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CNN Live At Daybreak
Missing Marine Wassef Hassoun Reportedly Safe in Lebanon; Nuke Inspector ElBaradei Meets With Israeli Prime Minister Sharon
Aired July 08, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. has credible information, information this morning that the missing Marine from Utah is safe and in Lebanon.
It is Thursday, July 8.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
We'll have a live report for you out of Lebanon in two minutes.
But first, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency met today with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Mohamed ElBaradei wants Israel to discuss its alleged nuclear weapons program. He believes that could help reopen Middle East security talks. We'll talk about this in just 15 minutes with a Middle East expert.
Former Enron Chair Ken Lay says "I have done nothing wrong." Lay has been indicted by a federal grand jury. He plans to surrender today and an indictment listing the charges will be unsealed.
CIA Director George Tenet says good-bye to his troops four hours from now. A gathering at the agency headquarters is planned, even though Tenet does not officially leave office until Sunday. President Bush has not yet named a new director.
And residents of some northern Kansas areas are cleaning up this morning after severe weather hits the region. Several tornadoes were reported, knocking out power to some areas.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
Just to the west of Concordia, Kansas was where the most severe weather happened. And those storms just dropped down from north to south out of Nebraska and made a run, made a charge even, at Wichita.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's whereabouts still a mystery to the U.S. military, at least somewhat. But there are high spirits in Lebanon. Sources close to Hassoun's family there says he's safe.
So what's going on?
Let's head live to Tripoli and Alphonso Van Marsh.
What is going on? Is he free or not free?
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is certainly the (AUDIO GAP) the last couple of days. The U.S. Embassy here saying that they've received credible information that Wassef is in the country, but they are not confirming his whereabouts. They also, they are discrediting a lot of local press reports here, any number of rumors being put into print. This newspaper here actually saying that Wassef spent the night at the U.S. Embassy last night. Embassy officials denying that.
Now, where I am is in the Hassoun -- for lack of a better word -- the Hassoun neighborhood. About 60 percent of the people in these high rise buildings you see behind me are all Hassouns. They're brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces. They're in good spirits, they say. They're not very happy about the press coming down here. They've kind of closed on in. But they say they're looking forward to some more good news. They say, as well, as the Lebanese foreign minister tells us here, that he called the family. Sammy is the brother here, saying congratulations on the release of Wassef. But everybody wants to know where is this man now and will he come to his hometown here in Tripoli soon.
COSTELLO: You would think if he was free, he would call the Defense Department or his commanders, perhaps. I mean, is there a reason that he wouldn't do that?
VAN MARSH: Well, the impression that we're getting here in the neighborhood where most of Hassoun's family lives -- he was born and raised here -- they're keeping the fact that they know very close to themselves. The story is, I believe, far from over. At some point, Wassef, provided he comes (UNINTELLIGIBLE), is going to have a very interesting story to tell.
In terms of what he's sharing, who he's calling, we're not sure. We do know that the U.S. Embassy here has been in touch with his family over the last three weeks. There have been very insensitive contacts over the last 24 hours. The family says that they have been in touch with Wassef. But in terms of Wassef showing up here, at least, we haven't seen that happen.
COSTELLO: The FBI has been in Lebanon, as well, hasn't it?
VAN MARSH: Well, I should be careful to say that the family is being very, very careful about who they say they've been in touch with, whom may or may not have been by to visit. But they do say that they are in good spirits, that they have received a sign. They won't describe what that is. But they are in good spirits and that they've received a sign that their brother Wassef is safe and on his way home.
COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live from Tripoli in Lebanon this morning.
Thank you.
The latest on Iraq now in our situation report.
The kidnap of a Filipino by militants in Iraq has prompted the Philippine government to stop its citizens from traveling to Iraq. Militants there are threatening to kill the man if his government does not withdraw its troops by tomorrow.
An Iraqi man says U.S. troops opened fire on his house after hearing loud generator noises. These pictures just in this morning from the scene. The man says four families live in that house, including women and children. One person was wounded.
The Iraqi government says it plans to conduct a national census in October and they don't want any help from the international community. The U.N. has said the census is the necessary first step for Iraq to prepare for next year's election.
For more about the situation in Iraq, just log on to cnn.com.
John Kerry is barnstorming through the country with his new running mate. Kerry and John Edwards are in Florida today. They're set to campaign in New York, Virginia and New Mexico before ending up in Edwards' home state of North Carolina on Saturday.
Also, Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry will make a stop right here tonight with Larry King. CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Democratic heavyweights are weighing in on Kerry's choice as running mate. Bill Clinton is full of praise for Senator John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Edwards ran second in the primary process to John Kerry. And he was energetic and articulate and popular, even with a lot of people who voted for Senator Kerry. People know he has great potential.
Secondly, he was on the Intelligence Committee. It's not like he has no experience at all.
Thirdly, he is running for vice president with more international experience than President Bush ran for president with just four years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Be sure to join CNN's Aaron Brown for "NEWSNIGHT." Former President Clinton joins Christiane Amanpour for a special interview at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Of course, that's tonight.
President Bush is spending the day in Washington. He's meeting with the kind of Morocco in the Oval Office this morning. Later, he'll do some stumping via satellite with a remote address to Hispanic voters. The League of United Latin American Citizens Convention is the nation's largest Hispanic organization.
And the "New Republic" magazine is reporting on Bush administration pressure for what it calls a July surprise. The "New Republic" says the pressure is on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden or some other high value target, and do it before the U.S. presidential election, preferably late this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BEINART, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Our story, by Spencer Ackerman and John Judas and a Pakistani journalist named Mansoud Ansari, quotes four Pakistani officials, all people in a position to know, saying that they have been receiving pressure from Bush administration officials to deliver Osama bin Laden or another high value al Qaeda target like his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, before the November election. And one of those sources, a very senior person, says that they have been specifically said that they want those -- they want that capture during -- in the last days of July, during the Democratic convention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sean McCormack of President Bush's National Security Council responds to that article, saying "Our attitude and actions have been the same since September 11 in terms of getting high value targets off the street and that doesn't change because of an election."
The Afghan government has detained three Americans, describing them as freelancers fighting terrorism. The details of the charges are still being worked out.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, has just joined us.
You have your microphone on now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: I do.
COSTELLO: Yes.
CLINCH: Carol, yes. What a fascinating story. We've been following this for the last 12 hours or so. Afghan officials have closed down what they, in one version of events, say was a private prison being run by a number of foreigners, including at least one American.
COSTELLO: A private prison?
CLINCH: According to Afghan officials. Now, the version of events that is to the fore at the moment is that Afghan officials say that this group of people, including, again, at least one American that they've named, may have been trying to run some kind of private war against militants or war against terror in Afghanistan and set up some kind of prison operation in Afghanistan in which they were interrogating militant Afghans or militant suspects.
Now, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul has issued a statement saying that these individuals and the one who's been named are nothing to do with the U.S. government and that they've been aware of them for some time and that they have perhaps been posing as U.S. officials. But they really don't know what they've been doing.
So a fascinating story...
COSTELLO: Now, wait a minute, they knew about them, but they didn't exactly know...
CLINCH: Well, they've been aware of their presence in Afghanistan. Now, Afghan officials have been able to track them down and have shut down whatever operation it is that they've been running.
Now, there are other versions of events that say that these individuals may have been involved in criminal activity. So we're looking very closely.
COSTELLO: So what nationality are these people?
CLINCH: Well, the one American that we're aware of, that we've been following this guy very closely for some time, is known by various aliases, including Jack Idema. Now, that name rang a bell with us and we've looked back. He's a man who has claimed at various points to be attached to the Northern Alliance before the war in Afghanistan and to be a military consultant for them, and also claimed at other...
COSTELLO: And, of course, the Northern Alliance helped the Americans win the war in Afghanistan.
CLINCH: Exactly. And also claimed at various points to have access to and, in fact, supplied to other U.S. networks, not us, video purporting to show al Qaeda training in Afghanistan.
So a man with a very checkered past, fascinating story. He is apparently under arrest by Afghan officials and perhaps other Americans. We'll be watching that all day in Afghanistan.
COSTELLO: That is a strange story.
CLINCH: It is very interesting.
COSTELLO: Well, there'll be many more interesting details to come, I'm sure.
CLINCH: Watching that one.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, thank you.
CLINCH: OK. COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, President Bush on the campaign trail takes on vice presidential hopeful Edwards over his Senate voting record. We'll tell you why.
And does Israel have nukes? I'll talk to an expert who calls it the ultimate chicken and egg problem in the Middle East.
And could Enron's top dog take a fall? We'll tell you more about the charges against Ken Lay.
This is DAYBREAK for July 8.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz right now.
Let's head live to the Nasdaq market site and Carrie Lee to see what's up -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ken Lay in the news today, Carol. Of course, he's the former chairman and CEO of Enron. He is expected to be indicted today. He has -- excuse me -- he has been indicted by a grand jury in Houston. The indictment remains under seal and is expected to be unsealed today. Lay is expected to surrender today, to face criminal charges related to his leadership of the energy giant.
Now, Lay said through a spokesman: "I have done nothing wrong and the indictment is not justified." Lay, 62 years old, guided Enron for years, shaping the once obscure pipeline company into a world leading energy trading concern.
Now, details aren't known, but prosecutors are expected to focus at least part of their case on assurances Lay gave in the months leading up to Enron's fall to employees about the company's financial health. At the same time, he was quietly unloading his own Enron stock.
Enron filed for bankruptcy in December of 2001, after investigators found the company had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion worth of debt and inflate profits. So we'll certainly be following this story, Carol, a very important Wall Street story, today.
COSTELLO: Well, I was just wondering, is there any buzz on Wall Street about Ken Lay or don't people care anymore?
LEE: You know, I absolutely think people care. I mean we had the WorldComs of the world, we've had all of these companies, Adelphia. This is sort of the one everyone's been waiting for. This is the final top guy out of all of these companies. Remember, former CEO Jeff Skilling pleaded not guilty earlier this year. CFO Andrew Fastow, though, Enron's former CFO, has pleaded guilty. He's agreed to cooperate with the government and he's serving a 10 year prison sentence. So Ken Lay has sort of been the last guy standing, one could argue. We'll see what happens. A lot of people watching this one.
COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures before you go.
LEE: Things looking pretty weak today, Carol. We did see a little bit of buying at the close yesterday. But corporate profit fears really weighing on investors' minds. Yahoo! down 12 percent in the after hours session last night. They did see profits double in the recent quarter, but they're giving a sales forecast that disappointed some investors. So high expectations in the stock and that's part of the reason we're seeing the expected selling this morning.
COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site.
Thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 6:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Sources tell CNN that Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun is safe in Lebanon. The State Department says they have credible evidence that Hassoun is out of Iraq, but are unsure of his exact whereabouts.
Defense attorneys have filed a motion to have the indictment against Michael Jackson dismissed. They contend that the Santa Barbara D.A. bullied witnesses in order to secure that indictment.
In money news, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announces a plan to help people with no health insurance. The program calls for discounts for most families, but also provides free drugs to families well below the poverty line.
In culture, an anonymous bidder paid a big price for a Vermeer original. This painting by the Dutch master fetched more than $30 million at auction. Young Woman Seated At the Virginals was the first Vermeer painting sold at auction since 1921.
In sports, Lance Armstrong and his postal service team dominated the team time trials of the Tour de France. The win puts the yellow jersey back on Armstrong. He now has a 10 second lead over his closest competitor -- Chad.
MYERS: Yellow jersey back where it belongs, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you now. In Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, have just wrapped up a meeting. ElBaradei wanted to talk about Israel's alleged nuclear program, something Israel never talks about. No word yet on if that subject even came up. But it does deserve discussion this morning.
So we're joined by Jon Alterman, director of the Mideast Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Good morning.
JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: It's good to be with you, Carol.
Thanks.
COSTELLO: What is the purpose for this visit by ElBaradei?
ALTERMAN: I think ElBaradei is doing two things. The more important thing he's doing is he's checking the box that he's talking with the Israelis. The biggest proliferation problem he's facing right now is Iran and Iran says look, if Israel has a nuclear weapon, why are you beating us up about even moving toward any sort of nuclear capacity whatsoever, even though we really want to do civilian things.
So he has to talk to the Israelis so it doesn't appear that he has a horrible double standard.
The other thing he's saying to the Israelis is look, the world is changing and the policy you've had for four decades of nuclear ambiguity doesn't work anymore. You have to move toward being in a supervised framework.
COSTELLO: So what does he want Israel to do, come out and say yes, we have nuclear weapons? And is it really likely that they'll do that if they have them?
ALTERMAN: I think everybody understands that Israel does have nuclear weapons. The question is, is whether they're part of an international framework or not. What ElBaradei is talking about, at least initially, is why don't you enter into discussions where we start talking about setting up frameworks, setting up confidence building measures, talking with some of your neighbors about some of these nuclear issues. The idea of saying you simply won't talk about the issue at all, ElBaradei is saying actually increases Israel's insecurity rather than increasing the security.
COSTELLO: But you know how Israel feels about this. It feels that it has so many enemies in the region, that it doesn't have any friends, this is the only thing that really protects it.
ALTERMAN: That's exactly right. And what Israel has always done is they say we're not going to say we have it, we're not going to say we don't have it. The only time Israel, to my knowledge, has really acknowledged it was covertly during the 1973 war when they were being attacked by Arab armies. They rolled out the Jericho missiles, which could be nuclear tipped, not to show the Arabs who were attacking them that they had them, but to show American overhead surveillance, who presumably would see the weapons, see that the Israelis were serious, and the Israelis were serious and the U.S. would take -- get more involved in the 1973 war.
It's sort of a funny thing when the people you're trying to send a message to with your nuclear capacity is not the people you're fighting against, but the people you want to help you.
COSTELLO: Jon Alterman joining us live from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Thank you.
ALTERMAN: Good to be with you, Carol.
Thanks.
COSTELLO: Here are some stories making news across America this Thursday.
In New Mexico, a 14-year-old boy is expected to appear in court tomorrow to face charges he killed his father, his stepmother and his stepsister. The bodies were found in a shallow grave on a ranch owned by journalist Sam Donaldson. The boy's father was the ranch manager. Donaldson owns three ranches in this area.
In Arizona, two wildfires that have already chewed up more than 28,000 acres may have stopped their advance up Mount Graham. Firefighters say the wildfires are about 25 percent contained this morning. The fires are threatening a $200 million international observatory and they also destroyed the last of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel population.
Residents of five states saw bright lights when they looked into the sky last night. The FAA says it was a meteor shower that was seen across portions of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee. Many residents called their local police to report the unusually large event.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, when Irish eyes are smoke filled -- a dispute over a smoking ban in the Emerald Isle.
And our DAYBREAK "Photo of the Day." What is it? We'll tell you after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye-Opener" now.
Now, oh, this borders on the ridiculous. In Turkey, some tourists have taken this gull under their wing. See, he's limping?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: When they found Martha, she had a broken leg. I'm sorry, I called the she a he. After the ailing appendage was removed -- and we can't see that here, but it was removed -- the tourists, instead, attached one of the -- oh, I'm sorry, that's a Barbie leg. Can you see it there?
MYERS: Yes, yes, yes, we saw it.
COSTELLO: It's a Barbie leg. That's the artificial leg for the doll. Now the little...
MYERS: Uh-huh. And he was walking just fine. Or she.
COSTELLO: And the little gull hops all over the place and actually is starting to annoy riders on the boat.
MYERS: Great.
COSTELLO: Crazy.
At least one of Ireland's 10,000 pubs has decided it cannot live without cigarette smoke. Fibber McGee's set up a smoking section in direct violation of the country's three month old ban on smoking in the workplace. The pub is trying to lure more people inside to buy beer because sales have been way down. Now, Ireland's health minister has promised to crack down on Fibber McGee's and any other smoky pub.
Ads featuring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wearing milk mustaches have been shelved. Sponsors say the twins' version of the got milk campaign won't run out of sensitivity to Mary-Kate's current health issues. She's reportedly in treatment for anorexia.
MYERS: So, did you figure out what it was?
COSTELLO: Well, I knew what it was so I didn't really have to figure it out.
MYERS: Well, did you figure out what it was?
Do you know what? We had, the "Question of the Day" yesterday was what is it? We had the picture of something, and I'll show it to you later. We got like 350 correct answers.
COSTELLO: Really?
MYERS: Now, this could be like an old picture disk, you know, but no, it's obviously everybody knew it.
COSTELLO: This looks like the symbol from the Rainbow Coalition, but it's not.
MYERS: Saturn's rings.
COSTELLO: That's beautiful.
MYERS: It could be something from the Moody Blues album, too. It kind of feels like that.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Isn't that pretty? Is that like infrared images or something?
MYERS: It's called -- yes, it's called the spectrograph on board the Cassini spacecraft, still spinning around that planet and obviously doing a lot with the moons of that planet, as well.
COSTELLO: Yes, the big huge Titan moon.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Very cool stuff coming out of there.
MYERS: It is. Yes.
COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Presidential picks for the bench -- we'll tell you why President Bush added the issue to his stump speech and why it affects you.
Plus, handling the detainees at Gitmo. The Pentagon has a new way of doing business. I'll talk to a CNN reporter live in Cuba, who got a firsthand tour of the camp. That would be Bob Franken.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Bob Franken will join me live from Cuba in just a minute.
But first, now in the news. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut says it has credible information that a U.S. Marine is safe in his native Lebanon but cannot confirm it. Corporal Wassef Hassoun went missing in Iraq last month.
Gun battles in Gaza -- Israeli troops have killed 10 Palestinians and wounded 15 others in heavy fighting there. Palestinian sources say those killed include five Palestinian militants, one of them a leader of Hamas.
Former Enron Chair and CEO Kenneth Lay surrenders to authorities later this morning to face criminal charges. A grand jury in Houston has now handed up a sealed indictment. That's expected to be opened later today. Our legal analyst Kendall Coffey will be here about 10 minutes from now to talk about the Lay indictment.
If you've bought any jewelry out of a vending machine lately, it might be wise to throw it away. The threat of lead poisoning has lead four companies to recall around 150 million pieces of the jewelry. The pieces cost between $0.25 and $0.75 in most gumball machines.
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Aired July 8, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. has credible information, information this morning that the missing Marine from Utah is safe and in Lebanon.
It is Thursday, July 8.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
We'll have a live report for you out of Lebanon in two minutes.
But first, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency met today with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Mohamed ElBaradei wants Israel to discuss its alleged nuclear weapons program. He believes that could help reopen Middle East security talks. We'll talk about this in just 15 minutes with a Middle East expert.
Former Enron Chair Ken Lay says "I have done nothing wrong." Lay has been indicted by a federal grand jury. He plans to surrender today and an indictment listing the charges will be unsealed.
CIA Director George Tenet says good-bye to his troops four hours from now. A gathering at the agency headquarters is planned, even though Tenet does not officially leave office until Sunday. President Bush has not yet named a new director.
And residents of some northern Kansas areas are cleaning up this morning after severe weather hits the region. Several tornadoes were reported, knocking out power to some areas.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
Just to the west of Concordia, Kansas was where the most severe weather happened. And those storms just dropped down from north to south out of Nebraska and made a run, made a charge even, at Wichita.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's whereabouts still a mystery to the U.S. military, at least somewhat. But there are high spirits in Lebanon. Sources close to Hassoun's family there says he's safe.
So what's going on?
Let's head live to Tripoli and Alphonso Van Marsh.
What is going on? Is he free or not free?
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is certainly the (AUDIO GAP) the last couple of days. The U.S. Embassy here saying that they've received credible information that Wassef is in the country, but they are not confirming his whereabouts. They also, they are discrediting a lot of local press reports here, any number of rumors being put into print. This newspaper here actually saying that Wassef spent the night at the U.S. Embassy last night. Embassy officials denying that.
Now, where I am is in the Hassoun -- for lack of a better word -- the Hassoun neighborhood. About 60 percent of the people in these high rise buildings you see behind me are all Hassouns. They're brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces. They're in good spirits, they say. They're not very happy about the press coming down here. They've kind of closed on in. But they say they're looking forward to some more good news. They say, as well, as the Lebanese foreign minister tells us here, that he called the family. Sammy is the brother here, saying congratulations on the release of Wassef. But everybody wants to know where is this man now and will he come to his hometown here in Tripoli soon.
COSTELLO: You would think if he was free, he would call the Defense Department or his commanders, perhaps. I mean, is there a reason that he wouldn't do that?
VAN MARSH: Well, the impression that we're getting here in the neighborhood where most of Hassoun's family lives -- he was born and raised here -- they're keeping the fact that they know very close to themselves. The story is, I believe, far from over. At some point, Wassef, provided he comes (UNINTELLIGIBLE), is going to have a very interesting story to tell.
In terms of what he's sharing, who he's calling, we're not sure. We do know that the U.S. Embassy here has been in touch with his family over the last three weeks. There have been very insensitive contacts over the last 24 hours. The family says that they have been in touch with Wassef. But in terms of Wassef showing up here, at least, we haven't seen that happen.
COSTELLO: The FBI has been in Lebanon, as well, hasn't it?
VAN MARSH: Well, I should be careful to say that the family is being very, very careful about who they say they've been in touch with, whom may or may not have been by to visit. But they do say that they are in good spirits, that they have received a sign. They won't describe what that is. But they are in good spirits and that they've received a sign that their brother Wassef is safe and on his way home.
COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live from Tripoli in Lebanon this morning.
Thank you.
The latest on Iraq now in our situation report.
The kidnap of a Filipino by militants in Iraq has prompted the Philippine government to stop its citizens from traveling to Iraq. Militants there are threatening to kill the man if his government does not withdraw its troops by tomorrow.
An Iraqi man says U.S. troops opened fire on his house after hearing loud generator noises. These pictures just in this morning from the scene. The man says four families live in that house, including women and children. One person was wounded.
The Iraqi government says it plans to conduct a national census in October and they don't want any help from the international community. The U.N. has said the census is the necessary first step for Iraq to prepare for next year's election.
For more about the situation in Iraq, just log on to cnn.com.
John Kerry is barnstorming through the country with his new running mate. Kerry and John Edwards are in Florida today. They're set to campaign in New York, Virginia and New Mexico before ending up in Edwards' home state of North Carolina on Saturday.
Also, Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry will make a stop right here tonight with Larry King. CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Democratic heavyweights are weighing in on Kerry's choice as running mate. Bill Clinton is full of praise for Senator John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Edwards ran second in the primary process to John Kerry. And he was energetic and articulate and popular, even with a lot of people who voted for Senator Kerry. People know he has great potential.
Secondly, he was on the Intelligence Committee. It's not like he has no experience at all.
Thirdly, he is running for vice president with more international experience than President Bush ran for president with just four years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Be sure to join CNN's Aaron Brown for "NEWSNIGHT." Former President Clinton joins Christiane Amanpour for a special interview at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Of course, that's tonight.
President Bush is spending the day in Washington. He's meeting with the kind of Morocco in the Oval Office this morning. Later, he'll do some stumping via satellite with a remote address to Hispanic voters. The League of United Latin American Citizens Convention is the nation's largest Hispanic organization.
And the "New Republic" magazine is reporting on Bush administration pressure for what it calls a July surprise. The "New Republic" says the pressure is on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden or some other high value target, and do it before the U.S. presidential election, preferably late this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BEINART, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Our story, by Spencer Ackerman and John Judas and a Pakistani journalist named Mansoud Ansari, quotes four Pakistani officials, all people in a position to know, saying that they have been receiving pressure from Bush administration officials to deliver Osama bin Laden or another high value al Qaeda target like his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, before the November election. And one of those sources, a very senior person, says that they have been specifically said that they want those -- they want that capture during -- in the last days of July, during the Democratic convention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sean McCormack of President Bush's National Security Council responds to that article, saying "Our attitude and actions have been the same since September 11 in terms of getting high value targets off the street and that doesn't change because of an election."
The Afghan government has detained three Americans, describing them as freelancers fighting terrorism. The details of the charges are still being worked out.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, has just joined us.
You have your microphone on now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: I do.
COSTELLO: Yes.
CLINCH: Carol, yes. What a fascinating story. We've been following this for the last 12 hours or so. Afghan officials have closed down what they, in one version of events, say was a private prison being run by a number of foreigners, including at least one American.
COSTELLO: A private prison?
CLINCH: According to Afghan officials. Now, the version of events that is to the fore at the moment is that Afghan officials say that this group of people, including, again, at least one American that they've named, may have been trying to run some kind of private war against militants or war against terror in Afghanistan and set up some kind of prison operation in Afghanistan in which they were interrogating militant Afghans or militant suspects.
Now, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul has issued a statement saying that these individuals and the one who's been named are nothing to do with the U.S. government and that they've been aware of them for some time and that they have perhaps been posing as U.S. officials. But they really don't know what they've been doing.
So a fascinating story...
COSTELLO: Now, wait a minute, they knew about them, but they didn't exactly know...
CLINCH: Well, they've been aware of their presence in Afghanistan. Now, Afghan officials have been able to track them down and have shut down whatever operation it is that they've been running.
Now, there are other versions of events that say that these individuals may have been involved in criminal activity. So we're looking very closely.
COSTELLO: So what nationality are these people?
CLINCH: Well, the one American that we're aware of, that we've been following this guy very closely for some time, is known by various aliases, including Jack Idema. Now, that name rang a bell with us and we've looked back. He's a man who has claimed at various points to be attached to the Northern Alliance before the war in Afghanistan and to be a military consultant for them, and also claimed at other...
COSTELLO: And, of course, the Northern Alliance helped the Americans win the war in Afghanistan.
CLINCH: Exactly. And also claimed at various points to have access to and, in fact, supplied to other U.S. networks, not us, video purporting to show al Qaeda training in Afghanistan.
So a man with a very checkered past, fascinating story. He is apparently under arrest by Afghan officials and perhaps other Americans. We'll be watching that all day in Afghanistan.
COSTELLO: That is a strange story.
CLINCH: It is very interesting.
COSTELLO: Well, there'll be many more interesting details to come, I'm sure.
CLINCH: Watching that one.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, thank you.
CLINCH: OK. COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, President Bush on the campaign trail takes on vice presidential hopeful Edwards over his Senate voting record. We'll tell you why.
And does Israel have nukes? I'll talk to an expert who calls it the ultimate chicken and egg problem in the Middle East.
And could Enron's top dog take a fall? We'll tell you more about the charges against Ken Lay.
This is DAYBREAK for July 8.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz right now.
Let's head live to the Nasdaq market site and Carrie Lee to see what's up -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ken Lay in the news today, Carol. Of course, he's the former chairman and CEO of Enron. He is expected to be indicted today. He has -- excuse me -- he has been indicted by a grand jury in Houston. The indictment remains under seal and is expected to be unsealed today. Lay is expected to surrender today, to face criminal charges related to his leadership of the energy giant.
Now, Lay said through a spokesman: "I have done nothing wrong and the indictment is not justified." Lay, 62 years old, guided Enron for years, shaping the once obscure pipeline company into a world leading energy trading concern.
Now, details aren't known, but prosecutors are expected to focus at least part of their case on assurances Lay gave in the months leading up to Enron's fall to employees about the company's financial health. At the same time, he was quietly unloading his own Enron stock.
Enron filed for bankruptcy in December of 2001, after investigators found the company had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion worth of debt and inflate profits. So we'll certainly be following this story, Carol, a very important Wall Street story, today.
COSTELLO: Well, I was just wondering, is there any buzz on Wall Street about Ken Lay or don't people care anymore?
LEE: You know, I absolutely think people care. I mean we had the WorldComs of the world, we've had all of these companies, Adelphia. This is sort of the one everyone's been waiting for. This is the final top guy out of all of these companies. Remember, former CEO Jeff Skilling pleaded not guilty earlier this year. CFO Andrew Fastow, though, Enron's former CFO, has pleaded guilty. He's agreed to cooperate with the government and he's serving a 10 year prison sentence. So Ken Lay has sort of been the last guy standing, one could argue. We'll see what happens. A lot of people watching this one.
COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures before you go.
LEE: Things looking pretty weak today, Carol. We did see a little bit of buying at the close yesterday. But corporate profit fears really weighing on investors' minds. Yahoo! down 12 percent in the after hours session last night. They did see profits double in the recent quarter, but they're giving a sales forecast that disappointed some investors. So high expectations in the stock and that's part of the reason we're seeing the expected selling this morning.
COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site.
Thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 6:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Sources tell CNN that Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun is safe in Lebanon. The State Department says they have credible evidence that Hassoun is out of Iraq, but are unsure of his exact whereabouts.
Defense attorneys have filed a motion to have the indictment against Michael Jackson dismissed. They contend that the Santa Barbara D.A. bullied witnesses in order to secure that indictment.
In money news, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announces a plan to help people with no health insurance. The program calls for discounts for most families, but also provides free drugs to families well below the poverty line.
In culture, an anonymous bidder paid a big price for a Vermeer original. This painting by the Dutch master fetched more than $30 million at auction. Young Woman Seated At the Virginals was the first Vermeer painting sold at auction since 1921.
In sports, Lance Armstrong and his postal service team dominated the team time trials of the Tour de France. The win puts the yellow jersey back on Armstrong. He now has a 10 second lead over his closest competitor -- Chad.
MYERS: Yellow jersey back where it belongs, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you now. In Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, have just wrapped up a meeting. ElBaradei wanted to talk about Israel's alleged nuclear program, something Israel never talks about. No word yet on if that subject even came up. But it does deserve discussion this morning.
So we're joined by Jon Alterman, director of the Mideast Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Good morning.
JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: It's good to be with you, Carol.
Thanks.
COSTELLO: What is the purpose for this visit by ElBaradei?
ALTERMAN: I think ElBaradei is doing two things. The more important thing he's doing is he's checking the box that he's talking with the Israelis. The biggest proliferation problem he's facing right now is Iran and Iran says look, if Israel has a nuclear weapon, why are you beating us up about even moving toward any sort of nuclear capacity whatsoever, even though we really want to do civilian things.
So he has to talk to the Israelis so it doesn't appear that he has a horrible double standard.
The other thing he's saying to the Israelis is look, the world is changing and the policy you've had for four decades of nuclear ambiguity doesn't work anymore. You have to move toward being in a supervised framework.
COSTELLO: So what does he want Israel to do, come out and say yes, we have nuclear weapons? And is it really likely that they'll do that if they have them?
ALTERMAN: I think everybody understands that Israel does have nuclear weapons. The question is, is whether they're part of an international framework or not. What ElBaradei is talking about, at least initially, is why don't you enter into discussions where we start talking about setting up frameworks, setting up confidence building measures, talking with some of your neighbors about some of these nuclear issues. The idea of saying you simply won't talk about the issue at all, ElBaradei is saying actually increases Israel's insecurity rather than increasing the security.
COSTELLO: But you know how Israel feels about this. It feels that it has so many enemies in the region, that it doesn't have any friends, this is the only thing that really protects it.
ALTERMAN: That's exactly right. And what Israel has always done is they say we're not going to say we have it, we're not going to say we don't have it. The only time Israel, to my knowledge, has really acknowledged it was covertly during the 1973 war when they were being attacked by Arab armies. They rolled out the Jericho missiles, which could be nuclear tipped, not to show the Arabs who were attacking them that they had them, but to show American overhead surveillance, who presumably would see the weapons, see that the Israelis were serious, and the Israelis were serious and the U.S. would take -- get more involved in the 1973 war.
It's sort of a funny thing when the people you're trying to send a message to with your nuclear capacity is not the people you're fighting against, but the people you want to help you.
COSTELLO: Jon Alterman joining us live from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Thank you.
ALTERMAN: Good to be with you, Carol.
Thanks.
COSTELLO: Here are some stories making news across America this Thursday.
In New Mexico, a 14-year-old boy is expected to appear in court tomorrow to face charges he killed his father, his stepmother and his stepsister. The bodies were found in a shallow grave on a ranch owned by journalist Sam Donaldson. The boy's father was the ranch manager. Donaldson owns three ranches in this area.
In Arizona, two wildfires that have already chewed up more than 28,000 acres may have stopped their advance up Mount Graham. Firefighters say the wildfires are about 25 percent contained this morning. The fires are threatening a $200 million international observatory and they also destroyed the last of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel population.
Residents of five states saw bright lights when they looked into the sky last night. The FAA says it was a meteor shower that was seen across portions of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee. Many residents called their local police to report the unusually large event.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, when Irish eyes are smoke filled -- a dispute over a smoking ban in the Emerald Isle.
And our DAYBREAK "Photo of the Day." What is it? We'll tell you after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye-Opener" now.
Now, oh, this borders on the ridiculous. In Turkey, some tourists have taken this gull under their wing. See, he's limping?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: When they found Martha, she had a broken leg. I'm sorry, I called the she a he. After the ailing appendage was removed -- and we can't see that here, but it was removed -- the tourists, instead, attached one of the -- oh, I'm sorry, that's a Barbie leg. Can you see it there?
MYERS: Yes, yes, yes, we saw it.
COSTELLO: It's a Barbie leg. That's the artificial leg for the doll. Now the little...
MYERS: Uh-huh. And he was walking just fine. Or she.
COSTELLO: And the little gull hops all over the place and actually is starting to annoy riders on the boat.
MYERS: Great.
COSTELLO: Crazy.
At least one of Ireland's 10,000 pubs has decided it cannot live without cigarette smoke. Fibber McGee's set up a smoking section in direct violation of the country's three month old ban on smoking in the workplace. The pub is trying to lure more people inside to buy beer because sales have been way down. Now, Ireland's health minister has promised to crack down on Fibber McGee's and any other smoky pub.
Ads featuring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wearing milk mustaches have been shelved. Sponsors say the twins' version of the got milk campaign won't run out of sensitivity to Mary-Kate's current health issues. She's reportedly in treatment for anorexia.
MYERS: So, did you figure out what it was?
COSTELLO: Well, I knew what it was so I didn't really have to figure it out.
MYERS: Well, did you figure out what it was?
Do you know what? We had, the "Question of the Day" yesterday was what is it? We had the picture of something, and I'll show it to you later. We got like 350 correct answers.
COSTELLO: Really?
MYERS: Now, this could be like an old picture disk, you know, but no, it's obviously everybody knew it.
COSTELLO: This looks like the symbol from the Rainbow Coalition, but it's not.
MYERS: Saturn's rings.
COSTELLO: That's beautiful.
MYERS: It could be something from the Moody Blues album, too. It kind of feels like that.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Isn't that pretty? Is that like infrared images or something?
MYERS: It's called -- yes, it's called the spectrograph on board the Cassini spacecraft, still spinning around that planet and obviously doing a lot with the moons of that planet, as well.
COSTELLO: Yes, the big huge Titan moon.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Very cool stuff coming out of there.
MYERS: It is. Yes.
COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Presidential picks for the bench -- we'll tell you why President Bush added the issue to his stump speech and why it affects you.
Plus, handling the detainees at Gitmo. The Pentagon has a new way of doing business. I'll talk to a CNN reporter live in Cuba, who got a firsthand tour of the camp. That would be Bob Franken.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Bob Franken will join me live from Cuba in just a minute.
But first, now in the news. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut says it has credible information that a U.S. Marine is safe in his native Lebanon but cannot confirm it. Corporal Wassef Hassoun went missing in Iraq last month.
Gun battles in Gaza -- Israeli troops have killed 10 Palestinians and wounded 15 others in heavy fighting there. Palestinian sources say those killed include five Palestinian militants, one of them a leader of Hamas.
Former Enron Chair and CEO Kenneth Lay surrenders to authorities later this morning to face criminal charges. A grand jury in Houston has now handed up a sealed indictment. That's expected to be opened later today. Our legal analyst Kendall Coffey will be here about 10 minutes from now to talk about the Lay indictment.
If you've bought any jewelry out of a vending machine lately, it might be wise to throw it away. The threat of lead poisoning has lead four companies to recall around 150 million pieces of the jewelry. The pieces cost between $0.25 and $0.75 in most gumball machines.
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