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Suspected Killer Found Dead; CIA Report to Detail Abuses in Secret Prisons; Ripple Effect of Gun Violence in Chicago; Texting and Driving Don't Mix

Aired August 23, 2009 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

Breaking news out of western Canada tonight. A weeklong manhunt has come to an end. Ryan Jenkins, a man wanted in the apparent killing of his wife, former model Jasmine Fiore, has been found dead in a hotel room in British Columbia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police just made the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DUNCAN POUND, RCMP BORDER INTEGRITY PROGRAM: At this time, the RCMP Federal Border Integrity Program is able to confirm that a deceased person that was found in a motel in Hope, British Columbia is in fact Ryan Jenkins.

At this time, the investigation into the circumstances of his death is continuing, but preliminary evidence suggests that he took his own life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Fiore's nude body was found last weekend in Orange County, California, stuffed inside a suitcase in a dumpster. Her fingers and her teeth had been removed in an apparent attempt to hide her identity. She was eventually ID'd from the serial numbers on her breast implants. Police had gotten numerous reports of sightings that led the search to western Canada.

Lisa Bloom is a CNN legal analyst and former host of HLN's "In Session."

Lisa, they thought that he might be in Canada all along, but this is certainly a shocking twist, isn't it?

LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): It absolutely is, although he didn't have a chance of, I think, escaping to Canada or anywhere else given the enormous media coverage this case has generated over the last week. His face has been plastered all over the television here in the United States as well as in Canada.

He made it a week before he was on the verge of being apprehended, as I understand it, in Canada. But he really didn't stand a chance of escaping, I think.

It is a shock to hear that apparently he took his own life. That's unusual in an intimate partner violence case. Ordinarily, if somebody takes their own life, they do it at the same time as the murder. Here, apparently, this is about a week apart. That's unusual.

LEMON: Yes, usually it's very close to the time of the murder. He may have, as you said, felt cornered.

Would he have been extradited, Lisa? How strong a case was it against him?

BLOOM: Yes, he would have been extradited. The United States and Canada routinely extradite suspects from one country to the other. Canada does not like to extradite when the death penalty is at issue.

Here in California, it is a death penalty state. He could have faced the death penalty, but that issue had not yet been addressed by prosecutors. I expect that if he had been apprehended, he would have been extradited right away.

And to answer the second part of your question, it was a very strong case against him. There were witnesses that heard him arguing with Jasmine Fiore. Her body was recovered, a gruesome recovery, without the fingertips, with her teeth missing. Apparently, the perpetrator tried to cover up the evidence. She had been identified by her breast implant serial numbers.

I would assume maybe a fair amount of DNA and other forensic evidence if he was the killer linking him to this crime. You know, when it's this violent and this gory, it's very hard for somebody to escape without having a fair amount of forensic evidence. There's also apparently other witnesses that would link him to this, as I understand it.

LEMON: And, Lisa, as we finish up, I want to tell you the Canadian police are saying that they -- the initial cause they believe that he took his own life, but they're not going to release the cause of death at this time.

But as we said in the beginning of our report and as they said in that press conference, they believe that they believe that he took his life. That's the initial report there.

Thank you very much, Lisa Bloom. We appreciate it.

BLOOM: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Now to another developing story involving U.S. interrogation techniques. An internal CIA report to be released tomorrow details stunning abuses by agency operatives as they tried to get terror suspects to talk.

CNN has gotten advance word on the dramatic details in the report. CNN Elaine Quijano reports from Washington tonight.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the CIA report is expected to be released Monday, but new details are already emerging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice over): In separate incidents, CIA interrogators threatened Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. He's the man suspected of plotting the deadly bombing of the USS Cole, according to knowledgeable sources familiar with the 2004 CIA report.

Sources confirm one interrogation session involved a gun, another an electric drill. Both meant to scare the al Qaeda prisoner into giving up information.

And "Newsweek" reports mock executions were staged, including one where a begun was fired in a room next to a detainee to make him believe another prisoner had been killed.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which sued to get the CIA report released, called the tactics under the Bush administration, quote, "not only reprehensible but illegal," and said, "The American public has a right to know the full truth about the torture that was committed in its name."

Although the government had authorized such controversial techniques as waterboarding, the use of a gun and drill fell outside approved tactics.

A CIA spokesman said, quote, "The CIA in no way endorsed behavior no matter how infrequent that went beyond formal guidance" and added that Justice Department officials reviewed any cases of alleged misconduct.

But the report could renew questions about whether the Bush administration went too far in the name of national security. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has maintained the interrogation program as a whole was needed to keep the country safe.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The intelligence officers who questioned the terrorists can be proud of their work, proud of the results, because they prevented the violent death of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people.

QUIJANO: For the Obama administration, the report's release means a delicate balance.

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We will not be doing anything that would endanger the American people or in some ways lessen our national security.

QUIJANO: But some fear the release will have a chilling effect on intelligence officers trying to do their jobs.

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: We will teach timidity to a workforce that we need to be vigorous and active.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce soon whether he'll appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation policies - Don.

LEMON: All right, Elaine. Thank you very much.

And here to discuss tomorrow's release of this CIA report and other big issues in the week ahead are CNN political editor Mark Preston and Lynn Sweet of the "Chicago Sun-Times" and PoliticsDaily.com. Both joining us from Washington tonight.

Good to see you both.

Lynn, even though this is about the former administration, this current administration might find this potentially troubling because they're kind of walking a fine line here about the release of this information.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "CHICAGO SUN- TIMES": Well, this is one more example of the Obama administration being asked to confront the past when they don't want to.

Eric Holder may well have to decide if he wants to split with President Obama on this one and make a decision over whether or not to have an inquiry. This is just more pressure on Holder. Many of the Democrats in Congress, Don, do want to have this looked back. The Obama administration has not wanted it.

LEMON: Well, Mark, let's talk now about the Obama administration because the family is on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, but here's the thing. Everyone is talking about health care. Might his opponents use, you know, his absence to sort of gain some sort of advantage on this issue?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Don when President Bush was in office, of course, we were at war in Iraq, and he came under a lot of criticism when he would take August off and go down to Waco, Texas.

And I could tell you right now the Republicans are really looking at how they can criticize President Obama while he's up in Martha's Vineyard. So they're trying to come up with some kind of strategy about how to attack him while he is really trying to get one of his top domestic issues through.

In addition to that, we do know that an ad is going to run while he's up there by a group called the Conservatives for Patients' Rights, and they are a big-time opponent of this health care reform bill. And, Don, this ad is going to run when the Red Sox are playing President Obama's beloved White Sox. So he won't be able to get away from this.

LEMON: It's not really going to help his case that he's up there, right? PRESTON: Yes. I mean -- and, look, right now the Republicans are looking at the civil war in the Democratic Party over the idea of the public option. You have centrist Democrats...

LEMON: They're eating their own, huh.

PRESTON: They're eating their own. And you have the liberals who are really pushing it. So right now, the Obama administration not only has to try to woo over some of these Republicans, but he has to deal with Democrats as well.

LEMON: All right. Lynn, late last week we learned about the book by the first Homeland Security secretary ever, a ranking Republican. We're talking about Tom Ridge. It is raising questions about whether top Bush administration officials sought to raise the terror threat level on the eve of the 2004 elections. Don't know if it's true or not. He's making these -- he's questioning that.

Is this more politics, security, or a combination of both?

SWEET: Well, what's interesting here, Don, is that Tom Ridge, who's the former homeland security director, is suggesting...

LEMON: The first one, yes.

SWEET: ...that it's politics. So, you know, I know that even your own CNN analyst Frances Townsend, who was part of the Bush administration, you know, said earlier today that that wasn't the case. But sometimes you have to just take what the man says. You don't have to agree with it. That's pretty big admission.

For whatever motive that he's making it -- to sell books or to -- which is probably what the point is when you have something like that, but there is going to be the cry from people who are saying, why did you wait for your book to say this? Why didn't you say it at the time or soon after?

LEMON: OK.

And, Mark, we've seen the outrage around the country being expressed about health care reform. And now -- remember the tea parties that were held earlier in the year. The tea party express on the road next week.

PRESTON: Yes, absolutely. I mean, these folks who describe themselves as anti-tax conservatives who align themselves with this tea party movement, Don, at the end of the week are going to be all gathering in Sacramento and they're going to have this cross- country caravan. They're going to leave Sacramento, go down through the Southwest, come up North through the Rust Belt over to the East Coast.

And they hope to be here by September 12th when they're going to have this -- what they describe as this giant march on Washington, Don. These are folks that want less taxes and want the government out of their lives. So what has usually been a very quiet August is not going to be very quiet.

LEMON: OK. Thank you very much. It's always good to see you both, Lynn and Mark.

SWEET: Thank you.

LEMON: More on the breaking news that led this broadcast tonight. Ryan Jenkins, a reality TV actor wanted in the apparent killing of his wife, former model Jasmine Fiore, has been found dead. Details ahead on that.

Plus, raging wildfires in Greece burning out of control, forcing mass evacuations and threatening ancient ruins.

Plus this...

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Tough to watch. But if you text while you drive, you will never do it again after you watch this public service announcement. And we want your feedback tonight as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Strong gale-force winds have let up just a bit as wildfires rage across Greece tonight. But it's not enough to give firefighters the big break they need. They've been battling more than 90 fires in an area north of Athens for two days now. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate as homes and swaths of land turn into ashes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The only way we can put this fire out is if one million Greeks come and help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): By the time we realized what was happening and we could get into the car and leave, the fire had surrounded us. It came from all around and this is what it left behind, catastrophe, as you can see. Total catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the only bright spot so far, no fatalities have been reported.

CNN's Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center tonight.

Jacqui, I understand you have some developing news when it comes to a huge wave that hit the East Coast tonight.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This was in relation to Hurricane Bill. It's been causing those huge swells as we've been talking about. We have some pictures we want to show you. If you caught our earlier newscast you heard about the rogue wave at Acadia National Park where several people were swept into the ocean. Two of them made it out safely, and, unfortunately, we have heard that a 7-year-old girl did not make it now. So we have one death related to Bill.

And there you can see these pictures from Deb Schmidt, an amateur photographer. And if you look off to the left on the side of that boat, you can see the Coast Guard and the rescue taking place at that time.

So I guess they were standing on the rocks and a huge wave much larger than the other ones in that area came up and swept them out. So you have to be cautious, not just in the water, but around the water as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much for that.

Chicago's deadly streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chances are I know most of the people in the area. If I was to get out the truck and say, look, this is Tio, I'm doing something with CNN, they will give us a pass.

LEMON (on camera): But just for riding here, we're taking our lives in our hands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're taking a chance right now, Don. I have to be honest with you, because people shoot and they ask questions later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We went there to see firsthand what is going on and what the police in the community are doing to stop the violence.

Also, texting while driving. A lot of us do it despite the risks, but once you watch this PSA, you will never do it again.

And breaking news tonight. Ryan Jenkins, a man wanted in the apparent killing of his former model -- his former model girlfriend or wife, I should say, Jasmine Fiore, has been found debt. The details are just unfolding. We'll bring you the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A war zone in our very own country. We're going to give you the facts first. The hard facts. So far this year, nearly 300 people have been murdered in Chicago. 258 were killed by guns. And keep in mind, the year isn't over yet. That's why there is a stop the violence movement in Chicago that's trying to help. It's called CeaseFire. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Tio Hardiman knows Chicago's deadly streets and takes us for a ride in a neighborhood so dangerous, it's been dubbed Killer Town.

TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: If you come up through Killer Town, and people don't know who you are, we can get shot right now for filming in this car riding down the street. We can get shot.

LEMON: Hardiman grew up out here, but now runs CeaseFire Illinois, a non-profit that tries to get troubled youth, gangs and drug dealers out of the neighborhood.

HARDIMAN: Chances are I know most of the people in the area. If I was to get out of the truck, and say, look, this is Tio, I'm doing something with CNN, they will give us a pass.

LEMON (on camera): But just for riding here, we're taking our lives in our hands.

HARDIMAN: You're taking the chance right now, Don. I have to be honest with you, because people shoot and they ask questions later. There's no method to the madness.

LEMON (voice-over): Madness, like a child selling drugs.

(on camera): So you're out here at 8 years old up until now. How old are you now again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventeen.

LEMON: Seventeen.

So what was the routine?

What did you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I walked up and down the streets until I see somebody, then I say like what I had. Like say if I had weed, I'd say weed. If that's what they want, then I go serve them. After that, I was out selling more. It was fun at first and then you keep on flipping and then it just gets -- you get tired of it.

LEMON: Did you get caught?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I got caught.

LEMON (voice-over): Yet the lure of the streets is like a drug, so powerful, it becomes a way of life for teenagers like Bill.

(on camera): Why is it so easy to fall into the violence, drugs, guns. Why is it so easy?

Money?

BILL: Money. A lot of the young cats like a lot of money, you know what I'm saying. Want to be like a rapper on TV, you know, what I'm saying.

LEMON: What's the result of that?

BILL: Getting locked up or O.D.'d, you know what I'm saying? Chasing the money.

LEMON (voice-over): The almighty dollar, the common thread. We call this young man Dave. He asked us to conceal his identity.

(on camera): So what do you do for a living?

DAVE: Sell drugs.

LEMON: You sell drugs?

Why?

DAVE: I'm my own boss. Ain't nothing like being your own boss.

LEMON: You, your own boss, but you know people, including your brother, who have been shot.

DAVE: Yes, I've been shot.

LEMON: That doesn't happen to me on my job.

DAVE: That's the life you chose. I chose this life. A wilder life. (INAUDIBLE).

Check it, two, three hundred every two weeks. And I can check two, three hundred in one sitting for one person.

LEMON: In one night, how much?

DAVE: That ain't even one night. In one night probably about faster.

LEMON: $5,000 or $6,000 in one night?

DAVE: Or better. Some people get $20,000, $30,000. I'm just a small player, but I'm eating.

LEMON: What's the violence for? What's the whole reason for shooting? Why do so many people get shot?

DAVE: (INAUDIBLE) the traffic doesn't flow my way. You see, it's all about the almighty dollar.

LEMON: So if you kill somebody, you get rid of them, that's more money for you? I don't mean you specifically.

DAVE: Not me specifically. But some people.

LEMON: Explain it to me. What do you mean by that?

DAVE: (BLEEP), they just cut the middle man out. Some (BLEEP) in the way. Some people got to die for the next man, to get them to get on top.

LEMON (voice-over): The crude reality in a deadly business, and why some young men like Germaine (ph) and Bill are working with CeaseFire to turn their lives around.

(on camera): Are you done with it?

BILL: Yes.

LEMON: For real?

BILL: Yes.

LEMON: Why do you say that? Why should I believe you?

BILL: I can only show you.

LEMON: You see these guys out riding their bicycles and kids, kids that are coming up. What's your advice, if you have any for them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's my advice? Man, stay in school. School is where it's at. You're not going to make nothing in the schools. You ain't going to see none of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So what can a community do to keep kids from going into the drug trade? And what role do Mexican drug cartels play in all of this?

The head of the Chicago ATF and a former interim police superintendent from Chicago join us to dig deeper for solutions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, in Chicago more than 5,000 handguns have been taken off the streets, 232 assault weapons taken off the street. So understand just how big the problem is. Police say homicides are down slightly, but that is after a stunning murder rate in 2008.

A couple people who can really get to the heart of the problem with gun and drug trafficking is a special agent in charge of the Chicago office of the Bureau of ATF, Andy Traver, and also the president of the Commission on Human Relations in Chicago, Dana Starks. I just want to say Dana is also the former interim police superintendent of Chicago. He speaks now as the head of the human relations department.

Let's talk about the problems. Right there in the city -- Dana, I'll start with you, the problem, of course, I think the number one problem is maybe guns or drugs? I'm not sure in what order.

DANA STARKS, FORMER INTERIM CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Well, I'll say the number one problem is guns because guns are the instruments by which young folk out here in the community in this city and in other cities around this country are being killed or seriously maimed.

LEMON: And I understand that there is a direct pipeline from Mississippi to Illinois, to Indiana and then I'm sure other places in between. But because of Interstate 55, it is believed that because of the lax gun laws, that these gang members or people go down to Mississippi, buy these guns and then come back to Illinois.

Explain that to me, Mr. Traver, and then maybe other places that they go as well.

ANDY TRAVER, SPECIAL AGENT, ATF: Well, that's correct. Actually, of the crime guns recovered in Chicago, about 70 percent are -- come from within Illinois. But the next two greatest sources are Indiana, where shares get to U.S. border, and Mississippi. And it's a very vigorous black market trade using the straw purchase scheme, which I don't know if you're familiar with that or not.

LEMON: Isn't it that Illinois is number one in the recovery of guns. Are these illegal guns during crimes?

TRAVER: No. Fairly consistently we trace approximately 12,000 crime guns recovered in the state of Illinois every year. About 10,000 of those were recovered in the city of Chicago.

LEMON: Boy. OK. Let's move on now and talk about -- well, actually before we go there, how do you stop that? Is there anything you can do? Is it the lax gun laws that's helping? Will gun control help with that?

TRAVER: Well, I mean, states that have more lenient gun laws than Illinois are source states. Illinois is a market state. Chicago is a market city. We actually have and we've had for many years a very vigorous firearms trafficking task force that involves us and full-time members of the Chicago Police Department and our main purpose is to interdict those trafficking pipelines from Mississippi and from other states.

LEMON: OK.

STARKS: Also, Don, let me add that it's what our mayor has been saying for many years. Also, common sense gun legislation is also what's needed around the country and also in the state of Illinois.

LEMON: And recently the mayor and Superintendent Jody Weiss had a gun -- not really a buy back, a turn-in, I should say, gun turn-in, and usually when that happens thousands of guns are turned in that are not registered?

STARKS: Absolutely. What we have found, the city of Chicago, is that when we do gun turn-ins, we have gotten in one day as many as 7,000 guns voluntarily turned in by the community.

And let me make that point. Voluntarily turned in by moms and parents and grandparents to take these guns out of the houses and give them to the Chicago Police Department to try to ensure safety for their kids and their community.

LEMON: And, Dana, not just guns, handguns, assault weapons as well.

STARKS: Absolutely. Handguns, assault weapons, shotguns, you name it, Don, have been voluntarily turned in by the community.

LEMON: So, I imagine the ones that are still out there, they're not voluntarily turned in.

Let's talk about drugs now. They're coming into the news. There was a major arrest nationwide. But in Chicago -- in Chicago two people connected to a Mexican drug cartel, a big Mexican drug cartel, and it's believed to be two ring leaders, they were arrested in Chicago.

I know that it wasn't the ATF, Mr. Traver, but what problem does drugs coming in from Mexico pose to Chicago?

TRAVER: Well, the problem is that drugs are the commerce of gangs, organized crime. Gangs are organized crime.

So, because of the high amount of money attached to drug trafficking, the profit, I mean there's a -- there's a great deal of violence engendered by that because you need to expand your turf, you need to protect your turf. There's a feeling of the need to retaliate.

So, because of the high amount of money attached to drug trafficking, the profit, I mean there's a -- there's a great deal of violence engendered by that because you need to expand your turf, you need to protect your turf. There's a feeling of a need to retaliate.

So, I mean the drugs and guns going hand-in-hand. The drug trade fuels the gun violence, and vice versa.

LEMON: Yes and as I was speaking to Dana earlier, I know these fights with the guns, it's over territory. That's what these disputes are from, and that's where the violence comes from.

TRAVER: Right. Right.

LEMON: Let's move on and talk about solutions. Dana, do you believe it's an unreasonable expectation that law enforcement is the only answer to this problem?

STARKS: Yes, I do. And let me be a little bit more specific on that, Don. I believe that the community also has to step up their game, I'll say. The community has to be more involved. We understand in the community, and we also understand that the police will not arrest themselves of this problem.

The problem that has to -- or the solution that has to occur is the community will have to open up dialogue, will have to get actively involved with the young men and women out there on the streets that are doing this violence, and to come up to -- to try and come up with a solution as to what can be done to mediate this.

That and, you know, other -- series of other things that need to take place in order to help solve, at least reduce, the amount of violence that's going on.

LEMON: Andy Traver, what about parents and family structure? What about the responsibility of the family?

TRAVER: I think one of the issues is this. I worked here in Chicago as an agent in the late '80s and early '90s, and we arrested a lot of adult gang members for gun crimes done. And here we two decades later still arresting adult gang members for gun crimes.

We can arrest and arrest and arrest for decades, but as long as the gangs find a way to continually replenish their ranks with younger members, there's no way to actually curtail the problem. There has to be a way to convince youth that there are alternatives to gang membership, to becoming drug dealers, to solving their problems by getting a gun and shooting someone.

And to do that, I go to the schools and I speak in the public schools here and so do other agents that work for me, and try to discourage that. But you have to provide them with alternatives.

There has to be job training. There have to be educational opportunities. They have to have somewhere to turn, and that's beyond the scope of law enforcement.

LEMON: Yes.

STARKS: And that's where the community and law enforcement work hand in hand.

LEMON: Yes, Dana. We're up against the clock here. But what I want people to know as we're talking about these issues, we're wondering why so many young people were involved in this. And that is because law enforcement has knocked out the top tier of the gangs in the Chicago area. So the lower ranked members, who are younger, are all vying to move to the top, and that's why you see the age difference, the young ages going down.

So I know that to be true by speaking to both of you guys. So we appreciate you joining us tonight, and, hopefully, we'll put an end to all the violence that's happening on the streets there.

Thanks again.

TRAVER: Thank you.

STARKS: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Breaking news tonight. The manhunt for the main suspect in the death of a former bikini model is over, but the investigation into how he died is just getting started.

Also, why a young woman seen drinking a beer faces a lashing and jail time. The outrage grows overseas and here at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to update our breaking news for you tonight.

A reality TV contestant suspected in the death of his wife, a swimsuit model, has been found dead in a Canadian hotel. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say Ryan Alexander Jenkins apparently committed suicide.

Jasmine Fiore's nude body was found last weekend in Orange County, California stuffed inside a suitcase in a dumpster. Her fingers and her teeth had been removed in an apparent attempt to hide her identity. She was eventually ID'd from the serial numbers on her breast implants.

Police had gotten numerous reports of sightings that led the search to western Canada.

For more insight on this case now, I'm joined by James Alan Fox. He's a criminal justice professor at Northwestern University in Boston.

Thank you, sir.

The graphic details of this crime really they have shocked a lot of people.

What would drive someone to commit a crime like this? Is this a crime of passion? Especially between someone you love.

JAMES ALAN FOX, CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Yes. But let me first say it's Northeastern University, if I may, as opposed to Northwestern.

LEMON: OK. Thank you, sir.

FOX: Yes, absolutely. I mean, this is not a case of cold-blooded murder as it is of hot temper, and someone who perhaps didn't want the relationship to end. Wanted to be in control. Wanted to be the one to decide when, where, how and by whom the relationship would end. So it would appear that he was just angry at the fact that she didn't want to be married to him, and indeed there was quite a bit of fighting, according to witnesses anyway.

LEMON: Well, it's interesting when, you know, when they say she was -- her teeth were removed and her fingerprints. I mean, come on, you'd have to be in a really devastated state of mind to think that that might stop police or investigators from identifying her and doesn't that just make the case worse for him?

FOX: No. Offenders will frequently take steps to try to hide the evidence, to try to avoid getting caught, and frequently they'll cut off fingers, they will decimate bodies, because they feel that if the police can't find the body, can't find the victim, can't identify the victim, then they will go scot-free.

So, it's really a planned effort to try to evade apprehension, nothing more. And in the end when there were sightings of him and he perhaps felt that the police were getting close, his act of suicide would appear not so much a matter of remorse as it is of not wanting to face the music, not wanting to be public enemy number one, not wanting to be in the limelight in a negative sense as opposed to the positive sense he enjoyed when he was a reality show contestant.

LEMON: No other alternative. Usually, I thought in crimes of passion that it's usually a murder/suicide and it's right away, sir.

FOX: Yes, it would. But this was not right away. And oftentimes you'll find someone -- you know, if I can't help you, no one -- if I can't have you, no one can. And it's a homicide and then an immediate suicide.

He was on the run. He was trying to evade the police, but apparently he was not going to become successful.

And like we had here in Massachusetts with Charles Stewart, who, once the police were holding on to him, he jumped off the Tobin Bridge, not wanting to be prosecuted.

That may indeed be the motive here for suicide. Simply not wanting to be in the negative limelight.

LEMON: All right, thank you, sir. James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. We appreciate it.

FOX: Bye-bye.

LEMON: It's Monday in Malaysia where Islamic officials have taken custody of a woman who is scheduled to be caned for drinking in public. A court ordered that this woman that you're looking at right now, Kartika Shukarno, be lashed six times with a cane, all because she sipped a beer in a hotel nightclub, a violation of Muslim religious laws. It will be the first caning of a woman in Malaysia's history. As if that weren't punishment enough, she will also have to spend a week in jail away from her two special-needs children.

Ten thousand American dollars. That's what the alleged mastermind in Wednesday's Baghdad bomb attacks says it cost in bribes to get a truck loaded with explosives past city checkpoints to one of the six sites targeted by insurgents. The suspect's alleged confession was broadcast across Iraq today.

He is described as 57-year-old former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. He claims the attack was ordered by another Baath Party member in Syria. Nearly 100 people were killed and more than 500 hurt in Wednesday's bombings.

New images tonight of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, this time looking much healthier than he has for quite a while. The last time we saw pictures of Castro was at least a year ago. The 83-year- old underwent abdominal surgery three years ago. Since then he's turned over the presidency to his brother, Raul.

Do you ever text while you drive?

If so, you may have done it for the last time. After you see this next video, you will think twice before picking up the phone and texting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know texting while driving is a bad idea, but you do it anyway. Most people do because you feel it's important to send that message.

Really? Is it that important? Is it more important than your life and the lives of other people?

A police department in Britain is pulling no punches in trying to scare teens out of texting behind the wheel.

I'm going to caution you, and I'm going to go slowly here because if you have kids in the room or if you want to get out, go ahead.

This is very difficult to watch, but you need to see it. It could save your life. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Dave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just get his number.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring an ambulance! Bring an ambulance! Stay still. I can't open the door. I'm bringing an ambulance. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are other people we have to help, OK? Look straight at me for a second.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two people in the vehicle there. I can't get to them.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Mommy, daddy, wake up. Mommy, daddy, wake up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can't get any response.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I want Mommy and Daddy to wake up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any pain in your neck at all? Keep looking at me, all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me? What's your friend's name in the back?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Shocking, graphic, simply horrific, heartbreaking. I've heard all of those words tonight as we watch that tape.

The British PSA is designed to scare young drivers away from texting.

Will it work? Should something like this be broadcast in this country outside of the newscast?

We'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, let's talk more about that graphic public service announcement from Britain we just watched.

Joining me from New York is Robert Sinclair of the Automobile Club of New York.

So what did you think of that British PSA?

ROBERT SINCLAIR, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF NEW YORK: It's very hard-hitting, but that is the reality of the situation. Many people don't get to see the reality of crashes, and yet for the average person in our country, in the course of their day-to-day existence, there is nothing more dangerous than riding in or operating a motor vehicle. And, in fact, there's a study that was just released this week that found that those victims of unintended consequences, number one cause of death. We don't say accidents anymore, because it implies some measure of faith, and all these things are preventable. But, again, the number one cause of death on age birth to 44 years is a car crash. So that's the reality. It's hard-hitting, but I think we need to show these kinds of things. LEMON: When you look at, just looking at the news isn't enough because you see stories about subway conductors, train conductors, truck drivers, car drivers, causing horrific accidents by texting. So what can we do in the U.S. to create greater awareness about the dangers of texting and driving?

Is this a solution, what Britain is doing?

SINCLAIR: Well, it's part of it, but it all comes down to the fact that we have very poor driver training in this country. Many high schools drop driver education as soon as some sort of financial difficulty is faced. Now driver's education in high school is really inadequate, but at least it's a good start to get young people in the proper frame of mind that they should take driving very seriously. But the idea that you can take a five hour course and have 20 hours of supervised driving and then be out on the road is ridiculous.

If you look at the rest of the world, how stringent the driver training is, we are woefully inadequate, and when you have bad young drivers that become bad adult drivers.

LEMON: And some people say maybe they should raise the age for driving. I think it was 15 years old, and that was for a full driver's license when I was driving.

SINCLAIR: Yes, I believe in the state of Ohio, you can get a license at 14-1/2.

You know, raising the age might help, but --

LEMON: Well, see, those laws, though, that's what people don't understand, came about when people were farming in rural areas because they need it to make money.

SINCLAIR: Precisely. Precisely. And you don't have the mass transit alternative in most parts of country.

LEMON: OK.

SINCLAIR: Look, you know, education is the key. And the idea that we can do things like use cell phones and even text -- cell phone is bad enough, but the AAA foundation for traffic safety study found that your crash risk is raised by four times when you're using the cell phone. A recent government-funded study found that your crash risk is 23 times greater when you're texting than if you're not.

LEMON: And here's what's interesting, Mr. Sinclair, is that, you know, that many places have banned handheld use, and you can use the earpiece.

SINCLAIR: Right.

LEMON: But there is really, the research shows us really not much of a difference, because you're concentrating on the conversation. I've got to run here, but if you could give me a yes or no, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says ban texting just like, you know, you do with banning handheld devices here.

What do you think?

SINCLAIR: Well, we're getting ready to do it in New York state and perhaps the rest of the country needs to take that lead. And it's a very dangerous thing to do, and it's going to be banned for everybody in New York state very soon. As soon as the governor signs the bill.

LEMON: All right. Robert Sinclair, Automobile Club of New York.

Thank you.

SINCLAIR: Thank you.

LEMON: This graphic PSA video that you just saw a short time ago is going to be a big talker on Monday. We know people are going to be talking about it because we've had a big response.

And my guy, Rick Sanchez, will have a conversation with the producer of this PSA tomorrow on his show, Rick Sanchez's show at 3:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Rick will talk to the producer about how he got that video out, and the response that he's gotten as well. So make sure you tune in at 3:00 tomorrow.

A collision that the FAA and highway patrol both might have to investigate. How a plane came to collide with three vehicles in California. Look at that picture.

LEMON: All right. To some breaking news now out of Orange County, California. The district attorney there is confirming that Ryan Jenkins was found hanging in a hotel room, and he was found by an employee. And we're being told that the murder case against him will be dismissed.

I'm sorry, say again, Jen?

OK.

As we reported earlier tonight, he was found earlier in British Columbia, but again he was believed to be the suspect behind the murder of his wife and a former model. He was found hanging in a hotel room, and according to the district attorney in Orange County, California, he was found by an employee of that hotel. And the murder case will be dismissed, the charges against him.

We'll be back in a moment with details on our breaking news, plus more stories for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Take a look at these pictures from Santa Barbara, California. This plane came down on three cars on a highway there, Highway 101. No one was in the car, no one in the car, the plane was injured in this.

Boy, that is amazing.

Make sure you tune in, tomorrow morning for AMERICAN MORNING at 6:00 a.m. regarding the latest on the model, who was killed by her husband. And then he was found dead in a hotel room in Canada.

I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here next weekend. Have a good night.