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CNN Live At Daybreak

Tense in Fallujah; NASCAR Nation; Girl Found; Estee Lauder Died

Aired April 26, 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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: From the front lines in Fallujah, there is a tenuous cease-fire in place. U.S. troops on watch and on edge.
It is Monday, April 26. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date now.

Another huge explosion this morning in Baghdad, these are new pictures we are showing you. They show four humvees and a building set on fire. Witnesses report an unknown number of casualties.

This is Memorial Day in Israel. The Jewish state is paying homage to the thousands of soldiers and civilians killed in wars.

Michael Jackson and his lead attorneys are parting ways. Benjamin Brafman says he and Mark Geragos are stepping down from Jackson's defense team over what he calls complicated issues.

Now to Chad for a first look at the -- actually, a third look at...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A second, a third.

COSTELLO: Third.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol, a first one for this half-hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: One more day, that is the word out of Iraq this morning. The U.S.-led coalition has extended the deadline for insurgents in Fallujah to turn in their heavy weapons. That deadline comes tomorrow. An extremely shaky cease-fire now in effect, but we do have reports of gunfire there this morning.

Coalition officials also warn that a dangerous situation is developing in Najaf. They say weapons are being stockpiled at holy places around the city.

And Australian Prime Minister John Howard paid a visit to his nation's troops in Iraq on Sunday. He laid a wreath and pinned a medal on one soldier. Australia has 850 troops in Iraq.

And the Iraqi Governing Council has adopted a new flag. Take a look. Emblems on the flag represent peace, Islam and Iraq's Kurdish population.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is reporting for the U.S. TV pool in Fallujah. He tells us that despite the extended cease-fire, there are regular exchanges of gunfire in a city that remains on edge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Marines peer out of a sandbag window in a Fallujah schoolhouse. A volley of bullets from another Marine machine gun nest echo out of a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of troops and stop sniper alley.

It's the start of week three of an agreed cease-fire, but gun battles erupt daily. The Marines blame insurgent fighters for violating the truce.

CPL. OWEN CAMPBELL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Apparently the insurgents didn't get the memo on that one.

PENHAUL: Insurgent positions are less than 200 yards from this schoolhouse, where part of Echo Company's hunkering down. Overnight, Iraqi fighters set up a position, what Marines believe could be used to fire a rocket propelled grenades or RPGs.

The Marines have no luck trying to demolish the position with gunfire.

CAMPBELL: And they've been firing RPGs at us this morning. So we're trying to take it out at the 240, but that didn't exactly work. So we'll try a rocket in a few minutes here.

PENHAUL: Insurgents opened fire as the Marine team runs out and crouches down, just out of our sight to fire the rocket. Their comrades back in the schoolhouse are covering them. A second rocket. Both miss the target.

Back in the schoolhouse...

LANCE CPL. JESSE BELTRAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Makes me pretty mad actually. I don't like missing a shot, especially two in a row.

PENHAUL: He's frustrated at missing his shot. Many of his colleagues are frustrated that under the cease-fire terms, they cannot launch an all out assault on the guerillas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's what we pretty much want to do. We want to take care of it. We want to finish it.

PENHAUL (on camera): It's early evening now. And insurgent sniper fire from a few hundred yards that way usually picks up about this time. Marine commanders have ordered the insurgents to lay down their weapons. If not, the decisive battle for Fallujah will begin. Karl Penhaul, U.S. networks pool, Fallujah, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: New pictures coming into CNN this morning from Baghdad with word of possible American and Iraqi casualties. We showed you some of the pictures just briefly already this morning. We want to show you more and explain to you what you're seeing.

Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to walk us through.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, morning, Carol.

Well really a dramatic event, but unfortunately, yet not too many facts. But we have been able to establish now with an enormous amount of video coming in and also some eyewitness accounts, a sequence of events here. At least four U.S. humvees pull up outside a building in northeastern Baghdad. At some point briefly after that, a huge explosion, either in the building or next to the building, damages all four humvees, blows away the side of that building.

Immediately thereafter, U.S. troops are seen evacuating casualties. We see them taking casualties to helicopters and flying them away. It's not clear weather those were American casualties, although we are led to believe there may have been some. We're waiting for confirmation.

We're also waiting to find out exactly what caused that explosion. Jim Clancy was saying earlier some reports chemicals might have been stored in the building. It has all the appearances of an average Baghdad building. We don't know yet whether that is the case.

COSTELLO: Do we know what the troops were doing there, U.S. troops?

CLINCH: We do not know that yet. It's -- you can see even from the way they are arrayed here, the four humvees, they were outside the building but facing away from the building from what we can see. And then as well as the explosion, the building then fell on the humvees.

Well the building also fell on a number of Iraqis we then see later. You see here the Americans taking their casualties away, or again, we believe possibly American casualties. We're waiting for confirmation on that. We then get a sequence of video later where Iraqis are pulling injured people from the building itself, including some young children. So both American and Iraqis, we're waiting for confirmation on who was injured.

COSTELLO: And you know whenever you hear the word chemicals and Iraq in the same sentence,...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... you always wonder. So what exactly were these chemicals, do we know?

CLINCH: Right. We don't -- well first of all, we do not know that there were chemicals. There are some eyewitnesses that report that chemicals were stored in the building. Chemicals apparently stored in some buildings, warehouses and perhaps even homes in this area. But from what we can gather, not necessarily under suspicious circumstances in...

COSTELLO: Well it seems strange that chemicals would be stored in a home.

CLINCH: Well it may be -- it's an industrial area is what we're told. But again, whether those chemicals were what caused the explosion, what kind of chemicals, all of those questions. And as you say, it's such a sensitive issue, we're not going to leap to any conclusions at this point.

The immediate thing that also leaps to mind though, as you see here, the tanks that turned up in the area, immediately U.S. tanks. You see the crowd here. In the sequence of video, as soon as the tanks go away, this crowd immediately runs to the humvees that have been damaged, starts dancing on them, celebrating, throwing pieces of the humvee away. Then the tanks come back, the crowd scatters again. So a very dangerous security situation.

COSTELLO: Do we usually see much of that celebratory stuff in Baghdad?

CLINCH: We saw it -- we saw it in Sadr City in the Shiite part of Baghdad before. This is not -- it's not part of Sadr City, it's not too far away, but it's not the same location. But I think Jim Clancy was pointing out that at this point following many you see the stoning of the buildings of the -- of the vehicles here. At this point, almost all attacks on U.S. vehicles in Baghdad are followed by sequences like this. So it may be just sort of a habit at this point.

COSTELLO: Yes, you can see he's holding up a, I don't know.

CLINCH: Apparently a U.S. -- part of a U.S. uniform.

Again, very few details, but obviously quite a large event. The information flow is quite slow in Baghdad at the moment, and we're working with the military to get some more details.

COSTELLO: Well hopefully you'll have more for us in a little bit.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign will release 10 new ads today, all of them criticizing John Kerry's record on national defense. The ads, one national and nine airing in local markets, targets Kerry's votes against certain weapon systems.

The president will be back out speaking to voters today, addressing a community college convention and attending a campaign luncheon in Minnesota. In his speech, Bush will call for making high- speed Internet access -- high-speed Internet access, I should say, more affordable.

Kerry is launching a three-day bus tour he calls "Jobs First Express" on the road to a stronger economy. The trip will take him through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.

Used to be that soccer moms were a voting block politicians fought over, but they have been replaced by NASCAR nation.

As CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider found out, NASCAR isn't just for rednecks anymore.

042500CN.V01

Bill Schneider, CNN, Talledega, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: He looks so funny in that outfit every time I see him.

MYERS: He sure does. Can't even tell it's him with that hat on.

COSTELLO: And it's Budweiser. Who would have thought Bill Schneider?

NASCAR nation was certainly not united at the end of yesterday's race in Talledega, a controversial decision giving Jeff Gordon the victory prompted Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, but I'm not going to say that part, because you know why they threw the bottles and cans on the...

MYERS: I don't -- I don't -- I don't think that's right. I think there was -- there was an awful lot of ugliness after the race yesterday. They were throwing cans, throwing bottles, throwing pop bottles onto the track. And Jeff Gordon happened to be the winner of that race. Jeff Gordon looked like he was ahead of Dale when the yellow light came on, blah, blah, blah.

The reason why they were so upset is because there were four laps of yellow and they didn't get it going back to green again. That's 10 miles of yellow flag. That's like 20 laps in Martinsville. They couldn't get the race restarted.

COSTELLO: You're kidding?

MYERS: And the fans were not -- it was a great race, and then the fans got to see nothing at the end because of the yellow flag.

COSTELLO: Well isn't that a problem with NASCAR, and how is it going to fix that if it ever happens again?

MYERS: I know better than to go there. COSTELLO: All right then.

Like father like son and like brother, the NFL's No. 1 draft pick proves that football is really all in the family. Later, why Eli Manning was booed when the pick was initially announced.

And ahead, a look back on the life of a woman who revolutionized the cosmetics industry.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, April 26.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A 5-year-old girl is safe and sound this morning after being found wrapped in duct tape under a tarp.

Reporter Michael Ricky (ph) from CNN affiliate WIXT in Syracuse, New York has details on this apparent kidnapping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL RICKY, WIXT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Three hours into the search Saturday night, a state police helicopter looked from above. Syracuse police and firefighters concentrated on a storm drain below. Brittany's scooter was found near it. Police worried the little girl fell into the drain. Divers and special cameras turned up nothing. Police and neighbors pressed on, searching. As the hours passed overnight, searchers retraced their steps, while the temperature dipped into the mid 30s.

CHIEF DENNIS DUVAL, SYRACUSE, NEW YORK POLICE: There were some extreme dangers related to hypothermia that could have taken place and possibly taken Brittany's life just from being out in the exposure over a long period of time.

RICKY: By sunrise Sunday, police and neighbors feared the worst. Still, with little to go on, investigators believed the most important clues rested somewhere near Brittany's Gromback (ph) Avenue home.

By midmorning, alerts hit Onondaga County highways while police and volunteers continued to comb the neighborhood where Brittany disappeared.

Police ran out of that search zone when more than 21 hours into the search word came Brittany was found, bound and gagged but alive near a warehouse in DeWitt. A man looking to buy that property just happened to stop by, just happened to notice little Brittany.

DUVAL: I believe that there is a divine intervention in everything that happens. And I believe, obviously today, it was divine intervention to make us find Brittany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from Michael Ricky of CNN affiliate WIXT in Syracuse, New York. Police are now looking for whoever abducted that little girl.

Your news, money, weather and sports, it is 5:49 Eastern Time. Here is what's all new this morning.

An unknown number of people were injured by an explosion in central Baghdad. Four U.S. military vehicles were damaged in the blast.

Kobe Bryant will be in court for hearings today. Attorneys are expected to present arguments on whether the sexual history of Bryant's accuser should be introduced as evidence.

In money news, the new $50 bill will be unveiled today. The new bills are expected to look just like the new colorful twenties. Production of the new bills set to begin this summer.

In sports, an attorney for Olympic gold medallist Marion Jones denies drug allegations. "The San Francisco Chronicle" reports a lab owner tied to a steroid probe told federal agents he gave Jones performance enhancing drugs in exchange for endorsements.

In culture, Denzel Washington's new film "Man on Fire" debuted at No. 1 this weekend. The movie made $23 million.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Estee Lauder is dead at the age of 97. She died of heart failure at home in Manhattan. Lauder leaves behind a company that's known throughout the world as one of the first names in beauty.

CNN's Ali Velshi reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was born Josephine Ester Mentzer about 95 years ago, date unknown. She would never confess to it. Estee Lauder started selling skin care products that her Hungarian uncle cooked up on a stove. And by the late 1940s, Estee Lauder Inc. was born.

Lauder introduced her first fragrance in 1953. Back then, European-style skin repair creams were fashionable. Lauder's version was Renewtra (ph). It sold for $115 per pound in 1960.

The '60s saw her tackle the men's fragrance market with the introduction of Aramis. By 1968, she ventured into hypoallergenic skin care with the launch of Clinique.

In 1972, she stepped out of the president's job, which went to her son, Leonard, but she stayed on as CEO. And by 1988, the company controlled a third of the prestige cosmetics market in the United States.

Over the next decade, Lauder unveiled the botanical cosmetic line Origins, bought the makeup company Mac, even Bobbi Brown's Essential cosmetic line. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK: Estee Lauder is the symbol of what's good about America, opportunity and quality.

VINCI: Like many powerful women, Estee Lauder was criticized by some. In a 1985 unauthorized biography, author Lee Israel criticized Lauder for her cutthroat business methods and ruthless social climbing.

(on camera): And while Estee Lauder herself hasn't had an official role in the company for some years, the empire she started more than 60 years ago is today stronger than ever.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: 'Health Headlines' for you this morning. Smoking explains why the cancer rates of African-American men are greater than those of white men. A new study has found that if black men stop smoking their cancer rates would drop by nearly two-thirds.

Can a supersize breakfast supersize your blood vessels? A new study suggests that eating a large fast food breakfast may inflame arteries. The study found the inflammation may not subside for three or four hours. What a surprise.

And Chinese health officials are keeping at least 470 people under observation due to concerns of a possible SARS outbreak. There have been two confirmed and six suspected SARS cases in recent weeks in China.

For more on this or any other health story, head to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/Health.

Let's talk a little sports right now. The NFL held its draft of college players this weekend. Check out the reception for the first pick. That would be Eli Manning of Ole Miss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL TAGLIABUE, NFL COMMISSIONER: With the first choice of the 2004 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers select Eli Manning.

(BOO)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He did go up on stage. There was some thought, Chad, that he would like not even go up there and hold up his jersey. But look at the expression on his face when he held up the San Diego jersey, yes, thanks a lot, Paul.

MYERS: Sounds like a reception at a NASCAR party.

COSTELLO: Of course that didn't last long because he was traded again to the Giants.

MYERS: And did the Giants make out on this one or what? I mean Rivers first round draft choice, third round draft choice, blah, blah, blah, they got everything for them.

COSTELLO: Well we'll see.

MYERS: So Dan Diego did well by choosing him and then using that choice to parlay it to much better choices in the future.

COSTELLO: Yes, the Giants seemingly came out a lot better than the San Diego Chargers, but who knows.

MYERS: And you liked the Lions' choices, too.

COSTELLO: Detroit, A+ baby.

MYERS: Did they...

COSTELLO: It's going to be a good year.

MYERS: Check out Roy Williams.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: It was sixth choice (ph).

COSTELLO: All right, on to the second hour of DAYBREAK. The president wants Americans to move a little faster on the Internet that is. We'll explain Bush's broadband push in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

Plus,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, COMEDIAN: A couple of people said to me why are you carrying a hanger? I said because this is what life was like before choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Celebrities joins thousands for an abortion rights rally, although not everyone is pleased with the demonstration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 26, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: From the front lines in Fallujah, there is a tenuous cease-fire in place. U.S. troops on watch and on edge.
It is Monday, April 26. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date now.

Another huge explosion this morning in Baghdad, these are new pictures we are showing you. They show four humvees and a building set on fire. Witnesses report an unknown number of casualties.

This is Memorial Day in Israel. The Jewish state is paying homage to the thousands of soldiers and civilians killed in wars.

Michael Jackson and his lead attorneys are parting ways. Benjamin Brafman says he and Mark Geragos are stepping down from Jackson's defense team over what he calls complicated issues.

Now to Chad for a first look at the -- actually, a third look at...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A second, a third.

COSTELLO: Third.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol, a first one for this half-hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: One more day, that is the word out of Iraq this morning. The U.S.-led coalition has extended the deadline for insurgents in Fallujah to turn in their heavy weapons. That deadline comes tomorrow. An extremely shaky cease-fire now in effect, but we do have reports of gunfire there this morning.

Coalition officials also warn that a dangerous situation is developing in Najaf. They say weapons are being stockpiled at holy places around the city.

And Australian Prime Minister John Howard paid a visit to his nation's troops in Iraq on Sunday. He laid a wreath and pinned a medal on one soldier. Australia has 850 troops in Iraq.

And the Iraqi Governing Council has adopted a new flag. Take a look. Emblems on the flag represent peace, Islam and Iraq's Kurdish population.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is reporting for the U.S. TV pool in Fallujah. He tells us that despite the extended cease-fire, there are regular exchanges of gunfire in a city that remains on edge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Marines peer out of a sandbag window in a Fallujah schoolhouse. A volley of bullets from another Marine machine gun nest echo out of a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of troops and stop sniper alley.

It's the start of week three of an agreed cease-fire, but gun battles erupt daily. The Marines blame insurgent fighters for violating the truce.

CPL. OWEN CAMPBELL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Apparently the insurgents didn't get the memo on that one.

PENHAUL: Insurgent positions are less than 200 yards from this schoolhouse, where part of Echo Company's hunkering down. Overnight, Iraqi fighters set up a position, what Marines believe could be used to fire a rocket propelled grenades or RPGs.

The Marines have no luck trying to demolish the position with gunfire.

CAMPBELL: And they've been firing RPGs at us this morning. So we're trying to take it out at the 240, but that didn't exactly work. So we'll try a rocket in a few minutes here.

PENHAUL: Insurgents opened fire as the Marine team runs out and crouches down, just out of our sight to fire the rocket. Their comrades back in the schoolhouse are covering them. A second rocket. Both miss the target.

Back in the schoolhouse...

LANCE CPL. JESSE BELTRAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Makes me pretty mad actually. I don't like missing a shot, especially two in a row.

PENHAUL: He's frustrated at missing his shot. Many of his colleagues are frustrated that under the cease-fire terms, they cannot launch an all out assault on the guerillas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's what we pretty much want to do. We want to take care of it. We want to finish it.

PENHAUL (on camera): It's early evening now. And insurgent sniper fire from a few hundred yards that way usually picks up about this time. Marine commanders have ordered the insurgents to lay down their weapons. If not, the decisive battle for Fallujah will begin. Karl Penhaul, U.S. networks pool, Fallujah, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: New pictures coming into CNN this morning from Baghdad with word of possible American and Iraqi casualties. We showed you some of the pictures just briefly already this morning. We want to show you more and explain to you what you're seeing.

Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to walk us through.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, morning, Carol.

Well really a dramatic event, but unfortunately, yet not too many facts. But we have been able to establish now with an enormous amount of video coming in and also some eyewitness accounts, a sequence of events here. At least four U.S. humvees pull up outside a building in northeastern Baghdad. At some point briefly after that, a huge explosion, either in the building or next to the building, damages all four humvees, blows away the side of that building.

Immediately thereafter, U.S. troops are seen evacuating casualties. We see them taking casualties to helicopters and flying them away. It's not clear weather those were American casualties, although we are led to believe there may have been some. We're waiting for confirmation.

We're also waiting to find out exactly what caused that explosion. Jim Clancy was saying earlier some reports chemicals might have been stored in the building. It has all the appearances of an average Baghdad building. We don't know yet whether that is the case.

COSTELLO: Do we know what the troops were doing there, U.S. troops?

CLINCH: We do not know that yet. It's -- you can see even from the way they are arrayed here, the four humvees, they were outside the building but facing away from the building from what we can see. And then as well as the explosion, the building then fell on the humvees.

Well the building also fell on a number of Iraqis we then see later. You see here the Americans taking their casualties away, or again, we believe possibly American casualties. We're waiting for confirmation on that. We then get a sequence of video later where Iraqis are pulling injured people from the building itself, including some young children. So both American and Iraqis, we're waiting for confirmation on who was injured.

COSTELLO: And you know whenever you hear the word chemicals and Iraq in the same sentence,...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... you always wonder. So what exactly were these chemicals, do we know?

CLINCH: Right. We don't -- well first of all, we do not know that there were chemicals. There are some eyewitnesses that report that chemicals were stored in the building. Chemicals apparently stored in some buildings, warehouses and perhaps even homes in this area. But from what we can gather, not necessarily under suspicious circumstances in...

COSTELLO: Well it seems strange that chemicals would be stored in a home.

CLINCH: Well it may be -- it's an industrial area is what we're told. But again, whether those chemicals were what caused the explosion, what kind of chemicals, all of those questions. And as you say, it's such a sensitive issue, we're not going to leap to any conclusions at this point.

The immediate thing that also leaps to mind though, as you see here, the tanks that turned up in the area, immediately U.S. tanks. You see the crowd here. In the sequence of video, as soon as the tanks go away, this crowd immediately runs to the humvees that have been damaged, starts dancing on them, celebrating, throwing pieces of the humvee away. Then the tanks come back, the crowd scatters again. So a very dangerous security situation.

COSTELLO: Do we usually see much of that celebratory stuff in Baghdad?

CLINCH: We saw it -- we saw it in Sadr City in the Shiite part of Baghdad before. This is not -- it's not part of Sadr City, it's not too far away, but it's not the same location. But I think Jim Clancy was pointing out that at this point following many you see the stoning of the buildings of the -- of the vehicles here. At this point, almost all attacks on U.S. vehicles in Baghdad are followed by sequences like this. So it may be just sort of a habit at this point.

COSTELLO: Yes, you can see he's holding up a, I don't know.

CLINCH: Apparently a U.S. -- part of a U.S. uniform.

Again, very few details, but obviously quite a large event. The information flow is quite slow in Baghdad at the moment, and we're working with the military to get some more details.

COSTELLO: Well hopefully you'll have more for us in a little bit.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign will release 10 new ads today, all of them criticizing John Kerry's record on national defense. The ads, one national and nine airing in local markets, targets Kerry's votes against certain weapon systems.

The president will be back out speaking to voters today, addressing a community college convention and attending a campaign luncheon in Minnesota. In his speech, Bush will call for making high- speed Internet access -- high-speed Internet access, I should say, more affordable.

Kerry is launching a three-day bus tour he calls "Jobs First Express" on the road to a stronger economy. The trip will take him through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.

Used to be that soccer moms were a voting block politicians fought over, but they have been replaced by NASCAR nation.

As CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider found out, NASCAR isn't just for rednecks anymore.

042500CN.V01

Bill Schneider, CNN, Talledega, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: He looks so funny in that outfit every time I see him.

MYERS: He sure does. Can't even tell it's him with that hat on.

COSTELLO: And it's Budweiser. Who would have thought Bill Schneider?

NASCAR nation was certainly not united at the end of yesterday's race in Talledega, a controversial decision giving Jeff Gordon the victory prompted Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, but I'm not going to say that part, because you know why they threw the bottles and cans on the...

MYERS: I don't -- I don't -- I don't think that's right. I think there was -- there was an awful lot of ugliness after the race yesterday. They were throwing cans, throwing bottles, throwing pop bottles onto the track. And Jeff Gordon happened to be the winner of that race. Jeff Gordon looked like he was ahead of Dale when the yellow light came on, blah, blah, blah.

The reason why they were so upset is because there were four laps of yellow and they didn't get it going back to green again. That's 10 miles of yellow flag. That's like 20 laps in Martinsville. They couldn't get the race restarted.

COSTELLO: You're kidding?

MYERS: And the fans were not -- it was a great race, and then the fans got to see nothing at the end because of the yellow flag.

COSTELLO: Well isn't that a problem with NASCAR, and how is it going to fix that if it ever happens again?

MYERS: I know better than to go there. COSTELLO: All right then.

Like father like son and like brother, the NFL's No. 1 draft pick proves that football is really all in the family. Later, why Eli Manning was booed when the pick was initially announced.

And ahead, a look back on the life of a woman who revolutionized the cosmetics industry.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, April 26.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A 5-year-old girl is safe and sound this morning after being found wrapped in duct tape under a tarp.

Reporter Michael Ricky (ph) from CNN affiliate WIXT in Syracuse, New York has details on this apparent kidnapping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL RICKY, WIXT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Three hours into the search Saturday night, a state police helicopter looked from above. Syracuse police and firefighters concentrated on a storm drain below. Brittany's scooter was found near it. Police worried the little girl fell into the drain. Divers and special cameras turned up nothing. Police and neighbors pressed on, searching. As the hours passed overnight, searchers retraced their steps, while the temperature dipped into the mid 30s.

CHIEF DENNIS DUVAL, SYRACUSE, NEW YORK POLICE: There were some extreme dangers related to hypothermia that could have taken place and possibly taken Brittany's life just from being out in the exposure over a long period of time.

RICKY: By sunrise Sunday, police and neighbors feared the worst. Still, with little to go on, investigators believed the most important clues rested somewhere near Brittany's Gromback (ph) Avenue home.

By midmorning, alerts hit Onondaga County highways while police and volunteers continued to comb the neighborhood where Brittany disappeared.

Police ran out of that search zone when more than 21 hours into the search word came Brittany was found, bound and gagged but alive near a warehouse in DeWitt. A man looking to buy that property just happened to stop by, just happened to notice little Brittany.

DUVAL: I believe that there is a divine intervention in everything that happens. And I believe, obviously today, it was divine intervention to make us find Brittany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from Michael Ricky of CNN affiliate WIXT in Syracuse, New York. Police are now looking for whoever abducted that little girl.

Your news, money, weather and sports, it is 5:49 Eastern Time. Here is what's all new this morning.

An unknown number of people were injured by an explosion in central Baghdad. Four U.S. military vehicles were damaged in the blast.

Kobe Bryant will be in court for hearings today. Attorneys are expected to present arguments on whether the sexual history of Bryant's accuser should be introduced as evidence.

In money news, the new $50 bill will be unveiled today. The new bills are expected to look just like the new colorful twenties. Production of the new bills set to begin this summer.

In sports, an attorney for Olympic gold medallist Marion Jones denies drug allegations. "The San Francisco Chronicle" reports a lab owner tied to a steroid probe told federal agents he gave Jones performance enhancing drugs in exchange for endorsements.

In culture, Denzel Washington's new film "Man on Fire" debuted at No. 1 this weekend. The movie made $23 million.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Estee Lauder is dead at the age of 97. She died of heart failure at home in Manhattan. Lauder leaves behind a company that's known throughout the world as one of the first names in beauty.

CNN's Ali Velshi reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was born Josephine Ester Mentzer about 95 years ago, date unknown. She would never confess to it. Estee Lauder started selling skin care products that her Hungarian uncle cooked up on a stove. And by the late 1940s, Estee Lauder Inc. was born.

Lauder introduced her first fragrance in 1953. Back then, European-style skin repair creams were fashionable. Lauder's version was Renewtra (ph). It sold for $115 per pound in 1960.

The '60s saw her tackle the men's fragrance market with the introduction of Aramis. By 1968, she ventured into hypoallergenic skin care with the launch of Clinique.

In 1972, she stepped out of the president's job, which went to her son, Leonard, but she stayed on as CEO. And by 1988, the company controlled a third of the prestige cosmetics market in the United States.

Over the next decade, Lauder unveiled the botanical cosmetic line Origins, bought the makeup company Mac, even Bobbi Brown's Essential cosmetic line. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK: Estee Lauder is the symbol of what's good about America, opportunity and quality.

VINCI: Like many powerful women, Estee Lauder was criticized by some. In a 1985 unauthorized biography, author Lee Israel criticized Lauder for her cutthroat business methods and ruthless social climbing.

(on camera): And while Estee Lauder herself hasn't had an official role in the company for some years, the empire she started more than 60 years ago is today stronger than ever.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: 'Health Headlines' for you this morning. Smoking explains why the cancer rates of African-American men are greater than those of white men. A new study has found that if black men stop smoking their cancer rates would drop by nearly two-thirds.

Can a supersize breakfast supersize your blood vessels? A new study suggests that eating a large fast food breakfast may inflame arteries. The study found the inflammation may not subside for three or four hours. What a surprise.

And Chinese health officials are keeping at least 470 people under observation due to concerns of a possible SARS outbreak. There have been two confirmed and six suspected SARS cases in recent weeks in China.

For more on this or any other health story, head to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/Health.

Let's talk a little sports right now. The NFL held its draft of college players this weekend. Check out the reception for the first pick. That would be Eli Manning of Ole Miss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL TAGLIABUE, NFL COMMISSIONER: With the first choice of the 2004 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers select Eli Manning.

(BOO)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He did go up on stage. There was some thought, Chad, that he would like not even go up there and hold up his jersey. But look at the expression on his face when he held up the San Diego jersey, yes, thanks a lot, Paul.

MYERS: Sounds like a reception at a NASCAR party.

COSTELLO: Of course that didn't last long because he was traded again to the Giants.

MYERS: And did the Giants make out on this one or what? I mean Rivers first round draft choice, third round draft choice, blah, blah, blah, they got everything for them.

COSTELLO: Well we'll see.

MYERS: So Dan Diego did well by choosing him and then using that choice to parlay it to much better choices in the future.

COSTELLO: Yes, the Giants seemingly came out a lot better than the San Diego Chargers, but who knows.

MYERS: And you liked the Lions' choices, too.

COSTELLO: Detroit, A+ baby.

MYERS: Did they...

COSTELLO: It's going to be a good year.

MYERS: Check out Roy Williams.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: It was sixth choice (ph).

COSTELLO: All right, on to the second hour of DAYBREAK. The president wants Americans to move a little faster on the Internet that is. We'll explain Bush's broadband push in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

Plus,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, COMEDIAN: A couple of people said to me why are you carrying a hanger? I said because this is what life was like before choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Celebrities joins thousands for an abortion rights rally, although not everyone is pleased with the demonstration.

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