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American Morning
New Developments in Missing Florida Girl Case; 9/11 Flag?
Aired March 16, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has got the day off, but Jack Cafferty is filling in for him. So thank you very much.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You're most welcome.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Coming up this morning, the family of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford is reacting to new information in the case. Police are now looking for a person of interest. We're going to talk this morning with Marc Klaas about that. Also, a possible twist that involves the girl's grandmother.
CAFFERTY: And this controversy over a U.S. flag said to be flying at the Pentagon the morning of 9/11. It drew a huge bid on eBay until its authenticity was challenged. We'll update that dispute.
O'BRIEN: And that's ahead.
But first, let's take a look at the other stories that are making headlines this morning. Kelly Wallace in for us.
Hello. Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad and Jack. Good morning to all of you.
Here are some of the stories "Now in the News."
History is being made in Iraq today. The new 275-member government is meeting for an opening session. It is the country's first freely-elected parliament in 50 years. The meeting, though, coming not during quiet times. Explosions rattled the area. One car bombing in Baquba left at least two Iraqi soldiers dead and injured five others.
Pope John Paul II surprising crowds this morning. The pope appeared from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peters Square, his first appearance since leaving the hospital on Sunday. But the 84-year-old pontiff is not expected to hold his weekly public audience, as he usually does on Wednesdays.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making a second stop on her whirlwind tour of Asia. Secretary Rice arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan, within the past hour, following a meeting with officials in India. Topping the agenda in both countries, possible arms sales of advanced U.S. F-16 warplanes. Secretary Rice is set to meet with Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf later today.
And you can say New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi is out of the lineup. Giambi is one of seven athletes subpoenaed by a House panel on the use of steroids in baseball, but lawmakers are excusing Giambi. They say his testimony may interfere with an ongoing federal probe. The six other players, though, are still expected to show up. That hearing is tomorrow. A big question: Will all of those other players show up? I know your feelings about this, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Well, it could be very damaging to the game if they do.
O'BRIEN: No question about it. All right, Kelly, thanks.
WALLACE: Sure.
O'BRIEN: New developments this morning out of Florida in that search for the missing 9-year-old, Jessica Lunsford. She has been missing since February 24. She was last seen in her own bedroom by her grandmother, Ruth Lunsford.
Well, police are now saying that the grandmother's lie detector test has raised some red flags. And just a short time ago, Jessica's father responded to this development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S FATHER: Well, it doesn't bother me, because I know my mom and dad. And so, you know, but -- and you guys in the sheriff's department don't know them like I do, so you have to find things out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Marc Klaas' daughter, Polly, was abducted and killed in 1993. Marc is the founder of the Klaas Kids Foundation. He's in San Francisco this morning.
Marc, good morning. It's nice to see you again. Thanks for talking with us.
There are so many strange things, as you well know, about this case. First, let's talk about some of the red flags in the grandmother's testimony. What does this say to you when you hear something like that?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, initially, one takes a look at that and one is concerned. But I believe that this is probably almost what Hitchcock would call a McGuff (ph). And this is probably not as relevant to the case as the fact that they have a person of interest who lives in the community and is out of state. And it's the individual they will probably give the name of within the next 36 hours or so.
So, listen, this is a 74-year-old lady who is probably going through the most difficult time of her life. And she has been -- you know, she's raised a couple of red flags. But the whole thing with polygraphs is about emotion, it's about state of mind, and one can certainly understand why this woman is having a difficult time.
O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's talk about this person of interest in this case.
KLAAS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Again, sort of a strange way to put it, because the police have indicated...
KLAAS: Not really.
O'BRIEN: Maybe strange just to me -- indicated they know who they're looking for, and that they're going to release the name to the public in the next 48 hours or so. What's the strategy here behind the police doing it this way?
KLAAS: Well, they want to send this individual to identify himself and identify where he is. We're probably looking at somebody who is either a father of a friend or somebody who lives in the neighborhood or somebody who is associated with the search or somebody who is associated with the school that she goes to, because that seems to be her social outlets.
You know, this really kind of brings back home something that's been said all along: That whoever is involved in this is somebody who is close to the family. I'm, quite frankly, very impressed with the way the sheriff has handled this aspect of the investigation.
O'BRIEN: Is that right? Much was made, of course, when Jessica disappeared that she had no shoes. And yet, at the same time, you get the sense that she wasn't snatched, because she was allowed to bring something with her. She was allowed to bring her little purple dinosaur. What does that fact say to you?
KLAAS: Well, this is extremely significant. First of all, we have to understand that this is not a piece of information that was relayed to us by law enforcement. They said that there was a missing stuffed animal from her room. It was her father who inadvertently said that it was a purple dinosaur that was acquired at the State Fair.
So, what we have to understand is that if this had been just a hard-core sexual predator, this individual would not have allowed her to take something that was dear to her away with her, simply because it would be a piece of evidence that could ultimately lead to him. This was somebody who probably had some level of feeling for little Jessica. And, in fact, in his twisted mind might have even believed that there was some kind of a relationship going on there.
So, you know, in a sense, it's very, very hopeful. We are beginning to hone in on what happened to this child, who possibly took this child. And we understand that whoever did take this child had some kind of a feeling for her that he most likely allowed her to take a stuffed animal with her. O'BRIEN: Well, hopefully, in the next 48 hours or less, we'll have some more information coming out of the sheriff's department on that. Marc Klaas, thanks for your insight.
KLAAS: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Jack.
CAFFERTY: A dispute about the authenticity of a flag is stirring raw emotions from the September 11 attacks.
Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon now for us.
Hi -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Jack. Good morning.
Well, it's a story that received national media attention, but now serious questions about whether it's all true.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice over): David Nicholson has kidney cancer. To pay his bills and provide for his family, he is trying to sell this flag. It was said to have flown from a crane at the Pentagon during the September 11 terrorist attacks. Now, the winning $371,000 bid on eBay has been withdrawn after questions about whether the flag was ever at the Pentagon.
DAVID NICHOLSON, FLAG SELLER: It was there or it wasn't, and I would like to know the truth.
STARR: Nicholson says he got the flag in a box of construction material in 2002 from a man named Pete Elliott, an employee at Facchina Construction Company. On Facchina Company letterhead, Elliott wrote a letter of authenticity that says in part: "This flag was flying on our crane at the Pentagon on 9-11-01."
Facchina says it isn't true. In a letter to eBay, the company attorney says Facchina "did not have a crane on site at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001."
The company says Elliott is being reprimanded for his unauthorized letter. CNN has been unable to reach Elliott for comment.
Family members of those killed at the Pentagon are outraged that anything related to the attacks is being sold, legitimate or not.
Craig Sincock lost his wife, Cheryle, at the Pentagon, and is furious her name is on Nicholson's display.
CRAIG SINCOCK, WIDOWER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is something wrong about that, to use my wife's name in order to gain money.
STARR: Nicholson says families should understand.
NICHOLSON: Well, I say that until they're in my shoes, they can't -- they don't know how I feel.
STARR: Sincock disagree.
SINCOCK: So many of us are just now starting to crawl out from underneath that grief. And every time something like this hits, we take another step backward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Jack, this morning, Nicholson has put that flag back up for sale on eBay. The construction company says it's still not true. They have looked at their records. They never had a crane here at the Pentagon on September 11.
One other matter with that letter of authenticity, it says that there were 179 people killed at the Pentagon on September 11. As one of the people that was here that day, I can tell you that the official count of victims in that terrorist attack here was 184 -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Barbara, do you know, right offhand, if it's still being represented -- you said it's been put back on eBay -- as a flag that flew over the Pentagon on September 11?
STARR: Well, indeed. Mr. Nicholson has put it back this morning. And what he is now saying is that Facchina, the construction company that supposedly had it on a crane, he says Facchina has now -- quote -- "withdrawn" their letter of authenticity.
But Facchina's legal position is they never had a crane here on that day. Let's be very clear. Facchina is a major construction company here in the Washington area. They did work, as those pictures show, on the reconstruction of the Pentagon after the attack. But the company has checked their equipment records and says it was after September 11 that their equipment arrived on the scene, that they never had a crane here on that day during the terrorist attacks as that eBay listing says -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Barbara. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
O'BRIEN: It's time to take a look at the weather this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CAFFERTY: There's new reason this morning to think that gasoline prices could come back down to earth. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
O'BRIEN: Also, "The Incredibles" is new on DVD now with lots and lots and lots of extras. But are those extras incredible? We're going to ask our poppers up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAFFERTY: In a dramatic improvement from what is the norm on this program, Carol Costello is handling the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a good "Question of the Day," too. A lot of people are already responding, because, hey, it's not just simmering at Harvard; it's reached the boil point now.
The faculty of Arts and Sciences has passed a vote of no- confidence in President Larry Summers. It's all the result of Summers' recent controversial remarks questioning women's intrinsic aptitude in science and engineering. After Tuesday's vote, Summers gave no indication of stepping down. And while the votes have no official impact, they do mean the faculty no longer wants to work with Summers. It's actually up to the board to fire Summers.
But here's our question: Should Larry Summers just resign as president of Harvard? Has the damage already been done? Should he get the heck out of there? Here are some of your responses this morning.
This is from Patricia from Davis, Illinois: "Absolutely not. As he said, he was putting out a question for debate. I'm tired of everyone being so thin-skinned that the minute a controversial topic is brought up, they want to eliminate the source of the controversy. He is an academic, and that is what academics do. They create controversy."
This is from Shirley from Florida. She said: "All of the women who paid that tuition should go there and pick him up and throw him out."
Amen, Shirley. Yes, I'm on Shirley's side this morning.
This is from Johnny from Vicksburg, Mississippi: "If a Colorado college professor can be forced to resign because of offensive remarks, then I say a Harvard president should also be subject to such action."
From Teresa, Stone Ridge, New York: "No. We gals should at least be open-minded enough to discuss this issue without crying and whining. As a mother of boys and a girl, my sons and daughter are innately different. So, I'm willing to discuss the possibility that men's and women's minds work differently."
There's a one problem with that, Teresa. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that men's and women's brains function that differently for there to be a difference in those areas of study. No scientific...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: But they do function differently.
COSTELLO: They do. But there is no evidence...
SERWER: We know that.
COSTELLO: ... that women are worse in math and science.
SERWER: Right.
COSTELLO: There is just no evidence.
O'BRIEN: He's the guy who hires and promotes the women, and there's a dearth of female professors at Harvard.
COSTELLO: Yes, but...
SERWER: Larry Summers would be the first person to tell you that he ruffles feathers. I mean, he is not the most politically-astute person when it comes to handling people sometimes. And...
O'BRIEN: He's in for it now.
SERWER: ... he will tell you that. That's right.
COSTELLO: I see Jack was looking at my sheet, because did you see this last comment A.J. from Perry, Florida? "I really don't care about the question this morning," A.J. writes. "But I care that the man, Jack Cafferty, is filling in this week and doing a mighty fine job."
SERWER: Oh, yes, it all comes back to that.
CAFFERTY: Who is that guy?
COSTELLO: A.J. Do you know him?
O'BRIEN: Sue Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: I'll put a little something in the mail for you, A.J. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk some business, shall we?
SERWER: Yes, yes, let's do that. We've got some stuff to talk about, mostly oil prices, gas prices. Some relief is on the way, perhaps.
First of all, investors were taking it on the chin a little bit yesterday, because it did appear that we weren't going to get any relief from the oil producers. And you can see here, stocks slid across the board.
Yesterday, I told you there was sort of a rift between the Saudis and the other oil producers at the OPEC meeting in Iran. The Saudis won, which is a good thing, because they're going to be upping production by 2 percent, or 500,000 barrels a day. And there might be more help than that. And the Saudis are saying they want to get oil prices down to between $40 and $50 a barrel. It's around $54 a barrel now.
Stock futures are higher on that news. However, just crossing the tape minutes ago, GM is warning they're going to have a loss for the quarter, which is unexpected. So we'll be watching that.
And, you know, one of the things about investing that's kind of neat is that you always wish you could go back a day and buy the stock that went through the roof. How about this one?
O'BRIEN: That's illegal, right?
SERWER: Yes, well, it's impossible. You need a time machine. TiVo up 75 percent yesterday. Look at that.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SERWER: That's not a mistake there. It just spiked because yesterday, the DVR company, digital video recorder, was up after they did a deal with Comcast. But that stock was a $60 stock in 2000. So it's gone all the way down and just a little bump back up.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Guess what's ahead? A new movie by Woody Allen is heading to the big screen. One of our very own 90-second poppers is the star! Well, he's in it. He's not the star. Some behind-the- scenes scoop, though, is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back. It's time for another edition of "90-Second Pop." The gang's all here this morning. Andy Borowitz of borowitzreport.com. He's also a student of Strassberg. We explain just ahead. Did you like the way I said that? Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly." And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Let's get right to it.
Woody Allen has got a new movie out. And you, Andy Borowitz -- I am not making this up -- you are the star of the movie.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, I think my role may be a little bit exaggerated. I'm actually in the film for about 90 seconds, kind of like my day job actually. I think...
O'BRIEN: They ripped us off.
BOROWITZ: Well, no, I think...
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the film. It's called "Melinda and Melinda."
BOROWITZ: "Melinda and Melinda."
O'BRIEN: What's it about?
BOROWITZ: And it's about Radha Mitchell plays the character, and we see her life as a drama and as a comedy, and some really great people are in it -- Amanda Peet, Will Ferrell and Andy Borowitz.
O'BRIEN: So they kind of have this side-by-side comedy and also a drama in how this person's life would be.
BOROWITZ: Right. It's told as if a dramatic playwright were telling her story and a comedic playwright played by Wallace Shawn. And it's a debate over whether her story is really a comedy or a drama. It's really an interesting film.
O'BRIEN: Roll the tape again, because let's get back to the part where you're starring in it.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: I want to show that for you. Keep your eyes on the right in that really unattractive sweater.
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry to say.
BOROWITZ: This is a pivotal scene. In a way, I'm sort of carrying the whole film.
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": I saw the trailer. The trailer does star Andy Borowitz. You have to admit that.
BOROWITZ: It's all about me. It's all about me.
SHAW: So can I have your autograph?
O'BRIEN: I know. Here, me, too!
BOROWITZ: Very, very funny.
O'BRIEN: Will you sign that for me? OK, let's talk about the new DVD that's out, "The Incredibles."
TOURE: Yea!
O'BRIEN: I loved, loved, loved the movie. How is the DVD?
SHAW: The movie is great. The DVD, I thought, was really good. It has a lot of cool extras. There's 35 minutes of deleted scenes, which are cool. There's a commentary from the real Mr. Incredible, which is really cute.
BOROWITZ: Right.
SHAW: And there's this great short film, "Jack-Jack Attack," which we're showing now. And I thought it was -- I mean, this DVD is going to break all of the records. It's going to break "Shrek 2."
O'BRIEN: It's expensive. SHAW: It's $29.99, but if you, you know, go to Amazon or whatever, you can get it for 10 bucks less.
TOURE: Well, the cool thing about the "Jack-Jack Attack's" little short is that the movie doesn't let you know what his secret power is. And this takes the story of Jack-Jack a little deeper.
SHAW: Right.
TOURE: It was very, very cool.
BOROWITZ: I looked at the DVD. I looked at all of the special features. And then when I realized I was not in the film I lost interest.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. Is your head growing from being the star of this movie?
BOROWITZ: A little bit.
O'BRIEN: I thought so.
BOROWITZ: Actors, actors, you know.
O'BRIEN: OK. Lil' Kim, we've seen her going in and out and in and out of court.
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What's her trial over?
SHAW: And clothing.
TOURE: She's on trial for lying to a grand jury about a shooting that happened outside everybody's favorite radio station, Hot 97.
O'BRIEN: So perjury essentially is the charge?
TOURE: Yes. And you know, really, seriously, she's a good kid, but it looks like she's going to lose this one. She really is, but she's probably going to lose this one. I mean, it's tough. Hip-hop is so about not snitching, and three of her friends had snitched on her while she purposely did not snitch on others.
O'BRIEN: Well, kind of the point of a whole grand jury is all about snitching, right? Or am I reading the legal system wrong?
BOROWITZ: If you're trying to establish you're telling the truth, why would you claim your name is Lil' Kim? It's just doesn't seem...
O'BRIEN: It starts off badly, doesn't it?
BOROWITZ: It starts badly.
O'BRIEN: Can we show... SHAW: She should be sent to jail for some of the outfits she's worn to the MTV awards.
BOROWITZ: Oh, no, we love those. We love those.
O'BRIEN: Can we show some of the outfits, though, that she is wearing into the courtroom? OK. This is before on the left. She's got a little bit of the get-a-fabulous-going on, you know, the blond, blond hair, the lots of cleavage. This is almost unrecognizable in court. She looks like...
SHAW: She's very demure.
O'BRIEN: Demure. Here again, bad girl on the left with the big hair.
SHAW: Oh, the makeover.
O'BRIEN: On the right, she looks like she is -- you know, just left the convent for a little break and is going to visit her family.
BOROWITZ: I would acquit the one on the left.
SHAW: She's going to come back as fashion editor for "Ladies Home Journal" or something after all of this.
TOURE: I don't think this is going to be, like, one of those good trips to prison, like Martha Stewart, we talk about, you know, career helper. It's not going to be like that for her. This is going to be really difficult.
O'BRIEN: Oh, Lil' Kim. Well, you know...
SHAW: Words of advice, Andy?
TOURE: No, it's sad though.
BOROWITZ: It's all material. It's all material for your next role. That's the way I look at it.
O'BRIEN: And that will be our final word this morning.
BOROWITZ: Use it. We use everything.
O'BRIEN: Use your -- is that how it was for you?
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: I understand. You guys, as always -- I know, he's getting out of control, isn't he?
TOURE: A little bit.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's go back to Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Soledad. It's the fastest growing crime in America. Identity theft. How do you make sure you don't become a victim? We've got the early warning signs. We'll talk to Valerie Morris about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 16, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has got the day off, but Jack Cafferty is filling in for him. So thank you very much.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You're most welcome.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Coming up this morning, the family of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford is reacting to new information in the case. Police are now looking for a person of interest. We're going to talk this morning with Marc Klaas about that. Also, a possible twist that involves the girl's grandmother.
CAFFERTY: And this controversy over a U.S. flag said to be flying at the Pentagon the morning of 9/11. It drew a huge bid on eBay until its authenticity was challenged. We'll update that dispute.
O'BRIEN: And that's ahead.
But first, let's take a look at the other stories that are making headlines this morning. Kelly Wallace in for us.
Hello. Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad and Jack. Good morning to all of you.
Here are some of the stories "Now in the News."
History is being made in Iraq today. The new 275-member government is meeting for an opening session. It is the country's first freely-elected parliament in 50 years. The meeting, though, coming not during quiet times. Explosions rattled the area. One car bombing in Baquba left at least two Iraqi soldiers dead and injured five others.
Pope John Paul II surprising crowds this morning. The pope appeared from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peters Square, his first appearance since leaving the hospital on Sunday. But the 84-year-old pontiff is not expected to hold his weekly public audience, as he usually does on Wednesdays.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making a second stop on her whirlwind tour of Asia. Secretary Rice arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan, within the past hour, following a meeting with officials in India. Topping the agenda in both countries, possible arms sales of advanced U.S. F-16 warplanes. Secretary Rice is set to meet with Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf later today.
And you can say New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi is out of the lineup. Giambi is one of seven athletes subpoenaed by a House panel on the use of steroids in baseball, but lawmakers are excusing Giambi. They say his testimony may interfere with an ongoing federal probe. The six other players, though, are still expected to show up. That hearing is tomorrow. A big question: Will all of those other players show up? I know your feelings about this, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Well, it could be very damaging to the game if they do.
O'BRIEN: No question about it. All right, Kelly, thanks.
WALLACE: Sure.
O'BRIEN: New developments this morning out of Florida in that search for the missing 9-year-old, Jessica Lunsford. She has been missing since February 24. She was last seen in her own bedroom by her grandmother, Ruth Lunsford.
Well, police are now saying that the grandmother's lie detector test has raised some red flags. And just a short time ago, Jessica's father responded to this development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S FATHER: Well, it doesn't bother me, because I know my mom and dad. And so, you know, but -- and you guys in the sheriff's department don't know them like I do, so you have to find things out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Marc Klaas' daughter, Polly, was abducted and killed in 1993. Marc is the founder of the Klaas Kids Foundation. He's in San Francisco this morning.
Marc, good morning. It's nice to see you again. Thanks for talking with us.
There are so many strange things, as you well know, about this case. First, let's talk about some of the red flags in the grandmother's testimony. What does this say to you when you hear something like that?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, initially, one takes a look at that and one is concerned. But I believe that this is probably almost what Hitchcock would call a McGuff (ph). And this is probably not as relevant to the case as the fact that they have a person of interest who lives in the community and is out of state. And it's the individual they will probably give the name of within the next 36 hours or so.
So, listen, this is a 74-year-old lady who is probably going through the most difficult time of her life. And she has been -- you know, she's raised a couple of red flags. But the whole thing with polygraphs is about emotion, it's about state of mind, and one can certainly understand why this woman is having a difficult time.
O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's talk about this person of interest in this case.
KLAAS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Again, sort of a strange way to put it, because the police have indicated...
KLAAS: Not really.
O'BRIEN: Maybe strange just to me -- indicated they know who they're looking for, and that they're going to release the name to the public in the next 48 hours or so. What's the strategy here behind the police doing it this way?
KLAAS: Well, they want to send this individual to identify himself and identify where he is. We're probably looking at somebody who is either a father of a friend or somebody who lives in the neighborhood or somebody who is associated with the search or somebody who is associated with the school that she goes to, because that seems to be her social outlets.
You know, this really kind of brings back home something that's been said all along: That whoever is involved in this is somebody who is close to the family. I'm, quite frankly, very impressed with the way the sheriff has handled this aspect of the investigation.
O'BRIEN: Is that right? Much was made, of course, when Jessica disappeared that she had no shoes. And yet, at the same time, you get the sense that she wasn't snatched, because she was allowed to bring something with her. She was allowed to bring her little purple dinosaur. What does that fact say to you?
KLAAS: Well, this is extremely significant. First of all, we have to understand that this is not a piece of information that was relayed to us by law enforcement. They said that there was a missing stuffed animal from her room. It was her father who inadvertently said that it was a purple dinosaur that was acquired at the State Fair.
So, what we have to understand is that if this had been just a hard-core sexual predator, this individual would not have allowed her to take something that was dear to her away with her, simply because it would be a piece of evidence that could ultimately lead to him. This was somebody who probably had some level of feeling for little Jessica. And, in fact, in his twisted mind might have even believed that there was some kind of a relationship going on there.
So, you know, in a sense, it's very, very hopeful. We are beginning to hone in on what happened to this child, who possibly took this child. And we understand that whoever did take this child had some kind of a feeling for her that he most likely allowed her to take a stuffed animal with her. O'BRIEN: Well, hopefully, in the next 48 hours or less, we'll have some more information coming out of the sheriff's department on that. Marc Klaas, thanks for your insight.
KLAAS: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Jack.
CAFFERTY: A dispute about the authenticity of a flag is stirring raw emotions from the September 11 attacks.
Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon now for us.
Hi -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Jack. Good morning.
Well, it's a story that received national media attention, but now serious questions about whether it's all true.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice over): David Nicholson has kidney cancer. To pay his bills and provide for his family, he is trying to sell this flag. It was said to have flown from a crane at the Pentagon during the September 11 terrorist attacks. Now, the winning $371,000 bid on eBay has been withdrawn after questions about whether the flag was ever at the Pentagon.
DAVID NICHOLSON, FLAG SELLER: It was there or it wasn't, and I would like to know the truth.
STARR: Nicholson says he got the flag in a box of construction material in 2002 from a man named Pete Elliott, an employee at Facchina Construction Company. On Facchina Company letterhead, Elliott wrote a letter of authenticity that says in part: "This flag was flying on our crane at the Pentagon on 9-11-01."
Facchina says it isn't true. In a letter to eBay, the company attorney says Facchina "did not have a crane on site at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001."
The company says Elliott is being reprimanded for his unauthorized letter. CNN has been unable to reach Elliott for comment.
Family members of those killed at the Pentagon are outraged that anything related to the attacks is being sold, legitimate or not.
Craig Sincock lost his wife, Cheryle, at the Pentagon, and is furious her name is on Nicholson's display.
CRAIG SINCOCK, WIDOWER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is something wrong about that, to use my wife's name in order to gain money.
STARR: Nicholson says families should understand.
NICHOLSON: Well, I say that until they're in my shoes, they can't -- they don't know how I feel.
STARR: Sincock disagree.
SINCOCK: So many of us are just now starting to crawl out from underneath that grief. And every time something like this hits, we take another step backward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Jack, this morning, Nicholson has put that flag back up for sale on eBay. The construction company says it's still not true. They have looked at their records. They never had a crane here at the Pentagon on September 11.
One other matter with that letter of authenticity, it says that there were 179 people killed at the Pentagon on September 11. As one of the people that was here that day, I can tell you that the official count of victims in that terrorist attack here was 184 -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Barbara, do you know, right offhand, if it's still being represented -- you said it's been put back on eBay -- as a flag that flew over the Pentagon on September 11?
STARR: Well, indeed. Mr. Nicholson has put it back this morning. And what he is now saying is that Facchina, the construction company that supposedly had it on a crane, he says Facchina has now -- quote -- "withdrawn" their letter of authenticity.
But Facchina's legal position is they never had a crane here on that day. Let's be very clear. Facchina is a major construction company here in the Washington area. They did work, as those pictures show, on the reconstruction of the Pentagon after the attack. But the company has checked their equipment records and says it was after September 11 that their equipment arrived on the scene, that they never had a crane here on that day during the terrorist attacks as that eBay listing says -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Barbara. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
O'BRIEN: It's time to take a look at the weather this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CAFFERTY: There's new reason this morning to think that gasoline prices could come back down to earth. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
O'BRIEN: Also, "The Incredibles" is new on DVD now with lots and lots and lots of extras. But are those extras incredible? We're going to ask our poppers up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAFFERTY: In a dramatic improvement from what is the norm on this program, Carol Costello is handling the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a good "Question of the Day," too. A lot of people are already responding, because, hey, it's not just simmering at Harvard; it's reached the boil point now.
The faculty of Arts and Sciences has passed a vote of no- confidence in President Larry Summers. It's all the result of Summers' recent controversial remarks questioning women's intrinsic aptitude in science and engineering. After Tuesday's vote, Summers gave no indication of stepping down. And while the votes have no official impact, they do mean the faculty no longer wants to work with Summers. It's actually up to the board to fire Summers.
But here's our question: Should Larry Summers just resign as president of Harvard? Has the damage already been done? Should he get the heck out of there? Here are some of your responses this morning.
This is from Patricia from Davis, Illinois: "Absolutely not. As he said, he was putting out a question for debate. I'm tired of everyone being so thin-skinned that the minute a controversial topic is brought up, they want to eliminate the source of the controversy. He is an academic, and that is what academics do. They create controversy."
This is from Shirley from Florida. She said: "All of the women who paid that tuition should go there and pick him up and throw him out."
Amen, Shirley. Yes, I'm on Shirley's side this morning.
This is from Johnny from Vicksburg, Mississippi: "If a Colorado college professor can be forced to resign because of offensive remarks, then I say a Harvard president should also be subject to such action."
From Teresa, Stone Ridge, New York: "No. We gals should at least be open-minded enough to discuss this issue without crying and whining. As a mother of boys and a girl, my sons and daughter are innately different. So, I'm willing to discuss the possibility that men's and women's minds work differently."
There's a one problem with that, Teresa. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that men's and women's brains function that differently for there to be a difference in those areas of study. No scientific...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: But they do function differently.
COSTELLO: They do. But there is no evidence...
SERWER: We know that.
COSTELLO: ... that women are worse in math and science.
SERWER: Right.
COSTELLO: There is just no evidence.
O'BRIEN: He's the guy who hires and promotes the women, and there's a dearth of female professors at Harvard.
COSTELLO: Yes, but...
SERWER: Larry Summers would be the first person to tell you that he ruffles feathers. I mean, he is not the most politically-astute person when it comes to handling people sometimes. And...
O'BRIEN: He's in for it now.
SERWER: ... he will tell you that. That's right.
COSTELLO: I see Jack was looking at my sheet, because did you see this last comment A.J. from Perry, Florida? "I really don't care about the question this morning," A.J. writes. "But I care that the man, Jack Cafferty, is filling in this week and doing a mighty fine job."
SERWER: Oh, yes, it all comes back to that.
CAFFERTY: Who is that guy?
COSTELLO: A.J. Do you know him?
O'BRIEN: Sue Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: I'll put a little something in the mail for you, A.J. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk some business, shall we?
SERWER: Yes, yes, let's do that. We've got some stuff to talk about, mostly oil prices, gas prices. Some relief is on the way, perhaps.
First of all, investors were taking it on the chin a little bit yesterday, because it did appear that we weren't going to get any relief from the oil producers. And you can see here, stocks slid across the board.
Yesterday, I told you there was sort of a rift between the Saudis and the other oil producers at the OPEC meeting in Iran. The Saudis won, which is a good thing, because they're going to be upping production by 2 percent, or 500,000 barrels a day. And there might be more help than that. And the Saudis are saying they want to get oil prices down to between $40 and $50 a barrel. It's around $54 a barrel now.
Stock futures are higher on that news. However, just crossing the tape minutes ago, GM is warning they're going to have a loss for the quarter, which is unexpected. So we'll be watching that.
And, you know, one of the things about investing that's kind of neat is that you always wish you could go back a day and buy the stock that went through the roof. How about this one?
O'BRIEN: That's illegal, right?
SERWER: Yes, well, it's impossible. You need a time machine. TiVo up 75 percent yesterday. Look at that.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SERWER: That's not a mistake there. It just spiked because yesterday, the DVR company, digital video recorder, was up after they did a deal with Comcast. But that stock was a $60 stock in 2000. So it's gone all the way down and just a little bump back up.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Guess what's ahead? A new movie by Woody Allen is heading to the big screen. One of our very own 90-second poppers is the star! Well, he's in it. He's not the star. Some behind-the- scenes scoop, though, is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back. It's time for another edition of "90-Second Pop." The gang's all here this morning. Andy Borowitz of borowitzreport.com. He's also a student of Strassberg. We explain just ahead. Did you like the way I said that? Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly." And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Let's get right to it.
Woody Allen has got a new movie out. And you, Andy Borowitz -- I am not making this up -- you are the star of the movie.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, I think my role may be a little bit exaggerated. I'm actually in the film for about 90 seconds, kind of like my day job actually. I think...
O'BRIEN: They ripped us off.
BOROWITZ: Well, no, I think...
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the film. It's called "Melinda and Melinda."
BOROWITZ: "Melinda and Melinda."
O'BRIEN: What's it about?
BOROWITZ: And it's about Radha Mitchell plays the character, and we see her life as a drama and as a comedy, and some really great people are in it -- Amanda Peet, Will Ferrell and Andy Borowitz.
O'BRIEN: So they kind of have this side-by-side comedy and also a drama in how this person's life would be.
BOROWITZ: Right. It's told as if a dramatic playwright were telling her story and a comedic playwright played by Wallace Shawn. And it's a debate over whether her story is really a comedy or a drama. It's really an interesting film.
O'BRIEN: Roll the tape again, because let's get back to the part where you're starring in it.
BOROWITZ: Right.
O'BRIEN: I want to show that for you. Keep your eyes on the right in that really unattractive sweater.
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry to say.
BOROWITZ: This is a pivotal scene. In a way, I'm sort of carrying the whole film.
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": I saw the trailer. The trailer does star Andy Borowitz. You have to admit that.
BOROWITZ: It's all about me. It's all about me.
SHAW: So can I have your autograph?
O'BRIEN: I know. Here, me, too!
BOROWITZ: Very, very funny.
O'BRIEN: Will you sign that for me? OK, let's talk about the new DVD that's out, "The Incredibles."
TOURE: Yea!
O'BRIEN: I loved, loved, loved the movie. How is the DVD?
SHAW: The movie is great. The DVD, I thought, was really good. It has a lot of cool extras. There's 35 minutes of deleted scenes, which are cool. There's a commentary from the real Mr. Incredible, which is really cute.
BOROWITZ: Right.
SHAW: And there's this great short film, "Jack-Jack Attack," which we're showing now. And I thought it was -- I mean, this DVD is going to break all of the records. It's going to break "Shrek 2."
O'BRIEN: It's expensive. SHAW: It's $29.99, but if you, you know, go to Amazon or whatever, you can get it for 10 bucks less.
TOURE: Well, the cool thing about the "Jack-Jack Attack's" little short is that the movie doesn't let you know what his secret power is. And this takes the story of Jack-Jack a little deeper.
SHAW: Right.
TOURE: It was very, very cool.
BOROWITZ: I looked at the DVD. I looked at all of the special features. And then when I realized I was not in the film I lost interest.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. Is your head growing from being the star of this movie?
BOROWITZ: A little bit.
O'BRIEN: I thought so.
BOROWITZ: Actors, actors, you know.
O'BRIEN: OK. Lil' Kim, we've seen her going in and out and in and out of court.
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What's her trial over?
SHAW: And clothing.
TOURE: She's on trial for lying to a grand jury about a shooting that happened outside everybody's favorite radio station, Hot 97.
O'BRIEN: So perjury essentially is the charge?
TOURE: Yes. And you know, really, seriously, she's a good kid, but it looks like she's going to lose this one. She really is, but she's probably going to lose this one. I mean, it's tough. Hip-hop is so about not snitching, and three of her friends had snitched on her while she purposely did not snitch on others.
O'BRIEN: Well, kind of the point of a whole grand jury is all about snitching, right? Or am I reading the legal system wrong?
BOROWITZ: If you're trying to establish you're telling the truth, why would you claim your name is Lil' Kim? It's just doesn't seem...
O'BRIEN: It starts off badly, doesn't it?
BOROWITZ: It starts badly.
O'BRIEN: Can we show... SHAW: She should be sent to jail for some of the outfits she's worn to the MTV awards.
BOROWITZ: Oh, no, we love those. We love those.
O'BRIEN: Can we show some of the outfits, though, that she is wearing into the courtroom? OK. This is before on the left. She's got a little bit of the get-a-fabulous-going on, you know, the blond, blond hair, the lots of cleavage. This is almost unrecognizable in court. She looks like...
SHAW: She's very demure.
O'BRIEN: Demure. Here again, bad girl on the left with the big hair.
SHAW: Oh, the makeover.
O'BRIEN: On the right, she looks like she is -- you know, just left the convent for a little break and is going to visit her family.
BOROWITZ: I would acquit the one on the left.
SHAW: She's going to come back as fashion editor for "Ladies Home Journal" or something after all of this.
TOURE: I don't think this is going to be, like, one of those good trips to prison, like Martha Stewart, we talk about, you know, career helper. It's not going to be like that for her. This is going to be really difficult.
O'BRIEN: Oh, Lil' Kim. Well, you know...
SHAW: Words of advice, Andy?
TOURE: No, it's sad though.
BOROWITZ: It's all material. It's all material for your next role. That's the way I look at it.
O'BRIEN: And that will be our final word this morning.
BOROWITZ: Use it. We use everything.
O'BRIEN: Use your -- is that how it was for you?
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: I understand. You guys, as always -- I know, he's getting out of control, isn't he?
TOURE: A little bit.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's go back to Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Soledad. It's the fastest growing crime in America. Identity theft. How do you make sure you don't become a victim? We've got the early warning signs. We'll talk to Valerie Morris about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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