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CNN Live At Daybreak
Eye on the World; Kidnapped Korean; Clinton on Clinton; Civil Rights Slayings; Manned Flight
Aired June 21, 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: And good morning to you, welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Here are the latest headlines for you now. A military judge in Baghdad says Abu Ghraib Prison can not be destroyed until prisoner abuse courts-martial are completed. During pretrial hearings, the judge granted a defense request to put top U.S. generals on the witness stand. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will not have to testify.
In Saudi Arabia, the terrorist group responsible for executing American hostage Paul Johnson says it got help from Saudi security forces. The search for Johnson's body still ongoing in Saudi Arabia.
In money news, reports say United Airlines is ready for plan B. It's already been denied a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee that includes finding a new equity -- finding new equity, rather, and cutting the size of its request.
In culture, 40,000 people walked in 70 nations to raise money to feed hungry school children around the world. The marchers raised about $840,000 for the U.N. World Food Program.
In sports, home run number 500 finally for Ken Griffey Jr. was a shot over the right field wall in St. Louis. You're going to see -- there it goes. Griffey of the Cincinnati Reds is the 20th player to hit 500 home runs.
I thought it would never come -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes, he got injured, he was on such a streak up to about the year 2000 and then had the knee injury and then didn't play that much the past three years. Now finally back on track. He took a week off. Didn't have a home run for a week, you know. A lot of folks haven't had a home run for a year and you know and he was complaining. He wanted to do it and he finally did. So we knew he would. We had those pictures for you of him trying again on Thursday of last week, but obviously over the weekend it happened.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome. COSTELLO: Here is what's happening in Iraqi this Monday morning. The judge at a pretrial hearing for Sergeant Javal Davis says Abu Ghraib Prison can not be destroyed until courts-martial have been completed. Davis is one of seven MPs charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Gunfire erupts last night outside the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. It is the headquarters for several international news organizations. U.S. troops were called to the scene. No casualties reported.
A pipeline damaged by sabotage is repaired and more than a million gallons of crude oil per day is being pumped to the terminal at Basra. The pumping resumed yesterday.
Let's get back to today's pretrial hearing in Baghdad. The Abu Ghraib Prison now declared a crime scene and the defense attorney, whose motion resulted in that ruling, is considering it a big win. He discussed it with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BERGRIN, SGT. DAVIS' CIVILIAN LAWYER: The president of the United States went before the American people and he said I'm going to tear down the Abu Ghraib Prison, I'm going to destroy it and level it. That's an alleged crime scene. There is physical, forensic and scientific evidence there. And this judge had the integrity to hold up my motion, to grant my motion and to tell the president of the United States you're not touching that prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He's referring to a speech President Bush gave back in May. But let's look at exactly what the president said and hopefully our senior international David Clinch will be able to help us out there.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right.
COSTELLO: Because President Bush didn't exactly say they were going to...
CLINCH: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... completely tear down the Abu Ghraib Prison now.
CLINCH: Right. I'll play the part of President Bush here, but we're concentrating on accuracy here. The lawyers, obviously, have their point of view. But to be accurate, what President Bush said in that speech, which was a highly publicized speech at the time, was that the prison would be knocked down after consultations with the Iraqi government. In fact what he said, that if the Iraqi government asked for it to be knocked down, that it would be knocked down.
Now nevertheless, I mean you see the full statement here. It would only be after consultations with the Iraqi government, after approval of the Iraqi government, to be precise there. Now that obviously is what he said. Nevertheless, obviously there is a very big political element to what we're seeing here going on in Baghdad. And it remains to be seen whether the judge's decision today will have a political effect back here with the Bush administration.
There are three levels, really, that we're looking at with what's going on in Baghdad. First of all, just the legal justice side. The most interesting thing that we've heard so far today is that there may not be a trial until October. That's interesting. A lot of procedures still to go. Now that's not confirmed, but that's what some of the defense lawyers are saying.
Then there's what you could call the PR aspect of appealing to the Iraqi people, saying that justice is in progress, that yes, the things that happened were horrible but the American way is to bring people to justice and they want the Iraqis to see that. Many people in Iraq saying that they are interested in seeing the result of this, they are not interested in seeing it going on for a long time. But also pointing out that the I suppose you could call it the effect of the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal has already had its effect in Iraq and that no matter what happens in the courts, the bad PR is already there and that's not going away.
And then of course there's the political aspect, everything that happens in Baghdad plays back to Washington and what's going on in an election year, so.
COSTELLO: Well it was interesting the number of decisions they made that some top U.S. military officials will testify but Donald Rumsfeld was -- I mean one of the lawyers even called for President Bush to go to Iraq and testify.
CLINCH: Right. And to be accurate, again, what was decided, what was being asked for was that the generals, General Abizaid, General Sanchez, amongst others, could they be interviewed by defense lawyers? And the answer so far is yes. Well it remains to be seen exactly how that will happen, when that will happen.
The defense lawyers did not ask specifically in court whether they could interview President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld. They were telling reporters outside, some of the defense lawyers, that they think that the responsibility for this abuse scandal goes that high and that the administration needs to be a part of this.
Now whether or not there will be a specific request at some point for officials that high, the president or others, and then of course the question of whether they would actually testify, that hasn't come up yet. But we do know that top generals, and that's really the nexus of this, was it just these bad apples, that has been said, or did the chain of command go higher? Well apparently that chain of command will be a part of this process.
COSTELLO: Interesting. David Clinch, thank you.
CLINCH: OK. COSTELLO: How valuable are the so-called enemy combatants being held at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Well the "New York Times" reports that administration descriptions have been greatly exaggerated. The paper reports that only around a dozen of the nearly 600 detainees are sworn al Qaeda members and that no information gained from interrogations has thwarted any imminent attack. A Supreme Court decision on the legal status of the detainees is expected in the next week.
And the clock is ticking toward a horrific deadline for a South Korean hostage in Iraq. His kidnappers are vowing to behead him. In the meantime, his country is sending a six-member delegation to Jordan later today to negotiate his release.
Our Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pressure is mounting on the South Korean government in the hours following the kidnapping of South Korean civilian Kim Sun-il. Civic groups have taken to the streets demanding that the South Korean government scrap its plans to send additional troops to -- 3,000 troops to Iraq. They also demand that the South Korean government and bring back the 600 South Korean military that are already operating in Iraq.
The civic group that protested in front of the South Korean presidential office this afternoon in Seoul said that when the South Korean government announced its plans to send troops to Iraq, it promised the South Korean people that the troops would be in Iraq to help the Iraqi people in the reconstruction efforts. They were there for a peaceful mission and therefore would be welcomed by the Iraqi people.
The civic group leader said that the recent kidnapping case shows that the South Korean government misled the South Korean public and therefore the government should scrap its plans, the troop plans, all together.
Nevertheless, the South Korean government has so far said that it will not change its plans. The South Korean government still plans to send troops to Iraq and that they would be for reconstruction efforts in Iraq. And so that spirit will continue.
As the hours tick by, there is very big concern here in South Korea about the safety of Kim Sun-il, especially within the family of Kim Sun-il. The mother and father of the kidnapped Kim appeared on South Korean TV pleading for their son's life. They also urged the South Korean government to give in to the kidnappers' demands, bring home the South Korean troops and then bring home their son safe. At this point, however, the South Korean government does not seem to be moving in that direction.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And this just in to CNN. We understand four U.S. soldiers have been killed in an attack west of Baghdad. This is according to Reuters. We don't know much more than that, but we're editing (ph) more information out of Iraq from Jane Arraf. When Jane gets back to us with more info, of course we will pass it along to you.
Time now for a little politics. A record amount of money is being spent on the presidential campaign. Senator John Kerry spent a total of $32 million last month. That's $10 million more than President Bush. But the president has more than twice as much left to spend. Bush has already spent a record $152 million to this point. John Kerry has spent just under $121 million.
The much-anticipated memoir of former President Bill Clinton hits the stores tomorrow, but the buzz is already in full force.
CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace is on buzz patrol this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is his latest campaign, Bill Clinton revealing a lot but not everything in interviews before the much-anticipated release of his autobiography.
Asked the worst day of his presidency...
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was alone with Miss Lewinsky.
WALLACE: He tells "60 Minutes," August 1998, when he woke wife Hillary in the middle of the night to tell her about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky just before testifying about it to a grand jury.
On his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, he tells "TIME" magazine, "I was involved in two great struggles at the same time, a great public struggle over the future of America with the Republican Congress and a private struggle with my old demons. I won the public one and lost the private one. I don't think it's much more complicated that that. That's not an excuse. But it is an explanation and that's the best I can do."
His 957-page book also appears to be a chance to settle old scores, namely with independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr who led a series of investigations of the Clintons.
KENNETH STARR, PROSECUTOR: Well I'm not going to comment about specifics.
WALLACE: He tells "60 Minutes," "it cost over $70 million and we were exonerated in each case," he says. "There was nothing left but my personal failure. That's what people got for over $70 million. They did it because it was nothing but a big political operation designed to bring down the presidency."
His greatest regrets of his presidency not getting Osama bin Laden and failing to convince Israelis and Palestinians to make a peace deal at Camp David.
As for how President Bush handled Iraq, he told "TIME" magazine, "I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over."
But will his book satisfy his readers? "TIME" magazine's Joe Klein interviewed the former president.
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I think he raises some real questions about the conduct of the Starr investigation of him. But on a lot of the specific things that you really want to know from an ex- president, he doesn't give many answers at all.
WALLACE: But that is not likely to stop the former president's book from flying off the shelves.
(on camera): And this is about selling books, after all, but for Bill Clinton, it's also about polishing a legacy.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And coming up later this week, former President Clinton sits down for a special hour with Larry King. And for the first time, President Clinton will take your phone calls. It all comes your way Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Mississippi Burning, it was 40 years ago that a crime of hatred left a town on the verge of destruction. Now the families and friends of those left behind are bearing the load once carried by their relatives. Coming up, we'll talk with a brother of one of those victims.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday, June 21.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:46 Eastern. Here is what's all new this morning.
A military judge in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal has declared the Abu Ghraib Prison a crime scene, ordering that it not be destroyed while military trials are under way.
A South Korean man kidnapped in Iraq pleads for his life on Al Jazeera TV. Captors threaten to behead the man unless South Korea pulls its troops from Iraq and not send any more. Despite the threat, South Korea says it will send 3,000 troops, plus a delegation to negotiate the man's release. In money news, a new report from the Pugh (ph) Hispanic Center shows almost 3 out of every 10 new jobs in the U.S. are going to immigrants, but earnings for Latinos and other workers remain flat.
In culture, thousands of partygoers gather in Britain today to witness the sunrise at Stonehenge. They flock to the ancient circle of stones to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.
And in sports, the Giants' Jason Schmidt pitched his second one hitter of the season leading San Francisco to a four-zip victory over the Boston Red Sox. Schmidt won nine straight decisions -- Chad.
MYERS: And of course Michael Schumacher won the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis this weekend as well, Carol. Nice drive for him and obviously (ph) Rubens Barrichello right behind him.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you.
It was 40 years ago today that three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. The killings were chronicled in the movie "Mississippi Burning." The community where it happened and the victim's families are commemorating the slayings.
Ben Chaney, the brother of victim James Chaney, joins us by phone from Meridian, Mississippi, to discuss how -- to discuss how he is honoring his brother's memory.
Good morning.
BEN CHANEY, VICTIM'S BROTHER: Good morning.
COSTELLO: There is a push in Mississippi to bring the people responsible for your brother's murder to justice. Should they be doing that you think?
CHANEY: Most definitely. A push after 40 years, this is definitely needed.
COSTELLO: Do you think it will happen?
CHANEY: I hope so. I believe it will happen after 40 years. For the -- for the past 15 years at least, the state of Mississippi has been playing games with this case. One moment they say they were going to prosecute them and next there was no prosecution. So we believe now that after 40 years -- after the past -- since the new attorney general has requested federal assistance in this case, there will be a prosecution.
COSTELLO: Your brother and two friends who were white were investigating a fire at a church in Mississippi. They were also on sort of a voter registration drive and that was the big thing of the day in 1964. And after they investigated that church burning, they simply disappeared and their bodies were found later. Pretty much everybody knows who was responsible though, don't they?
CHANEY: We all know who the murderers were. We also know those individuals that created an environment for the murders to take place.
COSTELLO: And who are they? Some of them are dead now, but there are a few who are still alive.
CHANEY: There are some main figures that are still alive. There is one individual preacher killing (ph) who lives in Philadelphia, Mississippi. There is another individual who has -- who has -- who has been convicted on another murder case who is now in prison.
COSTELLO: You're also commemorating your brother's death in a different way by creating a voter registration drive for this coming election. Tell us about that.
CHANEY: We have pulled together a group of young people from across the country to do a Freedom Ride from New York to some of the major civil right cities in the South and especially in those cities where it's most affected by the Voting Rights Act. These young people that went out in each of the stops and done door-to-door voter registration, our primary focus is on registering young people from 18 to 30.
COSTELLO: That's a tough job.
CHANEY: It's a very tough job. We got a great group of kids.
COSTELLO: So how are they convincing them. I see they are knocking on doors, but what are they saying?
CHANEY: Let's go out and register, you know. They are saying are you a registered voter? We've registered, so far, 406 people in four different cities and most of the new registrants are 18 to 25 years old.
COSTELLO: Wow, and then the next challenge is actually getting them to the polls to vote. Do you plan any effort there?
CHANEY: Well we're going to do it through voter education. Next challenge is making sure people are sophisticated enough to look at the issues and decide who is best for them.
COSTELLO: Why is it so important to do this on this -- in this -- for this upcoming election? Why is it so important now?
CHANEY: Well not only for this election. This election is a very critical election. But also as we lead go into the -- as we lead into the Voting Rights Act there's a belief that the Voting Rights Act may not be reinstituted, reinstated. But it's very important that we remember my brother and his companions in a very real way and that way is doing what they were doing, registering people to vote.
COSTELLO: Great effort. Ben Chaney, thank you for joining us this early on DAYBREAK, live by phone from Mississippi.
It was a corporate collapse of epic proportions. Now Enron's founder could find himself behind bars. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll get the latest details from our legal eagle Kendall Coffey.
And preparing for lift off, will this rocket plane make space history?
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Space, the final frontier. We've all heard that phrase from "Star Trek." Well now some other explorers are ready to reach new heights in a whole new way. And their journey to space is scheduled to begin just a few hours from now.
CNN's Miles O'Brien has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Aviation legend Burt Rutan has always aimed high and most often reached his lofty goals.
BURT RUTAN, AVIATION LEGEND: Our goal is to show that you can develop a robust, safe, manned space program, and to do it at extremely low costs.
O'BRIEN: So far, Rutan's team has given no reason to doubt they can pull it off.
RUTAN: I think it is time that the commercial guys get aggressive on manned space flight, rather than waiting for NASA.
O'BRIEN: So for the past three years, he has been designing, building, test flying and tweaking a spacecraft he calls SpaceShipOne. Carried off the ground by an odd, seagull like jet called White Knight, SpaceShipOne is released 11 miles up and four miles higher than an airline's highest altitudes.
MIKE MELVILL, TEST PILOT: Quicker than most fighters and nervous little airplane.
O'BRIEN: Pilot Mike Melvill has now logged eight SpaceShipOne flights. Straight up for a wild blistering fast ride, getting closer and closer to the official gateway of space, 100 kilometers or 62 1/2 miles.
MELVILL: Two and one half times the speed of sound; mach 2.5 and then it comes to a stop up there, and you're weightless.
O'BRIEN: After three minutes or so in weightlessness, what goes up will succumb to the grip of gravity. Plummeting to earth almost as fast and entering the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound.
SpaceShipOne is designed to drop like a shuttlecock and when speed permits, transform into a glider for a 100-mile an hour touchdown on the Mojave runway. Rutan's group is the clear leader in the quest for the X-prize, a $10 million dollar privately funded purse that will go to the first civilian team to fly to space in the vehicle capable of carrying three people, then repeat the feat within two weeks.
RUTAN: We are interested in winning that -- it's money, we want to win it.
O'BRIEN: Burt says high time entrepreneurs like him made it to space, he means it. He's already grabbed the first passenger seat, on SpaceShipOne, for himself.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The prison abuse scandal goes to court. This week, four soldiers accused of abuse face courts-martial. Were they just following orders? We'll have much more for you ahead.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This notorious prison now a crime scene, so says a judge in Iraq who ordered Abu Ghraib to remain standing.
It is Monday, June 21. This is DAYBREAK.
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 21, 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: And good morning to you, welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Here are the latest headlines for you now. A military judge in Baghdad says Abu Ghraib Prison can not be destroyed until prisoner abuse courts-martial are completed. During pretrial hearings, the judge granted a defense request to put top U.S. generals on the witness stand. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will not have to testify.
In Saudi Arabia, the terrorist group responsible for executing American hostage Paul Johnson says it got help from Saudi security forces. The search for Johnson's body still ongoing in Saudi Arabia.
In money news, reports say United Airlines is ready for plan B. It's already been denied a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee that includes finding a new equity -- finding new equity, rather, and cutting the size of its request.
In culture, 40,000 people walked in 70 nations to raise money to feed hungry school children around the world. The marchers raised about $840,000 for the U.N. World Food Program.
In sports, home run number 500 finally for Ken Griffey Jr. was a shot over the right field wall in St. Louis. You're going to see -- there it goes. Griffey of the Cincinnati Reds is the 20th player to hit 500 home runs.
I thought it would never come -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes, he got injured, he was on such a streak up to about the year 2000 and then had the knee injury and then didn't play that much the past three years. Now finally back on track. He took a week off. Didn't have a home run for a week, you know. A lot of folks haven't had a home run for a year and you know and he was complaining. He wanted to do it and he finally did. So we knew he would. We had those pictures for you of him trying again on Thursday of last week, but obviously over the weekend it happened.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome. COSTELLO: Here is what's happening in Iraqi this Monday morning. The judge at a pretrial hearing for Sergeant Javal Davis says Abu Ghraib Prison can not be destroyed until courts-martial have been completed. Davis is one of seven MPs charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Gunfire erupts last night outside the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. It is the headquarters for several international news organizations. U.S. troops were called to the scene. No casualties reported.
A pipeline damaged by sabotage is repaired and more than a million gallons of crude oil per day is being pumped to the terminal at Basra. The pumping resumed yesterday.
Let's get back to today's pretrial hearing in Baghdad. The Abu Ghraib Prison now declared a crime scene and the defense attorney, whose motion resulted in that ruling, is considering it a big win. He discussed it with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BERGRIN, SGT. DAVIS' CIVILIAN LAWYER: The president of the United States went before the American people and he said I'm going to tear down the Abu Ghraib Prison, I'm going to destroy it and level it. That's an alleged crime scene. There is physical, forensic and scientific evidence there. And this judge had the integrity to hold up my motion, to grant my motion and to tell the president of the United States you're not touching that prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He's referring to a speech President Bush gave back in May. But let's look at exactly what the president said and hopefully our senior international David Clinch will be able to help us out there.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right.
COSTELLO: Because President Bush didn't exactly say they were going to...
CLINCH: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... completely tear down the Abu Ghraib Prison now.
CLINCH: Right. I'll play the part of President Bush here, but we're concentrating on accuracy here. The lawyers, obviously, have their point of view. But to be accurate, what President Bush said in that speech, which was a highly publicized speech at the time, was that the prison would be knocked down after consultations with the Iraqi government. In fact what he said, that if the Iraqi government asked for it to be knocked down, that it would be knocked down.
Now nevertheless, I mean you see the full statement here. It would only be after consultations with the Iraqi government, after approval of the Iraqi government, to be precise there. Now that obviously is what he said. Nevertheless, obviously there is a very big political element to what we're seeing here going on in Baghdad. And it remains to be seen whether the judge's decision today will have a political effect back here with the Bush administration.
There are three levels, really, that we're looking at with what's going on in Baghdad. First of all, just the legal justice side. The most interesting thing that we've heard so far today is that there may not be a trial until October. That's interesting. A lot of procedures still to go. Now that's not confirmed, but that's what some of the defense lawyers are saying.
Then there's what you could call the PR aspect of appealing to the Iraqi people, saying that justice is in progress, that yes, the things that happened were horrible but the American way is to bring people to justice and they want the Iraqis to see that. Many people in Iraq saying that they are interested in seeing the result of this, they are not interested in seeing it going on for a long time. But also pointing out that the I suppose you could call it the effect of the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal has already had its effect in Iraq and that no matter what happens in the courts, the bad PR is already there and that's not going away.
And then of course there's the political aspect, everything that happens in Baghdad plays back to Washington and what's going on in an election year, so.
COSTELLO: Well it was interesting the number of decisions they made that some top U.S. military officials will testify but Donald Rumsfeld was -- I mean one of the lawyers even called for President Bush to go to Iraq and testify.
CLINCH: Right. And to be accurate, again, what was decided, what was being asked for was that the generals, General Abizaid, General Sanchez, amongst others, could they be interviewed by defense lawyers? And the answer so far is yes. Well it remains to be seen exactly how that will happen, when that will happen.
The defense lawyers did not ask specifically in court whether they could interview President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld. They were telling reporters outside, some of the defense lawyers, that they think that the responsibility for this abuse scandal goes that high and that the administration needs to be a part of this.
Now whether or not there will be a specific request at some point for officials that high, the president or others, and then of course the question of whether they would actually testify, that hasn't come up yet. But we do know that top generals, and that's really the nexus of this, was it just these bad apples, that has been said, or did the chain of command go higher? Well apparently that chain of command will be a part of this process.
COSTELLO: Interesting. David Clinch, thank you.
CLINCH: OK. COSTELLO: How valuable are the so-called enemy combatants being held at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Well the "New York Times" reports that administration descriptions have been greatly exaggerated. The paper reports that only around a dozen of the nearly 600 detainees are sworn al Qaeda members and that no information gained from interrogations has thwarted any imminent attack. A Supreme Court decision on the legal status of the detainees is expected in the next week.
And the clock is ticking toward a horrific deadline for a South Korean hostage in Iraq. His kidnappers are vowing to behead him. In the meantime, his country is sending a six-member delegation to Jordan later today to negotiate his release.
Our Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pressure is mounting on the South Korean government in the hours following the kidnapping of South Korean civilian Kim Sun-il. Civic groups have taken to the streets demanding that the South Korean government scrap its plans to send additional troops to -- 3,000 troops to Iraq. They also demand that the South Korean government and bring back the 600 South Korean military that are already operating in Iraq.
The civic group that protested in front of the South Korean presidential office this afternoon in Seoul said that when the South Korean government announced its plans to send troops to Iraq, it promised the South Korean people that the troops would be in Iraq to help the Iraqi people in the reconstruction efforts. They were there for a peaceful mission and therefore would be welcomed by the Iraqi people.
The civic group leader said that the recent kidnapping case shows that the South Korean government misled the South Korean public and therefore the government should scrap its plans, the troop plans, all together.
Nevertheless, the South Korean government has so far said that it will not change its plans. The South Korean government still plans to send troops to Iraq and that they would be for reconstruction efforts in Iraq. And so that spirit will continue.
As the hours tick by, there is very big concern here in South Korea about the safety of Kim Sun-il, especially within the family of Kim Sun-il. The mother and father of the kidnapped Kim appeared on South Korean TV pleading for their son's life. They also urged the South Korean government to give in to the kidnappers' demands, bring home the South Korean troops and then bring home their son safe. At this point, however, the South Korean government does not seem to be moving in that direction.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And this just in to CNN. We understand four U.S. soldiers have been killed in an attack west of Baghdad. This is according to Reuters. We don't know much more than that, but we're editing (ph) more information out of Iraq from Jane Arraf. When Jane gets back to us with more info, of course we will pass it along to you.
Time now for a little politics. A record amount of money is being spent on the presidential campaign. Senator John Kerry spent a total of $32 million last month. That's $10 million more than President Bush. But the president has more than twice as much left to spend. Bush has already spent a record $152 million to this point. John Kerry has spent just under $121 million.
The much-anticipated memoir of former President Bill Clinton hits the stores tomorrow, but the buzz is already in full force.
CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace is on buzz patrol this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is his latest campaign, Bill Clinton revealing a lot but not everything in interviews before the much-anticipated release of his autobiography.
Asked the worst day of his presidency...
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was alone with Miss Lewinsky.
WALLACE: He tells "60 Minutes," August 1998, when he woke wife Hillary in the middle of the night to tell her about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky just before testifying about it to a grand jury.
On his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, he tells "TIME" magazine, "I was involved in two great struggles at the same time, a great public struggle over the future of America with the Republican Congress and a private struggle with my old demons. I won the public one and lost the private one. I don't think it's much more complicated that that. That's not an excuse. But it is an explanation and that's the best I can do."
His 957-page book also appears to be a chance to settle old scores, namely with independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr who led a series of investigations of the Clintons.
KENNETH STARR, PROSECUTOR: Well I'm not going to comment about specifics.
WALLACE: He tells "60 Minutes," "it cost over $70 million and we were exonerated in each case," he says. "There was nothing left but my personal failure. That's what people got for over $70 million. They did it because it was nothing but a big political operation designed to bring down the presidency."
His greatest regrets of his presidency not getting Osama bin Laden and failing to convince Israelis and Palestinians to make a peace deal at Camp David.
As for how President Bush handled Iraq, he told "TIME" magazine, "I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over."
But will his book satisfy his readers? "TIME" magazine's Joe Klein interviewed the former president.
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I think he raises some real questions about the conduct of the Starr investigation of him. But on a lot of the specific things that you really want to know from an ex- president, he doesn't give many answers at all.
WALLACE: But that is not likely to stop the former president's book from flying off the shelves.
(on camera): And this is about selling books, after all, but for Bill Clinton, it's also about polishing a legacy.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And coming up later this week, former President Clinton sits down for a special hour with Larry King. And for the first time, President Clinton will take your phone calls. It all comes your way Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Mississippi Burning, it was 40 years ago that a crime of hatred left a town on the verge of destruction. Now the families and friends of those left behind are bearing the load once carried by their relatives. Coming up, we'll talk with a brother of one of those victims.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday, June 21.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:46 Eastern. Here is what's all new this morning.
A military judge in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal has declared the Abu Ghraib Prison a crime scene, ordering that it not be destroyed while military trials are under way.
A South Korean man kidnapped in Iraq pleads for his life on Al Jazeera TV. Captors threaten to behead the man unless South Korea pulls its troops from Iraq and not send any more. Despite the threat, South Korea says it will send 3,000 troops, plus a delegation to negotiate the man's release. In money news, a new report from the Pugh (ph) Hispanic Center shows almost 3 out of every 10 new jobs in the U.S. are going to immigrants, but earnings for Latinos and other workers remain flat.
In culture, thousands of partygoers gather in Britain today to witness the sunrise at Stonehenge. They flock to the ancient circle of stones to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.
And in sports, the Giants' Jason Schmidt pitched his second one hitter of the season leading San Francisco to a four-zip victory over the Boston Red Sox. Schmidt won nine straight decisions -- Chad.
MYERS: And of course Michael Schumacher won the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis this weekend as well, Carol. Nice drive for him and obviously (ph) Rubens Barrichello right behind him.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you.
It was 40 years ago today that three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. The killings were chronicled in the movie "Mississippi Burning." The community where it happened and the victim's families are commemorating the slayings.
Ben Chaney, the brother of victim James Chaney, joins us by phone from Meridian, Mississippi, to discuss how -- to discuss how he is honoring his brother's memory.
Good morning.
BEN CHANEY, VICTIM'S BROTHER: Good morning.
COSTELLO: There is a push in Mississippi to bring the people responsible for your brother's murder to justice. Should they be doing that you think?
CHANEY: Most definitely. A push after 40 years, this is definitely needed.
COSTELLO: Do you think it will happen?
CHANEY: I hope so. I believe it will happen after 40 years. For the -- for the past 15 years at least, the state of Mississippi has been playing games with this case. One moment they say they were going to prosecute them and next there was no prosecution. So we believe now that after 40 years -- after the past -- since the new attorney general has requested federal assistance in this case, there will be a prosecution.
COSTELLO: Your brother and two friends who were white were investigating a fire at a church in Mississippi. They were also on sort of a voter registration drive and that was the big thing of the day in 1964. And after they investigated that church burning, they simply disappeared and their bodies were found later. Pretty much everybody knows who was responsible though, don't they?
CHANEY: We all know who the murderers were. We also know those individuals that created an environment for the murders to take place.
COSTELLO: And who are they? Some of them are dead now, but there are a few who are still alive.
CHANEY: There are some main figures that are still alive. There is one individual preacher killing (ph) who lives in Philadelphia, Mississippi. There is another individual who has -- who has -- who has been convicted on another murder case who is now in prison.
COSTELLO: You're also commemorating your brother's death in a different way by creating a voter registration drive for this coming election. Tell us about that.
CHANEY: We have pulled together a group of young people from across the country to do a Freedom Ride from New York to some of the major civil right cities in the South and especially in those cities where it's most affected by the Voting Rights Act. These young people that went out in each of the stops and done door-to-door voter registration, our primary focus is on registering young people from 18 to 30.
COSTELLO: That's a tough job.
CHANEY: It's a very tough job. We got a great group of kids.
COSTELLO: So how are they convincing them. I see they are knocking on doors, but what are they saying?
CHANEY: Let's go out and register, you know. They are saying are you a registered voter? We've registered, so far, 406 people in four different cities and most of the new registrants are 18 to 25 years old.
COSTELLO: Wow, and then the next challenge is actually getting them to the polls to vote. Do you plan any effort there?
CHANEY: Well we're going to do it through voter education. Next challenge is making sure people are sophisticated enough to look at the issues and decide who is best for them.
COSTELLO: Why is it so important to do this on this -- in this -- for this upcoming election? Why is it so important now?
CHANEY: Well not only for this election. This election is a very critical election. But also as we lead go into the -- as we lead into the Voting Rights Act there's a belief that the Voting Rights Act may not be reinstituted, reinstated. But it's very important that we remember my brother and his companions in a very real way and that way is doing what they were doing, registering people to vote.
COSTELLO: Great effort. Ben Chaney, thank you for joining us this early on DAYBREAK, live by phone from Mississippi.
It was a corporate collapse of epic proportions. Now Enron's founder could find himself behind bars. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll get the latest details from our legal eagle Kendall Coffey.
And preparing for lift off, will this rocket plane make space history?
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Space, the final frontier. We've all heard that phrase from "Star Trek." Well now some other explorers are ready to reach new heights in a whole new way. And their journey to space is scheduled to begin just a few hours from now.
CNN's Miles O'Brien has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Aviation legend Burt Rutan has always aimed high and most often reached his lofty goals.
BURT RUTAN, AVIATION LEGEND: Our goal is to show that you can develop a robust, safe, manned space program, and to do it at extremely low costs.
O'BRIEN: So far, Rutan's team has given no reason to doubt they can pull it off.
RUTAN: I think it is time that the commercial guys get aggressive on manned space flight, rather than waiting for NASA.
O'BRIEN: So for the past three years, he has been designing, building, test flying and tweaking a spacecraft he calls SpaceShipOne. Carried off the ground by an odd, seagull like jet called White Knight, SpaceShipOne is released 11 miles up and four miles higher than an airline's highest altitudes.
MIKE MELVILL, TEST PILOT: Quicker than most fighters and nervous little airplane.
O'BRIEN: Pilot Mike Melvill has now logged eight SpaceShipOne flights. Straight up for a wild blistering fast ride, getting closer and closer to the official gateway of space, 100 kilometers or 62 1/2 miles.
MELVILL: Two and one half times the speed of sound; mach 2.5 and then it comes to a stop up there, and you're weightless.
O'BRIEN: After three minutes or so in weightlessness, what goes up will succumb to the grip of gravity. Plummeting to earth almost as fast and entering the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound.
SpaceShipOne is designed to drop like a shuttlecock and when speed permits, transform into a glider for a 100-mile an hour touchdown on the Mojave runway. Rutan's group is the clear leader in the quest for the X-prize, a $10 million dollar privately funded purse that will go to the first civilian team to fly to space in the vehicle capable of carrying three people, then repeat the feat within two weeks.
RUTAN: We are interested in winning that -- it's money, we want to win it.
O'BRIEN: Burt says high time entrepreneurs like him made it to space, he means it. He's already grabbed the first passenger seat, on SpaceShipOne, for himself.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The prison abuse scandal goes to court. This week, four soldiers accused of abuse face courts-martial. Were they just following orders? We'll have much more for you ahead.
This is DAYBREAK for Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This notorious prison now a crime scene, so says a judge in Iraq who ordered Abu Ghraib to remain standing.
It is Monday, June 21. This is DAYBREAK.
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