been indicted by a grand jury sitting in the southern district of New York on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against people and buildings in the United States, and for providing material support to terrorists. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Ray Kelly is my guest now here. He's the New York City police commissioner.

Good morning to you. Nice to see you back here.

Try and clear up a few things with us regarding the news from yesterday. Were these men doing surveillance, or were they getting ready to blow up buildings in New York?

RAY KELLY, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: No, they were doing surveillance. They were doing very detailed, intricate surveillance of buildings. They were here on we believe several occasions. The latest in April of 2001.

HEMMER: The other question that seems to be a bit confusing, some questions as to whether or not there were connections to Al Qaeda. Can you say whether or not all three did have a connection to the terrorist group?

KELLY: Oh, I think there's no doubt that they did. I think what they said yesterday, what Jim Comey said yesterday, is it just wasn't alleged in the indictment, but clearly, Isa Al Hindi (ph), who is the main player here, was an important Al Qaeda operative. In the indictment, they talk about him being in the training camps in 1998. So he's a major player, no doubt about that.

HEMMER: The other thing that was said yesterday, as late as August 2004, this plan was still active. Does it mean it could possibly still be in the pipeline today?

KELLY: I guess it's possible. Really what this was, was a surveillance package. It wasn't tied to any specific operational plan. It was information to be used with an operational plan. Now all of that information, of course, has been taken into the government's custody, was in -- on computers, being downloaded, still being downloaded, still being analyzed. It's not, you know, to anybody's knowledge, tied to any operational plan.

HEMMER: I understand that, but these three men inner jail in Britain, right?

KELLY: Right.

HEMMER: How likely is it that some other operatives still in the New York, or Newark or Washington D.C. area working on this?

KELLY: I think it's unlikely, but not impossible. I think they've been significantly degraded as far as their ability to come here. Again, this was prior to September 11, 2001. We've done an awful lot to prevent people from coming here and to carry out operations.

HEMMER: Why are they serving time in England? KELLY: Well, because the charges against them were brought in the U.K. for plots in the U.K., in Great Britain, and also obviously this information had to do with New York. This is a, you might say, a safety-net indictment. They're going to trial, I believe, in January of next year.

HEMMER: So if they're convicted in England, what's the chance they'd ever come here anyway?

KELLY: Probably negligible, but it depends on what they're conduct convicted of and how long, it depends on how long they're in prison if they're convicted. So it's possible, probably unlikely at this stage, but I think it's a good thing to do, a wise thing to do.

HEMMER: Final question here -- some have suggested this indictment yesterday was symbolic. Almost as if you're telling them, or the group Al Qaeda or terrorists around the world who may want to do damage here in the U.S., don't mess with us.

KELLY: Yes, I think that's right. I think it's symbolic, but substantive as well, because you never know what's going to happen in another jurisdiction. You never know if they could be acquitted, or let out or let out on an easy sentence. I think it's very important to have the indictment as backup.

HEMMER: Ray Kelly, thanks.

KELLY: Good to be with you.

HEMMER: Come back and see us.

KELLY: Thanks.

HEMMER: Police commissioner here in New York City.

KELLY: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

HEMMER: In Washington, a Senate committee is mulling over President Bush's pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. After two days of hearings, the committee could recommend John Bolton's nomination to the full Senate as early as tomorrow. But in a stinging testimony on Tuesday, a former State Department official who worked with Bolton described him as, quote, "serial abuser" in his dealings with subordinates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL FORD, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE: He's a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy. There are a lot of them around. I'm sure you've met them. But the fact is that he stands out that he's got a bigger kick and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy he's kicking.

(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar, advocating Bolton's nomination, says the real issue is the level of confidence that President Bush has in Bolton's abilities.

Ahead this morning, Andy is "Minding Your Business." Prices at the pump out of control. We know that. But know some folks are resorting to extreme measures to avoid paying for gas, getting the old donkey out, for example. A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Oil prices are falling after setting record highs last week.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Hello. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, Soledad. Good to see you.

Like the rest of us, Wall Street is watching the price of oil, the price of gas on a daily basis. And now we have a six-week low hit this morning, coming down from $58 a barrel, $51 and change. That will mean gas gas prices will fall, but we've seen this all year -- up down, up, down. Demand from China appears to be easing. That's what's causing oil prices to fall. Now Wall Street liked the news. That sent stocks up yesterday.

You can see here also, minutes released from a Fed meeting suggesting that the Fed governor are not as concerned about inflation as previously thought.

Now, if high gas prices have got you down, how about horse power, or mule power? Dee Dee Beavers from Oxford, Georgia, is fed up with high gasoline prices. She's parked her pickup truck permanently in the garage and is now driving this mule nine miles to town every day. So that's one solution. I don't know if you live in the New York City area, L.A., Chicago, St. Louis, you might not have that option.

O'BRIEN: Where does she live?

SERWER: Oxford, Georgia, that's about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: So it's on a suburb.

SERWER: Yes, it's probably pretty rural out there.

CAFFERTY: Does she work at CNN?

SERWER: I don't know. She's probably late to work, isn't she?

CAFFERTY: Our headquarters are down there, right? SERWER: Yes, that's right. She might be a little late to work.

CAFFERTY: She may be going into CNN. May be a colleague of ours.

SERWER: Could be. I don't know.

CAFFERTY: You know, the thing about demand from China, somebody said the other day, the Chinese economy is about the size of Italy's. So, you know, we have created this image of this, you know, Goliath consumer all -- it's the size of Italy.

SERWER: But the supplies are so tight, Jack, even a little bit of an increase...

HEMMER: And they've got nothing but labor too, all kinds. Cheap too.

What's happening? Stray cats, huh?

CAFFERTY: Stray cats, pretty good band actually.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: What was the kid that started that band?

O'BRIEN: Brian Setzer (ph).

CAFFERTY: Brian Setzer. And then he morphed into big band music, right?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: But we digress. Cat hunting may soon be legal in Wisconsin. Residents last night voted to designate feral cats as an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers, which means any domestic cat without a collar that isn't under the owners direct control would be fair game for hunters. Proponents of the measure say free-roaming cats are killing off song and gamebirds. One animal- advocacy group estimates there are 80 million stray cats cats in this country, about as many as there are pets.

Last night's vote requires approval of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources and state lawmakers? Here's the question: Should Wisconsin legalize cat hunting? Am@CNN.com.

This is a subject actually kind of close to my heart. I have five feral cats that live in my backyard. They are tame now, because we feed them. But what we did in the beginning when they showed up, I trapped them, took them to the vet, had them neutered, got their shots, yada, yada, yada, and they're fine. You know, they don't bother anybody. They live under the deck, they hang out in the backyard and I got zippo mice problems.

O'BRIEN: That's a cute thing.

HEMMER: My heart is just getting soft for this man now.

SERWER: They're no longer stray cats.

O'BRIEN: But that's a much better alternative.

SERWER: Instead of blamming them with a shotgun.

O'BRIEN: Well, just capture, neuter them.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: I mean, you go to vet, you get a little wire trap, you put it in the backyard, you put a can of food in it, they get hungry enough, they go in there to eat, bingo, you got them.

O'BRIEN: Out in California, many vets will actually go ahead an spay them for free.

SERWER: Yes, it's not free in New Jersey, but it's not unreasonable.

HEMMER: So you're the last guy who's going to take a pellet gun in your backyard.

CAFFERTY: No, and best nobody else come around messing with my cats either, because I shoot back.

O'BRIEN: Just as I'm beginning to feel jack is getting more sensitive, it's OK to shoot the people.

HEMMER: That's right, it's the stray cat that's hanging out in my backyard. Hands off!

O'BRIEN; Glad we cleared that pick up. Thank you, Jack.

There's much more AMERICAN MORNING ahead this morning.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," Britney's got a baby on board. The pop star responds to tabloid rumors with a big announcement.

Plus, "The Emancipation of Mimi." After years of bad press, Mariah Carey is back with a new album. It is hit or a miss? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

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