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CNN Live At Daybreak
Intense Effort to Bring End to Standoff in Fallujah
Aired April 28, 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: An Iraqi city at war with U.S. Marines -- is there a peaceful way out?
It is Wednesday, April 28.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Let me bring you up to date.
U.S. warplanes attack Iraqi insurgent positions in Fallujah overnight. The action comes as sheikhs head to the city this morning hoping to peacefully resolve this siege.
An explosion and gunfire along diplomat row in Damascus. Syrian officials say four people were killed when a group of terrorists set off a bomb then fought security forces.
Attacks on police outposts in southern Thailand have resulted in the deaths of 97 people. It's not clear if the attackers were criminal gangs or Islamic insurgents trying to establish a Muslim homeland.
And do some terror suspects have equal protection under the law? The man accused of planning a dirty bomb attack and a second American citizen have their cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court today.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: There is an intense effort this morning to bring an end to the standoff in Fallujah. Muslim sheikhs from across Iraq have been heading to the city west of Baghdad to try to end the fighting there. U.S. warplanes hit targets in the city last night, despite a very shaky cease-fire. A U.S. military official says U.S. troops blew up an ammunition site.
Meantime in Najaf, where anti-American Muslim cleric Muqtada al- Sadr is holed up, funerals for some of the 64 Iraqi Mahdi Army fighters killed near the city in clashes with U.S. forces.
And at the United Nations, the top U.N. envoy to Iraq says a caretaker government needs to be selected by the end of May.
Network pool correspondent Karl Penhaul is with some of the Marines in Fallujah. He's been watching the exchange of gunfire and U.S. attacks on some of the suspected insurgent targets in Fallujah.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nighttime in northwest Fallujah, a brief calm after a day of sporadic mortar and sniper attacks by Iraqi insurgents on U.S. Marine bases.
Then the low drone overhead of a U.S. AC-130 Specter gunship, a modified transport plane. The thump of its 105mm cannons, then flashes light up the darkness. Round after round pound into suspected insurgent positions about three-quarters of a mile from where we're filming.
Showers of sparks fly high, the glow of a fire set off by the air strike. Then slowly plumes of dense, black smoke drift across the Fallujah skyline. The gunship wheels around and returns to send cannon rounds slamming into a second suspected insurgent position close to the first.
U.S. military officials say the strike was carried out by two Specter gunships. They say it was in response to a specific threat not the start of an all out offensive to seize back control of the city. This northwest sector of Fallujah is in the hands of Iraqi insurgents and what coalition authorities say are foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda.
A little more than two weeks ago, coalition forces agreed to a cease-fire with civic and religious leaders in an effort to halt the heavy fighting but Marine commanders say the insurgents have refused to heed the call for a truce or to lay down their weapons and, with this latest air strike, coalition commanders appear to be hitting home the message to those insurgents surrender or face the consequences.
Karl Penhaul reporting with the camera of John Templeton (ph) for the U.S. networks pool, Fallujah, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The U.S. troops on the ground in Fallujah are not just dealing with danger, they're having to deal with insurgents who fight from mosques and other religious buildings.
And as CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports, that makes for an extremely sensitive situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. military says this is not the Fallujah offensive but rather an aggressive self defense in response to hostile fire. For Marines who come under constant attack from the insurgents, the cease-fire is about ten percent cease and 90 percent fire.
Here in video shot by pool journalists accompanying U.S. forces into combat, the Marines go after enemy fighters holed up in a mosque. One Marine was killed, several wounded in the fierce engagement and a tank took out the mosque's minaret the U.S. says was being used as a sniper's nest.
The use of a place of worship to conduct military operations violates the Geneva Conventions and prompted Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to offer some advice and criticism to headline writers.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Terrorists attack coalition forces from mosques. That would be one way to present the information. Another might be to say mosques targeted in Fallujah. That was the "Los Angeles Times" headline this morning.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon says the Marines are holding off on the final push into Fallujah to give the failing negotiations with go- betweens one more chance.
RUMSFELD: But they believe what they're doing and the pace at which they're doing it is net in the interest of their goals.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It's worth a try.
RUMSFELD: It's worth a try.
MCINTYRE: Right after those hopeful comments, two U.S. AC-130 gunships pounded targets in Fallujah in response to what the U.S. says was another cease-fire violation, an attack on Marines dug in to defensive positions, just one more sign a showdown is coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So, our DAYBREAK e-mail question of the morning is on the subject of Fallujah. Should the United States talk it out or continue to fight it out? Please e-mail us your thoughts at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Syria is apparently the latest country to be hit by a terrorist attack. A diplomatic neighborhood in Damascus was a war zone for about an hour, with explosions and gunfire. Syrian authorities say a group of terrorists set off a bomb then shot at and tossed grenades at police. It was centered around a former United Nations office. Four people were killed, two of them militants, one Syrian and a bystander. No word yet on who was behind these attacks.
Back here in the States, today the Supreme Court will consider if American citizens can be held indefinitely without charges, a hearing or access to a lawyer as part of the war on terror. Two cases will be argued before the high court. One is the case of Jose Padilla. He's a former Chicago gang member suspected of plotting with al Qaeda to set off a radioactive dirty bomb in the United States. The other case is that of Yasser Hamdi, a former Taliban fighter captured in Afghanistan. Both men are being held in a military brig in South Carolina. Rulings are due by the end of June or early July.
Senator Arlen Specter has survived a tough challenge to win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania and keep alive his hope for a fifth term.
CNN's Joe Johns has the late results from Philadelphia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Arlen Specter has been described as a survivor and he lived up to that reputation tonight, winning by a razor thin margin the race called by the Associated Press after midnight. Alan Specter fought this battle all the way down to the wire, even appearing on as many local television stations as would have him in the early evening.
However, after the polls closed, Specter appeared before his supporters, appearing upbeat.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It's been a very, very difficult campaign, as I know all of you sense, when we have had the kind of an invasion on a number of lines from, most importantly, the Wall Street financiers, who have pumped millions of dollars into the campaign and when we have candidly been to all the church parking lots on Sunday and found so much adverse literature focusing solely on the abortion issue. We have had our hands full.
JOHNS: Senator Specter depended on voters in southeastern Pennsylvania around Philadelphia to help him win. The challenger, Congressman Pat Toomey, was depending on people in central Pennsylvania to help him. He was calling on anti-abortion activists, anti-tax activists, conservatives of all stripes, many who said Arlen Specter was too liberal to return to Washington.
This race had huge stakes, not only because it is a swing state; also because the president of the United States threw his full weight behind Senator Specter.
A number of Republicans said even though they liked Toomey's message, they were very concerned that if he were to win in the primary, he might not be able to hold up support for the president of the United States in the general election.
With Toomey out of the race, the Republican national party was feeling better about the chances of retaining the Senate seat. But as soon as the results came in, Democrats were already saying Specter's unimpressive victory showed he was vulnerable to the challenger he'll face this fall, Democratic Congressman Joe Hoeffel.
Joe Johns, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And a well known name in Pennsylvania won a Republican race for Congress -- Paterno. Scott Paterno, attorney and son of the legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, will challenge Democratic incumbent Tim Holden in November. Now, to win the primary, Paterno beat out Ron Hostetler, who once played linebacker for Joe Paterno at Penn State.
President Bush is off the campaign trail today, but he's indirectly responding to Democratic critics. The Bush administration is releasing an unclassified version of a presidential directive on biodefense. The directive is designed to coordinate the nation's defense against terrorists who might use biological agents. Democrats on the House homeland security committee have accused the Bush administration of moving too slowly on biodefense.
It is the third day of John Kerry's Jobs First Tour through industrial states key to the election. Kerry will be in Toledo, Ohio for a rally of autoworkers and he also plans to speak at a community college in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Kerry has accepted an invitation to speak at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The college's president invited Kerry to balance a speech at the school by Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday.
Stay right here. Here's what we've got just ahead for you this hour on DAYBREAK.
The fight for Fallujah -- Marines take on Iraqi insurgents in this flashpoint city as efforts to end the siege intensify.
And the Army investigates the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter that simply vanished during a training flight. All three crew members on board were killed.
And later in the next half hour, a horrible murder and a shocking suspect. We'll tell you who police say killed an 8-year-old girl.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Tribal leaders from across Iraq are heading to Fallujah. They're trying to stop an insurgency that has made part of the city a battleground.
In southern Thailand, attacks on 15 police outposts by bandits. Three police officers and an army officer are killed. Police and Thai troops killed 93 of the attackers.
In money news, gas is not the only thing going up. A travel research group says the average daily price for a hotel room hit $151 in March. That's up 4.8 percent from a year ago.
In the world of sports, big bucks at Wimbledon. An official for the group that puts on the tennis tourney says the Wimbledon women's winner could make a million bucks.
In culture, rock star Elton John says he finds voting by the national television audience of "American Idol" -- I'm quoting here -- "incredibly racist." Elton John was a guest judge on the series this month. Ooh, the controversy continues -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
It sure does.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines this morning.
A Black Hawk helicopter crash tops our look at stories making headlines across America this Wednesday.
The Army is trying to figure out what caused the helicopter to go down during a training mission in South Carolina. All three members of the flight died. The crash site was spotted by a trucker on Tuesday, the day after the chopper disappeared in bad weather.
The Witmer sisters from Wisconsin have decided not to return to duty in Iraq. In a statement, Rachel and Charity Witmer say the Army wanted them to request new assignments away from Iraq. The third Witmer sister, Michelle, was killed in action in Iraq on April 9.
The jury in the Jayson Williams case will rehear some of the trial testimony this morning. Deliberations are now entering their second day. Jurors asked to rehear testimony from three witnesses, including one of Williams' former teammates. Jayson Williams is facing eight charges, including manslaughter, in the shotgun death of a limo driver.
In California, people hit the beach to beat the heat. In Los Angeles, the mercury climbed to 102 degrees. That breaks the old record, set more than 120 years ago. But L.A. certainly was not alone, as temperature records were shattered all the way up the coast to San Francisco.
And just a reminder, we are soliciting your response to the tense situation in Fallujah. The DAYBREAK e-mail question of the morning: should the United States talk it out or continue to fight it out in Fallujah?
Please, e-mail us your thoughts, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
An 8-year-old girl goes out for a bike ride and she never makes it home. This morning, police have a juvenile in custody suspected in her murder. We'll tell you what police say happened.
And later, how one country is trying to right a terrible wrong in its past by taking a bold stance against racism.
We'll explain it all when DAYBREAK continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, the e-mails are coming in and thank you for that, daybreak@cnn.com.
Let's get a little check of business before we get to your e- mail, though.
5:22 Eastern.
An oil giant says it is cutting up to 2,800 jobs over the next two years.
For more on that, let's head live to London and Diana Muriel -- good morning, Diana.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, well, European markets, as you can see behind me, Carol, are at their session lows at the moment, a very disappointing day here. The oil market's bounce really not having an effect on any of the big oil majors in the market, helping -- and those represent a big chunk of the main indices. They weight very heavily on the main indices.
But we are seeing the market react to a few very disappointing corporate results. Let's put some color on that. Unilever, the big Anglo-Dutch consumer giant, coming in with its first quarter trading figures. Very disappointing even by the company's own admission. It's being sold off in the market down 6.14 percent. Although they saw a seven percent rise in profits in the first quarter, they only managed a 1.3 percent rise in sales of their top 400 products. These include brands such as Lux and Sun Silk and Knorr. The company says it will be addressing the problem. But in the meantime, we're seeing it being sold off very sharply in London.
Siemens also coming in with its numbers, down again. In the German market, down 3.25 percent. It missed its earnings expectations. That's why we're seeing a strong sell-off. Operating earnings coming in at $1.28 billion. The company saying that it could be difficult to achieve its earnings targets for the year.
Let's have a look, a quick look at the currency markets. We've seen some seesawing in the dollar this morning. It's at 119.34 at the moment. This is ahead of the GDP data in the U.S., which is due out on Thursday.
In the meantime, we've seen the sterling easing against the dollar. It's at 178.84 at the moment. They are expecting a rate hike next week when the monetary policy committee meets for the Bank of England on Thursday -- now back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Diana Muriel live from London.
We have someone live on the phone from Fallujah, Scott Peterson from the "Christian Science Monitor."
Scott, are you there? SCOTT PETERSON, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": I am there, thank you.
COSTELLO: All right, Scott, tell us the situation right now in Fallujah.
PETERSON: Well, information is beginning to emerge about the events last night, which were very dramatically televised live. These were, of course, the Specter gunship attacks in northwest Fallujah.
It's been fairly quiet this morning in the city, as far as we know, although it does sometimes take a while for information of clashes to filter out because -- simply because of the chain of command and also just because we don't always hear artillery, artillery fire, certainly small arms fire.
But the information that's emerging about the events last night was that Marine reconnaissance positions spotted an ammunition truck or a truck carrying ammunition. They called in air support. When the Specter gunship fired on that truck, it exploded. There were 20 minutes worth of secondary explosions from the ammunition that was in that truck.
As people jumped out of the truck and ran toward one of the houses, the Specter gunship hit that house, which also, it seems, was a weapons depot, because then, as the Marines report, there were a lot of secondary explosions from that one, too.
And if you hear any background noise, I'm afraid they've got an alarm system at the base where we're on and it seems to be acting up a bit.
COSTELLO: Oh, no problem. We can certainly deal with that, Scott.
Any casualties among U.S. Marines?
PETERSON: There were no casualties last night. I've just come from the combat surgical hospital here and they had no casualties from last night, I think, in part, because it was a target of opportunity. The Specter gunship, when it fires its .135 millimeter Howitzer, is a very, it's very accurate. It fires from very high, but it's quite a stable platform and so it's quite rare when a round like that goes astray. Of course, it does make a big bang and I think that's one of the reasons why there weren't too many Marines actively engaged in that firefight.
Certainly there were no casualties that came through the combat hospital overnight.
COSTELLO: I don't know if you've gotten a chance to go on the street to see the damage, but you talked about secondary explosions when the U.S. Marines blew up that truck carrying the ammunition. Any idea of the damage on the ground or Iraqi casualties or insurgent casualties? PETERSON: Well, the Marines here, who are in the best position to know that, at least among the commanders, say that they estimate at least three insurgents were killed. They feel that it was probably more considering the scale of what we witnessed last night, in terms of the explosions.
But more importantly, I think, on a strategic level, the Marine commanders that I've spoken to this morning are indicating that this is, that for them, this confirms that perhaps a continuing along with this status quo, letting this "cease-fire" kind of play itself out is to the Marines' interests, because even though the insurgents are able to take advantage of that time to regroup and rearm themselves.
On the other hand, if they are suffering losses like the one that we saw last night, if, in fact, those, you know, all those weapons stores, at least in that area, were blown up -- there have also been some other attacks in recent days in which Marines have, according to them, taken out large groups, as many as 30 insurgents at a time, without incurring very much in the way of casualties on their own side or civilian casualties. These were mostly attacks that occurred during the night.
COSTELLO: I know you don't have much freedom of movement, but I'll ask you this anyway. Supposedly, Iraqi police forces are starting to patrol the streets along with U.S. Marines.
Any word on that?
PETERSON: Well, I understand from reporting, probably the same reporting that you're seeing, that Iraqi forces, at least yesterday, began to bring forward a slightly more robust presence on the streets of Fallujah. At the moment, there are no Marines that we're aware of who are joining them. So the joint patrols which were worked out over the weekend have yet to materialize. It's not clear whether they will yet materialize, tomorrow or Friday or when they will actually come online. In part, there are all sorts of reasons for that, but at the moment there certainly aren't joint patrols going, as far as we know.
COSTELLO: And, Scott, the other thing that we're hearing this morning is that sheikhs from all around Iraq are coming to Fallujah to talk.
Any evidence of that yet?
PETERSON: Well, I mean what we will be looking for is any evidence of, you know, of progress, basically. The demands that were originally agreed to by the first cease-fire terms a couple of weeks ago, the Marines, of course, demanding that the insurgents hand over their heavy weapons, or at least that weapons be handed over, they have hardly been met yet. So really, I mean that has left, I mean it has left the diplomatic efforts on the table, but except for the joint patrols now coming up, it's not clear where those are going to go.
Now, it may be that those sheikhs are able to kind of break that stalemate and that's certainly what we'll be looking for as the day goes on here. COSTELLO: All right, Scott Peterson from the "Christian Science Monitor."
He's in Fallujah this morning.
Thank you so much for joining DAYBREAK.
We want to read some of your e-mails now, because we've been soliciting the question on what the U.S. Marines should do in Fallujah -- should they continue to talk or should they continue to fight?
These are some of the responses that we got.
This is from Paul. He says: "I'm an American soldier. I believe the U.S. should fight it out now. These people have no intention of giving up, nor honoring a cease-fire. They will simply wait while hiding like cowards in the crowds of innocent bystanders and kill our service members that way."
This one from Corporal Stockton. He says: "Although talking it out with the Iraqi insurgents for an end to the fighting in Fallujah would be ideal, we talked for peace in the city of Fallujah and they are simply talking our soldiers and Marines to death literally. Enough with the talk. My commander in the U.S. Army told me that fear is one of humanity's biggest motivators and universally understood. It's time we motivate the Iraqi insurgents and help them understand talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words."
We want more of your e-mail responses to our question this morning, daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Remember Kmart? You know, the retailer who went into bankruptcy as it faced brutal competition from Wal-Mart and Target.
Well, the blue light is flashing again at the retailer. Kmart recently posted a profitable quarter for the first time in over three years. Despite the positive financial news, concerns remain, like the future of its popular Martha Stewart product line, due to the domestic guru's recent conviction.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 28, 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: An Iraqi city at war with U.S. Marines -- is there a peaceful way out?
It is Wednesday, April 28.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Let me bring you up to date.
U.S. warplanes attack Iraqi insurgent positions in Fallujah overnight. The action comes as sheikhs head to the city this morning hoping to peacefully resolve this siege.
An explosion and gunfire along diplomat row in Damascus. Syrian officials say four people were killed when a group of terrorists set off a bomb then fought security forces.
Attacks on police outposts in southern Thailand have resulted in the deaths of 97 people. It's not clear if the attackers were criminal gangs or Islamic insurgents trying to establish a Muslim homeland.
And do some terror suspects have equal protection under the law? The man accused of planning a dirty bomb attack and a second American citizen have their cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court today.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: There is an intense effort this morning to bring an end to the standoff in Fallujah. Muslim sheikhs from across Iraq have been heading to the city west of Baghdad to try to end the fighting there. U.S. warplanes hit targets in the city last night, despite a very shaky cease-fire. A U.S. military official says U.S. troops blew up an ammunition site.
Meantime in Najaf, where anti-American Muslim cleric Muqtada al- Sadr is holed up, funerals for some of the 64 Iraqi Mahdi Army fighters killed near the city in clashes with U.S. forces.
And at the United Nations, the top U.N. envoy to Iraq says a caretaker government needs to be selected by the end of May.
Network pool correspondent Karl Penhaul is with some of the Marines in Fallujah. He's been watching the exchange of gunfire and U.S. attacks on some of the suspected insurgent targets in Fallujah.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nighttime in northwest Fallujah, a brief calm after a day of sporadic mortar and sniper attacks by Iraqi insurgents on U.S. Marine bases.
Then the low drone overhead of a U.S. AC-130 Specter gunship, a modified transport plane. The thump of its 105mm cannons, then flashes light up the darkness. Round after round pound into suspected insurgent positions about three-quarters of a mile from where we're filming.
Showers of sparks fly high, the glow of a fire set off by the air strike. Then slowly plumes of dense, black smoke drift across the Fallujah skyline. The gunship wheels around and returns to send cannon rounds slamming into a second suspected insurgent position close to the first.
U.S. military officials say the strike was carried out by two Specter gunships. They say it was in response to a specific threat not the start of an all out offensive to seize back control of the city. This northwest sector of Fallujah is in the hands of Iraqi insurgents and what coalition authorities say are foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda.
A little more than two weeks ago, coalition forces agreed to a cease-fire with civic and religious leaders in an effort to halt the heavy fighting but Marine commanders say the insurgents have refused to heed the call for a truce or to lay down their weapons and, with this latest air strike, coalition commanders appear to be hitting home the message to those insurgents surrender or face the consequences.
Karl Penhaul reporting with the camera of John Templeton (ph) for the U.S. networks pool, Fallujah, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The U.S. troops on the ground in Fallujah are not just dealing with danger, they're having to deal with insurgents who fight from mosques and other religious buildings.
And as CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports, that makes for an extremely sensitive situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. military says this is not the Fallujah offensive but rather an aggressive self defense in response to hostile fire. For Marines who come under constant attack from the insurgents, the cease-fire is about ten percent cease and 90 percent fire.
Here in video shot by pool journalists accompanying U.S. forces into combat, the Marines go after enemy fighters holed up in a mosque. One Marine was killed, several wounded in the fierce engagement and a tank took out the mosque's minaret the U.S. says was being used as a sniper's nest.
The use of a place of worship to conduct military operations violates the Geneva Conventions and prompted Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to offer some advice and criticism to headline writers.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Terrorists attack coalition forces from mosques. That would be one way to present the information. Another might be to say mosques targeted in Fallujah. That was the "Los Angeles Times" headline this morning.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon says the Marines are holding off on the final push into Fallujah to give the failing negotiations with go- betweens one more chance.
RUMSFELD: But they believe what they're doing and the pace at which they're doing it is net in the interest of their goals.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It's worth a try.
RUMSFELD: It's worth a try.
MCINTYRE: Right after those hopeful comments, two U.S. AC-130 gunships pounded targets in Fallujah in response to what the U.S. says was another cease-fire violation, an attack on Marines dug in to defensive positions, just one more sign a showdown is coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So, our DAYBREAK e-mail question of the morning is on the subject of Fallujah. Should the United States talk it out or continue to fight it out? Please e-mail us your thoughts at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Syria is apparently the latest country to be hit by a terrorist attack. A diplomatic neighborhood in Damascus was a war zone for about an hour, with explosions and gunfire. Syrian authorities say a group of terrorists set off a bomb then shot at and tossed grenades at police. It was centered around a former United Nations office. Four people were killed, two of them militants, one Syrian and a bystander. No word yet on who was behind these attacks.
Back here in the States, today the Supreme Court will consider if American citizens can be held indefinitely without charges, a hearing or access to a lawyer as part of the war on terror. Two cases will be argued before the high court. One is the case of Jose Padilla. He's a former Chicago gang member suspected of plotting with al Qaeda to set off a radioactive dirty bomb in the United States. The other case is that of Yasser Hamdi, a former Taliban fighter captured in Afghanistan. Both men are being held in a military brig in South Carolina. Rulings are due by the end of June or early July.
Senator Arlen Specter has survived a tough challenge to win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania and keep alive his hope for a fifth term.
CNN's Joe Johns has the late results from Philadelphia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Arlen Specter has been described as a survivor and he lived up to that reputation tonight, winning by a razor thin margin the race called by the Associated Press after midnight. Alan Specter fought this battle all the way down to the wire, even appearing on as many local television stations as would have him in the early evening.
However, after the polls closed, Specter appeared before his supporters, appearing upbeat.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It's been a very, very difficult campaign, as I know all of you sense, when we have had the kind of an invasion on a number of lines from, most importantly, the Wall Street financiers, who have pumped millions of dollars into the campaign and when we have candidly been to all the church parking lots on Sunday and found so much adverse literature focusing solely on the abortion issue. We have had our hands full.
JOHNS: Senator Specter depended on voters in southeastern Pennsylvania around Philadelphia to help him win. The challenger, Congressman Pat Toomey, was depending on people in central Pennsylvania to help him. He was calling on anti-abortion activists, anti-tax activists, conservatives of all stripes, many who said Arlen Specter was too liberal to return to Washington.
This race had huge stakes, not only because it is a swing state; also because the president of the United States threw his full weight behind Senator Specter.
A number of Republicans said even though they liked Toomey's message, they were very concerned that if he were to win in the primary, he might not be able to hold up support for the president of the United States in the general election.
With Toomey out of the race, the Republican national party was feeling better about the chances of retaining the Senate seat. But as soon as the results came in, Democrats were already saying Specter's unimpressive victory showed he was vulnerable to the challenger he'll face this fall, Democratic Congressman Joe Hoeffel.
Joe Johns, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And a well known name in Pennsylvania won a Republican race for Congress -- Paterno. Scott Paterno, attorney and son of the legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, will challenge Democratic incumbent Tim Holden in November. Now, to win the primary, Paterno beat out Ron Hostetler, who once played linebacker for Joe Paterno at Penn State.
President Bush is off the campaign trail today, but he's indirectly responding to Democratic critics. The Bush administration is releasing an unclassified version of a presidential directive on biodefense. The directive is designed to coordinate the nation's defense against terrorists who might use biological agents. Democrats on the House homeland security committee have accused the Bush administration of moving too slowly on biodefense.
It is the third day of John Kerry's Jobs First Tour through industrial states key to the election. Kerry will be in Toledo, Ohio for a rally of autoworkers and he also plans to speak at a community college in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Kerry has accepted an invitation to speak at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The college's president invited Kerry to balance a speech at the school by Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday.
Stay right here. Here's what we've got just ahead for you this hour on DAYBREAK.
The fight for Fallujah -- Marines take on Iraqi insurgents in this flashpoint city as efforts to end the siege intensify.
And the Army investigates the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter that simply vanished during a training flight. All three crew members on board were killed.
And later in the next half hour, a horrible murder and a shocking suspect. We'll tell you who police say killed an 8-year-old girl.
We'll be right back.
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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Tribal leaders from across Iraq are heading to Fallujah. They're trying to stop an insurgency that has made part of the city a battleground.
In southern Thailand, attacks on 15 police outposts by bandits. Three police officers and an army officer are killed. Police and Thai troops killed 93 of the attackers.
In money news, gas is not the only thing going up. A travel research group says the average daily price for a hotel room hit $151 in March. That's up 4.8 percent from a year ago.
In the world of sports, big bucks at Wimbledon. An official for the group that puts on the tennis tourney says the Wimbledon women's winner could make a million bucks.
In culture, rock star Elton John says he finds voting by the national television audience of "American Idol" -- I'm quoting here -- "incredibly racist." Elton John was a guest judge on the series this month. Ooh, the controversy continues -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
It sure does.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines this morning.
A Black Hawk helicopter crash tops our look at stories making headlines across America this Wednesday.
The Army is trying to figure out what caused the helicopter to go down during a training mission in South Carolina. All three members of the flight died. The crash site was spotted by a trucker on Tuesday, the day after the chopper disappeared in bad weather.
The Witmer sisters from Wisconsin have decided not to return to duty in Iraq. In a statement, Rachel and Charity Witmer say the Army wanted them to request new assignments away from Iraq. The third Witmer sister, Michelle, was killed in action in Iraq on April 9.
The jury in the Jayson Williams case will rehear some of the trial testimony this morning. Deliberations are now entering their second day. Jurors asked to rehear testimony from three witnesses, including one of Williams' former teammates. Jayson Williams is facing eight charges, including manslaughter, in the shotgun death of a limo driver.
In California, people hit the beach to beat the heat. In Los Angeles, the mercury climbed to 102 degrees. That breaks the old record, set more than 120 years ago. But L.A. certainly was not alone, as temperature records were shattered all the way up the coast to San Francisco.
And just a reminder, we are soliciting your response to the tense situation in Fallujah. The DAYBREAK e-mail question of the morning: should the United States talk it out or continue to fight it out in Fallujah?
Please, e-mail us your thoughts, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
An 8-year-old girl goes out for a bike ride and she never makes it home. This morning, police have a juvenile in custody suspected in her murder. We'll tell you what police say happened.
And later, how one country is trying to right a terrible wrong in its past by taking a bold stance against racism.
We'll explain it all when DAYBREAK continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, the e-mails are coming in and thank you for that, daybreak@cnn.com.
Let's get a little check of business before we get to your e- mail, though.
5:22 Eastern.
An oil giant says it is cutting up to 2,800 jobs over the next two years.
For more on that, let's head live to London and Diana Muriel -- good morning, Diana.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, well, European markets, as you can see behind me, Carol, are at their session lows at the moment, a very disappointing day here. The oil market's bounce really not having an effect on any of the big oil majors in the market, helping -- and those represent a big chunk of the main indices. They weight very heavily on the main indices.
But we are seeing the market react to a few very disappointing corporate results. Let's put some color on that. Unilever, the big Anglo-Dutch consumer giant, coming in with its first quarter trading figures. Very disappointing even by the company's own admission. It's being sold off in the market down 6.14 percent. Although they saw a seven percent rise in profits in the first quarter, they only managed a 1.3 percent rise in sales of their top 400 products. These include brands such as Lux and Sun Silk and Knorr. The company says it will be addressing the problem. But in the meantime, we're seeing it being sold off very sharply in London.
Siemens also coming in with its numbers, down again. In the German market, down 3.25 percent. It missed its earnings expectations. That's why we're seeing a strong sell-off. Operating earnings coming in at $1.28 billion. The company saying that it could be difficult to achieve its earnings targets for the year.
Let's have a look, a quick look at the currency markets. We've seen some seesawing in the dollar this morning. It's at 119.34 at the moment. This is ahead of the GDP data in the U.S., which is due out on Thursday.
In the meantime, we've seen the sterling easing against the dollar. It's at 178.84 at the moment. They are expecting a rate hike next week when the monetary policy committee meets for the Bank of England on Thursday -- now back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Diana Muriel live from London.
We have someone live on the phone from Fallujah, Scott Peterson from the "Christian Science Monitor."
Scott, are you there? SCOTT PETERSON, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": I am there, thank you.
COSTELLO: All right, Scott, tell us the situation right now in Fallujah.
PETERSON: Well, information is beginning to emerge about the events last night, which were very dramatically televised live. These were, of course, the Specter gunship attacks in northwest Fallujah.
It's been fairly quiet this morning in the city, as far as we know, although it does sometimes take a while for information of clashes to filter out because -- simply because of the chain of command and also just because we don't always hear artillery, artillery fire, certainly small arms fire.
But the information that's emerging about the events last night was that Marine reconnaissance positions spotted an ammunition truck or a truck carrying ammunition. They called in air support. When the Specter gunship fired on that truck, it exploded. There were 20 minutes worth of secondary explosions from the ammunition that was in that truck.
As people jumped out of the truck and ran toward one of the houses, the Specter gunship hit that house, which also, it seems, was a weapons depot, because then, as the Marines report, there were a lot of secondary explosions from that one, too.
And if you hear any background noise, I'm afraid they've got an alarm system at the base where we're on and it seems to be acting up a bit.
COSTELLO: Oh, no problem. We can certainly deal with that, Scott.
Any casualties among U.S. Marines?
PETERSON: There were no casualties last night. I've just come from the combat surgical hospital here and they had no casualties from last night, I think, in part, because it was a target of opportunity. The Specter gunship, when it fires its .135 millimeter Howitzer, is a very, it's very accurate. It fires from very high, but it's quite a stable platform and so it's quite rare when a round like that goes astray. Of course, it does make a big bang and I think that's one of the reasons why there weren't too many Marines actively engaged in that firefight.
Certainly there were no casualties that came through the combat hospital overnight.
COSTELLO: I don't know if you've gotten a chance to go on the street to see the damage, but you talked about secondary explosions when the U.S. Marines blew up that truck carrying the ammunition. Any idea of the damage on the ground or Iraqi casualties or insurgent casualties? PETERSON: Well, the Marines here, who are in the best position to know that, at least among the commanders, say that they estimate at least three insurgents were killed. They feel that it was probably more considering the scale of what we witnessed last night, in terms of the explosions.
But more importantly, I think, on a strategic level, the Marine commanders that I've spoken to this morning are indicating that this is, that for them, this confirms that perhaps a continuing along with this status quo, letting this "cease-fire" kind of play itself out is to the Marines' interests, because even though the insurgents are able to take advantage of that time to regroup and rearm themselves.
On the other hand, if they are suffering losses like the one that we saw last night, if, in fact, those, you know, all those weapons stores, at least in that area, were blown up -- there have also been some other attacks in recent days in which Marines have, according to them, taken out large groups, as many as 30 insurgents at a time, without incurring very much in the way of casualties on their own side or civilian casualties. These were mostly attacks that occurred during the night.
COSTELLO: I know you don't have much freedom of movement, but I'll ask you this anyway. Supposedly, Iraqi police forces are starting to patrol the streets along with U.S. Marines.
Any word on that?
PETERSON: Well, I understand from reporting, probably the same reporting that you're seeing, that Iraqi forces, at least yesterday, began to bring forward a slightly more robust presence on the streets of Fallujah. At the moment, there are no Marines that we're aware of who are joining them. So the joint patrols which were worked out over the weekend have yet to materialize. It's not clear whether they will yet materialize, tomorrow or Friday or when they will actually come online. In part, there are all sorts of reasons for that, but at the moment there certainly aren't joint patrols going, as far as we know.
COSTELLO: And, Scott, the other thing that we're hearing this morning is that sheikhs from all around Iraq are coming to Fallujah to talk.
Any evidence of that yet?
PETERSON: Well, I mean what we will be looking for is any evidence of, you know, of progress, basically. The demands that were originally agreed to by the first cease-fire terms a couple of weeks ago, the Marines, of course, demanding that the insurgents hand over their heavy weapons, or at least that weapons be handed over, they have hardly been met yet. So really, I mean that has left, I mean it has left the diplomatic efforts on the table, but except for the joint patrols now coming up, it's not clear where those are going to go.
Now, it may be that those sheikhs are able to kind of break that stalemate and that's certainly what we'll be looking for as the day goes on here. COSTELLO: All right, Scott Peterson from the "Christian Science Monitor."
He's in Fallujah this morning.
Thank you so much for joining DAYBREAK.
We want to read some of your e-mails now, because we've been soliciting the question on what the U.S. Marines should do in Fallujah -- should they continue to talk or should they continue to fight?
These are some of the responses that we got.
This is from Paul. He says: "I'm an American soldier. I believe the U.S. should fight it out now. These people have no intention of giving up, nor honoring a cease-fire. They will simply wait while hiding like cowards in the crowds of innocent bystanders and kill our service members that way."
This one from Corporal Stockton. He says: "Although talking it out with the Iraqi insurgents for an end to the fighting in Fallujah would be ideal, we talked for peace in the city of Fallujah and they are simply talking our soldiers and Marines to death literally. Enough with the talk. My commander in the U.S. Army told me that fear is one of humanity's biggest motivators and universally understood. It's time we motivate the Iraqi insurgents and help them understand talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words."
We want more of your e-mail responses to our question this morning, daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Remember Kmart? You know, the retailer who went into bankruptcy as it faced brutal competition from Wal-Mart and Target.
Well, the blue light is flashing again at the retailer. Kmart recently posted a profitable quarter for the first time in over three years. Despite the positive financial news, concerns remain, like the future of its popular Martha Stewart product line, due to the domestic guru's recent conviction.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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