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CNN Live At Daybreak

Eye on the World; Reporter's Notebook; Terror Arrests; Chechnya Blast; Talking Teens

Aired May 10, 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.


(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Summer is coming.

MYERS: It sure is.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: And you're happy.

COSTELLO: I am happy.

All right, let's talk about something serious now. The 'Iraq Situation Report' for Monday. Gunfire in Sadr City after a raid on the headquarters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. troops destroyed the headquarters and killed 19 insurgents.

A blast shakes the Four Seasons Hotel in Baghdad. Four people injured, two Iraqis, two Britons. Coalition forces say a homemade bomb exploded.

The first court-martial in the prisoner abuse scandal is set to begin May 19 in Baghdad. Army Specialist Jeremy Sivits will be tried on charges of mistreatment of prisoners, conspiracy and dereliction of duty.

And reporter Seymour Hersh says the likely source of the Iraq prison abuse problem is the Pentagon itself. Hersh's latest article in "The New Yorker" is entitled "Chain of Command," and it includes a photograph that appears to show American guards setting dogs on a naked prisoner.

Questioned by Wolf Blitzer, Hersh gives his opinion why the photographs just keep on coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEYMOUR HERSH, "NEW YORKER": So I'm here to say that the evidence suggests that cameras and the use of cameras was part of the interrogation process. And I'll tell you what somebody has told me, which is that one of the ways you could possibly get more leverage on a potential witness or if it's somebody you want to interrogate, is to threaten, you know, shame -- we talked about humiliation and shame -- is to threaten a prisoner with taking these photographs and showing them to neighbors or showing them to others. It would be a greater source of humiliation to have others actually see the problems he had in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of the people of the Pentagon, Hersh says they don't listen to what they don't want to hear.

We want to talk more about the new pictures possibly coming out in the days to come.

Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now.

So the Pentagon apparently has a lot more pictures and even videotape?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, I mean they have acknowledged that. They have more pictures, they have some videotape and they say or there certainly are reports that some of the pictures, and perhaps the videotape, shows things that are worse than the pictures that we have already seen.

COSTELLO: As in murder and rape?

CLINCH: We've been seeing reports that at least some of the photographs depict not just these simulated acts that we have seen in the previous photographs but actually rapes, perhaps worse than that.

The Pentagon has some decisions to make. President Bush is going over there for a briefing. There are some reports that he has insisted himself on seeing all of these pictures and seeing all the videos now so that he can be part of a decision about whether to release them beyond that.

COSTELLO: It's difficult to believe that the Pentagon or the White House would agree to release such awful pictures, awful videotapes.

CLINCH: Right. It's the devil's choice, really, because there is so much pressure at this point to be completely open in the process. There is pressure to release them. But then, of course, decisions have to be made what can you release, what can you show, how bad are these pictures. Even in an effort to be open, you can't release things which really...

COSTELLO: Yes, because at some point it just gets too bad,...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... almost pornographic.

CLINCH: Exactly, and so there is a line. They have to make those decisions. We have to make those decisions in their release to Congress. If they leak, if they are then, in fact, released to the media.

And then, of course, on the other hand, you have these courts- martials beginning as well, whether more information will come out from those processes starting. The military in Baghdad telling us they will be completely open, perhaps even live on television. So in a week or so, we're going to start seeing...

COSTELLO: So let's just center on that so people know.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: On May 19, Jeremy Sivits will be court-martialed.

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: And apparently he has reached some sort of deal and they don't...

CLINCH: Well there is one report, something I have been reading is there are courts-martial and there are courts-martialed, different kinds. This particular court-martial for this Specialist Sivits will be one at a certain level, which will allow, perhaps, for a lower punishment. Some people are interpreting that to mean that he may have already reached some kind of a deal where he may speak about what his colleagues did.

COSTELLO: And if we can relate it just to a normal court case, he has reached a plea bargain because...

CLINCH: Perhaps, and we don't know that, but this information will come out. And, for instance, if he is prepared to speak about others, we may learn about this chain of command, who ordered what. It will be easy, perhaps, to see who ordered at that level, much more difficult, perhaps, to see how high it goes in the chain of command.

COSTELLO: Yes, we'll see what comes out in the day ahead.

David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: For the past couple of weeks, CNN's Karl Penhaul has been embedded with the Marines as a pool correspondent for U.S. television networks. As you know, his coverage of the siege of Fallujah was daring and dramatic. For Karl and the Marines he covered, every minute of every day could have been their last.

Here's a peak inside Karl's 'Reporter's Notebook' as he looks back on his dangerous duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's John Templeton (ph) on the camera and me sitting down front of the day behind a desk.

(on camera): Lovely working environment.

(voice-over): Up on the roof, the bullets aren't zipping around for once and we can stand up straight as we set up the camera, the videophone and usual jumble of cables to beam out live pictures.

It's really been so calm just lately. A few nights earlier, an AC-130 Spectre gunship was blasting away at those suspected insurgent ammunition dumps over there. It may look like a big firework show, until you get down there, then you realize the fight for Fallujah is up close and it's dirty. Insurgents and Marines are facing off only about 200 yards apart.

As I was standing on this rooftop vantage point, about 800 yards away, watching a U.S. Cobra and a Huey pound insurgent positions, I remembered once reading that taking the glamour out of a helicopter gunship was like taking the sex out of the Rolling Stones.

But from here, it didn't look very glamorous to be doing the killing or doing the dying. In this wild west town, a kind of Iraqi Tijuana minus the tequila.

Nobody talks too much around here about dying or getting hurt. Mostly we talk about cold beer and girls.

One Marine, though, had been thinking. He said to me, you know the worst thing about dying, that it starts out a normal day, then it's all over.

Well, that was this day. It was a Monday, an early start. We could still see the stars. The call to morning prayers was drifting from the mosques. When the Marine platoon broke into the two buildings it had to occupy as observation posts for the day, things were still pretty normal. Some of the Marines even got time for a nap. I know I did. That was until hell broke loose.

That flash is an insurgent rocket smashing against the window. That Marine pulled himself back up and carried on shooting. It was only when they began dragging wounded Marines screaming into the room where we were that it seemed a bit more real. Fear, yes, especially the first five minutes, until I had time to settle a bit. Fear, too, that you could die in such an anonymous place while your folks back home were still sleeping.

One Marine died in that house, about 14 others were wounded. Doing the math that normal Monday, you had only a four to one chance of getting out unscathed.

So after that, running back down these alleyways seemed like a relief. By the time we reached the far corner, a Marine said...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, when I fire, you go. You too, Holmes (ph). Go.

PENHAUL: We were back in the movies.

(on camera): But one Marine did die, a young lance corporal. Was there really any point to it? An impersonal death in a dusty alleyway. You see that's the worst thing about dying, it starts out a normal day, then it's all over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Very powerful.

Karl Penhaul joins us live from Iraq right now.

And, Karl, you look at those Marines and how brave, how courageous they are and then you look at what's happening in the prisons. And are the Marines aware of what's happening with this prisoner abuse scandal?

PENHAUL: Certainly they were certainly towards the latter stages of events in Fallujah. The prison story tended to take over a lot of the news coverage here, Carol. They became very aware of that. And I think that they did feel, from what I saw of them, big disconnect between what they were doing and what was going on though in those prisons. Very few of those that I spoke to condoned or even understood really what had been going on in the prisons.

What they really understood was the job that they had been doing. And as you can see from those pictures, a very dangerous job, indeed, that they are doing. And they are well aware that every day could be their last. In fact, the company that we were with in the course of nearly a month in Fallujah, they lost about a third of their combat force to wounds and also deaths. And so they were very aware of the dangers there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Another question for you. I know that the U.S. Marines pulled back from Fallujah to allow Iraqi generals to take over the security there. They are going back into Fallujah for the first time now. Tell us more about that.

PENHAUL: I've also seen those reports today, Carol. It seems a relatively small convoy of American Marines, backed by Iraqi security forces, went to the mayor's office in downtown Fallujah, I guess to meet the mayor and just have a brief meeting there. And then they pulled back, back to their camp, which is outside the main city limits of Fallujah. I would guess at this stage a little probe, if you like, symbolic rather than particularly significant. And we do understand that the time being the security aspects themselves are still going to remain in the hands of the Iraqi security forces -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul live from Baghdad this morning. Thank you.

Italian anti-terrorism police believe they have broken up a cell that may have been planning suicide attacks in Iraq.

For more on these arrests, we're joined by CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci. He is live in London this morning.

Tell us about this -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.

Well the arrests include one Algerian cleric and four Tunisian nationals all arrested overnight, Sunday into Monday Italian time, after a nightlong raid by Italian police. All of them kind (ph) investigators say were legally resident in Italy, but they are saying that these arrests come after a yearlong investigation after one of them had briefly been detained a year ago and let released because there was not enough evidence against him. But the Italian investigators kept a close eye on him, including a series of wiretaps and monitoring of phone conversations between one of these men and the other members of this alleged terrorist cell.

Italian investigators also believe that, according to those wiretaps, this group was recruiting some possible suicide or alleged suicide attackers that would then be able to carry out attacks in Iraq. The reason why Italian investigators had to break up this cell is because, according to one of the wiretaps, the investigators heard that one of them, at least one of these suspects was about to leave for Iraq and carry out their attacks. At least there was also a quote in one of those wiretaps saying within a month I will be finally a martyr, therefore Italian investigators really wanted to break up this cell before he could leave for Iraq and carry out that attack.

Now these suspects have not been formally charged yet, but they have been detained on suspicion to belonging to an international terrorist organization. And indeed, Italian investigators believe that the suspects belong to the Ansar Al-Islam, which is, as you know, a terrorist organization based in northern Iraq who has allegedly been responsible for a series of attacks against Western targets, including coalition forces in Iraq. And therefore, Italian investigators are really linking those five suspects to the international terrorism and possibly to al Qaeda -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So were these Italian nationals, from what country did they come and were they also planning to carry out attacks in Italy?

VINCI: Well there is -- there is speculation in the Italian press that at least one of the suspects was talking about possibly carrying out an attack in a shopping mall in Florence or even in a -- in a theater. But Italian investigators are denying that report. But certainly after the recent attacks, for example, in Madrid, Italian investigators are telling me frequently that they do believe that Italy is very much high on the list of possible terrorist attacks and therefore, they are not really ruling anything out. They are really keeping a close eye on these people. And this particular arrest has really been a good indication about how Italian investigators are really trying to do all they can and taking no chances in letting these people around without being under close scrutiny.

COSTELLO: Alessio Vinci reporting live from London this morning.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, fallout from the explosion that killed the president of Chechnya. We're going to have a live report for you out of Moscow.

Also in the next hour, a court hearing for Kobe Bryant, the NBA star expected to plead not guilty to sexual assault charges. We'll take you live to Eagle, Colorado.

This is DAYBREAK for May 10. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This just in to CNN. There has been an attack in Sadr City in Baghdad. We have new pictures coming in to CNN and David Clinch is here to tell us what those pictures show us.

CLINCH: Yes, Carol, we have actually seen a number of incidents in and around Baghdad today. This particular video we have just received from one of the agencies in Baghdad appears to show a U.S. humvee on fire in an area of Baghdad, just on the outskirts, on the circular road that goes around. This is an area called al Adel (ph).

Now this is, again, one of these incidents. We saw a lot of these incidents over the past few months. The so-called Sunni Triangle includes Baghdad, of course. No indication at all that attacks like this on U.S. convoys and vehicles have stopped.

We have also seen another sequence of video coming in today of the Shiite rebellion continuing. Now those two things coincide in one place in Iraq and that is Baghdad itself, because one area of Baghdad, Sadr City, which is this area here, we have seen the supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr very angry this morning. There were reports last night that the U.S. attacked the headquarters of al-Sadr last night. We haven't been able to confirm that, but we have seen tanks in the streets of Sadr City, again, the Shiite area in Baghdad.

You can see them here. You see the crowd of Iraqis obviously not happy to see these American tanks rolling down the streets. You see them chasing them, throwing rocks, other missiles, whatever they can get their hands on to hit the tanks as they go through. Really powerless to stop them, but obviously anger.

And the increasing signs of a military face-off with al-Sadr and his militia growing, and particularly in that area, because if you think about Najaf and the other areas, you have got the mosques and those concerns there. Sadr City, that's not so much of a concern, so you have really seen a lot of military activity in that part of Baghdad. And obviously elsewhere in Baghdad today, the attack on that humvee as well. So we'll...

COSTELLO: Well when we see a burning humvee, we always think of casualties. Any word?

CLINCH: We have not heard any reports. We haven't even had this incident confirmed yet. So many things going on today. The U.S. military has not given us confirmation of the details of that attack. We are pushing them for details on that. As soon as we have them, we'll bring them to you.

COSTELLO: Appreciate that. Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:49 Eastern Time. Kobe Bryant should be in court today for the next round of hearings in his sexual assault case. Bryant is expected to enter a plea of not guilty later this week.

In money news, another big bank merger, SunTrust acquired the National Commerce Financial Corporation for $7 billion in cash and stock. With the merger, SunTrust becomes one of the top 10 largest banks in this country.

In sports, the Calgary Flames used another overtime goal to beat the San Jose Sharks in game one of the Western Conference Championships. Calgary has won four games in overtime during the post season.

And in culture, monsters and mayhem captured your attention this weekend. Hugh Jackman in "Van Helsing" opened in the top spot at the box office with more than $54 million in ticket sales -- Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Tensions are running high in Chechnya and Russia this morning following the assassination of Chechnya's president. Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in an explosion during Victory Day celebrations in the Republic's capital.

For more on the aftermath of this attack, let's head live to Moscow and CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

Good morning -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well a total of 57 people injured in that attack, 6 people killed, among them a cameraman from the Reuters News Agency, and as you said, the Russian-backed leader of Chechnya, Mr. Akhmad Kadyrov. Mr. Kadyrov was buried just a couple of hours ago in his hometown in Chechnya. Thousands of people reportedly turning out for that burial to pay their tribute to the late president.

Now this attack took place at about 10:30 in the morning local time on Sunday as the entire Russian political and military leadership were attending a Victory Day celebration there, actually a military parade, to honor the 59th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. That's when this bomb went off.

It was planted, according to Russian security officials, directly beneath the VIP stand. Its blast so strong it actually reached out and killed several people and injured the Russian commander in charge of all Russian forces in Chechnya.

Now the Russian president has appointed an acting or an interim leader, but they are going to have to have new elections. That is something that could bring new turbulence to Chechnya in the next four months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live from Moscow this morning.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, teen drivers and cell phones. Some state lawmakers say they are like oil and water or oil and vinegar. We'll have a report for you from California.

And Shaquille O'Neal lands or leads the way in a Lakers first shootout. Our sports contributor Chris Cotter has the latest for you on the NBA playoffs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Most teens love to talk and cell phones make it so much easier to hook up with friends. But teens and cell phones can be a lethal combination behind the wheel.

And as our Rusty Dornin reports, California lawmakers are planning a crackdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many teens, when 17-year-old Anthony Gilmore gets behind the wheel, he likes to multi-task.

GILMORE: And like I can hold it and dial like this, if necessary. And, you know, the phones are fairly easy. A lot of people have speed dial sets.

DORNIN: That's worrisome to some legislators in California, who are considering a bill to ban cell phone use for drivers under 18. Teen drivers, according to the Institute for Highway Safety, are four times more likely to crash than older drivers, cell phones or no.

DEBRA BOWEN (D), CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: I looked at the accident risk. I looked at the risk not only to the driver, but to everyone else on the road. And it was so clear that this group of inexperienced drivers poses a much greater risk than more experienced drivers.

DORNIN: Several states are considering making a similar call for drivers under the age of 21. Some teens agree that a ban might be safer, even one who couldn't put down her cell phone long enough to answer the interviewers question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you can distracted. You're not really all enough aware when you're driving for a long time. So, you know, you'll be talking on your phone and driving at the same time. So I think that's a good idea.

DORNIN: A Harvard study from 2002 says the use of cell phones leads to about 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries. New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. have banned all cell phone use by drivers. But the young are invincible, or so they think. GILMORE: As long as you're a little cautious and you pay attention, it's not very difficult to operate a hand phone while driving, no.

DORNIN: But for California's teens, law makers are considering telling them to just hang up and drive.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: In the next hour of DAYBREAK, back home in Mississippi. Thomas Hamill said his faith carried him through his three weeks of captivity in Iraq. We'll have a full report for you.

British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon goes before Parliament today to answer questions about prisoner abuse in Iraq. We'll have a live report for you out of London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: These pictures just in to CNN. A U.S. military humvee on fire in Baghdad's Sadr City.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, May 10.

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 May 10, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Summer is coming.

MYERS: It sure is.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: And you're happy.

COSTELLO: I am happy.

All right, let's talk about something serious now. The 'Iraq Situation Report' for Monday. Gunfire in Sadr City after a raid on the headquarters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. troops destroyed the headquarters and killed 19 insurgents.

A blast shakes the Four Seasons Hotel in Baghdad. Four people injured, two Iraqis, two Britons. Coalition forces say a homemade bomb exploded.

The first court-martial in the prisoner abuse scandal is set to begin May 19 in Baghdad. Army Specialist Jeremy Sivits will be tried on charges of mistreatment of prisoners, conspiracy and dereliction of duty.

And reporter Seymour Hersh says the likely source of the Iraq prison abuse problem is the Pentagon itself. Hersh's latest article in "The New Yorker" is entitled "Chain of Command," and it includes a photograph that appears to show American guards setting dogs on a naked prisoner.

Questioned by Wolf Blitzer, Hersh gives his opinion why the photographs just keep on coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEYMOUR HERSH, "NEW YORKER": So I'm here to say that the evidence suggests that cameras and the use of cameras was part of the interrogation process. And I'll tell you what somebody has told me, which is that one of the ways you could possibly get more leverage on a potential witness or if it's somebody you want to interrogate, is to threaten, you know, shame -- we talked about humiliation and shame -- is to threaten a prisoner with taking these photographs and showing them to neighbors or showing them to others. It would be a greater source of humiliation to have others actually see the problems he had in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of the people of the Pentagon, Hersh says they don't listen to what they don't want to hear.

We want to talk more about the new pictures possibly coming out in the days to come.

Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now.

So the Pentagon apparently has a lot more pictures and even videotape?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, I mean they have acknowledged that. They have more pictures, they have some videotape and they say or there certainly are reports that some of the pictures, and perhaps the videotape, shows things that are worse than the pictures that we have already seen.

COSTELLO: As in murder and rape?

CLINCH: We've been seeing reports that at least some of the photographs depict not just these simulated acts that we have seen in the previous photographs but actually rapes, perhaps worse than that.

The Pentagon has some decisions to make. President Bush is going over there for a briefing. There are some reports that he has insisted himself on seeing all of these pictures and seeing all the videos now so that he can be part of a decision about whether to release them beyond that.

COSTELLO: It's difficult to believe that the Pentagon or the White House would agree to release such awful pictures, awful videotapes.

CLINCH: Right. It's the devil's choice, really, because there is so much pressure at this point to be completely open in the process. There is pressure to release them. But then, of course, decisions have to be made what can you release, what can you show, how bad are these pictures. Even in an effort to be open, you can't release things which really...

COSTELLO: Yes, because at some point it just gets too bad,...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... almost pornographic.

CLINCH: Exactly, and so there is a line. They have to make those decisions. We have to make those decisions in their release to Congress. If they leak, if they are then, in fact, released to the media.

And then, of course, on the other hand, you have these courts- martials beginning as well, whether more information will come out from those processes starting. The military in Baghdad telling us they will be completely open, perhaps even live on television. So in a week or so, we're going to start seeing...

COSTELLO: So let's just center on that so people know.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: On May 19, Jeremy Sivits will be court-martialed.

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: And apparently he has reached some sort of deal and they don't...

CLINCH: Well there is one report, something I have been reading is there are courts-martial and there are courts-martialed, different kinds. This particular court-martial for this Specialist Sivits will be one at a certain level, which will allow, perhaps, for a lower punishment. Some people are interpreting that to mean that he may have already reached some kind of a deal where he may speak about what his colleagues did.

COSTELLO: And if we can relate it just to a normal court case, he has reached a plea bargain because...

CLINCH: Perhaps, and we don't know that, but this information will come out. And, for instance, if he is prepared to speak about others, we may learn about this chain of command, who ordered what. It will be easy, perhaps, to see who ordered at that level, much more difficult, perhaps, to see how high it goes in the chain of command.

COSTELLO: Yes, we'll see what comes out in the day ahead.

David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: For the past couple of weeks, CNN's Karl Penhaul has been embedded with the Marines as a pool correspondent for U.S. television networks. As you know, his coverage of the siege of Fallujah was daring and dramatic. For Karl and the Marines he covered, every minute of every day could have been their last.

Here's a peak inside Karl's 'Reporter's Notebook' as he looks back on his dangerous duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's John Templeton (ph) on the camera and me sitting down front of the day behind a desk.

(on camera): Lovely working environment.

(voice-over): Up on the roof, the bullets aren't zipping around for once and we can stand up straight as we set up the camera, the videophone and usual jumble of cables to beam out live pictures.

It's really been so calm just lately. A few nights earlier, an AC-130 Spectre gunship was blasting away at those suspected insurgent ammunition dumps over there. It may look like a big firework show, until you get down there, then you realize the fight for Fallujah is up close and it's dirty. Insurgents and Marines are facing off only about 200 yards apart.

As I was standing on this rooftop vantage point, about 800 yards away, watching a U.S. Cobra and a Huey pound insurgent positions, I remembered once reading that taking the glamour out of a helicopter gunship was like taking the sex out of the Rolling Stones.

But from here, it didn't look very glamorous to be doing the killing or doing the dying. In this wild west town, a kind of Iraqi Tijuana minus the tequila.

Nobody talks too much around here about dying or getting hurt. Mostly we talk about cold beer and girls.

One Marine, though, had been thinking. He said to me, you know the worst thing about dying, that it starts out a normal day, then it's all over.

Well, that was this day. It was a Monday, an early start. We could still see the stars. The call to morning prayers was drifting from the mosques. When the Marine platoon broke into the two buildings it had to occupy as observation posts for the day, things were still pretty normal. Some of the Marines even got time for a nap. I know I did. That was until hell broke loose.

That flash is an insurgent rocket smashing against the window. That Marine pulled himself back up and carried on shooting. It was only when they began dragging wounded Marines screaming into the room where we were that it seemed a bit more real. Fear, yes, especially the first five minutes, until I had time to settle a bit. Fear, too, that you could die in such an anonymous place while your folks back home were still sleeping.

One Marine died in that house, about 14 others were wounded. Doing the math that normal Monday, you had only a four to one chance of getting out unscathed.

So after that, running back down these alleyways seemed like a relief. By the time we reached the far corner, a Marine said...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, when I fire, you go. You too, Holmes (ph). Go.

PENHAUL: We were back in the movies.

(on camera): But one Marine did die, a young lance corporal. Was there really any point to it? An impersonal death in a dusty alleyway. You see that's the worst thing about dying, it starts out a normal day, then it's all over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Very powerful.

Karl Penhaul joins us live from Iraq right now.

And, Karl, you look at those Marines and how brave, how courageous they are and then you look at what's happening in the prisons. And are the Marines aware of what's happening with this prisoner abuse scandal?

PENHAUL: Certainly they were certainly towards the latter stages of events in Fallujah. The prison story tended to take over a lot of the news coverage here, Carol. They became very aware of that. And I think that they did feel, from what I saw of them, big disconnect between what they were doing and what was going on though in those prisons. Very few of those that I spoke to condoned or even understood really what had been going on in the prisons.

What they really understood was the job that they had been doing. And as you can see from those pictures, a very dangerous job, indeed, that they are doing. And they are well aware that every day could be their last. In fact, the company that we were with in the course of nearly a month in Fallujah, they lost about a third of their combat force to wounds and also deaths. And so they were very aware of the dangers there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Another question for you. I know that the U.S. Marines pulled back from Fallujah to allow Iraqi generals to take over the security there. They are going back into Fallujah for the first time now. Tell us more about that.

PENHAUL: I've also seen those reports today, Carol. It seems a relatively small convoy of American Marines, backed by Iraqi security forces, went to the mayor's office in downtown Fallujah, I guess to meet the mayor and just have a brief meeting there. And then they pulled back, back to their camp, which is outside the main city limits of Fallujah. I would guess at this stage a little probe, if you like, symbolic rather than particularly significant. And we do understand that the time being the security aspects themselves are still going to remain in the hands of the Iraqi security forces -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul live from Baghdad this morning. Thank you.

Italian anti-terrorism police believe they have broken up a cell that may have been planning suicide attacks in Iraq.

For more on these arrests, we're joined by CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci. He is live in London this morning.

Tell us about this -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.

Well the arrests include one Algerian cleric and four Tunisian nationals all arrested overnight, Sunday into Monday Italian time, after a nightlong raid by Italian police. All of them kind (ph) investigators say were legally resident in Italy, but they are saying that these arrests come after a yearlong investigation after one of them had briefly been detained a year ago and let released because there was not enough evidence against him. But the Italian investigators kept a close eye on him, including a series of wiretaps and monitoring of phone conversations between one of these men and the other members of this alleged terrorist cell.

Italian investigators also believe that, according to those wiretaps, this group was recruiting some possible suicide or alleged suicide attackers that would then be able to carry out attacks in Iraq. The reason why Italian investigators had to break up this cell is because, according to one of the wiretaps, the investigators heard that one of them, at least one of these suspects was about to leave for Iraq and carry out their attacks. At least there was also a quote in one of those wiretaps saying within a month I will be finally a martyr, therefore Italian investigators really wanted to break up this cell before he could leave for Iraq and carry out that attack.

Now these suspects have not been formally charged yet, but they have been detained on suspicion to belonging to an international terrorist organization. And indeed, Italian investigators believe that the suspects belong to the Ansar Al-Islam, which is, as you know, a terrorist organization based in northern Iraq who has allegedly been responsible for a series of attacks against Western targets, including coalition forces in Iraq. And therefore, Italian investigators are really linking those five suspects to the international terrorism and possibly to al Qaeda -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So were these Italian nationals, from what country did they come and were they also planning to carry out attacks in Italy?

VINCI: Well there is -- there is speculation in the Italian press that at least one of the suspects was talking about possibly carrying out an attack in a shopping mall in Florence or even in a -- in a theater. But Italian investigators are denying that report. But certainly after the recent attacks, for example, in Madrid, Italian investigators are telling me frequently that they do believe that Italy is very much high on the list of possible terrorist attacks and therefore, they are not really ruling anything out. They are really keeping a close eye on these people. And this particular arrest has really been a good indication about how Italian investigators are really trying to do all they can and taking no chances in letting these people around without being under close scrutiny.

COSTELLO: Alessio Vinci reporting live from London this morning.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, fallout from the explosion that killed the president of Chechnya. We're going to have a live report for you out of Moscow.

Also in the next hour, a court hearing for Kobe Bryant, the NBA star expected to plead not guilty to sexual assault charges. We'll take you live to Eagle, Colorado.

This is DAYBREAK for May 10. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This just in to CNN. There has been an attack in Sadr City in Baghdad. We have new pictures coming in to CNN and David Clinch is here to tell us what those pictures show us.

CLINCH: Yes, Carol, we have actually seen a number of incidents in and around Baghdad today. This particular video we have just received from one of the agencies in Baghdad appears to show a U.S. humvee on fire in an area of Baghdad, just on the outskirts, on the circular road that goes around. This is an area called al Adel (ph).

Now this is, again, one of these incidents. We saw a lot of these incidents over the past few months. The so-called Sunni Triangle includes Baghdad, of course. No indication at all that attacks like this on U.S. convoys and vehicles have stopped.

We have also seen another sequence of video coming in today of the Shiite rebellion continuing. Now those two things coincide in one place in Iraq and that is Baghdad itself, because one area of Baghdad, Sadr City, which is this area here, we have seen the supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr very angry this morning. There were reports last night that the U.S. attacked the headquarters of al-Sadr last night. We haven't been able to confirm that, but we have seen tanks in the streets of Sadr City, again, the Shiite area in Baghdad.

You can see them here. You see the crowd of Iraqis obviously not happy to see these American tanks rolling down the streets. You see them chasing them, throwing rocks, other missiles, whatever they can get their hands on to hit the tanks as they go through. Really powerless to stop them, but obviously anger.

And the increasing signs of a military face-off with al-Sadr and his militia growing, and particularly in that area, because if you think about Najaf and the other areas, you have got the mosques and those concerns there. Sadr City, that's not so much of a concern, so you have really seen a lot of military activity in that part of Baghdad. And obviously elsewhere in Baghdad today, the attack on that humvee as well. So we'll...

COSTELLO: Well when we see a burning humvee, we always think of casualties. Any word?

CLINCH: We have not heard any reports. We haven't even had this incident confirmed yet. So many things going on today. The U.S. military has not given us confirmation of the details of that attack. We are pushing them for details on that. As soon as we have them, we'll bring them to you.

COSTELLO: Appreciate that. Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:49 Eastern Time. Kobe Bryant should be in court today for the next round of hearings in his sexual assault case. Bryant is expected to enter a plea of not guilty later this week.

In money news, another big bank merger, SunTrust acquired the National Commerce Financial Corporation for $7 billion in cash and stock. With the merger, SunTrust becomes one of the top 10 largest banks in this country.

In sports, the Calgary Flames used another overtime goal to beat the San Jose Sharks in game one of the Western Conference Championships. Calgary has won four games in overtime during the post season.

And in culture, monsters and mayhem captured your attention this weekend. Hugh Jackman in "Van Helsing" opened in the top spot at the box office with more than $54 million in ticket sales -- Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Tensions are running high in Chechnya and Russia this morning following the assassination of Chechnya's president. Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in an explosion during Victory Day celebrations in the Republic's capital.

For more on the aftermath of this attack, let's head live to Moscow and CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

Good morning -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well a total of 57 people injured in that attack, 6 people killed, among them a cameraman from the Reuters News Agency, and as you said, the Russian-backed leader of Chechnya, Mr. Akhmad Kadyrov. Mr. Kadyrov was buried just a couple of hours ago in his hometown in Chechnya. Thousands of people reportedly turning out for that burial to pay their tribute to the late president.

Now this attack took place at about 10:30 in the morning local time on Sunday as the entire Russian political and military leadership were attending a Victory Day celebration there, actually a military parade, to honor the 59th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. That's when this bomb went off.

It was planted, according to Russian security officials, directly beneath the VIP stand. Its blast so strong it actually reached out and killed several people and injured the Russian commander in charge of all Russian forces in Chechnya.

Now the Russian president has appointed an acting or an interim leader, but they are going to have to have new elections. That is something that could bring new turbulence to Chechnya in the next four months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live from Moscow this morning.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, teen drivers and cell phones. Some state lawmakers say they are like oil and water or oil and vinegar. We'll have a report for you from California.

And Shaquille O'Neal lands or leads the way in a Lakers first shootout. Our sports contributor Chris Cotter has the latest for you on the NBA playoffs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Most teens love to talk and cell phones make it so much easier to hook up with friends. But teens and cell phones can be a lethal combination behind the wheel.

And as our Rusty Dornin reports, California lawmakers are planning a crackdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many teens, when 17-year-old Anthony Gilmore gets behind the wheel, he likes to multi-task.

GILMORE: And like I can hold it and dial like this, if necessary. And, you know, the phones are fairly easy. A lot of people have speed dial sets.

DORNIN: That's worrisome to some legislators in California, who are considering a bill to ban cell phone use for drivers under 18. Teen drivers, according to the Institute for Highway Safety, are four times more likely to crash than older drivers, cell phones or no.

DEBRA BOWEN (D), CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: I looked at the accident risk. I looked at the risk not only to the driver, but to everyone else on the road. And it was so clear that this group of inexperienced drivers poses a much greater risk than more experienced drivers.

DORNIN: Several states are considering making a similar call for drivers under the age of 21. Some teens agree that a ban might be safer, even one who couldn't put down her cell phone long enough to answer the interviewers question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you can distracted. You're not really all enough aware when you're driving for a long time. So, you know, you'll be talking on your phone and driving at the same time. So I think that's a good idea.

DORNIN: A Harvard study from 2002 says the use of cell phones leads to about 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries. New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. have banned all cell phone use by drivers. But the young are invincible, or so they think. GILMORE: As long as you're a little cautious and you pay attention, it's not very difficult to operate a hand phone while driving, no.

DORNIN: But for California's teens, law makers are considering telling them to just hang up and drive.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: In the next hour of DAYBREAK, back home in Mississippi. Thomas Hamill said his faith carried him through his three weeks of captivity in Iraq. We'll have a full report for you.

British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon goes before Parliament today to answer questions about prisoner abuse in Iraq. We'll have a live report for you out of London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: These pictures just in to CNN. A U.S. military humvee on fire in Baghdad's Sadr City.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, May 10.

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