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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Military Vows to Hunt Down Killers of American Contractors; In Wisconsin, Composite Sketch Being Circulated

Aired April 02, 2004 - 05:00   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.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: It will be methodical. It will be precise. And it will be overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military vows to hunt down the killers of four American contractors. Live to Baghdad in five minutes.

Good morning to you. From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK for Friday, April 2.

I'm Carol Costello.

Here are the latest headlines for you now.

A former U.S. Marine will hear his fate this hour. Toby Studabaker is being sentenced in England for abducting a 12-year-old British girl he met on the Internet.

NATO welcomes its newest members. Just a couple of hours ago, the flags of seven Eastern European nations were raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels for the first time.

And this was the scene in Hong Kong this morning. Police clashed with demonstrators against plans to give China more control over the territory.

In Washington, Michael Jackson is recognized for his work fighting AIDS in Africa, while in California a grand jury was hearing testimony in his child molestation case.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The latest in Iraq for you now. The hammer about to fall, so to speak. The U.S. military says it's going to clamp down on Fallujah. That, of course, is where four American contractors were killed and their bodies drug through the streets.

Regaining control of what may be Iraq's most dangerous city falls to the 1st Marine Division.

Jamie McIntyre has more on that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The murder and mutilation of four American contractors has driven the U.S. military to ditch the strategy of keeping several thousand Marines on the outskirts of Fallujah. It will no longer rely only on poorly trained and ill-equipped Iraqi police and civil defense forces to provide security. The Marines are now being told they will retake the city.

KIMMITT: Coalition forces will respond. They will be in that city. It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say planning is under way now for a major effort to "pacify Fallujah" to begin in the next few days. Marines will go in in force and hunt for enemy fighters, as well as pressure city officials to finger those responsible for recent attacks. The message -- help us find them or we will do it the hard way, with brute combat force.

Marines will also be looking for any Iraqis who can be identified from television footage showing the angry mob celebrating the U.S. deaths.

KIMMITT: Those people that we have photographed and we have video that were involved in this operation, that were involved in this brutality, we have a significant interest in finding them and talking to them.

MCINTYRE: Last Friday, when Marines engaged local insurgents in a fierce firefight, 18 Iraqis, one Marine and five civilians were killed. The deaths only fueled anti-U.S. sentiment. So the new strategy is to try at the same time to also win hearts and minds by pumping more money into local schools and health clinics.

The U.S. insists that as disturbing as the gruesome events have been, the Marines will not be intimidated.

QUESTION: And I was in Fallujah today and people were saying, you know, the Americans were scared to come back in. Does that not send out a bad message of tolerance of violence?

KIMMITT: Ask them after the Americans have come back in.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. insists sending in more American troops is not the answer. But until more Iraqi police are on the job, the Marines will have the tough assignment of hunting down insurgents while trying to win over the locals with acts of kindness. It is, however, a mission befitting the official motto of the 1st Marine Division -- no better friend, no worse enemy.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we take you live to Baghdad in just a minute. The scenes of American bodies being dragged in the streets recall those from Somalia. On "American Morning," Michael Durant, the pilot of that Black Hawk helicopter that went down in Mogadishu, he'll talk about the violence now in Iraq. "American Morning," of course, begins at 7:00 Eastern.

It is, well, on to better news. It's a festive morning at NATO. See the flag up there? The Western military alliance is welcoming seven new members. A band played their national anthems as the new flags were raised over NATO headquarters in Brussels. That happened about two hours ago. The new members, of course, are Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, all former Soviet Bloc nations.

The funeral of a ballad singer tops our look at Stories Across America this Friday.

Thousands gathered last night at a church in Los Angeles to pay final respects to Adan Sanchez. The 19-year-old ballad singer was killed in a car crash last week in Mexico. Sanchez had recorded nine CDs and was quite popular in Mexico and in the United States. He was the son of singer Marcelino "Chalino" Sanchez.

Spring flooding in Massachusetts, where it's been raining now for days. Flood warnings posted for most of that state. A slow moving storm already has dumped three inches of rain on some areas, and as you heard Chad say, more expected today.

A grand jury in California is hearing evidence in the Michael Jackson child molestation case and a source tells CNN one of the witnesses on Tuesday was the 14-year-old boy who accuses Jackson of molesting him. Our legal analyst Kendall Coffey will join us live in the next hour to talk more about the case.

In Wisconsin, a composite sketch is being circulated in and around Madison. College student Audrey Seiler says it depicts the man who kidnapped her and held her captive for fours days.

CNN's Jonathan Freed has more on this mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to Audrey Seiler, this is the face of the man who abducted her at knifepoint. Police released this sketch of the suspect after a day of searching and questioning -- searching for evidence in the marshy area where Seiler was found on Wednesday and questioning the 20-year-old about her ordeal.

Police interviewed her for hours, looking for details.

OFC. LARRY KAMHOLZ, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Hopefully it will help provide some clues as to where to look, you know, where they were, you know, what areas they had been in the city.

FREED: The University of Wisconsin student disappeared from her apartment early Saturday morning. Security video showed her leaving without a coat. The case caught more attention because Seiler says that she was also knocked unconscious in February, while out walking late at night, but that she wasn't robbed or seriously hurt.

Her story...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very relieved and very impressed with the way, you know, things were handled and the communication.

FREED: ... is meeting with a bit of a mixed reaction in Madison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found it odd in that it just, it was two months ago. I mean, you know, how many times do you have bad luck in your life?

FREED: Late Thursday, police responded to the speculation.

ACTING CHIEF NOBLE WRAY, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Like in any other major investigation, there may be inconsistencies. But our -- but we are continuing forward with this investigation.

FREED (on camera): Police say that they are now investigating what they call the sequence of events as described to them by Seiler and by witnesses.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: There is still much more ahead on DAYBREAK.

College basketball aside, March was a maddening month for Democratic hopeful John Kerry. Our Kelly Wallace has more for you on that.

Plus, what's a year in Iraq really like for National Guard troops? We profile one unit as their tour of duty comes to an end.

Also, April means kids getting outside to play. But what about playing it safe? We've got some tips for parents from a sports medicine expert.

And as it turns out, bashing Barbie can turn a buck or two. All will be revealed shortly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:11 Eastern time.

Here's what's new this morning.

Seven East European nations joined NATO in a flag raising ceremony at the alliance headquarters in Brussels. The nations were in the old Soviet Bloc. And after all the pomp and circumstance, of course, there are some big issues for NATO to tackle.

Our European political editor, Robin Oakley, joins us live from London with more on that side of the story -- hello, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, we've seen the seven flags go up. They've had to move them to a bigger lawn at NATO headquarters to have room for the seven new members to join the existing 19 -- Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria.

Now, all former members of the Soviet Bloc, now inside the NATO alliance with the collective security of NATO behind them. They had a council meeting this morning. They got through it quickly. Several of the new nations signaling their willingness for NATO to become more involved in Iraq, Romania and Bulgaria in particular; Bulgaria saying it would be happy to be home to U.S. troops in Europe, as the United States chooses new bases. And really a show of unity. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the NATO secretary general, saying that this was definitely a day of joy for NATO.

And the new nations really signaling that they don't want to see the European Union, which some of them are joining at the same time, duplicating any of NATO's military efforts. And also arguing at a press conference that's just been held that they don't see any problem in decision-making in NATO, even though it's now expanding from 19 to 26 members and it operates purely on the basis of consensus -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin, it sounds great for these seven new members. But how does the welcoming of those seven new members help NATO as a whole?

OAKLEY: Well, none of them bring in a huge amount of military hardware, Bulgaria and Romania perhaps a bit more than the others. They add to NATO's political solidarity and they create a greater zone of stability across the European continent.

But it is felt that they can contribute in terms of niche expertise in the way, for example, that the Czech Republic, which joined in the last round of NATO expansion, has already done, developing a particular talent for the countering of chemical and biological warfare.

So some of these countries will develop their own areas of expertise, perhaps in field hospitals or some element of logistics, something like that.

But, also, because NATO's whole role is changing and becoming more an international and more of a force to deal with trouble spots in the world, the fact that they've got small forces doesn't matter, because they can provide the mobility with those small forces that NATO needs -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin Oakley live from London this morning.

Now let's continue our look at the latest headlines. The fire season gets an early start in Colorado. You heard Chad mention this yesterday. Families are fleeing the foothills near Fort Collins, where a wildfire has destroyed a house and a garage. It's now threatening 23 structures.

In money news, you won't be getting those cow spotted boxes at Gateway stores anymore. The money losing computer maker will close all 188 of its stores next week and eliminate 2,500 jobs.

In sports, a big debut in pro soccer tomorrow. D.C. United opens the season against San Jose. Everyone will be watching 14-year-old Freddy Adu, the youngest pro team sports player in 100 years. He's 14.

In culture, Homer, Marge and Moe have been skipping work in a pay dispute with Fox. The actors who voice "The Simpsons" now get $125,000 per episode. They want $360,000 per episode.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And did you hear, Carol, they want more dope.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Investors anxiously await the U.S. employment figures for March, to be released in just about three hours.

So let's see what's shaking in Big Ben town.

Live to London -- did you get that Todd, Big Ben town?

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I was just thinking -- I was thinking about "The Simpsons" there. Man, if they don't come to some sort of agreement, the voices, they'll be one of the numbers on the unemployment ranks.

But anyway, here's what we're expecting for March, 123,000 jobs expected to be created. But I've got to tell you, economists are all over the map on this one. The most bearish say only 40,000 jobs; the most optimistic, 200,000 jobs.

The bottom line is the U.S. expansion continues, but we aren't creating jobs. And that's why it's so important, this number today. Everywhere -- Europe, Asia, and, of course, the U.S. -- everyone's going to be looking at this number. In February, only 21,000 jobs were created. Economists got it wrong. They thought 125,000 jobs. And since March of 2001, the peak of job creation, 2.3 million jobs have been lost.

I know you've been reporting on this a lot. It's a huge political issue for President Bush. In fact, he could go down as the first president since Herbert Hoover to have not created any jobs during his four years.

Currencies ahead of that, the euro is at 123.20 against the dollar. Sterling is at 184.80. And in terms of the main markets, a little movement, all up about a quarter of one percent. This really is the big number for the month. So much emphasis on it. And, of course, you'll have reports on it throughout the day -- back to you.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will.

Todd Benjamin live from London this morning.

Coming up next on DAYBREAK, the Kerry campaign scrambles to regain momentum. Are attack ads to blame or is it the candidate? We take a look at his spring campaign plans.

Also, have it your way, literally. We'll tell you why patrons of a fast food favorite are going gaga for gourmet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: Good morning, Atlanta. A nice day for you today. At least better than yesterday. I was out at the BellSouth Classic. I thought it was going to snow. Man, it was cold out there. But more golfers in town today, so go out there and enjoy it, if you will. The temperature, a high today 61 degrees. Lots of sunshine.

COSTELLO: Yes, some interesting things to talk about this morning.

At Harvard, for the first time ever, more women were admitted than men.

MYERS: Yes?

COSTELLO: Not by much.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: And Harvard is very happy about that.

MYERS: Oh, sure.

COSTELLO: But across the country at other universities, the ratio of women to men going to college, 60-40. Sixty percent of women are going to college, 40 percent of men. So what's up with that, Chad?

MYERS: Well, any woman will tell you that women are smarter than men. I mean...

COSTELLO: But I mean it...

MYERS: Any wife will tell you that she's smarter than her husband.

COSTELLO: That's true, but that's disturbing. So universities are struggling to figure that out. I mean what do you do to attract young men back to the university after they finish high school? What do you do? And why aren't they going? MYERS: Because they know there's no jobs out there when they're done.

COSTELLO: You think so?

MYERS: I don't know, just vocational school. A lot of guys just say you know what? I enjoy working with my hands. I'm going to, I'm just going to go do it because all these computer guys that worked, were so good, making so much money, now they're all sitting around going what am I going to do now?

COSTELLO: Well, we have a young man out here, Drue (ph), our floor director, he says it's just laziness.

MYERS: Well, that could be. It could be beer consumption and laziness. Sure.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MYERS: Yes. All right.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about a T-shirt dispute now. That leads our DAYBREAK Eye-Openers.

In New York, a gay teenager wins a $30,000 settlement from the city. She was suspended for wearing a "Barbie Is A Lesbian" T-shirt to school.

In San Diego, this ain't your every day Mickie D's. No, sir. Gone are the brightly colored plastic tables and chairs.

MYERS: Pamini (ph)!

COSTELLO: Yes, McDonald's. In are cushy upholstered sofas, artsy lithographs and potted plants, even, Chad, a $60,000 grand piano, along with new cuisine choices. Not to worry, though. Even if it's now casual chic, you can still get a Big Mac.

MYERS: What's now, wi-fi is next?

COSTELLO: Wi-fi.

Out in Virginia, J.R. and Peggy Triplett are America's newest mega millionaires. They won a $329 million Mega Millions jackpot in February. Triplett bought the winning ticket the very afternoon of the drawing. And they chose a lump sum payment of about, oh, 141 million bucks.

MYERS: Good for them.

COSTELLO: Um-hmm. We've got a lot of interesting e-mails coming in to us and we wanted to read you some.

MYERS: Yes, sure.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, remember yesterday he said that CNN was struggling on whether to show the bodies in Fallujah.

MYERS: Well, you know, let me tell you, we got some e-mails about what we showed. But there -- what we showed was five percent about what was actually on the reel.

COSTELLO: Oh, it was terrible. It was terrible.

MYERS: You know, it was some ugly stuff.

COSTELLO: Well, this is from Pam in Michigan. She says: "I tend to disagree with Mr. Clinch about the coverage of the attack yesterday. Don't forget that all the families are watching your coverage and I think it would be advantageous to put yourself in the position of the loved ones and how horrific that would be. It's one thing to show a burning vehicle. However, showing anything else than that" -- let me read that again -- "however, showing anything that alluded to how the crowd was mutilating the bodies is sickening beyond belief."

MYERS: Yes, and from Jim in North Carolina: "It's obvious to me that our presence there in Iraq is not wanted. This has become apparent now more and more in the last couple of weeks, with the bombings of the hotels in Baghdad and now Wednesday's attack in Fallujah. The Bush administration must pull out and it would be giving -- it would be not giving into terrorism. But I disagree. They have a constitution in place, they have resources to put their own army together. Let them liberate the country by themselves. It's time to bring our troops home."

Which...

COSTELLO: Well, I don't think that's going to happen.

MYERS: It seems like that would be chaos.

COSTELLO: In fact, it seems like there's going to be some sort of action taken in Fallujah in the next couple of days.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But we'll talk more about that later.

MYERS: That's strong words there, yes.

COSTELLO: Well, more cash in the bank, new ads on the way and a bigger campaign presence coming. John Kerry's aides say life is good. But some experts would argue things could not get much worse.

CNN's Kelly Wallace has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry's own supporters say the months since he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, well, just hasn't been his best.

STAN GREENBERG, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: I'm sure this won't be his favorite month when the campaign is over. But it's not a big deal.

WALLACE: In the headlines, stories about how some Democrats are concerned Kerry is slipping out of the picture, recovering from shoulder surgery after a March that started with a series of missteps.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

WALLACE: Then the week of R&R in Idaho, just as President Bush was launching his campaign and unleashing a multi-million dollar ad blitz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raising taxes is a habit of Kerry's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The damage, according to this week's CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Kerry's unfavorable rating has gone up 10 points since February, an even larger increase among those who think he's too liberal. And so there is some nervousness on the part of Democrats.

GREENBERG: They're looking for him to run, you know, the perfect campaign. He needs to run a better campaign and step onto the stage. And I'm sure they're going to do it.

WALLACE: Kerry's advisers say he is already doing that...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM KERRY CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush says sending jobs overseas makes sense for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: ... with new national ads and an aggressive schedule of speeches beginning next week. Aides say they are not seeing slippage in the senator's support. They point to the latest national poll in Thursday's "Los Angeles Times," showing Kerry ahead of the president by three points. And the campaign announced it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year.

(on camera): Aides say that's a three month record for a Democratic presidential candidate and shows the senator will be able to compete with President Bush and his more than $100 million war chest.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

On alert in Indonesia -- will terror derail the political process? We're going to take you live to Jakarta to assess the fear factor. And home sweet home. After a year in Iraq, one lucky unit is getting to say good-bye. We'll head live to Baghdad.

And the rankings are in, as in the best of the best. How they battle it out for bragging rights. We'll tell you who made the grade.

This is DAYBREAK for Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's tough times at the top for the world's number one consumer electronics maker, Sony. The maker of TVs, DVD players and Play Station 2 is undergoing a round of lay-offs, trying to spur growth. Also being downsized, traditional tube television sets. Sony is ending production on over two thirds of its analog product lines, focusing more on televisions using LCD and plasma screen technology.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 2, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: It will be methodical. It will be precise. And it will be overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military vows to hunt down the killers of four American contractors. Live to Baghdad in five minutes.

Good morning to you. From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK for Friday, April 2.

I'm Carol Costello.

Here are the latest headlines for you now.

A former U.S. Marine will hear his fate this hour. Toby Studabaker is being sentenced in England for abducting a 12-year-old British girl he met on the Internet.

NATO welcomes its newest members. Just a couple of hours ago, the flags of seven Eastern European nations were raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels for the first time.

And this was the scene in Hong Kong this morning. Police clashed with demonstrators against plans to give China more control over the territory.

In Washington, Michael Jackson is recognized for his work fighting AIDS in Africa, while in California a grand jury was hearing testimony in his child molestation case.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The latest in Iraq for you now. The hammer about to fall, so to speak. The U.S. military says it's going to clamp down on Fallujah. That, of course, is where four American contractors were killed and their bodies drug through the streets.

Regaining control of what may be Iraq's most dangerous city falls to the 1st Marine Division.

Jamie McIntyre has more on that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The murder and mutilation of four American contractors has driven the U.S. military to ditch the strategy of keeping several thousand Marines on the outskirts of Fallujah. It will no longer rely only on poorly trained and ill-equipped Iraqi police and civil defense forces to provide security. The Marines are now being told they will retake the city.

KIMMITT: Coalition forces will respond. They will be in that city. It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say planning is under way now for a major effort to "pacify Fallujah" to begin in the next few days. Marines will go in in force and hunt for enemy fighters, as well as pressure city officials to finger those responsible for recent attacks. The message -- help us find them or we will do it the hard way, with brute combat force.

Marines will also be looking for any Iraqis who can be identified from television footage showing the angry mob celebrating the U.S. deaths.

KIMMITT: Those people that we have photographed and we have video that were involved in this operation, that were involved in this brutality, we have a significant interest in finding them and talking to them.

MCINTYRE: Last Friday, when Marines engaged local insurgents in a fierce firefight, 18 Iraqis, one Marine and five civilians were killed. The deaths only fueled anti-U.S. sentiment. So the new strategy is to try at the same time to also win hearts and minds by pumping more money into local schools and health clinics.

The U.S. insists that as disturbing as the gruesome events have been, the Marines will not be intimidated.

QUESTION: And I was in Fallujah today and people were saying, you know, the Americans were scared to come back in. Does that not send out a bad message of tolerance of violence?

KIMMITT: Ask them after the Americans have come back in.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. insists sending in more American troops is not the answer. But until more Iraqi police are on the job, the Marines will have the tough assignment of hunting down insurgents while trying to win over the locals with acts of kindness. It is, however, a mission befitting the official motto of the 1st Marine Division -- no better friend, no worse enemy.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we take you live to Baghdad in just a minute. The scenes of American bodies being dragged in the streets recall those from Somalia. On "American Morning," Michael Durant, the pilot of that Black Hawk helicopter that went down in Mogadishu, he'll talk about the violence now in Iraq. "American Morning," of course, begins at 7:00 Eastern.

It is, well, on to better news. It's a festive morning at NATO. See the flag up there? The Western military alliance is welcoming seven new members. A band played their national anthems as the new flags were raised over NATO headquarters in Brussels. That happened about two hours ago. The new members, of course, are Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, all former Soviet Bloc nations.

The funeral of a ballad singer tops our look at Stories Across America this Friday.

Thousands gathered last night at a church in Los Angeles to pay final respects to Adan Sanchez. The 19-year-old ballad singer was killed in a car crash last week in Mexico. Sanchez had recorded nine CDs and was quite popular in Mexico and in the United States. He was the son of singer Marcelino "Chalino" Sanchez.

Spring flooding in Massachusetts, where it's been raining now for days. Flood warnings posted for most of that state. A slow moving storm already has dumped three inches of rain on some areas, and as you heard Chad say, more expected today.

A grand jury in California is hearing evidence in the Michael Jackson child molestation case and a source tells CNN one of the witnesses on Tuesday was the 14-year-old boy who accuses Jackson of molesting him. Our legal analyst Kendall Coffey will join us live in the next hour to talk more about the case.

In Wisconsin, a composite sketch is being circulated in and around Madison. College student Audrey Seiler says it depicts the man who kidnapped her and held her captive for fours days.

CNN's Jonathan Freed has more on this mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to Audrey Seiler, this is the face of the man who abducted her at knifepoint. Police released this sketch of the suspect after a day of searching and questioning -- searching for evidence in the marshy area where Seiler was found on Wednesday and questioning the 20-year-old about her ordeal.

Police interviewed her for hours, looking for details.

OFC. LARRY KAMHOLZ, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Hopefully it will help provide some clues as to where to look, you know, where they were, you know, what areas they had been in the city.

FREED: The University of Wisconsin student disappeared from her apartment early Saturday morning. Security video showed her leaving without a coat. The case caught more attention because Seiler says that she was also knocked unconscious in February, while out walking late at night, but that she wasn't robbed or seriously hurt.

Her story...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very relieved and very impressed with the way, you know, things were handled and the communication.

FREED: ... is meeting with a bit of a mixed reaction in Madison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found it odd in that it just, it was two months ago. I mean, you know, how many times do you have bad luck in your life?

FREED: Late Thursday, police responded to the speculation.

ACTING CHIEF NOBLE WRAY, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Like in any other major investigation, there may be inconsistencies. But our -- but we are continuing forward with this investigation.

FREED (on camera): Police say that they are now investigating what they call the sequence of events as described to them by Seiler and by witnesses.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: There is still much more ahead on DAYBREAK.

College basketball aside, March was a maddening month for Democratic hopeful John Kerry. Our Kelly Wallace has more for you on that.

Plus, what's a year in Iraq really like for National Guard troops? We profile one unit as their tour of duty comes to an end.

Also, April means kids getting outside to play. But what about playing it safe? We've got some tips for parents from a sports medicine expert.

And as it turns out, bashing Barbie can turn a buck or two. All will be revealed shortly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:11 Eastern time.

Here's what's new this morning.

Seven East European nations joined NATO in a flag raising ceremony at the alliance headquarters in Brussels. The nations were in the old Soviet Bloc. And after all the pomp and circumstance, of course, there are some big issues for NATO to tackle.

Our European political editor, Robin Oakley, joins us live from London with more on that side of the story -- hello, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, we've seen the seven flags go up. They've had to move them to a bigger lawn at NATO headquarters to have room for the seven new members to join the existing 19 -- Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria.

Now, all former members of the Soviet Bloc, now inside the NATO alliance with the collective security of NATO behind them. They had a council meeting this morning. They got through it quickly. Several of the new nations signaling their willingness for NATO to become more involved in Iraq, Romania and Bulgaria in particular; Bulgaria saying it would be happy to be home to U.S. troops in Europe, as the United States chooses new bases. And really a show of unity. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the NATO secretary general, saying that this was definitely a day of joy for NATO.

And the new nations really signaling that they don't want to see the European Union, which some of them are joining at the same time, duplicating any of NATO's military efforts. And also arguing at a press conference that's just been held that they don't see any problem in decision-making in NATO, even though it's now expanding from 19 to 26 members and it operates purely on the basis of consensus -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin, it sounds great for these seven new members. But how does the welcoming of those seven new members help NATO as a whole?

OAKLEY: Well, none of them bring in a huge amount of military hardware, Bulgaria and Romania perhaps a bit more than the others. They add to NATO's political solidarity and they create a greater zone of stability across the European continent.

But it is felt that they can contribute in terms of niche expertise in the way, for example, that the Czech Republic, which joined in the last round of NATO expansion, has already done, developing a particular talent for the countering of chemical and biological warfare.

So some of these countries will develop their own areas of expertise, perhaps in field hospitals or some element of logistics, something like that.

But, also, because NATO's whole role is changing and becoming more an international and more of a force to deal with trouble spots in the world, the fact that they've got small forces doesn't matter, because they can provide the mobility with those small forces that NATO needs -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Robin Oakley live from London this morning.

Now let's continue our look at the latest headlines. The fire season gets an early start in Colorado. You heard Chad mention this yesterday. Families are fleeing the foothills near Fort Collins, where a wildfire has destroyed a house and a garage. It's now threatening 23 structures.

In money news, you won't be getting those cow spotted boxes at Gateway stores anymore. The money losing computer maker will close all 188 of its stores next week and eliminate 2,500 jobs.

In sports, a big debut in pro soccer tomorrow. D.C. United opens the season against San Jose. Everyone will be watching 14-year-old Freddy Adu, the youngest pro team sports player in 100 years. He's 14.

In culture, Homer, Marge and Moe have been skipping work in a pay dispute with Fox. The actors who voice "The Simpsons" now get $125,000 per episode. They want $360,000 per episode.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And did you hear, Carol, they want more dope.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Investors anxiously await the U.S. employment figures for March, to be released in just about three hours.

So let's see what's shaking in Big Ben town.

Live to London -- did you get that Todd, Big Ben town?

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I was just thinking -- I was thinking about "The Simpsons" there. Man, if they don't come to some sort of agreement, the voices, they'll be one of the numbers on the unemployment ranks.

But anyway, here's what we're expecting for March, 123,000 jobs expected to be created. But I've got to tell you, economists are all over the map on this one. The most bearish say only 40,000 jobs; the most optimistic, 200,000 jobs.

The bottom line is the U.S. expansion continues, but we aren't creating jobs. And that's why it's so important, this number today. Everywhere -- Europe, Asia, and, of course, the U.S. -- everyone's going to be looking at this number. In February, only 21,000 jobs were created. Economists got it wrong. They thought 125,000 jobs. And since March of 2001, the peak of job creation, 2.3 million jobs have been lost.

I know you've been reporting on this a lot. It's a huge political issue for President Bush. In fact, he could go down as the first president since Herbert Hoover to have not created any jobs during his four years.

Currencies ahead of that, the euro is at 123.20 against the dollar. Sterling is at 184.80. And in terms of the main markets, a little movement, all up about a quarter of one percent. This really is the big number for the month. So much emphasis on it. And, of course, you'll have reports on it throughout the day -- back to you.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will.

Todd Benjamin live from London this morning.

Coming up next on DAYBREAK, the Kerry campaign scrambles to regain momentum. Are attack ads to blame or is it the candidate? We take a look at his spring campaign plans.

Also, have it your way, literally. We'll tell you why patrons of a fast food favorite are going gaga for gourmet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: Good morning, Atlanta. A nice day for you today. At least better than yesterday. I was out at the BellSouth Classic. I thought it was going to snow. Man, it was cold out there. But more golfers in town today, so go out there and enjoy it, if you will. The temperature, a high today 61 degrees. Lots of sunshine.

COSTELLO: Yes, some interesting things to talk about this morning.

At Harvard, for the first time ever, more women were admitted than men.

MYERS: Yes?

COSTELLO: Not by much.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: And Harvard is very happy about that.

MYERS: Oh, sure.

COSTELLO: But across the country at other universities, the ratio of women to men going to college, 60-40. Sixty percent of women are going to college, 40 percent of men. So what's up with that, Chad?

MYERS: Well, any woman will tell you that women are smarter than men. I mean...

COSTELLO: But I mean it...

MYERS: Any wife will tell you that she's smarter than her husband.

COSTELLO: That's true, but that's disturbing. So universities are struggling to figure that out. I mean what do you do to attract young men back to the university after they finish high school? What do you do? And why aren't they going? MYERS: Because they know there's no jobs out there when they're done.

COSTELLO: You think so?

MYERS: I don't know, just vocational school. A lot of guys just say you know what? I enjoy working with my hands. I'm going to, I'm just going to go do it because all these computer guys that worked, were so good, making so much money, now they're all sitting around going what am I going to do now?

COSTELLO: Well, we have a young man out here, Drue (ph), our floor director, he says it's just laziness.

MYERS: Well, that could be. It could be beer consumption and laziness. Sure.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MYERS: Yes. All right.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about a T-shirt dispute now. That leads our DAYBREAK Eye-Openers.

In New York, a gay teenager wins a $30,000 settlement from the city. She was suspended for wearing a "Barbie Is A Lesbian" T-shirt to school.

In San Diego, this ain't your every day Mickie D's. No, sir. Gone are the brightly colored plastic tables and chairs.

MYERS: Pamini (ph)!

COSTELLO: Yes, McDonald's. In are cushy upholstered sofas, artsy lithographs and potted plants, even, Chad, a $60,000 grand piano, along with new cuisine choices. Not to worry, though. Even if it's now casual chic, you can still get a Big Mac.

MYERS: What's now, wi-fi is next?

COSTELLO: Wi-fi.

Out in Virginia, J.R. and Peggy Triplett are America's newest mega millionaires. They won a $329 million Mega Millions jackpot in February. Triplett bought the winning ticket the very afternoon of the drawing. And they chose a lump sum payment of about, oh, 141 million bucks.

MYERS: Good for them.

COSTELLO: Um-hmm. We've got a lot of interesting e-mails coming in to us and we wanted to read you some.

MYERS: Yes, sure.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, remember yesterday he said that CNN was struggling on whether to show the bodies in Fallujah.

MYERS: Well, you know, let me tell you, we got some e-mails about what we showed. But there -- what we showed was five percent about what was actually on the reel.

COSTELLO: Oh, it was terrible. It was terrible.

MYERS: You know, it was some ugly stuff.

COSTELLO: Well, this is from Pam in Michigan. She says: "I tend to disagree with Mr. Clinch about the coverage of the attack yesterday. Don't forget that all the families are watching your coverage and I think it would be advantageous to put yourself in the position of the loved ones and how horrific that would be. It's one thing to show a burning vehicle. However, showing anything else than that" -- let me read that again -- "however, showing anything that alluded to how the crowd was mutilating the bodies is sickening beyond belief."

MYERS: Yes, and from Jim in North Carolina: "It's obvious to me that our presence there in Iraq is not wanted. This has become apparent now more and more in the last couple of weeks, with the bombings of the hotels in Baghdad and now Wednesday's attack in Fallujah. The Bush administration must pull out and it would be giving -- it would be not giving into terrorism. But I disagree. They have a constitution in place, they have resources to put their own army together. Let them liberate the country by themselves. It's time to bring our troops home."

Which...

COSTELLO: Well, I don't think that's going to happen.

MYERS: It seems like that would be chaos.

COSTELLO: In fact, it seems like there's going to be some sort of action taken in Fallujah in the next couple of days.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But we'll talk more about that later.

MYERS: That's strong words there, yes.

COSTELLO: Well, more cash in the bank, new ads on the way and a bigger campaign presence coming. John Kerry's aides say life is good. But some experts would argue things could not get much worse.

CNN's Kelly Wallace has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry's own supporters say the months since he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, well, just hasn't been his best.

STAN GREENBERG, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: I'm sure this won't be his favorite month when the campaign is over. But it's not a big deal.

WALLACE: In the headlines, stories about how some Democrats are concerned Kerry is slipping out of the picture, recovering from shoulder surgery after a March that started with a series of missteps.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

WALLACE: Then the week of R&R in Idaho, just as President Bush was launching his campaign and unleashing a multi-million dollar ad blitz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raising taxes is a habit of Kerry's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The damage, according to this week's CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Kerry's unfavorable rating has gone up 10 points since February, an even larger increase among those who think he's too liberal. And so there is some nervousness on the part of Democrats.

GREENBERG: They're looking for him to run, you know, the perfect campaign. He needs to run a better campaign and step onto the stage. And I'm sure they're going to do it.

WALLACE: Kerry's advisers say he is already doing that...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM KERRY CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush says sending jobs overseas makes sense for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: ... with new national ads and an aggressive schedule of speeches beginning next week. Aides say they are not seeing slippage in the senator's support. They point to the latest national poll in Thursday's "Los Angeles Times," showing Kerry ahead of the president by three points. And the campaign announced it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year.

(on camera): Aides say that's a three month record for a Democratic presidential candidate and shows the senator will be able to compete with President Bush and his more than $100 million war chest.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

On alert in Indonesia -- will terror derail the political process? We're going to take you live to Jakarta to assess the fear factor. And home sweet home. After a year in Iraq, one lucky unit is getting to say good-bye. We'll head live to Baghdad.

And the rankings are in, as in the best of the best. How they battle it out for bragging rights. We'll tell you who made the grade.

This is DAYBREAK for Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's tough times at the top for the world's number one consumer electronics maker, Sony. The maker of TVs, DVD players and Play Station 2 is undergoing a round of lay-offs, trying to spur growth. Also being downsized, traditional tube television sets. Sony is ending production on over two thirds of its analog product lines, focusing more on televisions using LCD and plasma screen technology.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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