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American Morning
Ohio Sniper Suspect Arrested; Jayson Williams Trial; Mother's Instinct Thwarts Kidnapping; Minding Your Business
Aired March 17, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. It is exactly half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And it is a busy morning here, too.
Breaking news from Ohio and Las Vegas. The search for Ohio sniper suspect Charles McCoy turned into a cross-country manhunt, ending earlier today, just hours ago, in Las Vegas. McCoy, picked up by police at a Las Vegas hotel, apparently had driven across the country in that green car that authorities described in Ohio on Monday evening.
Bruce Cadwallader is the senior police reporter for the paperback in Columbus, "The Columbus Dispatch," watching this case for months, and he's with us now live.
Bruce, good morning. Have you learned more on your end of the story of what police are saying?
BRUCE CADWALLADER, SENIOR POLICE REPORTER, "THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH": Good morning, Bill.
We're a little surprised that Charlie McCoy got to Nevada. But what information I have is that they spotted his car, and someone recognized the name from media reports, and he was arrested out there early this morning.
HEMMER: Was he considered a flight risk?
CADWALLADER: Authorities here are just learning of this information.
HEMMER: Was he considered a flight risk, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: Well, he left the house Friday with $600 and told his mother he was going to the mall. But authorities immediately started checking airport parking lots here and private lots for his car.
HEMMER: So, it was believed then that he was short on cash if all he had was the $600, right?
CADWALLADER: That's right. He's been unemployed since high school with an unsteady mental illness. They didn't think he was going to get very far. HEMMER: We heard the plea -- the public plea from his sister yesterday. Have police said how much the family has helped in their search?
CADWALLADER: Well, it was the family that got this whole thing rolling. They called authorities, said they had guns belonging to Charlie McCoy. And, as you know now, those guns -- one of those guns has been ballistically matched to the murder weapon.
HEMMER: Bruce, what did...
CADWALLADER: They went on TV yesterday...
HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption here. What did the family fear, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: The family feared that Charlie would harm himself or others with that gun that we now know he purchased on Friday.
HEMMER: What has been the mood in Columbus over the past two days, after the description went out on Monday evening, a detailed description of that car, the license tag, the name, the age, et cetera?
CADWALLADER: I think it's been a collective sigh of relief, knowing that this case is finally coming to a close. For months, we've been dealing with a ghost shooting from an overpass, not knowing who he is or what his intentions were. When those pictures came out, there was some hope that this would be an end to this crisis.
HEMMER: This story has only been breaking in the past hour. Do you know at this point whether or not he's coming back to Columbus, Ohio, anytime soon?
CADWALLADER: I've been told by the task force that he's been taken to an FBI secure facility, where he'll be interviewed and may appear before a judge in the next 24 hours.
HEMMER: Bruce, thank you. Appreciate your reporting.
CADWALLADER: Sure.
HEMMER: Bruce Cadwallader, "The Columbus Dispatch" there in Columbus, Ohio, the chief of police reporter for that paper. Thank you, Bruce. Well done -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That update in the case is our top story this morning.
Other stories this morning as well, newly-surfaced video from August of 2000 might show Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The footage, first aired on NBC, was shot by an unmanned CIA Predator drone. The video shows a group of people, including a tall man in a white robe. Analysts say that man may have been Osama bin Laden, and they confirmed that the tape was classified.
Barbara Starr has a report from the Pentagon coming up in our next half-hour.
In U.S. politics, Democrat John Kerry appears to be the winner in the Illinois presidential primary. Senator Kerry awaited last night's results in West Virginia. Kerry's delegate count is now boosted to at least 2,200, and that is more than enough to secure his presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention come July.
Vice President Dick Cheney is set to deliver a key speech on former President Ronald Reagan. An administration source says that the vice president is expected to say that America's leaders must be unwavering in the shadow of a continued terrorist threat, just as former President Reagan did. Vice President Cheney will give the address at the Reagan Presidential Library later today.
In Houston, a couple is seeing double and then a little. Cheryl and Jeffrey McGowan (ph) are now the proud parents of two sets of identical twins. All 4 were born about 10 weeks early on Monday. The doctor says that the odds of having a pair of identical twins are about 1 in 11 million.
HEMMER: Wow! Are you getting jealous?
O'BRIEN: No. You know what? Congratulations. I wish you all the best. Four identical?
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
HEMMER: Consider yourself lucky at this point (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Well, yes, I do, in fact, each and every day.
HEMMER: Yes. On this Saint Patrick's Day, happy Saint Patty's Day to you, Ms. O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Thank you. Are you wearing green today?
HEMMER: Mr. O'Hemmer (ph) over here is waiting. No green.
O'BRIEN: We're going to make you an honorary Irishman.
HEMMER: Thank you. I would be honored.
(WEATHER BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Turning now to the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial, prosecutors are now presenting experts to bolster what the jury has already heard from witnesses at Williams' estate on the night of the shooting.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Jayson Williams, it all comes down to the 12 gauge shotgun. Did it accidentally fire when he snapped it shut, as his lawyers maintain? Or did the former NBA star deliberately pull the trigger, killing limo driver Gus Christofi? That's what prosecutors say happened. A detective testifying for them said he ran tests on the gun...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The actual safety...
FEYERICK: ... and found nothing wrong with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you find any mechanical problems that would prohibit you from discharging live ammunition?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I did not.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors also tried to counter the defense argument that the shotgun has a history of accidentally discharging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you ever able to get that shotgun to fire on any of those tests when your finger wasn't on the trigger?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the shotgun ever fire when you didn't expect it to fire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
FEYERICK: The shooting happened just over two years ago. Williams, who had been out drinking with some friends, was giving them a tour of his New Jersey estate. His lawyers say at the time Williams was handling the shotgun he didn't realize Christofi had entered the master bedroom. The shooting was initially made to look like a suicide. A lab expert testified none of the dead man's DNA was found on the gun.
MAUREEN LOW-BEER, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE: He did not appear to be on the swab that was taken from the grip.
FEYERICK: Friends who were near Williams when the gun fired have all been given immunity to testify against the former hoops star. Williams faces eight charges -- the most serious: aggravated manslaughter.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning to talk a little bit more about the trial is Brian Neary. He's a New Jersey criminal defense attorney who represented Williams on a gun charge 10 years previously.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being back with us.
BRIAN NEARY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We heard from the detective on the stand saying the gun seemed to work just fine. Earlier, Billy Martin said that the gun had a history of misfiring, but he was talking about the guns -- that sort of class of guns, not the specific gun. So, how damming is the detective's testimony to the defense's case?
NEARY: Well, the detective, the expert has not yet been cross- examined, and you can suspect that they will challenge his series of experiments. He did a number of experiments -- finger on the trigger, finger not on the trigger -- trying to replicate what some of the witnesses said that Williams snapped the gun up. And his conclusion for the state is that the gun didn't go off without some pressure on the trigger.
If that's the case, then that backs up Benoit Benjamin's story that Williams' finger was on the trigger. However, a number of the other witnesses called by the prosecution do not put Williams' finger on the trigger. So, the question is still going to be: How did that gun go off?
O'BRIEN: A DNA expert we also saw on the stand in Deb's piece said that there was lots of DNA on that weapon, but none of it was Christofi's, which sort of complicates things, because it seems to go against what the prosecution is trying to establish in their case.
NEARY: One of the key parts of the prosecution has to be of the so-called cover-up, where Williams tries to put Christofi's hand on there to suggest it was a suicide. Because of the tremendous injury that Mr. Christofi had suffered, there would have been a tremendous amount of blood that would have gotten on the gun. It would have left a form of DNA. It wasn't there. So, that complicates that particular scenario that there was this massive suicide cover-up.
O'BRIEN: We saw the string of former and current Harlem Globetrotters on the stand, who all have immunity in this case now. Who do you think has been the most credible? Because at the end of the day, I have to imagine it's going to come down to picking and believing the most credible witness on the stand.
NEARY: Each side has their own star in this circumstance. The prosecutor has to rely on Benoit Benjamin. Benjamin does three things. He makes Williams drunk. He says Williams' attitude against Mr. Christofi was the most damming. He cursed...
O'BRIEN: He was cursing him all night.
NEARY: He cursed at him. And he also is the person who puts the finger on the trigger that would replicate the science.
Go to the other side, you had Chris Morris who testifies to really a different set of circumstances, as well as Paul Gaffney. Gaffney, who is -- who testified as one of the Globetrotters -- and I don't believe he was a friend of Williams' -- testified to the circumstances surrounding Gaffney dealing with Mr. Christofi when he got shot. And what he doesn't say about Williams is that Williams did not curse at Christofi at the time that the weapon was moved and the shot went off.
O'BRIEN: If you were an attorney in this case, would you put Jayson Williams on the stand?
NEARY: That's the hardest decision in any kind of a case.
O'BRIEN: Yes or no question.
NEARY: I think -- and I think the answer would be yes, because Jayson has to have the -- will have to demonstrate the decency that he needs to show, show the remorse that he needs to show for this set of events, and to tell what was going through his head. Billy Martin has promised that Jayson Williams is going to testify.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll see what Billy Martin does. Brian Neary, as always, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
NEARY: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Twenty minutes now before the hour, Soledad.
Martha Stewart's daughter is speaking out in the wake of guilty verdicts in her mom's trial. In an exclusive interview, Alexis Stewart telling CNN's Larry King she thinks it would incredibly wrong if her mother went to prison. She also talks about their personal relationship with Larry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: What's her biggest fault?
ALEXIS STEWART, MARTHA STEWART'S DAUGHTER: She's too, ironically, forgiving and kind. And I know people don't know that, but she's incredibly generous, and she forgives too much, I think.
KING: So would that be...
STEWART: She's too trusting.
KING: Would that be the thing that most people don't know about your mother?
STEWART: I think so, yes.
KING: So, in other words, you don't think she harbors grudges?
STEWART: No, not at all. I have to encourage here -- I try to encourage her to harbor grudges.
KING: You're a grudge harborer?
STEWART: Yes.
KING: Yes. She will not come out of this bitter?
STEWART: No.
KING: That's surprising, because most people who feel they didn't do anything wrong have anger.
STEWART: Well, I don't think she's going to give up. I think she's incredibly saddened. Incredibly saddened.
KING: But sad more than angry.
STEWART: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You can see the rest of Larry's exclusive interview later tonight. Alexis Stewart is Larry's guest, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 on the West Coast.
Two in a row for Larry: Ben Affleck last night, Alexis Stewart tonight. You go, Larry!
O'BRIEN: All right.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 9:00 tonight.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we love running those clips. Larry, thanks.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to keep you up-to- date on the latest details on the breaking news about the arrest of the Ohio highway shooting suspect.
HEMMER: Also a mother's instinct saves her daughter and a young friend from an attempted kidnapping. Their story and it's a good ending here. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Now to a good story this morning. A Florida mother has a story to tell. What a story, too. A cautionary tale for all parents. Thankfully, there is a happy ending.
Police say Judy Cohen prevented the abduction of her daughter and a young friend last weekend in a supermarket in Tampa, Florida. Today, the suspect is still in custody. Two families are still breathing huge sighs of relief.
We're going to take you to Tampa, Florida, this morning and talk with Judy Cohen, her 12-year-old daughter, Haley. They are holding hands this morning. They have not been apart for very long since last weekend. Also, Haley's friend to the left of your screen is 11-year- old Amanda Jorgensen.
And we want to say good morning to the three of you, and thanks for sharing your story with us today on AMERICAN MORNING.
So many times, Ms. Cohen, we hear the bad end to this story. I want to talk about when this man approached you inside that supermarket in Tampa. He posed as a security guard. What did he tell you at the time? JUDY COHEN, MOM WHO THWARTED KIDNAPPING ATTEMPT: Well, at the time, he told me he was undercover security working in the store to catch shoplifters, and after he determined which child was not my daughter, he targeted her and said I need to take her with me. I just witnessed her put something in her pocket.
HEMMER: And you were suspicious. What made you that way?
J. COHEN: You know, initially, I wasn't. I believed him, which is the scary part. I initially believed him, but I thought it was a big mistake. And I just could not -- my gut instinct would not let me, you know, hand a child over to him. And I just said -- you know, I almost apologetically said, 'I said to see some I.D., please,' initially. I got a little more forceful later, but initially I was, you know, kind of timidly asking him for some I.D.
HEMMER: I understand you said I'm not going without her, eventually. You want to take her, but she's not leaving my sight, let's go together?
J. COHEN: Yes. Eventually, alarms just -- you know, my logical mind was telling me this isn't happening, but my gut instinct was saying, you know, something is wrong. And I finally said, 'We will all go with you wherever you need us to go as soon as you show me some I.D.'
HEMMER: Well, so you confirmed your suspicions how? Called police? Store manager? What did you do?
J. COHEN: Actually, he turned and very calmly, after arguing with me for quite a few minutes, turned and very calmly shrugged his shoulders. I really still thought he must be going to get somebody, because you just don't believe it's happening, and I just followed him. I just decided that if I saw him make a move -- he had a little basket in his hand like a shopper would, and I decided if he put that basket down, I would just start screaming. And I didn't believe it until I saw him put the basket down, because you just don't believe it's happening to you.
HEMMER: Well, to your daughter, if I could. Haley, what were you thinking through this? Did you believe the man?
HALEY COHEN, JUDY COHEN'S DAUGHTER: I thought he was really a security guard.
HEMMER: Yes.
H. COHEN: An undercover security.
HEMMER: What did he tell you?
H. COHEN: He said that he was an undercover security, and that he just witnessed my friend stick something in her pocket.
HEMMER: Yes. Amanda, I know you've been taught to respect security and authority. What were you thinking through this, at the age of 11, inside that store?
AMANDA JORGENSON, HALEY'S FRIEND: I was starting to get scared. And when he said that I stole something, I was, like, you must be mistaken, because I didn't steal anything.
HEMMER: Wow! If I could go back to Ms. Cohen just for a second here. I know the man has been charged, not convicted. Do you have a lesson for parents who are watching this today?
J. COHEN: Well, you know, it was a lesson for me, and, you know, that's why I'm saying it to anybody that will listen that you can't talk enough to your kids. And don't listen to your logical mind. Listen to your gut instinct that's telling you something is wrong, because when you get that instinct, it's always right.
HEMMER: Lesson learned, and good instincts, too. And thanks for sharing, too. So many times we report the other side, but this is a good one. Thanks.
J. COHEN: Yes. You're welcome.
HEMMER: Judy Cohen, her daughter, Haley, and Amanda Jorgenson, enjoy your day. Nice to see you all.
J. COHEN: Thank you.
HEMMER: OK, you got it. Bye-bye.
JORGENSON: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, great instinct there.
Still to come this morning, a huge payday. Citigroup reveals what its chief executive was paid last year, and it is a small fortune for just nine months of work. We'll show you just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The market got back on track yesterday with a little help from the Fed. Plus, nice work if you can get it -- $111,000 a day for one executive. Andy Serwer makes just about that, and he's "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No, I don't, Soledad, and I'm crying about that.
O'BRIEN: Wow! What are talking about?
SERWER: We're talking about Sandy Weill, the chairman of Citigroup, the nation's largest financial services firm. He was the CEO until October 1. That's nine months of work -- $30 million cash. And get this, Soledad: That's just the tip of the iceberg. I think he had a pretty good year.
Let's break it down for you. Now, we're saying 30 million. You can see the other compensation there. That's a rounding error. OK? And again, this is the tip of the iceberg.
Let's go on to the next screen and see where the real big -- it's always the options. Cherie (ph) shay (ph) le options -- pardon my French: $262 million "The New York Times" is reporting that he sold back to Citi (ph). That's the real money. This guy is worth over $1 billion.
And to be fair, Citigroup did have a good year last year. The stock was in the mid-30s; now around $50. That's a pretty big jump. But it is the talk of Wall Street this morning. It's the bottom line.
O'BRIEN: It's all in the bonus, isn't it?
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean...
SERWER: Bonus and stock options.
O'BRIEN: His salary is only a million bucks, but his bonus...
SERWER: Right, yes.
O'BRIEN: ... is 29 times that.
SERWER: It's pretty amazing.
O'BRIEN: Good for you, Sandy.
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's good to make $111,000 a day.
SERWER: Nice to be Sandy.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the market. Not bad.
SERWER: Not bad at all. The Dow was up over 80 points yesterday, and we like to see that.
The question is: Are we in a mode where we're moving one step forward, two steps back? We'll see today.
Futures are up a little bit this morning. What happened? We had that Fed meeting yesterday afternoon, and benign, no change in interest rates, and the Fed indicating that the job market is still lagging. Surprise, surprise. So, they're not going to be touching rates. Good stuff.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome. HEMMER: Bon jour, monami (ph). Question of the day.
SERWER: Say who now?
HEMMER: I was just getting (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Moving on to France on Saint Patrick's Day?
HEMMER: Work with me, will you?
SERWER: I'm trying.
HEMMER: I'm trying to keep my man in the game over here.
O'BRIEN: That was classic.
HEMMER: All right.
O'BRIEN: Jack? Jacques?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Startling poll results that show the image of the United States hitting all-time low overseas. The survey, conducted by the non-partisan Pew Research Center, shows that a majority of people everywhere, except the United States, say that the war in Iraq hurt the fight against terrorism.
Majorities in Great Britain, France, Germany and Turkey say that Western Europe should take a more -- quote -- "independent approach" -- unquote -- to security and diplomacy. And majorities in every country, except the United States, have an unfavorable opinion of President Bush.
The question is: Has the war on terror permanently damaged America's relations with its allies? Here are some of the answers we're getting.
Paul in Hellertown, Pennsylvania: "The arrogance of the George Bush go-it-alone foreign policies has resulted in world-wide condemnation, and his domestic policies concerning the economy have failed miserably. When the Republicans are voted out of the White House in November, there will be a worldwide proclamation: mission accomplished."
Colin in Israel writes: "Whether Spain or any other country decides to become weak-kneed at the threat of terror is an irrelevant consideration. The need is for America to recognize that terrorists have no respect for weakness. Indeed, they feed upon it as their signal of success. Everything depends upon America being implacably strong in the face of terror and confronting it without fear and without favor from anyone.
And John in Madison, Wisconsin: "I would rather the United States be right than popular."
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
CAFFERTY: It is interesting.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks very much.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: We'll see how the rest of the e-mails come in this morning.
Still to come this morning, the Ohio man wanted in connection with two dozen shootings is now in custody. We've got full details on his arrest just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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Mother's Instinct Thwarts Kidnapping; Minding Your Business>
Aired March 17, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. It is exactly half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And it is a busy morning here, too.
Breaking news from Ohio and Las Vegas. The search for Ohio sniper suspect Charles McCoy turned into a cross-country manhunt, ending earlier today, just hours ago, in Las Vegas. McCoy, picked up by police at a Las Vegas hotel, apparently had driven across the country in that green car that authorities described in Ohio on Monday evening.
Bruce Cadwallader is the senior police reporter for the paperback in Columbus, "The Columbus Dispatch," watching this case for months, and he's with us now live.
Bruce, good morning. Have you learned more on your end of the story of what police are saying?
BRUCE CADWALLADER, SENIOR POLICE REPORTER, "THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH": Good morning, Bill.
We're a little surprised that Charlie McCoy got to Nevada. But what information I have is that they spotted his car, and someone recognized the name from media reports, and he was arrested out there early this morning.
HEMMER: Was he considered a flight risk?
CADWALLADER: Authorities here are just learning of this information.
HEMMER: Was he considered a flight risk, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: Well, he left the house Friday with $600 and told his mother he was going to the mall. But authorities immediately started checking airport parking lots here and private lots for his car.
HEMMER: So, it was believed then that he was short on cash if all he had was the $600, right?
CADWALLADER: That's right. He's been unemployed since high school with an unsteady mental illness. They didn't think he was going to get very far. HEMMER: We heard the plea -- the public plea from his sister yesterday. Have police said how much the family has helped in their search?
CADWALLADER: Well, it was the family that got this whole thing rolling. They called authorities, said they had guns belonging to Charlie McCoy. And, as you know now, those guns -- one of those guns has been ballistically matched to the murder weapon.
HEMMER: Bruce, what did...
CADWALLADER: They went on TV yesterday...
HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption here. What did the family fear, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: The family feared that Charlie would harm himself or others with that gun that we now know he purchased on Friday.
HEMMER: What has been the mood in Columbus over the past two days, after the description went out on Monday evening, a detailed description of that car, the license tag, the name, the age, et cetera?
CADWALLADER: I think it's been a collective sigh of relief, knowing that this case is finally coming to a close. For months, we've been dealing with a ghost shooting from an overpass, not knowing who he is or what his intentions were. When those pictures came out, there was some hope that this would be an end to this crisis.
HEMMER: This story has only been breaking in the past hour. Do you know at this point whether or not he's coming back to Columbus, Ohio, anytime soon?
CADWALLADER: I've been told by the task force that he's been taken to an FBI secure facility, where he'll be interviewed and may appear before a judge in the next 24 hours.
HEMMER: Bruce, thank you. Appreciate your reporting.
CADWALLADER: Sure.
HEMMER: Bruce Cadwallader, "The Columbus Dispatch" there in Columbus, Ohio, the chief of police reporter for that paper. Thank you, Bruce. Well done -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That update in the case is our top story this morning.
Other stories this morning as well, newly-surfaced video from August of 2000 might show Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The footage, first aired on NBC, was shot by an unmanned CIA Predator drone. The video shows a group of people, including a tall man in a white robe. Analysts say that man may have been Osama bin Laden, and they confirmed that the tape was classified.
Barbara Starr has a report from the Pentagon coming up in our next half-hour.
In U.S. politics, Democrat John Kerry appears to be the winner in the Illinois presidential primary. Senator Kerry awaited last night's results in West Virginia. Kerry's delegate count is now boosted to at least 2,200, and that is more than enough to secure his presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention come July.
Vice President Dick Cheney is set to deliver a key speech on former President Ronald Reagan. An administration source says that the vice president is expected to say that America's leaders must be unwavering in the shadow of a continued terrorist threat, just as former President Reagan did. Vice President Cheney will give the address at the Reagan Presidential Library later today.
In Houston, a couple is seeing double and then a little. Cheryl and Jeffrey McGowan (ph) are now the proud parents of two sets of identical twins. All 4 were born about 10 weeks early on Monday. The doctor says that the odds of having a pair of identical twins are about 1 in 11 million.
HEMMER: Wow! Are you getting jealous?
O'BRIEN: No. You know what? Congratulations. I wish you all the best. Four identical?
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
HEMMER: Consider yourself lucky at this point (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Well, yes, I do, in fact, each and every day.
HEMMER: Yes. On this Saint Patrick's Day, happy Saint Patty's Day to you, Ms. O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Thank you. Are you wearing green today?
HEMMER: Mr. O'Hemmer (ph) over here is waiting. No green.
O'BRIEN: We're going to make you an honorary Irishman.
HEMMER: Thank you. I would be honored.
(WEATHER BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Turning now to the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial, prosecutors are now presenting experts to bolster what the jury has already heard from witnesses at Williams' estate on the night of the shooting.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Jayson Williams, it all comes down to the 12 gauge shotgun. Did it accidentally fire when he snapped it shut, as his lawyers maintain? Or did the former NBA star deliberately pull the trigger, killing limo driver Gus Christofi? That's what prosecutors say happened. A detective testifying for them said he ran tests on the gun...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The actual safety...
FEYERICK: ... and found nothing wrong with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you find any mechanical problems that would prohibit you from discharging live ammunition?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I did not.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors also tried to counter the defense argument that the shotgun has a history of accidentally discharging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you ever able to get that shotgun to fire on any of those tests when your finger wasn't on the trigger?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the shotgun ever fire when you didn't expect it to fire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
FEYERICK: The shooting happened just over two years ago. Williams, who had been out drinking with some friends, was giving them a tour of his New Jersey estate. His lawyers say at the time Williams was handling the shotgun he didn't realize Christofi had entered the master bedroom. The shooting was initially made to look like a suicide. A lab expert testified none of the dead man's DNA was found on the gun.
MAUREEN LOW-BEER, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE: He did not appear to be on the swab that was taken from the grip.
FEYERICK: Friends who were near Williams when the gun fired have all been given immunity to testify against the former hoops star. Williams faces eight charges -- the most serious: aggravated manslaughter.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning to talk a little bit more about the trial is Brian Neary. He's a New Jersey criminal defense attorney who represented Williams on a gun charge 10 years previously.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being back with us.
BRIAN NEARY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We heard from the detective on the stand saying the gun seemed to work just fine. Earlier, Billy Martin said that the gun had a history of misfiring, but he was talking about the guns -- that sort of class of guns, not the specific gun. So, how damming is the detective's testimony to the defense's case?
NEARY: Well, the detective, the expert has not yet been cross- examined, and you can suspect that they will challenge his series of experiments. He did a number of experiments -- finger on the trigger, finger not on the trigger -- trying to replicate what some of the witnesses said that Williams snapped the gun up. And his conclusion for the state is that the gun didn't go off without some pressure on the trigger.
If that's the case, then that backs up Benoit Benjamin's story that Williams' finger was on the trigger. However, a number of the other witnesses called by the prosecution do not put Williams' finger on the trigger. So, the question is still going to be: How did that gun go off?
O'BRIEN: A DNA expert we also saw on the stand in Deb's piece said that there was lots of DNA on that weapon, but none of it was Christofi's, which sort of complicates things, because it seems to go against what the prosecution is trying to establish in their case.
NEARY: One of the key parts of the prosecution has to be of the so-called cover-up, where Williams tries to put Christofi's hand on there to suggest it was a suicide. Because of the tremendous injury that Mr. Christofi had suffered, there would have been a tremendous amount of blood that would have gotten on the gun. It would have left a form of DNA. It wasn't there. So, that complicates that particular scenario that there was this massive suicide cover-up.
O'BRIEN: We saw the string of former and current Harlem Globetrotters on the stand, who all have immunity in this case now. Who do you think has been the most credible? Because at the end of the day, I have to imagine it's going to come down to picking and believing the most credible witness on the stand.
NEARY: Each side has their own star in this circumstance. The prosecutor has to rely on Benoit Benjamin. Benjamin does three things. He makes Williams drunk. He says Williams' attitude against Mr. Christofi was the most damming. He cursed...
O'BRIEN: He was cursing him all night.
NEARY: He cursed at him. And he also is the person who puts the finger on the trigger that would replicate the science.
Go to the other side, you had Chris Morris who testifies to really a different set of circumstances, as well as Paul Gaffney. Gaffney, who is -- who testified as one of the Globetrotters -- and I don't believe he was a friend of Williams' -- testified to the circumstances surrounding Gaffney dealing with Mr. Christofi when he got shot. And what he doesn't say about Williams is that Williams did not curse at Christofi at the time that the weapon was moved and the shot went off.
O'BRIEN: If you were an attorney in this case, would you put Jayson Williams on the stand?
NEARY: That's the hardest decision in any kind of a case.
O'BRIEN: Yes or no question.
NEARY: I think -- and I think the answer would be yes, because Jayson has to have the -- will have to demonstrate the decency that he needs to show, show the remorse that he needs to show for this set of events, and to tell what was going through his head. Billy Martin has promised that Jayson Williams is going to testify.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll see what Billy Martin does. Brian Neary, as always, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
NEARY: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Twenty minutes now before the hour, Soledad.
Martha Stewart's daughter is speaking out in the wake of guilty verdicts in her mom's trial. In an exclusive interview, Alexis Stewart telling CNN's Larry King she thinks it would incredibly wrong if her mother went to prison. She also talks about their personal relationship with Larry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: What's her biggest fault?
ALEXIS STEWART, MARTHA STEWART'S DAUGHTER: She's too, ironically, forgiving and kind. And I know people don't know that, but she's incredibly generous, and she forgives too much, I think.
KING: So would that be...
STEWART: She's too trusting.
KING: Would that be the thing that most people don't know about your mother?
STEWART: I think so, yes.
KING: So, in other words, you don't think she harbors grudges?
STEWART: No, not at all. I have to encourage here -- I try to encourage her to harbor grudges.
KING: You're a grudge harborer?
STEWART: Yes.
KING: Yes. She will not come out of this bitter?
STEWART: No.
KING: That's surprising, because most people who feel they didn't do anything wrong have anger.
STEWART: Well, I don't think she's going to give up. I think she's incredibly saddened. Incredibly saddened.
KING: But sad more than angry.
STEWART: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You can see the rest of Larry's exclusive interview later tonight. Alexis Stewart is Larry's guest, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 on the West Coast.
Two in a row for Larry: Ben Affleck last night, Alexis Stewart tonight. You go, Larry!
O'BRIEN: All right.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 9:00 tonight.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we love running those clips. Larry, thanks.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to keep you up-to- date on the latest details on the breaking news about the arrest of the Ohio highway shooting suspect.
HEMMER: Also a mother's instinct saves her daughter and a young friend from an attempted kidnapping. Their story and it's a good ending here. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Now to a good story this morning. A Florida mother has a story to tell. What a story, too. A cautionary tale for all parents. Thankfully, there is a happy ending.
Police say Judy Cohen prevented the abduction of her daughter and a young friend last weekend in a supermarket in Tampa, Florida. Today, the suspect is still in custody. Two families are still breathing huge sighs of relief.
We're going to take you to Tampa, Florida, this morning and talk with Judy Cohen, her 12-year-old daughter, Haley. They are holding hands this morning. They have not been apart for very long since last weekend. Also, Haley's friend to the left of your screen is 11-year- old Amanda Jorgensen.
And we want to say good morning to the three of you, and thanks for sharing your story with us today on AMERICAN MORNING.
So many times, Ms. Cohen, we hear the bad end to this story. I want to talk about when this man approached you inside that supermarket in Tampa. He posed as a security guard. What did he tell you at the time? JUDY COHEN, MOM WHO THWARTED KIDNAPPING ATTEMPT: Well, at the time, he told me he was undercover security working in the store to catch shoplifters, and after he determined which child was not my daughter, he targeted her and said I need to take her with me. I just witnessed her put something in her pocket.
HEMMER: And you were suspicious. What made you that way?
J. COHEN: You know, initially, I wasn't. I believed him, which is the scary part. I initially believed him, but I thought it was a big mistake. And I just could not -- my gut instinct would not let me, you know, hand a child over to him. And I just said -- you know, I almost apologetically said, 'I said to see some I.D., please,' initially. I got a little more forceful later, but initially I was, you know, kind of timidly asking him for some I.D.
HEMMER: I understand you said I'm not going without her, eventually. You want to take her, but she's not leaving my sight, let's go together?
J. COHEN: Yes. Eventually, alarms just -- you know, my logical mind was telling me this isn't happening, but my gut instinct was saying, you know, something is wrong. And I finally said, 'We will all go with you wherever you need us to go as soon as you show me some I.D.'
HEMMER: Well, so you confirmed your suspicions how? Called police? Store manager? What did you do?
J. COHEN: Actually, he turned and very calmly, after arguing with me for quite a few minutes, turned and very calmly shrugged his shoulders. I really still thought he must be going to get somebody, because you just don't believe it's happening, and I just followed him. I just decided that if I saw him make a move -- he had a little basket in his hand like a shopper would, and I decided if he put that basket down, I would just start screaming. And I didn't believe it until I saw him put the basket down, because you just don't believe it's happening to you.
HEMMER: Well, to your daughter, if I could. Haley, what were you thinking through this? Did you believe the man?
HALEY COHEN, JUDY COHEN'S DAUGHTER: I thought he was really a security guard.
HEMMER: Yes.
H. COHEN: An undercover security.
HEMMER: What did he tell you?
H. COHEN: He said that he was an undercover security, and that he just witnessed my friend stick something in her pocket.
HEMMER: Yes. Amanda, I know you've been taught to respect security and authority. What were you thinking through this, at the age of 11, inside that store?
AMANDA JORGENSON, HALEY'S FRIEND: I was starting to get scared. And when he said that I stole something, I was, like, you must be mistaken, because I didn't steal anything.
HEMMER: Wow! If I could go back to Ms. Cohen just for a second here. I know the man has been charged, not convicted. Do you have a lesson for parents who are watching this today?
J. COHEN: Well, you know, it was a lesson for me, and, you know, that's why I'm saying it to anybody that will listen that you can't talk enough to your kids. And don't listen to your logical mind. Listen to your gut instinct that's telling you something is wrong, because when you get that instinct, it's always right.
HEMMER: Lesson learned, and good instincts, too. And thanks for sharing, too. So many times we report the other side, but this is a good one. Thanks.
J. COHEN: Yes. You're welcome.
HEMMER: Judy Cohen, her daughter, Haley, and Amanda Jorgenson, enjoy your day. Nice to see you all.
J. COHEN: Thank you.
HEMMER: OK, you got it. Bye-bye.
JORGENSON: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, great instinct there.
Still to come this morning, a huge payday. Citigroup reveals what its chief executive was paid last year, and it is a small fortune for just nine months of work. We'll show you just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The market got back on track yesterday with a little help from the Fed. Plus, nice work if you can get it -- $111,000 a day for one executive. Andy Serwer makes just about that, and he's "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No, I don't, Soledad, and I'm crying about that.
O'BRIEN: Wow! What are talking about?
SERWER: We're talking about Sandy Weill, the chairman of Citigroup, the nation's largest financial services firm. He was the CEO until October 1. That's nine months of work -- $30 million cash. And get this, Soledad: That's just the tip of the iceberg. I think he had a pretty good year.
Let's break it down for you. Now, we're saying 30 million. You can see the other compensation there. That's a rounding error. OK? And again, this is the tip of the iceberg.
Let's go on to the next screen and see where the real big -- it's always the options. Cherie (ph) shay (ph) le options -- pardon my French: $262 million "The New York Times" is reporting that he sold back to Citi (ph). That's the real money. This guy is worth over $1 billion.
And to be fair, Citigroup did have a good year last year. The stock was in the mid-30s; now around $50. That's a pretty big jump. But it is the talk of Wall Street this morning. It's the bottom line.
O'BRIEN: It's all in the bonus, isn't it?
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean...
SERWER: Bonus and stock options.
O'BRIEN: His salary is only a million bucks, but his bonus...
SERWER: Right, yes.
O'BRIEN: ... is 29 times that.
SERWER: It's pretty amazing.
O'BRIEN: Good for you, Sandy.
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's good to make $111,000 a day.
SERWER: Nice to be Sandy.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the market. Not bad.
SERWER: Not bad at all. The Dow was up over 80 points yesterday, and we like to see that.
The question is: Are we in a mode where we're moving one step forward, two steps back? We'll see today.
Futures are up a little bit this morning. What happened? We had that Fed meeting yesterday afternoon, and benign, no change in interest rates, and the Fed indicating that the job market is still lagging. Surprise, surprise. So, they're not going to be touching rates. Good stuff.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome. HEMMER: Bon jour, monami (ph). Question of the day.
SERWER: Say who now?
HEMMER: I was just getting (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Moving on to France on Saint Patrick's Day?
HEMMER: Work with me, will you?
SERWER: I'm trying.
HEMMER: I'm trying to keep my man in the game over here.
O'BRIEN: That was classic.
HEMMER: All right.
O'BRIEN: Jack? Jacques?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Startling poll results that show the image of the United States hitting all-time low overseas. The survey, conducted by the non-partisan Pew Research Center, shows that a majority of people everywhere, except the United States, say that the war in Iraq hurt the fight against terrorism.
Majorities in Great Britain, France, Germany and Turkey say that Western Europe should take a more -- quote -- "independent approach" -- unquote -- to security and diplomacy. And majorities in every country, except the United States, have an unfavorable opinion of President Bush.
The question is: Has the war on terror permanently damaged America's relations with its allies? Here are some of the answers we're getting.
Paul in Hellertown, Pennsylvania: "The arrogance of the George Bush go-it-alone foreign policies has resulted in world-wide condemnation, and his domestic policies concerning the economy have failed miserably. When the Republicans are voted out of the White House in November, there will be a worldwide proclamation: mission accomplished."
Colin in Israel writes: "Whether Spain or any other country decides to become weak-kneed at the threat of terror is an irrelevant consideration. The need is for America to recognize that terrorists have no respect for weakness. Indeed, they feed upon it as their signal of success. Everything depends upon America being implacably strong in the face of terror and confronting it without fear and without favor from anyone.
And John in Madison, Wisconsin: "I would rather the United States be right than popular."
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
CAFFERTY: It is interesting.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks very much.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: We'll see how the rest of the e-mails come in this morning.
Still to come this morning, the Ohio man wanted in connection with two dozen shootings is now in custody. We've got full details on his arrest just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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Mother's Instinct Thwarts Kidnapping; Minding Your Business>
