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American Morning
Lynndie England to Plead Guilty; Runaway Bride Could Face Criminal Charges; Uncovering a Hoax
Aired May 02, 2005 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lynndie England, seen around the world in the Abu Ghraib prison photos, will plead guilty today and throw herself on the mercy of a military court.
Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway Georgia bride, could face criminal charges today for a case of cold feet.
And Josh Long and Troy Driscoll locked at sea for six days. Rescuers thought there was no hope, but the boys have made it back, against all odds, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning, everybody.
The reason that story about finding treasure unraveled last week, other than the fact the guys were lying, good old-fashioned newspaper reporting. We'll find out how the folks cracked the case up there in Massachusetts.
O'BRIEN: Well, they're sticking with their story, still. I mean, they are continuing, apparently through their lawyers, to maintain that they found it in the back yard.
HEMMER: You've got to go find a back yard with a hole in it.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: That's how they'll stay out of jail, is continuing to stick to their story. Because if they cop to doing all the stuff that they're accused of doing, it could bye-bye to the money and their civilian clothes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I think it's maybe already bye-bye to the money. I think they're thinking about the prison part of that.
Also this morning, another story about journalism. We hear lots about the horrors of Sudan, war there, and famine and torture and disease. Well, one journalist lived it, filmed it, and now ready to show us a very personal view of what's really going on there. That's ahead this morning.
HEMMER: And what's up?
CAFFERTY: We got -- we got sucked in a little bit on this runaway bride story and the story about those two clowns that found that money. We had them in here doing a live interview... O'BRIEN: Well, she wasn't a hoax. I mean, it turned out to be.
CAFFERTY: Well, she lied to the police, she claimed she was kidnapped.
O'BRIEN: Right.
CAFFERTY: She -- apparently, it was a premeditated act. She bought this bus ticket long before she decided to leave.
So the question this morning is, what do you think ought to be done with her? And we're getting a lot of e-mail, and it really doesn't matter. But there are a lot of people interested in the story.
In the grand scheme of things, this is not a story that's important. It doesn't matter.
O'BRIEN: But people are talking about it. She could get five years in prison.
CAFFERTY: Well, then, to her, it will matter if they lock her up. It should not matter to any the rest of us. But for some strange reason it is.
HEMMER: You know what, though, Jack? It's a lot of fun, though, isn't it?
CAFFERTY: Country music song by Roy Clark, "Thank god in Greyhound She's Gone."
HEMMER: One way ticket. Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Well, apparently she thinks the wedding's still on.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: If that's true...
O'BRIEN: Carol just dissolved into laughter.
CAFFERTY: If that's true, he's got some stuff on order that's never come in.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack. Thank you.
Stop laughing, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm sorry.
O'BRIEN: Are you all right? You ready to move on?
COSTELLO: He's crazy if he goes through with that marriage.
O'BRIEN: We will see.
COSTELLO: But that's just my humble opinion.
Good morning, everyone.
"Now in the News," we have new developments to tell you about out of Afghanistan this morning. We gave you word of that massive explosion there. According to reports, at least 28 people were killed in the blast.
It was at an ammunition dump. Dozens more injured. These are pictures of troops on the scene there. The explosion taking place in the northern part of Afghanistan.
A new wave of violence in Baghdad. Four car bombs go off in a span of a few hours. Officials say at least 11 were killed, 30 others wounded.
In the meantime, officials are working to secure the release of an Australian man taken hostage in Iraq. There he is. A videotape released over the weekend appears to show Douglas Wood with his captors.
The United Nations is launching talks on nuclear issues. The U.N. will spend the next 30 days reviewing the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. American negotiators want the conference to focus on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But critics say the U.S. and other nuclear powers are dragging their feet on disarmament.
In Los Angeles, an 18-year-old man is in stable condition this morning. He was shot on the highway but managed to pull off the -- pull off the road, rather, and flag down help. Police are looking into a second shooting nearby to see if there's a connection. There have been several freeway shootings in recent weeks.
And Michael Jackson's lawyers are about to have their turn. The defense set to begin presenting its case this week. No word yet on whether Jackson will take the stand, but somehow I doubt that.
In the meantime, prosecutors have two final days of testimony left. It's not clear who will be in court when the trial resumes in less than three hours, because, as you know, the prosecution was hurt last week and it has to make up for itself somehow.
HEMMER: What a twist that was. Mesereau starts Wednesday, maybe then? Is that right?
COSTELLO: Probably so.
HEMMER: All right.
COSTELLO: Probably so.
HEMMER: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
HEMMER: A hearing for Army Private Lynndie England set to begin in about an hour from now. She's 22 years old, she's the Army reservist expected to plead guilty for her part in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal.
Susan Candiotti is live in Ft. Hood, Texas, where that court- martial about to get under way.
What's expected today, Susan? Good morning.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, Lynndie England, the Army clerk from rural West Virginia, arrived at court just a little while ago with her attorney without uttering a word. She will be ordered to stand before a judge and is expected to enter a guilty plea. And the deal that apparently was worked out over the weekend between her lawyers and Army prosecutors, it is a deal that could head off the possibility of her spending 16 years in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PFC LYNNDIE ENGLAND, U.S. ARMY: You think you're taking the right road, and it ends up being the wrong one. So...
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lynndie England, now a young unwed mother after an affair at Abu Ghraib prison, wants to make a deal to avoid years behind bars herself. She was once called the poster child of the Iraqi prison scandal. Now the Army reservist from rural West Virginia is prepared to plead guilty, perhaps as early as today, in exchange for a shorter sentence.
England was a clerk, not a guard, at Abu Ghraib, and says she posed for the now infamous photos because her boyfriend, guard Charles Graner, asked her to do so. England talked about the photos in a Dutch television documentary.
In this one, seen holding a leash around a prisoner's neck, her defense? She was trying to help move him to another cell.
ENGLAND: It was a whole intimidation and tactic, you know? It was a mind game.
CANDIOTTI: And this photo, smiling, thumbs up, standing behind the notorious naked human pyramid.
ENGLAND: I thought it was odd, kind of weird. But it was kind of like, if everyone else is doing it, if they thought it was wrong then they would have stopped it.
CANDIOTTI: The charges England faces, from abuse to conspiracy, could spend her to prison for more than a decade. But in making a deal to plead guilty, she may wind up serving as little as two years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And once that guilty plea is accepted, a jury will be seated tomorrow. And witnesses will testify for both sides.
There are signs of an agreement that could cap her punishment at two years. Now, if a jury should give her something more than that, it would be ignored and it would revert back to the original agreement -- Bill.
HEMMER: Susan, if she goes to jail, what happens to her baby?
CANDIOTTI: Yes, as you recall, she did give birth to a baby boy last October, of course. Her mother would take care of the baby. He was conceived in Iraq.
And among those who will be testifying for her would be Graner -- would be England's ex-boyfriend, Charles Graner, who is believed to be the father of the baby. Of course Lynndie England could also testify on her own behalf, and that would be the first time she'd get to tell her side of the story before a judge.
HEMMER: Susan Candiotti in Ft. Hood, Texas -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, a runaway bride may have to face some legal consequences for her actions. Thirty-two-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks initially told police she had been kidnapped from Duluth, Georgia, taken to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She later changed her story, admitted that she had just gotten cold feet. Well, New Mexico authorities have decided to not press charges, but the district attorney in Georgia says he's not sure yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY D.A.: At this point it's too early to determine whether a crime has been committed. I've got to do some research on whether or not the call to Duluth would give us jurisdiction over the false report of the crime. The potential crimes we're looking at are a false report, which is a misdemeanor, and false statements, which is a felony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That call to Duluth, of course, was a call in which she said that she had been kidnapped. Some people in Duluth, Georgia, say that they hope Jennifer Wilbanks will take some responsibility for faking her own disexperience. More than 150 volunteers joined police in the three-day search for her.
Charles Molineaux is in Duluth this morning. A little more for us.
Good morning. Nice to see you again, Charles.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And I heard you folks laughing earlier. But the fact is, that what we're looking at here is a serious situation for people here.
We're looking at a saga that has gone from, well, terrifying to exciting, to just humiliating, as we see now what is the kind of marital glitch normally played out between a couple played out in front of the whole country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Off to the side, please.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): At about the same time Jennifer Wilbanks had been scheduled to walk up the aisle she was hustling through an airport halfway across the country, covered in a blanket instead of a veil. Her disappearance Tuesday triggered a desperate search by police and volunteers in her home town of Duluth, Georgia.
Early Saturday, Wilbanks' family and her anxious fiance, John Mason, cheered at the news she had turned up safe with an incredible story. From this Albuquerque 7-Eleven, she called 911.
JENNIFER WILBANKS: I was kidnapped earlier this week and I'm here now.
MOLINEAUX: Within hours, celebration turned into shock when police announced she made the kidnapping up and had taken off to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque by bus.
CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, POLICE: Agents and detectives learned that Ms. Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.
MIKE SATTERFIELD, WILBANKS' UNCLE: It has been determined that Jennifer has some issues the family was not aware of.
MOLINEAUX: Wilbanks' mortified family lapsed into silence. Some neighbors were furious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very angry with her for doing that to her family and to the city of Duluth.
MOLINEAUX: And a source who has been briefed on the investigation tells CNN this may have been planned, that Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days in advance, prearranged transportation to the bus station, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized. On Sunday, the congregation of the couple's church prayed for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously she was going through a lot of things that none of us knew about. And you -- there's a lot of people around her, and nobody saw that.
CHARLIE HALL, PARISHIONER: I'm happy that she's doing OK and the family can just work out what they need to. And it will be all right.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MOLINEAUX: Well, the mayor of Duluth says she'd like to tar Jennifer's behind. And the D.A. says that public sentiment seems to be running about 50-50 between making her pay and trying to be forgiving. But he says he's going to go wherever the law takes him -- Soledad, Bill.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks a lot. Appreciate the update -- Bill.
HEMMER: Seems like everybody in this country is talking about that story.
You know they're talking about it in Atlanta. That's where Chad is at the weather wall.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In just a moment, a pretty amazing story of survival. Two teenage boys on a fishing trip lost at sea for a week in shark- infested waters. One of the boys describes his harrowing ordeal just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, more details on that so-called buried treasure. Remember these guys from last week? The clues that made police think that big discovery was just a big, fat hoax.
O'BRIEN: And the first lady upstages her husband. Her presidential punch lines ahead in "90-Second Pop."
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Troy Driscoll and Josh Long say they almost gave up hope after their desperate six-day ordeal at sea. The two teenagers are now recuperating in the hospital after fishermen rescued them over the weekend in their tiny 14-foot sailboat. They were picked up off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, more than 100 miles from where they set off.
Josh Long said that staying alive was not easy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH LONG, WAS LOST AT SEA: Well, really, we didn't eat anything. Troy ate these little jelly balls that we could catch with my hat. We'd just scoop them up out of the water.
The water, the only thing we could do with the water was gargle saltwater and spit it out. And it drizzled one night, and we licked water off the deck, trying to get something. And that's all we had.
O'BRIEN: Josh, I read that you had a number of close calls, one with another ship that didn't really see you. And also, tell me about the sharks that were in the water as well. LONG: Well, I mean, there's always sharks everywhere. I mean, my dad always told me that they're not going to bother you very much. They're just curious.
But, like, we'd be swimming around, they'd come up and start heading your way. And that's when we'd get out. Because you could just sit on the boat and they would start swimming towards the boat.
I mean, they're everywhere. Every time you turn around and you get in the water there's one coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Josh's father told us the families feel like they've experienced a miracle now that the teens are safe -- Bill.
HEMMER: Last week, Soledad, we talked about this group of friends who said they found buried treasure in Massachusetts. Not true. And now we're learning what blew their cover. Here's Dan Lothian this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Eagle Tribune" editor-in-chief Bill Ketter says his local paper broke the story about the friends who found the buried treasures in Massachusetts. It spread like wildfire before much of it turned to smoke.
BILL KETTER, EDITOR, EAGLE-TRIBUNE PUBLISHING CO.: I call it a Hardy Boys adventure that turned into a Larry, Curly and Moe misadventure.
LOTHIAN: Three of the four friends, Tim Crebase, Barry Billcliff and Kevin Kosack (ph) had gushed about their find.
TIM CREBASE, CLAIMED TO FIND TREASURE: We were like, wow.
LOTHIAN: A box of rusted cans filled with 1,800 bank notes and bills, some more than a century old, unearthed during a landscaping project. The value to collectors, more than $100,000.
BARRY BILLCLIFF, CLAIMED TO FIND TREASURE: We didn't know if they were worth the paper they were printed on, or if it's a huge find.
LOTHIAN: A local coin shop owner determined they were real, but the local paper wasn't so certain about the story itself, which appeared inconsistent.
For example, what were they digging up in the backyard when they hit paydirt?
CREBASE: I was digging up the tree.
We were going to rip up a bush.
LOTHIAN: The paper noticed other apparent holes.
KETTER: The history of the house where they found it, where they had dug up the treasure in the backyard, the location of the backyard, the time that they had done it.
LOTHIAN: Their headlines started casting doubt on the tale.
(on camera): It wasn't just reporters and editors of the newspaper who were getting suspicious. Police in Methuen, the city where the friends said they found the money, were noticing inconsistencies. They began asking questions, and this amazing story began to unravel.
(voice-over): Helped by an anonymous tip, investigators concluded the friends actually found the treasures while doing a roofing job at a barn on this farm 25 miles away. Crebase allegedly confessed that the cans fell out of old gutters.
CHIEF JOSEPH SOLOMON, METHUEN POLICE DEPT.: It would be our belief that it is -- belongs to one of the ancestors of the current family.
LOTHIAN: All four are charged with receiving stolen property, conspiracy and accessory after the fact. Despite what investigators say, the treasure finders are sticking to the original story.
MICHAEL RUANE, DEFENSE ATTY.: Our position is basically they found it where they claim they found it; it was found in the backyard.
LOTHIAN: Some wonder why they wanted to attract so much attention in the first place, because police say the story was made up. This is what the paper was told.
KETTER: If we go public, we believe that there will be much higher bids coming in.
LOTHIAN: Big offers are coming in, but police say the real owners, who never even knew about the hidden treasures, will be the only ones cashing in.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All four due to be arraigned a bit later today in the state of Massachusetts.
Get a break here. In a moment, there is new information from the Pentagon about that Italian hostage. She was released but then fired upon outside Baghdad. We'll get you there live in a moment with Barbara Starr right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back to Jack and the "Question of the Day." Marry me.
CAFFERTY: What?
Just going over some office rumors here, which is really more interesting. But you have to work here.
Tough week or two for the news media. We got sucked in on some stories.
The finger in the chili was a hoax. The -- those two punks with the box full of money, that's a hoax. And then this Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride, that turned out to be a hoax. She apparently got cold feet or something.
HEMMER: Well, she was missing. That was a fact.
CAFFERTY: She was missing because she got on a bus and didn't tell anybody she was leaving.
HEMMER: Right.
O'BRIEN: The Hispanic guy who kidnapped her at gunpoint, less of a fact.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Anyway, a lot of thoughts on what ought to happen to this woman now, the runaway bride.
Art in New York writes, "Would you guys give this story a break? Please? It makes the Zsa Zsa Gabor trial seem significant. Who cares what happens to the runaway bride when the economy's in the crapper, North Korea is arming with nukes, and insurgents are blowing up anyone of importance in Iraq."
Kari in Maryland writes, "After a few young girls have gone missing and later are found dead later this year, Jennifer Wilbanks should be completely ashamed of herself for putting her family and community through hell."
O'BRIEN: So true.
CAFFERTY: That's a valid point.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
CAFFERTY: So was the first one.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Martha in Pennsylvania writes, "Jennifer's obviously a self-absorbed, inconsiderate spoiled brat with a lot more money than brains."
HEMMER: Whoa.
CAFFERTY: "She should be sentenced to thousands of hours of community service."
HEMMER: Go Martha. CAFFERTY: Guy in Atlanta, Georgia, writes, "Give the girl a break. Her only crime was fibbing to the cops in New Mexico for a couple of hours. And the cops got some super positive media time. Too bad my ex didn't get cold feet and take off."
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Keep hoping, Guy.
CAFFERTY: Wait until you hear the ones in -- we got three in the last segment.
O'BRIEN: Really?
CAFFERTY: Two of them are just priceless.
O'BRIEN: They've been very entertaining. But, you know, I think that point about, you know, the reason the media gets all over these stories is because, frankly, a lot -- most of the time, virtually all the time, they have a terrible ending, a terrible, terrible, horrible ending.
HEMMER: Well, how stunned were you when you found out over the weekend? I was like missing bride found alive?
O'BRIEN: When I heard "alive," I knew the girl had taken off.
CAFFERTY: Yes. We do tend to get a little hysterical about this stuff, though. Do you agree with that? Am I the only one that will find the face of the corporate...
O'BRIEN: I'll agree with you.
CAFFERTY: ... manual around here and suggest that we overreact to some of these stories?
O'BRIEN: But I also -- I also...
HEMMER: There are bigger issues, there's no question about it. But this is a human interest story, and a lot of people were drawn to this thing.
CAFFERTY: Oh, come on. Look at the time we spend on the Michael Jackson stuff, the Martha Stewart stuff.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: We go on and on with these stories that really don't mean anything.
HEMMER: But just this story -- just this story...
O'BRIEN: But what else are you going to talk about in the "Question of the Day?"
HEMMER: This story was fun. CAFFERTY: Fun?
HEMMER: In the end it was fun.
O'BRIEN: Not for her family so much.
CAFFERTY: Well, no. All right. Never mind.
HEMMER: It's been a good...
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
Well, they were making way for ducklings in Washington over the weekend. Did you see these pictures?
A mother duck and her newly hatched chicks -- there are the pictures -- living outside the U.S. Treasury building. Remember we told you about them? They were attracting lots of attention, so officials have moved them to a city park for their own safety. Look how cute they are.
CAFFERTY: I rest my case.
O'BRIEN: What? You don't think this is sweet?
CAFFERTY: It's springtime. That's when ducks hatch.
HEMMER: You know what they're calling...
O'BRIEN: But they were outside the Treasury building. They protected them. Oh, god's sake, Jack. Lighten up today.
HEMMER: They call them T Bills. More in a moment.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Back after this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (on camera): Ahead on "90-Second Pop"...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH": You're under arrest, Chancellor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH": Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?
HEMMER: ... a sneak peek at the final "Star Wars." Is the force strong with this one?
Plus...
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Not that old joke. Not again.
HEMMER: ... the first lady as queen of comedy, how Laura Bush left them laughing on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 2, 2005 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lynndie England, seen around the world in the Abu Ghraib prison photos, will plead guilty today and throw herself on the mercy of a military court.
Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway Georgia bride, could face criminal charges today for a case of cold feet.
And Josh Long and Troy Driscoll locked at sea for six days. Rescuers thought there was no hope, but the boys have made it back, against all odds, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning, everybody.
The reason that story about finding treasure unraveled last week, other than the fact the guys were lying, good old-fashioned newspaper reporting. We'll find out how the folks cracked the case up there in Massachusetts.
O'BRIEN: Well, they're sticking with their story, still. I mean, they are continuing, apparently through their lawyers, to maintain that they found it in the back yard.
HEMMER: You've got to go find a back yard with a hole in it.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: That's how they'll stay out of jail, is continuing to stick to their story. Because if they cop to doing all the stuff that they're accused of doing, it could bye-bye to the money and their civilian clothes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I think it's maybe already bye-bye to the money. I think they're thinking about the prison part of that.
Also this morning, another story about journalism. We hear lots about the horrors of Sudan, war there, and famine and torture and disease. Well, one journalist lived it, filmed it, and now ready to show us a very personal view of what's really going on there. That's ahead this morning.
HEMMER: And what's up?
CAFFERTY: We got -- we got sucked in a little bit on this runaway bride story and the story about those two clowns that found that money. We had them in here doing a live interview... O'BRIEN: Well, she wasn't a hoax. I mean, it turned out to be.
CAFFERTY: Well, she lied to the police, she claimed she was kidnapped.
O'BRIEN: Right.
CAFFERTY: She -- apparently, it was a premeditated act. She bought this bus ticket long before she decided to leave.
So the question this morning is, what do you think ought to be done with her? And we're getting a lot of e-mail, and it really doesn't matter. But there are a lot of people interested in the story.
In the grand scheme of things, this is not a story that's important. It doesn't matter.
O'BRIEN: But people are talking about it. She could get five years in prison.
CAFFERTY: Well, then, to her, it will matter if they lock her up. It should not matter to any the rest of us. But for some strange reason it is.
HEMMER: You know what, though, Jack? It's a lot of fun, though, isn't it?
CAFFERTY: Country music song by Roy Clark, "Thank god in Greyhound She's Gone."
HEMMER: One way ticket. Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Well, apparently she thinks the wedding's still on.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: If that's true...
O'BRIEN: Carol just dissolved into laughter.
CAFFERTY: If that's true, he's got some stuff on order that's never come in.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack. Thank you.
Stop laughing, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm sorry.
O'BRIEN: Are you all right? You ready to move on?
COSTELLO: He's crazy if he goes through with that marriage.
O'BRIEN: We will see.
COSTELLO: But that's just my humble opinion.
Good morning, everyone.
"Now in the News," we have new developments to tell you about out of Afghanistan this morning. We gave you word of that massive explosion there. According to reports, at least 28 people were killed in the blast.
It was at an ammunition dump. Dozens more injured. These are pictures of troops on the scene there. The explosion taking place in the northern part of Afghanistan.
A new wave of violence in Baghdad. Four car bombs go off in a span of a few hours. Officials say at least 11 were killed, 30 others wounded.
In the meantime, officials are working to secure the release of an Australian man taken hostage in Iraq. There he is. A videotape released over the weekend appears to show Douglas Wood with his captors.
The United Nations is launching talks on nuclear issues. The U.N. will spend the next 30 days reviewing the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. American negotiators want the conference to focus on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But critics say the U.S. and other nuclear powers are dragging their feet on disarmament.
In Los Angeles, an 18-year-old man is in stable condition this morning. He was shot on the highway but managed to pull off the -- pull off the road, rather, and flag down help. Police are looking into a second shooting nearby to see if there's a connection. There have been several freeway shootings in recent weeks.
And Michael Jackson's lawyers are about to have their turn. The defense set to begin presenting its case this week. No word yet on whether Jackson will take the stand, but somehow I doubt that.
In the meantime, prosecutors have two final days of testimony left. It's not clear who will be in court when the trial resumes in less than three hours, because, as you know, the prosecution was hurt last week and it has to make up for itself somehow.
HEMMER: What a twist that was. Mesereau starts Wednesday, maybe then? Is that right?
COSTELLO: Probably so.
HEMMER: All right.
COSTELLO: Probably so.
HEMMER: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
HEMMER: A hearing for Army Private Lynndie England set to begin in about an hour from now. She's 22 years old, she's the Army reservist expected to plead guilty for her part in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal.
Susan Candiotti is live in Ft. Hood, Texas, where that court- martial about to get under way.
What's expected today, Susan? Good morning.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, Lynndie England, the Army clerk from rural West Virginia, arrived at court just a little while ago with her attorney without uttering a word. She will be ordered to stand before a judge and is expected to enter a guilty plea. And the deal that apparently was worked out over the weekend between her lawyers and Army prosecutors, it is a deal that could head off the possibility of her spending 16 years in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PFC LYNNDIE ENGLAND, U.S. ARMY: You think you're taking the right road, and it ends up being the wrong one. So...
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lynndie England, now a young unwed mother after an affair at Abu Ghraib prison, wants to make a deal to avoid years behind bars herself. She was once called the poster child of the Iraqi prison scandal. Now the Army reservist from rural West Virginia is prepared to plead guilty, perhaps as early as today, in exchange for a shorter sentence.
England was a clerk, not a guard, at Abu Ghraib, and says she posed for the now infamous photos because her boyfriend, guard Charles Graner, asked her to do so. England talked about the photos in a Dutch television documentary.
In this one, seen holding a leash around a prisoner's neck, her defense? She was trying to help move him to another cell.
ENGLAND: It was a whole intimidation and tactic, you know? It was a mind game.
CANDIOTTI: And this photo, smiling, thumbs up, standing behind the notorious naked human pyramid.
ENGLAND: I thought it was odd, kind of weird. But it was kind of like, if everyone else is doing it, if they thought it was wrong then they would have stopped it.
CANDIOTTI: The charges England faces, from abuse to conspiracy, could spend her to prison for more than a decade. But in making a deal to plead guilty, she may wind up serving as little as two years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And once that guilty plea is accepted, a jury will be seated tomorrow. And witnesses will testify for both sides.
There are signs of an agreement that could cap her punishment at two years. Now, if a jury should give her something more than that, it would be ignored and it would revert back to the original agreement -- Bill.
HEMMER: Susan, if she goes to jail, what happens to her baby?
CANDIOTTI: Yes, as you recall, she did give birth to a baby boy last October, of course. Her mother would take care of the baby. He was conceived in Iraq.
And among those who will be testifying for her would be Graner -- would be England's ex-boyfriend, Charles Graner, who is believed to be the father of the baby. Of course Lynndie England could also testify on her own behalf, and that would be the first time she'd get to tell her side of the story before a judge.
HEMMER: Susan Candiotti in Ft. Hood, Texas -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, a runaway bride may have to face some legal consequences for her actions. Thirty-two-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks initially told police she had been kidnapped from Duluth, Georgia, taken to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She later changed her story, admitted that she had just gotten cold feet. Well, New Mexico authorities have decided to not press charges, but the district attorney in Georgia says he's not sure yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY D.A.: At this point it's too early to determine whether a crime has been committed. I've got to do some research on whether or not the call to Duluth would give us jurisdiction over the false report of the crime. The potential crimes we're looking at are a false report, which is a misdemeanor, and false statements, which is a felony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That call to Duluth, of course, was a call in which she said that she had been kidnapped. Some people in Duluth, Georgia, say that they hope Jennifer Wilbanks will take some responsibility for faking her own disexperience. More than 150 volunteers joined police in the three-day search for her.
Charles Molineaux is in Duluth this morning. A little more for us.
Good morning. Nice to see you again, Charles.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And I heard you folks laughing earlier. But the fact is, that what we're looking at here is a serious situation for people here.
We're looking at a saga that has gone from, well, terrifying to exciting, to just humiliating, as we see now what is the kind of marital glitch normally played out between a couple played out in front of the whole country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Off to the side, please.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): At about the same time Jennifer Wilbanks had been scheduled to walk up the aisle she was hustling through an airport halfway across the country, covered in a blanket instead of a veil. Her disappearance Tuesday triggered a desperate search by police and volunteers in her home town of Duluth, Georgia.
Early Saturday, Wilbanks' family and her anxious fiance, John Mason, cheered at the news she had turned up safe with an incredible story. From this Albuquerque 7-Eleven, she called 911.
JENNIFER WILBANKS: I was kidnapped earlier this week and I'm here now.
MOLINEAUX: Within hours, celebration turned into shock when police announced she made the kidnapping up and had taken off to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque by bus.
CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, POLICE: Agents and detectives learned that Ms. Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.
MIKE SATTERFIELD, WILBANKS' UNCLE: It has been determined that Jennifer has some issues the family was not aware of.
MOLINEAUX: Wilbanks' mortified family lapsed into silence. Some neighbors were furious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very angry with her for doing that to her family and to the city of Duluth.
MOLINEAUX: And a source who has been briefed on the investigation tells CNN this may have been planned, that Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days in advance, prearranged transportation to the bus station, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized. On Sunday, the congregation of the couple's church prayed for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously she was going through a lot of things that none of us knew about. And you -- there's a lot of people around her, and nobody saw that.
CHARLIE HALL, PARISHIONER: I'm happy that she's doing OK and the family can just work out what they need to. And it will be all right.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MOLINEAUX: Well, the mayor of Duluth says she'd like to tar Jennifer's behind. And the D.A. says that public sentiment seems to be running about 50-50 between making her pay and trying to be forgiving. But he says he's going to go wherever the law takes him -- Soledad, Bill.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks a lot. Appreciate the update -- Bill.
HEMMER: Seems like everybody in this country is talking about that story.
You know they're talking about it in Atlanta. That's where Chad is at the weather wall.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In just a moment, a pretty amazing story of survival. Two teenage boys on a fishing trip lost at sea for a week in shark- infested waters. One of the boys describes his harrowing ordeal just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, more details on that so-called buried treasure. Remember these guys from last week? The clues that made police think that big discovery was just a big, fat hoax.
O'BRIEN: And the first lady upstages her husband. Her presidential punch lines ahead in "90-Second Pop."
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Troy Driscoll and Josh Long say they almost gave up hope after their desperate six-day ordeal at sea. The two teenagers are now recuperating in the hospital after fishermen rescued them over the weekend in their tiny 14-foot sailboat. They were picked up off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, more than 100 miles from where they set off.
Josh Long said that staying alive was not easy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH LONG, WAS LOST AT SEA: Well, really, we didn't eat anything. Troy ate these little jelly balls that we could catch with my hat. We'd just scoop them up out of the water.
The water, the only thing we could do with the water was gargle saltwater and spit it out. And it drizzled one night, and we licked water off the deck, trying to get something. And that's all we had.
O'BRIEN: Josh, I read that you had a number of close calls, one with another ship that didn't really see you. And also, tell me about the sharks that were in the water as well. LONG: Well, I mean, there's always sharks everywhere. I mean, my dad always told me that they're not going to bother you very much. They're just curious.
But, like, we'd be swimming around, they'd come up and start heading your way. And that's when we'd get out. Because you could just sit on the boat and they would start swimming towards the boat.
I mean, they're everywhere. Every time you turn around and you get in the water there's one coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Josh's father told us the families feel like they've experienced a miracle now that the teens are safe -- Bill.
HEMMER: Last week, Soledad, we talked about this group of friends who said they found buried treasure in Massachusetts. Not true. And now we're learning what blew their cover. Here's Dan Lothian this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Eagle Tribune" editor-in-chief Bill Ketter says his local paper broke the story about the friends who found the buried treasures in Massachusetts. It spread like wildfire before much of it turned to smoke.
BILL KETTER, EDITOR, EAGLE-TRIBUNE PUBLISHING CO.: I call it a Hardy Boys adventure that turned into a Larry, Curly and Moe misadventure.
LOTHIAN: Three of the four friends, Tim Crebase, Barry Billcliff and Kevin Kosack (ph) had gushed about their find.
TIM CREBASE, CLAIMED TO FIND TREASURE: We were like, wow.
LOTHIAN: A box of rusted cans filled with 1,800 bank notes and bills, some more than a century old, unearthed during a landscaping project. The value to collectors, more than $100,000.
BARRY BILLCLIFF, CLAIMED TO FIND TREASURE: We didn't know if they were worth the paper they were printed on, or if it's a huge find.
LOTHIAN: A local coin shop owner determined they were real, but the local paper wasn't so certain about the story itself, which appeared inconsistent.
For example, what were they digging up in the backyard when they hit paydirt?
CREBASE: I was digging up the tree.
We were going to rip up a bush.
LOTHIAN: The paper noticed other apparent holes.
KETTER: The history of the house where they found it, where they had dug up the treasure in the backyard, the location of the backyard, the time that they had done it.
LOTHIAN: Their headlines started casting doubt on the tale.
(on camera): It wasn't just reporters and editors of the newspaper who were getting suspicious. Police in Methuen, the city where the friends said they found the money, were noticing inconsistencies. They began asking questions, and this amazing story began to unravel.
(voice-over): Helped by an anonymous tip, investigators concluded the friends actually found the treasures while doing a roofing job at a barn on this farm 25 miles away. Crebase allegedly confessed that the cans fell out of old gutters.
CHIEF JOSEPH SOLOMON, METHUEN POLICE DEPT.: It would be our belief that it is -- belongs to one of the ancestors of the current family.
LOTHIAN: All four are charged with receiving stolen property, conspiracy and accessory after the fact. Despite what investigators say, the treasure finders are sticking to the original story.
MICHAEL RUANE, DEFENSE ATTY.: Our position is basically they found it where they claim they found it; it was found in the backyard.
LOTHIAN: Some wonder why they wanted to attract so much attention in the first place, because police say the story was made up. This is what the paper was told.
KETTER: If we go public, we believe that there will be much higher bids coming in.
LOTHIAN: Big offers are coming in, but police say the real owners, who never even knew about the hidden treasures, will be the only ones cashing in.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All four due to be arraigned a bit later today in the state of Massachusetts.
Get a break here. In a moment, there is new information from the Pentagon about that Italian hostage. She was released but then fired upon outside Baghdad. We'll get you there live in a moment with Barbara Starr right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back to Jack and the "Question of the Day." Marry me.
CAFFERTY: What?
Just going over some office rumors here, which is really more interesting. But you have to work here.
Tough week or two for the news media. We got sucked in on some stories.
The finger in the chili was a hoax. The -- those two punks with the box full of money, that's a hoax. And then this Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride, that turned out to be a hoax. She apparently got cold feet or something.
HEMMER: Well, she was missing. That was a fact.
CAFFERTY: She was missing because she got on a bus and didn't tell anybody she was leaving.
HEMMER: Right.
O'BRIEN: The Hispanic guy who kidnapped her at gunpoint, less of a fact.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Anyway, a lot of thoughts on what ought to happen to this woman now, the runaway bride.
Art in New York writes, "Would you guys give this story a break? Please? It makes the Zsa Zsa Gabor trial seem significant. Who cares what happens to the runaway bride when the economy's in the crapper, North Korea is arming with nukes, and insurgents are blowing up anyone of importance in Iraq."
Kari in Maryland writes, "After a few young girls have gone missing and later are found dead later this year, Jennifer Wilbanks should be completely ashamed of herself for putting her family and community through hell."
O'BRIEN: So true.
CAFFERTY: That's a valid point.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
CAFFERTY: So was the first one.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Martha in Pennsylvania writes, "Jennifer's obviously a self-absorbed, inconsiderate spoiled brat with a lot more money than brains."
HEMMER: Whoa.
CAFFERTY: "She should be sentenced to thousands of hours of community service."
HEMMER: Go Martha. CAFFERTY: Guy in Atlanta, Georgia, writes, "Give the girl a break. Her only crime was fibbing to the cops in New Mexico for a couple of hours. And the cops got some super positive media time. Too bad my ex didn't get cold feet and take off."
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Keep hoping, Guy.
CAFFERTY: Wait until you hear the ones in -- we got three in the last segment.
O'BRIEN: Really?
CAFFERTY: Two of them are just priceless.
O'BRIEN: They've been very entertaining. But, you know, I think that point about, you know, the reason the media gets all over these stories is because, frankly, a lot -- most of the time, virtually all the time, they have a terrible ending, a terrible, terrible, horrible ending.
HEMMER: Well, how stunned were you when you found out over the weekend? I was like missing bride found alive?
O'BRIEN: When I heard "alive," I knew the girl had taken off.
CAFFERTY: Yes. We do tend to get a little hysterical about this stuff, though. Do you agree with that? Am I the only one that will find the face of the corporate...
O'BRIEN: I'll agree with you.
CAFFERTY: ... manual around here and suggest that we overreact to some of these stories?
O'BRIEN: But I also -- I also...
HEMMER: There are bigger issues, there's no question about it. But this is a human interest story, and a lot of people were drawn to this thing.
CAFFERTY: Oh, come on. Look at the time we spend on the Michael Jackson stuff, the Martha Stewart stuff.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: We go on and on with these stories that really don't mean anything.
HEMMER: But just this story -- just this story...
O'BRIEN: But what else are you going to talk about in the "Question of the Day?"
HEMMER: This story was fun. CAFFERTY: Fun?
HEMMER: In the end it was fun.
O'BRIEN: Not for her family so much.
CAFFERTY: Well, no. All right. Never mind.
HEMMER: It's been a good...
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
Well, they were making way for ducklings in Washington over the weekend. Did you see these pictures?
A mother duck and her newly hatched chicks -- there are the pictures -- living outside the U.S. Treasury building. Remember we told you about them? They were attracting lots of attention, so officials have moved them to a city park for their own safety. Look how cute they are.
CAFFERTY: I rest my case.
O'BRIEN: What? You don't think this is sweet?
CAFFERTY: It's springtime. That's when ducks hatch.
HEMMER: You know what they're calling...
O'BRIEN: But they were outside the Treasury building. They protected them. Oh, god's sake, Jack. Lighten up today.
HEMMER: They call them T Bills. More in a moment.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Back after this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (on camera): Ahead on "90-Second Pop"...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH": You're under arrest, Chancellor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH": Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?
HEMMER: ... a sneak peek at the final "Star Wars." Is the force strong with this one?
Plus...
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Not that old joke. Not again.
HEMMER: ... the first lady as queen of comedy, how Laura Bush left them laughing on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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