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American Morning

Iraq's new Government; L.A. Shooting Spree; Runaway Bride Charges?

Aired May 03, 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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. A new government about to take power in Iraq at this hour. And the first challenge, defending itself against increasing violence there.
What's behind a rash of shootings on California's busy freeways, several shootings, some fatal? Are they linked? Police now investigating that.

And the public wants her punished, her fiance just wants her back. And now the D.A. is looking into possible criminal charges against that runaway bride.

All ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

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

Other stories that we're taking a look at this morning, Michael Jackson. His defense could begin today. After two months, the prosecution nearly through. Final evidence is trying to prove that he was involved in a conspiracy. We'll take a look at how the prosecution is doing on that front.

HEMMER: All right.

Also, Lynndie England has told a judge why she posed in pictures of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. Now a jury will decide whether or not she should get a stiff or a light sentence. And we'll cover that this hour as well.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, how are you today?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. How are you doing, Soledad?

Congress is on the verge of standardizing requirements to get a driver's license across all 50 states. It was something that the 9/11 Commission recommended be done. Proponents think it will improve homeland security. Critics say it amounts to a little more than a national I.D. card and is not a good idea at all.

Your thoughts, AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack.

To the headlines. Here is Carol Costello again.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," suspected serial killer Dennis Rader set to be back in court in the next hour. Rader waived his right to a preliminary hearing last month. Today in Wichita, Kansas, he is expected to enter a plea on 10 counts of first-degree murder in connection with a killing spree spanning more than 20 years. He is expected to enter a not guilty plea.

Social Security once again topping the agenda for President Bush. The president heads to Mississippi today where he'll speak at a Nissan manufacturing plant. Tomorrow he'll address a Latino small business conference in Washington. The White House says the president will continue reaching out to the American people to make sure everyone gets his message.

Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is offering its employees free credit monitoring for one year. This after the company says a storage firm lost a tape containing names and Social Security numbers of some 600,000 employees dating back to 1986.

Time Warner Cable customers, you are not affected. The Secret Service is now involved in the investigation.

And, you know, when I got the e-mail from the company, I thought it was a joke. But it's not.

And there is some relief for dozens of parents at an elementary school in Philadelphia. We told you about this story last week.

Nineteen children were pricked with a needle by a third grader, one of them tested positive for HIV. Well, it turns out that the test was a false positive. So no HIV.

Schools telling parents to stop treating their children with preventative drugs. That must be a relief for parents.

HEMMER: Scary. Oh, yes. Big time.

O'BRIEN: Can you imagine? All right, Carol. Thanks.

COSTELLO: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, Iraq's newly chosen cabinet is expected to be sworn in at any time now. CNN's Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad for us with details.

Ryan, good morning. The full cabinet not quite picked, right? Who is still not in that cabinet? RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the prime minister still hasn't officially announced who will get seven of the 36 jobs. The expectation is that he will make that announcement today and that Sunni Arabs, who have largely been outside of the political process, will get at least some of those posts.

Importantly, they are slotted to get the post of defense minister and one of the deputy prime minister posts. But it's not over until it's over here in Iraq. So that expectation is that this will happen sometime today.

What we don't know is whether that's going to happen before the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony was actually supposed to begin a couple of minutes ago. Clearly, it's been delayed a bit. So a little bit of uncertainty here, but the process continues -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, as far as the people go, is there a sense that the new government is now going to help stabilize the country, sort of in light of all the violence that's been out there?

CHILCOTE: Well, I think there's a hope that this government will stabilize the situation. In general, though, I think it's fair to say that Iraqis really are experiencing a great deal of political fatigue.

I mean, remember they went to the polls on January 30, and they thought that they were going to get a government pretty soon after that. They thought that when they elected this national assembly within a couple of weeks, perhaps a month they would have a government, and that that government would start to move forward in a whole range of issues, including addressing the issue of security. But that hasn't happened.

The violence continues. Just today, for example, in the western city of Ramadi, a firefight just a few hours ago. It was a firefight between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. security forces at a checkpoint there. At least one member of Iraqi security forces killed.

They're saying that 12 insurgents were also killed. But two innocent bystanders, two Iraqis civilians, were also killed in that clash.

And just a little bit earlier this morning another car bomb in Baghdad. So -- wounding at least three.

So this violence just continues. I mean, just think about it this way, Soledad. Since the partial government was announced -- the partial government, I should say -- on Thursday and today, at least 140 Iraqis have been killed in violence here -- Soledad.

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

Well, the body of an American fighter pilot was recovered overnight in Iraq. The search goes on for a second pilot. Navy officials say they believe their two F-18s collided on Monday in bad weather during a routine mission. The Boeing-built Hornet is known as an all-weather fighter jet. This military says no indication of hostile fire at the time of the accident.

HEMMER: About six minutes past the hour now.

Investigators in California looking for answers after a string of fatal highway shootings in LA since March 12 on the freeways of Los Angeles. At least eight shootings have left four people dead.

Chief Art Acevedo is the southern division chief for the California Highway Patrol. He's now in LA.

Chief, good morning to you out there. Eight shootings, four fatalities. What do you make of this?

CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: Well, what we make of it is that we have some instances that are very tragic. But unfortunately, the sad reality of life in Los Angeles is that we have instances on the freeway.

We have shootings. And actually, this year, we had fewer shootings than we had in years past. So we're concerned, because we value every life. But we're not overly concerned, and we don't believe that the public has anything to really be deathly afraid of.

HEMMER: Chief, are you downplaying this?

ACEVEDO: No, absolutely not. We're not -- well, let me back up.

We're not downplaying it. Every life is of value. But we need to put things in perspective.

We're talking about four homicides in the three most populous and heavily-traveled freeway systems in the nation. When you contrast that to the fact that we have dozens of shootings in our communities on a daily base this Los Angeles County -- and we have a three-square- mile radius in Los Angeles County where on track to have about 120 homicides this year. It really puts the problem in perspective.

HEMMER: And your freeway system is extensive. That's probably an understatement, actually. But of the eight shootings that you're looking at now, what is the distance between them, Chief?

ACEVEDO: Well, they've been random. We've had some here in LA County, we've had another one in Riverside County, probably about 45 miles away.

We have no reason to believe that these are related. We believe they're just random acts of violence. And unfortunately, they're part of life in the metropolitan areas of the United States.

HEMMER: Just to be clear, you're not saying there's a connection then, are you? All different? ACEVEDO: Absolutely. We have not been able to establish a connection between any of the shootings. They're just crimes of the moment.

Some of them are as a result of road rage, some of them are as a result -- they start off on surface streets and work their way up on to the freeway. So we don't believe that there is a serial shooter out there or any of these are related.

And the bottom line is we just want folks to understand that it is safe to travel the freeway system here in Los Angeles County. But they need to be courteous, they need to take their time, they need to make sure that they don't start an altercation on the freeway.

HEMMER: You mentioned a serial sniper or a serial shooter. There's an alleged serial shooter on trial actually in Columbus, Ohio, right now. You'll remember that case very well going back about 18 months ago.

ACEVEDO: I sure do.

HEMMER: Are you concerned about maybe the concern that your citizens may have? And, if so, what have you done as an organization to try and -- I don't know if you can counter it, but probably beef up and fight it back?

ACEVEDO: Well, we've actually beefed up our patrols here in the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties. We've also started deploying undercover officers in plain-clothed -- plain- wrapped police cars on all shifts throughout Los Angeles County.

And next week the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department and the California Department of Transportation will be meeting to explore the feasibility of buying new technologies to tape-record, video-record freeway traffic. And also other technologies, such as license plate readers, that will give us captured data on suspect vehicle, on other wanted vehicles that will afford us the opportunity to make a quick arrest in these incidents.

HEMMER: Keep us posted, Chief, will you? Art Acevedo out there in Los Angeles.

ACEVEDO: I sure will. Thank you.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Another look at the weather now. Chad Myers at the CNN Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Authorities may or may not press charges against that runaway bride. Still waiting for an answer on that. But her fiance has already decided to forgive and forget. His father tells us why, still to come this hour. O'BRIEN: Also, Michael Jackson's defense gets ready to make its case, but first prosecutors focus on a flurry of phone calls made by Jackson's advisers.

HEMMER: Also, a year ago today, Thomas Hamill's daring escape from Iraqi insurgents shocked the world. Hamill talks to us live today about his life since. You'll hear it this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Her fiance is ready to reconcile, but authorities in Georgia appear to be less forgiving of the runaway bride-to-be. Jennifer Wilbanks could face civil and criminal charms for falsely claiming that she'd been kidnapped.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Claude Mason is the father of the jilted groom, John Mason. He's in Duluth, Georgia.

Nice to see you, Mr. Mason. Thank you for talking with us.

CLAUDE MASON, FATHER OF RUNAWAY BRIDE'S FIANCE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: There are reports that Jennifer may have bought a ticket on the Greyhound bus a week in advance of the wedding. Any indications in your mind that, in fact, well before the wedding she was having some serious second thoughts?

MASON: No. I haven't really thought about it that much. I just have gotten all of those details recently, myself. So, I can't assess it one way or the other as to what was in her mind. I can only guess that she might have thought about it, whether she actually was going to go through with it or not. At the time she bought the ticket, it may have been different.

O'BRIEN: There are reports this is not the first engagement, in fact, that she's bolted on. Is it correct that she's been engaged before?

MASON: I do not know that. I've heard...

O'BRIEN: Is the wedding...

MASON: I heard a little bit that she may have been, but I don't know for sure.

O'BRIEN: Is the wedding still on right now, as it stands?

MASON: According to John, it is. As far as a date, that's not been determined yet. But he's committed to her. And as it stands now, he thinks there will be a wedding.

O'BRIEN: Has she apologized, not only to your son, but to you and your family as well? MASON: We have not spoken with Jennifer since her return.

O'BRIEN: The D.A. says that she has not apologized to him. In fact, here's how he describes her. Self-centered, self-absorbed, no sense what was she put people through. Why would your son want to marry a girl who clearly doesn't want to be married to him, or at least at that time did not?

MASON: I don't know whether it was a fact that she did not want to be married to him. I think it was just all of the rush of the moment, so to speak, got to her as far as what I can tell from this point in my discussions with John. I don't think it's a matter of her not wanting to marry him. I think it was just all of the stuff leading up to it got to her.

O'BRIEN: In fact, in an interview, your son talked a little bit about some of the problems that Jennifer has been having leading up to the wedding date. Can you be more specific? What kind of issues is he talking about that she may have had?

MASON: I'm not real sure what he's referring to. I just know Jennifer was a perfectionist. She wanted everything to be just right. And as far as I know, everything was moving in that direction.

O'BRIEN: The D.A., as you well know, is considering charging her. He says that she needs to face some kind of consequences. Do you agree with that, that she has to face some kind of consequences, maybe jail time, maybe financial consequences for what she pulled off?

MASON: Mr. Porter is just doing the job he was elected to do. I don't have any problems with that. As far as what her punishment should be, I haven't really thought that one through. I don't -- I definitely do not think there should be any jail time. There's no question about in my mind about that. Possibly what I've heard...

O'BRIEN: Do you think she should have to pay back some of the money that the city lost in searching for her, $60,000?

MASON: That's a possibility. That is a possibility also. But right now, I haven't made my mind up as to what would be a -- what would be a good resolution on behalf of her and the city yet.

O'BRIEN: Do you think there will be a time when Jennifer comes forward and apologizes to you and all of the people who were looking for her and all of the people who were concerned that somehow maybe she, you know, had been injured or was killed?

MASON: I hope so. I hope that comes very soon.

O'BRIEN: Are you expecting to sit down and have a chat with your future daughter-in-law anytime soon?

MASON: I'm not -- I don't know. It depends on a lot of things right now. I'd be willing to sit down with her at any time, yes.

O'BRIEN: Are you looking forward to her joining your family as your future daughter-in-law?

MASON: I was looking very much forward to it before this all happened. And if John is still in love with her and still wants to marry her, I would welcome her into the family.

O'BRIEN: Claude Mason is the father of the runaway bride's fiance. Thanks for talking with us, Mr. Mason. I appreciate it.

MASON: You're quite welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Eighteen minutes past the hour. They have reached a milestone of sorts in California. Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's case expected to rest today. More now on Santa Maria and Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Michael Jackson, the time to go on the offense draws near. For the prosecution, it was a day of who talked to whom and when. All decide to convince the jury that Jackson conspired to hold the accuser's family hostage.

The jury heard hours of testimony regarding a flurry of phone activity by Jackson's team in California and Florida in February and March of 2003. There were 64 calls on February 6. That's the same day that the now-infamous Martin Bashir documentary aired in the United States.

There were another 83 calls on the day the accuser's family allegedly fled the Neverland Ranch. There was another spike in calls the day the accuser's family taped a rebuttal video that portrayed Jackson in a positive light.

JIM MORET, LEGAL ANALYST: If the prosecution is trying to show that Jackson's involved in a conspiracy in order to make this rebuttal video, then essentially everybody in Hollywood is guilty of a conspiracy when they make a P.R.-type of video, too. So they really haven't shown any sinister motive. The fact that there's a lot of activity doesn't in and of itself prove that there's a criminal conspiracy.

DORNIN: The defense argued that no one could prove that Michael Jackson himself was involved in any of those calls. The jury also learned that one of Jackson's advisers, Mark Shaffield (ph), cashed two checks for $1.5 million. Jurors were never told what the money was used for.

Yet to come? A financial expert expected to testify Michael Jackson was in dire financial straits. Prosecutors say that was his motive to keep the family captive because Jackson couldn't afford anymore bad publicity.

(on camera): Sources tell CNN the prosecution's final witness is likely to be Rudy Provencio. He is a business associate of Jackson's close adviser, Mark Shaffield (ph). Prosecutors hope that Provencio can implicate Jackson directly in the alleged conspiracy.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And when the defense begins its case, attorneys expected to call a laundry list of celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jay Leno, Larry King and Macaulay Culkin -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One year ago today a Mississippi truck driver made a daring dash for freedom from his Iraqi captors. Well, Thomas Hamill reflects on how his life has changed since that ordeal. His story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.

Congress set to approve legislation that would for the first time set national standards for drivers' licenses. Every state would be the same.

It's called the Real I.D. measure. It's being included in a supplemental on the war in Iraq, which means it will get right through without a lot of debate.

The main provision requires states to verify that every applicant for a driver's license is a legal resident of the United States. Eleven states now issue drivers' licenses to non-citizens, be they legal or illegal. This bill would stop that.

The question is this: will standardizing drivers' licenses improve our security?

Sandy writes from Florida, "I've lived in Florida for 40 years. Refugees from Cuba, Haiti and other islands come to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Drivers' licenses? Forget about it. They drive without them."

"They drive with no ability to read street and safety signs. They drive with no insurance. And they reek havoc when they cause interstate tie-ups and accidents."

Jim writes from Arizona, "Jack, as an Arizona resident, I can tell you, not giving out drivers' licenses to illegals will not make a whit of difference. First, the illegals drive all the time without licenses. So it won't stop driving. Secondly, employers already hire them without proper documents, so what is one more missing document?"

On the other hand, Jason writes from Georgia, "From a law enforcement standpoint, this is good. I work on a secured military installation and have detained many illegal immigrants working for government contractors that have fake identification. Many others were illegal but had valid drivers' licenses and that, my friend, is all you need to enter a military installation."

And finally, Reg in Thunder Bay writes this: "Highway congestion, smog, the need for foreign oil and the entire debt of California eliminated in one day. The ACLU will never stand for it."

I'm finished now.

O'BRIEN: Good feedback, I think, this morning.

CAFFERTY: Yes?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Where do you come down on all of this?

O'BRIEN: You know, I'd like to understand what you haven't eliminated yet, how people who are legally in this country but don't -- aren't citizens could have the opportunity to get a driver's license. That would be curious.

But I don't want to make extra work for you today. But if could you find that out, I'd be grateful.

CAFFERTY: I'll get right on it.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: I'll get my staff of one to get all over it for you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

We told you Monday how Laura Bush stole the spotlight at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday with jokes that were aimed at her husband, the president. Well, "The Tonight Show's" Jay Leno based his own routine on the first lady's comedic debut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Laura Bush was a big hit with her comedy routine at the big Washington Correspondents Dinner the other night. And this is something new for the Bush family, intentional comedy.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: The president knew in advance she was going to speak, but he never saw the material. He never knew what she was going to say. Basically, the same way he handles the intelligence briefing. He knows they're there. He knows there's something in there, just not sure...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: He was funny on that. CAFFERTY: She was hysterical.

O'BRIEN: And she was -- great timing.

HEMMER: She's gotten some great mileage out of that from Saturday night.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Thanks, Soledad.

A lot of -- where are we -- a lot of young children say their dad is a hero. For one Massachusetts family those roles have been reversed. How an 8-year-old boy saved his father from the disaster on the highway. We'll talk to him in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 3, 2005 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. A new government about to take power in Iraq at this hour. And the first challenge, defending itself against increasing violence there.
What's behind a rash of shootings on California's busy freeways, several shootings, some fatal? Are they linked? Police now investigating that.

And the public wants her punished, her fiance just wants her back. And now the D.A. is looking into possible criminal charges against that runaway bride.

All ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

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

Other stories that we're taking a look at this morning, Michael Jackson. His defense could begin today. After two months, the prosecution nearly through. Final evidence is trying to prove that he was involved in a conspiracy. We'll take a look at how the prosecution is doing on that front.

HEMMER: All right.

Also, Lynndie England has told a judge why she posed in pictures of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. Now a jury will decide whether or not she should get a stiff or a light sentence. And we'll cover that this hour as well.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, how are you today?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. How are you doing, Soledad?

Congress is on the verge of standardizing requirements to get a driver's license across all 50 states. It was something that the 9/11 Commission recommended be done. Proponents think it will improve homeland security. Critics say it amounts to a little more than a national I.D. card and is not a good idea at all.

Your thoughts, AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack.

To the headlines. Here is Carol Costello again.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," suspected serial killer Dennis Rader set to be back in court in the next hour. Rader waived his right to a preliminary hearing last month. Today in Wichita, Kansas, he is expected to enter a plea on 10 counts of first-degree murder in connection with a killing spree spanning more than 20 years. He is expected to enter a not guilty plea.

Social Security once again topping the agenda for President Bush. The president heads to Mississippi today where he'll speak at a Nissan manufacturing plant. Tomorrow he'll address a Latino small business conference in Washington. The White House says the president will continue reaching out to the American people to make sure everyone gets his message.

Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is offering its employees free credit monitoring for one year. This after the company says a storage firm lost a tape containing names and Social Security numbers of some 600,000 employees dating back to 1986.

Time Warner Cable customers, you are not affected. The Secret Service is now involved in the investigation.

And, you know, when I got the e-mail from the company, I thought it was a joke. But it's not.

And there is some relief for dozens of parents at an elementary school in Philadelphia. We told you about this story last week.

Nineteen children were pricked with a needle by a third grader, one of them tested positive for HIV. Well, it turns out that the test was a false positive. So no HIV.

Schools telling parents to stop treating their children with preventative drugs. That must be a relief for parents.

HEMMER: Scary. Oh, yes. Big time.

O'BRIEN: Can you imagine? All right, Carol. Thanks.

COSTELLO: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, Iraq's newly chosen cabinet is expected to be sworn in at any time now. CNN's Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad for us with details.

Ryan, good morning. The full cabinet not quite picked, right? Who is still not in that cabinet? RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the prime minister still hasn't officially announced who will get seven of the 36 jobs. The expectation is that he will make that announcement today and that Sunni Arabs, who have largely been outside of the political process, will get at least some of those posts.

Importantly, they are slotted to get the post of defense minister and one of the deputy prime minister posts. But it's not over until it's over here in Iraq. So that expectation is that this will happen sometime today.

What we don't know is whether that's going to happen before the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony was actually supposed to begin a couple of minutes ago. Clearly, it's been delayed a bit. So a little bit of uncertainty here, but the process continues -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, as far as the people go, is there a sense that the new government is now going to help stabilize the country, sort of in light of all the violence that's been out there?

CHILCOTE: Well, I think there's a hope that this government will stabilize the situation. In general, though, I think it's fair to say that Iraqis really are experiencing a great deal of political fatigue.

I mean, remember they went to the polls on January 30, and they thought that they were going to get a government pretty soon after that. They thought that when they elected this national assembly within a couple of weeks, perhaps a month they would have a government, and that that government would start to move forward in a whole range of issues, including addressing the issue of security. But that hasn't happened.

The violence continues. Just today, for example, in the western city of Ramadi, a firefight just a few hours ago. It was a firefight between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. security forces at a checkpoint there. At least one member of Iraqi security forces killed.

They're saying that 12 insurgents were also killed. But two innocent bystanders, two Iraqis civilians, were also killed in that clash.

And just a little bit earlier this morning another car bomb in Baghdad. So -- wounding at least three.

So this violence just continues. I mean, just think about it this way, Soledad. Since the partial government was announced -- the partial government, I should say -- on Thursday and today, at least 140 Iraqis have been killed in violence here -- Soledad.

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

Well, the body of an American fighter pilot was recovered overnight in Iraq. The search goes on for a second pilot. Navy officials say they believe their two F-18s collided on Monday in bad weather during a routine mission. The Boeing-built Hornet is known as an all-weather fighter jet. This military says no indication of hostile fire at the time of the accident.

HEMMER: About six minutes past the hour now.

Investigators in California looking for answers after a string of fatal highway shootings in LA since March 12 on the freeways of Los Angeles. At least eight shootings have left four people dead.

Chief Art Acevedo is the southern division chief for the California Highway Patrol. He's now in LA.

Chief, good morning to you out there. Eight shootings, four fatalities. What do you make of this?

CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: Well, what we make of it is that we have some instances that are very tragic. But unfortunately, the sad reality of life in Los Angeles is that we have instances on the freeway.

We have shootings. And actually, this year, we had fewer shootings than we had in years past. So we're concerned, because we value every life. But we're not overly concerned, and we don't believe that the public has anything to really be deathly afraid of.

HEMMER: Chief, are you downplaying this?

ACEVEDO: No, absolutely not. We're not -- well, let me back up.

We're not downplaying it. Every life is of value. But we need to put things in perspective.

We're talking about four homicides in the three most populous and heavily-traveled freeway systems in the nation. When you contrast that to the fact that we have dozens of shootings in our communities on a daily base this Los Angeles County -- and we have a three-square- mile radius in Los Angeles County where on track to have about 120 homicides this year. It really puts the problem in perspective.

HEMMER: And your freeway system is extensive. That's probably an understatement, actually. But of the eight shootings that you're looking at now, what is the distance between them, Chief?

ACEVEDO: Well, they've been random. We've had some here in LA County, we've had another one in Riverside County, probably about 45 miles away.

We have no reason to believe that these are related. We believe they're just random acts of violence. And unfortunately, they're part of life in the metropolitan areas of the United States.

HEMMER: Just to be clear, you're not saying there's a connection then, are you? All different? ACEVEDO: Absolutely. We have not been able to establish a connection between any of the shootings. They're just crimes of the moment.

Some of them are as a result of road rage, some of them are as a result -- they start off on surface streets and work their way up on to the freeway. So we don't believe that there is a serial shooter out there or any of these are related.

And the bottom line is we just want folks to understand that it is safe to travel the freeway system here in Los Angeles County. But they need to be courteous, they need to take their time, they need to make sure that they don't start an altercation on the freeway.

HEMMER: You mentioned a serial sniper or a serial shooter. There's an alleged serial shooter on trial actually in Columbus, Ohio, right now. You'll remember that case very well going back about 18 months ago.

ACEVEDO: I sure do.

HEMMER: Are you concerned about maybe the concern that your citizens may have? And, if so, what have you done as an organization to try and -- I don't know if you can counter it, but probably beef up and fight it back?

ACEVEDO: Well, we've actually beefed up our patrols here in the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties. We've also started deploying undercover officers in plain-clothed -- plain- wrapped police cars on all shifts throughout Los Angeles County.

And next week the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department and the California Department of Transportation will be meeting to explore the feasibility of buying new technologies to tape-record, video-record freeway traffic. And also other technologies, such as license plate readers, that will give us captured data on suspect vehicle, on other wanted vehicles that will afford us the opportunity to make a quick arrest in these incidents.

HEMMER: Keep us posted, Chief, will you? Art Acevedo out there in Los Angeles.

ACEVEDO: I sure will. Thank you.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Another look at the weather now. Chad Myers at the CNN Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Authorities may or may not press charges against that runaway bride. Still waiting for an answer on that. But her fiance has already decided to forgive and forget. His father tells us why, still to come this hour. O'BRIEN: Also, Michael Jackson's defense gets ready to make its case, but first prosecutors focus on a flurry of phone calls made by Jackson's advisers.

HEMMER: Also, a year ago today, Thomas Hamill's daring escape from Iraqi insurgents shocked the world. Hamill talks to us live today about his life since. You'll hear it this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Her fiance is ready to reconcile, but authorities in Georgia appear to be less forgiving of the runaway bride-to-be. Jennifer Wilbanks could face civil and criminal charms for falsely claiming that she'd been kidnapped.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Claude Mason is the father of the jilted groom, John Mason. He's in Duluth, Georgia.

Nice to see you, Mr. Mason. Thank you for talking with us.

CLAUDE MASON, FATHER OF RUNAWAY BRIDE'S FIANCE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: There are reports that Jennifer may have bought a ticket on the Greyhound bus a week in advance of the wedding. Any indications in your mind that, in fact, well before the wedding she was having some serious second thoughts?

MASON: No. I haven't really thought about it that much. I just have gotten all of those details recently, myself. So, I can't assess it one way or the other as to what was in her mind. I can only guess that she might have thought about it, whether she actually was going to go through with it or not. At the time she bought the ticket, it may have been different.

O'BRIEN: There are reports this is not the first engagement, in fact, that she's bolted on. Is it correct that she's been engaged before?

MASON: I do not know that. I've heard...

O'BRIEN: Is the wedding...

MASON: I heard a little bit that she may have been, but I don't know for sure.

O'BRIEN: Is the wedding still on right now, as it stands?

MASON: According to John, it is. As far as a date, that's not been determined yet. But he's committed to her. And as it stands now, he thinks there will be a wedding.

O'BRIEN: Has she apologized, not only to your son, but to you and your family as well? MASON: We have not spoken with Jennifer since her return.

O'BRIEN: The D.A. says that she has not apologized to him. In fact, here's how he describes her. Self-centered, self-absorbed, no sense what was she put people through. Why would your son want to marry a girl who clearly doesn't want to be married to him, or at least at that time did not?

MASON: I don't know whether it was a fact that she did not want to be married to him. I think it was just all of the rush of the moment, so to speak, got to her as far as what I can tell from this point in my discussions with John. I don't think it's a matter of her not wanting to marry him. I think it was just all of the stuff leading up to it got to her.

O'BRIEN: In fact, in an interview, your son talked a little bit about some of the problems that Jennifer has been having leading up to the wedding date. Can you be more specific? What kind of issues is he talking about that she may have had?

MASON: I'm not real sure what he's referring to. I just know Jennifer was a perfectionist. She wanted everything to be just right. And as far as I know, everything was moving in that direction.

O'BRIEN: The D.A., as you well know, is considering charging her. He says that she needs to face some kind of consequences. Do you agree with that, that she has to face some kind of consequences, maybe jail time, maybe financial consequences for what she pulled off?

MASON: Mr. Porter is just doing the job he was elected to do. I don't have any problems with that. As far as what her punishment should be, I haven't really thought that one through. I don't -- I definitely do not think there should be any jail time. There's no question about in my mind about that. Possibly what I've heard...

O'BRIEN: Do you think she should have to pay back some of the money that the city lost in searching for her, $60,000?

MASON: That's a possibility. That is a possibility also. But right now, I haven't made my mind up as to what would be a -- what would be a good resolution on behalf of her and the city yet.

O'BRIEN: Do you think there will be a time when Jennifer comes forward and apologizes to you and all of the people who were looking for her and all of the people who were concerned that somehow maybe she, you know, had been injured or was killed?

MASON: I hope so. I hope that comes very soon.

O'BRIEN: Are you expecting to sit down and have a chat with your future daughter-in-law anytime soon?

MASON: I'm not -- I don't know. It depends on a lot of things right now. I'd be willing to sit down with her at any time, yes.

O'BRIEN: Are you looking forward to her joining your family as your future daughter-in-law?

MASON: I was looking very much forward to it before this all happened. And if John is still in love with her and still wants to marry her, I would welcome her into the family.

O'BRIEN: Claude Mason is the father of the runaway bride's fiance. Thanks for talking with us, Mr. Mason. I appreciate it.

MASON: You're quite welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Eighteen minutes past the hour. They have reached a milestone of sorts in California. Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's case expected to rest today. More now on Santa Maria and Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Michael Jackson, the time to go on the offense draws near. For the prosecution, it was a day of who talked to whom and when. All decide to convince the jury that Jackson conspired to hold the accuser's family hostage.

The jury heard hours of testimony regarding a flurry of phone activity by Jackson's team in California and Florida in February and March of 2003. There were 64 calls on February 6. That's the same day that the now-infamous Martin Bashir documentary aired in the United States.

There were another 83 calls on the day the accuser's family allegedly fled the Neverland Ranch. There was another spike in calls the day the accuser's family taped a rebuttal video that portrayed Jackson in a positive light.

JIM MORET, LEGAL ANALYST: If the prosecution is trying to show that Jackson's involved in a conspiracy in order to make this rebuttal video, then essentially everybody in Hollywood is guilty of a conspiracy when they make a P.R.-type of video, too. So they really haven't shown any sinister motive. The fact that there's a lot of activity doesn't in and of itself prove that there's a criminal conspiracy.

DORNIN: The defense argued that no one could prove that Michael Jackson himself was involved in any of those calls. The jury also learned that one of Jackson's advisers, Mark Shaffield (ph), cashed two checks for $1.5 million. Jurors were never told what the money was used for.

Yet to come? A financial expert expected to testify Michael Jackson was in dire financial straits. Prosecutors say that was his motive to keep the family captive because Jackson couldn't afford anymore bad publicity.

(on camera): Sources tell CNN the prosecution's final witness is likely to be Rudy Provencio. He is a business associate of Jackson's close adviser, Mark Shaffield (ph). Prosecutors hope that Provencio can implicate Jackson directly in the alleged conspiracy.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And when the defense begins its case, attorneys expected to call a laundry list of celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jay Leno, Larry King and Macaulay Culkin -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One year ago today a Mississippi truck driver made a daring dash for freedom from his Iraqi captors. Well, Thomas Hamill reflects on how his life has changed since that ordeal. His story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.

Congress set to approve legislation that would for the first time set national standards for drivers' licenses. Every state would be the same.

It's called the Real I.D. measure. It's being included in a supplemental on the war in Iraq, which means it will get right through without a lot of debate.

The main provision requires states to verify that every applicant for a driver's license is a legal resident of the United States. Eleven states now issue drivers' licenses to non-citizens, be they legal or illegal. This bill would stop that.

The question is this: will standardizing drivers' licenses improve our security?

Sandy writes from Florida, "I've lived in Florida for 40 years. Refugees from Cuba, Haiti and other islands come to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Drivers' licenses? Forget about it. They drive without them."

"They drive with no ability to read street and safety signs. They drive with no insurance. And they reek havoc when they cause interstate tie-ups and accidents."

Jim writes from Arizona, "Jack, as an Arizona resident, I can tell you, not giving out drivers' licenses to illegals will not make a whit of difference. First, the illegals drive all the time without licenses. So it won't stop driving. Secondly, employers already hire them without proper documents, so what is one more missing document?"

On the other hand, Jason writes from Georgia, "From a law enforcement standpoint, this is good. I work on a secured military installation and have detained many illegal immigrants working for government contractors that have fake identification. Many others were illegal but had valid drivers' licenses and that, my friend, is all you need to enter a military installation."

And finally, Reg in Thunder Bay writes this: "Highway congestion, smog, the need for foreign oil and the entire debt of California eliminated in one day. The ACLU will never stand for it."

I'm finished now.

O'BRIEN: Good feedback, I think, this morning.

CAFFERTY: Yes?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Where do you come down on all of this?

O'BRIEN: You know, I'd like to understand what you haven't eliminated yet, how people who are legally in this country but don't -- aren't citizens could have the opportunity to get a driver's license. That would be curious.

But I don't want to make extra work for you today. But if could you find that out, I'd be grateful.

CAFFERTY: I'll get right on it.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: I'll get my staff of one to get all over it for you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

We told you Monday how Laura Bush stole the spotlight at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday with jokes that were aimed at her husband, the president. Well, "The Tonight Show's" Jay Leno based his own routine on the first lady's comedic debut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Laura Bush was a big hit with her comedy routine at the big Washington Correspondents Dinner the other night. And this is something new for the Bush family, intentional comedy.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: The president knew in advance she was going to speak, but he never saw the material. He never knew what she was going to say. Basically, the same way he handles the intelligence briefing. He knows they're there. He knows there's something in there, just not sure...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: He was funny on that. CAFFERTY: She was hysterical.

O'BRIEN: And she was -- great timing.

HEMMER: She's gotten some great mileage out of that from Saturday night.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Thanks, Soledad.

A lot of -- where are we -- a lot of young children say their dad is a hero. For one Massachusetts family those roles have been reversed. How an 8-year-old boy saved his father from the disaster on the highway. We'll talk to him in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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