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CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraqi Officials Announce 'National Safety Law'; Who is John Edwards?; Front Page Faux Pas; Too Much, Too Soon

Aired July 07, 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.


BAKTIAR AMIN, IRAQI HUMAN RIGHTS MIN. (through translator): six states and there are very few differences between them. And also there are similar laws that take place in France, also, to face -- that face the terrorist acts during the '80s that were issued to face terrorist acts, some of them which were caused by people who with Algerian origins. So, and a number of countries, similar laws have been applied as the Patriot Act after the 11th of September terrorist acts.
Right now there are severe dangers threatening us here and we have tried to guarantee justice and also guarantee human rights. And I personally have a full authority granted to me by the prime minister. I have the authority to monitor any human rights violations. And if any violations occur during the application of these laws, I have the right to investigate them in the cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. So we are coordinating our efforts in order to guarantee the human rights and to guarantee a humanitarian application of these laws.

Thank you very much.

FALAH AL-NAQIB, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We are the executive party that executes all the orders and laws issued by the government. I am the senior military adviser for the Ministry of Defense.

As the two gentlemen have addressed before me, you all know that a number of or most of the terrorists operating in Iraq have crossed the borders and some of them are members of the previous regime and they are targeting anything they see in front of them. They are detonating bombed cars, as happened in the Tahar Square (ph) a period ago.

And they have, regardless of human lives, regardless of innocent losses of women, of children, of the people who are sitting safely in their homes. They are killing the policemen. They are -- they are killing the policemen who are providing their utmost efforts to protect the people. They are also targeting the government institutes and all those who work in them. They have killed contractors who have come to Iraq in order to carry out their projects in rebuilding Iraq.

Their only goal is to obstruct and derail the democratic process here in Iraq. Therefore, it is our duty to stand against them and to reserve the security of the people and to fight all those who target the Iraqis and their security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Here are the names -- here is a list...

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to the Ministers of Justice, Interior and Human Rights. According to the Human Rights Minister, the lives of Iraqis are in danger because of evil forces, as they put it. And now they are issuing a new security law to help combat the insurgency, to try to answer to some of the attacks that have been ongoing and to try to protect the human rights and liberties, as they say.

We're just getting word at this hour of clashes in central Baghdad, for example. U.S. and Iraqi forces are facing off against insurgents. Iraqi police say the fighting involves small arms fire, mortars and grenades. Seven people have been slightly injured.

And also today, there were mortar attacks involving the Interior Minister Iyad Allawi's home and office. Apparently though, no one was home and no one was wounded at that office as well. But this is the kind of examples of insurgency attacks and violence that they are dealing with in central Baghdad and in other cities around Iraq. And this is why these new security measures are being put into place.

Our international editor David Clinch is joining me here on the set. Let's talk a little bit about what these new security measures will mean. For one, it means they can impose marshal law.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well that's true, but with the emphasis on can impose marshal law. Marshal law is a very hot buzzword at the moment. It has been for the last few days. But the U.S. making it clear that while marshal law may eventually be needed, the Iraqis making it clear today that it is an option for them now.

It has not been imposed yet, and the U.S. had made it clear also that they did not think that that was a good option right now. Marshal law, of course, would clamp down the entire country and put the Iraqi public under a pressure beyond what it's already facing from the insurgency and the fighting.

WHITFIELD: So the U.S. is saying it would be counterproductive?

CLINCH: Counterproductive at this point, but it is clearly an option. And the Iraqis making it very obvious today in this press conference that they will impose whatever length of law that is required and including and up to marshal law.

Now when you look at the scenes that we were seeing there, in Baghdad, right in the center of Baghdad, not in Sadr City where we have seen clashes before, but in the -- one of the main streets going through the heart of Baghdad, and you see U.S. air gunships above firing at buildings in the center of Baghdad, obviously the level of insurgency and the level of violence in Baghdad itself and beyond is showing no signs of abatement as these press conferences are happening, as these new security laws are being introduced.

So we'll bring our reporters back up from Baghdad shortly to give you all the details and perspective on what these new laws mean now and what they could lead to eventually.

WHITFIELD: The new security measures were signed off by the interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. However, while the U.S. is now making its opinions very clear about no marshal law, et cetera, is this the U.S.' way of trying to separate itself from the interim government, letting the Iraqi people know and the rest of the Arab community that it's the interim government that is in charge and they are the ones who are at the helm here?

CLINCH: Well this entire process, the transition to Iraqi interim government is all about putting the Iraqis in the front line. But the Iraqis being in the front line is exactly what you're seeing there in the streets of Baghdad today. The information that we are receiving is that this clash, this firefight, if you want to call it that, began between Iraqi security forces and insurgents. They are the ones in the firing line. Allawi's political office was targeted by insurgents today, too. So they are in the front line whether the Americans say it or not.

But what of course happens whenever these firefights turn into what they turned into in Baghdad today is that the U.S. is still there as the primary source of security in Baghdad and beyond. And when they are needed, when they are required, they are called in. And of course when they are called in, whether it's Baghdad, Fallujah or elsewhere, there is a toll, there is a death toll.

We are approaching, believe it or not, within the next few days or weeks, we will see potentially us go over 1,000 troops dead in the coalition in total. Now that includes not only hostile deaths but non-hostile deaths, but it's still a figure that's kind of jarring when you look at it. We're at something like 993 today as we look at it with as many as seven Marines dying in the last couple of days. So while the U.S. is in the background in some ways, the fighting is still going on and there is a toll.

WHITFIELD: When we talk about the attacks taking place on Allawi's office and home, obviously neither are in the green zone. What kind of protections...

CLINCH: Right.

WHITFIELD: ... are being offered to these interim ministers?

CLINCH: Well they are protecting themselves, for the most, at least at their political offices. In terms of the individuals, those ministers, the U.S. is definitely contributing security to those top level ministers. Exactly precisely what level of security, we're not privy to that, but we do know that they are contributing at least to their security.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Clinch, thanks very much.

CLINCH: All right.

WHITFIELD: And as promised, we will be checking in with our Baghdad reporters to get the immediate response then from this announcement from the Interior Minister, as well as Human Rights Minister, on these new security measures being put into place in Iraq.

And we're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards take their new campaign for a test drive this morning. The two appear before the media near Pittsburgh. Then they'll head to Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. And finally, they go off to St. Petersburg, Florida.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney hit the campaign trail as well today. They are traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina and then to Pontiac, Michigan.

John Edwards has already traveled the country several times over as a presidential candidate. Now he'll go to many of the same places as the Democratic Party's No. 2 man. But do voters outside of his southern base really know who he is?

CNN's Kelly Wallace takes a look at the man who could be the next vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We know him as John Edwards, but he was born Johnny Reed Edwards in 1953. At the time, his father couldn't afford the $50 hospital bill and had to take out a loan.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My father worked at a mill all his life, has a high school education.

WALLACE: He grew up in Seneca, South Carolina, near the mill where his father worked, telling "The Boston Globe," "It was a rough little town. You either fought or you got the crap beat out of you."

And he fought those battles on the football fields and later in North Carolina courtrooms, earning multimillion dollar awards as a young personal injury attorney. David Kirby went to law school with Edwards. The two were partners at the same law firm.

DAVID KIRBY, EDWARDS' FMR. LAW FIRM PARTNER: There's a feeling of self assuredness. Sometimes you have people enter public office that you have questions about their ability to lead or their ability to make good decisions when they're in difficult times, and I have no hesitation about John's ability. I have no...

WALLACE: But not everyone agrees. Some business groups accuse trial lawyers of frivolous lawsuits.

MICHAEL DUBKE, PRESIDENT, AMERICANS FOR JOB SECURITY: John Edwards is a poster child for the trial lawyer industry.

WALLACE: His hometown in North Carolina could be considered hostile territory, many of his neighbors supporting Republican candidates, but they make an exception for Edwards. MARTHA CRAMPTON, NEIGHBOR OF EDWARDS IN NORTH CAROLINA: I know John personally, and I know what he would bring to the office.

WALLACE: He met wife Elizabeth at the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill. A few days after taking the bar, they wed. She wore an $11 wedding band, he a $22 ring.

He became a litigator, she a bankruptcy lawyer until 1996 when their 16-year-old son Wade was killed in a car accident, a death the family rarely discusses. Elizabeth stopped working, taking care of daughter Kate.

Two years later at the age of 48, she gave birth to Emma Claire, now six, and then Jack, who's four. Not long after that, Edwards entered politics and became U.S. Senator from North Carolina and now a vice presidential running mate.

Elizabeth didn't believe it when she heard it on the news at the family home in North Carolina. Her husband called and put Emma Claire on the phone. She said her daddy's going to be vice president. Then Jack got on the line to say he just learned how to swim on top of the water. Elizabeth said, "That's wonderful. Now can I talk to daddy?"

Kelly Wallace, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well the folks at Gallup are fast. We have a new CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll for you on Kerry's choice of a running mate. Fifty-four percent of the 553 registered voters surveyed say they have a favorable opinion of Edwards, 16 percent unfavorable, 30 percent say they are unsure. Sixty-four percent call Edwards an excellent or pretty good running mate, 17 percent say he is only fair as a candidate, while 11 percent call him a poor choice. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

You can hear much more on the Kerry-Edwards partnership and learn more about John Kerry tomorrow night. He and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, are Larry King's guests right here at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

For more on the Kerry-Edwards ticket, be sure to log on to CNN.com. We have analysis and a special look at the so-called V.P. bump in the polls. Also, you can vote in our poll if you think Edwards is the right choice. So far, 75 percent of you have said yes. So log on and join in at CNN.com.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 46 minutes after the hour, and here is what's all new this morning.

Iraq's interim government has just imposed new harsher security measures. It comes as insurgents launch several attacks, including one on the offices of the interim prime minister.

In Yemen, six suspected al Qaeda members have been charged today with the October 2000 attack on the USS destroyer Cole. The attack killed 17 sailors.

In money, shrimp lovers better get ready to pay more. The Commerce Department is imposing fees on shipments from six countries. A move that an alliance of seafood distributors says could increase prices by 44 percent. Nothing shrimpy about that.

In culture, "USA Today" reports Canteen Vending Services, one of the nation's largest vending machines operators, is planning to install healthier foods in dozens of cities in the next five years.

In sports, the Boston Red Sox were hot last night. They crushed the Athletics 11-zip. Johnny Damon had five singles and scored twice.

Were you up watching that game -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm afraid not. I was in la-la land by that point.

Hey, good morning, everybody.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I understand.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: It is hot out there. All right, thanks a lot.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Those are the headlines.

Well talk about jaw dropping publications, you probably think John Kerry picked John Edwards to be his running mate, right? Well the readers of a certain New York tabloid got an entirely different story on their front page yesterday.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on a presidential-sized blooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "If John Edwards says yes," sounds like a marriage proposal. Well, here's the happy couple. Unless you happen to be reading the "New York Post."

(on camera) See this this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't that a joke? Isn't that a joke?

MOOS (voice-over): Even among normally blase New Yorkers, jaws dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

MOOS: You couldn't blame folks for getting mixed up.

(on camera) Did you hear the news this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About Gephardt?

MOOS (voice-over): Kerry picks Gephardt. It was a "New York Post" exclusive.

(on camera) It was exclusively their error!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big boo-boo, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oops!

MOOS: Did you see this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I love that. That's the Dewey versus Truman of our time.

MOOS: You've seen the picture: victorious President Truman gleefully holding up the "Chicago Daily Tribune's" whopper of a mistake.

We had to imagine Senator Edwards holding up the "Post," because he wasn't waving it in fellow Democrat Dick Gephardt's face.

Gephardt himself seemed to suggest he wasn't convinced when he heard reports of the "Post" saying Kerry had chosen him.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), MISSOURI: I guess I'm from Missouri: "show me."

MOOS: Missouri, the Show Me State. Show me the money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll buy that off you for 50 cents, double your money right now.

MOOS: Double it? On eBay, the price for this rare "New York Post" blunder was $26 and rising.

The conservative leaning "Post" explained the error by saying the editor in chief made the decision after the "Post" received information it believed to be correct. "We unreservedly apologize to our readers for the mistake."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!

MOOS: Hours after Kerry picked Edwards, the front page faux pas was still being sold on the street. A competing tabloid tweaked its nemesis.

(on camera) The "Daily News" sent the "Post" a case of champagne.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have, too.

MOOS: Technically, it was sparkling wine, Cold Duck, accompanied by a note that said, "Have a nice day." In the race to be first, sometimes it pays to say...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa! That's too much.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oops.

Well in the next hour of DAYBREAK, breaking the cycle one child at a time. What doting parents can do to help their kids lose weight.

And teens and sex. Are kids going too far too fast these days? A special report straight ahead. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We all know it's tough to be a teenager, but these days teens face pressures that previous generations couldn't have imagined. And in case you haven't heard, these days teenagers are having sex soon and often.

CNN's Jason Bellini has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Heather Crigg's 14th birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right...

(CROSSTALK)

BELLINI: Heather and her girlfriends aren't shy around boys. Most are well past that stage. They talk openly about hooking up.

HEATHER CRIGG, 14-YEAR-OLD: As long as you like the person, if you don't have to be in a relationship with them. You just have to like them.

BELLINI (on camera): Can you be hooking up with more than one person at a time?

CRIGG: Yes.

BELLINI (voice-over): Heather defines "hooking up" as everything but intercourse.

CRIGG: Hooking up is, like, making out with him, and sex is, like, sex.

BELLINI (on camera): Sex.

CRIGG: Yes. BELLINI (voice-over): Atoosa Rubenstein, editor of "Seventeen" magazine, hears from many teen girls who want to remain virgins. They view hooking up and making out as loopholes.

ATOOSA RUBENSTEIN, EDITOR, "SEVENTEEN" MAGAZINE: The number of virgins has gone up, but there's a lot of other things you can do and still maintain your virginity. You know, so kids are having oral sex. They are having anal sex.

BELLINI (on camera): It's a distinction that may help to explain why the teen pregnancy rate is down 30 percent from a decade ago. At the same time, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases among young people is going up.

(voice-over): People between ages 15 and 24 account for half of all new STDs in the U.S. The secret sex lives of today's teenagers also may be aided by easy access to the Internet. Preliminary findings of an Emory University study suggest that teens exposed to Internet porn may think it's normal to degrade their partner and to disassociate sex from intimacy.

CRIGG: They're always more, like, touchy-feely and stuff.

BELLINI (on camera): And the girls, do they do it because boys pressure them to, or because they want to?

CRIGG: I think both.

BELLINI (voice-over): It's called friends with benefits, the benefits being of the sexual variety. The boys benefit more than the girls.

RUBENSTEIN: They think, Well, maybe if we make out, maybe if we're physical, he'll see how special I am. But, instead, what's happening is, the boy is saying, OK, thank you, moving on to the next one.

BELLINI: Even if they are still virgins, the girls find themselves doing too much, too soon.

Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And for more on this special series, "Too Much, Too Soon," tune in to "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight. We'll take a look at teens trying to lose weight and get buff and just how far they'll go. That's at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

John Kerry has spoken. Now can the dynamic Democratic duo give the Bush administration a run for its money? That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The running mate joins John Kerry for the first day of campaigning together.

It is Wednesday, July 7, and 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 July 7, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BAKTIAR AMIN, IRAQI HUMAN RIGHTS MIN. (through translator): six states and there are very few differences between them. And also there are similar laws that take place in France, also, to face -- that face the terrorist acts during the '80s that were issued to face terrorist acts, some of them which were caused by people who with Algerian origins. So, and a number of countries, similar laws have been applied as the Patriot Act after the 11th of September terrorist acts.
Right now there are severe dangers threatening us here and we have tried to guarantee justice and also guarantee human rights. And I personally have a full authority granted to me by the prime minister. I have the authority to monitor any human rights violations. And if any violations occur during the application of these laws, I have the right to investigate them in the cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. So we are coordinating our efforts in order to guarantee the human rights and to guarantee a humanitarian application of these laws.

Thank you very much.

FALAH AL-NAQIB, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We are the executive party that executes all the orders and laws issued by the government. I am the senior military adviser for the Ministry of Defense.

As the two gentlemen have addressed before me, you all know that a number of or most of the terrorists operating in Iraq have crossed the borders and some of them are members of the previous regime and they are targeting anything they see in front of them. They are detonating bombed cars, as happened in the Tahar Square (ph) a period ago.

And they have, regardless of human lives, regardless of innocent losses of women, of children, of the people who are sitting safely in their homes. They are killing the policemen. They are -- they are killing the policemen who are providing their utmost efforts to protect the people. They are also targeting the government institutes and all those who work in them. They have killed contractors who have come to Iraq in order to carry out their projects in rebuilding Iraq.

Their only goal is to obstruct and derail the democratic process here in Iraq. Therefore, it is our duty to stand against them and to reserve the security of the people and to fight all those who target the Iraqis and their security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Here are the names -- here is a list...

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to the Ministers of Justice, Interior and Human Rights. According to the Human Rights Minister, the lives of Iraqis are in danger because of evil forces, as they put it. And now they are issuing a new security law to help combat the insurgency, to try to answer to some of the attacks that have been ongoing and to try to protect the human rights and liberties, as they say.

We're just getting word at this hour of clashes in central Baghdad, for example. U.S. and Iraqi forces are facing off against insurgents. Iraqi police say the fighting involves small arms fire, mortars and grenades. Seven people have been slightly injured.

And also today, there were mortar attacks involving the Interior Minister Iyad Allawi's home and office. Apparently though, no one was home and no one was wounded at that office as well. But this is the kind of examples of insurgency attacks and violence that they are dealing with in central Baghdad and in other cities around Iraq. And this is why these new security measures are being put into place.

Our international editor David Clinch is joining me here on the set. Let's talk a little bit about what these new security measures will mean. For one, it means they can impose marshal law.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well that's true, but with the emphasis on can impose marshal law. Marshal law is a very hot buzzword at the moment. It has been for the last few days. But the U.S. making it clear that while marshal law may eventually be needed, the Iraqis making it clear today that it is an option for them now.

It has not been imposed yet, and the U.S. had made it clear also that they did not think that that was a good option right now. Marshal law, of course, would clamp down the entire country and put the Iraqi public under a pressure beyond what it's already facing from the insurgency and the fighting.

WHITFIELD: So the U.S. is saying it would be counterproductive?

CLINCH: Counterproductive at this point, but it is clearly an option. And the Iraqis making it very obvious today in this press conference that they will impose whatever length of law that is required and including and up to marshal law.

Now when you look at the scenes that we were seeing there, in Baghdad, right in the center of Baghdad, not in Sadr City where we have seen clashes before, but in the -- one of the main streets going through the heart of Baghdad, and you see U.S. air gunships above firing at buildings in the center of Baghdad, obviously the level of insurgency and the level of violence in Baghdad itself and beyond is showing no signs of abatement as these press conferences are happening, as these new security laws are being introduced.

So we'll bring our reporters back up from Baghdad shortly to give you all the details and perspective on what these new laws mean now and what they could lead to eventually.

WHITFIELD: The new security measures were signed off by the interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. However, while the U.S. is now making its opinions very clear about no marshal law, et cetera, is this the U.S.' way of trying to separate itself from the interim government, letting the Iraqi people know and the rest of the Arab community that it's the interim government that is in charge and they are the ones who are at the helm here?

CLINCH: Well this entire process, the transition to Iraqi interim government is all about putting the Iraqis in the front line. But the Iraqis being in the front line is exactly what you're seeing there in the streets of Baghdad today. The information that we are receiving is that this clash, this firefight, if you want to call it that, began between Iraqi security forces and insurgents. They are the ones in the firing line. Allawi's political office was targeted by insurgents today, too. So they are in the front line whether the Americans say it or not.

But what of course happens whenever these firefights turn into what they turned into in Baghdad today is that the U.S. is still there as the primary source of security in Baghdad and beyond. And when they are needed, when they are required, they are called in. And of course when they are called in, whether it's Baghdad, Fallujah or elsewhere, there is a toll, there is a death toll.

We are approaching, believe it or not, within the next few days or weeks, we will see potentially us go over 1,000 troops dead in the coalition in total. Now that includes not only hostile deaths but non-hostile deaths, but it's still a figure that's kind of jarring when you look at it. We're at something like 993 today as we look at it with as many as seven Marines dying in the last couple of days. So while the U.S. is in the background in some ways, the fighting is still going on and there is a toll.

WHITFIELD: When we talk about the attacks taking place on Allawi's office and home, obviously neither are in the green zone. What kind of protections...

CLINCH: Right.

WHITFIELD: ... are being offered to these interim ministers?

CLINCH: Well they are protecting themselves, for the most, at least at their political offices. In terms of the individuals, those ministers, the U.S. is definitely contributing security to those top level ministers. Exactly precisely what level of security, we're not privy to that, but we do know that they are contributing at least to their security.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Clinch, thanks very much.

CLINCH: All right.

WHITFIELD: And as promised, we will be checking in with our Baghdad reporters to get the immediate response then from this announcement from the Interior Minister, as well as Human Rights Minister, on these new security measures being put into place in Iraq.

And we're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards take their new campaign for a test drive this morning. The two appear before the media near Pittsburgh. Then they'll head to Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. And finally, they go off to St. Petersburg, Florida.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney hit the campaign trail as well today. They are traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina and then to Pontiac, Michigan.

John Edwards has already traveled the country several times over as a presidential candidate. Now he'll go to many of the same places as the Democratic Party's No. 2 man. But do voters outside of his southern base really know who he is?

CNN's Kelly Wallace takes a look at the man who could be the next vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We know him as John Edwards, but he was born Johnny Reed Edwards in 1953. At the time, his father couldn't afford the $50 hospital bill and had to take out a loan.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My father worked at a mill all his life, has a high school education.

WALLACE: He grew up in Seneca, South Carolina, near the mill where his father worked, telling "The Boston Globe," "It was a rough little town. You either fought or you got the crap beat out of you."

And he fought those battles on the football fields and later in North Carolina courtrooms, earning multimillion dollar awards as a young personal injury attorney. David Kirby went to law school with Edwards. The two were partners at the same law firm.

DAVID KIRBY, EDWARDS' FMR. LAW FIRM PARTNER: There's a feeling of self assuredness. Sometimes you have people enter public office that you have questions about their ability to lead or their ability to make good decisions when they're in difficult times, and I have no hesitation about John's ability. I have no...

WALLACE: But not everyone agrees. Some business groups accuse trial lawyers of frivolous lawsuits.

MICHAEL DUBKE, PRESIDENT, AMERICANS FOR JOB SECURITY: John Edwards is a poster child for the trial lawyer industry.

WALLACE: His hometown in North Carolina could be considered hostile territory, many of his neighbors supporting Republican candidates, but they make an exception for Edwards. MARTHA CRAMPTON, NEIGHBOR OF EDWARDS IN NORTH CAROLINA: I know John personally, and I know what he would bring to the office.

WALLACE: He met wife Elizabeth at the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill. A few days after taking the bar, they wed. She wore an $11 wedding band, he a $22 ring.

He became a litigator, she a bankruptcy lawyer until 1996 when their 16-year-old son Wade was killed in a car accident, a death the family rarely discusses. Elizabeth stopped working, taking care of daughter Kate.

Two years later at the age of 48, she gave birth to Emma Claire, now six, and then Jack, who's four. Not long after that, Edwards entered politics and became U.S. Senator from North Carolina and now a vice presidential running mate.

Elizabeth didn't believe it when she heard it on the news at the family home in North Carolina. Her husband called and put Emma Claire on the phone. She said her daddy's going to be vice president. Then Jack got on the line to say he just learned how to swim on top of the water. Elizabeth said, "That's wonderful. Now can I talk to daddy?"

Kelly Wallace, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well the folks at Gallup are fast. We have a new CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll for you on Kerry's choice of a running mate. Fifty-four percent of the 553 registered voters surveyed say they have a favorable opinion of Edwards, 16 percent unfavorable, 30 percent say they are unsure. Sixty-four percent call Edwards an excellent or pretty good running mate, 17 percent say he is only fair as a candidate, while 11 percent call him a poor choice. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

You can hear much more on the Kerry-Edwards partnership and learn more about John Kerry tomorrow night. He and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, are Larry King's guests right here at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

For more on the Kerry-Edwards ticket, be sure to log on to CNN.com. We have analysis and a special look at the so-called V.P. bump in the polls. Also, you can vote in our poll if you think Edwards is the right choice. So far, 75 percent of you have said yes. So log on and join in at CNN.com.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 46 minutes after the hour, and here is what's all new this morning.

Iraq's interim government has just imposed new harsher security measures. It comes as insurgents launch several attacks, including one on the offices of the interim prime minister.

In Yemen, six suspected al Qaeda members have been charged today with the October 2000 attack on the USS destroyer Cole. The attack killed 17 sailors.

In money, shrimp lovers better get ready to pay more. The Commerce Department is imposing fees on shipments from six countries. A move that an alliance of seafood distributors says could increase prices by 44 percent. Nothing shrimpy about that.

In culture, "USA Today" reports Canteen Vending Services, one of the nation's largest vending machines operators, is planning to install healthier foods in dozens of cities in the next five years.

In sports, the Boston Red Sox were hot last night. They crushed the Athletics 11-zip. Johnny Damon had five singles and scored twice.

Were you up watching that game -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm afraid not. I was in la-la land by that point.

Hey, good morning, everybody.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I understand.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: It is hot out there. All right, thanks a lot.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Those are the headlines.

Well talk about jaw dropping publications, you probably think John Kerry picked John Edwards to be his running mate, right? Well the readers of a certain New York tabloid got an entirely different story on their front page yesterday.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on a presidential-sized blooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "If John Edwards says yes," sounds like a marriage proposal. Well, here's the happy couple. Unless you happen to be reading the "New York Post."

(on camera) See this this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't that a joke? Isn't that a joke?

MOOS (voice-over): Even among normally blase New Yorkers, jaws dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

MOOS: You couldn't blame folks for getting mixed up.

(on camera) Did you hear the news this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About Gephardt?

MOOS (voice-over): Kerry picks Gephardt. It was a "New York Post" exclusive.

(on camera) It was exclusively their error!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big boo-boo, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oops!

MOOS: Did you see this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I love that. That's the Dewey versus Truman of our time.

MOOS: You've seen the picture: victorious President Truman gleefully holding up the "Chicago Daily Tribune's" whopper of a mistake.

We had to imagine Senator Edwards holding up the "Post," because he wasn't waving it in fellow Democrat Dick Gephardt's face.

Gephardt himself seemed to suggest he wasn't convinced when he heard reports of the "Post" saying Kerry had chosen him.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), MISSOURI: I guess I'm from Missouri: "show me."

MOOS: Missouri, the Show Me State. Show me the money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll buy that off you for 50 cents, double your money right now.

MOOS: Double it? On eBay, the price for this rare "New York Post" blunder was $26 and rising.

The conservative leaning "Post" explained the error by saying the editor in chief made the decision after the "Post" received information it believed to be correct. "We unreservedly apologize to our readers for the mistake."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!

MOOS: Hours after Kerry picked Edwards, the front page faux pas was still being sold on the street. A competing tabloid tweaked its nemesis.

(on camera) The "Daily News" sent the "Post" a case of champagne.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have, too.

MOOS: Technically, it was sparkling wine, Cold Duck, accompanied by a note that said, "Have a nice day." In the race to be first, sometimes it pays to say...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa! That's too much.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oops.

Well in the next hour of DAYBREAK, breaking the cycle one child at a time. What doting parents can do to help their kids lose weight.

And teens and sex. Are kids going too far too fast these days? A special report straight ahead. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We all know it's tough to be a teenager, but these days teens face pressures that previous generations couldn't have imagined. And in case you haven't heard, these days teenagers are having sex soon and often.

CNN's Jason Bellini has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Heather Crigg's 14th birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right...

(CROSSTALK)

BELLINI: Heather and her girlfriends aren't shy around boys. Most are well past that stage. They talk openly about hooking up.

HEATHER CRIGG, 14-YEAR-OLD: As long as you like the person, if you don't have to be in a relationship with them. You just have to like them.

BELLINI (on camera): Can you be hooking up with more than one person at a time?

CRIGG: Yes.

BELLINI (voice-over): Heather defines "hooking up" as everything but intercourse.

CRIGG: Hooking up is, like, making out with him, and sex is, like, sex.

BELLINI (on camera): Sex.

CRIGG: Yes. BELLINI (voice-over): Atoosa Rubenstein, editor of "Seventeen" magazine, hears from many teen girls who want to remain virgins. They view hooking up and making out as loopholes.

ATOOSA RUBENSTEIN, EDITOR, "SEVENTEEN" MAGAZINE: The number of virgins has gone up, but there's a lot of other things you can do and still maintain your virginity. You know, so kids are having oral sex. They are having anal sex.

BELLINI (on camera): It's a distinction that may help to explain why the teen pregnancy rate is down 30 percent from a decade ago. At the same time, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases among young people is going up.

(voice-over): People between ages 15 and 24 account for half of all new STDs in the U.S. The secret sex lives of today's teenagers also may be aided by easy access to the Internet. Preliminary findings of an Emory University study suggest that teens exposed to Internet porn may think it's normal to degrade their partner and to disassociate sex from intimacy.

CRIGG: They're always more, like, touchy-feely and stuff.

BELLINI (on camera): And the girls, do they do it because boys pressure them to, or because they want to?

CRIGG: I think both.

BELLINI (voice-over): It's called friends with benefits, the benefits being of the sexual variety. The boys benefit more than the girls.

RUBENSTEIN: They think, Well, maybe if we make out, maybe if we're physical, he'll see how special I am. But, instead, what's happening is, the boy is saying, OK, thank you, moving on to the next one.

BELLINI: Even if they are still virgins, the girls find themselves doing too much, too soon.

Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And for more on this special series, "Too Much, Too Soon," tune in to "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight. We'll take a look at teens trying to lose weight and get buff and just how far they'll go. That's at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

John Kerry has spoken. Now can the dynamic Democratic duo give the Bush administration a run for its money? That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The running mate joins John Kerry for the first day of campaigning together.

It is Wednesday, July 7, and this is DAYBREAK.

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