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CNN Live At Daybreak

Precision Raids by Coalition Forces on Shiite Army Posts in Baghdad

Aired April 08, 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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, precision raids by coalition forces on Shiite army posts in Baghdad. These are new pictures we just got in this morning.
It is Thursday, April 8.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK for Thursday, April 8.

I'm Carol Costello.

Here are the latest headlines this hour.

Dramatic new pictures of Marines under fire near Fallujah. At least four of them were wounded when their tank was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Four hours from now, all eyes will be on Condoleezza Rice. She will testify in public under oath before the 9/11 Commission.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair comes to the United States next week for talks on how to stop the violence in Iraq. He'll meet with President Bush in Washington and Kofi Annan at the United Nations.

Times Square -- we see it on TV every New Year's Eve and millions of us have been there in person. Today, Times Square turns 100.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, how are you?

COSTELLO: I'm great.

And you?

MYERS: It's ironic. I saw the story from Jason Carroll, we did it yesterday, I saw, at least I saw pictures of brief parts of it. It's amazing how Times Square has changed over the years...

COSTELLO: For the better.

MYERS: ... just transforms itself. Oh, yes. Well, compared to the '70s and the '80s.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Today is the day. The much anticipated testimony of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice starts just about four hours from now. She will swear to tell the truth before the 9/11 Commission.

Our Jeanne Meserve has a preview for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 9/11 Commission has heard testimony from over 1,000 people. But some members say none of it was as important as what they will hear from Condoleezza Rice.

TIMOTHY ROEMER, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR NATIONAL POLICY: Dr. Rice is right in the hub, right in the middle, right in the nexus of all these decisions in the Bush administration.

MESERVE: Among the questions commission members want her to answer, how high a priority was the threat from al Qaeda? How did the administration respond to intelligence in the summer of 2001 that an attack might be imminent? Why did it take the Bush administration seven months to develop a counterterrorism plan? Commission members spent Wednesday honing their questions.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I've got a briefcase full of news articles. I've got briefing book given to us by the staff. I'm going to be in our headquarters tonight and look at the classified briefing book that we can only read there in the secure facility.

MESERVE: Some members are paying particular attention to Rice's private testimony and information received since, including summaries of President Bush's daily intelligence briefings and, of course, the testimony of former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.

THOMPSON: We have your book. And we have your press briefing of August 2002. Which is true?

MESERVE: The panel's quizzing of Clarke was characterized as sometimes hostile and political. Rice may see more of the same.

SLADE GORTON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I don't mind harsh questions at all. I don't even particularly mind partisan questions, though I'm primarily interested in the answers.

MESERVE: But will time for questioning be gobbled up by Rice's 20-minute opening statement?

THOMPSON: She's not going to leap out of the chair at 11:30 and say, I told you 2 1/2 hours. That's it. Goodbye. I think everybody will be satisfied.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And, of course, you can watch Condoleezza Rice's entire testimony right here on CNN. It begins at 9:00 Eastern this morning. And that is less than four hours from now.

Does the United States need a new domestic intelligence service? Congressional researchers say it's an option lawmakers may want to consider. A newly released report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Center, or Service, rather, says such an agency, independent of the FBI, could be a good way to fight terrorism inside the United States. But officials at the Bureau and its parent agency, the Justice Department, disagree. They insist the FBI is fully capable of handling its responsibilities.

The body count is adding up as insurgency gains momentum in Iraq. This is day four of the uprising. Here is the situation as it stands right now. Military officials report 30 enemy combatants killed in Fallujah and 18 killed in Ramadi. Some of the fiercest fighting is centered around a mosque in Fallujah.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says some U.S. troops could stay longer in Iraq because of the renewed fighting. He calls the battles a test of will.

In the meantime, the most senior Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is condemning the recent coalition attacks. He's calling for an end to further chaos and bloodshed.

So, let's see what's happening in Iraq this morning. Specifically, the -- in Baghdad, the Sadr City neighborhood there. Coalition troops are staging what the military calls a precision raid there, destroying a building used by insurgents as a base. Live to Baghdad now and Jim Clancy -- hello, Jim.

What is going on there right now?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is fairly calm right now in Baghdad. Overnight in the Khadimiya District, there were reports of a lot of gunfire keeping residents there awake, hit and run attacks by insurgents suspected to be allied with Muqtada al-Sadr. But more on that in a moment.

Let's look first at where the center of fighting appears to be, in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, the town of Fallujah, where one week ago, four U.S. security contractors were killed. Overnight, U.S. Marines were in battle, engaged with insurgents there, Sunni Muslim insurgents, many of them nationalists, some of them former members of the regime, perhaps. But a lot of young men who have taken up the cause of opposing the occupation. The U.S. saying that it's going to eliminate them one by one in a methodical approach. Marines now in control of about a fourth of the city, but advancing with every hour, doing some house to house searches. They're knocking on doors. They have arrested some of the people that they believe are involved in the attacks against the coalition and against civilians.

The wire agencies are reporting that up until now -- they're quoting here the director of Fallujah Hospital -- 280 dead, more than 400 wounded. That's eliciting a response, of course, from many Iraqis who are sympathizing with the situation there in Fallujah.

Meantime, in the south -- and if we can take a look at a map you'll see that Karbala, the city of Karbala, where Bulgarian and Polish troops are stationed, those were -- there were reports of heavy fighting overnight as the Al-Mahdi brigades of Muqtada al-Sadr, that Shia Muslim militant who is also a cleric, has been spearheading an attack on coalition forces.

Right now it is said that they are in charge of the coalition offices there. But mosques and other religious sites may be in the hands of the Al-Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr.

In Kut, to the southeast, just about 100 kilometers from the border on the map, there were -- are reports now, of course, that the Ukrainian troops have pulled back there rather than engage the militia any more. So they are more or less in charge of the police stations, the government offices in that town.

All of it a source of concern. And certainly when you look at Sadr City, one of the strongholds of Muqtada al-Sadr, U.S. forces went in there today. They targeted the office, the al-Sadr office in that town in an effort to disrupt the organizational abilities of the Al- Mahdi Army, as Muqtada al-Sadr calls his private militia.

Unclear how much of an effect that's really going to have, because they can simply move it someplace else. But at least they moved in there and they attacked those offices, stripping them of that base of operations.

Elsewhere here in Baghdad -- and I think it's really important to note it's a phenomenon, Carol, that there's a lot of sympathy, especially for the people in Fallujah. Yes, four American contractors were killed. But today Iraqis see 400,000 of their countrymen under siege by U.S. Marines. They don't think those numbers add up. They turned out in a massive convoy that came from one Sunni Muslim mosque. But some of the people in the convoy said that there were Sunni, Shia, Kurds all donating blood, food, medical supplies. They were on their way to Fallujah. Still unclear whether they would even be able to get through the military checkpoints that lead into Fallujah. Right now that whole area is shut down -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, of course, we're listening behind you to a call to prayers this morning in Baghdad.

Jim Clancy reporting live from there.

You know, just a few minutes ago, we got some fascinating pictures out of Iraq.

Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here.

Before we show folks the pictures, let's get back to this convoy that Jim Clancy was talking about...

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... that Shias and Sunnis get together to help the people of Fallujah.

That could have disturbing implications, couldn't it?

CLINCH: It could. Not a lot of people at this point, but clearly this is illustrative of the point that is an object of fear for the United States, and that is that the level of sympathy amongst the general population, from both the Sunni and this Shiite rebellion insurgency, will go up and make it harder and harder to control the country. So interesting.

We're watching to see whether they actually make it to Fallujah today. But actually -- of course, talking about Fallujah, we did just get some more of these pool pictures from the fighting, the U.S. Marines going into Fallujah. And some of the sequences we got today showed that this Marine activity going into Fallujah is not without cost.

We saw what appeared to be a tank hit by an RPG and some injured Marines being taken away from that tank and pulled out. I mean Jim Clancy was there. He was talking about young men on the Iraqi side being amongst the dead. Just watching you will see here the sequence of the RPG. This is just after it's hit the tank. Some of these people injured.

We've watched this video. It's clear that none of the Marines had -- that some of them had serious injuries. It's clear that none of them died in this incident. So we're showing you this.

COSTELLO: But heroic efforts here.

CLINCH: They...

COSTELLO: In fact, this man that was -- this Marine that we're seeing injured actually went back into the tank to get his comrades.

CLINCH: They pulled their comrades out. They got support immediately. This man obviously injured, as well. They got support immediately. The officers came in, they withdrew the more seriously injured, they're coming back for the less seriously injured. These Marines are sticking together.

One of the most interesting quotes we got from one of the Marines as they were being talked to -- this was actually during the day yesterday in Fallujah -- when asked whether they were winning, he said, "We are Marines. We always win."

Well, they may very well always win, but clearly not without cost in terms of injured. And even the dead, I mean we were sort of randomly scoping through the photographs of those that have died. There were 36 Americans dead in April alone. And, you know, 18-, 19- year-old young Marines died in Ramadi the other day. Again, not without cost.

But interestingly, the Marine commander, as we watch this sequence here of them evacuating the injured, the Marine commander, surprisingly, I suppose you could say, saying that in Fallujah itself, from his perception, the resistance has not been as great as he anticipated. But then again he made it clear it's early days, because we heard the Marines saying yesterday that they're in no hurry, that they intend to take their time, isolate the people they're looking for.

COSTELLO: And interestingly enough -- I was also listening to some audio on that tape -- one of the Marines said, "I guess we went too far into the city at this point and that's why we came under fire from RPGs."

CLINCH: Yes, well, that was interesting. During the day yesterday, we saw them advance right into the center of the city. We saw them calling in air support and hitting, and they, by their own description, buildings adjacent to mosques, at least in Fallujah. And the response, by RPG and other attacks, was by, again, by the Marines' estimation, not our own, very severe yesterday.

So we're seeing somewhat of a calming of the situation today in terms of the approach, but it's not over yet in Fallujah.

COSTELLO: All right. And we'll show all of you more pictures later.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much, David.

CLINCH: We'll be back.

COSTELLO: The latest developments in Iraq and in depth reporting on the global headlines are just a few mouse clicks away. Log onto cnn.com/world for details.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, juror number four talks about her experiences in the Tyco trial and what she learned in the jury box.

And how do you stop something that's everywhere and no place at the same time? The World Wide Web makes terrorism easily accessible and impossible to touch.

And planning for the golden years? A lengthy stay in a nursing home can easily break the bank. We'll look at one option for easing the financial burden.

This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Less than four hours from now, Condoleezza Rice takes the hot seat. She'll testify publicly under oath to the 9/11 Commission. Coalition troops carry out a precision raid in Sadr City. They destroy a building used by militiamen of the wanted cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

In money news, here is the new Florida quarter. It's coming, don't worry. No, it doesn't have a hanging chad on the back. Oh please go to -- oh, there it is. It celebrates exploration from journeys to the New World and trips into space.

In sports, anybody in the market for a green jacket? Weather permitting, the Masters starts today in Augusta, Georgia. Ninety- three golfers will be competing for that jacket plus a whole lot of cash.

In culture, AOL launches a new online feature called the startup. It follows four small business owners for their first 12 months. And unlike other reality shows, no one will get fired.

MYERS: Oh, I hope the green jacket is waterproof today...

COSTELLO: Oh, no.

MYERS: ... because they are going to need it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: And those are the latest headlines.

Jumping to the business side of things now, are there smiley faces in the European markets this morning?

For that answer, let's head live to London and Todd Benjamin -- good morning, Todd.

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, it may be raining in Augusta, but it's clear skies for the financial markets today, Carol.

The FTSE here in London is up by a half percent, ahead of a decision by the Bank of England on interest rates. Economists are evenly divided over whether they will or won't raise rates. They've already hiked twice and if they don't do it today, they're going -- they're expected to do it in May.

The DAX is up one percent.

The CAC is up a half percent.

And what's really driving these markets today, Dell and Yahoo!. Dell, after the closing bell, raised its revenues guidance for its quarter by $200 million. Revenues they expect for the quarter, $11.4 billion. And the stock was up three percent in after hours trading. And Yahoo! was up 10 percent in after hours trading, better than expected numbers for its first quarter. They announced a 2 for 1 stock split and they raised their sales outlook for the entire year. That's what the market likes to hear.

Not surprisingly, the futures are pointing to a sharply higher open at this point.

Sunny skies.

Back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are smiley faces there.

Thank you a lot.

Todd Benjamin live from London.

After a break, we're going to take you to Camp Pendleton, where they're reeling there, because that's where those 12 Marines who were killed in Fallujah were based.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now some stories from across America this Thursday.

Here in Atlanta, the FBI is investigating a suspicious package found in an apartment restroom. Sources say it was taped to a cell phone. The FBI calls it a highly flammable device, but not a bomb. Authorities are checking videotape from more than 300 security cameras at the Atlanta airport.

Here's an update on that Amtrak derailment in Mississippi. Federal investigators say the train was doing nearly 80 miles an hour when it appears the engineer pulled the emergency brake. We're not sure why yet. We'll talk with him about that later today. The crash killed one person and injured just about all of the 70 people on board.

In New York, a grand jury investigates possible jury tampering in the Tyco corporate corruption trial. The six month long case ended in a mistrial on Friday. Tyco's former CEO and CFO were accused of looting $600 million from the company.

And juror Ruth Gordon -- she was the lone holdout for acquittal before the judge declared that Tyco mistrial. Jordan was identified by two newspapers after reporters said she signaled OK to the defense team. But Jordan tells CBS' "60 Minutes" she didn't do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CBS' "60 MINUTES")

RUTH JORDAN, TYCO JUROR: As far as a reputation, I think that's definitely been shaken. I'm going to have to just live with that. If I had voted against my conscience and said, all right, they're guilty, when I don't believe it, then why can't anybody else do the same thing? And that's an absolute destruction of what the jury system is about. And that would be a loss. So maybe it costs all of us to maintain that ability to be there and vote your convictions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jordan says she was outraged at the newspapers who identified her.

MYERS: As she should be.

COSTELLO: Yes. She looks really shaken, doesn't she? But, you know, who knows what really went on? We don't know.

MYERS: No.

COSTELLO: We don't know. It certainly seemed like she was signaling the...

MYERS: Her name, still. She was a juror. The name doesn't go out anywhere.

COSTELLO: That's true. But you're only bound by ethical standards in the media. It's not against the law to name jurors or to show their faces. So just something to think about this morning.

MYERS: I know.

COSTELLO: We have a lot of interesting e-mails from our viewers to read this morning.

MYERS: We do. Mailbag, open up.

There you go.

COSTELLO: Open up. Yes, and it's all about Iraq, as it probably should be.

This is from Donnie from Durham, North Carolina. He says: "The USA used to be respected by the world, but I don't think we are any longer. Maybe warfare has changed, but I still believe we need to show more force in Iraq and that we mean business."

This from Linda in Ohio: "Why are all these men in Iraq toting guns? Why haven't these guns been confiscated? Why would we let such unstable people keep them only to be used against us? And if these men have so much energy to ride in the streets every day of the week, then why don't they put that energy to use building up their country instead of tearing it down?"

MYERS: And from Bill in Chicago: "Rumsfeld says the situation in Iraq is not out of control. But in the same breath he says the troops over they may have to tour -- have their tour of duty extended. Can you spell oxymoron?"

COSTELLO: That from Bill in Chicago.

MYERS: "And the correct date for turning the reigns over to the provisional government is the day Iraq is stabilized. Anything else is nonsense," from Clayton in San Diego.

COSTELLO: And, again, thank you for your e-mails.

We always enjoy reading them. And... MYERS: We had hundreds yesterday.

COSTELLO: We certainly did. And we'll be reading them throughout the week. But keep them coming.

MYERS: You bet.

COSTELLO: Daybreak@cnn.com.

Nowhere back home has the fighting in Iraq been watched as closely than Camp Pendleton and the nearby town of Oceanside, California. Early reports say at least eight of the 15 Marines killed in Iraq this week were based there.

Our Miguel Marquez looks at the mood on the base.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headlines of Marines fighting and dying mean a little more in the place where most of the Marines in Iraq doing the fighting and dying trained -- home base, Camp Pendleton, California.

LT. NEIL KOHNKE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: There's people over there who want us to fail. And that's what we're facing right now. We have to -- we do have to take out a certain element to facilitate democracy.

MARQUEZ: Yellow ribbons have lined the streets of the town next to Camp Pendleton since the war began. Some Marines who have fought in Iraq see dying as the price of progress.

KOHNKE: They died doing what they were trained to do and doing something that they believed in.

MARQUEZ: Sergeant Tarantula Edwards is preparing for his second deployment to Iraq. His feeling? If Marines are dying, it makes staying the course even more important.

SGT. TARANTULA EDWARDS, FIRST MARINE DIVISION: We can't step back. I mean from the way we've been trained and, you know, the things we do, we step forward. We hit 'em even harder.

MARQUEZ: Jerry Moelich is a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. He fought and lived through WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He knows too well what Marines are experiencing in Iraq today.

JERRY MOELICH, U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.): Everybody's over there scared. If you're not scared, you're crazy.

MARQUEZ: Moelich says Iraq is different from anything he ever faced and is not clear how or when the fighting and dying of young Marines will end.

MOELICH: I worry about it. I do. I think we just -- I think we all -- we got pushed into something and it's going to be a hell of a job to get out.

MARQUEZ (on camera): The Marine Corps says the increase in attacks is due to its strategy of increasing its presence where U.S. forces have not operated consistently over the past year. What the Marines can't say yet is when it will know if that strategy has worked. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Camp Pendleton, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Heavy fighting in Iraq, but do coalition forces have things under control?

Washington readies for tough testimony. Condoleezza Rice goes before the 9/11 Commission. What did she know and when did she know it?

And how terror groups are using the Web as their latest tool for terror.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 8, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, precision raids by coalition forces on Shiite army posts in Baghdad. These are new pictures we just got in this morning.
It is Thursday, April 8.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK for Thursday, April 8.

I'm Carol Costello.

Here are the latest headlines this hour.

Dramatic new pictures of Marines under fire near Fallujah. At least four of them were wounded when their tank was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Four hours from now, all eyes will be on Condoleezza Rice. She will testify in public under oath before the 9/11 Commission.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair comes to the United States next week for talks on how to stop the violence in Iraq. He'll meet with President Bush in Washington and Kofi Annan at the United Nations.

Times Square -- we see it on TV every New Year's Eve and millions of us have been there in person. Today, Times Square turns 100.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, how are you?

COSTELLO: I'm great.

And you?

MYERS: It's ironic. I saw the story from Jason Carroll, we did it yesterday, I saw, at least I saw pictures of brief parts of it. It's amazing how Times Square has changed over the years...

COSTELLO: For the better.

MYERS: ... just transforms itself. Oh, yes. Well, compared to the '70s and the '80s.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Today is the day. The much anticipated testimony of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice starts just about four hours from now. She will swear to tell the truth before the 9/11 Commission.

Our Jeanne Meserve has a preview for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 9/11 Commission has heard testimony from over 1,000 people. But some members say none of it was as important as what they will hear from Condoleezza Rice.

TIMOTHY ROEMER, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR NATIONAL POLICY: Dr. Rice is right in the hub, right in the middle, right in the nexus of all these decisions in the Bush administration.

MESERVE: Among the questions commission members want her to answer, how high a priority was the threat from al Qaeda? How did the administration respond to intelligence in the summer of 2001 that an attack might be imminent? Why did it take the Bush administration seven months to develop a counterterrorism plan? Commission members spent Wednesday honing their questions.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I've got a briefcase full of news articles. I've got briefing book given to us by the staff. I'm going to be in our headquarters tonight and look at the classified briefing book that we can only read there in the secure facility.

MESERVE: Some members are paying particular attention to Rice's private testimony and information received since, including summaries of President Bush's daily intelligence briefings and, of course, the testimony of former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.

THOMPSON: We have your book. And we have your press briefing of August 2002. Which is true?

MESERVE: The panel's quizzing of Clarke was characterized as sometimes hostile and political. Rice may see more of the same.

SLADE GORTON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I don't mind harsh questions at all. I don't even particularly mind partisan questions, though I'm primarily interested in the answers.

MESERVE: But will time for questioning be gobbled up by Rice's 20-minute opening statement?

THOMPSON: She's not going to leap out of the chair at 11:30 and say, I told you 2 1/2 hours. That's it. Goodbye. I think everybody will be satisfied.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And, of course, you can watch Condoleezza Rice's entire testimony right here on CNN. It begins at 9:00 Eastern this morning. And that is less than four hours from now.

Does the United States need a new domestic intelligence service? Congressional researchers say it's an option lawmakers may want to consider. A newly released report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Center, or Service, rather, says such an agency, independent of the FBI, could be a good way to fight terrorism inside the United States. But officials at the Bureau and its parent agency, the Justice Department, disagree. They insist the FBI is fully capable of handling its responsibilities.

The body count is adding up as insurgency gains momentum in Iraq. This is day four of the uprising. Here is the situation as it stands right now. Military officials report 30 enemy combatants killed in Fallujah and 18 killed in Ramadi. Some of the fiercest fighting is centered around a mosque in Fallujah.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says some U.S. troops could stay longer in Iraq because of the renewed fighting. He calls the battles a test of will.

In the meantime, the most senior Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is condemning the recent coalition attacks. He's calling for an end to further chaos and bloodshed.

So, let's see what's happening in Iraq this morning. Specifically, the -- in Baghdad, the Sadr City neighborhood there. Coalition troops are staging what the military calls a precision raid there, destroying a building used by insurgents as a base. Live to Baghdad now and Jim Clancy -- hello, Jim.

What is going on there right now?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is fairly calm right now in Baghdad. Overnight in the Khadimiya District, there were reports of a lot of gunfire keeping residents there awake, hit and run attacks by insurgents suspected to be allied with Muqtada al-Sadr. But more on that in a moment.

Let's look first at where the center of fighting appears to be, in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, the town of Fallujah, where one week ago, four U.S. security contractors were killed. Overnight, U.S. Marines were in battle, engaged with insurgents there, Sunni Muslim insurgents, many of them nationalists, some of them former members of the regime, perhaps. But a lot of young men who have taken up the cause of opposing the occupation. The U.S. saying that it's going to eliminate them one by one in a methodical approach. Marines now in control of about a fourth of the city, but advancing with every hour, doing some house to house searches. They're knocking on doors. They have arrested some of the people that they believe are involved in the attacks against the coalition and against civilians.

The wire agencies are reporting that up until now -- they're quoting here the director of Fallujah Hospital -- 280 dead, more than 400 wounded. That's eliciting a response, of course, from many Iraqis who are sympathizing with the situation there in Fallujah.

Meantime, in the south -- and if we can take a look at a map you'll see that Karbala, the city of Karbala, where Bulgarian and Polish troops are stationed, those were -- there were reports of heavy fighting overnight as the Al-Mahdi brigades of Muqtada al-Sadr, that Shia Muslim militant who is also a cleric, has been spearheading an attack on coalition forces.

Right now it is said that they are in charge of the coalition offices there. But mosques and other religious sites may be in the hands of the Al-Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr.

In Kut, to the southeast, just about 100 kilometers from the border on the map, there were -- are reports now, of course, that the Ukrainian troops have pulled back there rather than engage the militia any more. So they are more or less in charge of the police stations, the government offices in that town.

All of it a source of concern. And certainly when you look at Sadr City, one of the strongholds of Muqtada al-Sadr, U.S. forces went in there today. They targeted the office, the al-Sadr office in that town in an effort to disrupt the organizational abilities of the Al- Mahdi Army, as Muqtada al-Sadr calls his private militia.

Unclear how much of an effect that's really going to have, because they can simply move it someplace else. But at least they moved in there and they attacked those offices, stripping them of that base of operations.

Elsewhere here in Baghdad -- and I think it's really important to note it's a phenomenon, Carol, that there's a lot of sympathy, especially for the people in Fallujah. Yes, four American contractors were killed. But today Iraqis see 400,000 of their countrymen under siege by U.S. Marines. They don't think those numbers add up. They turned out in a massive convoy that came from one Sunni Muslim mosque. But some of the people in the convoy said that there were Sunni, Shia, Kurds all donating blood, food, medical supplies. They were on their way to Fallujah. Still unclear whether they would even be able to get through the military checkpoints that lead into Fallujah. Right now that whole area is shut down -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, of course, we're listening behind you to a call to prayers this morning in Baghdad.

Jim Clancy reporting live from there.

You know, just a few minutes ago, we got some fascinating pictures out of Iraq.

Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here.

Before we show folks the pictures, let's get back to this convoy that Jim Clancy was talking about...

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... that Shias and Sunnis get together to help the people of Fallujah.

That could have disturbing implications, couldn't it?

CLINCH: It could. Not a lot of people at this point, but clearly this is illustrative of the point that is an object of fear for the United States, and that is that the level of sympathy amongst the general population, from both the Sunni and this Shiite rebellion insurgency, will go up and make it harder and harder to control the country. So interesting.

We're watching to see whether they actually make it to Fallujah today. But actually -- of course, talking about Fallujah, we did just get some more of these pool pictures from the fighting, the U.S. Marines going into Fallujah. And some of the sequences we got today showed that this Marine activity going into Fallujah is not without cost.

We saw what appeared to be a tank hit by an RPG and some injured Marines being taken away from that tank and pulled out. I mean Jim Clancy was there. He was talking about young men on the Iraqi side being amongst the dead. Just watching you will see here the sequence of the RPG. This is just after it's hit the tank. Some of these people injured.

We've watched this video. It's clear that none of the Marines had -- that some of them had serious injuries. It's clear that none of them died in this incident. So we're showing you this.

COSTELLO: But heroic efforts here.

CLINCH: They...

COSTELLO: In fact, this man that was -- this Marine that we're seeing injured actually went back into the tank to get his comrades.

CLINCH: They pulled their comrades out. They got support immediately. This man obviously injured, as well. They got support immediately. The officers came in, they withdrew the more seriously injured, they're coming back for the less seriously injured. These Marines are sticking together.

One of the most interesting quotes we got from one of the Marines as they were being talked to -- this was actually during the day yesterday in Fallujah -- when asked whether they were winning, he said, "We are Marines. We always win."

Well, they may very well always win, but clearly not without cost in terms of injured. And even the dead, I mean we were sort of randomly scoping through the photographs of those that have died. There were 36 Americans dead in April alone. And, you know, 18-, 19- year-old young Marines died in Ramadi the other day. Again, not without cost.

But interestingly, the Marine commander, as we watch this sequence here of them evacuating the injured, the Marine commander, surprisingly, I suppose you could say, saying that in Fallujah itself, from his perception, the resistance has not been as great as he anticipated. But then again he made it clear it's early days, because we heard the Marines saying yesterday that they're in no hurry, that they intend to take their time, isolate the people they're looking for.

COSTELLO: And interestingly enough -- I was also listening to some audio on that tape -- one of the Marines said, "I guess we went too far into the city at this point and that's why we came under fire from RPGs."

CLINCH: Yes, well, that was interesting. During the day yesterday, we saw them advance right into the center of the city. We saw them calling in air support and hitting, and they, by their own description, buildings adjacent to mosques, at least in Fallujah. And the response, by RPG and other attacks, was by, again, by the Marines' estimation, not our own, very severe yesterday.

So we're seeing somewhat of a calming of the situation today in terms of the approach, but it's not over yet in Fallujah.

COSTELLO: All right. And we'll show all of you more pictures later.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much, David.

CLINCH: We'll be back.

COSTELLO: The latest developments in Iraq and in depth reporting on the global headlines are just a few mouse clicks away. Log onto cnn.com/world for details.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, juror number four talks about her experiences in the Tyco trial and what she learned in the jury box.

And how do you stop something that's everywhere and no place at the same time? The World Wide Web makes terrorism easily accessible and impossible to touch.

And planning for the golden years? A lengthy stay in a nursing home can easily break the bank. We'll look at one option for easing the financial burden.

This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Less than four hours from now, Condoleezza Rice takes the hot seat. She'll testify publicly under oath to the 9/11 Commission. Coalition troops carry out a precision raid in Sadr City. They destroy a building used by militiamen of the wanted cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

In money news, here is the new Florida quarter. It's coming, don't worry. No, it doesn't have a hanging chad on the back. Oh please go to -- oh, there it is. It celebrates exploration from journeys to the New World and trips into space.

In sports, anybody in the market for a green jacket? Weather permitting, the Masters starts today in Augusta, Georgia. Ninety- three golfers will be competing for that jacket plus a whole lot of cash.

In culture, AOL launches a new online feature called the startup. It follows four small business owners for their first 12 months. And unlike other reality shows, no one will get fired.

MYERS: Oh, I hope the green jacket is waterproof today...

COSTELLO: Oh, no.

MYERS: ... because they are going to need it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: And those are the latest headlines.

Jumping to the business side of things now, are there smiley faces in the European markets this morning?

For that answer, let's head live to London and Todd Benjamin -- good morning, Todd.

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, it may be raining in Augusta, but it's clear skies for the financial markets today, Carol.

The FTSE here in London is up by a half percent, ahead of a decision by the Bank of England on interest rates. Economists are evenly divided over whether they will or won't raise rates. They've already hiked twice and if they don't do it today, they're going -- they're expected to do it in May.

The DAX is up one percent.

The CAC is up a half percent.

And what's really driving these markets today, Dell and Yahoo!. Dell, after the closing bell, raised its revenues guidance for its quarter by $200 million. Revenues they expect for the quarter, $11.4 billion. And the stock was up three percent in after hours trading. And Yahoo! was up 10 percent in after hours trading, better than expected numbers for its first quarter. They announced a 2 for 1 stock split and they raised their sales outlook for the entire year. That's what the market likes to hear.

Not surprisingly, the futures are pointing to a sharply higher open at this point.

Sunny skies.

Back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are smiley faces there.

Thank you a lot.

Todd Benjamin live from London.

After a break, we're going to take you to Camp Pendleton, where they're reeling there, because that's where those 12 Marines who were killed in Fallujah were based.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now some stories from across America this Thursday.

Here in Atlanta, the FBI is investigating a suspicious package found in an apartment restroom. Sources say it was taped to a cell phone. The FBI calls it a highly flammable device, but not a bomb. Authorities are checking videotape from more than 300 security cameras at the Atlanta airport.

Here's an update on that Amtrak derailment in Mississippi. Federal investigators say the train was doing nearly 80 miles an hour when it appears the engineer pulled the emergency brake. We're not sure why yet. We'll talk with him about that later today. The crash killed one person and injured just about all of the 70 people on board.

In New York, a grand jury investigates possible jury tampering in the Tyco corporate corruption trial. The six month long case ended in a mistrial on Friday. Tyco's former CEO and CFO were accused of looting $600 million from the company.

And juror Ruth Gordon -- she was the lone holdout for acquittal before the judge declared that Tyco mistrial. Jordan was identified by two newspapers after reporters said she signaled OK to the defense team. But Jordan tells CBS' "60 Minutes" she didn't do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CBS' "60 MINUTES")

RUTH JORDAN, TYCO JUROR: As far as a reputation, I think that's definitely been shaken. I'm going to have to just live with that. If I had voted against my conscience and said, all right, they're guilty, when I don't believe it, then why can't anybody else do the same thing? And that's an absolute destruction of what the jury system is about. And that would be a loss. So maybe it costs all of us to maintain that ability to be there and vote your convictions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jordan says she was outraged at the newspapers who identified her.

MYERS: As she should be.

COSTELLO: Yes. She looks really shaken, doesn't she? But, you know, who knows what really went on? We don't know.

MYERS: No.

COSTELLO: We don't know. It certainly seemed like she was signaling the...

MYERS: Her name, still. She was a juror. The name doesn't go out anywhere.

COSTELLO: That's true. But you're only bound by ethical standards in the media. It's not against the law to name jurors or to show their faces. So just something to think about this morning.

MYERS: I know.

COSTELLO: We have a lot of interesting e-mails from our viewers to read this morning.

MYERS: We do. Mailbag, open up.

There you go.

COSTELLO: Open up. Yes, and it's all about Iraq, as it probably should be.

This is from Donnie from Durham, North Carolina. He says: "The USA used to be respected by the world, but I don't think we are any longer. Maybe warfare has changed, but I still believe we need to show more force in Iraq and that we mean business."

This from Linda in Ohio: "Why are all these men in Iraq toting guns? Why haven't these guns been confiscated? Why would we let such unstable people keep them only to be used against us? And if these men have so much energy to ride in the streets every day of the week, then why don't they put that energy to use building up their country instead of tearing it down?"

MYERS: And from Bill in Chicago: "Rumsfeld says the situation in Iraq is not out of control. But in the same breath he says the troops over they may have to tour -- have their tour of duty extended. Can you spell oxymoron?"

COSTELLO: That from Bill in Chicago.

MYERS: "And the correct date for turning the reigns over to the provisional government is the day Iraq is stabilized. Anything else is nonsense," from Clayton in San Diego.

COSTELLO: And, again, thank you for your e-mails.

We always enjoy reading them. And... MYERS: We had hundreds yesterday.

COSTELLO: We certainly did. And we'll be reading them throughout the week. But keep them coming.

MYERS: You bet.

COSTELLO: Daybreak@cnn.com.

Nowhere back home has the fighting in Iraq been watched as closely than Camp Pendleton and the nearby town of Oceanside, California. Early reports say at least eight of the 15 Marines killed in Iraq this week were based there.

Our Miguel Marquez looks at the mood on the base.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headlines of Marines fighting and dying mean a little more in the place where most of the Marines in Iraq doing the fighting and dying trained -- home base, Camp Pendleton, California.

LT. NEIL KOHNKE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: There's people over there who want us to fail. And that's what we're facing right now. We have to -- we do have to take out a certain element to facilitate democracy.

MARQUEZ: Yellow ribbons have lined the streets of the town next to Camp Pendleton since the war began. Some Marines who have fought in Iraq see dying as the price of progress.

KOHNKE: They died doing what they were trained to do and doing something that they believed in.

MARQUEZ: Sergeant Tarantula Edwards is preparing for his second deployment to Iraq. His feeling? If Marines are dying, it makes staying the course even more important.

SGT. TARANTULA EDWARDS, FIRST MARINE DIVISION: We can't step back. I mean from the way we've been trained and, you know, the things we do, we step forward. We hit 'em even harder.

MARQUEZ: Jerry Moelich is a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. He fought and lived through WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He knows too well what Marines are experiencing in Iraq today.

JERRY MOELICH, U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.): Everybody's over there scared. If you're not scared, you're crazy.

MARQUEZ: Moelich says Iraq is different from anything he ever faced and is not clear how or when the fighting and dying of young Marines will end.

MOELICH: I worry about it. I do. I think we just -- I think we all -- we got pushed into something and it's going to be a hell of a job to get out.

MARQUEZ (on camera): The Marine Corps says the increase in attacks is due to its strategy of increasing its presence where U.S. forces have not operated consistently over the past year. What the Marines can't say yet is when it will know if that strategy has worked. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Camp Pendleton, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Heavy fighting in Iraq, but do coalition forces have things under control?

Washington readies for tough testimony. Condoleezza Rice goes before the 9/11 Commission. What did she know and when did she know it?

And how terror groups are using the Web as their latest tool for terror.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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