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American Morning

Spring Snowstorm; Deadly Derailment

Aired April 25, 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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Here we are more than a month into spring, and look at this, a sudden and rare snowstorm shooting across the U.S. dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas.
A rescue effort under way after a high-speed commuter train jumps its tracks, plowing into an apartment building. Fifty are dead. Many more are injured this morning.

And another wave of deadly attacks in Iraq. The politicians are arguing, and the insurgents may be getting stronger, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome everybody.

Also ahead this morning, could President Bush be on the verge of a big defeat in the Senate? We're going to take a look at the John Bolton nomination to be made U.S. ambassador. Several new accusations about Bolton coming out over the weekend. Jeff Greenfield is checking in on the damage this morning.

HEMMER: Also, the damage in the trial out in California. Jurors in Michael Jackson's case are about to get a look inside the singer's married life. His ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, expected to be called to the stand this week. And we'll talk about what she might have to offer out there in Santa Maria.

O'BRIEN: I bet she's got a lot to talk about.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, at some point, they're going to have to start giving the jurors airsick bags when they go into that courtroom in the morning, you know, just as a precaution. It's awful.

Nothing seems to be working in the efforts to stop North Korea and Iran in their march toward becoming nuclear powers. Negotiations with both countries going absolutely nowhere. We'll take a look at what may be happening next.

All right, thanks, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the weather this morning. Even in the Midwest, it's rare a spring storm would dump so much snow. Seven states from Michigan down to North Carolina were hit. As much as a foot of snow landed in southeastern Michigan. More than that in the Detroit's northern suburbs. The Cleveland area saw up to 14 inches of snow. Even residents along the North Carolina/Tennessee border got half a foot of snow.

CNN's Alina Cho live in Shaker Heights, in Ohio, east of Cleveland.

Hey, Alina, good morning to you. How is everybody handling it this morning?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, as you might expect, people are pretty surprised here. And remember, this is the Midwest where people are used to the snow. But keep in mind that it was actually 80 degrees here last week. People were wearing shorts and tank tops. But now, they are digging out from the surprise spring storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Tim Cheney's yard was all ready for summer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, nice back to winter. But that's Cleveland for you.

CHO: Cleveland and other parts of northern Ohio and eastern Michigan bore the brunt of a late-April storm. Up to a foot expected in some parts, an unpleasant surprise.

This Detroit man just got back from China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I'd be coming home to summer, or spring or something, but this is unbelievable.

CHO: The snow made for slow going on the roads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think about this winter we're having?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, don't ask.

CHO: And by foot. Just ask these runners in downtown Cleveland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bought a nice little tank top and cute shorts. I was expecting to run around in my tank top and shorts. And this morning, that's not exactly what I got.

CHO: Not exactly what the fans were expecting either at this Ohio State spring football game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't see nobody crying about the weather or nothing like that. You just came out and you seen everybody, you seen both teams fighting it and having fun, and just getting out there and mixing it together.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: So not everyone is upset about the snowy weather here, and it is quite pretty, as you can see right here in my hand. But it won't stick around for very long. There is a warming trend, we're told. It will be 50 degrees today and, Soledad, 60 degrees by tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: And then that young lady can wear her cute tank top that she bought.

All right, Alina, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: From Japan this morning, rescuers pulling apart the wreckage of a commuter train that first derailed and then slammed into apartment building. At least 50 are dead. That number expected to increase throughout the day. It happened near Amagasaki. That's outside of Osaka, about 250 miles from Tokyo. Officials say about 600 passengers were aboard the train at the height of rush hour. Half of them were injured. Japan is known for its intricate high-speed railway system which rarely sees serious accidents like today's.

Atika Shubert is standing by, by way of videophone.

What is the latest from there, Atika?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, the latest death toll is 50, but firefighters on the scene say that could very well rise, because there are still passengers trapped inside the wreckage.

In the meantime, more than 300 people injured, many of them with serious injuries. All in all, this is Japan's worst train accident in more than four decades.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): It happened at 9:20 a.m. Osaka time, just after the morning rush hour. The commuter train jumped the tracks and plowed into a nearby apartment building. Survivors scrambled to get out of the wreckage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They slammed on brakes, there was a cloud of dust, and then two crash sounds.

SHUBERT: The first car of the train slid into a parking area. The second car was jerked sideways and rammed against the building, wrapping the car around its corner. Rescue workers had to cut away portions of the train to free passengers.

Investigators are looking for the cause. One possibility, excessive speed. Railway officials say the train would have had to be moving at more than 133 kilometers per hour to derail. The train's exact speed is not known, but survivors say the train was traveling too fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The train was late and I thought it was going faster than usual, and I was a bit worried because the train had overrun the station. Then there was a big crashing sound.

SHUBERT: Investigators are also scrutinizing the automatic braking system, one of the oldest in Japan.

Another possibility, officials say, is that something was on the tracks, obstructing the train's path and causing it to jump the tracks. There are no answers yet.

Bowing in deep apology, West Japan Rail, the company running the train, held several news conferences, expressing their condolences and promising to find out what happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, rescue workers are working into the night to try and free those passengers trapped inside. They do say that four of them appear to still be alive. They're working, they say, as quickly as they can to get them out safely -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, we know the Japanese rely so much on this train system. Is it too early to say what this does to their sense of confidence for that system, Atika?

SHUBERT: It's a little too early yet, but it certainly, for the moment, has shaken a lot of people. This is a big shock to many Japanese who, as you know, rely very heavily on this train system, whether it's high-speed bullet trains, commuter trains or subways. And this happened at a peak traveling time. There are a lot of students on that train from high schools and colleges. So I think it's safe to say, for a lot of people, this is a big shock.

HEMMER: Atika Shubert from Tokyo -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In Iraq, at least 22 people are dead after insurgents launched another string of attacks. Two blasts on Sunday ripped through a Baghdad neighborhood, not long after a pair of suicide car bombings struck the city of Tikrit.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad this morning. Ryan, good morning to you. Can the Iraqi security forces protect against what seems to be a stronger insurgency?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're trying to, and they're going to step up those measures. There's clearly been a pickup in the violence here. It began about 10 days ago. That's when the insurgents began these daily attacks, quite ruthless attacks, I should add, and they clearly have no qualms going after Iraqi security forces themselves, particularly when they're in large numbers, even at their own strongholds.

Just yesterday morning, there was an attack outside a police academy in the city of Tikrit. That was two suicide bombers detonating themselves about 15 minutes from one another. This interestingly just as the Iraqi police there were getting on buses to go to the country of Jordan, because it's safer to train the Iraqi police in Jordan than here in Iraq itself. And that was the second -- that was the first attack. At least six killed in that attack. At least 26 wounded.

And then there was an attack this evening -- or yesterday evening, I should say, in Baghdad, in what up until now had been a relatively quiet Shiite neighborhood. The first blast went off just at about 9:00 p.m. between a mosque there and a very busy marketplace. People gathered to help the casualties on the ground, and that's when a second bomb went off. Very deadly work there. Iraqi police telling CNN that at least 16 people were killed in that attack. At least 57 wounded -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, to what degree do you think that the increased attacks are due to the fact that the government can't quite get it together to form?

CHILCOTE: Sure. Well, clearly, some Iraqi and even U.S. officials are increasingly worried about that. "The New York Times" is reporting today that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice actually phoned the Iraqi president on Friday, Jalal Talabani, saying that, look, you need to get this process going, you need to wrap up the formation of the government.

They are also in "The New York Times" reporting that the vice president, Dick Cheney, met with a senior Shiite official, Adal Abdul Mafi (ph), in the White House with the very same message. There is big concern among Iraqi and U.S. officials that that stalemate there, that political stalemate in the political process is contributing, emboldening these insurgents in their attacks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote for us in Baghdad this morning. Ryan, thanks.

HEMMER: In a moment here, a man is convicted of murdering his wife. But the case is thrown out entirely and the judge is blaming a juror because of this 7-11. We'll explain why in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, more allegations surface against John Bolton. Is the president's pick for U.N. ambassador in jeopardy? A look at that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the witness who could do serious damage to Michael Jackson's defense. What an ex-wife may say on the stand this week. That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Now from Virginia, where a man convicted of murder could get a second chance of freedom, all because of a couple of newspapers.

Kathleen Koch reports this morning at a lie that led to a mistrial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scene of the crime a convenience store in northern Virginia. The offense, buying newspapers and lying about it. What's the problem with that? It seems that defense attorney John Shields recognized someone buying the paper. He says it was a juror from one of his own cases, the murder trial of Gerardo Lara, accused of killing his estranged wife Marissa. The trial under way in Prince William County, Virginia, was nearing it's a close, with jurors already deliberating.

Judge Rossie Alston Jr. had warned jurors to avoid media coverage of the trial. But the juror Lindy Hester (ph) denied that she had purchased a newspaper, and the judge denied a request for a mistrial. Gerardo Lara was found guilty.

But back to that 7-11 store. It turns out there was a surveillance camera and a videotape. Attorney Shields tracked down the tape, showed it to the judge, who decided that Lindy Hester had lied and declared a mistrial. Prosecutors say Hester cost the state valuable time and money.

PAUL EBERT, VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR: This juror, of course, actually lied to the court about what she had done.

KOCH: For now, Lindy Hester is at home. Reached by phone, she would only say she regrets what happened.

(on camera): Hester faces possible jailtime for contempt of court and perjury. She also may be fined to compensate the state for the money it spent on the trial, as well as pay some of the accused murderer's legal costs, potentially tens of thousands of dollars.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: John shields is the defense attorney. He's my guest now in Washington.

Good morning to you.

JOHN SHIELDS, DEFENSE ATTY.: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Two weeks ago, you saw this juror leaving with these newspapers. How did you react then?

SHIELDS: Well, it concerned me, as the trial judge had instructed the jurors to avoid media coverage. And I felt it was something that I needed to bring to the attention of the court.

HEMMER: Were you following her, or was this happenstance?

SHIELDS: It was mere happenstance. My office is about two blocks from the 7-11 where I happened to see this juror, and I was simply going up there myself to buy newspapers to see what the previous day media coverage was for our trial. HEMMER: It's my understanding this woman had two newspapers, right? Did either of those newspapers have any coverage on that trial?

SHIELDS: It appears that she had a "Washington Post" and a "Potomac News." That particular day the "Post" did not have any coverage of our trial.

HEMMER: Is there any evidence she read it?

SHIELDS: No. We did not get that far in our inquiry of the juror.

HEMMER: Did the judge even ask her that?

SHIELDS: Well, the juror denied having purchased any newspapers, just flat denied it. And under those circumstances, it -- you can't really inquire as to whether or not you read something you say that you don't have.

HEMMER: What then was it that convinced the judge to go ahead and make the decision the judge did?

SHIELDS: Well, Friday afternoon, after the jury returned its verdict, I, at the suggestion of one of my staff members, went up to the 7-11 and inquired about the videotape. I know frequently that these stores have surveillance video. I confirmed that a tape was rolling from that morning.

The following morning, when the tape was scheduled to come out of the machine, I spoke with the manager of that 7-11 at about 5:45 Saturday morning. He confirmed with me at that point that he would preserve the tape and make a decision as to whether or not he would allow me to view it.

I was provided an opportunity on Monday morning, the 18th, I believe, to view the tape. It confirmed, in fact, what I had seen, that is, that this particular juror had come into the 7-11. While I had seen her outside with the papers. The tape confirmed that she'd come in, gone to the newspaper rack, spent about 45 seconds there, then got in line with two newspapers, which she purchased.

Now, when questioned before the judge, she had also indicated that her only purpose in the 7-11 was to buy a cup of coffee. There was no evidence at all on that videotape that she'd even gone near the coffee area, let alone purchased a cup of coffee.

HEMMER: Mr. Shields, how unusual is this? Does the punishment fit the crime? Your client is on trial for murder and it gets thrown out entirely because this woman was seen at a 7-11.

SHIELDS: Well, my client was facing very serious charges, and he was entitled to a jury that took this matter seriously, took their oath as jurors seriously. The court has a broad range of discretion in deciding what punishment is appropriate here, and I'm confident that Judge Alston will do what he believes is appropriate under the circumstances.

The commonwealth also has remedies available to it in terms of charging this particular juror with perjury, if they see fit under the facts of this case.

HEMMER: And a retrial comes when for your client?

SHIELDS: We will not be setting the trial date until the 7th of June, so it could be several months.

HEMMER: John Shields, thanks for your time.

SHIELDS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, some good news about filling your gas tank. Find out just how far pump prices have dropped. And find out if they're going to stick around. Andy's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Are the markets in store for another wild week? And a little break at the gas pump. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Before we get to the really good news, let's talk about the not such great news about the market last week.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, the market's actually up a little bit. Friday was down, but you're right, the volatility is something else, and you've got crazy oil prices, crazy gas prices, and that's all reflected in the markets here. You can see we got some green ink at the end of the week, because Thursday was such a good day, you might remember, but the volatility is killing people down there in the street.

And as far as the gas pump goes, Soledad, you're right, we do have some good news for the first time in months. Gas prices down 4.5 percent nationwide over the past two weeks. $2.24 is your average national price for regular unleaded. And Tulsa is at $2.04, so maybe they're even going to crack the $2 barrier if this trend continues. Some experts see the trend continuing in fact.

And when you move over to Wall Street, again, all the talk is about oil. A giant deal there to tell you about. Valero is buying Premcor for $8 billion. And the reason why this is a big deal is because oil stocks have become the new technology stocks, if you haven't been paying attention. Valero, for instance, over the past two-and-a-half years has gone from $11 to $75. Valero is now the largest refiner of crude oil in North America, bigger than Exxon. And these companies are just sneaking up on people. Premcor is another huge success story, and people are crazy about that black stuff.

O'BRIEN: They need to be, because it's a big problem now. SERWER: That's right, yes.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Some big issues on Jack's mind this morning.

CAFFERTY: Indeed. Thank you, Bill.

Diplomatic efforts to stop North Korea and Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons are going nowhere. Yesterday, Iran said it will resume uranium enrichment, regardless of the outcome of negotiations with European nations. Two years of six-country talks with North Korea have produced absolutely nothing. North Korea shutdown its main nuclear reactor this month, possibly to harvest plutonium to make more weapons.

So far, the United States has refused to deal with either country one on one. There is talk about going to the U.N. to get sanctions imposed against these two countries, but not everybody thinks that's a good idea.

So in the face of this global stalemate, we figure the viewers of AMERICAN MORNING can probably solve this. The question, what should be done about North Korea and Iran's nuclear weapons programs.

O'BRIEN: A small question for the viewers this morning.

HEMMER: Tiny little thing to chew on.

I always thought Russia is the key in Iran.

CAFFERTY: Why?

HEMMER: Well, because that's the country that's helped build them this nuclear power plant for electricity, and the thing we always hear out of North Korea is that they want to talk to the Americans directly, not the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans. All that stuff is fine. But that leader wants the United States at the table, and he wants to be seen on that same level as the United States.

CAFFERTY: And they want our money.

SERWER: Right. Should we or could we buy them out of the program maybe is the question, right?

CAFFERTY: Yes, I suppose. But you know, and it would give that goofy little jerk that runs North Korea...

SERWER: One of our all-time favorites.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: ... a certain credibility to be seen at the table with President Bush, wouldn't it? Well, that should never happen, because that little squirrel's got no business in the same building as the president of the United States.

HEMMER: Weighty issues. I'm sure we can tackle them in the next two-and-a-half hours. No question.

O'BRIEN: And there's much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," an explosive weekend at the movies. Does "The Interpreter" translate into big bucks at the box office, or was Ashton Kutcher the one to beat.

Plus Posh and Beck's courtroom battle and the story they don't want you to hear. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 25, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Here we are more than a month into spring, and look at this, a sudden and rare snowstorm shooting across the U.S. dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas.
A rescue effort under way after a high-speed commuter train jumps its tracks, plowing into an apartment building. Fifty are dead. Many more are injured this morning.

And another wave of deadly attacks in Iraq. The politicians are arguing, and the insurgents may be getting stronger, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome everybody.

Also ahead this morning, could President Bush be on the verge of a big defeat in the Senate? We're going to take a look at the John Bolton nomination to be made U.S. ambassador. Several new accusations about Bolton coming out over the weekend. Jeff Greenfield is checking in on the damage this morning.

HEMMER: Also, the damage in the trial out in California. Jurors in Michael Jackson's case are about to get a look inside the singer's married life. His ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, expected to be called to the stand this week. And we'll talk about what she might have to offer out there in Santa Maria.

O'BRIEN: I bet she's got a lot to talk about.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, at some point, they're going to have to start giving the jurors airsick bags when they go into that courtroom in the morning, you know, just as a precaution. It's awful.

Nothing seems to be working in the efforts to stop North Korea and Iran in their march toward becoming nuclear powers. Negotiations with both countries going absolutely nowhere. We'll take a look at what may be happening next.

All right, thanks, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the weather this morning. Even in the Midwest, it's rare a spring storm would dump so much snow. Seven states from Michigan down to North Carolina were hit. As much as a foot of snow landed in southeastern Michigan. More than that in the Detroit's northern suburbs. The Cleveland area saw up to 14 inches of snow. Even residents along the North Carolina/Tennessee border got half a foot of snow.

CNN's Alina Cho live in Shaker Heights, in Ohio, east of Cleveland.

Hey, Alina, good morning to you. How is everybody handling it this morning?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, as you might expect, people are pretty surprised here. And remember, this is the Midwest where people are used to the snow. But keep in mind that it was actually 80 degrees here last week. People were wearing shorts and tank tops. But now, they are digging out from the surprise spring storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Tim Cheney's yard was all ready for summer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, nice back to winter. But that's Cleveland for you.

CHO: Cleveland and other parts of northern Ohio and eastern Michigan bore the brunt of a late-April storm. Up to a foot expected in some parts, an unpleasant surprise.

This Detroit man just got back from China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I'd be coming home to summer, or spring or something, but this is unbelievable.

CHO: The snow made for slow going on the roads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think about this winter we're having?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, don't ask.

CHO: And by foot. Just ask these runners in downtown Cleveland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bought a nice little tank top and cute shorts. I was expecting to run around in my tank top and shorts. And this morning, that's not exactly what I got.

CHO: Not exactly what the fans were expecting either at this Ohio State spring football game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't see nobody crying about the weather or nothing like that. You just came out and you seen everybody, you seen both teams fighting it and having fun, and just getting out there and mixing it together.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: So not everyone is upset about the snowy weather here, and it is quite pretty, as you can see right here in my hand. But it won't stick around for very long. There is a warming trend, we're told. It will be 50 degrees today and, Soledad, 60 degrees by tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: And then that young lady can wear her cute tank top that she bought.

All right, Alina, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: From Japan this morning, rescuers pulling apart the wreckage of a commuter train that first derailed and then slammed into apartment building. At least 50 are dead. That number expected to increase throughout the day. It happened near Amagasaki. That's outside of Osaka, about 250 miles from Tokyo. Officials say about 600 passengers were aboard the train at the height of rush hour. Half of them were injured. Japan is known for its intricate high-speed railway system which rarely sees serious accidents like today's.

Atika Shubert is standing by, by way of videophone.

What is the latest from there, Atika?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, the latest death toll is 50, but firefighters on the scene say that could very well rise, because there are still passengers trapped inside the wreckage.

In the meantime, more than 300 people injured, many of them with serious injuries. All in all, this is Japan's worst train accident in more than four decades.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): It happened at 9:20 a.m. Osaka time, just after the morning rush hour. The commuter train jumped the tracks and plowed into a nearby apartment building. Survivors scrambled to get out of the wreckage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They slammed on brakes, there was a cloud of dust, and then two crash sounds.

SHUBERT: The first car of the train slid into a parking area. The second car was jerked sideways and rammed against the building, wrapping the car around its corner. Rescue workers had to cut away portions of the train to free passengers.

Investigators are looking for the cause. One possibility, excessive speed. Railway officials say the train would have had to be moving at more than 133 kilometers per hour to derail. The train's exact speed is not known, but survivors say the train was traveling too fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The train was late and I thought it was going faster than usual, and I was a bit worried because the train had overrun the station. Then there was a big crashing sound.

SHUBERT: Investigators are also scrutinizing the automatic braking system, one of the oldest in Japan.

Another possibility, officials say, is that something was on the tracks, obstructing the train's path and causing it to jump the tracks. There are no answers yet.

Bowing in deep apology, West Japan Rail, the company running the train, held several news conferences, expressing their condolences and promising to find out what happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, rescue workers are working into the night to try and free those passengers trapped inside. They do say that four of them appear to still be alive. They're working, they say, as quickly as they can to get them out safely -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, we know the Japanese rely so much on this train system. Is it too early to say what this does to their sense of confidence for that system, Atika?

SHUBERT: It's a little too early yet, but it certainly, for the moment, has shaken a lot of people. This is a big shock to many Japanese who, as you know, rely very heavily on this train system, whether it's high-speed bullet trains, commuter trains or subways. And this happened at a peak traveling time. There are a lot of students on that train from high schools and colleges. So I think it's safe to say, for a lot of people, this is a big shock.

HEMMER: Atika Shubert from Tokyo -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In Iraq, at least 22 people are dead after insurgents launched another string of attacks. Two blasts on Sunday ripped through a Baghdad neighborhood, not long after a pair of suicide car bombings struck the city of Tikrit.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad this morning. Ryan, good morning to you. Can the Iraqi security forces protect against what seems to be a stronger insurgency?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're trying to, and they're going to step up those measures. There's clearly been a pickup in the violence here. It began about 10 days ago. That's when the insurgents began these daily attacks, quite ruthless attacks, I should add, and they clearly have no qualms going after Iraqi security forces themselves, particularly when they're in large numbers, even at their own strongholds.

Just yesterday morning, there was an attack outside a police academy in the city of Tikrit. That was two suicide bombers detonating themselves about 15 minutes from one another. This interestingly just as the Iraqi police there were getting on buses to go to the country of Jordan, because it's safer to train the Iraqi police in Jordan than here in Iraq itself. And that was the second -- that was the first attack. At least six killed in that attack. At least 26 wounded.

And then there was an attack this evening -- or yesterday evening, I should say, in Baghdad, in what up until now had been a relatively quiet Shiite neighborhood. The first blast went off just at about 9:00 p.m. between a mosque there and a very busy marketplace. People gathered to help the casualties on the ground, and that's when a second bomb went off. Very deadly work there. Iraqi police telling CNN that at least 16 people were killed in that attack. At least 57 wounded -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, to what degree do you think that the increased attacks are due to the fact that the government can't quite get it together to form?

CHILCOTE: Sure. Well, clearly, some Iraqi and even U.S. officials are increasingly worried about that. "The New York Times" is reporting today that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice actually phoned the Iraqi president on Friday, Jalal Talabani, saying that, look, you need to get this process going, you need to wrap up the formation of the government.

They are also in "The New York Times" reporting that the vice president, Dick Cheney, met with a senior Shiite official, Adal Abdul Mafi (ph), in the White House with the very same message. There is big concern among Iraqi and U.S. officials that that stalemate there, that political stalemate in the political process is contributing, emboldening these insurgents in their attacks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote for us in Baghdad this morning. Ryan, thanks.

HEMMER: In a moment here, a man is convicted of murdering his wife. But the case is thrown out entirely and the judge is blaming a juror because of this 7-11. We'll explain why in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, more allegations surface against John Bolton. Is the president's pick for U.N. ambassador in jeopardy? A look at that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the witness who could do serious damage to Michael Jackson's defense. What an ex-wife may say on the stand this week. That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Now from Virginia, where a man convicted of murder could get a second chance of freedom, all because of a couple of newspapers.

Kathleen Koch reports this morning at a lie that led to a mistrial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scene of the crime a convenience store in northern Virginia. The offense, buying newspapers and lying about it. What's the problem with that? It seems that defense attorney John Shields recognized someone buying the paper. He says it was a juror from one of his own cases, the murder trial of Gerardo Lara, accused of killing his estranged wife Marissa. The trial under way in Prince William County, Virginia, was nearing it's a close, with jurors already deliberating.

Judge Rossie Alston Jr. had warned jurors to avoid media coverage of the trial. But the juror Lindy Hester (ph) denied that she had purchased a newspaper, and the judge denied a request for a mistrial. Gerardo Lara was found guilty.

But back to that 7-11 store. It turns out there was a surveillance camera and a videotape. Attorney Shields tracked down the tape, showed it to the judge, who decided that Lindy Hester had lied and declared a mistrial. Prosecutors say Hester cost the state valuable time and money.

PAUL EBERT, VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR: This juror, of course, actually lied to the court about what she had done.

KOCH: For now, Lindy Hester is at home. Reached by phone, she would only say she regrets what happened.

(on camera): Hester faces possible jailtime for contempt of court and perjury. She also may be fined to compensate the state for the money it spent on the trial, as well as pay some of the accused murderer's legal costs, potentially tens of thousands of dollars.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: John shields is the defense attorney. He's my guest now in Washington.

Good morning to you.

JOHN SHIELDS, DEFENSE ATTY.: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Two weeks ago, you saw this juror leaving with these newspapers. How did you react then?

SHIELDS: Well, it concerned me, as the trial judge had instructed the jurors to avoid media coverage. And I felt it was something that I needed to bring to the attention of the court.

HEMMER: Were you following her, or was this happenstance?

SHIELDS: It was mere happenstance. My office is about two blocks from the 7-11 where I happened to see this juror, and I was simply going up there myself to buy newspapers to see what the previous day media coverage was for our trial. HEMMER: It's my understanding this woman had two newspapers, right? Did either of those newspapers have any coverage on that trial?

SHIELDS: It appears that she had a "Washington Post" and a "Potomac News." That particular day the "Post" did not have any coverage of our trial.

HEMMER: Is there any evidence she read it?

SHIELDS: No. We did not get that far in our inquiry of the juror.

HEMMER: Did the judge even ask her that?

SHIELDS: Well, the juror denied having purchased any newspapers, just flat denied it. And under those circumstances, it -- you can't really inquire as to whether or not you read something you say that you don't have.

HEMMER: What then was it that convinced the judge to go ahead and make the decision the judge did?

SHIELDS: Well, Friday afternoon, after the jury returned its verdict, I, at the suggestion of one of my staff members, went up to the 7-11 and inquired about the videotape. I know frequently that these stores have surveillance video. I confirmed that a tape was rolling from that morning.

The following morning, when the tape was scheduled to come out of the machine, I spoke with the manager of that 7-11 at about 5:45 Saturday morning. He confirmed with me at that point that he would preserve the tape and make a decision as to whether or not he would allow me to view it.

I was provided an opportunity on Monday morning, the 18th, I believe, to view the tape. It confirmed, in fact, what I had seen, that is, that this particular juror had come into the 7-11. While I had seen her outside with the papers. The tape confirmed that she'd come in, gone to the newspaper rack, spent about 45 seconds there, then got in line with two newspapers, which she purchased.

Now, when questioned before the judge, she had also indicated that her only purpose in the 7-11 was to buy a cup of coffee. There was no evidence at all on that videotape that she'd even gone near the coffee area, let alone purchased a cup of coffee.

HEMMER: Mr. Shields, how unusual is this? Does the punishment fit the crime? Your client is on trial for murder and it gets thrown out entirely because this woman was seen at a 7-11.

SHIELDS: Well, my client was facing very serious charges, and he was entitled to a jury that took this matter seriously, took their oath as jurors seriously. The court has a broad range of discretion in deciding what punishment is appropriate here, and I'm confident that Judge Alston will do what he believes is appropriate under the circumstances.

The commonwealth also has remedies available to it in terms of charging this particular juror with perjury, if they see fit under the facts of this case.

HEMMER: And a retrial comes when for your client?

SHIELDS: We will not be setting the trial date until the 7th of June, so it could be several months.

HEMMER: John Shields, thanks for your time.

SHIELDS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, some good news about filling your gas tank. Find out just how far pump prices have dropped. And find out if they're going to stick around. Andy's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Are the markets in store for another wild week? And a little break at the gas pump. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Before we get to the really good news, let's talk about the not such great news about the market last week.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, the market's actually up a little bit. Friday was down, but you're right, the volatility is something else, and you've got crazy oil prices, crazy gas prices, and that's all reflected in the markets here. You can see we got some green ink at the end of the week, because Thursday was such a good day, you might remember, but the volatility is killing people down there in the street.

And as far as the gas pump goes, Soledad, you're right, we do have some good news for the first time in months. Gas prices down 4.5 percent nationwide over the past two weeks. $2.24 is your average national price for regular unleaded. And Tulsa is at $2.04, so maybe they're even going to crack the $2 barrier if this trend continues. Some experts see the trend continuing in fact.

And when you move over to Wall Street, again, all the talk is about oil. A giant deal there to tell you about. Valero is buying Premcor for $8 billion. And the reason why this is a big deal is because oil stocks have become the new technology stocks, if you haven't been paying attention. Valero, for instance, over the past two-and-a-half years has gone from $11 to $75. Valero is now the largest refiner of crude oil in North America, bigger than Exxon. And these companies are just sneaking up on people. Premcor is another huge success story, and people are crazy about that black stuff.

O'BRIEN: They need to be, because it's a big problem now. SERWER: That's right, yes.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Some big issues on Jack's mind this morning.

CAFFERTY: Indeed. Thank you, Bill.

Diplomatic efforts to stop North Korea and Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons are going nowhere. Yesterday, Iran said it will resume uranium enrichment, regardless of the outcome of negotiations with European nations. Two years of six-country talks with North Korea have produced absolutely nothing. North Korea shutdown its main nuclear reactor this month, possibly to harvest plutonium to make more weapons.

So far, the United States has refused to deal with either country one on one. There is talk about going to the U.N. to get sanctions imposed against these two countries, but not everybody thinks that's a good idea.

So in the face of this global stalemate, we figure the viewers of AMERICAN MORNING can probably solve this. The question, what should be done about North Korea and Iran's nuclear weapons programs.

O'BRIEN: A small question for the viewers this morning.

HEMMER: Tiny little thing to chew on.

I always thought Russia is the key in Iran.

CAFFERTY: Why?

HEMMER: Well, because that's the country that's helped build them this nuclear power plant for electricity, and the thing we always hear out of North Korea is that they want to talk to the Americans directly, not the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans. All that stuff is fine. But that leader wants the United States at the table, and he wants to be seen on that same level as the United States.

CAFFERTY: And they want our money.

SERWER: Right. Should we or could we buy them out of the program maybe is the question, right?

CAFFERTY: Yes, I suppose. But you know, and it would give that goofy little jerk that runs North Korea...

SERWER: One of our all-time favorites.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: ... a certain credibility to be seen at the table with President Bush, wouldn't it? Well, that should never happen, because that little squirrel's got no business in the same building as the president of the United States.

HEMMER: Weighty issues. I'm sure we can tackle them in the next two-and-a-half hours. No question.

O'BRIEN: And there's much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," an explosive weekend at the movies. Does "The Interpreter" translate into big bucks at the box office, or was Ashton Kutcher the one to beat.

Plus Posh and Beck's courtroom battle and the story they don't want you to hear. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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