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CNN Live At Daybreak

Filipino Truck Driver Released in Iraq; 09/11 Commission Expected to Mention Iran in Connection with Hijackers

Aired July 20, 2004 - 05:00   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning -- his abduction caused a nation to reverse gears in Iraq. A Filipino man is free.
It's Tuesday, July 20, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning to you.

From the CNN Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, a Philippine truck driver taken hostage in Iraq earlier this month is a free man this hour. A spokesman for the United Arab Emirates says he is now safe in their Baghdad embassy. His release came after Manila agreed to remove its small contingent of humanitarian troops.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger is under investigation for allegedly removing classified material from a National Archives screening area. Berger, who served in the Clinton administration, was in charge of reviewing numerous sensitive documents for consideration by the 9/11 Commission. Berger says he took the documents by mistake.

Israel's West Bank barrier, the International Court of Justice says, it should come down. This afternoon, the U.N. General Assembly can vote on whether to back the court.

And Haiti's prime minister is seeking $1.3 billion at an international donors conference going on today in Washington. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the group just about three and a half hours from now.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

We want to check in now with Chad Myers for a look at the weather on this Tuesday -- good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get more now on the Filipino truck driver who has been released in Iraq. A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress says Angelo de la Cruz is at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad. He is waiting to be handed over to the officials at the Philippine embassy. We want to go to CNN's Matthew Chance, who joins us now from Baghdad with the latest -- Matthew, it looks like the hostage takers have lived up to their end of this bargain.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like it. Certainly we've had confirmation from the embassy of the United Arab Emirates here in the Iraqi capital. They do now have that Filipino hostage in their hands. Angelo de la Cruz, who was abducted by kidnappers earlier this month, in fact, on July the 7th. His release comes just a day after, though, the Filipino government ordered out its 51 strong contingent of humanitarian troops that have been operating in Iraq. That was the demand of the hostage takers.

They'd threatened to behead Mr. de la Cruz if that demand was not met. His fate became a big political issue in the Philippines itself and it put the Filipino government in a very awkward dilemma with its own people and with the U.S. administration, along with the interim Iraqi government, both of whom had been working extremely hard to get the Filipinos not to move their troops out of Iraq.

But they've done that in the end. The Iraqi interim government has said that that sets a bad precedent. But both countries, of course, have said they will continue to work with the Philippines in the future.

And, of course, for Angelo de la Cruz himself and for his family, the outcome has been a really positive one -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Matthew, Iyad Allawi had called the Philippine president, asking her not to remove the troops.

This bad precedent, is that in regard to the fact that possibly this could spark more kidnappings?

CHANCE: Well, that's the big concern, not just of the interim Iraqi government, but for all the foreign expatriates working here in Iraq. In fact, over the last two days, there's been another hostage released -- just last night, an Egyptian hostage, after the company that he worked for, a Saudi Arabian transport company, agreed not to operate in Iraq anymore in exchange for the release of that Egyptian hostage.

So there have been a number of negotiations taking place between various parties, governments and companies and the hostage takers. And the fear is that that will embolden, encourage these splinter groups, these factions that have emerged over the past few months and started to use kidnapping as a tactic to exert pressure on companies and on countries to step up that activity. And certainly that's something we're all concerned about here in Baghdad.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

CNN's Matthew Chance in Baghdad.

Thank you for that.

And, of course, we will continue with this story with CNN's Maria Ressa in Manila.

We'll have that a little bit later on in the show.

Meanwhile, Samuel Berger, the national security adviser in the Clinton administration, is in trouble this morning. It's a result of preparations he made for an appearance in March before the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Berger is under a federal criminal investigation for allegedly taking classified documents and handwritten notes from a National Archives screening room.

Berger released a statement saying, "that he inadvertently took a few documents." He goes on, I'm quoting here, "I also took my notes on the documents reviewed and when I was informed by the Archives there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally discarded."

Now, we will have more from our national correspondent, Bob Franken, in the next hour of DAYBREAK on this story.

More legal troubles to tell you about, this time the Halliburton Company. The Texas-based company says it's received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents from its Cayman Island subsidiary, which has operations in Iran. The U.S. has trade sanctions against Iran. A U.S. company cannot own or manage a foreign subsidiary in Iran. Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil field service companies, says it will work with the government to resolve this matter.

And we could be hearing more about Iran later this week. The commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attack releases is -- or it releases that report on Thursday, I should say. It's expected to mention Iran in connection with the hijackers.

Now, our Suzanne Malveaux has more on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight of the 19 hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 safely passed through Iran. The details of how that unfolded will be released by the 9/11 Commission in its final report on Thursday.

Emerging from an Oval Office meeting, President Bush was asked whether there was a link between Iran and the 9/11 attacks.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As to direct connections with September the 11th, you know, we're digging into the facts to determine if there was one.

MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush's comment follows statements made over the weekend by the CIA's acting director that while Iran was used as a frequent route for traveling al Qaeda, it did not support the terrorist attacks.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's no evidence that there was any official involvement between Iran and the September 11 attacks.

MALVEAUX: In fact, privately, administration officials say there is no new information that has emerged from the 9/11 Commission's investigation that would suggest otherwise.

BUSH: I have long expressed my concerns about Iran.

MALVEAUX: From his 2002 State of the Union Address, Mr. Bush declared Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea...

BUSH: An axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world.

MALVEAUX: The Bush administration has designated Iran a state sponsor or terror, accused of pursuing nuclear weapons, supports Hezbollah and harboring al Qaeda.

On Thursday, the 9/11 Commission is expected to release a critical report of the administration's handling of the terrorist attacks. And it will address any aid offered to the 9/11 hijackers by Iran. The report will be an opportunity for those who questioned the invasion of Iraq to make their case.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We focused so much energy on Iraq when other countries may have been more directly linked to 9/11.

MALVEAUX (on camera): The Bush administration argues that each member of the so-called axis of evil should be examined individually, that international pressure to get Iran to abandon its weapons programs is the more appropriate course of action than regime change.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: We want to go back now to our top story, the Filipino hostage whop is now free in Iraq. News of the release of Angelo de la Cruz comes one day after the Philippine government pulled last of its troops out of Iraq. The family of the father of eight is reacting to the news with caution. The Philippine government has come under enormous international criticism for meeting the demands of these hostage takers.

We want to go now to our Maria Ressa in Manila with the latest on this -- good morning, Maria.

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

You know, at this point there is still no official confirmation from the Philippine government here. They are exercising extreme caution. They say they will not announce he has been released until he is actually in Philippine government hands.

Meantime, a Philippine official in its embassy in Baghdad did confirm with CNN that one of their officials, a representative, is now at the UAE embassy to try to coordinate these efforts. Everyone here in the Philippines is -- the family, the friends, the neighbors of Angelo de la Cruz continue to wait. They are watching and waiting for word -- Betty.

NGUYEN: As they wait with caution, is there a sense there in the Philippines that this plan, this deal really did work? Or do they feel like maybe they just caved into the demands of terrorists?

RESSA: Well, you know, at this point, short-term gain -- there is a lot of criticism that the short-term gain may not be worth what the Philippines sacrificed in the long run. But if you ask Filipinos, a recent poll showed that the Philippines' 80 million people are roughly split 50-50 on whether the government did the right thing. Angelo de la Cruz himself has become a sort of icon, a symbol of the Filipino everyman, one of the millions of overseas contract workers who work in often dangerous places to send money home to their families.

And yet, at the same time, the Philippines now stands to lose a lot in terms of its own war on terror. After all, it's fighting three al Qaeda-linked groups here in the Philippines. In addition to that, it's turned its back on one of its main allies, the United States, which has lobbied to keep the Philippine troops in Iraq, as well as the Baghdad government itself.

So there's the feeling that the Philippines may have lost credibility in the international arena.

However, short-term gain, right now, seems to be what's winning in terms of public opinion -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And for the family, all they want to do is see Angelo de la Cruz very quickly.

Any indication as to when that will happen?

RESSA: Not yet. No indication yet at this point. His wife and his brother are waiting for him in Amman, Jordan. His family -- he's got eight children. His whole neighborhood and town have been basically putting yellow ribbons up, waiting for his return.

So they are waiting and hoping for word, the Philippine government being extremely cautious. But we are told as soon as he is in Philippine government hands, the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, will be the one to make the announcement herself -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Maria Ressa in Manila.

Thank you.

Still to come here on DAYBREAK, it was exactly what British security officials did not want anyone to see. Coming up in about five minutes, a top secret file outlining Heathrow Airport's most vulnerable spot, it ends up at a newspaper, but only after it was found somewhere else first. In 10 minutes, it happened 35 years ago today, one of America's proudest moments, a walk down memory lane via the Moon.

Then, at the half hour, we'll go inside Baghdad's green zone. A photographer's images puts you where only a select few Americans are allowed, including a face to face encounter with Saddam Hussein.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, good morning.

Martha Stewart says she hasn't decided yet if she'll go through with an appeal. In an interview with CNN's Larry King, Stewart says serving her five month prison sentence would bring what she calls finality to her legal woes and would be good for business. But she says she wants to clear her name and restore her reputation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")

MARTHA STEWART: I think that there have been so many kind of misrepresentations of me and...

LARRY KING, HOST: What's the biggest misconception, do you think?

STEWART: Meanie.

KING: Meanie?

STEWART: I'm a softie.

KING: How did that begin?

STEWART: I don't know.

KING: Where did that start?

STEWART: Where does it -- where does stuff like that start? I don't know.

KING: Well, maybe it's because you're a perfectionist and perfectionists can get labeled meanie because they'll say, "Move that tray!," right?

STEWART: Well...

KING: Are you a perfectionist?

STEWART: I am a perfectionist. But I want to make sure that everybody understands that I'm not personally perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Stewart says she is considering writing a how to book to help others dealing with legal troubles.

We have your news, money, weather and sports.

The time right now is 5:15 Eastern.

Now here's what's all new this morning.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger is under investigation for allegedly removing classified material from a National Archives screening area. Berger, who served in the Clinton administration, was in charge of reviewing numerous sensitive documents for consideration by the 9/11 Commission.

The regulation of gun dealers is woefully insufficient. That's the finding of a Justice Department investigation. It found gun laws are being under enforced and no action is being taken when violations are uncovered.

In money, $2 billion -- that's how much money Delta Airlines says it lost last quarter. But the airline's worst ever loss didn't seem to bother investors. Shares of Delta's stock rose 8 percent.

In culture, do you have a little Ted Nugent in you? The on demand TV service Mag Rack is looking for the perfect guitar face. So warm up the snarl and get ready to wango tango.

Also in sports this morning, Vlade Divac may be coming back to the Lakers. NBA sources say the seven footer is leaving the Sacramento Kings to sign with the Lakers for around $5 million. Divac was traded by the Lakers eight years ago for none other than Kobe Bryant.

We're talking with Chad now about the weather. A good day for a little b-ball -- Chad.

MYERS: Sure, if you're tall enough. But that wouldn't be me.

NGUYEN: Not me, no.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: In business, U.S. markets will be waiting to hear what Alan Greenspan has to say to Congress this afternoon. That's also a factor for the European markets today.

For more on that, we want to check in now with Robyn Curnow in London -- good morning, Robin.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty.

Indeed, these markets very much waiting to hear just what Mr. Greenspan is going to say about the direction or the pace of interest rate hikes over there on your side of the pond. As you can see, all of these main markets behind me except for the Swiss SMI, are firmly down in the red. They're a little bit off some of their lows of the day, but that's what they're looking like today.

A big business news story, though, over here that I want to tell you about is a merger that's been approved between Sony and BMG. Now, they've got -- going to become the second largest music company in the world, bringing together artists such as Britney and Aerospace -- Aerosmith, sorry. And essentially this is big news because really the consolidation of the music industry is considered by some to be very important for their survival after piracy and online sales and all that.

And really what we're looking at here is if we look at music stocks, they're a little bit shaky this morning, as you can see. Both EMI here in London and Vivendi Universal, with is the largest music company in the world, both down on the news of this merger that's been approved by the E.U., the European Commission. We're waiting for the U.S. regulators to give the go ahead, but that might come this afternoon.

So very much in the news here in Europe is this big music story.

Another story is the airline industry. There's a big airline show going on here in Europe. And EADS is the parent company of Airbus. Airbus and Boeing are very much archrivals in terms of building commercial airplanes. And they're going to be fighting it out in the next week to get some orders here at this big air show that's taking place in England.

As you can see, EADS, which is a European company, owner of Airbus, is up nearly two -- now, 1 1/2 percent, and that's really on the sense that they say they're going to increase their production of airplanes by up to 50 percent in the next two years. So very much a focus on that -- on this side of the Atlantic.

But back to you in the studio -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Robyn Curnow, from the other side of the pond.

Good morning to you.

Well, British police are wiping egg off their face, scrambling to find out how a top secret file ended up abandoned on the side of the road. It contained everything they didn't want terrorists to know, stuff like what they're doing to prevent an attack on London's Heathrow Airport.

Here's CNN's Diana Muriel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Splashed across the front page of Britain's tabloid newspaper "The Sun," plans to counter a possible terrorist attack on Europe's busiest apartment, Heathrow. According to the newspaper, the police dossier, which was found abandoned at the side of the road by an anonymous motorist, contains details of 62 sites at the airport from which an anti- aircraft missile strike could be launched. Other key facts, including escape routes, evacuation plans, road closures and timings of police patrols, were also laid out. Scotland Yard refused to confirm whether the document had been compiled by its own aviation security team. Instead, it issued this statement: "We treat any breach of security extremely seriously. We have launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of how these documents went missing and we'll take the appropriate action when we have ascertained the facts surrounding this matter."

British M.P.s are demanding to know what went wrong.

HAZEL BLEARS, COUNTER-TERRORISM MINISTER: We'll be wanting to know exactly what's happened, and, more importantly, what steps can be put in place to make sure that it doesn't happen in the future.

MURIEL: Heathrow was the subject of a security crackdown in February last year, when tanks, military and armed police were deployed in response to intelligence indicating a gang equipped with a rocket launcher was planning an attack.

So just how vulnerable is Heathrow?

DAVID CLARIDGE, RISK ADVISORY GROUP: Heathrow, in comparison to most other potential targets around in the U.K., is much less vulnerable, probably, than others. But it is equally a very attractive target and we know that terrorists will continue, are continuously looking at aviation as a potential target that is attractive to them and which gets their message across.

MURIEL: Outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens has said that a terrorist attack in Britain is "inevitable."

On Sunday, more than 2,000 emergency service personnel were involved in an exercise to test responses to a possible chemical terror attack. It took more than four hours for the 400 volunteer casualties to go through the decontamination process.

Diana Muriel, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Ahead, more on a developing story -- the release of a Filipino held hostage in Iraq.

And a little bit later, more drama for a Florida man whose pet tiger was recently killed by police. We'll tell you about the freak accident that happened to him this time.

And, fly me to the moon -- a look back at the historic Apollo 11 journey into space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. It was 35 years ago today that Neil Armstrong spoke those famous words from the surface of the moon.

CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien takes a look back at that journey into history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The wake up call came at 4:15 on the morning of Wednesday, July 16, 1969 -- Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, for precisely 25 minutes, they ate their breakfast -- steak, eggs, toast, juice and coffee. Collins called the atmosphere "studied casualness."

Then it was time to suit up. Once locked inside, they were in a cocoon. In a metal suitcase, they carried their air supply. They walked to the crew transfer van, seeing a group of NASA workers and photographers, but hearing only the sound of their breathing.

They drove slowly to Launch Pad 39A, about eight miles and 20 minutes away. Their launch window would open at 9:32 and close 14 minutes later. The timing was precise so four days later they would arrive at the Moon's Sea of Tranquility with the sun behind the lunar module and low on the horizon for optimal visibility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all is still go...

O'BRIEN: Twenty thousand VIPs, 3,500 members of the media, a million people along the Florida coast and millions more watching at home all focused on this amazing spectacle. In the launch control center, the father of the Saturn 5, Verner von Braun, looked on as launch director Rocco Petrone polled his troops. "Go!" came the reply from every post and from the crew.

They were on their way. Their destination was destiny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And to mark the 35th anniversary, CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" will welcome pioneering astronaut Buzz Aldrin for a very special interview.

That comes your way at 8:15 a.m. Eastern.

And here's what's ahead in our next half hour.

More on a developing story out of Baghdad. The Philippine man held hostage in Iraq is now freed. Details on his release, coming up.

Plus, inside the green zone -- dramatic pictures from the highly secure military zone in Baghdad.

And security in Athens -- just how ready is Greece for the Games?

We'll take a look in the next half hour of DAYBREAK for Tuesday, July 20.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: His abduction stirred a nation and caused a crack in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Today, he's free.

It's Tuesday, July 20, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning on this Tuesday and welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.

From CNN's Global Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, Samuel Berger, national security adviser under President Clinton, is facing a federal criminal investigation. He allegedly took classified documents from the National Archives in preparing to testify before the 9/11 Commission last March. Berger says he took some documents by accident but then returned them.

President Bush is spending most of the day on the campaign trail. After a morning meeting with economic advisers, he heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a reelection rally. Later, he'll attend another rally just outside St. Louis.

On the Democratic side, the presidential candidates are lying low today. Senator John Kerry is in Nantucket, Massachusetts and has no public events scheduled. His running mate, John Edwards, is in Washington for the day.

A Filipino truck driver being held hostage in Iraq is now waiting to come home. An official with the Arab -- the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad says Angelo de la Cruz is in their care. The release comes one day after the Philippine government pulled its last troops out of Iraq.

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Aired July 20, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning -- his abduction caused a nation to reverse gears in Iraq. A Filipino man is free.
It's Tuesday, July 20, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning to you.

From the CNN Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, a Philippine truck driver taken hostage in Iraq earlier this month is a free man this hour. A spokesman for the United Arab Emirates says he is now safe in their Baghdad embassy. His release came after Manila agreed to remove its small contingent of humanitarian troops.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger is under investigation for allegedly removing classified material from a National Archives screening area. Berger, who served in the Clinton administration, was in charge of reviewing numerous sensitive documents for consideration by the 9/11 Commission. Berger says he took the documents by mistake.

Israel's West Bank barrier, the International Court of Justice says, it should come down. This afternoon, the U.N. General Assembly can vote on whether to back the court.

And Haiti's prime minister is seeking $1.3 billion at an international donors conference going on today in Washington. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the group just about three and a half hours from now.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

We want to check in now with Chad Myers for a look at the weather on this Tuesday -- good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get more now on the Filipino truck driver who has been released in Iraq. A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress says Angelo de la Cruz is at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad. He is waiting to be handed over to the officials at the Philippine embassy. We want to go to CNN's Matthew Chance, who joins us now from Baghdad with the latest -- Matthew, it looks like the hostage takers have lived up to their end of this bargain.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like it. Certainly we've had confirmation from the embassy of the United Arab Emirates here in the Iraqi capital. They do now have that Filipino hostage in their hands. Angelo de la Cruz, who was abducted by kidnappers earlier this month, in fact, on July the 7th. His release comes just a day after, though, the Filipino government ordered out its 51 strong contingent of humanitarian troops that have been operating in Iraq. That was the demand of the hostage takers.

They'd threatened to behead Mr. de la Cruz if that demand was not met. His fate became a big political issue in the Philippines itself and it put the Filipino government in a very awkward dilemma with its own people and with the U.S. administration, along with the interim Iraqi government, both of whom had been working extremely hard to get the Filipinos not to move their troops out of Iraq.

But they've done that in the end. The Iraqi interim government has said that that sets a bad precedent. But both countries, of course, have said they will continue to work with the Philippines in the future.

And, of course, for Angelo de la Cruz himself and for his family, the outcome has been a really positive one -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Matthew, Iyad Allawi had called the Philippine president, asking her not to remove the troops.

This bad precedent, is that in regard to the fact that possibly this could spark more kidnappings?

CHANCE: Well, that's the big concern, not just of the interim Iraqi government, but for all the foreign expatriates working here in Iraq. In fact, over the last two days, there's been another hostage released -- just last night, an Egyptian hostage, after the company that he worked for, a Saudi Arabian transport company, agreed not to operate in Iraq anymore in exchange for the release of that Egyptian hostage.

So there have been a number of negotiations taking place between various parties, governments and companies and the hostage takers. And the fear is that that will embolden, encourage these splinter groups, these factions that have emerged over the past few months and started to use kidnapping as a tactic to exert pressure on companies and on countries to step up that activity. And certainly that's something we're all concerned about here in Baghdad.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

CNN's Matthew Chance in Baghdad.

Thank you for that.

And, of course, we will continue with this story with CNN's Maria Ressa in Manila.

We'll have that a little bit later on in the show.

Meanwhile, Samuel Berger, the national security adviser in the Clinton administration, is in trouble this morning. It's a result of preparations he made for an appearance in March before the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Berger is under a federal criminal investigation for allegedly taking classified documents and handwritten notes from a National Archives screening room.

Berger released a statement saying, "that he inadvertently took a few documents." He goes on, I'm quoting here, "I also took my notes on the documents reviewed and when I was informed by the Archives there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally discarded."

Now, we will have more from our national correspondent, Bob Franken, in the next hour of DAYBREAK on this story.

More legal troubles to tell you about, this time the Halliburton Company. The Texas-based company says it's received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents from its Cayman Island subsidiary, which has operations in Iran. The U.S. has trade sanctions against Iran. A U.S. company cannot own or manage a foreign subsidiary in Iran. Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil field service companies, says it will work with the government to resolve this matter.

And we could be hearing more about Iran later this week. The commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attack releases is -- or it releases that report on Thursday, I should say. It's expected to mention Iran in connection with the hijackers.

Now, our Suzanne Malveaux has more on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight of the 19 hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 safely passed through Iran. The details of how that unfolded will be released by the 9/11 Commission in its final report on Thursday.

Emerging from an Oval Office meeting, President Bush was asked whether there was a link between Iran and the 9/11 attacks.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As to direct connections with September the 11th, you know, we're digging into the facts to determine if there was one.

MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush's comment follows statements made over the weekend by the CIA's acting director that while Iran was used as a frequent route for traveling al Qaeda, it did not support the terrorist attacks.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's no evidence that there was any official involvement between Iran and the September 11 attacks.

MALVEAUX: In fact, privately, administration officials say there is no new information that has emerged from the 9/11 Commission's investigation that would suggest otherwise.

BUSH: I have long expressed my concerns about Iran.

MALVEAUX: From his 2002 State of the Union Address, Mr. Bush declared Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea...

BUSH: An axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world.

MALVEAUX: The Bush administration has designated Iran a state sponsor or terror, accused of pursuing nuclear weapons, supports Hezbollah and harboring al Qaeda.

On Thursday, the 9/11 Commission is expected to release a critical report of the administration's handling of the terrorist attacks. And it will address any aid offered to the 9/11 hijackers by Iran. The report will be an opportunity for those who questioned the invasion of Iraq to make their case.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We focused so much energy on Iraq when other countries may have been more directly linked to 9/11.

MALVEAUX (on camera): The Bush administration argues that each member of the so-called axis of evil should be examined individually, that international pressure to get Iran to abandon its weapons programs is the more appropriate course of action than regime change.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: We want to go back now to our top story, the Filipino hostage whop is now free in Iraq. News of the release of Angelo de la Cruz comes one day after the Philippine government pulled last of its troops out of Iraq. The family of the father of eight is reacting to the news with caution. The Philippine government has come under enormous international criticism for meeting the demands of these hostage takers.

We want to go now to our Maria Ressa in Manila with the latest on this -- good morning, Maria.

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

You know, at this point there is still no official confirmation from the Philippine government here. They are exercising extreme caution. They say they will not announce he has been released until he is actually in Philippine government hands.

Meantime, a Philippine official in its embassy in Baghdad did confirm with CNN that one of their officials, a representative, is now at the UAE embassy to try to coordinate these efforts. Everyone here in the Philippines is -- the family, the friends, the neighbors of Angelo de la Cruz continue to wait. They are watching and waiting for word -- Betty.

NGUYEN: As they wait with caution, is there a sense there in the Philippines that this plan, this deal really did work? Or do they feel like maybe they just caved into the demands of terrorists?

RESSA: Well, you know, at this point, short-term gain -- there is a lot of criticism that the short-term gain may not be worth what the Philippines sacrificed in the long run. But if you ask Filipinos, a recent poll showed that the Philippines' 80 million people are roughly split 50-50 on whether the government did the right thing. Angelo de la Cruz himself has become a sort of icon, a symbol of the Filipino everyman, one of the millions of overseas contract workers who work in often dangerous places to send money home to their families.

And yet, at the same time, the Philippines now stands to lose a lot in terms of its own war on terror. After all, it's fighting three al Qaeda-linked groups here in the Philippines. In addition to that, it's turned its back on one of its main allies, the United States, which has lobbied to keep the Philippine troops in Iraq, as well as the Baghdad government itself.

So there's the feeling that the Philippines may have lost credibility in the international arena.

However, short-term gain, right now, seems to be what's winning in terms of public opinion -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And for the family, all they want to do is see Angelo de la Cruz very quickly.

Any indication as to when that will happen?

RESSA: Not yet. No indication yet at this point. His wife and his brother are waiting for him in Amman, Jordan. His family -- he's got eight children. His whole neighborhood and town have been basically putting yellow ribbons up, waiting for his return.

So they are waiting and hoping for word, the Philippine government being extremely cautious. But we are told as soon as he is in Philippine government hands, the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, will be the one to make the announcement herself -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Maria Ressa in Manila.

Thank you.

Still to come here on DAYBREAK, it was exactly what British security officials did not want anyone to see. Coming up in about five minutes, a top secret file outlining Heathrow Airport's most vulnerable spot, it ends up at a newspaper, but only after it was found somewhere else first. In 10 minutes, it happened 35 years ago today, one of America's proudest moments, a walk down memory lane via the Moon.

Then, at the half hour, we'll go inside Baghdad's green zone. A photographer's images puts you where only a select few Americans are allowed, including a face to face encounter with Saddam Hussein.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, good morning.

Martha Stewart says she hasn't decided yet if she'll go through with an appeal. In an interview with CNN's Larry King, Stewart says serving her five month prison sentence would bring what she calls finality to her legal woes and would be good for business. But she says she wants to clear her name and restore her reputation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")

MARTHA STEWART: I think that there have been so many kind of misrepresentations of me and...

LARRY KING, HOST: What's the biggest misconception, do you think?

STEWART: Meanie.

KING: Meanie?

STEWART: I'm a softie.

KING: How did that begin?

STEWART: I don't know.

KING: Where did that start?

STEWART: Where does it -- where does stuff like that start? I don't know.

KING: Well, maybe it's because you're a perfectionist and perfectionists can get labeled meanie because they'll say, "Move that tray!," right?

STEWART: Well...

KING: Are you a perfectionist?

STEWART: I am a perfectionist. But I want to make sure that everybody understands that I'm not personally perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Stewart says she is considering writing a how to book to help others dealing with legal troubles.

We have your news, money, weather and sports.

The time right now is 5:15 Eastern.

Now here's what's all new this morning.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger is under investigation for allegedly removing classified material from a National Archives screening area. Berger, who served in the Clinton administration, was in charge of reviewing numerous sensitive documents for consideration by the 9/11 Commission.

The regulation of gun dealers is woefully insufficient. That's the finding of a Justice Department investigation. It found gun laws are being under enforced and no action is being taken when violations are uncovered.

In money, $2 billion -- that's how much money Delta Airlines says it lost last quarter. But the airline's worst ever loss didn't seem to bother investors. Shares of Delta's stock rose 8 percent.

In culture, do you have a little Ted Nugent in you? The on demand TV service Mag Rack is looking for the perfect guitar face. So warm up the snarl and get ready to wango tango.

Also in sports this morning, Vlade Divac may be coming back to the Lakers. NBA sources say the seven footer is leaving the Sacramento Kings to sign with the Lakers for around $5 million. Divac was traded by the Lakers eight years ago for none other than Kobe Bryant.

We're talking with Chad now about the weather. A good day for a little b-ball -- Chad.

MYERS: Sure, if you're tall enough. But that wouldn't be me.

NGUYEN: Not me, no.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: In business, U.S. markets will be waiting to hear what Alan Greenspan has to say to Congress this afternoon. That's also a factor for the European markets today.

For more on that, we want to check in now with Robyn Curnow in London -- good morning, Robin.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty.

Indeed, these markets very much waiting to hear just what Mr. Greenspan is going to say about the direction or the pace of interest rate hikes over there on your side of the pond. As you can see, all of these main markets behind me except for the Swiss SMI, are firmly down in the red. They're a little bit off some of their lows of the day, but that's what they're looking like today.

A big business news story, though, over here that I want to tell you about is a merger that's been approved between Sony and BMG. Now, they've got -- going to become the second largest music company in the world, bringing together artists such as Britney and Aerospace -- Aerosmith, sorry. And essentially this is big news because really the consolidation of the music industry is considered by some to be very important for their survival after piracy and online sales and all that.

And really what we're looking at here is if we look at music stocks, they're a little bit shaky this morning, as you can see. Both EMI here in London and Vivendi Universal, with is the largest music company in the world, both down on the news of this merger that's been approved by the E.U., the European Commission. We're waiting for the U.S. regulators to give the go ahead, but that might come this afternoon.

So very much in the news here in Europe is this big music story.

Another story is the airline industry. There's a big airline show going on here in Europe. And EADS is the parent company of Airbus. Airbus and Boeing are very much archrivals in terms of building commercial airplanes. And they're going to be fighting it out in the next week to get some orders here at this big air show that's taking place in England.

As you can see, EADS, which is a European company, owner of Airbus, is up nearly two -- now, 1 1/2 percent, and that's really on the sense that they say they're going to increase their production of airplanes by up to 50 percent in the next two years. So very much a focus on that -- on this side of the Atlantic.

But back to you in the studio -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Robyn Curnow, from the other side of the pond.

Good morning to you.

Well, British police are wiping egg off their face, scrambling to find out how a top secret file ended up abandoned on the side of the road. It contained everything they didn't want terrorists to know, stuff like what they're doing to prevent an attack on London's Heathrow Airport.

Here's CNN's Diana Muriel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Splashed across the front page of Britain's tabloid newspaper "The Sun," plans to counter a possible terrorist attack on Europe's busiest apartment, Heathrow. According to the newspaper, the police dossier, which was found abandoned at the side of the road by an anonymous motorist, contains details of 62 sites at the airport from which an anti- aircraft missile strike could be launched. Other key facts, including escape routes, evacuation plans, road closures and timings of police patrols, were also laid out. Scotland Yard refused to confirm whether the document had been compiled by its own aviation security team. Instead, it issued this statement: "We treat any breach of security extremely seriously. We have launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of how these documents went missing and we'll take the appropriate action when we have ascertained the facts surrounding this matter."

British M.P.s are demanding to know what went wrong.

HAZEL BLEARS, COUNTER-TERRORISM MINISTER: We'll be wanting to know exactly what's happened, and, more importantly, what steps can be put in place to make sure that it doesn't happen in the future.

MURIEL: Heathrow was the subject of a security crackdown in February last year, when tanks, military and armed police were deployed in response to intelligence indicating a gang equipped with a rocket launcher was planning an attack.

So just how vulnerable is Heathrow?

DAVID CLARIDGE, RISK ADVISORY GROUP: Heathrow, in comparison to most other potential targets around in the U.K., is much less vulnerable, probably, than others. But it is equally a very attractive target and we know that terrorists will continue, are continuously looking at aviation as a potential target that is attractive to them and which gets their message across.

MURIEL: Outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens has said that a terrorist attack in Britain is "inevitable."

On Sunday, more than 2,000 emergency service personnel were involved in an exercise to test responses to a possible chemical terror attack. It took more than four hours for the 400 volunteer casualties to go through the decontamination process.

Diana Muriel, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Ahead, more on a developing story -- the release of a Filipino held hostage in Iraq.

And a little bit later, more drama for a Florida man whose pet tiger was recently killed by police. We'll tell you about the freak accident that happened to him this time.

And, fly me to the moon -- a look back at the historic Apollo 11 journey into space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. It was 35 years ago today that Neil Armstrong spoke those famous words from the surface of the moon.

CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien takes a look back at that journey into history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The wake up call came at 4:15 on the morning of Wednesday, July 16, 1969 -- Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, for precisely 25 minutes, they ate their breakfast -- steak, eggs, toast, juice and coffee. Collins called the atmosphere "studied casualness."

Then it was time to suit up. Once locked inside, they were in a cocoon. In a metal suitcase, they carried their air supply. They walked to the crew transfer van, seeing a group of NASA workers and photographers, but hearing only the sound of their breathing.

They drove slowly to Launch Pad 39A, about eight miles and 20 minutes away. Their launch window would open at 9:32 and close 14 minutes later. The timing was precise so four days later they would arrive at the Moon's Sea of Tranquility with the sun behind the lunar module and low on the horizon for optimal visibility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all is still go...

O'BRIEN: Twenty thousand VIPs, 3,500 members of the media, a million people along the Florida coast and millions more watching at home all focused on this amazing spectacle. In the launch control center, the father of the Saturn 5, Verner von Braun, looked on as launch director Rocco Petrone polled his troops. "Go!" came the reply from every post and from the crew.

They were on their way. Their destination was destiny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And to mark the 35th anniversary, CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" will welcome pioneering astronaut Buzz Aldrin for a very special interview.

That comes your way at 8:15 a.m. Eastern.

And here's what's ahead in our next half hour.

More on a developing story out of Baghdad. The Philippine man held hostage in Iraq is now freed. Details on his release, coming up.

Plus, inside the green zone -- dramatic pictures from the highly secure military zone in Baghdad.

And security in Athens -- just how ready is Greece for the Games?

We'll take a look in the next half hour of DAYBREAK for Tuesday, July 20.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: His abduction stirred a nation and caused a crack in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Today, he's free.

It's Tuesday, July 20, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning on this Tuesday and welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.

From CNN's Global Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, Samuel Berger, national security adviser under President Clinton, is facing a federal criminal investigation. He allegedly took classified documents from the National Archives in preparing to testify before the 9/11 Commission last March. Berger says he took some documents by accident but then returned them.

President Bush is spending most of the day on the campaign trail. After a morning meeting with economic advisers, he heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a reelection rally. Later, he'll attend another rally just outside St. Louis.

On the Democratic side, the presidential candidates are lying low today. Senator John Kerry is in Nantucket, Massachusetts and has no public events scheduled. His running mate, John Edwards, is in Washington for the day.

A Filipino truck driver being held hostage in Iraq is now waiting to come home. An official with the Arab -- the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad says Angelo de la Cruz is in their care. The release comes one day after the Philippine government pulled its last troops out of Iraq.

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