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CNN Live At Daybreak
Revolt Against Palestinian Authority Leader Yasser Arafat; 'Coffey Talk'
Aired July 19, 2004 - 06:28 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Political upheaval in the Mideast. The issues of corruption and reform dominate the discussion. We head live to Jerusalem straight ahead.
It's Monday, July 19, and this is DAYBREAK.
Good morning from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has replaced his cousin as Palestinian's security chief, following widespread protests. Arafat then called the former chief and asked him to return to work. We'll get a live report from Jerusalem in just two minutes.
Kobe Bryant is expected back in an Eagle, Colorado, courtroom today for more hearings. One of the issues will be whether to allow cameras in the courtroom. We'll get more on those hearings from legal analyst Kendall Coffey in just a few minutes as well.
The nation's Amber Alert system connects to the Internet 11 hours from now. Authorities say this should make easier to reduce abducted children -- or to rescue, I should say, abducted children by sending information to pagers, cell phones and BlackBerrys.
And a wildfire is racing toward four hillside communities in northern Los Angeles County. Sixteen hundred homes have been evacuated, and at least 600 of them are considered to be in imminent danger.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(WEATHER BREAK)
NGUYEN: In Iraq today, nine people were killed when a suicide truck bomber struck a police station in southern Baghdad. Our Michael Holmes tells us 60 people also were injured in today's bombing. Many of the 60 are in critical condition. The attack was the latest on Iraq's security offices.
The Philippines is withdrawing the last of its troops from Iraq today. The move was forced by the abductors of a Filipino man taken hostage earlier this month. His abductors say they'll release him once the Filipino troops are out of Iraq.
And for the first time in a while, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public over the weekend. Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ordered Sadr's weekly newspaper reopened. The U.S.-led coalition ordered that newspaper closed several weeks ago because of its call to resist the coalition.
King Abdullah of Jordan says one of its subjects, terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is portrayed as larger than life by the media. Al-Zarqawi is blamed for kidnappings and bombings in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN: Although I must say that I think -- you know, you say that he is the most-wanted man in Iraq, I think that the press have made him much more capable, much smarter and much more of a threat than actually he really is.
Having said that, we are working as part of the international community to track Zarqawi down, and then hopefully the net is closing in on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: On another topic, King Abdullah said the resignation of the Palestinian prime minister would be a serious blow to the Mideast peace process and would reflect very negatively on Yasser Arafat.
And speaking of, the prime minister has offered his resignation, but Yasser Arafat refused to accept it. Protestors demanding reforms marched in Gaza over the weekend, clashing with security forces and burning a Palestinian police station.
CNN's Alessio Vinci has the latest now from Jerusalem -- Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty.
Yes, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei already has offered twice his resignation in the last two days, Saturday and Sunday. And twice Chairman Arafat turned down those resignations. But we do understand from Palestinian officials that should the prime minister offer a third time his resignation, then there were some talk that he could do this, this morning, at the cabinet session that is underway currently in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and Chairman Arafat would not be able to ignore that demand.
All of this, of course, is in response to the growing violence that is taking place in Gaza, has taken place in Gaza in the last two days. Militants and members of Arafat's own Fatah movement are taking to the streets protesting a series of new security appointments within the Palestinian Authority.
About 1,000 demonstrators, many of them armed, attacked first a police station in the town of Khan Younis, burning it to the ground. And then later in the day surrounded the headquarters of the Palestinian intelligence in Rafah in southern Gaza, clashing there with police officers holed up inside. The result of those clashes: 10 people wounded. Now, this latest round of violence after Arafat himself appointed among those people at the top of the security services his own cousin, seen as a man that was supposed to clean up the corruption within the Palestinian Authority. But Mr. Arafat appointed his cousin, but his appointment was widely rejected by those protestors, including some militant factions that took to the streets in those violent clashes.
Adding to the confusion to all of this, Betty, we do understand now from reports coming from Gaza that a man that Arafat's cousin has replaced is now saying he has been reinstated, while Arafat's cousin is saying he still has his job.
So, there is still a lot of confusion going on. All of this is an indication that right now the Palestinian Authority, both Mr. Arafat in Ramallah and the cabinet meeting, are trying to assess the situation, trying to come up with some kind of a solution. But right now, I think chaos is really the word rightly to describe the situation in Gaza at this time.
Back to you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And speaking of that, Alessio, we have this power struggle, this confusion, yet all of the chaos in the streets. What's being done to curb that while the rest of this is being sorted out?
VINCI: Well, obviously the violence, the clashes in Gaza are an indication that right now the Palestinian Authority is not able to rein in those militants who have in a couple of hours have burned to the ground a police station, including -- and attacked the headquarters of the intelligence services in southern Gaza. The Palestinian Authority is having a really hard time there to control those militants.
But we do know, however, for example, out of Jerusalem that the Israeli forces are saying that they will not intervene to calm the situation in Gaza. Therefore, they're letting the Palestinians themselves try to deal with this situation.
But I think at this point, the most important thing is for Mr. Arafat and for Mr. Qorei to send a clear signal that the situation is and must be taken under control, perhaps with the appointment of new people at the helm of the security forces.
But at the same time, Mr. Qorei, by pushing his resignation forward, is sending also a clear message that unless he is given enough power to control those militants, to control the security forces in Gaza especially, there is no way that he can introduce those reforms that the international community and now even the Palestinian people are asking in Gaza -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Definitely a lot to be sorted out. Alessio Vinci, thank you very much from Jerusalem this morning.
And for more on the crisis in the Middle East, you can go to cnn.com. Some legal maneuvering in the Kobe Bryant case today, and legal analyst Kendall Coffey has some insight about the sentence for Martha Stewart as well. Kendall joins us now from Miami.
Good morning to you.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the Kobe Bryant case. Today they're going to be talking about the cell phone and text messages that could be admitted. How important is this to the case?
COFFEY: Well, the defense is looking for anything and everything to put some question about the credibility of the alleged victim. As we know, in a he said/she said, we all know why the he, the defendant, might be lying.
But what's critical for the defense is to get something to attack her motive, her credibility. And they're hoping that the text messages will show some inconsistencies either in what she said or the way she was sort of acting. Was she acting like a victim of an alleged sexual assault? And how do the test messages perhaps shed some light on that?
NGUYEN: This is kind of a new field of evidence being admitted in court cases. How do you think that's going to play out in other cases as we're seeing text messages and things like that being added?
COFFEY: I think that computer experts, forensic experts who can really help defense and prosecutors explore the total range of possible communication is going to be an absolutely necessary part of every important trial.
NGUYEN: So, basically don't write down what you don't want to come back and haunt you maybe a little bit later. OK...
COFFEY: Yes, we've seen it with e-mails that have made the difference between guilty and not guilty.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. OK. On the issue of posting court filings on the Internet, that's going to be dealt with today. How important is that?
COFFEY: Well, I think that we've seen already a major controversy over e-mailed communication. For example, the court reporter sent out, as you may recall, some of the hearings that were supposed to be under seal to seven media outlets dealing with the rape shield law controversy.
And right now, there is a very big question: Will that information be published, or will the court say that there is an effective prior restraint? And even though seven different media outlets have the information, have those hearing transcripts, can't use it. A big controversy.
Obviously, this court wants to keep a lid on publicity every way they can, but there is a First Amendment out there.
NGUYEN: And quickly, they're also going to decide whether to allow cameras in the courtroom. What do both sides think about that?
COFFEY: This is the one thing, Betty, that everybody involved agrees on. The defense, the prosecution and the alleged victim, they don't want cameras in the courtroom. I think the judge is very unlikely to allow it.
NGUYEN: Everyone agrees except for the media, of course. Right.
COFFEY: Everyone agrees except for the media. That's right.
NGUYEN: Well, let's move on to the Martha Stewart sentencing, which happened on Friday. What do you think about the ruling there, five months?
COFFEY: I think it was, under all of the circumstances, is low as she could possibly have hoped for. You're not going to find a lot of cases where a defendant takes the federal government to a trial fought tooth and nail, gets four federal felony convictions and does only five months.
Martha Stewart has probably got a lot she feels she should complain about, but that judge's ruling, that sentence is one thing where she caught a break.
NGUYEN: Speaking of a lot to complain about, she, of course, is going to appeal this. What do you think about her chances of winning that and not going to jail at all?
COFFEY: I think it's very tough. Probably the best issue she had was the lying government witness. And ironically, the whole key to whether that would have been a good issue on appeal was: Were the prosecutors complicit in the lies of the witness? And by prosecuting their own witness, the prosecutors did the ultimate distancing themselves from that witness.
The net effect of that is they had nothing to do with the false testimony during trial, and it's going to be almost an impossible appellate issue for her to win on appeal. I think she's going to jail whether it's now or two years from now. She will be serving those five months.
NGUYEN: All right, Kendall Coffey, thank you very much for that insight this morning.
COFFEY: Thanks, Betty.
NGUYEN: And coming up tonight on CNN, Martha Stewart will join Larry King for her only live primetime interview. And she will also be taking your phone calls. That gets underway at 9:00 Eastern tonight on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
NASCAR's favorite son in the hospital this morning. We'll show you the horrifying crash that sent junior to a burn unit this weekend. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: President Bush is off the campaign trail today. He spends the day at the White House, taking care of some official diplomatic business. But Vice President Cheney takes to the stump in Columbia, Missouri. He later travels to Toledo, Ohio, to deliver remarks about health care costs.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign begins what they call blazing America's freedom trail. The Democratic duo and their wives will be cross-crossing the country this week, attending events that showcase state Democratic delegations. All of this leads up to next Monday when Kerry and Edwards arrive in Boston for the Democratic National Convention.
And later this morning, John Kerry's daughter, Vanessa Kerry, visits CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." That is coming your way a little more than an hour from now at 8:00 Eastern.
It's time now for a little business buzz on your Monday. Toyota prepares to say good-bye to two aging sports cars.
Carrie Lee has the story, and she's at the Nasdaq Marketsite in Times Square.
Two cars, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Two cars, Betty. The Toyota Celica and the Toyota MR2 sports car will no longer be available after the 2005 model year. Toyota is basically saying that these cars compete in an area where what's new dominates.
And both of these cars have been around for quite a while. The Celica was first sold in the United States in 1971, and despite being named over the years things like Motor Trends import car of the year, it has been around for a while.
Meanwhile, the MR2, a mid-engine rear-wheel drive two-seater, was rolled out in 1985. It had a couple of revamping since them, but still Toyota is going to discontinue them after 2005.
Turning to stocks, one name we're watching today, Kraft Foods saw profits in the recent quarter down over 26 percent in the recent quarter, mainly due to higher commodity prices -- increasing dairy prices, for example. And for that reason, Kraft is lowering its profit outlook for 2004.
Also, a little bit of trivia here. Even though futures are looking higher and we could see some buying today, historically today is tied with October 11 as the worst trading day of the year, according to the "Stock Trader's Almanac" from January 1982 through September -- December, excuse me, 2002, the S&P 500 has gained ground just 23.8 percent over those years. So, that's something to keep in mind today.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's very interesting. You said futures are looking better. How much better?
LEE: They are looking better. I would say a solidly higher open, especially for technology issues. Across the board, modest gains expected. And of course, throughout the week we will be watching profit reports. This is a key profit reporting week for the second quarter of the year.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, a busy week.
LEE: Yes.
NGUYEN: Carrie Lee, thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports. The time right now is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's new this morning.
Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are looking for more than 20 teachers who fled their burning school building on Friday. Ninety children died in that fire. Some residents and officials are saying many teachers abandoned the school when the fire started.
Here is news for people at high risk of Alzheimer's. A new study shows a new drug can delay Alzheimer's for about a year -- a half a year, that is, for those with mild memory problems. The drug is trademarked under the name Aricept.
In money, a published report says about 2,000 people worldwide will lose their jobs in the merger of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group. Reuters says the merger will save up to $360 million for the company.
In culture, artifacts from the New York hotel room where Sid Vicious of the group, Sex Pistols, and girlfriend Nancy Spungen lived are going on display in London. Spungen died from a stab wound there in 1978. Among items to be displayed: a blood-flecked poster of the Sex Pistols' album, "Never Mind the Bollocks."
In sports, 38-year-old American Todd Hamilton is this year's British Open winner. Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff. Not too bad for a guy in his first year on the PGA tour. If only you could play that well, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but this guy spent, like, 15 years on the Japanese tour, just trying to get to his dream. And man, to see him win, his wife had tears in her eyes.
NGUYEN: What a dream that is. Yes.
MYERS: She stayed home in America the whole time he was over there on the Asian tour, taking care of the family and...
NGUYEN: For 15 years?
MYERS: Finally. Yes.
NGUYEN: Wow!
MYERS: Finally, finally now, he has his dream. Obviously, he can go to any PGA event he wants to now and any big event in the Masters, as well.
(WEATHER BREAK)
NGUYEN: And we want to check in with Bill and Heidi in New York for a look what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Betty. Good morning to you again, as we start another week here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Good morning. Nice to see you again...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. .
HEMMER: ... after a week away.
COLLINS: Nice to see you, beach boy.
HEMMER: Beach boy is right. No longer, though.
We're going to talk a whole lot about the future for the CIA. Stansfield Turner, James Woolsey, former CIA directors, their thoughts on what we're going to learn later in the week about the 9/11 Commission report. That will be out, and we'll talk about it a lot today.
COLLINS: We're going to talk about something else, too, and that is the Democratic Convention. Look out, Boston. As you know, it starts one week from today in Boston. It's supposed to be unlike anything we've seen before. So, we're going to have an inside look today, an interesting one, from John Kerry's daughter, Vanessa Kerry.
HEMMER: Also, it is burning in the West. It is not even 4:00 a.m. in California, the wildfires begin out there, and they continue today. Evacuations have been ordered, weather complicating the fight, we are told. So, we will look in-depth at that as well. As the sun comes up, we move closer into the morning here on a Monday.
COLLINS: Monday it is.
Betty -- back to you.
NGUYEN: Exciting show. Looking forward to it. Thank you.
And there's much more to come right here on DAYBREAK. So stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, just who is Todd Hamilton? Just like Ben Curtis last year and John Daly nearly a decade ago, a young American golfer has captured one of the top prizes in the sport. But really, who is Todd Hamilton?
For some answers, we turn to CNN's sports contributor Chris Cotter.
Good morning to you.
CHRIS COTTER, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning to you.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, Chad was saying a little bit earlier that this guy, Todd Hamilton that we're going to learn so much about, spent 15 years on the Asian tour. Obviously it paid off.
COTTER: Yes, it did. I mean, he was an All-American at Oklahoma in 1987.
NGUYEN: Really?
COTTER: This goes to show you how long he's been toiling on the Asian tour and leaving, you know, for weeks on end and then coming back and his family supporting him all this while. So, this for him is a breakout win.
You know, last year he won his first PGA event, and now he gets the major, the second-largest payday in golf history at $1.3 million for him. And more importantly, he gets a five-year exemption now to be on the PGA tour. So, he doesn't have to worry about all of those cross-Pacific flights anymore.
NGUYEN: Right.
COTTER: Now he can just worry about...
NGUYEN: His wife is going to be happy about this, isn't she?
COTTER: Oh, absolutely. You know, he's from a small town in Illinois, so it's a great story for Todd Hamilton. It's a great story for golf in the fact that, you know, the British Open oftentimes produces a first-time winner. The majors have lately produced a lot of first-time winners. I think nine of the last 11 majors have been won by first-time majors' winners. So, it's kind of turning over a little bit.
NGUYEN: Yes.
COTTER: It's not so much Tiger Woods dominating...
NGUYEN: Exactly.
COTTER: ... as much as it is newer golfers getting in on the scene.
NGUYEN: It makes it kind of exciting. Well, speaking of champions, let's talk about Marion Jones a little bit. She dropped out of the 200 over the weekend. Is she just tired? Or is this doping scandal really getting to her? COTTER: Well, I think it's a combination of both. I think the attention that it's getting is starting to contribute to her becoming exhausted. She had a fantastic long jump. You see her here a few days back.
To get into the Olympics, to blow away the field essentially, she finally jumps to her capability. So, she's going to the Olympics in the long jump. She'll go the Olympics as a member of a relay team.
And so for her, I think it was just a matter of, hey, this is too much for me. I want to finish the trials right now and move beyond this. So, she opted out of the 200 meters.
NGUYEN: We've been showing video today of the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. crash. This is just an amazing crash. I mean, so lucky to be able to get out of that with just minor second-degree burns on his face and legs.
COTTER: Yes, here it is. And you saw the fuel coming out of the fuel tank, and he seems dazed in the car here as the flames start to erupt. And you'll see some track workers come around to try and give him some aid. Isn't this -- this right here to me shows how safe the stock cars are that he races in on a weekly basis, because -- and it's not so much that this car is unsafe, but in the trials week to week you see some massive and horrendous crashes. And yet, those cars don't burst into flames like the Le Mans car did here that he was racing in.
Minor burns, though, to his face, chin and around the ear area, apparently the word coming out of the Earnhardt camp is he won't miss a single race coming up in the stock car race in the NASCAR scene. He'll be back next weekend.
NGUYEN: That's a trooper for you.
COTTER: Yes.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about Tour de Lance. Is it really going to be his year? Is he going to, you know, win this sixth title? He's made some ground, hasn't he?
COTTER: Oh, he had a huge weekend. He and his team were just dominating. Here you see him winning the stage as he did on Saturday. He's in second place right now, but the big thing for him is he's made up ground on all of his competition. Guys have quit. Guys have fallen back. I mean, he's decimated all of his -- the main rivals that he's going to have.
Watch for him this week. Wednesday is a big day for Lance. I think he takes the yellow jersey on Wednesday, and he'll keep it. It ends a week from yesterday, this upcoming Sunday on Champs-Elysees in Paris, and he's going to win...
NGUYEN: Oh, Champs-Elysees.
COTTER: Unless he gets hurt, falls off, gets sick something like that...
NGUYEN: OK.
COTTER: ... Lance is going to win his sixth.
NGUYEN: Wednesday, we're betting on you, Chris.
COTTER: Wednesday is the big day.
NGUYEN: All right, Chris Cotter, thank you.
COTTER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And we are back right after a quick break, but first we want to check the headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back.
Following Martha Stewart's sentencing on Friday and her upcoming appeal, what does she have to say about all of this? Well, she will be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight for her first and only live interview. In fact, she'll even be taking your calls. That starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight on "LARRY KING."
That's going to do it from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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Aired July 19, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Political upheaval in the Mideast. The issues of corruption and reform dominate the discussion. We head live to Jerusalem straight ahead.
It's Monday, July 19, and this is DAYBREAK.
Good morning from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has replaced his cousin as Palestinian's security chief, following widespread protests. Arafat then called the former chief and asked him to return to work. We'll get a live report from Jerusalem in just two minutes.
Kobe Bryant is expected back in an Eagle, Colorado, courtroom today for more hearings. One of the issues will be whether to allow cameras in the courtroom. We'll get more on those hearings from legal analyst Kendall Coffey in just a few minutes as well.
The nation's Amber Alert system connects to the Internet 11 hours from now. Authorities say this should make easier to reduce abducted children -- or to rescue, I should say, abducted children by sending information to pagers, cell phones and BlackBerrys.
And a wildfire is racing toward four hillside communities in northern Los Angeles County. Sixteen hundred homes have been evacuated, and at least 600 of them are considered to be in imminent danger.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(WEATHER BREAK)
NGUYEN: In Iraq today, nine people were killed when a suicide truck bomber struck a police station in southern Baghdad. Our Michael Holmes tells us 60 people also were injured in today's bombing. Many of the 60 are in critical condition. The attack was the latest on Iraq's security offices.
The Philippines is withdrawing the last of its troops from Iraq today. The move was forced by the abductors of a Filipino man taken hostage earlier this month. His abductors say they'll release him once the Filipino troops are out of Iraq.
And for the first time in a while, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public over the weekend. Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ordered Sadr's weekly newspaper reopened. The U.S.-led coalition ordered that newspaper closed several weeks ago because of its call to resist the coalition.
King Abdullah of Jordan says one of its subjects, terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is portrayed as larger than life by the media. Al-Zarqawi is blamed for kidnappings and bombings in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN: Although I must say that I think -- you know, you say that he is the most-wanted man in Iraq, I think that the press have made him much more capable, much smarter and much more of a threat than actually he really is.
Having said that, we are working as part of the international community to track Zarqawi down, and then hopefully the net is closing in on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: On another topic, King Abdullah said the resignation of the Palestinian prime minister would be a serious blow to the Mideast peace process and would reflect very negatively on Yasser Arafat.
And speaking of, the prime minister has offered his resignation, but Yasser Arafat refused to accept it. Protestors demanding reforms marched in Gaza over the weekend, clashing with security forces and burning a Palestinian police station.
CNN's Alessio Vinci has the latest now from Jerusalem -- Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty.
Yes, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei already has offered twice his resignation in the last two days, Saturday and Sunday. And twice Chairman Arafat turned down those resignations. But we do understand from Palestinian officials that should the prime minister offer a third time his resignation, then there were some talk that he could do this, this morning, at the cabinet session that is underway currently in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and Chairman Arafat would not be able to ignore that demand.
All of this, of course, is in response to the growing violence that is taking place in Gaza, has taken place in Gaza in the last two days. Militants and members of Arafat's own Fatah movement are taking to the streets protesting a series of new security appointments within the Palestinian Authority.
About 1,000 demonstrators, many of them armed, attacked first a police station in the town of Khan Younis, burning it to the ground. And then later in the day surrounded the headquarters of the Palestinian intelligence in Rafah in southern Gaza, clashing there with police officers holed up inside. The result of those clashes: 10 people wounded. Now, this latest round of violence after Arafat himself appointed among those people at the top of the security services his own cousin, seen as a man that was supposed to clean up the corruption within the Palestinian Authority. But Mr. Arafat appointed his cousin, but his appointment was widely rejected by those protestors, including some militant factions that took to the streets in those violent clashes.
Adding to the confusion to all of this, Betty, we do understand now from reports coming from Gaza that a man that Arafat's cousin has replaced is now saying he has been reinstated, while Arafat's cousin is saying he still has his job.
So, there is still a lot of confusion going on. All of this is an indication that right now the Palestinian Authority, both Mr. Arafat in Ramallah and the cabinet meeting, are trying to assess the situation, trying to come up with some kind of a solution. But right now, I think chaos is really the word rightly to describe the situation in Gaza at this time.
Back to you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And speaking of that, Alessio, we have this power struggle, this confusion, yet all of the chaos in the streets. What's being done to curb that while the rest of this is being sorted out?
VINCI: Well, obviously the violence, the clashes in Gaza are an indication that right now the Palestinian Authority is not able to rein in those militants who have in a couple of hours have burned to the ground a police station, including -- and attacked the headquarters of the intelligence services in southern Gaza. The Palestinian Authority is having a really hard time there to control those militants.
But we do know, however, for example, out of Jerusalem that the Israeli forces are saying that they will not intervene to calm the situation in Gaza. Therefore, they're letting the Palestinians themselves try to deal with this situation.
But I think at this point, the most important thing is for Mr. Arafat and for Mr. Qorei to send a clear signal that the situation is and must be taken under control, perhaps with the appointment of new people at the helm of the security forces.
But at the same time, Mr. Qorei, by pushing his resignation forward, is sending also a clear message that unless he is given enough power to control those militants, to control the security forces in Gaza especially, there is no way that he can introduce those reforms that the international community and now even the Palestinian people are asking in Gaza -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Definitely a lot to be sorted out. Alessio Vinci, thank you very much from Jerusalem this morning.
And for more on the crisis in the Middle East, you can go to cnn.com. Some legal maneuvering in the Kobe Bryant case today, and legal analyst Kendall Coffey has some insight about the sentence for Martha Stewart as well. Kendall joins us now from Miami.
Good morning to you.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the Kobe Bryant case. Today they're going to be talking about the cell phone and text messages that could be admitted. How important is this to the case?
COFFEY: Well, the defense is looking for anything and everything to put some question about the credibility of the alleged victim. As we know, in a he said/she said, we all know why the he, the defendant, might be lying.
But what's critical for the defense is to get something to attack her motive, her credibility. And they're hoping that the text messages will show some inconsistencies either in what she said or the way she was sort of acting. Was she acting like a victim of an alleged sexual assault? And how do the test messages perhaps shed some light on that?
NGUYEN: This is kind of a new field of evidence being admitted in court cases. How do you think that's going to play out in other cases as we're seeing text messages and things like that being added?
COFFEY: I think that computer experts, forensic experts who can really help defense and prosecutors explore the total range of possible communication is going to be an absolutely necessary part of every important trial.
NGUYEN: So, basically don't write down what you don't want to come back and haunt you maybe a little bit later. OK...
COFFEY: Yes, we've seen it with e-mails that have made the difference between guilty and not guilty.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. OK. On the issue of posting court filings on the Internet, that's going to be dealt with today. How important is that?
COFFEY: Well, I think that we've seen already a major controversy over e-mailed communication. For example, the court reporter sent out, as you may recall, some of the hearings that were supposed to be under seal to seven media outlets dealing with the rape shield law controversy.
And right now, there is a very big question: Will that information be published, or will the court say that there is an effective prior restraint? And even though seven different media outlets have the information, have those hearing transcripts, can't use it. A big controversy.
Obviously, this court wants to keep a lid on publicity every way they can, but there is a First Amendment out there.
NGUYEN: And quickly, they're also going to decide whether to allow cameras in the courtroom. What do both sides think about that?
COFFEY: This is the one thing, Betty, that everybody involved agrees on. The defense, the prosecution and the alleged victim, they don't want cameras in the courtroom. I think the judge is very unlikely to allow it.
NGUYEN: Everyone agrees except for the media, of course. Right.
COFFEY: Everyone agrees except for the media. That's right.
NGUYEN: Well, let's move on to the Martha Stewart sentencing, which happened on Friday. What do you think about the ruling there, five months?
COFFEY: I think it was, under all of the circumstances, is low as she could possibly have hoped for. You're not going to find a lot of cases where a defendant takes the federal government to a trial fought tooth and nail, gets four federal felony convictions and does only five months.
Martha Stewart has probably got a lot she feels she should complain about, but that judge's ruling, that sentence is one thing where she caught a break.
NGUYEN: Speaking of a lot to complain about, she, of course, is going to appeal this. What do you think about her chances of winning that and not going to jail at all?
COFFEY: I think it's very tough. Probably the best issue she had was the lying government witness. And ironically, the whole key to whether that would have been a good issue on appeal was: Were the prosecutors complicit in the lies of the witness? And by prosecuting their own witness, the prosecutors did the ultimate distancing themselves from that witness.
The net effect of that is they had nothing to do with the false testimony during trial, and it's going to be almost an impossible appellate issue for her to win on appeal. I think she's going to jail whether it's now or two years from now. She will be serving those five months.
NGUYEN: All right, Kendall Coffey, thank you very much for that insight this morning.
COFFEY: Thanks, Betty.
NGUYEN: And coming up tonight on CNN, Martha Stewart will join Larry King for her only live primetime interview. And she will also be taking your phone calls. That gets underway at 9:00 Eastern tonight on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
NASCAR's favorite son in the hospital this morning. We'll show you the horrifying crash that sent junior to a burn unit this weekend. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: President Bush is off the campaign trail today. He spends the day at the White House, taking care of some official diplomatic business. But Vice President Cheney takes to the stump in Columbia, Missouri. He later travels to Toledo, Ohio, to deliver remarks about health care costs.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign begins what they call blazing America's freedom trail. The Democratic duo and their wives will be cross-crossing the country this week, attending events that showcase state Democratic delegations. All of this leads up to next Monday when Kerry and Edwards arrive in Boston for the Democratic National Convention.
And later this morning, John Kerry's daughter, Vanessa Kerry, visits CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." That is coming your way a little more than an hour from now at 8:00 Eastern.
It's time now for a little business buzz on your Monday. Toyota prepares to say good-bye to two aging sports cars.
Carrie Lee has the story, and she's at the Nasdaq Marketsite in Times Square.
Two cars, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Two cars, Betty. The Toyota Celica and the Toyota MR2 sports car will no longer be available after the 2005 model year. Toyota is basically saying that these cars compete in an area where what's new dominates.
And both of these cars have been around for quite a while. The Celica was first sold in the United States in 1971, and despite being named over the years things like Motor Trends import car of the year, it has been around for a while.
Meanwhile, the MR2, a mid-engine rear-wheel drive two-seater, was rolled out in 1985. It had a couple of revamping since them, but still Toyota is going to discontinue them after 2005.
Turning to stocks, one name we're watching today, Kraft Foods saw profits in the recent quarter down over 26 percent in the recent quarter, mainly due to higher commodity prices -- increasing dairy prices, for example. And for that reason, Kraft is lowering its profit outlook for 2004.
Also, a little bit of trivia here. Even though futures are looking higher and we could see some buying today, historically today is tied with October 11 as the worst trading day of the year, according to the "Stock Trader's Almanac" from January 1982 through September -- December, excuse me, 2002, the S&P 500 has gained ground just 23.8 percent over those years. So, that's something to keep in mind today.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's very interesting. You said futures are looking better. How much better?
LEE: They are looking better. I would say a solidly higher open, especially for technology issues. Across the board, modest gains expected. And of course, throughout the week we will be watching profit reports. This is a key profit reporting week for the second quarter of the year.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, a busy week.
LEE: Yes.
NGUYEN: Carrie Lee, thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports. The time right now is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's new this morning.
Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are looking for more than 20 teachers who fled their burning school building on Friday. Ninety children died in that fire. Some residents and officials are saying many teachers abandoned the school when the fire started.
Here is news for people at high risk of Alzheimer's. A new study shows a new drug can delay Alzheimer's for about a year -- a half a year, that is, for those with mild memory problems. The drug is trademarked under the name Aricept.
In money, a published report says about 2,000 people worldwide will lose their jobs in the merger of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group. Reuters says the merger will save up to $360 million for the company.
In culture, artifacts from the New York hotel room where Sid Vicious of the group, Sex Pistols, and girlfriend Nancy Spungen lived are going on display in London. Spungen died from a stab wound there in 1978. Among items to be displayed: a blood-flecked poster of the Sex Pistols' album, "Never Mind the Bollocks."
In sports, 38-year-old American Todd Hamilton is this year's British Open winner. Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff. Not too bad for a guy in his first year on the PGA tour. If only you could play that well, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but this guy spent, like, 15 years on the Japanese tour, just trying to get to his dream. And man, to see him win, his wife had tears in her eyes.
NGUYEN: What a dream that is. Yes.
MYERS: She stayed home in America the whole time he was over there on the Asian tour, taking care of the family and...
NGUYEN: For 15 years?
MYERS: Finally. Yes.
NGUYEN: Wow!
MYERS: Finally, finally now, he has his dream. Obviously, he can go to any PGA event he wants to now and any big event in the Masters, as well.
(WEATHER BREAK)
NGUYEN: And we want to check in with Bill and Heidi in New York for a look what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Betty. Good morning to you again, as we start another week here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Good morning. Nice to see you again...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. .
HEMMER: ... after a week away.
COLLINS: Nice to see you, beach boy.
HEMMER: Beach boy is right. No longer, though.
We're going to talk a whole lot about the future for the CIA. Stansfield Turner, James Woolsey, former CIA directors, their thoughts on what we're going to learn later in the week about the 9/11 Commission report. That will be out, and we'll talk about it a lot today.
COLLINS: We're going to talk about something else, too, and that is the Democratic Convention. Look out, Boston. As you know, it starts one week from today in Boston. It's supposed to be unlike anything we've seen before. So, we're going to have an inside look today, an interesting one, from John Kerry's daughter, Vanessa Kerry.
HEMMER: Also, it is burning in the West. It is not even 4:00 a.m. in California, the wildfires begin out there, and they continue today. Evacuations have been ordered, weather complicating the fight, we are told. So, we will look in-depth at that as well. As the sun comes up, we move closer into the morning here on a Monday.
COLLINS: Monday it is.
Betty -- back to you.
NGUYEN: Exciting show. Looking forward to it. Thank you.
And there's much more to come right here on DAYBREAK. So stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, just who is Todd Hamilton? Just like Ben Curtis last year and John Daly nearly a decade ago, a young American golfer has captured one of the top prizes in the sport. But really, who is Todd Hamilton?
For some answers, we turn to CNN's sports contributor Chris Cotter.
Good morning to you.
CHRIS COTTER, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning to you.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, Chad was saying a little bit earlier that this guy, Todd Hamilton that we're going to learn so much about, spent 15 years on the Asian tour. Obviously it paid off.
COTTER: Yes, it did. I mean, he was an All-American at Oklahoma in 1987.
NGUYEN: Really?
COTTER: This goes to show you how long he's been toiling on the Asian tour and leaving, you know, for weeks on end and then coming back and his family supporting him all this while. So, this for him is a breakout win.
You know, last year he won his first PGA event, and now he gets the major, the second-largest payday in golf history at $1.3 million for him. And more importantly, he gets a five-year exemption now to be on the PGA tour. So, he doesn't have to worry about all of those cross-Pacific flights anymore.
NGUYEN: Right.
COTTER: Now he can just worry about...
NGUYEN: His wife is going to be happy about this, isn't she?
COTTER: Oh, absolutely. You know, he's from a small town in Illinois, so it's a great story for Todd Hamilton. It's a great story for golf in the fact that, you know, the British Open oftentimes produces a first-time winner. The majors have lately produced a lot of first-time winners. I think nine of the last 11 majors have been won by first-time majors' winners. So, it's kind of turning over a little bit.
NGUYEN: Yes.
COTTER: It's not so much Tiger Woods dominating...
NGUYEN: Exactly.
COTTER: ... as much as it is newer golfers getting in on the scene.
NGUYEN: It makes it kind of exciting. Well, speaking of champions, let's talk about Marion Jones a little bit. She dropped out of the 200 over the weekend. Is she just tired? Or is this doping scandal really getting to her? COTTER: Well, I think it's a combination of both. I think the attention that it's getting is starting to contribute to her becoming exhausted. She had a fantastic long jump. You see her here a few days back.
To get into the Olympics, to blow away the field essentially, she finally jumps to her capability. So, she's going to the Olympics in the long jump. She'll go the Olympics as a member of a relay team.
And so for her, I think it was just a matter of, hey, this is too much for me. I want to finish the trials right now and move beyond this. So, she opted out of the 200 meters.
NGUYEN: We've been showing video today of the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. crash. This is just an amazing crash. I mean, so lucky to be able to get out of that with just minor second-degree burns on his face and legs.
COTTER: Yes, here it is. And you saw the fuel coming out of the fuel tank, and he seems dazed in the car here as the flames start to erupt. And you'll see some track workers come around to try and give him some aid. Isn't this -- this right here to me shows how safe the stock cars are that he races in on a weekly basis, because -- and it's not so much that this car is unsafe, but in the trials week to week you see some massive and horrendous crashes. And yet, those cars don't burst into flames like the Le Mans car did here that he was racing in.
Minor burns, though, to his face, chin and around the ear area, apparently the word coming out of the Earnhardt camp is he won't miss a single race coming up in the stock car race in the NASCAR scene. He'll be back next weekend.
NGUYEN: That's a trooper for you.
COTTER: Yes.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about Tour de Lance. Is it really going to be his year? Is he going to, you know, win this sixth title? He's made some ground, hasn't he?
COTTER: Oh, he had a huge weekend. He and his team were just dominating. Here you see him winning the stage as he did on Saturday. He's in second place right now, but the big thing for him is he's made up ground on all of his competition. Guys have quit. Guys have fallen back. I mean, he's decimated all of his -- the main rivals that he's going to have.
Watch for him this week. Wednesday is a big day for Lance. I think he takes the yellow jersey on Wednesday, and he'll keep it. It ends a week from yesterday, this upcoming Sunday on Champs-Elysees in Paris, and he's going to win...
NGUYEN: Oh, Champs-Elysees.
COTTER: Unless he gets hurt, falls off, gets sick something like that...
NGUYEN: OK.
COTTER: ... Lance is going to win his sixth.
NGUYEN: Wednesday, we're betting on you, Chris.
COTTER: Wednesday is the big day.
NGUYEN: All right, Chris Cotter, thank you.
COTTER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And we are back right after a quick break, but first we want to check the headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back.
Following Martha Stewart's sentencing on Friday and her upcoming appeal, what does she have to say about all of this? Well, she will be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight for her first and only live interview. In fact, she'll even be taking your calls. That starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight on "LARRY KING."
That's going to do it from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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