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CNN Live At Daybreak
Rapist Released; Hurricane Alex; The Color of Sound; Heading to Athens
Aired August 04, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sentenced to prison for having sex with a student, a Washington State teacher is out of prison. It happened this morning.
It is Wednesday, August 4. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News," she served more than seven years in prison for a sexual relationship with a sixth grader. Now Mary Kay Letourneau is out of jail, but she's not saying whether she'll try to get back together with her former student.
In the race for the White House, President Bush begins a three- day campaign swing through the nation's midsection. He is in Davenport, Ohio today.
And guess who else is in Davenport, yes, you guessed it, the president's Democratic challenger. Senator John Kerry hosts an economic summit there today.
Hurricane Alex has done its worst along the North Carolina coast but expect to see some high surf and rip currents today. Winds reached up to 120 miles an hour at the height of the storm -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: High surf will be rolling up the eastern seaboard as well, Carol. Good morning again.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Sixty-eight, that does sound nice. It was 95 in Atlanta yesterday. It was unbearable.
MARCIANO: Yes, you don't have to tell me.
COSTELLO: I know.
MARCIANO: See you later.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK. COSTELLO: Topping the news this half-hour, a convicted child rapist. Mary Kay Letourneau is free this morning. The Washington State teacher is out of jail. This after serving a seven-year sentence for having sex with a student.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mary Letourneau, Mary, do you have any comment?
COSTELLO (voice-over): It happened in the late 1990s and has been tabloid fodder ever since. Mary Kay Letourneau, married, a mother of four, an elementary school teacher in suburban Des Moines, Washington, arrested for having sex with a sixth grader. The boy was a 12-year-old. Pregnant by him, Mary Kay Letourneau pleaded guilty in August of 1997 to two counts of child rape. She begged the judge to give her a second chance.
MARY KAY LETOURNEAU, CHILD RAPIST: Your honor, I did something that I had no right to do morally or legally. It was wrong and I am sorry. I give you my word that it will not happen again. Please help me. Help us all.
COSTELLO: The judge sentenced her to six months behind bars and ordered her to stay away from the boy. But a month after her release, Letourneau was caught having sex with him in her car. That's when she was sent to prison for more than seven years. And while behind bars, she gave birth to the boy's second daughter.
Fast forward to today, Mary Kay Letourneau walks out of jail a free woman, but a convicted sex offender and ordered by the court not to contact the boy. By the way, he's 21 years old now, unemployed and said to be working on his GED. He tells "People" magazine he'd like to get back with Letourneau but wants to take things slowly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And as a sex offender, Letourneau will have to register with the state. Police will notify her neighbors about her status. But you can bet the television satellite trucks in front of her house will tip them off before police do.
We're going to talk about the Letourneau case in the next hour of DAYBREAK when legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us live from Miami.
Other stories making news "Across America" this Wednesday.
Police expect to charge two Georgia teenagers with murder today after they allegedly stabbed to death one of the pairs of grandparents. The girls, one 15, the other 16, will be tried as adults. They were arrested on the Georgia coast more than 250 miles from the crime scene.
In Austin, Texas, six people, including two children, died after their plane crashed into a house shortly after takeoff. Three people in the house escaped injury. The cause of the crash under investigation, but witnesses say the plane was experiencing engine trouble.
In Phoenix, an unruly passenger led several travelers to get sick aboard an American West Express flight. As the plane backed away from the terminal, one passenger acted up, which led the pilot to park the plane. While waiting for security with the air conditioning off, 10 passengers were overcome by the heat.
Prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant assault case have watched many aspects of their case unravel. But they may have gotten a break that could establish a pattern of aggressive sexual behavior by Bryant. "Sports Illustrated" is reporting that prosecutors may subpoena a Florida woman who now says Bryant groped her at a party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF BENEDICT, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": After Kobe Bryant was indicted last year, he held that historic press conference where he had claimed he was innocent. That press conference sparked a phone call from this woman in Florida, who notified the district attorney that she had had a run-in with Bryant months earlier at Shaquille O'Neal's house in Orlando, Florida. And she alleged that she had been improperly groped by Bryant at that house.
Obviously many months have gone by since that report was filed, but it's potentially powerful evidence as rebuttal evidence if the prosecution is able to admit it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Shaquille O'Neal could be called to testify at Bryant's trial, which is set to begin August 27.
Let's shift focus now to some wicked weather and the aftermath of Alex. The hurricane is out to sea now after brushing up against the North Carolina coast yesterday.
But Kelsey Carlson of our affiliate WRAL has a look at the storm as it hit Nags Head.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELSEY CARLSON, WRAL-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Driving rain, pounding surf, a no swimming sign snapping back and forth in the wind, they are all signs that Hurricane Alex is knocking at the door. The storm isn't directly over Nags Head, but its reach is enough to create blinding conditions, damage and tourism disruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of times when you have bad weather, they'll go shopping. But this kind of weather, they're going to stay in.
CARLSON (on camera): Is this the way you envisioned spending your 30th wedding anniversary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, but we always wanted to be at the coast whenever there was a hurricane, so here we are. CARLSON (voice-over): Visitors like Rodney and June George (ph) are trying to make the best of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crummy day.
CARLSON: John Woods (ph) is trying to make the best use of his time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going up to Nags Head. We're going to see what it does up there and watch it, do some laundry and try to get back down tonight if it goes through its path that they're talking about going.
CARLSON: The ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke was up and running for a little while, but the line to get on at 10:00 a.m. was a sign of the tourism dollars not being made today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt it creates a lot of worry for them, because it was a major loss during Isabel.
CARLSON: Hurricane Isabel pushed through the same area last summer inflicting the most damage on Hatteras Village. At a time when the area is trying to rebound, the hope is that Alex doesn't take Hatteras out of the summer business loop for too long.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: As many as 10,000 people lost power at the height of the storm. Officials are heading out today in National Guard trucks to check out the damage.
Terror at home and abroad, Britain goes on the defensive, making 13 arrests in anti-terror raids. Could these suspects be linked to al Qaeda?
And imagine this, seeing colors when you hear music or tasting broccoli when you hear a certain word and it's not broccoli. Does it sound crazy? Well, it's more common than you think. Up next, we'll delve into the inner workings of the human brain.
But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And welcome back to DAYBREAK. It is 5:42 Eastern.
A number of arrests in Britain this morning have the U.S. intelligence community on even higher alert.
Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to talk more about those arrests and exactly who was arrested.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, good morning, Carol. Well it's more questions than answers, unfortunately. We know that there have been a number of arrests in the United Kingdom. The British police following their policy of not giving any details on the nationality or the specifics of what these people were involved.
But some clues coming from the witnesses that we've spoken to and others saying that all of these people that were arrested were of Asian origin. People locally saying they were Pakistanis. That's obviously not being confirmed by British police yet, opening, of course, those tantalizing question is it connected to what's going on in Pakistan?
All of this information that's been found recently, all of the arrests that have happened there recently, which we know are connected to what's happening here in the U.S. The answer officially from British police so far is no, that there is no connection directly with that, that it's involved in a long-term operation, a long-term what they describe as intelligence driven.
Well that may very well be the case, but the fact is that we do know that there have been suggestions from the beginning on what's been found in Pakistan that there are references to possible attacks in Britain. We're being told that they are not very specific. And of course now we're being told that most, if not all, of the information that's been gathered or that's been found in Pakistan is in fact old or was gathered a very long time ago.
COSTELLO: So were the threats supposedly in those documents found in Pakistan against Britain enough to raise the terror alert there?
CLINCH: Well, no, they were not. But that's a very interesting point, because what we're seeing here in the U.K. is a very good example of the different tactics that British police and British authorities take. Even when they do have information that they act on, they act on it in this way, they arrest people.
They have arrested hundreds of people, not, in fact, more than a thousand people, but not very many of those arrests have actually led to convictions. Some people have been held for an awfully long time. Very few people have been convicted. But that is the process that the British do, they get information and they arrest people.
The process that we're seeing here in the U.S. increasingly, of course, is this terror threat alert. And then of course, over a long period of time they are hoping to arrest people.
COSTELLO: Well I want to ask you about the increased terror alert in some places within the United States, because many Americans are questioning the wisdom of that and saying if this is all based on information that's two and three years old, why should we be afraid?
CLINCH: Right, very interesting. And while a lot of pressure on Secretary Ridge now that they are saying the information is old. "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" both reporting today that senior officials tell them there was more than that. There was another stream of information, something that made them think, made them believe there is something current, there is something immediate in the works, but not, they say, the same stream of information that's coming from Pakistan.
COSTELLO: Well why didn't they tell us that at the time?
CLINCH: Well that's interesting. If that is the case and they say they received this just last week, why has Secretary Ridge not been talking about this separate stream of information? Again, more questions than answers. We'll be looking at that all day today.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A judge in the Scott Peterson murder trial is allowing testimony about his TV viewing. A witness says Peterson added two explicit adult channels to his satellite service two weeks after his wife disappeared.
An overwhelming majority of voters in Missouri have approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. It is the first such vote. Nine other states will vote on similar amendments this year.
In money news, do not expect a break at the gas pump anytime soon, as if you were. Oil prices are at a new record high at $44 a barrel. OPEC says there is no spare oil to bring down prices.
In culture, Dave Chappelle is rich. Comedy Central signed the comedian to a $50 million deal. Chappelle will also do a movie based on the life of funk superstar Rick James.
In sports, the Oakland A's pounded the New York Yankees 13 to 4. Athletic pitcher Mark Mulder notched his Major League leading (ph) 15th win.
Have you recovered from the ugly loss yet -- Rob?
MARCIANO: It's regular season, Carol, and Mulder is tough. You have to give that to him.
COSTELLO: True.
MARCIANO: Anyway, September just around the corner, and there's Mr. October, at least the new one.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We'll see you in a few minutes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.
Those are the latest headlines for you. Now can you picture this, seeing colors when you hear music or tasting mango when you see an orange cat? Sounds kind of psychedelic, doesn't it? But for thousands of people that's just how they see things.
CNN's Holly Firfer explores a not so rare disorder of the brain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What color is your Monday?
HARREN: It's the color yellow. It's like a banana yellow kind of color. Tuesday's a dark blue. Wednesday's a light blue. Thursday's a dark green.
FIRFER: Deejay Jay Harren is not a freak. He's literally seeing the words of the days of the week spelled out in different colors. It's a condition called synesthesia. Although he and fellow deejays joke about this neurological disorder, it's quite common.
In fact, doctors say as many as one in 200 people are synesthetes. What causes it? Well, our senses are connected in the brain during development. At birth, these connections are sheared. But a genetic defect will often cause a couple to remain attached. When that happens and one sense is triggered, the other responds as well. Whenever Catheryn hears music, she sees colored shapes.
CATHERYN ZARO, SYNESTHETE: Ooh, it's got all kinds of blues and lavenders.
FIRFER: Dr. V.S. Ramachandran talks about a patient who had to break up with his girlfriend, because every time he heard her name, he tasted broccoli.
DR. V.S. RAMACHANDRAN, AUTHOR: Why did this gene survive? We think it may be involved in creativity, because if you ask yourself what is creativity, what is metaphor, what's analogy, it's the ability to link seemingly unrelated things.
FIRFER: Dr. Ramachandran says we don't know what makes us creative thinkers, but this condition is one explanation. He adds, nonsynesthetes have the ability to understand this thinking.
RAMACHANDRAN: You taste a piece of cheese and what do you say? It's sharp. It's a taste. Why do you call it sharp or dull, which is a touch sensation? So our language, our experience of the world is replete with metaphorical associations and indeed synesthetic metaphors.
FIRFER: Synesthesia is more common in women than in men and eight times more common among artists, poets and novelists. This is how people live.
Holly Firfer CNN, San Diego, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Other "Health Headlines" for you this morning.
AIDS patients have a new drug, this one to correct the loss of fat in their faces. The Food and Drug Administration has improved an injectable filler called Sculptra. It will combat facial wasting which is the sinking of cheeks, eyes and temples.
Here's another reason to test your cholesterol. Researchers say low good cholesterol may be a warning signal for overweight older women. It may actually indicate an increased risk of breast cancer. Researchers in Norway studied 39,000 women for an average of 17 years. During that time, more than 700 of the women developed invasive breast cancer.
Laws requiring guns to be safely stored away from children have reduced the rate of teenage suicides. That's according to a Johns Hopkins study. It says the Child Access Prevention Law stopped more than 300 teenagers from killing themselves between 1989 and 2001. The law is in effect in 18 states.
For more on these or any other health story, head to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/health.
Olympic dreams, meet an athlete who is sweet, strong and swift and pounding the mat for gold.
And keep those e-mails coming. The question of the day for all of you savvy travelers out there, fewer airport delays: what's the solution? Should the government get involved? The address, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: That was nice music, wasn't it?
MARCIANO: Wasn't really happy birthday music, but it's a nice way to ease into their birthdays.
COSTELLO: Makes me want to go back to sleep. But wake up out there.
MARCIANO: No, no, no, wake up.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MARCIANO: Come on.
COSTELLO: We're starting something else new on DAYBREAK.
MARCIANO: Really?
COSTELLO: Lucky you for joining us with the new things.
MARCIANO: What's this one called?
COSTELLO: This one is called "Where Are They Now?" And today we've got three really good ones for you.
First up, Paul McCartney. On this day back in '71, Paul announced the formation of the music group Wings. Remember Wings?
MARCIANO: Yes.
COSTELLO: What's he up to now? Well the former Beatle is about to release his first single for children in 20 years. He's also made a new film geared towards kids. The DVD is going to be released in September and the single should hit store shelves around the 20th of the month. The name of the song, "Tropic Island Hum."
MARCIANO: Name a song from Wings -- Carol.
COSTELLO: "Band on the Run."
MARCIANO: Seriously?
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: All right. You got me.
COSTELLO: You thought you were going to get me.
MARCIANO: I didn't even know there was...
COSTELLO: But no.
MARCIANO: What's next?
COSTELLO: OK.
MARCIANO: "Where Are They Now?"
COSTELLO: What "Where Are They Now" segment could be complete without talking about Prince, the man who changed his name to the symbol of androgyny back in the '90s. The artist formerly known as Prince hit No. 1 on the charts this week with his hit "Purple Rain." That was way back in 1984. It stayed there for almost two dozen weeks.
So what's the actor/director/singer/producer doing now? He's crossing the country on his music holiday (ph) tour. He just wrapped up a show in Chicago and is making his way to Houston and he'll be here in Atlanta soon.
MARCIANO: It's a hot ticket. Are you going?
COSTELLO: Yes. I hope so, if I can get a ticket.
And last but certainly not least, Carl Lewis. Back in '84 he was scoring big, winning a gold medal in track and field in the Olympics. So what is he up to these days? Well Carl has started a running camp for kids and a huge festival to go around it in the beginning of October in Los Angeles. Kids can get up close and personal with the track raid (ph) to get some one-on-one coaching from some of his friends. So go to CarlLewis.com for more information about that.
MARCIANO: I like that segment -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Good, so we'll do it again tomorrow.
MARCIANO: OK, cool.
COSTELLO: We know exactly where the Olympic athletes heading to Athens most likely are, getting pumped up in the gym.
Jason Bellini introduces us to a rookie female wrestler who is working hard to take the sport by surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tela O'Donnell is pure sweetness and might.
TELA O'DONNELL, U.S. OLYMPIC WRESTLER: When people first meet me, you're a wrestler? I think they think that wrestlers might be kind of like these brutish, kind of mannish girls.
BELLINI: Around O'Donnell's training camp, it feels more like a pajama party. On the mat, most wrestlers scowl. O'Donnell smiles. O'Donnell was born and raised in Homer, Alaska. The singer Jewel was her baby-sitter.
O'DONNELL: Jewel made me swing one time from this tree. It was really cool, and swung at her (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BELLINI: She learned her first wrestling moves shearing sheep.
O'DONNELL: I didn't wrestle a team of sheep or anything.
BELLINI: O'Donnell's mother, Claire, moved to Alaska while she was pregnant with Tela. She gave up her career as a mime in Chicago to offer her daughter the simple life.
O'DONNELL: My mom built our house. It's a log cabin, and there's -- she cut down the trees.
BELLINI: While still pregnant, Claire wore a pillow to cut down the noise of the chainsaw.
In high school, Tela got tired of playing football with the boys. She preferred to wrestle them.
During the Olympic trials, the women didn't see her coming. No one expected her to take one of the four slots on the Olympic team.
(on camera): Tela O'Donnell is considered the rookie on the team. She's never competed in a major international tournament. The Olympics will be her first.
(voice-over): No one knows what to expect when she goes up against the renowned Chinese and Russian female wrestlers. Her teammates are more concerned about her outside the ring.
SARA MCMANN, U.S. OLYMPIC WRESTLER: She has a heart of gold, and we don't want anybody else to like taint that. So if anybody is like, trying to be mean to her or anything, we're all like, we're on them like wild dogs. Don't you hurt our Tela.
O'DONNELL: I'm really emotional, but I'm happy most of the time, like often. Yeah, I'm emotional, I'm like any other girl.
BELLINI: Like any other girl, who's sweet on the outside, but drops (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and pins for the fun of it.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: She served seven years for having sex with her student. This morning, former Washington State grade school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau is a free woman. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll talk with our legal eagle Kendall Coffey. Yes, we're going to have some "Coffey Talk." You stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 4, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sentenced to prison for having sex with a student, a Washington State teacher is out of prison. It happened this morning.
It is Wednesday, August 4. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News," she served more than seven years in prison for a sexual relationship with a sixth grader. Now Mary Kay Letourneau is out of jail, but she's not saying whether she'll try to get back together with her former student.
In the race for the White House, President Bush begins a three- day campaign swing through the nation's midsection. He is in Davenport, Ohio today.
And guess who else is in Davenport, yes, you guessed it, the president's Democratic challenger. Senator John Kerry hosts an economic summit there today.
Hurricane Alex has done its worst along the North Carolina coast but expect to see some high surf and rip currents today. Winds reached up to 120 miles an hour at the height of the storm -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: High surf will be rolling up the eastern seaboard as well, Carol. Good morning again.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Sixty-eight, that does sound nice. It was 95 in Atlanta yesterday. It was unbearable.
MARCIANO: Yes, you don't have to tell me.
COSTELLO: I know.
MARCIANO: See you later.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK. COSTELLO: Topping the news this half-hour, a convicted child rapist. Mary Kay Letourneau is free this morning. The Washington State teacher is out of jail. This after serving a seven-year sentence for having sex with a student.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mary Letourneau, Mary, do you have any comment?
COSTELLO (voice-over): It happened in the late 1990s and has been tabloid fodder ever since. Mary Kay Letourneau, married, a mother of four, an elementary school teacher in suburban Des Moines, Washington, arrested for having sex with a sixth grader. The boy was a 12-year-old. Pregnant by him, Mary Kay Letourneau pleaded guilty in August of 1997 to two counts of child rape. She begged the judge to give her a second chance.
MARY KAY LETOURNEAU, CHILD RAPIST: Your honor, I did something that I had no right to do morally or legally. It was wrong and I am sorry. I give you my word that it will not happen again. Please help me. Help us all.
COSTELLO: The judge sentenced her to six months behind bars and ordered her to stay away from the boy. But a month after her release, Letourneau was caught having sex with him in her car. That's when she was sent to prison for more than seven years. And while behind bars, she gave birth to the boy's second daughter.
Fast forward to today, Mary Kay Letourneau walks out of jail a free woman, but a convicted sex offender and ordered by the court not to contact the boy. By the way, he's 21 years old now, unemployed and said to be working on his GED. He tells "People" magazine he'd like to get back with Letourneau but wants to take things slowly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And as a sex offender, Letourneau will have to register with the state. Police will notify her neighbors about her status. But you can bet the television satellite trucks in front of her house will tip them off before police do.
We're going to talk about the Letourneau case in the next hour of DAYBREAK when legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us live from Miami.
Other stories making news "Across America" this Wednesday.
Police expect to charge two Georgia teenagers with murder today after they allegedly stabbed to death one of the pairs of grandparents. The girls, one 15, the other 16, will be tried as adults. They were arrested on the Georgia coast more than 250 miles from the crime scene.
In Austin, Texas, six people, including two children, died after their plane crashed into a house shortly after takeoff. Three people in the house escaped injury. The cause of the crash under investigation, but witnesses say the plane was experiencing engine trouble.
In Phoenix, an unruly passenger led several travelers to get sick aboard an American West Express flight. As the plane backed away from the terminal, one passenger acted up, which led the pilot to park the plane. While waiting for security with the air conditioning off, 10 passengers were overcome by the heat.
Prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant assault case have watched many aspects of their case unravel. But they may have gotten a break that could establish a pattern of aggressive sexual behavior by Bryant. "Sports Illustrated" is reporting that prosecutors may subpoena a Florida woman who now says Bryant groped her at a party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF BENEDICT, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": After Kobe Bryant was indicted last year, he held that historic press conference where he had claimed he was innocent. That press conference sparked a phone call from this woman in Florida, who notified the district attorney that she had had a run-in with Bryant months earlier at Shaquille O'Neal's house in Orlando, Florida. And she alleged that she had been improperly groped by Bryant at that house.
Obviously many months have gone by since that report was filed, but it's potentially powerful evidence as rebuttal evidence if the prosecution is able to admit it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Shaquille O'Neal could be called to testify at Bryant's trial, which is set to begin August 27.
Let's shift focus now to some wicked weather and the aftermath of Alex. The hurricane is out to sea now after brushing up against the North Carolina coast yesterday.
But Kelsey Carlson of our affiliate WRAL has a look at the storm as it hit Nags Head.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELSEY CARLSON, WRAL-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Driving rain, pounding surf, a no swimming sign snapping back and forth in the wind, they are all signs that Hurricane Alex is knocking at the door. The storm isn't directly over Nags Head, but its reach is enough to create blinding conditions, damage and tourism disruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of times when you have bad weather, they'll go shopping. But this kind of weather, they're going to stay in.
CARLSON (on camera): Is this the way you envisioned spending your 30th wedding anniversary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, but we always wanted to be at the coast whenever there was a hurricane, so here we are. CARLSON (voice-over): Visitors like Rodney and June George (ph) are trying to make the best of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crummy day.
CARLSON: John Woods (ph) is trying to make the best use of his time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going up to Nags Head. We're going to see what it does up there and watch it, do some laundry and try to get back down tonight if it goes through its path that they're talking about going.
CARLSON: The ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke was up and running for a little while, but the line to get on at 10:00 a.m. was a sign of the tourism dollars not being made today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt it creates a lot of worry for them, because it was a major loss during Isabel.
CARLSON: Hurricane Isabel pushed through the same area last summer inflicting the most damage on Hatteras Village. At a time when the area is trying to rebound, the hope is that Alex doesn't take Hatteras out of the summer business loop for too long.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: As many as 10,000 people lost power at the height of the storm. Officials are heading out today in National Guard trucks to check out the damage.
Terror at home and abroad, Britain goes on the defensive, making 13 arrests in anti-terror raids. Could these suspects be linked to al Qaeda?
And imagine this, seeing colors when you hear music or tasting broccoli when you hear a certain word and it's not broccoli. Does it sound crazy? Well, it's more common than you think. Up next, we'll delve into the inner workings of the human brain.
But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And welcome back to DAYBREAK. It is 5:42 Eastern.
A number of arrests in Britain this morning have the U.S. intelligence community on even higher alert.
Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to talk more about those arrests and exactly who was arrested.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, good morning, Carol. Well it's more questions than answers, unfortunately. We know that there have been a number of arrests in the United Kingdom. The British police following their policy of not giving any details on the nationality or the specifics of what these people were involved.
But some clues coming from the witnesses that we've spoken to and others saying that all of these people that were arrested were of Asian origin. People locally saying they were Pakistanis. That's obviously not being confirmed by British police yet, opening, of course, those tantalizing question is it connected to what's going on in Pakistan?
All of this information that's been found recently, all of the arrests that have happened there recently, which we know are connected to what's happening here in the U.S. The answer officially from British police so far is no, that there is no connection directly with that, that it's involved in a long-term operation, a long-term what they describe as intelligence driven.
Well that may very well be the case, but the fact is that we do know that there have been suggestions from the beginning on what's been found in Pakistan that there are references to possible attacks in Britain. We're being told that they are not very specific. And of course now we're being told that most, if not all, of the information that's been gathered or that's been found in Pakistan is in fact old or was gathered a very long time ago.
COSTELLO: So were the threats supposedly in those documents found in Pakistan against Britain enough to raise the terror alert there?
CLINCH: Well, no, they were not. But that's a very interesting point, because what we're seeing here in the U.K. is a very good example of the different tactics that British police and British authorities take. Even when they do have information that they act on, they act on it in this way, they arrest people.
They have arrested hundreds of people, not, in fact, more than a thousand people, but not very many of those arrests have actually led to convictions. Some people have been held for an awfully long time. Very few people have been convicted. But that is the process that the British do, they get information and they arrest people.
The process that we're seeing here in the U.S. increasingly, of course, is this terror threat alert. And then of course, over a long period of time they are hoping to arrest people.
COSTELLO: Well I want to ask you about the increased terror alert in some places within the United States, because many Americans are questioning the wisdom of that and saying if this is all based on information that's two and three years old, why should we be afraid?
CLINCH: Right, very interesting. And while a lot of pressure on Secretary Ridge now that they are saying the information is old. "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" both reporting today that senior officials tell them there was more than that. There was another stream of information, something that made them think, made them believe there is something current, there is something immediate in the works, but not, they say, the same stream of information that's coming from Pakistan.
COSTELLO: Well why didn't they tell us that at the time?
CLINCH: Well that's interesting. If that is the case and they say they received this just last week, why has Secretary Ridge not been talking about this separate stream of information? Again, more questions than answers. We'll be looking at that all day today.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A judge in the Scott Peterson murder trial is allowing testimony about his TV viewing. A witness says Peterson added two explicit adult channels to his satellite service two weeks after his wife disappeared.
An overwhelming majority of voters in Missouri have approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. It is the first such vote. Nine other states will vote on similar amendments this year.
In money news, do not expect a break at the gas pump anytime soon, as if you were. Oil prices are at a new record high at $44 a barrel. OPEC says there is no spare oil to bring down prices.
In culture, Dave Chappelle is rich. Comedy Central signed the comedian to a $50 million deal. Chappelle will also do a movie based on the life of funk superstar Rick James.
In sports, the Oakland A's pounded the New York Yankees 13 to 4. Athletic pitcher Mark Mulder notched his Major League leading (ph) 15th win.
Have you recovered from the ugly loss yet -- Rob?
MARCIANO: It's regular season, Carol, and Mulder is tough. You have to give that to him.
COSTELLO: True.
MARCIANO: Anyway, September just around the corner, and there's Mr. October, at least the new one.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We'll see you in a few minutes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.
Those are the latest headlines for you. Now can you picture this, seeing colors when you hear music or tasting mango when you see an orange cat? Sounds kind of psychedelic, doesn't it? But for thousands of people that's just how they see things.
CNN's Holly Firfer explores a not so rare disorder of the brain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What color is your Monday?
HARREN: It's the color yellow. It's like a banana yellow kind of color. Tuesday's a dark blue. Wednesday's a light blue. Thursday's a dark green.
FIRFER: Deejay Jay Harren is not a freak. He's literally seeing the words of the days of the week spelled out in different colors. It's a condition called synesthesia. Although he and fellow deejays joke about this neurological disorder, it's quite common.
In fact, doctors say as many as one in 200 people are synesthetes. What causes it? Well, our senses are connected in the brain during development. At birth, these connections are sheared. But a genetic defect will often cause a couple to remain attached. When that happens and one sense is triggered, the other responds as well. Whenever Catheryn hears music, she sees colored shapes.
CATHERYN ZARO, SYNESTHETE: Ooh, it's got all kinds of blues and lavenders.
FIRFER: Dr. V.S. Ramachandran talks about a patient who had to break up with his girlfriend, because every time he heard her name, he tasted broccoli.
DR. V.S. RAMACHANDRAN, AUTHOR: Why did this gene survive? We think it may be involved in creativity, because if you ask yourself what is creativity, what is metaphor, what's analogy, it's the ability to link seemingly unrelated things.
FIRFER: Dr. Ramachandran says we don't know what makes us creative thinkers, but this condition is one explanation. He adds, nonsynesthetes have the ability to understand this thinking.
RAMACHANDRAN: You taste a piece of cheese and what do you say? It's sharp. It's a taste. Why do you call it sharp or dull, which is a touch sensation? So our language, our experience of the world is replete with metaphorical associations and indeed synesthetic metaphors.
FIRFER: Synesthesia is more common in women than in men and eight times more common among artists, poets and novelists. This is how people live.
Holly Firfer CNN, San Diego, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Other "Health Headlines" for you this morning.
AIDS patients have a new drug, this one to correct the loss of fat in their faces. The Food and Drug Administration has improved an injectable filler called Sculptra. It will combat facial wasting which is the sinking of cheeks, eyes and temples.
Here's another reason to test your cholesterol. Researchers say low good cholesterol may be a warning signal for overweight older women. It may actually indicate an increased risk of breast cancer. Researchers in Norway studied 39,000 women for an average of 17 years. During that time, more than 700 of the women developed invasive breast cancer.
Laws requiring guns to be safely stored away from children have reduced the rate of teenage suicides. That's according to a Johns Hopkins study. It says the Child Access Prevention Law stopped more than 300 teenagers from killing themselves between 1989 and 2001. The law is in effect in 18 states.
For more on these or any other health story, head to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/health.
Olympic dreams, meet an athlete who is sweet, strong and swift and pounding the mat for gold.
And keep those e-mails coming. The question of the day for all of you savvy travelers out there, fewer airport delays: what's the solution? Should the government get involved? The address, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: That was nice music, wasn't it?
MARCIANO: Wasn't really happy birthday music, but it's a nice way to ease into their birthdays.
COSTELLO: Makes me want to go back to sleep. But wake up out there.
MARCIANO: No, no, no, wake up.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MARCIANO: Come on.
COSTELLO: We're starting something else new on DAYBREAK.
MARCIANO: Really?
COSTELLO: Lucky you for joining us with the new things.
MARCIANO: What's this one called?
COSTELLO: This one is called "Where Are They Now?" And today we've got three really good ones for you.
First up, Paul McCartney. On this day back in '71, Paul announced the formation of the music group Wings. Remember Wings?
MARCIANO: Yes.
COSTELLO: What's he up to now? Well the former Beatle is about to release his first single for children in 20 years. He's also made a new film geared towards kids. The DVD is going to be released in September and the single should hit store shelves around the 20th of the month. The name of the song, "Tropic Island Hum."
MARCIANO: Name a song from Wings -- Carol.
COSTELLO: "Band on the Run."
MARCIANO: Seriously?
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: All right. You got me.
COSTELLO: You thought you were going to get me.
MARCIANO: I didn't even know there was...
COSTELLO: But no.
MARCIANO: What's next?
COSTELLO: OK.
MARCIANO: "Where Are They Now?"
COSTELLO: What "Where Are They Now" segment could be complete without talking about Prince, the man who changed his name to the symbol of androgyny back in the '90s. The artist formerly known as Prince hit No. 1 on the charts this week with his hit "Purple Rain." That was way back in 1984. It stayed there for almost two dozen weeks.
So what's the actor/director/singer/producer doing now? He's crossing the country on his music holiday (ph) tour. He just wrapped up a show in Chicago and is making his way to Houston and he'll be here in Atlanta soon.
MARCIANO: It's a hot ticket. Are you going?
COSTELLO: Yes. I hope so, if I can get a ticket.
And last but certainly not least, Carl Lewis. Back in '84 he was scoring big, winning a gold medal in track and field in the Olympics. So what is he up to these days? Well Carl has started a running camp for kids and a huge festival to go around it in the beginning of October in Los Angeles. Kids can get up close and personal with the track raid (ph) to get some one-on-one coaching from some of his friends. So go to CarlLewis.com for more information about that.
MARCIANO: I like that segment -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Good, so we'll do it again tomorrow.
MARCIANO: OK, cool.
COSTELLO: We know exactly where the Olympic athletes heading to Athens most likely are, getting pumped up in the gym.
Jason Bellini introduces us to a rookie female wrestler who is working hard to take the sport by surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tela O'Donnell is pure sweetness and might.
TELA O'DONNELL, U.S. OLYMPIC WRESTLER: When people first meet me, you're a wrestler? I think they think that wrestlers might be kind of like these brutish, kind of mannish girls.
BELLINI: Around O'Donnell's training camp, it feels more like a pajama party. On the mat, most wrestlers scowl. O'Donnell smiles. O'Donnell was born and raised in Homer, Alaska. The singer Jewel was her baby-sitter.
O'DONNELL: Jewel made me swing one time from this tree. It was really cool, and swung at her (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BELLINI: She learned her first wrestling moves shearing sheep.
O'DONNELL: I didn't wrestle a team of sheep or anything.
BELLINI: O'Donnell's mother, Claire, moved to Alaska while she was pregnant with Tela. She gave up her career as a mime in Chicago to offer her daughter the simple life.
O'DONNELL: My mom built our house. It's a log cabin, and there's -- she cut down the trees.
BELLINI: While still pregnant, Claire wore a pillow to cut down the noise of the chainsaw.
In high school, Tela got tired of playing football with the boys. She preferred to wrestle them.
During the Olympic trials, the women didn't see her coming. No one expected her to take one of the four slots on the Olympic team.
(on camera): Tela O'Donnell is considered the rookie on the team. She's never competed in a major international tournament. The Olympics will be her first.
(voice-over): No one knows what to expect when she goes up against the renowned Chinese and Russian female wrestlers. Her teammates are more concerned about her outside the ring.
SARA MCMANN, U.S. OLYMPIC WRESTLER: She has a heart of gold, and we don't want anybody else to like taint that. So if anybody is like, trying to be mean to her or anything, we're all like, we're on them like wild dogs. Don't you hurt our Tela.
O'DONNELL: I'm really emotional, but I'm happy most of the time, like often. Yeah, I'm emotional, I'm like any other girl.
BELLINI: Like any other girl, who's sweet on the outside, but drops (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and pins for the fun of it.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: She served seven years for having sex with her student. This morning, former Washington State grade school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau is a free woman. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll talk with our legal eagle Kendall Coffey. Yes, we're going to have some "Coffey Talk." You stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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