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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Marines Battle Insurgents in Fallujah; Fight for Iraq; Severe Storms; Nuclear Whistleblower Released from Israeli Prison; Space Mission
Aired April 21, 2004 - 05:30 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.
COSTELLO: And mission accomplished, at least in part. A new crew has arrived at the International Space Station. They docked this morning aboard the Russian rocket.
Now to the Forecast Center and Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We've been telling you all morning about what's been happening in Iraq. There has been explosions in Basra, a couple of dozen were killed there. But we have some new pictures in from Fallujah where there has been some renewed fighting.
Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to explain the pictures that you are looking at now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.
I mean just quickly on Basra, we have now actually confirmed at least 50 dead there. So that's one story.
Now we're getting this pool feed from Fallujah. We haven't really seen much pool video from Fallujah the last few days as there has been a cease-fire there for negotiations to continue while the local Iraqi leadership has been charged by the U.S. of ending the insurgency there and arranging for the arrest and hand over of those responsible...
COSTELLO: Is there any way...
CLINCH: ... for the killing of the Americans there.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry. Is there any way to determine what this building is, this structure that we keep seeing when these new pictures come in to us?
CLINCH: Right. Well from this angle of town, you're looking at the main mosque in Fallujah there, obviously, on the left. The Marines have a position here in one area of town where they have been based and have basically held their positions there for the last few days and not been moving in to the town any further.
But they have been coming under attack from the information we have. The military today, they saw a couple of incidents over the last couple of days and then a large-scale incident this morning, very early in Fallujah, around 6:00 a.m. They were hit by incoming RPG and machinegun fire in this position, in their fixed position.
You get a sense here of this one Marine. There's actually a line of 20 to 30 Marines here with their own weapons pointing out to the direction from which they are being hit. This here a very clear illustration, you see that mortar hitting nearby the position. You then see these individual Marines.
And this is something we have been hearing again and again in Fallujah, these Marines with particular expertise in targeting those that are firing at them. They see them, they identify them, they work together with two or three people firing at the same target to try and eliminate those firing at them. This is a real time firefight this morning as the Marines are firing at people firing at them from positions on the other side of town.
COSTELLO: Now we have been hearing over the past several days there's been this shaky cease-fire in Fallujah. What does this mean?
CLINCH: Right. Well, the U.S. military interpretation of this this morning is that this is an element of the insurgents in Fallujah trying to destroy this arrangement that has been put in place between the United States and the official civic authority in Fallujah, who has told the United States Marines, give us a chance here to calm this insurgency down and try and identify and hand over those responsible for killing Americans. Give us a chance to do that.
The Americans are interpreting what's happening today as the insurgents trying to destroy that arrangement. But of course in the wider picture, clearly the civic leaders have been unable to prevent at least this group of insurgents from continuing to attack the Americans. So the cease-fire, as such, not in place today in Fallujah.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, David Clinch.
We're going to take you live to Baghdad right now, because, as we said, suspected suicide car bombers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have claimed the lives of at least 40 people, probably more.
So let's head live to Baghdad now and Jim Clancy to get an update from there.
Hello -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you have been reporting today, the death toll in Basra rising. Iraq's Interior Minister now saying more than 60 Iraqis have been killed as a result of at least four suicide car bombs, one other blast. He put the toll of school children at 5, although other reports say as many as 10 were killed.
There were two vans used as school buses outside one Iraqi police station at the time the suicide bomber detonated his explosives. A number of Iraqi police said to be among the dead and wounded. But it is civilians that have clearly paid the highest price this day. The fact that these were all coordinated at a time, height of rush hour, just after 7:00 in the morning when people were on their way to their jobs, students were on their way to school. An indication that this is a terrorist attack meant to really pull the rug out from under any notion of security in the southern city of Basra, meant to pull out confidence from the coalition's ability to provide that security. This, by far, one of the most serious incidents ever to take place in that overwhelmingly Shi'a Muslim city in the southern part of Iraq.
The death toll is expected to climb. Many of the wounded that were evacuated to hospital have been treated. We actually see that the toll of wounded has gone down. That is not good news, that is just an indication that many of those who have come to the hospitals for treatment have expired -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jim Clancy live from Baghdad this morning.
We have also been telling you this morning about widespread damage from severe storms in northern Illinois. A series of tornadoes went through parts of the Midwest overnight.
Want to take you back now to CNN's Lisa Leiter. She is in Utica, Illinois. She has an update for us now.
Good morning.
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we (INAUDIBLE). As you said, 90 miles southwest of Chicago, this tiny town of about 1,000 residents the hardest hit with these tornadoes, at least four people dead.
COSTELLO: We're having problems with Lisa.
But just to update you, four dead that we know of. They were killed in a tavern that was literally flattened by a tornado in Utica. And we understand from Lisa's last report that 9,000 people remain without power this morning. Dozens of homes damaged and some literally destroyed. We'll have much more for you on this when we get Lisa Leiter back live on the phone this morning.
A young boy tries to ease the pain one family is feeling after their son is taken captive in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wrote you this letter to tell you that I am in deep sorrow and grief for your son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In the next half-hour, straight from the heart, how words can sometimes soothe deep sorrow.
And the International Space Station has three new visitors this morning. We're going to take you live to Moscow for a live report. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday, April 21.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to DAYBREAK, 5:40 Eastern Time.
A defiant Israeli nuclear whistleblower is free this morning. His name is Mordechai Vanunu. We told you a lot about him, actually, yesterday. Today he is a free man.
Walter Rodgers joins us live from the high-security prison where Vanunu was held.
And, Walter, I watched part of this press conference, this news conference, it was strange.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's your word, not mine. It certainly was a tour de force (ph) and Mordechai Vanunu, after 18 years in prison, many of those years, the majority of them in solitary confinement with very little human contact at all. He remained defiant and he was angry. Indeed he kept flashing the V sign up in the air and said they couldn't break my spirit. He said they could not break me. I remain a free man.
He was -- he was not in the slightest bit repentant indeed. What he was saying was that he was very proud of what he did, happy about what he did, exposing Israel's secret nuclear weapons program. But he did say he had no more secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORDECHAI VANUNU, FORMER PRISONER: This day is a -- is for me a symbol that a free man can survive. A free spirit can exist. There is no human being that can destroy the freedom of speech, the will of freedom, the men who want to be free.
QUESTION: Where you going to live?
VANUNU: I don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
VANUNU: I am hero. I think that we -- all those who are standing behind me and supporting me, all those who they continue to be my friends for 18 years, all are heroes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: Now Mr. Vanunu is only partially a free man. He is on a short leash. He is actually really on parole more than anything else, must report to an Israeli police station every 48 hours. Additionally, he has no passport, must stay in this country.
He has very strict terms for the conditions of his parole. And he may have already violated the terms of that parole. As he was standing here in the prison courtyard, just about an hour ago, he described the way the Mossad agents abducted him from Rome using a female trap, code name "Cindy." And when he began talking about that, he had already violated the terms of his parole. So in theory, at least, the Israelis could slam him right back in prison. It's not sure whether they will do that or not.
But he does enter a hostile environment out there, because outside that gate, there were people who were yelling death to Vanunu. Because most Israelis, at least a majority of them, believe this man was a traitor and not a human rights hero, as some of the peaceniks would like to suggest.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: He also made some charges and said that he might have gotten out of prison earlier, but because he is a Christian, he was kept in captivity longer.
RODGERS: That was his claim. Remember that here is a man who was born a Sephardic Jew in Morocco, I believe 1954. He came from a very religious family. But some time in his university years, he began to study philosophy. And when he left Israel, he converted to the Anglican Church, the Protestant Episcopal Church, and during those years he became a dedicated Christian.
And it was indeed exactly as you suggested, when he walked out, he did indeed say that if he had not been a Christian, if he had been a Jew, he said he would have been released on parole much earlier. That's a statement which he made. There is no way to substantiate that from here, except that this is his belief. He did say one of the first things he was going to do was go to Jerusalem, go to the Anglican Church there and give thanks for his at least partial freedom -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Walter Rodgers reporting live from Israel this morning.
David Clinch is back because we have gotten even more pictures in from Fallujah in Iraq. And is there any way to tell how long this battle lasted?
CLINCH: We were told this morning that this battle lasted anywhere from three to four hours. And again, there were a sequence of attacks yesterday. This main attack that we have seen pictures of today began around 6:45 local in Fallujah and then lasted, again, from three to four hours.
In the midst of that, as well as what we saw earlier with light arms fire and mortar, as you can clearly see, U.S. gunships in the air above what we assume are the insurgents positions, opposite where the Marines are. And again, this line of Marines, along their fixed position, looking out to where they had been fired upon.
All of this coming, of course, as there had been this idea of a cease-fire in place to try and get the civilians back into Fallujah, to try and get medical and health care in there. And also, of course, to try and give the chance for the local civic leaders to end this insurgency. Whether they will be able to do that in the long term is a -- is a big question. But clearly today the insurgents determined to keep hitting the Marines.
COSTELLO: Is there -- is there any way to know how many of the enemy is out there?
CLINCH: Well based on military assessments this morning of this particular attack, there were anywhere from 20 to 30 insurgents involved in the immediate attack. And they believe, the Marines believe they killed as many as nine of those insurgents in their efforts here. And you can see at some point then they actually got down into the streets and went out searching building for building for them. They are reporting that they killed at least nine.
Now as we saw last week and the week before when these violent clashes happened, the civilian population getting caught up as well. Obviously not being targeted by the Marines, but this is a big city.
COSTELLO: Well the interesting twist here is Fallujah has settled down so much that they were actually allowing townspeople who had left to come back in.
CLINCH: Right. Right. There were even today, even this morning in the midst of this fighting, on one side of town we were told by the U.S. military that as many as seven other families came back from outside Fallujah where they had been sheltering for the last few days or weeks and returned to their homes. But of course only seven families. There had thousands of people, some of whom have already come back, but there are thousands of people who are still afraid to come back to the city. And this level of fighting, this level of violence within the city itself obviously going to deter people from coming back on mass (ph).
But you can see the Marines there. I mean this is just fascinating stuff. A very brave cameraman here positioning himself. These guys are being hit hard and they are hitting back hard. This is typical of what we have seen over the last few weeks. The difference though, at this point, is that given the idea of the cease-fire, the Marines had fixed their positions, they were not taking any aggressive positions, but they were hit and they have hit back.
COSTELLO: All right. Do we know if the fighting is still going on right now in Fallujah?
CLINCH: This, the last report on this particular incident was that it ended. There is some smaller level of violence continuing but nothing at this level. We did get a report from the military that at least two Marines, maybe more, were injured in this fighting this morning.
COSTELLO: OK. And then just to make our viewers understand what this is, this is a pool feed that we get in after the fact.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: And we take it when we get it. CLINCH: We were...
COSTELLO: And we're showing it to you now.
CLINCH: We were aware of this incident this morning. We were told that the pool was feeding this material. We get the feed just as all the other networks do. We do get a certain amount of information about what we're seeing, but that story fills itself out during the day. And I mean to be clear, we do not have a reporter there, as the other networks do not. It is simply not safe for us to be there full time with reporters right now. We're relying on the bravery of this pool crew to supply us with this video.
COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, thank you. If you get more, join us again, will you?
CLINCH: Yes, will do.
COSTELLO: All right.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:48 Eastern Time. Here is what's all new this morning.
At least four are dead following severe storms in Illinois. The worst of it came in Utica where tornadoes damaged dozens of buildings and ripped the roof off an elementary school.
In money news, music labels and publishers are going to court next week seeking damages from the company that bought Napster. The industry claims Napster cost nearly $17 billion in lost revenue.
In sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs advance to the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. The Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators four to one in game seven. They will meet the Philadelphia Flyers in round two.
In culture, a one-of-a-kind concert from singer Sheryl Crow. On May 4, Crow will perform a 40-minute acoustic set on an airplane flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. That's great.
Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines.
Success in space, a Russian Soyuz capsule arrived at the International Space Station this morning. A new crew is set to take up residence. And in about a week, the old crew will ride the capsule back to Earth.
For more on this latest mission, we join Ryan Chilcote live in Moscow.
Good morning.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, we have almost come to think of these dockings as non- events, because they are so routine, every six months now. But just to give you an idea of exactly how amazing this is, let's remember that both these space crafts, both the Soyuz transport module and the International Space Station are orbiting the Earth at about 18,000 miles per hour.
Now the Soyuz transport module is moving a bit faster. To be precise, about eight inches a second faster. It's in a slightly lower orbit. And what it basically is doing is using its engine every once in a while to reach that station. And that's what it did, it caught up with it. The two crews linked up inside.
The three-man crew that came up in that Soyuz transport module, two of them going to be the crew that will live on the International Space Station for six months. That's U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and a Dutchman from the European Space Agency Andre Kuipers. They will all be up there together with the outgoing crew. That's U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri. They will all be up there for about nine days. And then Kaleri and Foale, along with Kuipers, will head back to Earth.
A really quite an amazing little experience there. All hugs and smiles up there on the International Space Station, but not so on the ground. The Russian Space Agency would like to see, beginning with the next crew, would like to see these cosmonauts stay for one year at a time, as opposed to the current six-month term that they are staying up there.
Today NASA said that's not going to happen. That would be premature until it gets its shuttles back on line sometime next year. The Russians said well that is not going to do it for them, they are not going to be flexible on their position. They want to see more flexibility from NASA -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Ryan Chilcote live from Moscow today.
Health experts say your waistline is getting wider, so why aren't doctors warning obese patients about the health dangers?
And how on-the-job safety has become the top priority in the porn industry after two adult film starts become infected with the virus that causes AIDS. More on that story ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 5:54 Eastern Time, welcome back.
Some 'Health Headlines' for you this morning.
Why aren't more doctors prescribing weight loss for obese patients? And that does top our look at 'Health Headlines' this morning. A CDC study says doctors are less likely to offer counseling on weight loss than in years past. Some doctors say they don't have enough training about obesity. But the CDC says obese patients are three times more likely to lose weight if their doctors tell them to do it.
Several U.S. senators will announce a plan today that would make it legal to import cheaper prescription drugs. Sponsors of the bill include Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy. Some city and state governments have already adopted plans to import cheaper drugs from Canada.
Doctors in Columbia say a set of conjoined twins are in stable condition following surgery to separate them. The four-month-old girls were joined at the abdomen and share a liver. Each twin kept a portion of the liver.
Work play safety is a key issue for employees and employers alike, but in the porn industry?
As CNN's Frank Buckley reports, it's lights, action, condemns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the set of an adult video production in Southern California, before the director yells action the performers submit paperwork, including HIV test results. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation says it tests performers every 30 days and it claims success in preventing the spread of HIV.
TIM CONNELLY, PUBLISHER "ADULT VIDEO NEWS": You're safer having sex on camera in the porn industry than you are going out to a singles bar on a Friday night.
BUCKLEY: But positive test results from two performers exposed up to 49 other performers and that's prompted health department officials to call for another layer of protection against HIV. They want mandatory condom use in future productions.
DR. PETER KERNDT, L.A. COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: The issue is about the employee and their safety and their well being and their risk. We would no more send a worker into a job site without a hard hat. We would no more recommend that a person drive a car without a safety belt.
BUCKLEY: But industry insiders say a condom only policy would drive production out of the country where even testing of performers couldn't be assured.
RON JEREMY, ADULT FILM ACTOR: If we were to go condom only in America, half the companies would go out of business.
BUCKLEY: Right now industry experts say only two of roughly 200 production companies in Southern California have a condom only policy Vivid Entertainment Group, one of the two companies. Steven Hirsh says he believes regulators have it right but that the industry should regulate itself.
STEVEN HIRSCH, VIVID ENTERTAINMENT GROUP: It is much more important that the people that we work with day in and day out are safe. That's what we aim for.
BUCKLEY (on camera): On Thursday, representatives of the adult video industry say they'll announce the results of tests that will show whether the HIV has spread beyond the two performers who've already been identified. Much is at stake, a multi billion dollar industry and the lives of its performers.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story, head to our Web site, the address CNN.com/Health.
In the next hour of DAYBREAK, a rough night for parts of the Midwest, tornadoes rip through several towns, leaving four dead, a trail of damage and stunned residents.
And these pictures just in to us from Fallujah where fighting between Marines and insurgents has sparked again. We'll show you more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: So much for a cease-fire. There is new fighting in Fallujah this morning. The battle picks up in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.
It is Wednesday, April 21. This is DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 21, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COSTELLO: And mission accomplished, at least in part. A new crew has arrived at the International Space Station. They docked this morning aboard the Russian rocket.
Now to the Forecast Center and Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We've been telling you all morning about what's been happening in Iraq. There has been explosions in Basra, a couple of dozen were killed there. But we have some new pictures in from Fallujah where there has been some renewed fighting.
Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to explain the pictures that you are looking at now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.
I mean just quickly on Basra, we have now actually confirmed at least 50 dead there. So that's one story.
Now we're getting this pool feed from Fallujah. We haven't really seen much pool video from Fallujah the last few days as there has been a cease-fire there for negotiations to continue while the local Iraqi leadership has been charged by the U.S. of ending the insurgency there and arranging for the arrest and hand over of those responsible...
COSTELLO: Is there any way...
CLINCH: ... for the killing of the Americans there.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry. Is there any way to determine what this building is, this structure that we keep seeing when these new pictures come in to us?
CLINCH: Right. Well from this angle of town, you're looking at the main mosque in Fallujah there, obviously, on the left. The Marines have a position here in one area of town where they have been based and have basically held their positions there for the last few days and not been moving in to the town any further.
But they have been coming under attack from the information we have. The military today, they saw a couple of incidents over the last couple of days and then a large-scale incident this morning, very early in Fallujah, around 6:00 a.m. They were hit by incoming RPG and machinegun fire in this position, in their fixed position.
You get a sense here of this one Marine. There's actually a line of 20 to 30 Marines here with their own weapons pointing out to the direction from which they are being hit. This here a very clear illustration, you see that mortar hitting nearby the position. You then see these individual Marines.
And this is something we have been hearing again and again in Fallujah, these Marines with particular expertise in targeting those that are firing at them. They see them, they identify them, they work together with two or three people firing at the same target to try and eliminate those firing at them. This is a real time firefight this morning as the Marines are firing at people firing at them from positions on the other side of town.
COSTELLO: Now we have been hearing over the past several days there's been this shaky cease-fire in Fallujah. What does this mean?
CLINCH: Right. Well, the U.S. military interpretation of this this morning is that this is an element of the insurgents in Fallujah trying to destroy this arrangement that has been put in place between the United States and the official civic authority in Fallujah, who has told the United States Marines, give us a chance here to calm this insurgency down and try and identify and hand over those responsible for killing Americans. Give us a chance to do that.
The Americans are interpreting what's happening today as the insurgents trying to destroy that arrangement. But of course in the wider picture, clearly the civic leaders have been unable to prevent at least this group of insurgents from continuing to attack the Americans. So the cease-fire, as such, not in place today in Fallujah.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, David Clinch.
We're going to take you live to Baghdad right now, because, as we said, suspected suicide car bombers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have claimed the lives of at least 40 people, probably more.
So let's head live to Baghdad now and Jim Clancy to get an update from there.
Hello -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you have been reporting today, the death toll in Basra rising. Iraq's Interior Minister now saying more than 60 Iraqis have been killed as a result of at least four suicide car bombs, one other blast. He put the toll of school children at 5, although other reports say as many as 10 were killed.
There were two vans used as school buses outside one Iraqi police station at the time the suicide bomber detonated his explosives. A number of Iraqi police said to be among the dead and wounded. But it is civilians that have clearly paid the highest price this day. The fact that these were all coordinated at a time, height of rush hour, just after 7:00 in the morning when people were on their way to their jobs, students were on their way to school. An indication that this is a terrorist attack meant to really pull the rug out from under any notion of security in the southern city of Basra, meant to pull out confidence from the coalition's ability to provide that security. This, by far, one of the most serious incidents ever to take place in that overwhelmingly Shi'a Muslim city in the southern part of Iraq.
The death toll is expected to climb. Many of the wounded that were evacuated to hospital have been treated. We actually see that the toll of wounded has gone down. That is not good news, that is just an indication that many of those who have come to the hospitals for treatment have expired -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jim Clancy live from Baghdad this morning.
We have also been telling you this morning about widespread damage from severe storms in northern Illinois. A series of tornadoes went through parts of the Midwest overnight.
Want to take you back now to CNN's Lisa Leiter. She is in Utica, Illinois. She has an update for us now.
Good morning.
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we (INAUDIBLE). As you said, 90 miles southwest of Chicago, this tiny town of about 1,000 residents the hardest hit with these tornadoes, at least four people dead.
COSTELLO: We're having problems with Lisa.
But just to update you, four dead that we know of. They were killed in a tavern that was literally flattened by a tornado in Utica. And we understand from Lisa's last report that 9,000 people remain without power this morning. Dozens of homes damaged and some literally destroyed. We'll have much more for you on this when we get Lisa Leiter back live on the phone this morning.
A young boy tries to ease the pain one family is feeling after their son is taken captive in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wrote you this letter to tell you that I am in deep sorrow and grief for your son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In the next half-hour, straight from the heart, how words can sometimes soothe deep sorrow.
And the International Space Station has three new visitors this morning. We're going to take you live to Moscow for a live report. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday, April 21.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to DAYBREAK, 5:40 Eastern Time.
A defiant Israeli nuclear whistleblower is free this morning. His name is Mordechai Vanunu. We told you a lot about him, actually, yesterday. Today he is a free man.
Walter Rodgers joins us live from the high-security prison where Vanunu was held.
And, Walter, I watched part of this press conference, this news conference, it was strange.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's your word, not mine. It certainly was a tour de force (ph) and Mordechai Vanunu, after 18 years in prison, many of those years, the majority of them in solitary confinement with very little human contact at all. He remained defiant and he was angry. Indeed he kept flashing the V sign up in the air and said they couldn't break my spirit. He said they could not break me. I remain a free man.
He was -- he was not in the slightest bit repentant indeed. What he was saying was that he was very proud of what he did, happy about what he did, exposing Israel's secret nuclear weapons program. But he did say he had no more secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORDECHAI VANUNU, FORMER PRISONER: This day is a -- is for me a symbol that a free man can survive. A free spirit can exist. There is no human being that can destroy the freedom of speech, the will of freedom, the men who want to be free.
QUESTION: Where you going to live?
VANUNU: I don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
VANUNU: I am hero. I think that we -- all those who are standing behind me and supporting me, all those who they continue to be my friends for 18 years, all are heroes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: Now Mr. Vanunu is only partially a free man. He is on a short leash. He is actually really on parole more than anything else, must report to an Israeli police station every 48 hours. Additionally, he has no passport, must stay in this country.
He has very strict terms for the conditions of his parole. And he may have already violated the terms of that parole. As he was standing here in the prison courtyard, just about an hour ago, he described the way the Mossad agents abducted him from Rome using a female trap, code name "Cindy." And when he began talking about that, he had already violated the terms of his parole. So in theory, at least, the Israelis could slam him right back in prison. It's not sure whether they will do that or not.
But he does enter a hostile environment out there, because outside that gate, there were people who were yelling death to Vanunu. Because most Israelis, at least a majority of them, believe this man was a traitor and not a human rights hero, as some of the peaceniks would like to suggest.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: He also made some charges and said that he might have gotten out of prison earlier, but because he is a Christian, he was kept in captivity longer.
RODGERS: That was his claim. Remember that here is a man who was born a Sephardic Jew in Morocco, I believe 1954. He came from a very religious family. But some time in his university years, he began to study philosophy. And when he left Israel, he converted to the Anglican Church, the Protestant Episcopal Church, and during those years he became a dedicated Christian.
And it was indeed exactly as you suggested, when he walked out, he did indeed say that if he had not been a Christian, if he had been a Jew, he said he would have been released on parole much earlier. That's a statement which he made. There is no way to substantiate that from here, except that this is his belief. He did say one of the first things he was going to do was go to Jerusalem, go to the Anglican Church there and give thanks for his at least partial freedom -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Walter Rodgers reporting live from Israel this morning.
David Clinch is back because we have gotten even more pictures in from Fallujah in Iraq. And is there any way to tell how long this battle lasted?
CLINCH: We were told this morning that this battle lasted anywhere from three to four hours. And again, there were a sequence of attacks yesterday. This main attack that we have seen pictures of today began around 6:45 local in Fallujah and then lasted, again, from three to four hours.
In the midst of that, as well as what we saw earlier with light arms fire and mortar, as you can clearly see, U.S. gunships in the air above what we assume are the insurgents positions, opposite where the Marines are. And again, this line of Marines, along their fixed position, looking out to where they had been fired upon.
All of this coming, of course, as there had been this idea of a cease-fire in place to try and get the civilians back into Fallujah, to try and get medical and health care in there. And also, of course, to try and give the chance for the local civic leaders to end this insurgency. Whether they will be able to do that in the long term is a -- is a big question. But clearly today the insurgents determined to keep hitting the Marines.
COSTELLO: Is there -- is there any way to know how many of the enemy is out there?
CLINCH: Well based on military assessments this morning of this particular attack, there were anywhere from 20 to 30 insurgents involved in the immediate attack. And they believe, the Marines believe they killed as many as nine of those insurgents in their efforts here. And you can see at some point then they actually got down into the streets and went out searching building for building for them. They are reporting that they killed at least nine.
Now as we saw last week and the week before when these violent clashes happened, the civilian population getting caught up as well. Obviously not being targeted by the Marines, but this is a big city.
COSTELLO: Well the interesting twist here is Fallujah has settled down so much that they were actually allowing townspeople who had left to come back in.
CLINCH: Right. Right. There were even today, even this morning in the midst of this fighting, on one side of town we were told by the U.S. military that as many as seven other families came back from outside Fallujah where they had been sheltering for the last few days or weeks and returned to their homes. But of course only seven families. There had thousands of people, some of whom have already come back, but there are thousands of people who are still afraid to come back to the city. And this level of fighting, this level of violence within the city itself obviously going to deter people from coming back on mass (ph).
But you can see the Marines there. I mean this is just fascinating stuff. A very brave cameraman here positioning himself. These guys are being hit hard and they are hitting back hard. This is typical of what we have seen over the last few weeks. The difference though, at this point, is that given the idea of the cease-fire, the Marines had fixed their positions, they were not taking any aggressive positions, but they were hit and they have hit back.
COSTELLO: All right. Do we know if the fighting is still going on right now in Fallujah?
CLINCH: This, the last report on this particular incident was that it ended. There is some smaller level of violence continuing but nothing at this level. We did get a report from the military that at least two Marines, maybe more, were injured in this fighting this morning.
COSTELLO: OK. And then just to make our viewers understand what this is, this is a pool feed that we get in after the fact.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: And we take it when we get it. CLINCH: We were...
COSTELLO: And we're showing it to you now.
CLINCH: We were aware of this incident this morning. We were told that the pool was feeding this material. We get the feed just as all the other networks do. We do get a certain amount of information about what we're seeing, but that story fills itself out during the day. And I mean to be clear, we do not have a reporter there, as the other networks do not. It is simply not safe for us to be there full time with reporters right now. We're relying on the bravery of this pool crew to supply us with this video.
COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, thank you. If you get more, join us again, will you?
CLINCH: Yes, will do.
COSTELLO: All right.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:48 Eastern Time. Here is what's all new this morning.
At least four are dead following severe storms in Illinois. The worst of it came in Utica where tornadoes damaged dozens of buildings and ripped the roof off an elementary school.
In money news, music labels and publishers are going to court next week seeking damages from the company that bought Napster. The industry claims Napster cost nearly $17 billion in lost revenue.
In sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs advance to the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. The Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators four to one in game seven. They will meet the Philadelphia Flyers in round two.
In culture, a one-of-a-kind concert from singer Sheryl Crow. On May 4, Crow will perform a 40-minute acoustic set on an airplane flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. That's great.
Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines.
Success in space, a Russian Soyuz capsule arrived at the International Space Station this morning. A new crew is set to take up residence. And in about a week, the old crew will ride the capsule back to Earth.
For more on this latest mission, we join Ryan Chilcote live in Moscow.
Good morning.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, we have almost come to think of these dockings as non- events, because they are so routine, every six months now. But just to give you an idea of exactly how amazing this is, let's remember that both these space crafts, both the Soyuz transport module and the International Space Station are orbiting the Earth at about 18,000 miles per hour.
Now the Soyuz transport module is moving a bit faster. To be precise, about eight inches a second faster. It's in a slightly lower orbit. And what it basically is doing is using its engine every once in a while to reach that station. And that's what it did, it caught up with it. The two crews linked up inside.
The three-man crew that came up in that Soyuz transport module, two of them going to be the crew that will live on the International Space Station for six months. That's U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and a Dutchman from the European Space Agency Andre Kuipers. They will all be up there together with the outgoing crew. That's U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri. They will all be up there for about nine days. And then Kaleri and Foale, along with Kuipers, will head back to Earth.
A really quite an amazing little experience there. All hugs and smiles up there on the International Space Station, but not so on the ground. The Russian Space Agency would like to see, beginning with the next crew, would like to see these cosmonauts stay for one year at a time, as opposed to the current six-month term that they are staying up there.
Today NASA said that's not going to happen. That would be premature until it gets its shuttles back on line sometime next year. The Russians said well that is not going to do it for them, they are not going to be flexible on their position. They want to see more flexibility from NASA -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Ryan Chilcote live from Moscow today.
Health experts say your waistline is getting wider, so why aren't doctors warning obese patients about the health dangers?
And how on-the-job safety has become the top priority in the porn industry after two adult film starts become infected with the virus that causes AIDS. More on that story ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 5:54 Eastern Time, welcome back.
Some 'Health Headlines' for you this morning.
Why aren't more doctors prescribing weight loss for obese patients? And that does top our look at 'Health Headlines' this morning. A CDC study says doctors are less likely to offer counseling on weight loss than in years past. Some doctors say they don't have enough training about obesity. But the CDC says obese patients are three times more likely to lose weight if their doctors tell them to do it.
Several U.S. senators will announce a plan today that would make it legal to import cheaper prescription drugs. Sponsors of the bill include Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy. Some city and state governments have already adopted plans to import cheaper drugs from Canada.
Doctors in Columbia say a set of conjoined twins are in stable condition following surgery to separate them. The four-month-old girls were joined at the abdomen and share a liver. Each twin kept a portion of the liver.
Work play safety is a key issue for employees and employers alike, but in the porn industry?
As CNN's Frank Buckley reports, it's lights, action, condemns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the set of an adult video production in Southern California, before the director yells action the performers submit paperwork, including HIV test results. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation says it tests performers every 30 days and it claims success in preventing the spread of HIV.
TIM CONNELLY, PUBLISHER "ADULT VIDEO NEWS": You're safer having sex on camera in the porn industry than you are going out to a singles bar on a Friday night.
BUCKLEY: But positive test results from two performers exposed up to 49 other performers and that's prompted health department officials to call for another layer of protection against HIV. They want mandatory condom use in future productions.
DR. PETER KERNDT, L.A. COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: The issue is about the employee and their safety and their well being and their risk. We would no more send a worker into a job site without a hard hat. We would no more recommend that a person drive a car without a safety belt.
BUCKLEY: But industry insiders say a condom only policy would drive production out of the country where even testing of performers couldn't be assured.
RON JEREMY, ADULT FILM ACTOR: If we were to go condom only in America, half the companies would go out of business.
BUCKLEY: Right now industry experts say only two of roughly 200 production companies in Southern California have a condom only policy Vivid Entertainment Group, one of the two companies. Steven Hirsh says he believes regulators have it right but that the industry should regulate itself.
STEVEN HIRSCH, VIVID ENTERTAINMENT GROUP: It is much more important that the people that we work with day in and day out are safe. That's what we aim for.
BUCKLEY (on camera): On Thursday, representatives of the adult video industry say they'll announce the results of tests that will show whether the HIV has spread beyond the two performers who've already been identified. Much is at stake, a multi billion dollar industry and the lives of its performers.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story, head to our Web site, the address CNN.com/Health.
In the next hour of DAYBREAK, a rough night for parts of the Midwest, tornadoes rip through several towns, leaving four dead, a trail of damage and stunned residents.
And these pictures just in to us from Fallujah where fighting between Marines and insurgents has sparked again. We'll show you more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: So much for a cease-fire. There is new fighting in Fallujah this morning. The battle picks up in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.
It is Wednesday, April 21. This is DAYBREAK.
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