Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Death of Former President Ronald Reagan; Reaction by Horse Racing Sponsors to Smarty Jones's Loss

Aired June 07, 2004 - 06:00   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: Mourners will gather at this quiet presidential library today to remember a leader, a citizen, their friend.
It is Monday, June 7.

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 now.

Flags are at half staff across the nation as Americans and others remember the nation's 40th president. Later today, there will be a private ceremony for the Reagan family at the presidential library in California's Simi Valley. A public viewing begins at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Ronald Reagan died on Saturday at the age of 93.

President Bush and the first lady are on the Georgia coast this morning. But it's no vacation. The president is hosting the G8 summit of world industrial leaders, which begins tomorrow on Sea Island.

In money news, the dollar falls to a two month low against the euro. Investors are taking profits after strong gains in the U.S. job market.

In sports, Shaq scores 34 points, Kobe 25, the rest of the Lakers a mere 16 points. The final score in the first game of the NBA Finals, Detroit 87, the Lakers 75.

In culture, Phylicia Rashad becomes the first African-American to win a Tony award for a dramatic leading role. She plays Lena Younger in "A Raisin In the Sun."

"Avenue Q" wins for the -- wins the Tony for the best musical -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, if you're at the beach this weekend, or if you were, you probably saw a pretty low tide. Folks out here in Puget Sound out here to the West Coast saw one of the lowest tides in 19 years, 36 factors. I didn't know this. Thirty-six factors turn into a tide, one or the other, up and down. And every 19 years we get all 36 things to line up, a super low tide. The last lowest tide like this, again, 19 years ago last week.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thousands of you will get the chance to say good-bye to Ronald Reagan later today. His body will lie in repose at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. And then his body will be flown to Washington, D.C.

And that's where we take you now live.

Bill Prasad is there to tell us more -- good morning, Bill.

BILL PRASAD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

There are actually mixed emotions here in Washington today. There's, of course, a sense of sorrow that Ronald Reagan is gone, but there are also feelings of relief that the suffering has finally ended for Mr. Reagan and his family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRASAD (voice-over): Saddened by his death, moved by his life -- about 30 people gather across the street from the White House to light candles, wave flags and remember the 40th president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was kind of everybody's grandfather, too. You know, he had a good sense of humor and he was a good president.

PRASAD: President Bush has ordered flags lowered to half staff for 30 days. Wednesday, Ronald Reagan's body will arrive in Washington. Thursday, Mr. Reagan will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, allowing the public a rare opportunity to directly pay its respects to a president. Condolences are pouring in from all over the world.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, FORMER SOVIET PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): He had foresight, intuition and determination that together, we could eliminate nuclear weapons.

PRASAD: Friday will be a national day of mourning, with federal departments and agencies closed. Mr. Reagan's national funeral will be held at the National Cathedral that morning.

ROBERT DALLEK, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's as if the passing of royalty, the passing of an era, the passing of someone who is larger than life.

PRASAD: President Bush will speak at the funeral, saying good- bye to a man whose smile brought optimism to Washington and whose foresight changed the political landscape forever. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PRASAD: Dignitaries from all over the world are expected to attend the Friday funeral service here in Washington. Some of them are already in the U.S. due to the World Economic Summit being held this week in Georgia -- Carol, back to you. COSTELLO: Bill Prasad live in D.C.

So, again, today and tomorrow, President Reagan will lie in repose at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. And then the body departs for Washington on Wednesday. At that time, President Reagan will be put on a horse drawn carriage and taken down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol. Thousands are expected to walk past the casket as the president lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda. President Reagan just the tenth president to be given that honor.

On Friday, a service will be held at the National Cathedral and after that service, President Reagan will be taken back to California for burial at the Reagan Library.

And as plans are being made for the official tributes to the former president, he is being remembered fondly today by politicians on both sides of the aisle. He's being remembered by entertainers and ordinary Americans.

Here's what some of them are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Ronald Reagan allowed millions of people to walk in freedom today because he had the ability to challenge, when the rest of the world stepped back, he stepped forward and challenged the Soviet Union. And I think because of that, there are people that walk in freedom today.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Oh, he never lost that, you know, common touch that really communicated effectively with Americans from every part of our country.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The lasting impact is that he won the cold war and we are now in an era which is a very dangerous world, but we don't wake up every morning with the threat of a nuclear exchange which could annihilate the globe.

LL COOL J, SINGER/ACTOR: He's proof that a man can do anything, and more than one thing. So many people try to place limitations on people, you know, in different ways, like, well, you know, if you do this, you can't do that. And if you do that, you can't do this. Well, guess what? He was a movie star and he became president of the United States and he ended the cold war. So that's a pretty nice hat trick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Be sure to tune in later this afternoon for a CNN special report "Remembering Ronald Reagan." Judy Woodruff and Anderson Cooper look back at the president and his legacy. That comes your way today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Only last minute details remain in preparation for the Group of Eight economic summit. It opens tomorrow on Sea Island, Georgia. Thousands of law and National Guard troops are patrolling the five mile long island. Protesters being kept miles away on the Georgia mainland.

President Bush may use the G8 summit to try to heal the rift with Europe over U.S. Middle East policies. And the European countries have their own agendas.

Our European political editor Robin Oakley has this report from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With France's Jacques Chirac as the host last year, two presidents who'd fallen out over Iraq were some ways short of their hugging as they staged a show of civility.

BUSH: We'd like a cup of coffee, please.

OAKLEY: This year, the war still casts a shadow, but a lesser one. The French president is treading a softer pedal. And Germany's Chancellor Schroeder, the other war critic, is now keen to chum up with Washington.

RICHARD WHITMAN, ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: The Germans are really interested at the moment, and this is their key foreign policy objective, is to secure a seat on the U.N. Security Council. So they're very much concerned with making sure that they're viewed favorably by the U.S.

OAKLEY: With D-Day commemorations just over for many of them and a NATO summit to come in Istanbul this month, the leaders will want to accentuate the positive, not least their host.

KATYNKA BARYSCH, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN REFORM: It is very much a pre-election G8 summit. You can see it very clearly. The United States trying to highlight topics that make the U.S. look more, you know, in a conciliatory mood on the global stage.

OAKLEY: But that doesn't mean the Europeans will be a pushover on Mr. Bush's plans for the Middle East, where the Europeans see him as too close to Israel's Ariel Sharon.

WHITMAN: This is interesting and one of the areas in which all of the European participants agree. And there is a clear European foreign policy line. They don't really like the U.S. stance.

OAKLEY: But G8 meetings are partly group therapy for world leaders to share their problems. And this year, terrorism and its likely effect on world oil prices will see the European leaders lining up with the U.S. in common concern.

BARYSCH: They might not be so reliant on cheap oil as the American economy is, but they obviously have a very high stake in the world economy picking up. So they will want to talk about oil.

OAKLEY (on camera): Experts say the European leaders will come to Sea Island, Georgia nervous about those rising oil prices and eager for their own reasons to paper over any remaining cracks on Iraq. Lining up for the class photo, they'll be content to form the backdrop for a president soon to face the electors. But uncertain if he'll be in it next year, they won't let him push them too far.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Time now for some stories making news across America this Monday.

More voting questions in Florida. The state supervisors of elections meets this week to discuss the number of felons on the voter rolls. The supervisors say they will not remove names from the voter rolls until they find an accurate way to determine who should be purged.

In Maryland, an Amtrak passenger train was stopped and evacuated after someone saw suspicious activity on board. Two men were questioned and then released. The 233 passengers on board the train completed their journey to Washington by bus.

Jury selection set to begin in the first Enron criminal trial. The jury will decide if executives from Enron and Merrill Lynch conspired to manipulate Enron's bottom line. The four Merrill Lynch and two Enron execs allegedly took part in a sham sale of barges to make it look like Enron reached its earnings targets.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a week of mourning begins today. We take you live to the Reagan Presidential Library, where the attention of the nation will be focused the next two days.

And then, veterans remember their comrades 60 years after the invasion that changed the outcome of a world war.

And a precious phrase for many, a point of contention for others. The legal debate over the Pledge of Allegiance could be decided as early as today.

This is DAYBREAK for June 7.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz now.

Horse fans were not the only ones saddened by Smarty Jones's loss. Did you watch that race? It was heartbreaking. Well, corporate sponsors are heartbroken, too, this morning.

Carrie Lee has more on that live from the NASDAQ market site.

Oh, well...

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, yes, it was a very close one. Certainly a lot of people expected the things -- the race to end up differently, include Visa. This is a company that has sponsored the horse racing for the past couple of years, but now for the third consecutive year since Visa has begun its sponsorship, Smarty Jones this time around for this year did not win the Triple Crown.

And this is a big decision Visa has to deal with going forward -- is the company going to continue sponsoring a sporting challenge that might never produce a winner? No horse has own the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont since 1978. Had Smarty Jones held onto the win, Visa's chief executive would have appeared on NBC's broadcast of the Belmont to present that cardboard mockup of the horse's owners -- to the horse's owners. They would have handed out thousands of wallet sized replica of a Visa card with Smarty Jones's name on it.

So they spent a lot of time and effort gearing up for something that didn't happen. Going forward, Carol, they'll have to decide whether this is something they're going to continue.

COSTELLO: Poor Visa.

LEE: This according to the "New York Times," by the way, this story.

COSTELLO: Poor Visa.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: I mean Visa has been having so many troubles lately, hasn't it?

LEE: Yes, well, you know, credit card companies are always looking for some avenue to boost their business.

COSTELLO: Yes, they are.

A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Things are looking pretty solid this morning. We could see a solidly higher open at 9:30. No real economic reports to drive the session. Of course, we're kind of getting into that summer period. And, by the way, the New York Stock Exchange is going to observe a two minute moment of silence to honor the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. So at 9:30, there's going to be that two minute period where people can observe his passing -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right.

Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 6:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

President Reagan's body will lie in state Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington. Until then, people can pay their respects at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. President Bush arrives in Georgia ahead of the Group of Eight summit tomorrow on Sea Island. Gunboats, helicopters, police and National Guard troops now on patrol. Tight security keeping thousands of G8 protesters away.

In money news, low rate student loans may be a thing of the past. Congress is considering a bill that would end the current three percent rate. The bill would make rates variable starting in 2006.

In sports, Smarty Jones, you just heard it, may have lost out on the Triple Crown, but he was a winner for NBC. See, someone's happy? The network posted the highest TV ratings for the Belmont stakes since 1977. And, of course, that was the year Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown.

In culture, the third one even more charming. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" earned $92.7 million at the box office over the weekend. And that tops the openings of the first two Harry Potter movies -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

It was an unprecedented military invasion that turned the tide of World War 2 and those who gave their lives in this fight for freedom were honored over the weekend during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from Normandy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): D-Day anniversaries are always filled with tributes to fallen comrades, to old alliances.

But the memories this D-Day took in far more. Prayers and flags at half staff remember the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who just 20 years ago was at the center of the D-Day commemorations.

With the German chancellor invited to a D-Day anniversary for the first time, the German-French ceremony concentrated on memories of the recent past, not the years of war and conflict that eventually led to D-Day itself.

But the recent past was carefully avoided at the French-American tributes. Relations are still fragile between their two countries, and so the two presidents chose to remember their gratitude and the sacrifice of their veterans.

BUSH: It is a strange turn of history that called on young men from the prairie towns and city streets of America to cross an ocean and throw back the marching, mechanized evils of fascism.

And those young men did it. You did it.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (THROUGH INTERPRETER: The message of France is indeed a message of friendship and brotherhood, a message of thanks.

BITTERMANN: Sixteen other heads of state and government and thousands of dignitaries, that there could be no future without memory.

But choosing exactly what to remember was key to getting through a complicated day where not all national memories are positive ones.

And in the end, what all who gathered on the beaches of Normandy had in common was an uncommon admiration for the once young men and women, both living and dead, who laid their lives on the line for freedom, in a war without moral ambiguity.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, on the Normandy coast of France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, the latest from the current war front where American troops are still fighting.

And a story from Iraq that is sure to make us all think twice the next time we fill up our gas tanks. How about gas for $0.05 a gallon?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Here's our situation report out of Iraq this morning.

More debate at the U.N. today over the U.S.-British draft resolution on Iraqi sovereignty. The U.S. is pushing for a vote tomorrow, but France is proposing an amendment to ensure Iraq's new interim government can veto sensitive offensive operations by coalition forces.

In Iraq, an explosion rocked a mosque in Kufa today. A coalition official says the blast was related to stores of ammunition kept at the mosque by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia. But militia members say an American rocket hit the ammunition, triggering the blast.

The Unification and Jihad Group claims responsible for suicide car bomb attacks that killed at least eight Iraqis in Taji, north of Baghdad, over the weekend. Five of them were police officers.

Also this weekend, a U.S. soldier was killed when a mortar struck an American base at Falad (ph) near Baghdad. Another soldier was wounded. Both were assigned to the Army's 13th Corps Support Command.

The continued terrorist attacks and casualties are not lost on President Bush.

During an NBC interview, the president insisted the war can be won.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM NBC)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this war that we're fighting, there's fanatics who hide in cities and caves and kill innocent people. Both armies or both movements are trying to dispirit the free world. It's very important that Americans understand this, that we can win the war on terror, like we won the war against communism and like we won the war against fascism, by being tough and strong and spreading freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In that interview, the president also urged Americans to always remember the sacrifice the troops are making.

And on the subject of Iraq, an interesting story in the Associated Press this morning about how much the Iraqis are paying per gallon of gas.

MYERS: Yes. A nickel.

COSTELLO: Five cents a gallon. We're not kidding.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: It's a strange thing, you know, when we went to war with Iraq, it was thought that, you know, there's a lot of oil in Iraq, of course.

MYERS: Sure.

COSTELLO: We thought that that would make gas prices go down not only in Iraq, but in the United States, as well. But that's certainly not happening because the oil pipelines there are not exactly in good repair.

So what's happening is the United States is importing oil from other countries for the Iraqis to use. And it costs Americans...

MYERS: Right, a buck and a half. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein, or at least for that country, anyway, was basically giving away the gasoline, giving it to the people at a nickel a gallon. And now the U.S. is between a rock and you know what. And can say -- we can't make a buck and a half or two bucks a gallon. These people are going to revolt. So they can fill up a 22 gallon gas tank for $1.10, as we, the taxpayers, pay the difference.

COSTELLO: That's right. Because for a three month supply of oil for Iraq it costs American taxpayers $500 million.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: So just something to vent your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning.

MYERS: So now you know. But at least we're not in Britain. We're not paying $5.79 a gallon. My goodness.

COSTELLO: I know. That's what people keep saying, but I don't think Americans really care.

MYERS: You know I...

COSTELLO: I'm sorry, our British friends.

MYERS: I went to France probably, I don't know, maybe eight years ago. And I got a diesel minivan as my rental car. It still, it got 30 miles a gallon. But my goodness, it was $80 to fill that thing up, and that was years and years ago.

COSTELLO: I know. It's crazy.

MYERS: It is over there. It's nuts.

COSTELLO: But you still complain about the prices here in America, don't you?

MYERS: Down to $1.82 in my hood.

COSTELLO: Good for you.

Coming up in the next half hour of DAYBREAK, besides the world economy, the war in Iraq will likely be a topic at this week's G8 summit in Georgia. We'll share some of the latest developments from there.

And we'll take you live to California, where the week of mourning will begin at a Reagan Presidential Library.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Later this morning, thousands of you will file by President Reagan's casket. It is a chance to say a final good-bye.

It is Monday, June 7.

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 right now.

Mourners gathered over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and they will be there today to begin filing past the former president's casket. Friday will be a national day of mourning for Mr. Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93.

An Amtrak train bound for Washington was stopped, evacuated and searched in Maryland after a report of suspicious activity by two men. Nothing threatening was found and the two men were released after questioning.

In money news, "Maxim," the magazine for men, will launch a new 24 hour radio channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio this summer. "Maxim" officials say they are confident of success, even though they can't show the pictures of women that are a staple of the magazine.

In sports, Ken Griffey, Jr. of Cincinnati homered twice against Montreal. His career total is now two short of 500. Griffey has nine home runs in his last 14 games.

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 June 7, 2004 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Mourners will gather at this quiet presidential library today to remember a leader, a citizen, their friend.
It is Monday, June 7.

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 now.

Flags are at half staff across the nation as Americans and others remember the nation's 40th president. Later today, there will be a private ceremony for the Reagan family at the presidential library in California's Simi Valley. A public viewing begins at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Ronald Reagan died on Saturday at the age of 93.

President Bush and the first lady are on the Georgia coast this morning. But it's no vacation. The president is hosting the G8 summit of world industrial leaders, which begins tomorrow on Sea Island.

In money news, the dollar falls to a two month low against the euro. Investors are taking profits after strong gains in the U.S. job market.

In sports, Shaq scores 34 points, Kobe 25, the rest of the Lakers a mere 16 points. The final score in the first game of the NBA Finals, Detroit 87, the Lakers 75.

In culture, Phylicia Rashad becomes the first African-American to win a Tony award for a dramatic leading role. She plays Lena Younger in "A Raisin In the Sun."

"Avenue Q" wins for the -- wins the Tony for the best musical -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, if you're at the beach this weekend, or if you were, you probably saw a pretty low tide. Folks out here in Puget Sound out here to the West Coast saw one of the lowest tides in 19 years, 36 factors. I didn't know this. Thirty-six factors turn into a tide, one or the other, up and down. And every 19 years we get all 36 things to line up, a super low tide. The last lowest tide like this, again, 19 years ago last week.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thousands of you will get the chance to say good-bye to Ronald Reagan later today. His body will lie in repose at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. And then his body will be flown to Washington, D.C.

And that's where we take you now live.

Bill Prasad is there to tell us more -- good morning, Bill.

BILL PRASAD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

There are actually mixed emotions here in Washington today. There's, of course, a sense of sorrow that Ronald Reagan is gone, but there are also feelings of relief that the suffering has finally ended for Mr. Reagan and his family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRASAD (voice-over): Saddened by his death, moved by his life -- about 30 people gather across the street from the White House to light candles, wave flags and remember the 40th president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was kind of everybody's grandfather, too. You know, he had a good sense of humor and he was a good president.

PRASAD: President Bush has ordered flags lowered to half staff for 30 days. Wednesday, Ronald Reagan's body will arrive in Washington. Thursday, Mr. Reagan will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, allowing the public a rare opportunity to directly pay its respects to a president. Condolences are pouring in from all over the world.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, FORMER SOVIET PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): He had foresight, intuition and determination that together, we could eliminate nuclear weapons.

PRASAD: Friday will be a national day of mourning, with federal departments and agencies closed. Mr. Reagan's national funeral will be held at the National Cathedral that morning.

ROBERT DALLEK, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's as if the passing of royalty, the passing of an era, the passing of someone who is larger than life.

PRASAD: President Bush will speak at the funeral, saying good- bye to a man whose smile brought optimism to Washington and whose foresight changed the political landscape forever. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PRASAD: Dignitaries from all over the world are expected to attend the Friday funeral service here in Washington. Some of them are already in the U.S. due to the World Economic Summit being held this week in Georgia -- Carol, back to you. COSTELLO: Bill Prasad live in D.C.

So, again, today and tomorrow, President Reagan will lie in repose at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. And then the body departs for Washington on Wednesday. At that time, President Reagan will be put on a horse drawn carriage and taken down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol. Thousands are expected to walk past the casket as the president lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda. President Reagan just the tenth president to be given that honor.

On Friday, a service will be held at the National Cathedral and after that service, President Reagan will be taken back to California for burial at the Reagan Library.

And as plans are being made for the official tributes to the former president, he is being remembered fondly today by politicians on both sides of the aisle. He's being remembered by entertainers and ordinary Americans.

Here's what some of them are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Ronald Reagan allowed millions of people to walk in freedom today because he had the ability to challenge, when the rest of the world stepped back, he stepped forward and challenged the Soviet Union. And I think because of that, there are people that walk in freedom today.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Oh, he never lost that, you know, common touch that really communicated effectively with Americans from every part of our country.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The lasting impact is that he won the cold war and we are now in an era which is a very dangerous world, but we don't wake up every morning with the threat of a nuclear exchange which could annihilate the globe.

LL COOL J, SINGER/ACTOR: He's proof that a man can do anything, and more than one thing. So many people try to place limitations on people, you know, in different ways, like, well, you know, if you do this, you can't do that. And if you do that, you can't do this. Well, guess what? He was a movie star and he became president of the United States and he ended the cold war. So that's a pretty nice hat trick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Be sure to tune in later this afternoon for a CNN special report "Remembering Ronald Reagan." Judy Woodruff and Anderson Cooper look back at the president and his legacy. That comes your way today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Only last minute details remain in preparation for the Group of Eight economic summit. It opens tomorrow on Sea Island, Georgia. Thousands of law and National Guard troops are patrolling the five mile long island. Protesters being kept miles away on the Georgia mainland.

President Bush may use the G8 summit to try to heal the rift with Europe over U.S. Middle East policies. And the European countries have their own agendas.

Our European political editor Robin Oakley has this report from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With France's Jacques Chirac as the host last year, two presidents who'd fallen out over Iraq were some ways short of their hugging as they staged a show of civility.

BUSH: We'd like a cup of coffee, please.

OAKLEY: This year, the war still casts a shadow, but a lesser one. The French president is treading a softer pedal. And Germany's Chancellor Schroeder, the other war critic, is now keen to chum up with Washington.

RICHARD WHITMAN, ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: The Germans are really interested at the moment, and this is their key foreign policy objective, is to secure a seat on the U.N. Security Council. So they're very much concerned with making sure that they're viewed favorably by the U.S.

OAKLEY: With D-Day commemorations just over for many of them and a NATO summit to come in Istanbul this month, the leaders will want to accentuate the positive, not least their host.

KATYNKA BARYSCH, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN REFORM: It is very much a pre-election G8 summit. You can see it very clearly. The United States trying to highlight topics that make the U.S. look more, you know, in a conciliatory mood on the global stage.

OAKLEY: But that doesn't mean the Europeans will be a pushover on Mr. Bush's plans for the Middle East, where the Europeans see him as too close to Israel's Ariel Sharon.

WHITMAN: This is interesting and one of the areas in which all of the European participants agree. And there is a clear European foreign policy line. They don't really like the U.S. stance.

OAKLEY: But G8 meetings are partly group therapy for world leaders to share their problems. And this year, terrorism and its likely effect on world oil prices will see the European leaders lining up with the U.S. in common concern.

BARYSCH: They might not be so reliant on cheap oil as the American economy is, but they obviously have a very high stake in the world economy picking up. So they will want to talk about oil.

OAKLEY (on camera): Experts say the European leaders will come to Sea Island, Georgia nervous about those rising oil prices and eager for their own reasons to paper over any remaining cracks on Iraq. Lining up for the class photo, they'll be content to form the backdrop for a president soon to face the electors. But uncertain if he'll be in it next year, they won't let him push them too far.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Time now for some stories making news across America this Monday.

More voting questions in Florida. The state supervisors of elections meets this week to discuss the number of felons on the voter rolls. The supervisors say they will not remove names from the voter rolls until they find an accurate way to determine who should be purged.

In Maryland, an Amtrak passenger train was stopped and evacuated after someone saw suspicious activity on board. Two men were questioned and then released. The 233 passengers on board the train completed their journey to Washington by bus.

Jury selection set to begin in the first Enron criminal trial. The jury will decide if executives from Enron and Merrill Lynch conspired to manipulate Enron's bottom line. The four Merrill Lynch and two Enron execs allegedly took part in a sham sale of barges to make it look like Enron reached its earnings targets.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a week of mourning begins today. We take you live to the Reagan Presidential Library, where the attention of the nation will be focused the next two days.

And then, veterans remember their comrades 60 years after the invasion that changed the outcome of a world war.

And a precious phrase for many, a point of contention for others. The legal debate over the Pledge of Allegiance could be decided as early as today.

This is DAYBREAK for June 7.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz now.

Horse fans were not the only ones saddened by Smarty Jones's loss. Did you watch that race? It was heartbreaking. Well, corporate sponsors are heartbroken, too, this morning.

Carrie Lee has more on that live from the NASDAQ market site.

Oh, well...

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, yes, it was a very close one. Certainly a lot of people expected the things -- the race to end up differently, include Visa. This is a company that has sponsored the horse racing for the past couple of years, but now for the third consecutive year since Visa has begun its sponsorship, Smarty Jones this time around for this year did not win the Triple Crown.

And this is a big decision Visa has to deal with going forward -- is the company going to continue sponsoring a sporting challenge that might never produce a winner? No horse has own the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont since 1978. Had Smarty Jones held onto the win, Visa's chief executive would have appeared on NBC's broadcast of the Belmont to present that cardboard mockup of the horse's owners -- to the horse's owners. They would have handed out thousands of wallet sized replica of a Visa card with Smarty Jones's name on it.

So they spent a lot of time and effort gearing up for something that didn't happen. Going forward, Carol, they'll have to decide whether this is something they're going to continue.

COSTELLO: Poor Visa.

LEE: This according to the "New York Times," by the way, this story.

COSTELLO: Poor Visa.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: I mean Visa has been having so many troubles lately, hasn't it?

LEE: Yes, well, you know, credit card companies are always looking for some avenue to boost their business.

COSTELLO: Yes, they are.

A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Things are looking pretty solid this morning. We could see a solidly higher open at 9:30. No real economic reports to drive the session. Of course, we're kind of getting into that summer period. And, by the way, the New York Stock Exchange is going to observe a two minute moment of silence to honor the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. So at 9:30, there's going to be that two minute period where people can observe his passing -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right.

Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 6:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

President Reagan's body will lie in state Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington. Until then, people can pay their respects at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. President Bush arrives in Georgia ahead of the Group of Eight summit tomorrow on Sea Island. Gunboats, helicopters, police and National Guard troops now on patrol. Tight security keeping thousands of G8 protesters away.

In money news, low rate student loans may be a thing of the past. Congress is considering a bill that would end the current three percent rate. The bill would make rates variable starting in 2006.

In sports, Smarty Jones, you just heard it, may have lost out on the Triple Crown, but he was a winner for NBC. See, someone's happy? The network posted the highest TV ratings for the Belmont stakes since 1977. And, of course, that was the year Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown.

In culture, the third one even more charming. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" earned $92.7 million at the box office over the weekend. And that tops the openings of the first two Harry Potter movies -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

It was an unprecedented military invasion that turned the tide of World War 2 and those who gave their lives in this fight for freedom were honored over the weekend during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from Normandy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): D-Day anniversaries are always filled with tributes to fallen comrades, to old alliances.

But the memories this D-Day took in far more. Prayers and flags at half staff remember the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who just 20 years ago was at the center of the D-Day commemorations.

With the German chancellor invited to a D-Day anniversary for the first time, the German-French ceremony concentrated on memories of the recent past, not the years of war and conflict that eventually led to D-Day itself.

But the recent past was carefully avoided at the French-American tributes. Relations are still fragile between their two countries, and so the two presidents chose to remember their gratitude and the sacrifice of their veterans.

BUSH: It is a strange turn of history that called on young men from the prairie towns and city streets of America to cross an ocean and throw back the marching, mechanized evils of fascism.

And those young men did it. You did it.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (THROUGH INTERPRETER: The message of France is indeed a message of friendship and brotherhood, a message of thanks.

BITTERMANN: Sixteen other heads of state and government and thousands of dignitaries, that there could be no future without memory.

But choosing exactly what to remember was key to getting through a complicated day where not all national memories are positive ones.

And in the end, what all who gathered on the beaches of Normandy had in common was an uncommon admiration for the once young men and women, both living and dead, who laid their lives on the line for freedom, in a war without moral ambiguity.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, on the Normandy coast of France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, the latest from the current war front where American troops are still fighting.

And a story from Iraq that is sure to make us all think twice the next time we fill up our gas tanks. How about gas for $0.05 a gallon?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Here's our situation report out of Iraq this morning.

More debate at the U.N. today over the U.S.-British draft resolution on Iraqi sovereignty. The U.S. is pushing for a vote tomorrow, but France is proposing an amendment to ensure Iraq's new interim government can veto sensitive offensive operations by coalition forces.

In Iraq, an explosion rocked a mosque in Kufa today. A coalition official says the blast was related to stores of ammunition kept at the mosque by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia. But militia members say an American rocket hit the ammunition, triggering the blast.

The Unification and Jihad Group claims responsible for suicide car bomb attacks that killed at least eight Iraqis in Taji, north of Baghdad, over the weekend. Five of them were police officers.

Also this weekend, a U.S. soldier was killed when a mortar struck an American base at Falad (ph) near Baghdad. Another soldier was wounded. Both were assigned to the Army's 13th Corps Support Command.

The continued terrorist attacks and casualties are not lost on President Bush.

During an NBC interview, the president insisted the war can be won.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM NBC)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this war that we're fighting, there's fanatics who hide in cities and caves and kill innocent people. Both armies or both movements are trying to dispirit the free world. It's very important that Americans understand this, that we can win the war on terror, like we won the war against communism and like we won the war against fascism, by being tough and strong and spreading freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In that interview, the president also urged Americans to always remember the sacrifice the troops are making.

And on the subject of Iraq, an interesting story in the Associated Press this morning about how much the Iraqis are paying per gallon of gas.

MYERS: Yes. A nickel.

COSTELLO: Five cents a gallon. We're not kidding.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: It's a strange thing, you know, when we went to war with Iraq, it was thought that, you know, there's a lot of oil in Iraq, of course.

MYERS: Sure.

COSTELLO: We thought that that would make gas prices go down not only in Iraq, but in the United States, as well. But that's certainly not happening because the oil pipelines there are not exactly in good repair.

So what's happening is the United States is importing oil from other countries for the Iraqis to use. And it costs Americans...

MYERS: Right, a buck and a half. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein, or at least for that country, anyway, was basically giving away the gasoline, giving it to the people at a nickel a gallon. And now the U.S. is between a rock and you know what. And can say -- we can't make a buck and a half or two bucks a gallon. These people are going to revolt. So they can fill up a 22 gallon gas tank for $1.10, as we, the taxpayers, pay the difference.

COSTELLO: That's right. Because for a three month supply of oil for Iraq it costs American taxpayers $500 million.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: So just something to vent your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning.

MYERS: So now you know. But at least we're not in Britain. We're not paying $5.79 a gallon. My goodness.

COSTELLO: I know. That's what people keep saying, but I don't think Americans really care.

MYERS: You know I...

COSTELLO: I'm sorry, our British friends.

MYERS: I went to France probably, I don't know, maybe eight years ago. And I got a diesel minivan as my rental car. It still, it got 30 miles a gallon. But my goodness, it was $80 to fill that thing up, and that was years and years ago.

COSTELLO: I know. It's crazy.

MYERS: It is over there. It's nuts.

COSTELLO: But you still complain about the prices here in America, don't you?

MYERS: Down to $1.82 in my hood.

COSTELLO: Good for you.

Coming up in the next half hour of DAYBREAK, besides the world economy, the war in Iraq will likely be a topic at this week's G8 summit in Georgia. We'll share some of the latest developments from there.

And we'll take you live to California, where the week of mourning will begin at a Reagan Presidential Library.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Later this morning, thousands of you will file by President Reagan's casket. It is a chance to say a final good-bye.

It is Monday, June 7.

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 right now.

Mourners gathered over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and they will be there today to begin filing past the former president's casket. Friday will be a national day of mourning for Mr. Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93.

An Amtrak train bound for Washington was stopped, evacuated and searched in Maryland after a report of suspicious activity by two men. Nothing threatening was found and the two men were released after questioning.

In money news, "Maxim," the magazine for men, will launch a new 24 hour radio channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio this summer. "Maxim" officials say they are confident of success, even though they can't show the pictures of women that are a staple of the magazine.

In sports, Ken Griffey, Jr. of Cincinnati homered twice against Montreal. His career total is now two short of 500. Griffey has nine home runs in his last 14 games.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com