Terrorists Threaten to Kill America Hostage in 72 Hours if Saudi Arabia Does Not Release al Qaeda Prisoners
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A stunned family waits for word this morning after terrorists show videotape of the American held hostage in Saudi Arabia. Another top Iraqi official is assassinated overnight as insurgents make oil the focus of their latest wave of attack. And, it is not just hall of famers that win championships; sometimes the best team comes out on top. It's a great day to be a Pistons' fan on this</s>AMERICAN MORNING. ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. A busy morning here on AMERICAN MORNING. Westerners in Saudi Arabia being moved now into high security compounds. This after the kidnapping of the American contractor. Videotape shows Paul Johnson -- it was posted on an Islamic Web site yesterday along with threats to kill him within 72 hours. We'll talk to a man who has studied al Qaeda in that region extensively; find out what may be the best hope now for Paul Johnson.</s>O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the final hearing for the 9/11 Commission begins today. It's focusing on how the FAA and U.S. air defenses responded, or did not, to the attack. We're going to take a look at that as well as some surprising new revelations about the terrorist plot as well.</s>HEMMER: Also, this intense courtroom debate going on in Scott Peterson's case. His demeanor the day his wife was first reported missing. Jeff Toobin stops by to talk about who is scoring the points out there in Redwood City, California.</s>O'BRIEN: And Mr. Cafferty is with us. Hello, good morning.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. What's next for Michael Jackson? With his trial upcoming on charges of child molestation comes word that ten years ago he parted with over $25 million to make charges of child molestation go away. What a story.</s>O'BRIEN: All right we'll talk about that. Thanks Jack. Terrorists holding American Paul Johnson say the clock is now ticking. They say he could be killed in 72 hours if Saudi Arabia does not release al Qaeda prisoners. Johnson was seen in a Web video yesterday along with a masked gunman. The Johnson family in New Jersey has not yet reacted to that threat. Deb Feyerick is live for us in Tuckerton, New Jersey. Deb, good morning.</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Well, the family is secluded. The Web site where the video was posted has been used by al Qaeda affiliates in the past. We are told by intelligence officials that they are taking these warnings very seriously.</s>FEYERICK (voice-over): He is blindfolded, a tattoo prominent on his left arm. The captive saying he is missing American Paul Marshall Johnson.</s>PAUL JOHNSON, HOSTAGE: Paul Marshall Johnson Jr. I work on Apache helicopters.</s>FEYERICK: The 49-year-old New Jersey native works for defense contractor Lockheed Martin. He's an expert on Apache helicopters and night vision systems. His kidnappers claim to be the Saudi branch of al Qaeda. A masked man holding an automatic weapon identifies himself as the group's military leader.</s>FEYERICK: He demands the release of, quote, "all our prisoners in Saudi custody and the withdrawal of all Westerners from the Arabian Peninsula." Otherwise, he says, the kidnappers will kill Johnson within 72 hours. This Friday. Johnson's son, sister, and mother remain secluded at an undisclosed location in New Jersey. Yellow ribbons and signs dotting the family's hometown.</s>FEYERICK: Now the State Department says that it is standing policy to do everything possible to get Americans back safely, but the U.S. and Saudi government also both made clear that their policy is not to negotiate with terrorists -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Deb Feyerick for us this morning. Deb, thanks. U.S. intelligence officials say that the terrorist warning should be taken seriously. Sajjan Gohel is a terrorism expert with the Asia Pacific Foundation. He joins us this morning from London. Nice to see you -- thanks for being with us. How likely do you think in fact that it is that Paul Johnson will be rescued by Saudi security forces within that 72-hour deadline that's now been given?</s>SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM EXPERT: Well, I think the situation has become very precarious and very difficult for Mr. Paul Johnson. Certainly the only way now he can be rescued, the only way he could survive this terrible ordeal is if Saudi security force is able to work out where he is. It's highly unlikely, however, that there will be any negotiations with these terrorists and therefore the only way he can be rescued is if he's -- it's found out where he is.</s>O'BRIEN: At the same time you have said that you doubt the sympathies of that Saudi rescue force. What do you mean?</s>GOHEL: Well, I'm afraid the Saudi security force is a huge question mark on where their priorities actually lie. Many of them are very sympathetic toward the terrorists. Let's not forget that some of the 9/11 hijackers, 15 of the 19, were Saudis, and some of them used to be part of the security forces. And also in recent incidents we have witnessed Saudi security forces just letting terrorists go. So one would have to question whether they are committed in finding Paul Johnson.</s>O'BRIEN: The gunmen on the tape has said that his name is Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, and apparently he is the head of a group called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. What do you know about him and what do you know about this group?</s>GOHEL: Well, al-Muqrin has in fact been playing a leading role in terrorist attacks on Western interests inside Saudi Arabia for over a year. He's taken credit for many of the compound attacks that we've witnessed over the last few months and he certainly has direct control over various terrorist cells operating throughout the country, and he is a very dangerous individual, and he operates largely independently, but he is affiliated to al Qaeda.</s>O'BRIEN: At essentially the same time that Paul Johnson was kidnapped, we saw three other Westerners were actually murdered in Saudi Arabia. So is kidnapping a different or a new tactic by this group and other groups like it, or would you say it's typical for them?</s>GOHEL: Well, what we're witnessing is a disturbing escalation of events inside Saudi Arabia. Firstly we used to see assassinations taking place, individuals being shot in the streets. Then we saw compound attacks. Now we're witnessing kidnappings. We're looking at new psychological ways of terrorism. It's a very successful way for terrorists to implement fear in the minds of many people. It's been done before. Let's not forget, Nicholas Berg inside Iraq -- Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. And both of them were brutally beheaded. And one would have to now be very frightened over what could happen to Mr. Paul Johnson. Certainly the terrorists -- their agenda -- is to create maximum fear and panic. And they may well try and implement that with Mr. Paul Johnson. Let's hope, however, that the Saudi security forces can get him before it's too late.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, certainly I think everyone agrees with that sentiment. The demand, at least according to the Web site, is that all the militants in Saudi Arabia be freed. How many people are they actually talking about that they want freed from prisons?</s>GOHEL: Well, I think we're dealing with a very large number, certainly in hundreds, possibly and it's going to be very difficult to even negotiate with that. Let's not forget that if government were to negotiate with individuals for the release of terrorists well, that will only encourage more terrorists to do more kidnappings and try and get their demands and unfortunately they're in a very difficult situation because you can't release suspected terrorists that will just embolden other militant groups to carry out these type of incidents. It's a situation that will escalate and certainly with a coming days and weeks we may see more of these type of kidnappings in Saudi Arabia, the country has become inhospitable for any foreigner.</s>O'BRIEN: Terrible situation there this morning. Sajjan Gohel is a terrorism expert with the Asia Pacific Foundation joining us this morning. Nice to see you as always. Thank you.</s>GOHEL: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: Bill.</s>HEMMER: The commission investigating the attacks of 9/11 begins its final rounds of public hearings today. The focus the plot leading up to those attacks. All this week there's been at least one surprising revelation. Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, live in D.C. with us today. David, good morning.</s>DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Just near me here in less than two hours the hearings begin. They will start with a staff statement that will have new revelations about the 9/11 plot. More of the detail of exactly how that was planned, when, how much it cost and so on. We'll have that for you. And, as you say, more detail about the revelation that came out just a day or so ago that the plotters in fact originally planned the attacks for much earlier.</s>ENSOR (voice-over): The 9/11 hijackers originally planned to attack in May or June of 2001, U.S. officials say, but the plan was postponed because the ringleader, Mohammed Atta, and his team were not ready. That revelation came officials say from al Qaeda prisoners like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is considered the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.</s>PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This was a flexible plot and they all felt that they could take their time. They felt sufficiently comfortable that the plot hadn't been penetrated in any way, that they could take their time and really get it right by their rights. I mean it's it's actually quite ballsy of them.</s>ENSOR: At past congressional hearings on 9/11 some witnesses appeared behind a screen. At Wednesday's hearings of the 9/11 Commission, several CIA analysts will appear openly but officials say they will not give their names. There are many remaining questions for CIA and FBI witnesses. Why did Mohammed Atta fly to Portland, Maine before flying to Boston to hijack a plane? Why did all the hijackers travel through Las Vegas? Is al Qaeda still looking for ways to attack nuclear facilities in the U.S.?</s>BERGEN: Is that still on the table for al Qaeda's leaders is an interesting question.</s>ENSOR: The hijackers concentrated in San Diego, New Jersey, Florida, and northern Virginia. Was there a support network in place in those areas? And is it still there?</s>ENSOR (on camera): Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Commissioners will be seeking more information as to who is to blame for missing clues before 9/11 and how to stop the next major terrorist attack -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: And, David, the chairmen of that commission, Hamilton and Kean, also say we're going to learn a lot more about how al Qaeda operates and what the composition is of this group. Do you know at this point what more we will learn on that front?</s>ENSOR: You know, there's an embargoed staff statement. Its' quite lengthy, there's quite a lot of new information. No great big bombshells but some interesting new information about it. It's unfortunately embargoed, so I'm not permitted to describe it on the air until later.</s>HEMMER: All right, David, understand that, and we'll respect that too. David Ensor thanks in Washington this morning here. A bit earlier today I talked with the Commission chairman Thomas Kean and the vice-chair Lee Hamilton asking vice-chairman Hamilton what the Commission has learned so far about whether or not military fighter jets could of stopped the attacks of 9/11.</s>LEE HAMILTON, VICE CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: This was a -- an attack that nobody had really planned for. And though the military had done a lot of training, they had not really trained, I think, against this kind of a threat. Likewise, the FAA and the air traffic control system simply wasn't able to react quickly enough back in September 11, 2001. Yes, I think there was some confusion, some delay, probably. Some very quick improvisation. In order to try to get to the targets in time. But the entire system did not work as smoothly as quickly as efficiently as we would like to have had it work.</s>HEMMER: And the first of two days of hearings starts in a few hours. We'll watch them for you here, and next hour will bring you the full interview with Governor Kean and the vice-chairman Hamilton. Now to Soledad with more.</s>O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. About 12 minutes past the hour. Time to take a look at some of the other stories making news today with Heidi Collins. Heidi, good morning.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, Soledad. And good morning to you, everyone. We begin in Iraq this morning where an Iraqi oil company official has been killed. Police say Ghazi al-Talabani was gunned down outside his home in Kirkuk. His driver was wounded. The assassination taking place as a key pipeline in the Gulf was attacked for a second straight day, stopping the export of oil through Iraq's two offshore terminals. Officials say it may take a week for pipeline repairs to be finished. With just two weeks away to the handover in Iraq, a new survey shows some Iraqis don't feel safe with American troops. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the poll where 55 percent said they would feel safer if U.S. forces pulled out immediately. Forty- one percent said Americans should leave immediately and 45 percent said U.S. troops should leave as soon as a permanent Iraqi government is installed. The poll was commissioned by the Coalition Provisional Authority last month. House Republican Leader Tom DeLay is being accused of ethics violations. A House Democrat filed a 187-page complaint against DeLay yesterday. The complaint accuses him of bribery, money laundering, and the abuse of power. DeLay denies the claims and blames Democratic leaders for what he calls character assassination. The filing ends an unspoken ethics truce between Republicans and Democrats that has been in place for several years. A number of Americans are lacking the benefits of health insurance. According to a new study by a private health care group, nearly 82 million people were without insurance at some point over the past two years. The findings show that the state of Texas had the highest rate of uninsured. The study focused on Americans younger than 65. And in Colorado now, amazing pictures of a funnel cloud -- you see it there -- captured yesterday on home video. Southeast of Denver. At least five other tornadoes reported yesterday in the state along with heavy rain and hail. Word of minor damage but luckily no injuries there. Always good to hear -- Bill, back over to you.</s>HEMMER: Heidi, thanks for that. A decade after Michael Jackson settled a civil suit alleging child molestation details now emerging about how Jackson sealed the deal with his accusers family. The pop stars pay-off said to be more than $20 million. Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin here to talk about that. Also developments yesterday in the Scott Peterson trial. Good morning to you, Jeff.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, sir.</s>HEMMER: Let's start with Scott Peterson first. How do you measure the prosecution's strategy? Third up police officer now on the stand in Redwood City.</s>TOOBIN: Pretty repetitive testimony it seems. Each officer saying that Scott Peterson was cooperative but reserved, no sign of a struggle in the house, but yesterday perhaps the single most important piece of evidence in the case was introduced in front of the jury which is the parking ticket from the Berkeley Marina showing that Scott Peterson his alibi for the time of the murder, according to the police, was he was fishing 50 miles away where of course months later his wife's body turns up.</s>HEMMER: You seem to be saying in the first part of your answer they're slogging their way through.</s>TOOBIN: Yes, one of the problems that prosecutors run into sometimes is they want to just put on all their evidence, you know. And jurors get bored, they begin to think, you know, is this all you have? We I think the jury at this point probably knows what Scott Peterson's demeanor was, what the house looked like. It's probably time to move on.</s>HEMMER: Let's talk about Michael Jackson as we move on. Twenty million dollars. That's reported on the Web site for Court TV. What's the significance that you see there?</s>TOOBIN: Very interesting, cause it kind of cuts both ways. Just in the most obvious sense, why would you pay $20 million to someone if you were innocent of the crime? I mean, it's just a tremendous amount of money. You can -- even in these days. On the other hand, the fact that all that money is out there to be gotten and that the lawyer in the -- for that first accuser was Larry Feldman has another significance because the second accuser, the one who is in this criminal case, he went to Larry Feldman, too. He was represented by this lawyer so the profit motive -- the arguing that this second kid is in it for the money -- that's going to be a big factor in this case and this large payment reflects that.</s>HEMMER: The initial accuser from 1993 now aged 24. Will he testify now?</s>TOOBIN: Interesting question -- not clear. Under California law, he can be forced to testify. That's a change since the early '90s when this case first arose. In the old days, you could essentially wall yourself off from having to testify by signing a civil settlement. But now he could be subpoenaed interesting strategic question on the part of the prosecutors about whether they call him or not.</s>HEMMER: Why would he not be called for grand jury testimony then?</s>TOOBIN: Well, in the grand jury you don't want to expose all your witnesses to making a transcript that they could be cross- examined on later. It's easy to get an indictment from a grand jury...</s>HEMMER: Ham sandwich...</s>TOOBIN: The ham sandwich, as always, but the -- so the fact that he didn't testify at the grand jury doesn't mean he won't testify in front of the real jury.</s>HEMMER: And we as a network also trying to get in touch with the Jackson family, no response just yet but we're still working that angle of the story. Thanks, Jeff.</s>TOOBIN: OK.</s>HEMMER: We're going to talk about this off and on for the next three hours, in fact. Here's Soledad with more now -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. Time for the Cafferty Files and the "Question of the Day" -- hello.</s>CAFFERTY: Michael Jackson's one time attorney Mark Geragos back in November said this, quote, "If anybody doesn't think based upon what's happened so far that the true motivation of these charges and these allegations is anything but money and the seeking of money then they're living in their own Neverland." But simply seeking money isn't enough to get someone to pay you more than $20 million. If it was, we'd all be doing it. The question is this: how will the new revelations about Michael Jackson affect his upcoming trial? E-mail us at am@cnn.com -- we'll read some of the letters later.</s>O'BRIEN: Interesting question. All right, Jack, thanks.</s>HEMMER: Some are saying it's one of the greatest upsets in NBA history. Detroit Pistons knocking off the L.A. Lakers, the heavily favored Lakers last night to win that NBA title. The hard-working crew from Motown dominated the Lakers from the start, 187 the final. They win the series four games to one. Some are arguing they should have swept the Lakers from the outset. Bottom line: it's a long night of partying in Detroit. Here's Larry Smith there now.</s>LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They personify their cities perfectly in the NBA Finals. Los Angeles -- glitz and star power -- lost out to the hard work of a relatively anonymous group of Detroit Pistons.</s>RICHARD HAMILTON, PISTONS GUARD: We didn't worry about what people wrote in the papers or what people were saying on TV or what they was even saying in Vegas. We said to ourself, you know, anything -- anything is possible if you play together.</s>SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, LAKERS CENTER: They played consistently hard -- they played consistently good defense and just flat out beat us at everything.</s>SMITH: Lost in the hoopla surrounding Lakers coach Phil Jackson going for a record tenth NBA title in these finals was Larry Brown getting his first in his 22nd year as an NBA coach, the longest wait in league history.</s>LARRY BROWN, DETROIT HEAD COACH: Since this is toward the end of it for me and the way we did it against such a quality coach and a quality team, it's a pretty incredible feeling.</s>RASHEED WALLACE, PISTONS FORWARD: Larry, he deserves it. He deserves all the accolades, he deserves everything, you know. Because I think he's been looked over for the last few years but, you know, he finally done it. He finally got over that hump.</s>SMITH (on camera): While the Pistons ride off to enjoy the spoils of a champion, the Lakers now ponder an uncertain future. Jackson's contract is expired and three of the starting five can become free agents, including Kobe Bryant. Larry Smith, CNN, Auburn Hills, Michigan.</s>HEMMER: So then here is the scene on the streets of Detroit. Hundreds of fans pouring into the streets. I'd say that's thousands of fans. Police were getting ready for violence but there were only minor skirmishes there with police -- only minor problems. A parade is in Detroit tomorrow. And congratulations to the Pistons and all their fans. Who said the Lakers were going to sweep that four games none?</s>O'BRIEN: That would be Bill Hemmer. And who said that no -- in fact the Lakers would not win last night? That was me.</s>HEMMER: Did you put any money on that? Serwer did. He put his money where his mouth was.</s>O'BRIEN: Did he really? How much?</s>HEMMER: Five bucks.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh.</s>HEMMER: We'll talk to Andy in a moment about that.</s>O'BRIEN: Well, still to come in a moment, Andy Serwer in fact is "Minding Your Business" -- he's going to tell you why the government decided to can the do not spam list. That's ahead.</s>HEMMER: We'll get to that. Also looking to skip past those long lines at the airport. It could happen soon -- maybe. You first have to qualify. Find out what you need to do in a moment. This new system goes into effect.</s>O'BRIEN: And Brittany Spears suffers a set back. We'll explain just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.</s>O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody. If you are looking to can your Internet spam you're just going to have wait. Plus, how are the Iraqi oil fires affecting the markets? Today Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" -- good morning to you.</s>ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Let's start with the last question first.</s>SERWER: Yes.</s>O'BRIEN: How are they affecting the markets?</s>SERWER: Well as you might imagine the price of oil is up this morning, Soledad. Not so bad. Could it be that sabotage and violence are actually priced into the oil markets? That apparently is true. Price of oil up only about 26 cents to $37 a barrel. Still the situation in Iraq not a good one. Halting the production of oil in Iraq. One point six million barrels a day comes out of that country; about two percent of the world's oil supply. You may remember OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro just the other day saying he feared this type of thing happening. He is asking other nations, other non-OPEC nations, to produce more oil, such as Russia. Russia is saying we don't have any more oil to produce right now. But, again, right now the situation not so dire in the oil markets. Yesterday the stock market responded nicely, though, Soledad, to that benign inflation report. Dow was up about 45 points. You can see here Nasdaq up as well. We're actually up higher earlier in the day, we kind of drifted back and the futures this morning are looking pretty good.</s>O'BRIEN: Well, first, it was the do not call list. Then they tried to do the do not spam list. Why are they giving that one the heave ho?</s>SERWER: Well the FTC yesterday, Soledad, saying that it's just not going to work. Basically saying that they can forget all about trying to create a do not spam list. Basically saying this would be a directory for the spammers. The spammers would simply come in and say terrific, look at this long, long list of names; we're going to start spamming. What does this mean? It means really that the FTC can't enforce this and it speaks to the difference between spam and telemarketing. Telemarketing business a very mature business with companies all across the United States. They can be identified and prosecuted. Spammers, however, all over the world -- you know, a couple of kids in Thailand typing some things out. You just can't find them. So they're going to have to go back to the drawing board here.</s>O'BRIEN: And easy to hack into that list, obviously.</s>SERWER: You bet.</s>O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks a lot.</s>SERWER: You're welcome.</s>O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, "90-Second Pop." Nicole Kidman takes a bath and reportedly gets into serious hot water. Find out why movie execs could be in a tizzy. And, "The Simple Life" takes on married life. Paris and Nicole duke it out with Nick and Jessica. Our "90-Second Pop" insiders are just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.