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CNN Live At Daybreak
Eye on the World; Remembering Reagan; Serial Rapist; Transit of Venus; Drug Study
Aired June 08, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In the run up to the June 30 handover of sovereignty, suicide bombers strike in two Iraqi cities.
It's Tuesday, June 8. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Let me bring you up to date right now.
Another bloody day in Iraq, suicide car bomb attacks in two Iraqi cities kill at least 11 people, including 1 American soldier. Dozens are injured this morning. The bombs went off in Baquba and Mosul.
It is about 2:30 in the morning in California and mourners are still filing past Ronald Reagan's flag-draped casket in Simi Valley. The former president's body will lie in repose at the Reagan Library until 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
In money news, Ford Motor Company is falling behind rival GM in the race to expand in China, the world's fastest growing auto market. Ford says it plans to crank out 65,000 cars in China this year. That's more than triple its output from last year.
In sports, Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells has apologized for calling the surprise plays used in practice Jap plays. Parcells says it was uncalled for and inconsiderate. The phrase is an apparent reference to the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor back in 1941.
In culture, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs now wears the title top menswear designer of the year. The Council of Fashion Designers of America honors his Sean John collection over such veterans as Ralph Lauren.
It's what you're wearing now, isn't it, Chad, some Sean John duds?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Man, that was a shiny little suit he had on there. I'd probably disappear here in the chromakey.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right. Thanks a lot -- Chad. MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Our senior international -- our senior international editor David Clinch is here to talk about the fight for Iraq this morning, two big suicide bombings in Mosul and Baquba. Bring us up to date.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, actually, three separate events that we're talking about today on the violent side. There is more going on in Iraq, but on the violent side, we had this incident in Baquba, an explosion right outside a U.S. base in Baquba, killing a number of Iraqis and a U.S. soldier. Very sort of cold blooded approach by the -- by the militants as they explode cars directly outside the U.S. bases so U.S. soldiers, who are actually looking at the cars approaching the bases as Iraqis come to work at the base each day, falling victim to the explosion.
Separately, in Mosul, two events there, a big bomb in the middle of the town, possibly targeting Iraqi officials, although that's not clear, but killing a number of Iraqis who were in the street.
COSTELLO: These pictures, the pictures that we were just seeing, it's obvious, for those were Iraqis being treated in hospitals, on the streets, in homes, where?
CLINCH: All of those things. And there are some pictures from the incident in Mosul we cannot show you. People were blown apart in the middle of the city there. But again, also separately, there are mortars lobbed directly at the base, the U.S. base in Mosul, a separate event from these bombs in the middle of town.
And then another event, apparently an accident, we're still getting some details, but two Polish soldiers and possibly some Slovaks and a Latvian killed in an accident as they were trying to de- mine an area in south of Baghdad as well.
COSTELLO: And this violence comes after the Iraqi, the new Iraqi prime minister made this deal, supposedly, with these militia groups in Iraq to lay down their arms.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: Except from Muqtada al-Sadr's group.
CLINCH: Right. Some of the militia groups. A very interesting development, some of these militias that have sort of been on the sidelines for many months here are now agreeing to disband. The key militia groups, specifically Muqtada al-Sadr, although there are some signs he may be pulling out of Najaf and other cities, no agreement to disarm there.
The most interesting event today not to do with the violence, we're being told pretty clearly now there will be a vote at the U.N. today on a new U.N. resolution put forward by the U.S. and Britain. Some very interesting compromises, nothing final yet, but the U.S. apparently agreeing that the Iraqi interim government will have some kind of an opt out clause here in regard to military control.
COSTELLO: And what the heck is that -- David?
CLINCH: Well we were talking last week about whether or not they would have veto control over U.S. forces. That's not going to happen. But apparently some kind of an idea that they, the Iraqi government, would basically be able to opt out, not take part and the Iraqi forces not take part...
COSTELLO: So if -- so if U.S. troops decide to fight somewhere, the Iraqi troops could say you go for it, we're out of it?
CLINCH: Right, that's the idea. The U.S. force is not taking orders from anybody. There will be coordination. And again, nothing final yet, but the idea being that the Iraqi forces could opt out if they needed to. We'll be -- we'll be looking very closely at the wording later today at the U.N.
COSTELLO: Yes, and that the vote is supposed to be taken, what, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern?
CLINCH: Right. And if it happens, if it's a yes, that's a -- that's a big story later today at the U.N. in New York.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- David.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Thousands spent the night quietly filing through the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. In fact, they're still doing that. It's where a 30-hour public viewing is going on nonstop before it ends tonight at 6:00 Pacific Time. The former president's body will then be flown to Washington in the morning.
A short service took place just before the casket went on display. After the service, Nancy Reagan, she walked over and gently lowered her cheek on to her husband's flag-draped coffin, a very touching moment. We see her daughter, Patty, there with her.
Some people are pushing for a more permanent memorial to the popular president. The ideas range from a monument on the Mall to putting his picture on the $10 bill.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at some of the other suggestions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan saw many things named for him, an aircraft carrier, an airport, office buildings, highways, on and on it goes. And now the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project wants his picture on the $10 bill.
GROVER NORQUIST, RONALD REAGAN LEGACY PROJECT: Alexander Hamilton has been on the bill for a long time. This is no disrespect to him. But in the past when presidents have passed away, they have replaced other people who weren't presidents. FOREMAN: The Treasury Department says it is too soon to discuss the idea, but Reagan fans also want a memorial on the Mall in Washington and that could prove tricky. Last year, controversy over the new World War II Memorial made Congress declare the Mall a completed work of art.
JOHN PARSONS, NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE: That is they have passed a law that prohibits memorials on the Mall in the future, which is problematic if the initiative is to build on the Mall.
FOREMAN: This sort of thing is always problematic. Renaming Washington's National Airport for Reagan and a rejected plan to put his face on Mount Rushmore both spurred debates.
(on camera): Only 11 presidents have monuments to their lives in Washington, D.C. Some, like Jefferson, for obvious reasons, but others, like Buchanan and Garfield, primarily because they had constituencies, people who strongly believed they should be remembered.
PARSONS: Right now, for instance, we're working on Eisenhower and Adams.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And it takes a long time. The FDR Memorial, authorized in 1959, was dedicated almost 40 years later. So Reagan admirers will have to wait. After all, there is even a law saying no memorial to a person can be erected here until 25 years after death and that law was signed by Ronald Reagan.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: All right, our e-mail question of the day.
MYERS: Yes, these are mine. The bottoms ones I just printed.
COSTELLO: Here, these are the ones you have printed.
Our e-mail question of the day is should President Reagan replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill? Most of our responses had been negative, until we said that, and then the positive ones started coming in.
MYERS: And then they all wake up, right. That's how you get it 50/50, you just put it out there.
COSTELLO: This is from Cheryl (ph) out in California. She says I think it would be a great idea to replace Hamilton on the $10 bill. Reagan was a wonderful president and I think the $10 bill should be updated with a familiar modern president who people could relate to.
MYERS: And from Brian (ph). He started thinking about this as soon as the day he heard that Ronald Reagan passed, which was Saturday. If there was any president worthy of the honor, it would be him. Maybe not the $10 bill but something, something that we put in our hands every day, some piece of coinage or a dollar bill that we could actually change.
I don't know who else you would change, you know, I mean what else...
COSTELLO: Well they are saying Alexander Hamilton should be changed because he didn't serve as president of the United States, he was just our Treasury Secretary.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But he did a lot more than that.
MYERS: Sure did.
COSTELLO: But this is my favorite one from Jonathan (ph) from Hanover, New Hampshire. He says would it increase its value? If so, I'm all for it.
MYERS: We can make an $11 bill.
COSTELLO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We'll have more on Ronald Reagan and a couple of "LARRY KING LIVE" exclusives tonight and tomorrow.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Tonight, former President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford are Larry's guests.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
MYERS: That should be great.
COSTELLO: Tomorrow night it's former President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. "LARRY KING LIVE" both nights 9:00 Eastern.
Checking 'Legal Briefs' now from across the country.
Attorneys for Terry Nichols are expected to wrap up testimony today in the death penalty phase of his murder trial. They plan to focus on Nichols' belief in God and that he was never arrested before the Oklahoma City bombing nine years ago. So far they have called nine witnesses.
In Redwood City, California, Laci Peterson's mother wraps up her testimony. She told the court she called Peterson the night her daughter disappeared. She said she knew something was wrong when Peterson said his wife was missing instead of simply saying she wasn't home.
And a federal judge has decided to delay sentencing Martha Stewart until next month. Stewart's attorneys say they need more time to work on her appeal. Plus, they are expected to file for a new trial this week. Stewart's sentencing now set for July 8. Thirteen years after a series of break-ins and rapes began in a neighborhood near Columbus, Ohio, police have a suspect under arrest. He is 40-year-old Robert Patton (ph). He was charged on Monday with one count of rape and could face more charges.
For the family of one alleged victim, a move toward justice after all these years is long overdue.
Christine Dobbyn of our affiliate WBNS has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE DOBBYN, WBNS-TV REPORTER (voice-over): It was a January night in 1992, Elisha was at a friend's house while her mother, Nancy (ph), and two sisters were asleep in their Denune Avenue home.
ELISHA BRAXTON, DAUGHTER OF ALLEGED VICTIM: He frightened her at knifepoint that he would kill my sisters if she screamed.
DOBBYN: Then Elisha says the man raped her mother.
BRAXTON: After that, it was just my mom crying and crying and crying and she wanted to move and she -- you know nothing was the same after that.
DOBBYN: As the years went by, Elisha watched her mother suffer. Their family life forever changed.
BRAXTON: And she had latched a bolt lock and a knob lock on her bedroom door, you know, and we all slept in her room for about a year after that.
DOBBYN: After 12 years, she couldn't believe the news today.
BRAXTON: I believe everything done in the dark will be brought to the light and his light is shining on him now.
DOBBYN: Her only wish is that her mother, Nancy, could see this day.
BRAXTON: You know and you just watch your mother suffer.
DOBBYN: She died of cancer back in 1998. After casting a shadow on her family and the neighborhoods of Lyndon (ph) for so long, Elisha Braxton believes somehow her mother knows.
BRAXTON: I think she would say thank God, you know. Thank you, God. My mother was a Christian woman and she would just be thanking God right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Christine Dobbyn of our affiliate WBNS reporting. Someone who knows the suspect says it's hard for them to believe he did the crimes. A former neighbor describes Robert Patton as a nice guy who was always willing to help out. Patton's family members have even stronger feelings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no way. There's no way he would do such a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, SUSPECT'S SISTER: I don't believe that, so they better prove it. He's a good father to his daughter. He takes care of her. As far as my brother, he's good to us. When we need something, grass cut or fix cars, he comes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Patton's former mother-in-law says she can't believe he is guilty and says her daughter and granddaughter are devastated.
In the next hour of DAYBREAK, high stake summit begins today, but what kind of push can President Bush give to his political agenda? We'll take you live to Sea Island for a preview of these top-level talks.
Plus,...
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Look up in the sky. But if you're going to do it, make sure you do it carefully. Venus is transiting the sun. Live pictures from Greenwich, England. And no, that's not a smudge in the lower right corner of the sun, that's Venus. We'll explain why astronomers are all atwitter over this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:45 Eastern. Here is what's all new this morning.
Security tight as the G-8 Summit gets under way at a resort on Georgia's coast. President Bush hosting the meeting and hopes to mend some fences with countries critical of the Iraq war.
Suicide car bombs explode in two Iraqi cities leaving at least 11 dead. In Baquba, one U.S. soldier and one Iraqi civilian are killed. In Mosul, at least nine Iraqi civilians killed this morning.
In money news, how do you say Home Depot in Chinese? The company is looking at the Asian market and has named an executive to head Home Depot Asia. The home improvement store is already in Canada and Mexico.
In sports, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox has agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2007. That means he will be with the team after first round draft pick Ben Roethlisberger succeeds him.
In culture, have it Magic's way. Former NBA star Magic Johnson will be the franchise owner of 30 Burger King restaurants in African- American communities, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Birmingham, Alabama. We'll have to go have some burgers -- Chad.
MYERS: Flame broiled.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: It's something that's been seen only six times since the telescope was invented way back at the year 1600. It's called the Transit of Venus. Translation, that's right,...
MYERS: Oh Venus.
COSTELLO: ... Venus will pass between the Earth and the sun creating a kind of mini eclipse. It will be more amazing though than spectacle, but is it possible to see it?
For that, we turn to our space correspondent...
O'BRIEN: Well of course it's possible, it's right there on the screen, I mean.
COSTELLO: Yes, but that's not even in our country.
O'BRIEN: Does that matter? Well I mean...
COSTELLO: Well of course.
O'BRIEN: ... from the perspective of Venus, I think being anywhere on Earth counts today.
COSTELLO: All right, Miles O'Brien is here, in case you didn't figure that out.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Hi. Riddle me this, where in the solar system is the day longer than the year? Where does the sun rise in the west instead of the east?
COSTELLO: Please, it's too early in the morning.
O'BRIEN: The answer -- the answer is Venus. Take a look at Venus right there. There it is lower right part of your screen.
COSTELLO: Wow!
O'BRIEN: That's it. That's it. It's not a smudge.
COSTELLO: Where are these pictures being taken?
MYERS: It's little.
O'BRIEN: Greenwich, England. This is in England.
COSTELLO: England.
O'BRIEN: And, as you can see, it's making its way across. It's in this particular telescope it looks like it's going this way but in reality it's going that way. I'm not going to get into it.
COSTELLO: So it's almost done.
O'BRIEN: The bottom line is they need one more mirror. No, it's actually got all this way to go here. It's just...
COSTELLO: It's like a mirror, now I get it. That took me a second.
O'BRIEN: But -- yes, it's really -- it's really going left to right. I really have confused people on that.
But there are thousands of people all over the world right now watching this event. We have got some pictures that have been coming in of people staring at the sky. There they are. But you'll notice what they have, Carol, they have the important eyewear, Mylar, yet another space age spin-off, very important to put on your eyes if you're going to try to do this. We really recommend you just stay with CNN. But short of that, get some Mylar, some welder's glasses, go to an observatory.
COSTELLO: OK, but these pictures are from Britain. When can we see it here in the United States?
O'BRIEN: As soon as the -- like right around now.
COSTELLO: Right around now, so people should rush outside?
O'BRIEN: New York -- well in northeast part of the United States. In any case,...
COSTELLO: So, no, in New York City, isn't it like 7:06 Eastern Time is the best time to see it?
O'BRIEN: The problem is, the tricky part, this is -- the reason we're getting pictures in from Europe is it's -- you know it's the good time to do it because the sun is up. As soon as the sun rises here, there should be a quick opportunity to see this before the transit is over. But you know a lot of things have to happen right. The stars have to align, if you know what I mean.
COSTELLO: Right.
O'BRIEN: But in any case, what we're talking about here is something, and I'll explain this a little bit later, could be a twice in a lifetime event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our sun may be a natural-born star. But for at least six hours, it will share top billing with the number two rock in our celestial hit parade -- Venus.
KELLY BEATTY, SKY & TELESCOPE: For the first time in 122 years, earth and Venus will be in a direct line with the sun. So from our perspective, Venus will be crawling across the sun's face, directly in front of it looking like a little circular black dot, like a large sun spot.
O'BRIEN: You weren't around the last time Venus and the sun line danced like this. But fortunately astronomer David Peck Todd was. It was 1882 when he captured the transit from his perch in California. Safe to say the planetary paparazzi will be poised and prevalent this time. Sky and Telescopes Kelly Beatty, most excited about the last 20 minutes of the six-hour event.
BEATTY: There's something called the black drop, where Venus and the sun's edge seem to merge into a kind of a teardrop shape, and we're really looking forward to seeing that.
O'BRIEN: After months of Mars mania, a lot of scientists will be happy to focus on our neighbor on the other side of the street. The reclusive one we don't know so well. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, the victim of a runaway greenhouse effect. Many astrobiologists think when the sun was young and cooler Venus was a lot like Earth. But when the sun cranked up the thermostat, literally all hell broke loose here. The oceans boiled away and acid clouds enshrouded the planet sending temperatures past 900 Fahrenheit. Not the kind of place you would find life, right? Well, Venus may still be kicking with active volcanoes and earthquakes. If NASA is from Mars, planetary scientists David Grinspoon is from Venus.
DAVID GRINSPOON, SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INST.: Mars is mostly long dead and Mercury, the moon, there all dead. Earth is the living planet in terms of geology. Venus we think might still also be a living planet. And it would be really neat to have one so close by that is still geologically active with volcanoes, and venus-quakes, and where you're not just studying the past but ongoing geology.
O'BRIEN: Studying Venus is fraught with peril. The Soviets put four plucky landers named Venera on the red-hot rocks beginning in the mid-70s. Before their kamikaze missions ended with a meltdown, they sent back a few postcards, "Greetings from Venus, be glad you're not here."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at night, the rocks would actually glow faintly because it's so hot. It's red-hot on the surface. You know, it wouldn't be a very bizarre alien place, not a very comfortable place for you and I to be unless we had a really well-designed suit to wear.
O'BRIEN: Alien indeed. Grinspoon (ph) thinks there could be acid-loving microbes living inside those clouds. Maybe NASA is looking in the wrong direction as it searches for signs of alien life. And if you are not looking in the right direction on June 8, you may be out of luck. The next time Venus walks across the sun, it will be 2012. Talk about a transitory event. Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OK, this morning, if you look in the right direction, this is what you will see. That is Venus transiting the sun. Takes about six hours. As we say, East Coast United States, you might get a brief glimpse, weather permitting. The folks in Europe are enjoying this a little better than we are.
And let me just tell you real quickly, Carol, because I know you're curious about...
COSTELLO: We have 10 seconds until the next program.
O'BRIEN: Ten seconds, 10 seconds. OK, here's Earth, here's Venus, Venus is just kind of doing one of these right in front as we can line it up. It lines up like so. So when we look at the sun, we see Venus in the way.
COSTELLO: All right. And you can play with more of your toys for us at 6:00 in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Really? Thank you.
COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, Miles.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Here's a medical question for you this morning, can cholesterol lowering drugs really lower the risk of getting one of the most common forms of cancer?
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the answer for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Doctors had a hunch about these drugs, a hunch that they might do more than what's on the label.
DR. STEPHEN GRUBER, STUDY CO-AUTHOR: : We've been looking for drugs that can reduce the risk of cancer for quite a long time.
COHEN: And they may possibly have found it. In a study of some 3,000 people, those taking cholesterol lowering drugs, called statins, saw their risk of getting colon cancer cut nearly in half.
GRUBER: What I think is exciting about this is that this represents potentially a new class of drugs that might have broader effects than we ever expected. COHEN: The drugs go by names such as Zocor and Pravachol and patients in the study had taken them for more than five years. The researchers aren't completely sure why cholesterol lowering drugs might help fight colon cancer but they have a theory.
GRUBER: They actually appear to affect the way cells grow and divide.
COHEN: Dr. Gruber warns this does not mean people should ask their doctor for statins to prevent cancer. More definitive studies still need to be done to see if they really work plus they can have side effects and there may be alternatives.
Studies are also being done to see if aspirin and similar drugs might help. So far, the only proven weapon against colon cancer is to get regular screenings, such as colonoscopies starting at age 50.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The second hour of DAYBREAK will start right after this. You stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You're looking at a live picture this morning out of Simi Valley, California. It's been like this all night long, mourners paying their respects to the 40th president, a steady stream of visitors that has lasted all through the night and is likely to go on for many more hours.
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 8, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In the run up to the June 30 handover of sovereignty, suicide bombers strike in two Iraqi cities.
It's Tuesday, June 8. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Let me bring you up to date right now.
Another bloody day in Iraq, suicide car bomb attacks in two Iraqi cities kill at least 11 people, including 1 American soldier. Dozens are injured this morning. The bombs went off in Baquba and Mosul.
It is about 2:30 in the morning in California and mourners are still filing past Ronald Reagan's flag-draped casket in Simi Valley. The former president's body will lie in repose at the Reagan Library until 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
In money news, Ford Motor Company is falling behind rival GM in the race to expand in China, the world's fastest growing auto market. Ford says it plans to crank out 65,000 cars in China this year. That's more than triple its output from last year.
In sports, Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells has apologized for calling the surprise plays used in practice Jap plays. Parcells says it was uncalled for and inconsiderate. The phrase is an apparent reference to the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor back in 1941.
In culture, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs now wears the title top menswear designer of the year. The Council of Fashion Designers of America honors his Sean John collection over such veterans as Ralph Lauren.
It's what you're wearing now, isn't it, Chad, some Sean John duds?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Man, that was a shiny little suit he had on there. I'd probably disappear here in the chromakey.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right. Thanks a lot -- Chad. MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Our senior international -- our senior international editor David Clinch is here to talk about the fight for Iraq this morning, two big suicide bombings in Mosul and Baquba. Bring us up to date.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, actually, three separate events that we're talking about today on the violent side. There is more going on in Iraq, but on the violent side, we had this incident in Baquba, an explosion right outside a U.S. base in Baquba, killing a number of Iraqis and a U.S. soldier. Very sort of cold blooded approach by the -- by the militants as they explode cars directly outside the U.S. bases so U.S. soldiers, who are actually looking at the cars approaching the bases as Iraqis come to work at the base each day, falling victim to the explosion.
Separately, in Mosul, two events there, a big bomb in the middle of the town, possibly targeting Iraqi officials, although that's not clear, but killing a number of Iraqis who were in the street.
COSTELLO: These pictures, the pictures that we were just seeing, it's obvious, for those were Iraqis being treated in hospitals, on the streets, in homes, where?
CLINCH: All of those things. And there are some pictures from the incident in Mosul we cannot show you. People were blown apart in the middle of the city there. But again, also separately, there are mortars lobbed directly at the base, the U.S. base in Mosul, a separate event from these bombs in the middle of town.
And then another event, apparently an accident, we're still getting some details, but two Polish soldiers and possibly some Slovaks and a Latvian killed in an accident as they were trying to de- mine an area in south of Baghdad as well.
COSTELLO: And this violence comes after the Iraqi, the new Iraqi prime minister made this deal, supposedly, with these militia groups in Iraq to lay down their arms.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: Except from Muqtada al-Sadr's group.
CLINCH: Right. Some of the militia groups. A very interesting development, some of these militias that have sort of been on the sidelines for many months here are now agreeing to disband. The key militia groups, specifically Muqtada al-Sadr, although there are some signs he may be pulling out of Najaf and other cities, no agreement to disarm there.
The most interesting event today not to do with the violence, we're being told pretty clearly now there will be a vote at the U.N. today on a new U.N. resolution put forward by the U.S. and Britain. Some very interesting compromises, nothing final yet, but the U.S. apparently agreeing that the Iraqi interim government will have some kind of an opt out clause here in regard to military control.
COSTELLO: And what the heck is that -- David?
CLINCH: Well we were talking last week about whether or not they would have veto control over U.S. forces. That's not going to happen. But apparently some kind of an idea that they, the Iraqi government, would basically be able to opt out, not take part and the Iraqi forces not take part...
COSTELLO: So if -- so if U.S. troops decide to fight somewhere, the Iraqi troops could say you go for it, we're out of it?
CLINCH: Right, that's the idea. The U.S. force is not taking orders from anybody. There will be coordination. And again, nothing final yet, but the idea being that the Iraqi forces could opt out if they needed to. We'll be -- we'll be looking very closely at the wording later today at the U.N.
COSTELLO: Yes, and that the vote is supposed to be taken, what, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern?
CLINCH: Right. And if it happens, if it's a yes, that's a -- that's a big story later today at the U.N. in New York.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- David.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Thousands spent the night quietly filing through the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. In fact, they're still doing that. It's where a 30-hour public viewing is going on nonstop before it ends tonight at 6:00 Pacific Time. The former president's body will then be flown to Washington in the morning.
A short service took place just before the casket went on display. After the service, Nancy Reagan, she walked over and gently lowered her cheek on to her husband's flag-draped coffin, a very touching moment. We see her daughter, Patty, there with her.
Some people are pushing for a more permanent memorial to the popular president. The ideas range from a monument on the Mall to putting his picture on the $10 bill.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at some of the other suggestions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan saw many things named for him, an aircraft carrier, an airport, office buildings, highways, on and on it goes. And now the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project wants his picture on the $10 bill.
GROVER NORQUIST, RONALD REAGAN LEGACY PROJECT: Alexander Hamilton has been on the bill for a long time. This is no disrespect to him. But in the past when presidents have passed away, they have replaced other people who weren't presidents. FOREMAN: The Treasury Department says it is too soon to discuss the idea, but Reagan fans also want a memorial on the Mall in Washington and that could prove tricky. Last year, controversy over the new World War II Memorial made Congress declare the Mall a completed work of art.
JOHN PARSONS, NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE: That is they have passed a law that prohibits memorials on the Mall in the future, which is problematic if the initiative is to build on the Mall.
FOREMAN: This sort of thing is always problematic. Renaming Washington's National Airport for Reagan and a rejected plan to put his face on Mount Rushmore both spurred debates.
(on camera): Only 11 presidents have monuments to their lives in Washington, D.C. Some, like Jefferson, for obvious reasons, but others, like Buchanan and Garfield, primarily because they had constituencies, people who strongly believed they should be remembered.
PARSONS: Right now, for instance, we're working on Eisenhower and Adams.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And it takes a long time. The FDR Memorial, authorized in 1959, was dedicated almost 40 years later. So Reagan admirers will have to wait. After all, there is even a law saying no memorial to a person can be erected here until 25 years after death and that law was signed by Ronald Reagan.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: All right, our e-mail question of the day.
MYERS: Yes, these are mine. The bottoms ones I just printed.
COSTELLO: Here, these are the ones you have printed.
Our e-mail question of the day is should President Reagan replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill? Most of our responses had been negative, until we said that, and then the positive ones started coming in.
MYERS: And then they all wake up, right. That's how you get it 50/50, you just put it out there.
COSTELLO: This is from Cheryl (ph) out in California. She says I think it would be a great idea to replace Hamilton on the $10 bill. Reagan was a wonderful president and I think the $10 bill should be updated with a familiar modern president who people could relate to.
MYERS: And from Brian (ph). He started thinking about this as soon as the day he heard that Ronald Reagan passed, which was Saturday. If there was any president worthy of the honor, it would be him. Maybe not the $10 bill but something, something that we put in our hands every day, some piece of coinage or a dollar bill that we could actually change.
I don't know who else you would change, you know, I mean what else...
COSTELLO: Well they are saying Alexander Hamilton should be changed because he didn't serve as president of the United States, he was just our Treasury Secretary.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But he did a lot more than that.
MYERS: Sure did.
COSTELLO: But this is my favorite one from Jonathan (ph) from Hanover, New Hampshire. He says would it increase its value? If so, I'm all for it.
MYERS: We can make an $11 bill.
COSTELLO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We'll have more on Ronald Reagan and a couple of "LARRY KING LIVE" exclusives tonight and tomorrow.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Tonight, former President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford are Larry's guests.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
MYERS: That should be great.
COSTELLO: Tomorrow night it's former President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. "LARRY KING LIVE" both nights 9:00 Eastern.
Checking 'Legal Briefs' now from across the country.
Attorneys for Terry Nichols are expected to wrap up testimony today in the death penalty phase of his murder trial. They plan to focus on Nichols' belief in God and that he was never arrested before the Oklahoma City bombing nine years ago. So far they have called nine witnesses.
In Redwood City, California, Laci Peterson's mother wraps up her testimony. She told the court she called Peterson the night her daughter disappeared. She said she knew something was wrong when Peterson said his wife was missing instead of simply saying she wasn't home.
And a federal judge has decided to delay sentencing Martha Stewart until next month. Stewart's attorneys say they need more time to work on her appeal. Plus, they are expected to file for a new trial this week. Stewart's sentencing now set for July 8. Thirteen years after a series of break-ins and rapes began in a neighborhood near Columbus, Ohio, police have a suspect under arrest. He is 40-year-old Robert Patton (ph). He was charged on Monday with one count of rape and could face more charges.
For the family of one alleged victim, a move toward justice after all these years is long overdue.
Christine Dobbyn of our affiliate WBNS has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE DOBBYN, WBNS-TV REPORTER (voice-over): It was a January night in 1992, Elisha was at a friend's house while her mother, Nancy (ph), and two sisters were asleep in their Denune Avenue home.
ELISHA BRAXTON, DAUGHTER OF ALLEGED VICTIM: He frightened her at knifepoint that he would kill my sisters if she screamed.
DOBBYN: Then Elisha says the man raped her mother.
BRAXTON: After that, it was just my mom crying and crying and crying and she wanted to move and she -- you know nothing was the same after that.
DOBBYN: As the years went by, Elisha watched her mother suffer. Their family life forever changed.
BRAXTON: And she had latched a bolt lock and a knob lock on her bedroom door, you know, and we all slept in her room for about a year after that.
DOBBYN: After 12 years, she couldn't believe the news today.
BRAXTON: I believe everything done in the dark will be brought to the light and his light is shining on him now.
DOBBYN: Her only wish is that her mother, Nancy, could see this day.
BRAXTON: You know and you just watch your mother suffer.
DOBBYN: She died of cancer back in 1998. After casting a shadow on her family and the neighborhoods of Lyndon (ph) for so long, Elisha Braxton believes somehow her mother knows.
BRAXTON: I think she would say thank God, you know. Thank you, God. My mother was a Christian woman and she would just be thanking God right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Christine Dobbyn of our affiliate WBNS reporting. Someone who knows the suspect says it's hard for them to believe he did the crimes. A former neighbor describes Robert Patton as a nice guy who was always willing to help out. Patton's family members have even stronger feelings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no way. There's no way he would do such a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, SUSPECT'S SISTER: I don't believe that, so they better prove it. He's a good father to his daughter. He takes care of her. As far as my brother, he's good to us. When we need something, grass cut or fix cars, he comes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Patton's former mother-in-law says she can't believe he is guilty and says her daughter and granddaughter are devastated.
In the next hour of DAYBREAK, high stake summit begins today, but what kind of push can President Bush give to his political agenda? We'll take you live to Sea Island for a preview of these top-level talks.
Plus,...
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Look up in the sky. But if you're going to do it, make sure you do it carefully. Venus is transiting the sun. Live pictures from Greenwich, England. And no, that's not a smudge in the lower right corner of the sun, that's Venus. We'll explain why astronomers are all atwitter over this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:45 Eastern. Here is what's all new this morning.
Security tight as the G-8 Summit gets under way at a resort on Georgia's coast. President Bush hosting the meeting and hopes to mend some fences with countries critical of the Iraq war.
Suicide car bombs explode in two Iraqi cities leaving at least 11 dead. In Baquba, one U.S. soldier and one Iraqi civilian are killed. In Mosul, at least nine Iraqi civilians killed this morning.
In money news, how do you say Home Depot in Chinese? The company is looking at the Asian market and has named an executive to head Home Depot Asia. The home improvement store is already in Canada and Mexico.
In sports, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox has agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2007. That means he will be with the team after first round draft pick Ben Roethlisberger succeeds him.
In culture, have it Magic's way. Former NBA star Magic Johnson will be the franchise owner of 30 Burger King restaurants in African- American communities, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Birmingham, Alabama. We'll have to go have some burgers -- Chad.
MYERS: Flame broiled.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: It's something that's been seen only six times since the telescope was invented way back at the year 1600. It's called the Transit of Venus. Translation, that's right,...
MYERS: Oh Venus.
COSTELLO: ... Venus will pass between the Earth and the sun creating a kind of mini eclipse. It will be more amazing though than spectacle, but is it possible to see it?
For that, we turn to our space correspondent...
O'BRIEN: Well of course it's possible, it's right there on the screen, I mean.
COSTELLO: Yes, but that's not even in our country.
O'BRIEN: Does that matter? Well I mean...
COSTELLO: Well of course.
O'BRIEN: ... from the perspective of Venus, I think being anywhere on Earth counts today.
COSTELLO: All right, Miles O'Brien is here, in case you didn't figure that out.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Hi. Riddle me this, where in the solar system is the day longer than the year? Where does the sun rise in the west instead of the east?
COSTELLO: Please, it's too early in the morning.
O'BRIEN: The answer -- the answer is Venus. Take a look at Venus right there. There it is lower right part of your screen.
COSTELLO: Wow!
O'BRIEN: That's it. That's it. It's not a smudge.
COSTELLO: Where are these pictures being taken?
MYERS: It's little.
O'BRIEN: Greenwich, England. This is in England.
COSTELLO: England.
O'BRIEN: And, as you can see, it's making its way across. It's in this particular telescope it looks like it's going this way but in reality it's going that way. I'm not going to get into it.
COSTELLO: So it's almost done.
O'BRIEN: The bottom line is they need one more mirror. No, it's actually got all this way to go here. It's just...
COSTELLO: It's like a mirror, now I get it. That took me a second.
O'BRIEN: But -- yes, it's really -- it's really going left to right. I really have confused people on that.
But there are thousands of people all over the world right now watching this event. We have got some pictures that have been coming in of people staring at the sky. There they are. But you'll notice what they have, Carol, they have the important eyewear, Mylar, yet another space age spin-off, very important to put on your eyes if you're going to try to do this. We really recommend you just stay with CNN. But short of that, get some Mylar, some welder's glasses, go to an observatory.
COSTELLO: OK, but these pictures are from Britain. When can we see it here in the United States?
O'BRIEN: As soon as the -- like right around now.
COSTELLO: Right around now, so people should rush outside?
O'BRIEN: New York -- well in northeast part of the United States. In any case,...
COSTELLO: So, no, in New York City, isn't it like 7:06 Eastern Time is the best time to see it?
O'BRIEN: The problem is, the tricky part, this is -- the reason we're getting pictures in from Europe is it's -- you know it's the good time to do it because the sun is up. As soon as the sun rises here, there should be a quick opportunity to see this before the transit is over. But you know a lot of things have to happen right. The stars have to align, if you know what I mean.
COSTELLO: Right.
O'BRIEN: But in any case, what we're talking about here is something, and I'll explain this a little bit later, could be a twice in a lifetime event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our sun may be a natural-born star. But for at least six hours, it will share top billing with the number two rock in our celestial hit parade -- Venus.
KELLY BEATTY, SKY & TELESCOPE: For the first time in 122 years, earth and Venus will be in a direct line with the sun. So from our perspective, Venus will be crawling across the sun's face, directly in front of it looking like a little circular black dot, like a large sun spot.
O'BRIEN: You weren't around the last time Venus and the sun line danced like this. But fortunately astronomer David Peck Todd was. It was 1882 when he captured the transit from his perch in California. Safe to say the planetary paparazzi will be poised and prevalent this time. Sky and Telescopes Kelly Beatty, most excited about the last 20 minutes of the six-hour event.
BEATTY: There's something called the black drop, where Venus and the sun's edge seem to merge into a kind of a teardrop shape, and we're really looking forward to seeing that.
O'BRIEN: After months of Mars mania, a lot of scientists will be happy to focus on our neighbor on the other side of the street. The reclusive one we don't know so well. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, the victim of a runaway greenhouse effect. Many astrobiologists think when the sun was young and cooler Venus was a lot like Earth. But when the sun cranked up the thermostat, literally all hell broke loose here. The oceans boiled away and acid clouds enshrouded the planet sending temperatures past 900 Fahrenheit. Not the kind of place you would find life, right? Well, Venus may still be kicking with active volcanoes and earthquakes. If NASA is from Mars, planetary scientists David Grinspoon is from Venus.
DAVID GRINSPOON, SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INST.: Mars is mostly long dead and Mercury, the moon, there all dead. Earth is the living planet in terms of geology. Venus we think might still also be a living planet. And it would be really neat to have one so close by that is still geologically active with volcanoes, and venus-quakes, and where you're not just studying the past but ongoing geology.
O'BRIEN: Studying Venus is fraught with peril. The Soviets put four plucky landers named Venera on the red-hot rocks beginning in the mid-70s. Before their kamikaze missions ended with a meltdown, they sent back a few postcards, "Greetings from Venus, be glad you're not here."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at night, the rocks would actually glow faintly because it's so hot. It's red-hot on the surface. You know, it wouldn't be a very bizarre alien place, not a very comfortable place for you and I to be unless we had a really well-designed suit to wear.
O'BRIEN: Alien indeed. Grinspoon (ph) thinks there could be acid-loving microbes living inside those clouds. Maybe NASA is looking in the wrong direction as it searches for signs of alien life. And if you are not looking in the right direction on June 8, you may be out of luck. The next time Venus walks across the sun, it will be 2012. Talk about a transitory event. Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OK, this morning, if you look in the right direction, this is what you will see. That is Venus transiting the sun. Takes about six hours. As we say, East Coast United States, you might get a brief glimpse, weather permitting. The folks in Europe are enjoying this a little better than we are.
And let me just tell you real quickly, Carol, because I know you're curious about...
COSTELLO: We have 10 seconds until the next program.
O'BRIEN: Ten seconds, 10 seconds. OK, here's Earth, here's Venus, Venus is just kind of doing one of these right in front as we can line it up. It lines up like so. So when we look at the sun, we see Venus in the way.
COSTELLO: All right. And you can play with more of your toys for us at 6:00 in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Really? Thank you.
COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, Miles.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Here's a medical question for you this morning, can cholesterol lowering drugs really lower the risk of getting one of the most common forms of cancer?
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the answer for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Doctors had a hunch about these drugs, a hunch that they might do more than what's on the label.
DR. STEPHEN GRUBER, STUDY CO-AUTHOR: : We've been looking for drugs that can reduce the risk of cancer for quite a long time.
COHEN: And they may possibly have found it. In a study of some 3,000 people, those taking cholesterol lowering drugs, called statins, saw their risk of getting colon cancer cut nearly in half.
GRUBER: What I think is exciting about this is that this represents potentially a new class of drugs that might have broader effects than we ever expected. COHEN: The drugs go by names such as Zocor and Pravachol and patients in the study had taken them for more than five years. The researchers aren't completely sure why cholesterol lowering drugs might help fight colon cancer but they have a theory.
GRUBER: They actually appear to affect the way cells grow and divide.
COHEN: Dr. Gruber warns this does not mean people should ask their doctor for statins to prevent cancer. More definitive studies still need to be done to see if they really work plus they can have side effects and there may be alternatives.
Studies are also being done to see if aspirin and similar drugs might help. So far, the only proven weapon against colon cancer is to get regular screenings, such as colonoscopies starting at age 50.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The second hour of DAYBREAK will start right after this. You stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You're looking at a live picture this morning out of Simi Valley, California. It's been like this all night long, mourners paying their respects to the 40th president, a steady stream of visitors that has lasted all through the night and is likely to go on for many more hours.
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