[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Has Senator Kerry made up his mind? Word today that his VP choice could be a done deal. Money for the new Iraq going up in flames. Insurgents deliver a serious blow to a major oil pipeline there. And going to the moon, Saturn's moon. The probe that may unlock an incredible mystery ahead this hour here on
[American Morning. Announcer:] From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
[Hemmer:] Nine o'clock here in New York. Happy July 5th today. Heidi Collins working for Soledad. Good morning to you.
[Heidi Collins, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning.
[Hemmer:] You're here all week, right?
[Collins:] I am here all week.
[Hemmer:] Yes, excellent.
[Collins:] I'll be much funnier towards the end of the week.
[Hemmer:] Set the alarm. Politics in the headlines, too. Democratic officials perhaps teasing us a bit today, saying that Senator Kerry has selected his running mate. Won't say who it is. We'll tell you what we know, what we're trying to figure out, and what to look forward to in the next few days or so.
[Collins:] Compelling, that's for sure.
[Hemmer:] Sure.
[Collins:] Also, healthy swimming tips for summer from the CDC. We'll go poolside and we'll learn more live here, as you see. We're going to be talking about hot spots in which the pool will bring whoa, he jumps great summer fun. But there could be some miserable surprises as well. We'll let you know what those are...
[Hemmer:] All right.
[Collins:] ... under water.
[Hemmer:] OK. Jack Cafferty back again.
[Jack Cafferty, Cnn Anchor:] Have you seen "Caddyshack"...
[Hemmer:] Sure do cannonball, Baby Ruth.
[Collins:] Yes. Something with Baby Ruth sorry.
[Cafferty:] Yes, Baby Ruth. There is some speculation this morning it's a candy bar. You guys settle down. Speculation this morning that they're talking about granting amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq. Obviously a controversial idea. Reportedly, some discussions have already been held. Whether it happens or not, they're not being specific about a timetable. One thing, though, that has been noticeable, it's so quiet over there, you can you can notice it. The silence is deafening.
[Collins:] Yes.
[Cafferty:] I mean, it really has, since sovereignty was handed over, it's calmed down some, at least for the moment.
[Hemmer:] And knock wood, too, and make sure that it stays that way.
[Cafferty:] Yes.
[Hemmer:] I think it's a good observation, though, and fair at this point, too. Thank you, Jack.
[Collins:] Thanks, Jack. Months of political speculation may just about be over. Maybe not. But John Kerry has reportedly decided who he wants to run as his Democratic presidential vice president. Well, Kelly Wallace has been covering the campaign, joining us now. All right, Kelly, what's the scoop?
[Kelly Wallace, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, a Democratic official is telling CNN that it is clear, John Kerry has made up his mind and that he's committed to announcing it very, very quickly. Perhaps no surprise here. Campaign officials are not confirming this report right now. But all eyes will certainly be on Pittsburgh, and that is where Senator Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are hosting a barbecue for politicians from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to see if he gives any clues about what he's planning to do.
[Wallace:] John Kerry seems to be enjoying this moment. Strutting his stuff in Iowa, where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed, all the while keeping everyone guessing about who he will choose as his running mate, and when. [on camera]: What are the main factors that he is considering in making this decision?
[Stephanie Cutler, Kerry Campaign Communications Director:] Kelly, I can't get into what what's going on in his mind. And, you know, it's up to him. You know, he's playing his cards very close to his chest, as he should.
[Wallace:] So, was this a clue or just coincidence? Kerry spent Sunday with Tom Vilsack of Iowa.
[Gov. Tom Vilsack , Iowa:] How are you?
[Wallace:] The rags to riches governor is believed to be on the short list.
[Richard Gephardt , Fmr. Presidential Candidate:] This campaign is not about me.
[Wallace:] Also on the list, Democratic sources say, Congressman Dick Gephardt and Senator John Edwards, who dodged questions yesterday in North Carolina, but didn't stop auditioning for the job.
[Sen. John Edwards , North Carolina:] Do everything in your power to make sure that Senator John Kerry is the next president of the United States.
[Wallace:] The only real clues from a Kerry campaign source who told CNN, "The senator wants someone who has national, not regional appeal, has demonstrated leadership ability, and is compatible with Kerry on every level." In addition to choosing a running mate, the senator is courting rural voters. His bus trip through the heartland was all about trying to make the case that, despite his big city home town, he is a lot like them.
[Sen. John Kerry , Presidential Candidate:] It really doesn't matter whether it's a Democrat idea or Republican idea. It matters whether it works for America.
[Wallace:] Small town USA could play a major role in '04. Al Gore lost the rural vote decisively to George W. Bush in 2000. John Kerry hopes to change that. And Democratic sources are telling us that Senator Kerry feels very good about how he has handled this process. He feels very good about the confidentiality here and how he's been able to treat people fairly, he thinks, throughout it.
[Collins:] But why all the secrecy?
[Wallace:] Well, in part, because he feels that he was treated unfairly back in 2000. His name, as well as two others, were sort of leaked out as being on Al Gore's short list. And he just did not like that getting out there, being paraded out there. He wanted to sort of keep it under wraps for people so that no one's dangled out there as a possibility and then pulled out pulled back later.
[Collins:] Sure. People want to know, though. That's for sure. All right.
[Wallace:] We hope we get an answer soon.
[Collins:] Yes, we do, too. All right. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much.
[Wallace:] Sure.
[Collins:] Bill?
[Hemmer:] All right. So then how important is this decision? Our political analyst, Ron Brownstein, of the "L.A. Times," our guest last hour, offering his perspective on the impending choice for running mate. Here's Ron.
[Ron Brownstein, "l.a. Times":] Well, look, I think we all have to tip our hat to John Kerry. I mean, he really has done a good job of keeping this a secret. I separate the candidates, the contenders into two categories. The conventional wisdom about who are the front runners, which we're still seeing, began very early. And it began at a point when it seemed this race was going to pivot mostly on domestic issues. So we're talking about people like John Edwards of North Carolina, Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Tom Vilsack, the governor of Iowa, all of whom offer credibility and the ability to deliver a message mostly on things like health care and the economy. As the year has gone on, and it's increasingly seen seen as though Iraq and national security would be the centerpiece of this race, you have a whole series of other names that have lingered in discussion, whether it's Joe Biden, the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Wesley Clark, the candidate, Bob Graham of Florida, the former intelligence committee chairman, who also brings a state, potentially, help you in a state that is very importance. Right now, I think the the conventional wisdom is still on the first group. But I would not rule out a surprise of someone who had a little more to say on the national security size.
[Hemmer:] Ron, about 10 days ago, here's what
[Brownstein:] A top aide to one of the other contenders said to me yesterday that the biggest reason they thought their candidate might not get picked is that John Kerry would laugh to absorb two or three days of griping Democrats and reporters asking, "Why didn't you pick John Edwards?" There seems to be some resistance, obviously, in Kerry world to Edwards. They seem to get along OK. The question, though, was whether Kerry felt that Edwards was moving too fast running for president in his first term in the Senate. But there's no doubt that John Edwards was a very good campaigner, had a very sharp message: the two Americas, President Bush honoring wealth, not work. And a lot of Democratic activists around the country really responded to him. The question here seems to be one more of personal chemistry. But no one should be ruling him out, I think.
[Hemmer:] With the newspaper in Iowa over the weekend, Senator Kerry talked about abortion. On the screen part of his quote: "I oppose abortion personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist who does not share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America." Again, over the weekend. Sunday, in fact. The Bush campaign has already said this is another indication of him flipping his message yet again.
[Brownstein:] Well, look...
[Hemmer:] How do you weigh in on how we are to size this up now from the Catholic candidate?
[Brownstein:] Well, this, first of all, is something that Catholic politicians have often said. It's a distinction they've often drawn. I think most famously, Mario Cuomo, in a speech at Notre Dame in the 1980s, their personal faith leads them one way, but they do not believe they can legislate their personal faith on others. That is a common line for Democratic Catholics. Now, why is he doing it now? A more interesting question. John Kerry over the weekend has spent his time in small town rural America, arguing that he has mainstream, centrist, even conservative values. The biggest change in the electorate, Bill, from '96, when Clinton won, to 2000, when Gore lost, was the Democratic collapse in rural sort of blue highway America. And it's very clear that John Kerry sees one of his major tasks, especially with Dick Cheney going after him over the weekend on issues like guns and abortion, as grounding himself in the cultural mainstream for more culturally conservative voters in those Midwestern states and elsewhere who are going to be, I think, really crucial in deciding who the next president is.
[Hemmer:] And Ron Brownstein from earlier, sizing up Senator Kerry's campaign to date. President Bush also giving a Fourth of July speech to a cheering crowd in Charleston, West Virginia, making a point to defend the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush says America is safer with Saddam Hussein behind bars now, and went on to thank the nation's founding fathers yesterday.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] We're thankful that this nation they created 228 years ago remains free and independent, and the best hope for all mankind.
[Hemmer:] A bit later in the day, engine trouble on Air Force One delayed the president's departure out of Maryland. A second Boeing 757 brought in to fly Bush to President Bush to West Virginia.
[Collins:] The 50-year-old murder of Marilyn Shepherd still intrigues amateur and professional detectives. It's the case believed to be the inspiration for the TV series and movie, "The Fugitive." Soledad recently spoke with the author of a book who he thinks he knows who committed the crime. We'll here that in just a moment, but first, Chris Lawrence updates us on the case.
[Chris Lawrence, Cnn Correspondent:] Nothing at Bay Village, Ohio, suggests one of the most famous crime scenes of the last century. The home of the infamous murder was torn down in 1993, and the only evidence of what happened is in libraries like this one. But for hundreds of people a year, the Cleveland State University archives remain popular.
[Unidentified Male:] It seems like people come here on a regular basis thinking they're going to solve the Sam Shepherd murder case.
[Lawrence:] But no one has. After Marilyn Shepherd was found bludgeoned to death in their bedroom in 1954, Sam Shepherd was convicted of murder. He said an intruder killed his pregnant wife. And 10 years later, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision when it overturned the verdict, saying excessive media coverage denied the doctor a fair trial.
[Sam Shepherd, Accused Of Murdering Wife:] After 10 years in prison for something I didn't do, it was about time.
[Lawrence:] Some legal scholars see similarities between this case and Scott Peterson's trial for the murder of his wife, Laci.
[Patricia Falk, Cleveland State Law Professor:] There are lots of murders all the time, but only a few really capture the imagination in a way that these cases do.
[Lawrence:] The Shepherds' original home doesn't exist anymore, but the case has lived on through constant attention and popular culture. [voice-over]: Many still believe it inspired the television character Richard Kimble, and later a film version of "The Fugitive."
[Unidentified Male:] Maybe "The Fugitive" wasn't based on the Shepherd trial. But it's really hard to imagine that it wasn't a factor of playing it on somebody's mind when they were putting it together.
[Lawrence:] A second jury acquitted Dr. Shepherd in 1966, and he died four years later. His son tried to get him vindicated through DNA evidence, but the murder of Marilyn Shepherd remains open and unsolved. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Bay Village, Ohio.
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] Former FBI agent Bernard Conners believes a different man, Air Force Major James Call, committed the crime. His book is called "Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call," first released two years ago, has now been updated. Bernard Conners joins us to talk to us about this case. You point the finger at Major James Call. Why him?
[Bernard Conners, Author, "tailspin":] Another major in the Air Force contacted me six years ago, and he had long suspected that a man named George Warburton contacted me, and he long suspected that Major James Arlon Call had committed this crime. In fact, Major Call was apprehended for killing a police officer in 1954. And at the time, they suspected his involvement in the Shepherd case.
[O'brien:] What was the evidence to say that it was Major Call? I know you focus a lot on a new photograph. And we've got this photograph. So tell me what this photograph shows and why do you think it's some kind of evidence?
[Conners:] Call was in Cleveland at the time, attending we know he attended sports car races. When Sam Shepherd read the hard-back version of the book, he saw these pictures of Major Call and he contacted him. He said, "You know, I have a picture here from a family album which shows my mother talking to this man. And it looks like Major Call." And those of us in law enforcement realize that identification by photography is an uncertain science. So I was very skeptical. I gave it to all the family of Major Call, the family of Robert Sylvester, who was with Call two weeks his closest friend, a respected scientist, biochemist was with Call two weeks before the Shepherd homicide. He said, "That is Jim Call."
[O'brien:] Why would Major Call kill Marilyn Shepherd?
[Conners:] Well, he he in my opinion, he kind of lost it, Soledad. He'd lost his wife, and he went into this moral tailspin. He lived life in the air. He did things no one else would do. And he took I think it was an adrenaline rush. His son told me who is a wonderful man in Meridian, Mississippi, with whom I spent a few days to learn more about he said, "Bernard, you probably only have the tip of the iceberg." "Major" or Jimmy, he called his father "Jim was probably a serial killer." And he just arrived derived a tremendous rush from doing these things. And with Marilyn Shepherd in fact, when he was apprehended, shortly after the Shepherd homicide, he admitted that he had just committed an egregious crime. And as I said earlier, the officers and New York State police and in Reno, Nevada, where he was originally apprehended before he was extradited here for the murder of the police officer, suspected him of the Shepherd homicide.
[O'brien:] It's a fascinating look at a crime I think which has really been dissected over and over again. A really incredible look at it. Nice to see you, Bernard Conners. Thanks for joining us.
[Conners:] You're welcome.
[Hemmer:] All right. Just about 15 minutes now past the hour. Other news now with Carol Costello at the CNN Center. Happy Fourth of July or fifth now, Carol. Good morning.
[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Right back at you, Bill. Thank you. Here are the latest headlines for you now. A delay in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic, acting as his own attorney, expected to start his defense today at a U.N. tribunal at The Hague. The judges are reportedly concerned about Milosevic's blood pressure and heart complaints. A ruling on how to proceed is expected by tomorrow. In Iraq, a key oil pipeline is burning south of Baghdad. Fire crews working overnight to contain the blaze. A ministry of oil spokesman saying an improvised explosive device went off beneath the line yesterday. The pipeline feeds oil from Iraq's southern oil fields to refineries throughout the country. Vice President Dick Cheney drops one of his doctors after a report that claims the physician abused prescription narcotics. Dick Cheney's office tells CNN Dr. Gary Malakoff has been let go from the medical team that monitors the vice president's health. Today's issue of The New Yorker claims the doctor has abused prescription narcotics for years. At Ground Zero, the first step was taken on the Fourth of July to build the new Freedom Tower. A 20-ton granite block, cornerstone of the new tower, was lifted into place at the World Trade Center site. The inscription on the stone is dedicated to those killed in the September 11 attacks. It will take five years to build the tower. A huge upset in soccer, as Greece wins the European championship. Greek fans went into an absolute frenzy as their team beat Portugal one-nil in in the finals yesterday. Angelos Charisteas scored that goal. The Greeks were an 80 to nil long shot, hadn't won a single game in major competition before the European tournament. Back to you, Bill.
[Hemmer:] They are going nuts in Athens today, Carol.
[Costello:] They are.
[Hemmer:] And they are going to keep on going nuts until the summer games start in mid August.
[Collins:] No kidding, yes.
[Hemmer:] Great victory for that country.
[Collins:] Indeed, it was. Jack Cafferty joining us now.
[Cafferty:] I missed it.
[Collins:] You missed it?
[Cafferty:] Yes. I planned to watch it, but I missed it. There is talk in Iraq to granting amnesty to the insurgents. The new government over there apparently already in talks with some of the insurgent groups, including the renegade cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. One school of thought says, let them turn in their weapons, grant them amnesty, give them a job and let bygones be bygones. The other school of thought is, some of these people killed American soldiers and maybe they ought to be held accountable. So that's the question, is this a good idea or not? And John in
[Hemmer:] I tell you, one thing you hear from a lot of Americans, especially the politicians who go to Iraq, they like this new prime minister...
[Collins:] Yes.
[Cafferty:] Yes.
[Hemmer:] ... Ayad Allawi. They're very impressed with him. And we hear that across the board.
[Cafferty:] Yes. The rumor is he's a tough guy. And the fact that it's been quiet over there since he took charge might be testament to the fact that maybe he is.
[Hemmer:] Not completely quite, but a tough guy and a smart guy, too.
[Collins:] Well...
[Cafferty:] Well, a lot quieter than it's been. I mean, you know...
[Hemmer:] Sure.
[Cafferty:] ... cars backfire in the middle of the night in the most peaceful countries in the world.
[Hemmer:] Yes. A lot of the reports over the weekend say the Iraqis notice a lot fewer far fewer American Marines and soldiers on the streets.
[Collins:] Yes.
[Hemmer:] And many more Iraqi forces and security personnel, too.
[Cafferty:] Well, that was part of the whole problem, was the visibility of the infidel that would be us. And the fact that now maybe they can start to recede into the background a little bit is probably a good thing.
[Collins:] Perception is everything, huh? All right.
[Cafferty:] Yes.
[Collins:] Jack, Bill, thanks.
[Cafferty:] Sure.
[Collins:] Let's go to Chad. He's got the weather now. And Chad, quite a bit of stuff happening in the Midwest, right?
[Hemmer:] All right, Chad. Thanks. Chad, you may have seen this video over the weekend. We thought it was so good we'd show it again today. Secretary of State Colin Powell making many sacrifices over his years. On Friday, he made one more. The secretary of state sounding a most undiplomatic note, the "YMCA" in southeast Asia. That performance, the annual curtain call, part of the traditional close to the ASEAN summit, where diplomats provide the entertainment. And he did it this year, in fine fashion, with a hard hat, too, from Jakarta in Indonesia, the secretary of state.
[Collins:] I have seen it a couple of times.
[Hemmer:] And?
[Collins:] And when he starts to dance, I really lose it every time.
[Hemmer:] You don't look away, though, do you?
[Collins:] No.
[Hemmer:] Keep watching it.
[Collins:] Definitely compelling. All right. Still to come this morning, Cassini makes its first pass at Saturn's biggest moon. Find out why some experts say it has a little something in common with Los Angeles, of all places.
[Hemmer:] Also in a moment, you hear all the time about kids playing too many video games indoors, not exercising enough outdoors. Maybe they need to combine the two. Sanjay has that ahead here.
[Collins:] And before the break, a look and a listen at some of the Fourth of July's fun all around the country. This time it's the capital fourth in Washington. We'll play it again for you.