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American Morning
'No Cold Feet'; NYC Bomb Investigation
Aired May 06, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
The runaway bride, yes, we're still talking about her. She says it wasn't cold feet, in fact.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No.
O'BRIEN: So why did she really disappear the days before her wedding? The story behind the story, only here on AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: We call that the back story...
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
HEMMER: ... with her pastor in a moment.
Also, what's the best clue for police here now in New York? Two homemade grenades exploded on Thursday. Were those explosions tied to elections in Britain, or was there more behind that? The latest on the investigation, what they're finding today in a couple minutes.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to the headlines first, though, with Carol Costello.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of you. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
President Bush is heading to Europe to mark 60 years since the end of World War II. The president just left. He'll visit four countries, beginning with Latvia and the Netherlands and ending with Georgia, the old Soviet Republic. President Bush is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
Another suicide bombing in Iraq, this time in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown. Officials say a suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iraqi police officers to work. At least seven were killed, three others wounded.
The mother and stepfather accused of killing the little girl once known as Precious Doe are in custody. They're awaiting extradition this morning. And the little girl has now been identified as Erica Michelle Marie Green. Prosecutors claim the girl's mother said the child had refused to go to bed and died after being kicked in the head. Her body was found in April of 2001. We'll have more details on how the 4-year-old case was solved in the next hour.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair says being elect ford a third term is -- quote -- a tremendous honor." Early results show Blair has secured an historic third win, but with a smaller lead than before for his Labour Party. Unhappiness over Blair's support of the war in Iraq is blamed for Labour's poor showing. Final results are expected later today.
And there is something in the water in Florida, because three was certainly the magic number at a Florida hospital. Doctors in Orlando deliver three sets of triplets, all within the span of eight hours -- three girls and six boys. And also, a pair of twins were born. I'm not kidding. A pair of twins born in that hospital on the very same day.
HEMMER: Where is the hospital?
COSTELLO: In Florida, in Orlando.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know what? Every time when you have multiples, you have a team for each baby. So, they must have had just tons of personnel running back and forth. That's really hard.
COSTELLO: So, anybody just having one baby was out of luck.
O'BRIEN: We'll get to you later. You can do it by yourself, honey. Come on, women have done this forever.
HEMMER: What's in the water there?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: I don't know. You wouldn't think that Orlando was the most romantic place.
HEMMER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Or maybe it is.
COSTELLO: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's get to Georgia right now. Jennifer Wilbanks says she is sorry for the trouble she has caused. In a statement read by her pastor on Thursday, Wilbanks also said her disappearance had nothing to do with cold feet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. THOMAS SMILEY, WILBANKS FAMILY PASTOR: "At this time, I cannot fully explain what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues which seemed out of control; issues for which I was unable to address or confine."
(END VIDEO CLIP) HEMMER: That is Dr. Thomas Smiley from yesterday, Wilbanks' pastor. He joins me this morning from Wilbanks' hometown in Duluth, Georgia -- or Gainesville, Georgia, excuse me.
Doctor, good morning to you.
SMILEY: Hello. How are you? Good morning.
HEMMER: I'm doing fine. Yesterday, she talked about running away from herself. That was part of the statement. Can you give us a better understanding as to what she means by that?
SMILEY: You know, it's really hard, because I don't think Jennifer really understands the full ramifications of her actions in that regard. She's still really very much trying to deal with that. And that's what I'm trying to help people understand on her behalf is that she isn't really aware of everything that precipitated that, what she called inappropriate action. So, it's just really hard to go into greater detail than what she did.
HEMMER: Why would that be? What eludes her ability to understand?
SMILEY: Well, obviously, that was not a very rational action. And I think it's really difficult, when people are trying to place on an irrational action or irrational action, rational behavior. So obviously, she doesn't understand all that precipitated that action. And that's what her therapy is about. That's what her counseling is about. That's what her friends, her family, her faith, that's what all of this is going to try to help her come to terms with.
HEMMER: So, you're saying she needs professional help then. She needs therapy to help her understand what she did to her family and her friends in that community.
SMILEY: Exactly. You know, she indicated yesterday in her statement -- and she wanted to say and she did very clearly -- that she is undergoing voluntary therapy. And that involves some very professional, capable assistance on both the therapy side and the medical side. And she's looking to get a handle on why this happened in her life.
And, you know, people want to hear from her, and she wants to speak. But she has to know what to say and how to say it and what she was feeling. And she will speak. She wants to speak. But, you know, you've got to her some time.
HEMMER: Yes. The D.A. said she's self-absorbed.
SMILEY: Yes.
HEMMER: Does that help us gain an understanding, doctor?
SMILEY: You know, I don't know what his qualifications may be in psycho analysis. I certainly know I'm not capable of making those types of estimations. I do know that she's a good person. She wants to do well. She wants to do right. She's confident that she will, and she's made progress in the treatment and in the processes that she's already incurred.
HEMMER: You know, doctor, yesterday, her attorney was on our program, and said she was grateful that she got on the bus as opposed to doing harm to herself. Was that a possibility?
SMILEY: Well, I mean, exactly. I mean, in her state of mind, there's no telling exactly what may have happened. And by the way, you know, millions and millions of people prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ for her safe return, and those prayers were answered. And that's the focal part, I think, of the story is that she was found and returned safely. And I think it's a direct result of prayers and people offering that kind of support in her behalf.
HEMMER: Yes. There are reports out there today, and more in "People" magazine over the weekend, that go to describing the relationship she had with John Mason. Can you give us an honest appraisal of where the relationship stands?
SMILEY: Well, their relationship stands right now, I think, in good stead. They're very communicative. They've spent a lot of time together. They're not making any, you know, great, grand decisions right now. They're really working together. John is involved in some of her professional treatment. He's with her. He's been with her in her earlier treatment sessions and her other professional visits. So, the relationship is going along well. What their future plans are, I think, remains for them to decide and for them to work out. And I believe they will.
HEMMER: One more thing. You suggested that she will talk publicly about this. Do you know when it will happen?
SMILEY: I think it will be sooner than later. You know, she specifically said -- I remember when we worked on her statement and I was, you know, trying to understand what she wanted me to say and how she wanted me to say it. And she specifically said, I want to use the words "days" as opposed to weeks or months or whatever. So, her heart is to speak as soon as she is capable of speaking.
HEMMER: Thomas Smiley from Gainesville, Georgia. Thanks for your time this morning. The pastor for the Wilbanks family.
SMILEY: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Sure.
O'BRIEN: In our "CNN Security Watch" this morning, police in New York City are trying to enhance surveillance videos outside of an office building in midtown. Two small crude grenades blew up there on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: The tape is of poor quality, and we're still trying to interpret what it means. And the tape will be enhanced. But it's possible that it shows a -- one of the devices being thrown, landing above the numbers on the building, and then coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The motive and the target are not yet clear, although the British consulate is in the building and Thursday was election day in Britain.
So, joining us this morning with a little insight on this, former FBI investigator Bill Daly.
Nice to see you.
BILL DALY, SR. V.P., CONTROL RISKS GROUP: Good to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us. The good news, there is surveillance video. The bad news, as he said, it's not great quality. First, that kind of surprised me. It's where the British consulate is being housed. Why wouldn't you have really decent videotape rolling at all times on that?
DALY: Well, Soledad, you have to realize that these are commercial facilities. The consulate is just one of many tenants in that building. And sometimes, the quality, he may not be referring to the fact that it's not clear, it's just that it's in the middle of the night. It has a limited perspective. It may not catch the full width of the street, where they think someone may have lobbed this, you know, device from.
O'BRIEN: It did appear to show the throwing of the grenade, as we just heard a moment ago. Also, there are images of a bicyclist, a female jogger and a taxicab. When you hear that information does that signal to you, oh, these are kind of promising leads?
DALY: Oh, certainly. I mean, you may have people who go through the same routine every day. The jogger may be someone who does this, you know, every morning at that time and stop them. In fact, I know this morning, they were over on Third Avenue handing out of leaflets to any people in the area, saying, what have you seen? Yu just don't know where these pieces come from and what somebody thinks is not significant can certainly be very significant to investigators.
O'BRIEN: The information that we know about the type of weapons, the grenades, or the time of day when this happened, you say it actually does suggest a fair amount about the person who pulled this off. What does it say?
DALY: Well, I think, first of all, if somebody really was intent on hurting people -- and I'm not suggesting that these could not and they certainly could have hurt the jogger or anyone else nearby -- but they did it in the middle of the night, I believe, to send a message. The intent was not to harm people. If they did, they would have done it four later when the streets were full with commuters and people going to work. You know, and the other thing, too, is that it was somebody who, again, wanted to make that statement and wanted to do it in the middle of night under cover of darkness. And so, I don't believe it was any larger terrorist organization behind this.
O'BRIEN: And they used sort of novelty fake grenades and put powder in them as opposed to really using any real, what we would consider sort of a real weapon as opposed to an improvised device. Do you think that the cops responded well? Was this a good test run for them?
DALY: Oh, absolutely. I think the response was very good. You know, (INAUDIBLE) office of the 17th police precinct is about 100 yards away. But nonetheless, all of the other professionals, the bomb experts, the teams responded quickly. And it certainly is the first time since 9/11 here in New York where we've had an actual incident like this, where all of the agencies as well as all of the utility supports needed to be there. And they did. And they cordoned off the area, gathered the information, and within a short period of time had information about the devices that they could communicate out to the public.
O'BRIEN: Positive there. Bill Daly, nice to see you, as always.
DALY: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us.
You want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: It's 20 minutes before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, we are expecting to get the big jobs report for April later this morning. Andy is going to tell us -- hey, Chad. There's Chad still. Maybe he wants to hear about the big jobs report as well. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, a follow-up on Starbucks' refusal to sell Springsteen's new album. The 90-second poppers are putting their own spin on this CD controversy. That's ahead, too, this hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back with Jack now, my very good friend here. "Question of the Day." I like it.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Huh? You're just here until your folks pick you up this afternoon, right? About 4:00?
HEMMER: 10:01.
CAFFERTY: Come get him, Mr. and Mrs. Hemmer. Tomorrow marks the first and only Time Traveler Convention at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Student organizers argue that, technically, you only need one of these, since time travelers from the future can go to it anytime they want -- I think.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: "The New York Times" reports organizers, in fact, have roped off part of the MIT campus so that the time travel machines have a place to land and won't crash into the trees or the dormitories.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It's kind of fun, actually. If you could travel through time, where would you go, is the question? We're getting some interesting mail.
Jack in Ohio writes: "I'd go back to the mid '90s. Clinton was president. Jobs were secure. The economy was good. And there was no frivolous oil war."
Mike in South Carolina writes" I'd go back to Fort Lewis in June of, 1974, pull my hand down from volunteering to be a human guinea pig at the Edgewood Arsenal. They used chemical weapons and drugs on us. I'm now disabled. In a New York minute, I'd take that action back."
HEMMER: Oh.
CAFFERTY: Paul in Pennsylvania: "I'd travel to the day in which you guys stop airing what you think qualifies as news concerning this dingbat runaway bride-to-be, which is probably sometime in the 22nd century."
Dennis in Pennsylvania writes: "I'd go back to 1974. If I knew then what I know now I would have had even more fun."
And Joe writes from Florida: "I'd go back to a time before Jack was born, a really long strip, in order to convince his parents that abstinence is the best policy."
HEMMER: Oh, my! A good friend of yours, huh?
O'BRIEN: That's funny.
SERWER: Thank you, Joe.
HEMMER: More next hour on the runaway bride. So don't you go anywhere, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Oh, I'm sure, yes. I can hardly wait.
HEMMER: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Should we talk a little bit about what's coming up in the job market report? Also, what's wrong with GM and Ford.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
Hello. Good morning.
SERWER: Hey, Soledad. Yesterday, stocks retreated after Standard & Poor's cut the credit rating for General Motors and Ford to junk status. What that means is that S&P doubts whether these two companies can consistently pay their debts and reinvest in the business. That sent the Dow down in particular, 44 points. The Nasdaq wasn't down as much, because those are the tech stocks there. You can see.
Chrysler, of course, became a junk bond company, if you will, and came back. Bill Ford yesterday firing back to some employees in an e- mail, saying it's our job to prove our critics wrong; this in the "Detroit Free Press."
And yes, 8:30 today, we have the big jobs report for the month of April. And here is what economists are looking for; 175,000, we've been short a lot this year. For instance, in March, we only had 110,000. Economists say we need at least 150,000 jobs created each month to keep up with population growth. So we'll be reporting that later in the morning.
O'BRIEN: And we'll see just how close they get to the number. All right, Andy, thanks a lot.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: In a moment here, a stunner by Comedy Central. The network stops production of one of its biggest hits, Dave Chappelle's show, one of its most expensive, too, for that matter. What's going on behind the scenes? "90-Second Pop" takes a crack at that right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? Bruce Springsteen is, of course, singing that. "90-Second Pop" for a Friday. Let's get right to our guests this morning. Andy Borowitz from Borowitzreport.com. Amy Barnett is the managing editor of "Teen People". Toure is CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Let's get right to it.
There is a controversy brewing, as we like to say, over Bruce Springsteen's new CD that is just out. Starbucks is not going to be selling it. And usually, they sell out of whatever CDs they have in the shops. What's going on here?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, there's a song on it that's very dirty. I'm just not going to mince words. Bruce has been a naughty, naughty boy. This song is filthy.
O'BRIEN: It's graphic. It actually reminds you of, like, rap lyrics, kind of. BOROWITZ: It does. Well, I...
AMY BARNETT, MANAGING EDITOR, "TEEN PEOPLE": Oh, it does not.
BOROWITZ: It does.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it does so.
BOROWITZ: There is a reference...
O'BRIEN: That's a fair comment.
BOROWITZ: I have to come out and say it. There is a reference in the song to anal sex. And I know this is cable, so I can say that, anal sex. But...
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? It's breakfast time!
BOROWITZ: It is.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: It's in the morning, dude!
BOROWITZ: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
O'BRIEN: In all seriousness, that is, possibly, at the center of the controversy.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: Because the folks from Starbucks say that it's a marketing issue. It has nothing to do with...
BOROWITZ: Well, that's a smoke screen. There is a disparaging reference in it to decaf latte, and that is another big problem with the song.
BARNETT: I just think given how much Starbucks, you know, charges for a cup of coffee, I just think that they're upset, because the song actually mentions how much the act costs, because it's -- they're just upset because the price was too low. They're just mad.
O'BRIEN: It's about a guy who goes and visits as prostitute.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: And it gets very, very graphic.
BARNETT: But he's the Boss, though. Who is Starbucks to censor the Boss?
O'BRIEN: It's Starbucks. But it's kind of -- I thought kind of a surprise, you know, a different direction certainly for Bruce Springsteen. That's fair to say, right?
BOROWITZ: I have another reason -- oh, go ahead, Toure.
TOURE: Thank you, Drew.
BOROWITZ: You just go. Just go.
TOURE: I think this whole thing of buying CDS in Starbucks is weird to me. I mean, it's not a joke. It's just like go in there and, like, OK, you have coffee, you have Danishes, and then you have, you know, Ray Charles.
O'BRIEN: I bought some of my best CDs at Starbucks. While you're getting your coffee, you just pick up a CD that you've been trying to get anytime.
TOURE: It's kind of weird to me.
O'BRIEN: You know, if you're busy.
BOROWITZ: And I saw another complaint about this song. He is from Asbury Park, New York. He is singing like a Depression-era Okie. Where did this accent come from? If I came up here and said, hey, Soledad, oh, Paris Hilton...
TOURE: But that's how she sounded the other day.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my cold!
BOROWITZ: It's getting better.
O'BRIEN: He just ragged on my voice, because I have a cold and I'm working, I'm working.
Moving on, let's talk about something much nicer. Twenty-five hottest under 25.
BARNETT: Yes.
O'BRIEN: "Teen People" magazine. Let's name some of the well- known names. We've got Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, the "OC" cast. We've got Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I saw them the other night -- the other day at the Met, by the way. Still cute. Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney. The list goes on and on. And then you've got the "Lords of Dogtown Boys." Who the heck is that?
BARNETT: You don't know who the Lords of Dogtown are?
O'BRIEN: No.
BARNETT: If you don't know who the "Lord of Dogtown" are, "Teen People" is here to help you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
BARNETT: We are the voice of cool America, and "Lords of Dogtown" is a movie that all of the very cool kids are going to go see this summer. It's about a gang of pro skateboarders in California who made it to the top, and is led by this super hot young actor named Emile Hirsch. You must remember his name, because he's going to be big.
O'BRIEN: Emile Hirsch. Who is T.I.? I know he must be cool.
TOURE: T.I.
BARNETT: He is the king of the south.
TOURE: Southern rapper.
BARNETT: He has dubbed himself the king of the south. He's a little bit cocky, but he has got all of the makings for a classic, you know, hip-hop mogul. He's got the sneaker line. He's got the clothing line. He's even opened a restaurant.
TOURE: You used the word "classic" in regards to T.I. I mean, there's nothing classic about him.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: I like the way he goes ahead and gets all of the status things before we actually know who he is. He gets the restaurant. Who the heck is T.I.?
BARNETT: My readers know who T.I. is.
O'BRIEN: All right, all right, I buy that.
BOROWITZ: Under 25 are the first to IQ?
O'BRIEN: No.
BOROWITZ: OK.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're just jealous because you don't have a chance of making that list.
BOROWITZ: That's true.
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
BOROWITZ: I know. I know.
O'BRIEN: Such a hater. Such a hater. What's going on with Dave Chappelle's show.
TOURE: Yes, this is actually...
O'BRIEN: It's a hilariously funny show.
TOURE: They were supposed to come back later this month, but Comedy Central has suspended the show indefinitely. And this is actually a really serious a really sad story.
O'BRIEN: Why?
TOURE: Chappelle is feeling tremendous pressure from having taken the money, the $35 million, maybe $50 million, but whatever. You don't -- like, you don't understand. Like, when you're, like, nobody and you're in the corner, he was the surprise guy. Like, Chris Rock was the star.
O'BRIEN: Yes. And the good news was he got the 50 mil.
TOURE: Bernie Mac was the star. Chappelle was just on the side. Suddenly, everybody is looking at you. Everywhere you want to go, what's going next? What's coming next? What's next season. And the show may not come back. He may not ever be able to finish more shows to be able to do this more.
BOROWITZ: I have a solution, Toure. Clearly, this $35 million is just providing so much pressure. Bring it to me. I will take 35 mil.
TOURE: No, but it's -- no, no, but it's funny.
O'BRIEN: Toure, isn't this...
TOURE: Success can be devastating.
O'BRIEN: Obvious it can. But you know what? It's a classic story of people who become famous, and they don't know how to deal with that. I mean, a lot of people get over it and go on.
TOURE: He was already famous, but the pressure of everybody looking. You're the savior of Comedy Central. Everywhere you go, everyone's looking at you. You've already done two seasons that were great. You're going to do more like that. It's a tremendous amount of pressure on him. I understand. I totally understand.
O'BRIEN: And everybody is in a successful venue.
BARNETT: Right.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: I mean, that's the same pressure that everybody...
TOURE: You know very few people in your life who have been this successful to get $35 million to do something like this.
BOROWITZ: Look, those Dogtown Boys, it's the same deal. T.I...
O'BRIEN: T.I. He's got the restaurant. He's on the verge. Listen to me.
BARNETT: I just think if that Dave Chappelle doesn't come back, we're going to be stuck, you know, next to "The Daily Show" it's the funniest on TV. He's got to come back.
O'BRIEN: He's going to be stuck with, we need you, Dave, get it together. We need you.
BARNETT: Yes, please, please, I'm imploring you, Dave, come back.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: You guys, we're out of time. Thanks as always. Appreciate it.
Coming up in just a moment, the man causing a huge headache for "American Idol" and one of the judges. Corey Clark joins us live. He's going to talk about his claims on private lessons that he got from Paula Abdul. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Aired May 6, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
The runaway bride, yes, we're still talking about her. She says it wasn't cold feet, in fact.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No.
O'BRIEN: So why did she really disappear the days before her wedding? The story behind the story, only here on AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: We call that the back story...
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
HEMMER: ... with her pastor in a moment.
Also, what's the best clue for police here now in New York? Two homemade grenades exploded on Thursday. Were those explosions tied to elections in Britain, or was there more behind that? The latest on the investigation, what they're finding today in a couple minutes.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to the headlines first, though, with Carol Costello.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of you. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
President Bush is heading to Europe to mark 60 years since the end of World War II. The president just left. He'll visit four countries, beginning with Latvia and the Netherlands and ending with Georgia, the old Soviet Republic. President Bush is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
Another suicide bombing in Iraq, this time in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown. Officials say a suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iraqi police officers to work. At least seven were killed, three others wounded.
The mother and stepfather accused of killing the little girl once known as Precious Doe are in custody. They're awaiting extradition this morning. And the little girl has now been identified as Erica Michelle Marie Green. Prosecutors claim the girl's mother said the child had refused to go to bed and died after being kicked in the head. Her body was found in April of 2001. We'll have more details on how the 4-year-old case was solved in the next hour.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair says being elect ford a third term is -- quote -- a tremendous honor." Early results show Blair has secured an historic third win, but with a smaller lead than before for his Labour Party. Unhappiness over Blair's support of the war in Iraq is blamed for Labour's poor showing. Final results are expected later today.
And there is something in the water in Florida, because three was certainly the magic number at a Florida hospital. Doctors in Orlando deliver three sets of triplets, all within the span of eight hours -- three girls and six boys. And also, a pair of twins were born. I'm not kidding. A pair of twins born in that hospital on the very same day.
HEMMER: Where is the hospital?
COSTELLO: In Florida, in Orlando.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know what? Every time when you have multiples, you have a team for each baby. So, they must have had just tons of personnel running back and forth. That's really hard.
COSTELLO: So, anybody just having one baby was out of luck.
O'BRIEN: We'll get to you later. You can do it by yourself, honey. Come on, women have done this forever.
HEMMER: What's in the water there?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: I don't know. You wouldn't think that Orlando was the most romantic place.
HEMMER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Or maybe it is.
COSTELLO: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's get to Georgia right now. Jennifer Wilbanks says she is sorry for the trouble she has caused. In a statement read by her pastor on Thursday, Wilbanks also said her disappearance had nothing to do with cold feet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. THOMAS SMILEY, WILBANKS FAMILY PASTOR: "At this time, I cannot fully explain what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues which seemed out of control; issues for which I was unable to address or confine."
(END VIDEO CLIP) HEMMER: That is Dr. Thomas Smiley from yesterday, Wilbanks' pastor. He joins me this morning from Wilbanks' hometown in Duluth, Georgia -- or Gainesville, Georgia, excuse me.
Doctor, good morning to you.
SMILEY: Hello. How are you? Good morning.
HEMMER: I'm doing fine. Yesterday, she talked about running away from herself. That was part of the statement. Can you give us a better understanding as to what she means by that?
SMILEY: You know, it's really hard, because I don't think Jennifer really understands the full ramifications of her actions in that regard. She's still really very much trying to deal with that. And that's what I'm trying to help people understand on her behalf is that she isn't really aware of everything that precipitated that, what she called inappropriate action. So, it's just really hard to go into greater detail than what she did.
HEMMER: Why would that be? What eludes her ability to understand?
SMILEY: Well, obviously, that was not a very rational action. And I think it's really difficult, when people are trying to place on an irrational action or irrational action, rational behavior. So obviously, she doesn't understand all that precipitated that action. And that's what her therapy is about. That's what her counseling is about. That's what her friends, her family, her faith, that's what all of this is going to try to help her come to terms with.
HEMMER: So, you're saying she needs professional help then. She needs therapy to help her understand what she did to her family and her friends in that community.
SMILEY: Exactly. You know, she indicated yesterday in her statement -- and she wanted to say and she did very clearly -- that she is undergoing voluntary therapy. And that involves some very professional, capable assistance on both the therapy side and the medical side. And she's looking to get a handle on why this happened in her life.
And, you know, people want to hear from her, and she wants to speak. But she has to know what to say and how to say it and what she was feeling. And she will speak. She wants to speak. But, you know, you've got to her some time.
HEMMER: Yes. The D.A. said she's self-absorbed.
SMILEY: Yes.
HEMMER: Does that help us gain an understanding, doctor?
SMILEY: You know, I don't know what his qualifications may be in psycho analysis. I certainly know I'm not capable of making those types of estimations. I do know that she's a good person. She wants to do well. She wants to do right. She's confident that she will, and she's made progress in the treatment and in the processes that she's already incurred.
HEMMER: You know, doctor, yesterday, her attorney was on our program, and said she was grateful that she got on the bus as opposed to doing harm to herself. Was that a possibility?
SMILEY: Well, I mean, exactly. I mean, in her state of mind, there's no telling exactly what may have happened. And by the way, you know, millions and millions of people prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ for her safe return, and those prayers were answered. And that's the focal part, I think, of the story is that she was found and returned safely. And I think it's a direct result of prayers and people offering that kind of support in her behalf.
HEMMER: Yes. There are reports out there today, and more in "People" magazine over the weekend, that go to describing the relationship she had with John Mason. Can you give us an honest appraisal of where the relationship stands?
SMILEY: Well, their relationship stands right now, I think, in good stead. They're very communicative. They've spent a lot of time together. They're not making any, you know, great, grand decisions right now. They're really working together. John is involved in some of her professional treatment. He's with her. He's been with her in her earlier treatment sessions and her other professional visits. So, the relationship is going along well. What their future plans are, I think, remains for them to decide and for them to work out. And I believe they will.
HEMMER: One more thing. You suggested that she will talk publicly about this. Do you know when it will happen?
SMILEY: I think it will be sooner than later. You know, she specifically said -- I remember when we worked on her statement and I was, you know, trying to understand what she wanted me to say and how she wanted me to say it. And she specifically said, I want to use the words "days" as opposed to weeks or months or whatever. So, her heart is to speak as soon as she is capable of speaking.
HEMMER: Thomas Smiley from Gainesville, Georgia. Thanks for your time this morning. The pastor for the Wilbanks family.
SMILEY: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Sure.
O'BRIEN: In our "CNN Security Watch" this morning, police in New York City are trying to enhance surveillance videos outside of an office building in midtown. Two small crude grenades blew up there on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: The tape is of poor quality, and we're still trying to interpret what it means. And the tape will be enhanced. But it's possible that it shows a -- one of the devices being thrown, landing above the numbers on the building, and then coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The motive and the target are not yet clear, although the British consulate is in the building and Thursday was election day in Britain.
So, joining us this morning with a little insight on this, former FBI investigator Bill Daly.
Nice to see you.
BILL DALY, SR. V.P., CONTROL RISKS GROUP: Good to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us. The good news, there is surveillance video. The bad news, as he said, it's not great quality. First, that kind of surprised me. It's where the British consulate is being housed. Why wouldn't you have really decent videotape rolling at all times on that?
DALY: Well, Soledad, you have to realize that these are commercial facilities. The consulate is just one of many tenants in that building. And sometimes, the quality, he may not be referring to the fact that it's not clear, it's just that it's in the middle of the night. It has a limited perspective. It may not catch the full width of the street, where they think someone may have lobbed this, you know, device from.
O'BRIEN: It did appear to show the throwing of the grenade, as we just heard a moment ago. Also, there are images of a bicyclist, a female jogger and a taxicab. When you hear that information does that signal to you, oh, these are kind of promising leads?
DALY: Oh, certainly. I mean, you may have people who go through the same routine every day. The jogger may be someone who does this, you know, every morning at that time and stop them. In fact, I know this morning, they were over on Third Avenue handing out of leaflets to any people in the area, saying, what have you seen? Yu just don't know where these pieces come from and what somebody thinks is not significant can certainly be very significant to investigators.
O'BRIEN: The information that we know about the type of weapons, the grenades, or the time of day when this happened, you say it actually does suggest a fair amount about the person who pulled this off. What does it say?
DALY: Well, I think, first of all, if somebody really was intent on hurting people -- and I'm not suggesting that these could not and they certainly could have hurt the jogger or anyone else nearby -- but they did it in the middle of the night, I believe, to send a message. The intent was not to harm people. If they did, they would have done it four later when the streets were full with commuters and people going to work. You know, and the other thing, too, is that it was somebody who, again, wanted to make that statement and wanted to do it in the middle of night under cover of darkness. And so, I don't believe it was any larger terrorist organization behind this.
O'BRIEN: And they used sort of novelty fake grenades and put powder in them as opposed to really using any real, what we would consider sort of a real weapon as opposed to an improvised device. Do you think that the cops responded well? Was this a good test run for them?
DALY: Oh, absolutely. I think the response was very good. You know, (INAUDIBLE) office of the 17th police precinct is about 100 yards away. But nonetheless, all of the other professionals, the bomb experts, the teams responded quickly. And it certainly is the first time since 9/11 here in New York where we've had an actual incident like this, where all of the agencies as well as all of the utility supports needed to be there. And they did. And they cordoned off the area, gathered the information, and within a short period of time had information about the devices that they could communicate out to the public.
O'BRIEN: Positive there. Bill Daly, nice to see you, as always.
DALY: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us.
You want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: It's 20 minutes before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, we are expecting to get the big jobs report for April later this morning. Andy is going to tell us -- hey, Chad. There's Chad still. Maybe he wants to hear about the big jobs report as well. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, a follow-up on Starbucks' refusal to sell Springsteen's new album. The 90-second poppers are putting their own spin on this CD controversy. That's ahead, too, this hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back with Jack now, my very good friend here. "Question of the Day." I like it.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Huh? You're just here until your folks pick you up this afternoon, right? About 4:00?
HEMMER: 10:01.
CAFFERTY: Come get him, Mr. and Mrs. Hemmer. Tomorrow marks the first and only Time Traveler Convention at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Student organizers argue that, technically, you only need one of these, since time travelers from the future can go to it anytime they want -- I think.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: "The New York Times" reports organizers, in fact, have roped off part of the MIT campus so that the time travel machines have a place to land and won't crash into the trees or the dormitories.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It's kind of fun, actually. If you could travel through time, where would you go, is the question? We're getting some interesting mail.
Jack in Ohio writes: "I'd go back to the mid '90s. Clinton was president. Jobs were secure. The economy was good. And there was no frivolous oil war."
Mike in South Carolina writes" I'd go back to Fort Lewis in June of, 1974, pull my hand down from volunteering to be a human guinea pig at the Edgewood Arsenal. They used chemical weapons and drugs on us. I'm now disabled. In a New York minute, I'd take that action back."
HEMMER: Oh.
CAFFERTY: Paul in Pennsylvania: "I'd travel to the day in which you guys stop airing what you think qualifies as news concerning this dingbat runaway bride-to-be, which is probably sometime in the 22nd century."
Dennis in Pennsylvania writes: "I'd go back to 1974. If I knew then what I know now I would have had even more fun."
And Joe writes from Florida: "I'd go back to a time before Jack was born, a really long strip, in order to convince his parents that abstinence is the best policy."
HEMMER: Oh, my! A good friend of yours, huh?
O'BRIEN: That's funny.
SERWER: Thank you, Joe.
HEMMER: More next hour on the runaway bride. So don't you go anywhere, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Oh, I'm sure, yes. I can hardly wait.
HEMMER: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Should we talk a little bit about what's coming up in the job market report? Also, what's wrong with GM and Ford.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
Hello. Good morning.
SERWER: Hey, Soledad. Yesterday, stocks retreated after Standard & Poor's cut the credit rating for General Motors and Ford to junk status. What that means is that S&P doubts whether these two companies can consistently pay their debts and reinvest in the business. That sent the Dow down in particular, 44 points. The Nasdaq wasn't down as much, because those are the tech stocks there. You can see.
Chrysler, of course, became a junk bond company, if you will, and came back. Bill Ford yesterday firing back to some employees in an e- mail, saying it's our job to prove our critics wrong; this in the "Detroit Free Press."
And yes, 8:30 today, we have the big jobs report for the month of April. And here is what economists are looking for; 175,000, we've been short a lot this year. For instance, in March, we only had 110,000. Economists say we need at least 150,000 jobs created each month to keep up with population growth. So we'll be reporting that later in the morning.
O'BRIEN: And we'll see just how close they get to the number. All right, Andy, thanks a lot.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: In a moment here, a stunner by Comedy Central. The network stops production of one of its biggest hits, Dave Chappelle's show, one of its most expensive, too, for that matter. What's going on behind the scenes? "90-Second Pop" takes a crack at that right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? Bruce Springsteen is, of course, singing that. "90-Second Pop" for a Friday. Let's get right to our guests this morning. Andy Borowitz from Borowitzreport.com. Amy Barnett is the managing editor of "Teen People". Toure is CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Let's get right to it.
There is a controversy brewing, as we like to say, over Bruce Springsteen's new CD that is just out. Starbucks is not going to be selling it. And usually, they sell out of whatever CDs they have in the shops. What's going on here?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, there's a song on it that's very dirty. I'm just not going to mince words. Bruce has been a naughty, naughty boy. This song is filthy.
O'BRIEN: It's graphic. It actually reminds you of, like, rap lyrics, kind of. BOROWITZ: It does. Well, I...
AMY BARNETT, MANAGING EDITOR, "TEEN PEOPLE": Oh, it does not.
BOROWITZ: It does.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it does so.
BOROWITZ: There is a reference...
O'BRIEN: That's a fair comment.
BOROWITZ: I have to come out and say it. There is a reference in the song to anal sex. And I know this is cable, so I can say that, anal sex. But...
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? It's breakfast time!
BOROWITZ: It is.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: It's in the morning, dude!
BOROWITZ: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
O'BRIEN: In all seriousness, that is, possibly, at the center of the controversy.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: Because the folks from Starbucks say that it's a marketing issue. It has nothing to do with...
BOROWITZ: Well, that's a smoke screen. There is a disparaging reference in it to decaf latte, and that is another big problem with the song.
BARNETT: I just think given how much Starbucks, you know, charges for a cup of coffee, I just think that they're upset, because the song actually mentions how much the act costs, because it's -- they're just upset because the price was too low. They're just mad.
O'BRIEN: It's about a guy who goes and visits as prostitute.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: And it gets very, very graphic.
BARNETT: But he's the Boss, though. Who is Starbucks to censor the Boss?
O'BRIEN: It's Starbucks. But it's kind of -- I thought kind of a surprise, you know, a different direction certainly for Bruce Springsteen. That's fair to say, right?
BOROWITZ: I have another reason -- oh, go ahead, Toure.
TOURE: Thank you, Drew.
BOROWITZ: You just go. Just go.
TOURE: I think this whole thing of buying CDS in Starbucks is weird to me. I mean, it's not a joke. It's just like go in there and, like, OK, you have coffee, you have Danishes, and then you have, you know, Ray Charles.
O'BRIEN: I bought some of my best CDs at Starbucks. While you're getting your coffee, you just pick up a CD that you've been trying to get anytime.
TOURE: It's kind of weird to me.
O'BRIEN: You know, if you're busy.
BOROWITZ: And I saw another complaint about this song. He is from Asbury Park, New York. He is singing like a Depression-era Okie. Where did this accent come from? If I came up here and said, hey, Soledad, oh, Paris Hilton...
TOURE: But that's how she sounded the other day.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my cold!
BOROWITZ: It's getting better.
O'BRIEN: He just ragged on my voice, because I have a cold and I'm working, I'm working.
Moving on, let's talk about something much nicer. Twenty-five hottest under 25.
BARNETT: Yes.
O'BRIEN: "Teen People" magazine. Let's name some of the well- known names. We've got Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, the "OC" cast. We've got Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I saw them the other night -- the other day at the Met, by the way. Still cute. Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney. The list goes on and on. And then you've got the "Lords of Dogtown Boys." Who the heck is that?
BARNETT: You don't know who the Lords of Dogtown are?
O'BRIEN: No.
BARNETT: If you don't know who the "Lord of Dogtown" are, "Teen People" is here to help you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
BARNETT: We are the voice of cool America, and "Lords of Dogtown" is a movie that all of the very cool kids are going to go see this summer. It's about a gang of pro skateboarders in California who made it to the top, and is led by this super hot young actor named Emile Hirsch. You must remember his name, because he's going to be big.
O'BRIEN: Emile Hirsch. Who is T.I.? I know he must be cool.
TOURE: T.I.
BARNETT: He is the king of the south.
TOURE: Southern rapper.
BARNETT: He has dubbed himself the king of the south. He's a little bit cocky, but he has got all of the makings for a classic, you know, hip-hop mogul. He's got the sneaker line. He's got the clothing line. He's even opened a restaurant.
TOURE: You used the word "classic" in regards to T.I. I mean, there's nothing classic about him.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: I like the way he goes ahead and gets all of the status things before we actually know who he is. He gets the restaurant. Who the heck is T.I.?
BARNETT: My readers know who T.I. is.
O'BRIEN: All right, all right, I buy that.
BOROWITZ: Under 25 are the first to IQ?
O'BRIEN: No.
BOROWITZ: OK.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're just jealous because you don't have a chance of making that list.
BOROWITZ: That's true.
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
BOROWITZ: I know. I know.
O'BRIEN: Such a hater. Such a hater. What's going on with Dave Chappelle's show.
TOURE: Yes, this is actually...
O'BRIEN: It's a hilariously funny show.
TOURE: They were supposed to come back later this month, but Comedy Central has suspended the show indefinitely. And this is actually a really serious a really sad story.
O'BRIEN: Why?
TOURE: Chappelle is feeling tremendous pressure from having taken the money, the $35 million, maybe $50 million, but whatever. You don't -- like, you don't understand. Like, when you're, like, nobody and you're in the corner, he was the surprise guy. Like, Chris Rock was the star.
O'BRIEN: Yes. And the good news was he got the 50 mil.
TOURE: Bernie Mac was the star. Chappelle was just on the side. Suddenly, everybody is looking at you. Everywhere you want to go, what's going next? What's coming next? What's next season. And the show may not come back. He may not ever be able to finish more shows to be able to do this more.
BOROWITZ: I have a solution, Toure. Clearly, this $35 million is just providing so much pressure. Bring it to me. I will take 35 mil.
TOURE: No, but it's -- no, no, but it's funny.
O'BRIEN: Toure, isn't this...
TOURE: Success can be devastating.
O'BRIEN: Obvious it can. But you know what? It's a classic story of people who become famous, and they don't know how to deal with that. I mean, a lot of people get over it and go on.
TOURE: He was already famous, but the pressure of everybody looking. You're the savior of Comedy Central. Everywhere you go, everyone's looking at you. You've already done two seasons that were great. You're going to do more like that. It's a tremendous amount of pressure on him. I understand. I totally understand.
O'BRIEN: And everybody is in a successful venue.
BARNETT: Right.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: I mean, that's the same pressure that everybody...
TOURE: You know very few people in your life who have been this successful to get $35 million to do something like this.
BOROWITZ: Look, those Dogtown Boys, it's the same deal. T.I...
O'BRIEN: T.I. He's got the restaurant. He's on the verge. Listen to me.
BARNETT: I just think if that Dave Chappelle doesn't come back, we're going to be stuck, you know, next to "The Daily Show" it's the funniest on TV. He's got to come back.
O'BRIEN: He's going to be stuck with, we need you, Dave, get it together. We need you.
BARNETT: Yes, please, please, I'm imploring you, Dave, come back.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: You guys, we're out of time. Thanks as always. Appreciate it.
Coming up in just a moment, the man causing a huge headache for "American Idol" and one of the judges. Corey Clark joins us live. He's going to talk about his claims on private lessons that he got from Paula Abdul. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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