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American Morning

Latest Wave of Violence in Iraq; Suspected Murder-Suicide in California

Aired May 11, 2005 - 08:00   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.
Insurgents in Iraq unleashing another devastating wave of deadly violence. Bomb after bomb exploding across the country. Now word of another attack just a few minutes ago.

Also, new information about the hand grenade found only 100 feet away from President Bush in that speech on Tuesday, raising new concerns about presidential security.

And a motive for murder -- the father accused of brutally killing his daughter and her best friend. He's expected in court on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Welcome back, everybody.

Also ahead this morning, have you heard about the woman who's now known as the "bag lady bandit?" She is a crook in the San Francisco Bay area, pulling off bank robberies at kind of an alarming clip.

HEMMER: And apparently she's pretty good at it, too. We'll talk today with an FBI agent about her unique system and what authorities are trying to do to bring her in. That's the story on the West Coast.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you doing?

Coming up in "The Cafferty File," it's Wednesday, time for "Things People Say."

A senator's wife defends hitting her husband in the head with a hammer.

A tycoon's ex-wife makes a bad career move because she says she needs the money.

And a wife working on her third marriage wants to be president.

HEMMER: How good was that excuse with the hammer?

CAFFERTY: It's all about the women.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, it's nice to see you focusing on the women today, Jack.

CAFFERTY: All about the women today.

O'BRIEN: I'm very afraid.

Thank you, Jack.

Time to check in on the headlines with Kelly Wallace, who's in for Carol -- good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We like lots of girl power on every day here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Thanks, Soledad.

Good morning again, everyone.

Now in the news, President Bush saying he will sign an $82 billion spending package for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure brings the total price tag for fighting the war on terrorism to more than $300 billion. It includes funding for tsunami relief and a measure to prevent states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Protests in Afghanistan following a report that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran. The demonstrations, which began Tuesday, turning violent. There are reports that at least two people have been killed. The protests apparently sparked by a "Newsweek" magazine report that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay prison camp placed copies of the Koran on toilets.

In Santa Maria, California, the first star witness could testify as early as today in the Michael Jackson trial. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to refute claims anything inappropriate happened between him and the entertainer. But first, Jackson's Neverland Ranch manager heads back to the stand. He is countering claims that the accuser's family was kept prison at the ranch.

And a federal bankruptcy judge in Chicago has approved United Airlines' plan to terminate its employees' pension plans, calling it "the least bad choice." The judge says workers will still get something because the funds will be moved to a government program. United says the move is part of a $2 billion savings plan to help United get out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. United's union groups have hinted at the possibility of strikes. The judge saying it's painful for workers, but this move will allow possibly United to survive and keep those jobs, so.

HEMMER: We shall see, huh?

WALLACE: Absolutely.

HEMMER: That's our e-mail question, too, Kelly. Thanks for that.

WALLACE: Sure.

HEMMER: Let's get back to Iraq right now.

Learning a few months ago that a mortar slammed into the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad. No more details on that at this time. More when we get it, though. That's on top of his deadly wave of insurgent bombings today in Iraq, six in all. At least 54 are dead, 20 killed by a suicide bomber in Hawija, 30 dead from a car bomb in Tikrit, four bombings in Baghdad alone.

Also, a car bomb killed three people outside a police station. Another Iraqi died in an attack on a patrol police. And a roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy. Four Iraqis were injured. No American casualties have been reported.

All this now as U.S. troops now in the fourth day of a major offensive in the western part of Iraq, the northwestern area, near the Syrian border. Operation Matador is one of the largest U.S. military offensives since November, when the Marines led the assault in Falluja then.

Our CNN military analyst, Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, back with us live in D.C. -- General, good morning to you.

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: There is a lot to cover in the next three minutes or so.

You've been in Al Anbar Province.

What's it like?

MARKS: Well, it's -- the place where the operation is taking -- is ongoing right now, for the most part, is pretty wide open. It's what we would call a vast wasteland, a wide open border between Syria and Iraq.

What this has historically been, Bill, is the smuggling routes that have taken place for years in that region. And there have been various forms of both physical active patrols on the ground and other forms of intelligence collection to make sure we can see what's going on out there.

And what has happened most recently with the coalition forces is that they've achieved some pretty good actionable intelligence. There's been a lot of solid sharing of intelligence from Iraqis with the coalition forces so that the Marines in the area can go about conducting some very aggressive operations.

HEMMER: General, without that information and intelligence, does this operation happen at all? MARKS: I would tell you that it probably would not, not as aggressively as what you're seeing right now. What this really indicates is two things, Bill. Number one is the intel sharing is improving. And, number two, the coalition forces are choosing, in time and place, of where they want to engage these insurgents. They're not waiting for the IEDs to set the tempo of operations.

HEMMER: We're hearing this from the Pentagon, though. Some apparently are wearing uniforms, some wearing protective vests in that battle.

What does that tell you?

MARKS: Well, it tells you that most of these insurgents are being well prepared outside of Iraq. There are staging areas within Syria. There's active recruiting. They bring in these insurgents. There's no lack of volunteers and recruits for these kinds of operations. And they bring them across and they conduct the operations.

What they really want to try to do, Bill, is bring them through this area, through Al Anbar, and get them into the Sunni Triangle just north of Baghdad.

So they're very vulnerable while they're moving through this area and it's a great opportunity, now that we have good intelligence, for the coalition forces to begin these operations.

HEMMER: Do you see an action and a reaction in Iraq? What I mean by that is while this operation is ongoing in northwestern Iraq, you have all this violence throughout the country today, six different attacks that we know of already.

Do the insurgents respond when the U.S. military goes on the offensive?

MARKS: I would tell you that most of the operations are planned well in advance and that the coalition forces and the operations that are taking place right now are directed very precisely at what they know some existing targets exist. And there are plenty of bad guys who come across the border that need to be engaged.

So I don't really see a causal linkage, if you will, between U.S. operations in this particular instance and operations that are taking place in Baghdad. I would tell you that the operations in Baghdad that we've seen over the past couple of days were planned probably weeks in advance.

HEMMER: It has been a deadly day.

We'll watch the headlines from here.

Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, thanks for your time again down there in D.C.

MARKS: Thank you, Bill. HEMMER: All right.

New information, too, on the story of a hand grenade discovered 200 feet from the president yesterday. Security in Tbilisi, Georgia say it was a non-explosive training device. They say the grenade was recovered from the crowd that came out to hear the president on Tuesday, a massive crowd, too.

The Secret Service, though, apparently a bit skeptical. They say they have yet to see the incident and still have not seen the grenade. So more on this as we get it from the White House and also here throughout the morning -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A county investigator is among six people, including three children, found shot to death in a California home. Authorities say there are no signs of a break-in or a struggle, and there's no reason at this point to suspect any motive other than murder-suicide.

Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sister of one of the six victims arrived at the scene clearly distraught, as investigators at first kept her from the house where the murders took place. It started with a 911 call at 4:30 a.m. from inside this rural mountain home near Palm Springs. It led to the discovery of six bodies, three adults and three children, all, according to investigators, victims of gunshot wounds to the head.

A 14-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl were found in their beds, as was a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 60s, believed to be the children's mother and grandmother.

SHERIFF BOB DOYLE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: The phone initially hitting the wall, and then a gunshot. That was all that the dispatcher heard when that 911 call came in.

ROWLANDS: Near the phone, with a handgun next to his body, according to the sheriff, was David McGowan, an investigator who worked for the local district attorney. While the sheriff says this case is being investigated as a mass homicide, he says it's possible McGowan killed his wife, his mother-in-law, his three children and then himself.

BOYLE: He'd been with the district attorney's office for at least five years and, you know, this -- it hits home. And it's very -- emotionally, a lot of people are distraught about it.

ROWLANDS (on camera): If McGowan did kill his family, it is unclear why. According to neighbors here in this quiet mountain community, he was a "nice guy," who always used to have a smile on his face. And, according to the sheriff, there were no documented problems with McGowan at work.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Mountain Center, California. (END VIDEO TAPE)

O'BRIEN: Investigators say they're going to hold a news conference in just about an hour. And they say they will release the tape of that 911 call that was made from the home around the time of the killings.

HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now, Soledad.

Weather wise, tough going in the middle part of the country.

Rob Marciano is looking at that and the Northeast, too -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The father accused of killing his daughter and her best friend -- did he have a motive for murder? A closer look at that story out of Illinois in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, this woman's hit 10 banks in the Bay Area. Now the so-called "bag lady bandit" has a price on her head. We're going to talk to an FBI agent who's working the case.

And a problem that keeps millions of Americans tossing and turning at night -- insomnia. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for some tips on a good night's sleep.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There she is. She's been dubbed the "bag lady bandit." Authorities say the suspect, who always carries a handbag, is responsible for at least 10 bank robberies in the San Francisco Bay area since March.

FBI Special Agent Ryan Butler is in San Francisco this morning.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for talking with us.

RYAN BUTLER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of what the "bag lady bandit's" M.O. is.

BUTLER: Well, in each of the robberies, she has entered a grocery store which has a bank located within the grocery store. She approaches the teller, places a demand note, along with the handbag, on the counter, and then instructs the teller to place the money in the bag, after which she instructs the teller that -- to not do anything for five minutes because she has someone watching the bank. O'BRIEN: Kind of unusual to knock over banks that are inside grocery stores, isn't it? Why do you think she targets them?

BUTLER: It is unusual. I think that that public crowd, though, that setting, allows her to move in, blend well with the crowd. You know, she's a female, 30 to 40 years old. And I think she blends in well with the crowd.

O'BRIEN: Outside of a female 30 or 40 years old, what more can you tell us about her description and the description of the bag that she uses?

BUTLER: Well, in a couple of the robberies she has used a red handbag with black handles. She's approximately 5'2," blonde hair, blue eyes, medium build. And some of these photos we have are pretty good photos so we're hopeful that someone out there will see these photos and hopefully see a lot of characteristics that they recognize.

O'BRIEN: In the 10 robberies in the Bay Area, how much money has she grabbed?

BUTLER: Unfortunately, we can't comment on the amount of money that she has obtained.

O'BRIEN: Is it a lot?

BUTLER: Sorry we can't. We can't disclose that.

O'BRIEN: You're not going to tackle that one at all.

Are you offering a reward?

BUTLER: There is an undisclosed reward being offered at this time.

O'BRIEN: I'm afraid to ask, is it a lot?

BUTLER: Like the other amount, we can't -- I can't give out that amount at this time.

O'BRIEN: It's pretty unusual, isn't it, to have a female serial bank robber that you're looking for?

BUTLER: It is. You know, female bank robberies are rare in and of themselves. But, like you said, when you talk about a serial female bank robber, that's extremely rare.

O'BRIEN: Do you think that she's acting alone or is she getting out of the bank, out of the grocery store and then hopping into a waiting vehicle or something like that?

BUTLER: You know, at this time we think she's acting alone. But we do feel strongly that she is at least receiving advice from possibly a seasoned bank robber.

O'BRIEN: Really? What makes you say that? BUTLER: Well, she has been successful. And, secondly, some of the things that she does in the process of the robberies make her very unique and identifiable. And that uniqueness will ultimately trip her up and will get her caught. But we can't go into those details because we don't want to disclose everything we know about the cases.

O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously it's an active investigation.

Do you have any good leads at this point? Or are you putting out this information because you're hoping to get some leads?

BUTLER: We have received a lot of leads. They've taken us as far as Modesto. So we're hopeful that people in, you know, a wide area will watch this and see these photos and give us feedback.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Ryan Butler, good luck to you.

BUTLER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Butler is an FBI special agent from San Francisco.

BUTLER: Thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

BUTLER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Macaulay Culkin might be ready to take the stand in the Michael Jackson trial. So just how important is his testimony for the defense? Attorney Anne Bremner weighs in on this possible star witness. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Did you know one of the most popular stories on our Web site right now is a 3,000-year-old murder mystery. Some scientists believe that Egypt's King Tut wasn't murdered after all. It seems the boy pharaoh was done in by a broken leg infected with gangrene. That'll do it.

This discovery by Egyptian researchers may put to rest the long held theory that somebody killed him when he was 19 years young with a blow to the head. May put to rest. But Egyptologists, they're going to argue about that thing forever.

O'BRIEN: Conspiracy theorists abound.

HEMMER: You know, there's a really -- there's another thing about this story, that when they show you just yet, the Egyptians have now put together what they believe King Tut looked like, with a real image of his face, too. You can catch it online, too, cnn.com. It's interesting. We'll see if it's legitimate. How do they know?

CAFFERTY: This is one of the favorite stories on the Web site?

O'BRIEN: Yes, that makes sense. HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) stories. Come on, Jack.

HEMMER: Here for you at cnn.com.

O'BRIEN: I mean it's not the Question of the Day, but it's sort of interesting.

CAFFERTY: He's still dead, though, right?

HEMMER: He's still dead. Three thousand and counting.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

The favorite story.

United Airlines got permission from a judge yesterday to walk away from its pension plan obligations, $3.2 billion worth, which will now be handed over to the federal government to pay -- that's us. United's 134,000 employees get reduced pensions because of this, anywhere from 15 to 65 percent, and this ruling potentially sets a dangerous precedent. If United can walk away, why can't Delta? Why can't Continental? Why can't General Motors or Ford? And there is a fear that if this begins to happen, the federal pension agency would simply be overwhelmed.

The question this morning is should United Airlines be allowed to default on its pension obligations?

James writes from Michigan: "I'm a retired United Airlines pilot. I will lose approximately 65 percent of my pension. This pension was part of my employment compensation contract for over 25 years."

Eugene in Michigan: "Though I'm a General Motors retiree and could be impacted, I agree with the ruling. As the judge indicated, it's the lesser of two evils and I believe if you've put all your eggs in one basket and have not made other provisions for your golden years, you have no one to blame but yourself."

I don't think so, Eugene. You work for a company all those years and depend on the pension as part of the employment contract, as the pilot did, you have a right to expect you're going to be paid all of it.

Aaron writes: "United Airlines' pension default is no problem. After all, those employees will benefit from President Bush's new improved Social Security plan. United's proof positive the private sector approach to retirement is superior to government programs like our current Social Security program."

And Mel in New York writes: "If United can get away with this, it's going to snowball across all pension systems. Rather like the old limerick: 'an epicure dining at crew found quite a large mouse in his stew. Said the waiter, "Don't shout or wave it about, or the rest will be wanting one, too."'"

HEMMER: Yes! All right! You know, I think that's the big issue. You raised it earlier, the last hour, is this the Pandora's Box? If you allow United to do it, what else is coming in line?

CAFFERTY: Of course.

HEMMER: And, you know, maybe it's Delta, maybe it's U.S. Air, as you suggested. But after you get out of that, what's the next industry?

CAFFERTY: Yes. I don't...

HEMMER: Ford? G.M.

CAFFERTY: You know, I'd love to stay and talk about this, but I'm going to go check out the thing about the pharaoh on the Web site.

HEMMER: Oh, I thought I gave you all the information on that already.

CAFFERTY: No, I want to know more.

HEMMER: Do you need more?

CAFFERTY: I want more.

HEMMER: All right, I'll shoot you an e-mail.

O'BRIEN: There is more online, Jack. You're in luck.

CAFFERTY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

Well, after nine years, the popular CBS family comedy, "Everybody Loves Raymond," is saying good-bye. Last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE," they explained the decision to stop now. We're going to show that to you just ahead.

Also coming up this morning, toss and turn -- we're going to have some tips for you on how you can get a better night's sleep.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Here's a reminder. Get the latest news every morning in our e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am.

In a moment here, police have a suspect now in the brutal murders of those two little girls in Illinois. He is the father of one of the victims. What led to his arrest? We'll get to that after the break on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Almost 8:30 here in New York.

Good morning, everybody.

Good to have you along with us today.

O'BRIEN: Good morning, everybody.

Yes, it could be a pretty big day in the Michael Jackson trial. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to take the stand, possibly today. Defense Attorney Anne Bremner is going to join us in just a moment to talk about what he could say in his testimony.

First, though, let's get a check of the other headlines with Kelly Wallace.

She's in for Carol this morning -- good morning.

HEMMER: Good morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 11, 2005 - 08:00   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.
Insurgents in Iraq unleashing another devastating wave of deadly violence. Bomb after bomb exploding across the country. Now word of another attack just a few minutes ago.

Also, new information about the hand grenade found only 100 feet away from President Bush in that speech on Tuesday, raising new concerns about presidential security.

And a motive for murder -- the father accused of brutally killing his daughter and her best friend. He's expected in court on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Welcome back, everybody.

Also ahead this morning, have you heard about the woman who's now known as the "bag lady bandit?" She is a crook in the San Francisco Bay area, pulling off bank robberies at kind of an alarming clip.

HEMMER: And apparently she's pretty good at it, too. We'll talk today with an FBI agent about her unique system and what authorities are trying to do to bring her in. That's the story on the West Coast.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you doing?

Coming up in "The Cafferty File," it's Wednesday, time for "Things People Say."

A senator's wife defends hitting her husband in the head with a hammer.

A tycoon's ex-wife makes a bad career move because she says she needs the money.

And a wife working on her third marriage wants to be president.

HEMMER: How good was that excuse with the hammer?

CAFFERTY: It's all about the women.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, it's nice to see you focusing on the women today, Jack.

CAFFERTY: All about the women today.

O'BRIEN: I'm very afraid.

Thank you, Jack.

Time to check in on the headlines with Kelly Wallace, who's in for Carol -- good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We like lots of girl power on every day here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Thanks, Soledad.

Good morning again, everyone.

Now in the news, President Bush saying he will sign an $82 billion spending package for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure brings the total price tag for fighting the war on terrorism to more than $300 billion. It includes funding for tsunami relief and a measure to prevent states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Protests in Afghanistan following a report that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran. The demonstrations, which began Tuesday, turning violent. There are reports that at least two people have been killed. The protests apparently sparked by a "Newsweek" magazine report that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay prison camp placed copies of the Koran on toilets.

In Santa Maria, California, the first star witness could testify as early as today in the Michael Jackson trial. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to refute claims anything inappropriate happened between him and the entertainer. But first, Jackson's Neverland Ranch manager heads back to the stand. He is countering claims that the accuser's family was kept prison at the ranch.

And a federal bankruptcy judge in Chicago has approved United Airlines' plan to terminate its employees' pension plans, calling it "the least bad choice." The judge says workers will still get something because the funds will be moved to a government program. United says the move is part of a $2 billion savings plan to help United get out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. United's union groups have hinted at the possibility of strikes. The judge saying it's painful for workers, but this move will allow possibly United to survive and keep those jobs, so.

HEMMER: We shall see, huh?

WALLACE: Absolutely.

HEMMER: That's our e-mail question, too, Kelly. Thanks for that.

WALLACE: Sure.

HEMMER: Let's get back to Iraq right now.

Learning a few months ago that a mortar slammed into the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad. No more details on that at this time. More when we get it, though. That's on top of his deadly wave of insurgent bombings today in Iraq, six in all. At least 54 are dead, 20 killed by a suicide bomber in Hawija, 30 dead from a car bomb in Tikrit, four bombings in Baghdad alone.

Also, a car bomb killed three people outside a police station. Another Iraqi died in an attack on a patrol police. And a roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy. Four Iraqis were injured. No American casualties have been reported.

All this now as U.S. troops now in the fourth day of a major offensive in the western part of Iraq, the northwestern area, near the Syrian border. Operation Matador is one of the largest U.S. military offensives since November, when the Marines led the assault in Falluja then.

Our CNN military analyst, Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, back with us live in D.C. -- General, good morning to you.

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: There is a lot to cover in the next three minutes or so.

You've been in Al Anbar Province.

What's it like?

MARKS: Well, it's -- the place where the operation is taking -- is ongoing right now, for the most part, is pretty wide open. It's what we would call a vast wasteland, a wide open border between Syria and Iraq.

What this has historically been, Bill, is the smuggling routes that have taken place for years in that region. And there have been various forms of both physical active patrols on the ground and other forms of intelligence collection to make sure we can see what's going on out there.

And what has happened most recently with the coalition forces is that they've achieved some pretty good actionable intelligence. There's been a lot of solid sharing of intelligence from Iraqis with the coalition forces so that the Marines in the area can go about conducting some very aggressive operations.

HEMMER: General, without that information and intelligence, does this operation happen at all? MARKS: I would tell you that it probably would not, not as aggressively as what you're seeing right now. What this really indicates is two things, Bill. Number one is the intel sharing is improving. And, number two, the coalition forces are choosing, in time and place, of where they want to engage these insurgents. They're not waiting for the IEDs to set the tempo of operations.

HEMMER: We're hearing this from the Pentagon, though. Some apparently are wearing uniforms, some wearing protective vests in that battle.

What does that tell you?

MARKS: Well, it tells you that most of these insurgents are being well prepared outside of Iraq. There are staging areas within Syria. There's active recruiting. They bring in these insurgents. There's no lack of volunteers and recruits for these kinds of operations. And they bring them across and they conduct the operations.

What they really want to try to do, Bill, is bring them through this area, through Al Anbar, and get them into the Sunni Triangle just north of Baghdad.

So they're very vulnerable while they're moving through this area and it's a great opportunity, now that we have good intelligence, for the coalition forces to begin these operations.

HEMMER: Do you see an action and a reaction in Iraq? What I mean by that is while this operation is ongoing in northwestern Iraq, you have all this violence throughout the country today, six different attacks that we know of already.

Do the insurgents respond when the U.S. military goes on the offensive?

MARKS: I would tell you that most of the operations are planned well in advance and that the coalition forces and the operations that are taking place right now are directed very precisely at what they know some existing targets exist. And there are plenty of bad guys who come across the border that need to be engaged.

So I don't really see a causal linkage, if you will, between U.S. operations in this particular instance and operations that are taking place in Baghdad. I would tell you that the operations in Baghdad that we've seen over the past couple of days were planned probably weeks in advance.

HEMMER: It has been a deadly day.

We'll watch the headlines from here.

Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, thanks for your time again down there in D.C.

MARKS: Thank you, Bill. HEMMER: All right.

New information, too, on the story of a hand grenade discovered 200 feet from the president yesterday. Security in Tbilisi, Georgia say it was a non-explosive training device. They say the grenade was recovered from the crowd that came out to hear the president on Tuesday, a massive crowd, too.

The Secret Service, though, apparently a bit skeptical. They say they have yet to see the incident and still have not seen the grenade. So more on this as we get it from the White House and also here throughout the morning -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A county investigator is among six people, including three children, found shot to death in a California home. Authorities say there are no signs of a break-in or a struggle, and there's no reason at this point to suspect any motive other than murder-suicide.

Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sister of one of the six victims arrived at the scene clearly distraught, as investigators at first kept her from the house where the murders took place. It started with a 911 call at 4:30 a.m. from inside this rural mountain home near Palm Springs. It led to the discovery of six bodies, three adults and three children, all, according to investigators, victims of gunshot wounds to the head.

A 14-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl were found in their beds, as was a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 60s, believed to be the children's mother and grandmother.

SHERIFF BOB DOYLE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: The phone initially hitting the wall, and then a gunshot. That was all that the dispatcher heard when that 911 call came in.

ROWLANDS: Near the phone, with a handgun next to his body, according to the sheriff, was David McGowan, an investigator who worked for the local district attorney. While the sheriff says this case is being investigated as a mass homicide, he says it's possible McGowan killed his wife, his mother-in-law, his three children and then himself.

BOYLE: He'd been with the district attorney's office for at least five years and, you know, this -- it hits home. And it's very -- emotionally, a lot of people are distraught about it.

ROWLANDS (on camera): If McGowan did kill his family, it is unclear why. According to neighbors here in this quiet mountain community, he was a "nice guy," who always used to have a smile on his face. And, according to the sheriff, there were no documented problems with McGowan at work.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Mountain Center, California. (END VIDEO TAPE)

O'BRIEN: Investigators say they're going to hold a news conference in just about an hour. And they say they will release the tape of that 911 call that was made from the home around the time of the killings.

HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now, Soledad.

Weather wise, tough going in the middle part of the country.

Rob Marciano is looking at that and the Northeast, too -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The father accused of killing his daughter and her best friend -- did he have a motive for murder? A closer look at that story out of Illinois in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, this woman's hit 10 banks in the Bay Area. Now the so-called "bag lady bandit" has a price on her head. We're going to talk to an FBI agent who's working the case.

And a problem that keeps millions of Americans tossing and turning at night -- insomnia. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for some tips on a good night's sleep.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There she is. She's been dubbed the "bag lady bandit." Authorities say the suspect, who always carries a handbag, is responsible for at least 10 bank robberies in the San Francisco Bay area since March.

FBI Special Agent Ryan Butler is in San Francisco this morning.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for talking with us.

RYAN BUTLER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of what the "bag lady bandit's" M.O. is.

BUTLER: Well, in each of the robberies, she has entered a grocery store which has a bank located within the grocery store. She approaches the teller, places a demand note, along with the handbag, on the counter, and then instructs the teller to place the money in the bag, after which she instructs the teller that -- to not do anything for five minutes because she has someone watching the bank. O'BRIEN: Kind of unusual to knock over banks that are inside grocery stores, isn't it? Why do you think she targets them?

BUTLER: It is unusual. I think that that public crowd, though, that setting, allows her to move in, blend well with the crowd. You know, she's a female, 30 to 40 years old. And I think she blends in well with the crowd.

O'BRIEN: Outside of a female 30 or 40 years old, what more can you tell us about her description and the description of the bag that she uses?

BUTLER: Well, in a couple of the robberies she has used a red handbag with black handles. She's approximately 5'2," blonde hair, blue eyes, medium build. And some of these photos we have are pretty good photos so we're hopeful that someone out there will see these photos and hopefully see a lot of characteristics that they recognize.

O'BRIEN: In the 10 robberies in the Bay Area, how much money has she grabbed?

BUTLER: Unfortunately, we can't comment on the amount of money that she has obtained.

O'BRIEN: Is it a lot?

BUTLER: Sorry we can't. We can't disclose that.

O'BRIEN: You're not going to tackle that one at all.

Are you offering a reward?

BUTLER: There is an undisclosed reward being offered at this time.

O'BRIEN: I'm afraid to ask, is it a lot?

BUTLER: Like the other amount, we can't -- I can't give out that amount at this time.

O'BRIEN: It's pretty unusual, isn't it, to have a female serial bank robber that you're looking for?

BUTLER: It is. You know, female bank robberies are rare in and of themselves. But, like you said, when you talk about a serial female bank robber, that's extremely rare.

O'BRIEN: Do you think that she's acting alone or is she getting out of the bank, out of the grocery store and then hopping into a waiting vehicle or something like that?

BUTLER: You know, at this time we think she's acting alone. But we do feel strongly that she is at least receiving advice from possibly a seasoned bank robber.

O'BRIEN: Really? What makes you say that? BUTLER: Well, she has been successful. And, secondly, some of the things that she does in the process of the robberies make her very unique and identifiable. And that uniqueness will ultimately trip her up and will get her caught. But we can't go into those details because we don't want to disclose everything we know about the cases.

O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously it's an active investigation.

Do you have any good leads at this point? Or are you putting out this information because you're hoping to get some leads?

BUTLER: We have received a lot of leads. They've taken us as far as Modesto. So we're hopeful that people in, you know, a wide area will watch this and see these photos and give us feedback.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Ryan Butler, good luck to you.

BUTLER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Butler is an FBI special agent from San Francisco.

BUTLER: Thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

BUTLER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Macaulay Culkin might be ready to take the stand in the Michael Jackson trial. So just how important is his testimony for the defense? Attorney Anne Bremner weighs in on this possible star witness. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Did you know one of the most popular stories on our Web site right now is a 3,000-year-old murder mystery. Some scientists believe that Egypt's King Tut wasn't murdered after all. It seems the boy pharaoh was done in by a broken leg infected with gangrene. That'll do it.

This discovery by Egyptian researchers may put to rest the long held theory that somebody killed him when he was 19 years young with a blow to the head. May put to rest. But Egyptologists, they're going to argue about that thing forever.

O'BRIEN: Conspiracy theorists abound.

HEMMER: You know, there's a really -- there's another thing about this story, that when they show you just yet, the Egyptians have now put together what they believe King Tut looked like, with a real image of his face, too. You can catch it online, too, cnn.com. It's interesting. We'll see if it's legitimate. How do they know?

CAFFERTY: This is one of the favorite stories on the Web site?

O'BRIEN: Yes, that makes sense. HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) stories. Come on, Jack.

HEMMER: Here for you at cnn.com.

O'BRIEN: I mean it's not the Question of the Day, but it's sort of interesting.

CAFFERTY: He's still dead, though, right?

HEMMER: He's still dead. Three thousand and counting.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

The favorite story.

United Airlines got permission from a judge yesterday to walk away from its pension plan obligations, $3.2 billion worth, which will now be handed over to the federal government to pay -- that's us. United's 134,000 employees get reduced pensions because of this, anywhere from 15 to 65 percent, and this ruling potentially sets a dangerous precedent. If United can walk away, why can't Delta? Why can't Continental? Why can't General Motors or Ford? And there is a fear that if this begins to happen, the federal pension agency would simply be overwhelmed.

The question this morning is should United Airlines be allowed to default on its pension obligations?

James writes from Michigan: "I'm a retired United Airlines pilot. I will lose approximately 65 percent of my pension. This pension was part of my employment compensation contract for over 25 years."

Eugene in Michigan: "Though I'm a General Motors retiree and could be impacted, I agree with the ruling. As the judge indicated, it's the lesser of two evils and I believe if you've put all your eggs in one basket and have not made other provisions for your golden years, you have no one to blame but yourself."

I don't think so, Eugene. You work for a company all those years and depend on the pension as part of the employment contract, as the pilot did, you have a right to expect you're going to be paid all of it.

Aaron writes: "United Airlines' pension default is no problem. After all, those employees will benefit from President Bush's new improved Social Security plan. United's proof positive the private sector approach to retirement is superior to government programs like our current Social Security program."

And Mel in New York writes: "If United can get away with this, it's going to snowball across all pension systems. Rather like the old limerick: 'an epicure dining at crew found quite a large mouse in his stew. Said the waiter, "Don't shout or wave it about, or the rest will be wanting one, too."'"

HEMMER: Yes! All right! You know, I think that's the big issue. You raised it earlier, the last hour, is this the Pandora's Box? If you allow United to do it, what else is coming in line?

CAFFERTY: Of course.

HEMMER: And, you know, maybe it's Delta, maybe it's U.S. Air, as you suggested. But after you get out of that, what's the next industry?

CAFFERTY: Yes. I don't...

HEMMER: Ford? G.M.

CAFFERTY: You know, I'd love to stay and talk about this, but I'm going to go check out the thing about the pharaoh on the Web site.

HEMMER: Oh, I thought I gave you all the information on that already.

CAFFERTY: No, I want to know more.

HEMMER: Do you need more?

CAFFERTY: I want more.

HEMMER: All right, I'll shoot you an e-mail.

O'BRIEN: There is more online, Jack. You're in luck.

CAFFERTY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

Well, after nine years, the popular CBS family comedy, "Everybody Loves Raymond," is saying good-bye. Last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE," they explained the decision to stop now. We're going to show that to you just ahead.

Also coming up this morning, toss and turn -- we're going to have some tips for you on how you can get a better night's sleep.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Here's a reminder. Get the latest news every morning in our e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am.

In a moment here, police have a suspect now in the brutal murders of those two little girls in Illinois. He is the father of one of the victims. What led to his arrest? We'll get to that after the break on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Almost 8:30 here in New York.

Good morning, everybody.

Good to have you along with us today.

O'BRIEN: Good morning, everybody.

Yes, it could be a pretty big day in the Michael Jackson trial. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to take the stand, possibly today. Defense Attorney Anne Bremner is going to join us in just a moment to talk about what he could say in his testimony.

First, though, let's get a check of the other headlines with Kelly Wallace.

She's in for Carol this morning -- good morning.

HEMMER: Good morning.

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