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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap

Aired August 08, 2002 - 05:45   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Our International Desk, of course, is hard at work, as usual. But it is that time we talked them into coming to the desk to tell us what they have planned for the day.

David Clinch (ph) is off, so International Editor Eli Flournoy is kind enough to fill in. Good morning, Eli.

ELI FLOURNOY, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning -- Carol.

Yes, as we saw Jerrold Kessel reporting on earlier, we're watching some key stories in the Middle East, today, as security talks appear to have broken down somewhat between Israelis and Palestinians. They're concern about the handover if Israeli troops pulls out of Gaza and the West Bank territories, then, you know, are the Palestinian security forces going to be prepared to take back over security. So it's a big issue, there.

COSTELLO: Yes, and all this happening on a day when Palestinian leaders are here in the United States getting ready to Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

FLOURNOY: Exactly,, so we're going to be looking at, anxiously, to see. Everyone in the region is going to be watching to see how those meetings go, so there's a lot of concern and ...

COSTELLO: This doesn't seem to end, does it?

FLOURNOY: No, it doesn't. Also, we've got Walter Rogers taking a look, today, at this issue. Prime Minister Sharon and his cabinet have been looking at the possibility of a mega-terror attack in Israel. The feeling is there is going to, at least, be an attempt at some point of some major, major attack.

COSTELLO: Like a September 11 type attack.

FLOURNOY: Possibly, yes. Something on a larger scale than the suicide bombings, right now. So they've been having meetings about that, and as I said, Walter Rogers is going to be following on that.

COSTELLO: I'm really interested in the story you're covering on Nigeria because I have gotten those e-mails promising hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans or something like that.

FLOURNOY: That's right. Well, it's actually -- this scam that's been out there for a long time. I've gotten e-mails. I've gotten letters, the same as a lot of people have, that say that you need to have a bank account in the United States where we can house tens of millions of dollars, and we'll give you a percentage of it. And it seems crazy when you see it. But you -- when you see that, unfortunately, a lot of people have fallen for this scam, so we have talked to one unfortunate woman in Atlanta who lost $400,000. Our Jeff Koinange, our Lagos bureau chief, is going to be filing an investigative report later on about that.

COSTELLO: She lost $400,000. And you wonder how these people in Nigeria get your e-mail address or...

FLOURNOY: Yes, they're very good at it. They -- they're, really, on it. They've got names. they've got addresses, so...

COSTELLO: Unbelievable. OK. Time for the weird, happy story.

FLOURNOY: That's right. That's right. We saw a little tease of the video, earlier, but this has got to be the video of the day. This poor tortoise, a female tortoise in Brazil -- she got shot in some sort of drug shoot-up in Rio, and so they've attached a couple wheels to her shell, and look at her. She's good to go. She's zooming around.

COSTELLO: How bizarre that she got shot, and that's what happened to her.

FLOURNOY: I know. I guess that she is owned by somebody in a shanty town in Rio, and just got hit by a stray bullet, so ...

COSTELLO: Oh, so it's a pet turtle.

FLOURNOY: It, apparently, is a pet turtle, yes.

COSTELLO: Well, good for them. She looks like she's doing fine.

FLOURNOY: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Eli. We appreciate it. We'll let you get back to work.

FLOURNOY: Sure thing.

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