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CNN Live At Daybreak
Arrest of Suspected Al Qaeda Operatives in London; Examining Significance of Arrest of Al Qaeda's Computer Expert in Pakistan
Aired August 05, 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, Salt Lake City police and their cadaver dogs are knee deep in garbage again this morning. They're searching an area landfill where they suspect Lori Hacking's body was dumped. Police suspect that Mark Hacking killed his wife while she slept.
Five people are dead following an early morning suicide car bombing south of Baghdad. At least 21 other people were injured when a small bus detonated near an Iraqi police station.
Private Lynndie England will be back in front of a military court this morning for the third day of testimony. Her supervisor testified that England had no business being around prisoners at Abu Ghraib and had disobeyed orders numerous times.
Fixing O'Hare -- that's on the schedule today. Discussions continue among airline and transportation officials as they try to end gridlock at the airport. Commercial flights may again be limited in an effort to end delays across the country.
Now to the forecast center -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's back.
COSTELLO: You made it back.
MYERS: I did.
COSTELLO: Welcome back.
MYERS: Not, actually, I didn't make it back until midnight of the day of the storm.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're kidding?
MYERS: So that would have been a kind of a short turnaround so I stayed home.
Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT) COSTELLO: New information for you this morning on the anti- terror raids in Britain and the Pakistan connection. One of a dozen men under arrest is believed to be a senior al Qaeda operative and the British raids, like the terror alert in the United States, are linked to intelligence received from Pakistan.
CNN's Diana Muriel is live in London for us this morning -- good morning.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, British police here in the U.K. are continuing to interrogate the 12 suspects who remain in custody following those raids that took place across the U.K. on Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening. Now, Pakistani intelligence officials have told CNN that at least one of the 12 suspects held on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities here in Britain was arrested as a result of intelligence that was gathered by the Pakistani officials from the arrest of a Pakistani computer expert, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested in Lahore on July the 13th.
He is described as an al Qaeda computer expert. Sources have told CNN that his interrogation has yielded information that there was a terrorist network, a terrorist group operating here in the U.K. and that he frequently relayed messages from Pakistan to its leader.
CNN can confirm that Noor Khan traveled to the U.K. several times and had multiple contacts with this group or network operating here in the U.K.
Now, British newspapers are calling him Abu Musar Al Hindi, the head of the cell here in the U.K., or Abu Eisa Al Hindi, although these are both believed to be aliases and police have refused to confirm the names of any of the suspects being held in custody or give any indication as to their nationality or ethnicity.
They say that the arrests here in the U.K. were part of a long planned intelligence led operation that had been going on for some time and not confirming that it had anything to do with what happened in Pakistan.
They have two weeks before they must charge these suspects or let them go -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I want to ask you so many questions about this man.
When you say senior al Qaeda operative, what exactly does that mean? Do we know?
MURIEL: We don't know for certain because we have got very, very limited information coming out from the British police. But sources in Pakistan are saying that there was a great deal of intelligence that was gathered by the Pakistani officials from a series of arrests that have been taking place there relating to information taken from laptops, from computer disks about information on terrorist operations or planned terrorist operations. British newspapers are saying that one of those may have been an attempt to attack Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest airport. And CNN cannot confirm that at this stage, although we do know that a very large scale security operation was mounted at Heathrow in February of 2003.
As to the identity of this individual, who may or may not be the leader of a cell in the U.K., British police are remaining very silent on that subject -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Diana Muriel reporting live from London for us this morning.
Thank you.
Pakistani sources tell CNN there is evidence that senior al Qaeda suspect contacted people in the United States and in Britain recently. Sources say the new details came from interrogations of al Qaeda suspects.
Islamabad bureau chief Ash-Har Quraishi has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Highly placed Pakistan intelligence sources tell CNN that 25-year-old computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested last month, has been in recent contact with six al Qaeda operatives in the United States.
U.S. sources will only confirm that there may have been contacts from suspected al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan to one or more individuals in the U.S. Information gleaned from Khan's communications in part led to heightened alerts in the United States over the past few days.
According to our sources, Khan had also been in regular contact with a high level al Qaeda operative in the United Kingdom. U.K. sources have not confirmed this, but it was this information, say Pakistani intelligence sources, that led to the arrests of about a dozen suspected terrorists in Britain on Tuesday.
Intelligence sources say Khan is providing startling information about al Qaeda activities and global communications.
SHEIKH RASHID, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MINISTER: I think it's a significant catch (ph), some youngster, some government people, well- educated, well-trained people are being ignored. They are not in the pictures. But their operation is something very, very important and extraordinary. He is among those.
So that's why I think his arrest is very important.
QURAISHI: Al Qaeda Internet chat forums in recent weeks (AUDIO GAP).
JAMAL ISMAIL, ABU GHABI TELEVISION: These were signs (AUDIO GAP) (AUDIO GAP)
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And just two hours ago, word of a battle involving U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces against militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. This fighting you're looking at reported in Najaf, which is south of Baghdad. There have been nine deaths, none of them U.S. soldiers. The fighting is reported in the center of the city, right near a mosque.
We'll have more information for you as we get it in here to CNN.
In just about five hours, President Bush signs a massive Department of Defense spending bill. The Senate unanimously passed the $416 billion measure. It marks an increase of $22 billion over the last year's spending. It includes money to add 20,000 soldiers to the Army and a 3 1/2 percent pay raise for the troops.
And for the war torn Sudan, that is also part of the bill, along with $25 billion more for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Later, the president hits the road, traveling to Columbus, Ohio. And then it's on to a rally in Saginaw, Michigan.
Democratic rival Senator John Kerry starts his day in Washington, as well. Kerry addresses the Unity Conference of minority journalists this morning and then later he joins John Edwards in St. Louis, Missouri. Their Believe In America tour will then take them to Jefferson City and then on to Kansas City.
And while John Kerry and George Bush crossed paths campaigning in Davenport, Iowa, some bank robbers were hoping for a distracted police force. In one hour, three separate local banks were hit. Police do have one suspect in custody.
For a look at how Bush and Kerry are faring in Iowa, both, no doubt, better than that suspected bank robber. We'll be joined in the next hour by Kathie Obradavich, who is the political editor for the "Des Moines Register."
Illinois Republicans may have found their man, but he's not sure he'll accept yet. Two time presidential candidate Alan Keyes has been invited to run for the U.S. Senate. Illinois party officials have been looking for a candidate for weeks to replace Jack Ryan. Of course, he pulled out after a personal sex scandal. Keyes says he'll announce his decision on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I also believe that the deep and serious and intense and committed deliberations that have been made by the leadership in this party deserve from me also a deep and serious and committed deliberation about what ought to be my response. And that is what I intend to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Keyes would face off against rising Democratic star Barack Obama, a long time Illinois resident. State law requires only that Keyes move to Illinois before the election.
Here are some of the stories making news across America this Thursday.
Rescue crews are refusing to give up the search for a 9-year-old boy missing in the San Bernardino Mountains. The developmentally disabled boy wandered away from his family's camp site on Saturday.
Search dogs and helicopters are being used in a 10-mile wide perimeter around that camp site.
Less than two hours ago, surgeons successfully completed an operation to separate conjoined twins at a New York hospital. The doctors were able to separate the 2-year-old Filipino boys during a marathon surgery session. The boys were connected at the ahead. The operation began at 10:00 a.m. yesterday.
Here's an update on a story we first told you about yesterday. A group of Iraqi delegates visiting Memphis, Tennessee have had some more problems. First, they were denied access to city hall and then to the National Civil Rights Museum. Well, now two of them were robbed at gunpoint on a downtown street. The delegates came to the United States to learn more about government. Now they will get a look at the legal system, as well.
Just eight days remain until the opening ceremonies for the Summer Games in Greece. But actually it's just six days until the first event. Some members of the U.S. Olympic team are already in Greece to prepare for their events. On the island of Crete, track athletes as well as the U.S. women's soccer team are in training. The U.S. Olympic basketball team still has some business to attend to before heading off to Greece. Team USA used a last second shot by Allen Iverson to beat the Germans in a pre-Olympic exhibition game. They just barely beat the Germans. And, you know, yesterday, the U.S. basketball team was defeated by Italy.
Which, of course, brings us to our e-mail Question of the Day. Not exactly about basketball, but we wanted to know are you excited about the 2004 Summer Games in Athens? Do you even care? If you are, you could be one of the few. Organizers say there are more than five million unsold tickets to the games.
Anyway, we want you to send your e-mail to daybreak@cnn.com. Of course we'll read your comments later on in our show.
Unreliable, undisciplined, not words that usually describe a soldier. But Private Lynndie England has been called that and worse. We'll update the case against her work with Iraqi prisoners.
And we're just learning new details about how Saddam Hussein was captured. We'll tell you the fascinating story of the Iraqi translator who was in that spider hole. And we'll meet an Olympic athlete who's fighting his way to gold in Athens.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this August 5.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The stock market closed higher thanks to gains late in the session. This morning, the Dow will open, oh, just over 6 points. The tech heavy Nasdaq starts today down 3 points. The S&P 500 opens 1 point down.
So, that's the story on our side of the Atlantic.
Let's see what's happening in the overseas markets.
For that, we head live to London and Robyn Curnow -- good morning, Robin.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
And obviously the big story this week globally has been these rocketing oil prices. And we saw overnight some easing of those prices coming off those record highs. And this really buoyed investors here in Europe.
I'm going to show you those numbers for the European bourses in just a minute.
But I wanted to quickly bring you up to date on these oil prices here. They are inching upwards somewhat as trade progresses throughout the European morning and we can see there it's up $0.43. But still not as high as we've been seeing in the past few days.
Now, investors were very buoyed by these lowering oil prices and they were lowered -- they've been sinking somewhat in the past 24 hours on news, some good news coming out of Russia. Now, Yukos, if you'll remember, is that beleaguered large Russian oil company that's in a huge tax dispute with the Russian government. Seven billion dollars they're disputing about that.
Yukos has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy but they've come to some interim agreement, Yukos and the Russian government, which makes investors happy because it obviously assures, for the moment, Russian oil output, at least from Yukos.
So that's why we're seeing some positive numbers in the Yukos share price and a lowering of the oil price for the moment.
But that's what our markets are looking like, all up over here in Europe -- back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Robyn Curnow, thank you, live from London for us this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:16 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Overnight, cadaver dogs were used to once again search at a Salt Lake City landfill for Lori Hacking. Information from husband Mark Hacking led police back to the landfill. He's been arrested but not yet charged in the death of his wife.
Will Kobe Bryant's accuser walk away before trial? Her attorney says she fears the recent release of evidence leaves little chance of a fair trial. Prosecutors say they'll go ahead with the planned August 27 trial, though.
In money news, Chrysler is recalling more than 800,000 minivans due to a potential power steering problem. Problems in Voyagers and Caravans built between 2002 and 2004 could cause engine fires.
In culture, some never before seen family photos debut today at a special Anne Frank exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Houston. It was 60 years ago Wednesday that Frank was discovered hiding in an Amsterdam home.
In sports, revenge for the Yankees. A day after being crushed by the As, the Yanks came from behind to steal a victory. A-Rod blasted a home run in the bottom of the eleventh -- there you see it -- to give the Yanks their league leading 67th win.
MYERS: And Carol...
COSTELLO: I don't think anyone's going to catch them, Chad.
What?
MYERS: Carol, did you know that 42 of those wins are come from behind wins?
COSTELLO: It's amazing. They just have so much talent.
MYERS: Twenty-nine, that's the 29th home run there from A-Rod. Wow. Unbelievable.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
The verdict is in and a Walt Disney worker is free. We'll tell you how the image of Tigger the Tiger remains intact.
And keep 'em coming -- our e-mail Question of the Day. Are you at all excited about the 2004 Summer Games in Athens? Do you even know when they begin? The address, daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.
And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You know it is -- we have breaking news, actually. I was just checking out the computer here and my computer actually went off. But I do know that a Marine helicopter was apparently shot down somewhere in Iraq, I believe near Najaf. We're going to have a live report out of Baghdad for you in just about nine minutes. We've got to get our reporter in front of the camera. When we have more information, we'll pass it along to you.
Time to check out our Web clicks this morning. What stories are getting your attention?
We want to go to cnn.com right now because oftentimes the stories that our Web clickers are interested in we don't really cover, except for this one. People are really into Mary Kay Letourneau.
Chad is here with me to discuss this.
MYERS: She's out of jail.
COSTELLO: She is out of jail. She was released yesterday. And, of course, she's been court ordered to stay away from the...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Well, he's 21 now, but then he was 12. She's been court ordered to stay away from the boy that she raped way back then. But apparently he still loves her and he's going to ask the court to allow him to see her.
MYERS: Take it away. Yes. Take away that court order, get rid of that court order, so now that he's in the age of majority, he's 21, now he can see her.
COSTELLO: Yes.
OK, so...
MYERS: We don't know what she thinks yet, though.
COSTELLO: No, we don't.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: We don't. She's not talking.
MYERS: Not yet.
COSTELLO: OK, the second most popular clicked on story on our cnn.com Web site...
MYERS: Tigger!
COSTELLO: Tigger. Tigger's innocent. He was cleared of fondling a 13-year-old girl while he was posing for a picture with her at Walt Disney World. And you know how they proved it?
MYERS: They couldn't tell who he was.
COSTELLO: No. Well, that was one thing. That was one thing.
MYERS: Yes? OK.
COSTELLO: But the defense attorney actually put the Tigger costume on to show people how difficult it was to feel anything through the costume or even to see anything through the big Tigger head.
MYERS: As you know, I was the Nebraska mascot. You literally, you have tunnel vision. You're like this. You can't see anything at all out of that.
COSTELLO: And your fake hands are so big you can't really feel anything. So happy news, Tigger's been cleared.
The third most popular clicked on story on our Web site, Parrot Leads Couple to Quit Smoking. This is out of London, England. And apparently this couple's parrot was feeling sickly and they couldn't figure out why. And it so happens they had a 50 cigarette a day habit.
MYERS: Second-hand smoke.
COSTELLO: Second-hand smoke.
MYERS: The vet said you guys got to quit smoking or put your parrot outside.
COSTELLO: So they actually went to a clinic.
MYERS: Yes, they did.
COSTELLO: They got out of the house, they went to a clinic to try to quit smoking to save their parrot's life.
MYERS: That's great.
COSTELLO: So those are our three most popular stories clicked on on cnn.com.
So what do you think? Want to see more coverage of a story? Do you think we're doing a good job...
MYERS: No, no, don't answer that.
COSTELLO: Yes. Shoot Chad and me an e-mail and let it all out. The address, daybreak@cnn.com.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" right now.
Imagine calling 911 and having the emergency operator fall asleep on you. Oh, that actually happened to one Maryland woman who called about a possible break-in. Police are looking into exactly why the operator was heard snoring on the 911 tape.
"American Idol" auditions resume this morning in Cleveland. Fifteen hundred hopefuls camped out all night long for their chance at "Idol" worship. But just a selected few were invited back for round two. Cleveland is the first stop on the eight city "Idol" audition tour. St. Louis is the next stop.
Hawaii may be proud of its pineapples and coconuts, but not enough to let them be used in cigarettes. Governor Linda Lingle has asked R.J. Reynolds to stop its ad campaign for their Camel Kauia Kolada cigarettes. The governor says the project sullies the state's reputation for purity and health and maybe clean air, as well.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Going to the hospital just ain't what it used to be. While the best of the best try to beef up customer service, how much will you have to pay out of pocket, though?
Also, the dramatic story of Saddam Hussein's capture from the man who pulled Saddam out of that spider hole.
And a new twist in Britain's terrorist trail. The suspects arrested in a terrorist swoop reportedly had a specific target in mind.
This is DAYBREAK for Thursday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 5, 2004 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, Salt Lake City police and their cadaver dogs are knee deep in garbage again this morning. They're searching an area landfill where they suspect Lori Hacking's body was dumped. Police suspect that Mark Hacking killed his wife while she slept.
Five people are dead following an early morning suicide car bombing south of Baghdad. At least 21 other people were injured when a small bus detonated near an Iraqi police station.
Private Lynndie England will be back in front of a military court this morning for the third day of testimony. Her supervisor testified that England had no business being around prisoners at Abu Ghraib and had disobeyed orders numerous times.
Fixing O'Hare -- that's on the schedule today. Discussions continue among airline and transportation officials as they try to end gridlock at the airport. Commercial flights may again be limited in an effort to end delays across the country.
Now to the forecast center -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's back.
COSTELLO: You made it back.
MYERS: I did.
COSTELLO: Welcome back.
MYERS: Not, actually, I didn't make it back until midnight of the day of the storm.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're kidding?
MYERS: So that would have been a kind of a short turnaround so I stayed home.
Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT) COSTELLO: New information for you this morning on the anti- terror raids in Britain and the Pakistan connection. One of a dozen men under arrest is believed to be a senior al Qaeda operative and the British raids, like the terror alert in the United States, are linked to intelligence received from Pakistan.
CNN's Diana Muriel is live in London for us this morning -- good morning.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, British police here in the U.K. are continuing to interrogate the 12 suspects who remain in custody following those raids that took place across the U.K. on Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening. Now, Pakistani intelligence officials have told CNN that at least one of the 12 suspects held on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities here in Britain was arrested as a result of intelligence that was gathered by the Pakistani officials from the arrest of a Pakistani computer expert, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested in Lahore on July the 13th.
He is described as an al Qaeda computer expert. Sources have told CNN that his interrogation has yielded information that there was a terrorist network, a terrorist group operating here in the U.K. and that he frequently relayed messages from Pakistan to its leader.
CNN can confirm that Noor Khan traveled to the U.K. several times and had multiple contacts with this group or network operating here in the U.K.
Now, British newspapers are calling him Abu Musar Al Hindi, the head of the cell here in the U.K., or Abu Eisa Al Hindi, although these are both believed to be aliases and police have refused to confirm the names of any of the suspects being held in custody or give any indication as to their nationality or ethnicity.
They say that the arrests here in the U.K. were part of a long planned intelligence led operation that had been going on for some time and not confirming that it had anything to do with what happened in Pakistan.
They have two weeks before they must charge these suspects or let them go -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I want to ask you so many questions about this man.
When you say senior al Qaeda operative, what exactly does that mean? Do we know?
MURIEL: We don't know for certain because we have got very, very limited information coming out from the British police. But sources in Pakistan are saying that there was a great deal of intelligence that was gathered by the Pakistani officials from a series of arrests that have been taking place there relating to information taken from laptops, from computer disks about information on terrorist operations or planned terrorist operations. British newspapers are saying that one of those may have been an attempt to attack Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest airport. And CNN cannot confirm that at this stage, although we do know that a very large scale security operation was mounted at Heathrow in February of 2003.
As to the identity of this individual, who may or may not be the leader of a cell in the U.K., British police are remaining very silent on that subject -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Diana Muriel reporting live from London for us this morning.
Thank you.
Pakistani sources tell CNN there is evidence that senior al Qaeda suspect contacted people in the United States and in Britain recently. Sources say the new details came from interrogations of al Qaeda suspects.
Islamabad bureau chief Ash-Har Quraishi has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Highly placed Pakistan intelligence sources tell CNN that 25-year-old computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested last month, has been in recent contact with six al Qaeda operatives in the United States.
U.S. sources will only confirm that there may have been contacts from suspected al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan to one or more individuals in the U.S. Information gleaned from Khan's communications in part led to heightened alerts in the United States over the past few days.
According to our sources, Khan had also been in regular contact with a high level al Qaeda operative in the United Kingdom. U.K. sources have not confirmed this, but it was this information, say Pakistani intelligence sources, that led to the arrests of about a dozen suspected terrorists in Britain on Tuesday.
Intelligence sources say Khan is providing startling information about al Qaeda activities and global communications.
SHEIKH RASHID, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MINISTER: I think it's a significant catch (ph), some youngster, some government people, well- educated, well-trained people are being ignored. They are not in the pictures. But their operation is something very, very important and extraordinary. He is among those.
So that's why I think his arrest is very important.
QURAISHI: Al Qaeda Internet chat forums in recent weeks (AUDIO GAP).
JAMAL ISMAIL, ABU GHABI TELEVISION: These were signs (AUDIO GAP) (AUDIO GAP)
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And just two hours ago, word of a battle involving U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces against militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. This fighting you're looking at reported in Najaf, which is south of Baghdad. There have been nine deaths, none of them U.S. soldiers. The fighting is reported in the center of the city, right near a mosque.
We'll have more information for you as we get it in here to CNN.
In just about five hours, President Bush signs a massive Department of Defense spending bill. The Senate unanimously passed the $416 billion measure. It marks an increase of $22 billion over the last year's spending. It includes money to add 20,000 soldiers to the Army and a 3 1/2 percent pay raise for the troops.
And for the war torn Sudan, that is also part of the bill, along with $25 billion more for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Later, the president hits the road, traveling to Columbus, Ohio. And then it's on to a rally in Saginaw, Michigan.
Democratic rival Senator John Kerry starts his day in Washington, as well. Kerry addresses the Unity Conference of minority journalists this morning and then later he joins John Edwards in St. Louis, Missouri. Their Believe In America tour will then take them to Jefferson City and then on to Kansas City.
And while John Kerry and George Bush crossed paths campaigning in Davenport, Iowa, some bank robbers were hoping for a distracted police force. In one hour, three separate local banks were hit. Police do have one suspect in custody.
For a look at how Bush and Kerry are faring in Iowa, both, no doubt, better than that suspected bank robber. We'll be joined in the next hour by Kathie Obradavich, who is the political editor for the "Des Moines Register."
Illinois Republicans may have found their man, but he's not sure he'll accept yet. Two time presidential candidate Alan Keyes has been invited to run for the U.S. Senate. Illinois party officials have been looking for a candidate for weeks to replace Jack Ryan. Of course, he pulled out after a personal sex scandal. Keyes says he'll announce his decision on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I also believe that the deep and serious and intense and committed deliberations that have been made by the leadership in this party deserve from me also a deep and serious and committed deliberation about what ought to be my response. And that is what I intend to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Keyes would face off against rising Democratic star Barack Obama, a long time Illinois resident. State law requires only that Keyes move to Illinois before the election.
Here are some of the stories making news across America this Thursday.
Rescue crews are refusing to give up the search for a 9-year-old boy missing in the San Bernardino Mountains. The developmentally disabled boy wandered away from his family's camp site on Saturday.
Search dogs and helicopters are being used in a 10-mile wide perimeter around that camp site.
Less than two hours ago, surgeons successfully completed an operation to separate conjoined twins at a New York hospital. The doctors were able to separate the 2-year-old Filipino boys during a marathon surgery session. The boys were connected at the ahead. The operation began at 10:00 a.m. yesterday.
Here's an update on a story we first told you about yesterday. A group of Iraqi delegates visiting Memphis, Tennessee have had some more problems. First, they were denied access to city hall and then to the National Civil Rights Museum. Well, now two of them were robbed at gunpoint on a downtown street. The delegates came to the United States to learn more about government. Now they will get a look at the legal system, as well.
Just eight days remain until the opening ceremonies for the Summer Games in Greece. But actually it's just six days until the first event. Some members of the U.S. Olympic team are already in Greece to prepare for their events. On the island of Crete, track athletes as well as the U.S. women's soccer team are in training. The U.S. Olympic basketball team still has some business to attend to before heading off to Greece. Team USA used a last second shot by Allen Iverson to beat the Germans in a pre-Olympic exhibition game. They just barely beat the Germans. And, you know, yesterday, the U.S. basketball team was defeated by Italy.
Which, of course, brings us to our e-mail Question of the Day. Not exactly about basketball, but we wanted to know are you excited about the 2004 Summer Games in Athens? Do you even care? If you are, you could be one of the few. Organizers say there are more than five million unsold tickets to the games.
Anyway, we want you to send your e-mail to daybreak@cnn.com. Of course we'll read your comments later on in our show.
Unreliable, undisciplined, not words that usually describe a soldier. But Private Lynndie England has been called that and worse. We'll update the case against her work with Iraqi prisoners.
And we're just learning new details about how Saddam Hussein was captured. We'll tell you the fascinating story of the Iraqi translator who was in that spider hole. And we'll meet an Olympic athlete who's fighting his way to gold in Athens.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this August 5.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The stock market closed higher thanks to gains late in the session. This morning, the Dow will open, oh, just over 6 points. The tech heavy Nasdaq starts today down 3 points. The S&P 500 opens 1 point down.
So, that's the story on our side of the Atlantic.
Let's see what's happening in the overseas markets.
For that, we head live to London and Robyn Curnow -- good morning, Robin.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
And obviously the big story this week globally has been these rocketing oil prices. And we saw overnight some easing of those prices coming off those record highs. And this really buoyed investors here in Europe.
I'm going to show you those numbers for the European bourses in just a minute.
But I wanted to quickly bring you up to date on these oil prices here. They are inching upwards somewhat as trade progresses throughout the European morning and we can see there it's up $0.43. But still not as high as we've been seeing in the past few days.
Now, investors were very buoyed by these lowering oil prices and they were lowered -- they've been sinking somewhat in the past 24 hours on news, some good news coming out of Russia. Now, Yukos, if you'll remember, is that beleaguered large Russian oil company that's in a huge tax dispute with the Russian government. Seven billion dollars they're disputing about that.
Yukos has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy but they've come to some interim agreement, Yukos and the Russian government, which makes investors happy because it obviously assures, for the moment, Russian oil output, at least from Yukos.
So that's why we're seeing some positive numbers in the Yukos share price and a lowering of the oil price for the moment.
But that's what our markets are looking like, all up over here in Europe -- back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Robyn Curnow, thank you, live from London for us this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:16 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Overnight, cadaver dogs were used to once again search at a Salt Lake City landfill for Lori Hacking. Information from husband Mark Hacking led police back to the landfill. He's been arrested but not yet charged in the death of his wife.
Will Kobe Bryant's accuser walk away before trial? Her attorney says she fears the recent release of evidence leaves little chance of a fair trial. Prosecutors say they'll go ahead with the planned August 27 trial, though.
In money news, Chrysler is recalling more than 800,000 minivans due to a potential power steering problem. Problems in Voyagers and Caravans built between 2002 and 2004 could cause engine fires.
In culture, some never before seen family photos debut today at a special Anne Frank exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Houston. It was 60 years ago Wednesday that Frank was discovered hiding in an Amsterdam home.
In sports, revenge for the Yankees. A day after being crushed by the As, the Yanks came from behind to steal a victory. A-Rod blasted a home run in the bottom of the eleventh -- there you see it -- to give the Yanks their league leading 67th win.
MYERS: And Carol...
COSTELLO: I don't think anyone's going to catch them, Chad.
What?
MYERS: Carol, did you know that 42 of those wins are come from behind wins?
COSTELLO: It's amazing. They just have so much talent.
MYERS: Twenty-nine, that's the 29th home run there from A-Rod. Wow. Unbelievable.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
The verdict is in and a Walt Disney worker is free. We'll tell you how the image of Tigger the Tiger remains intact.
And keep 'em coming -- our e-mail Question of the Day. Are you at all excited about the 2004 Summer Games in Athens? Do you even know when they begin? The address, daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.
And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You know it is -- we have breaking news, actually. I was just checking out the computer here and my computer actually went off. But I do know that a Marine helicopter was apparently shot down somewhere in Iraq, I believe near Najaf. We're going to have a live report out of Baghdad for you in just about nine minutes. We've got to get our reporter in front of the camera. When we have more information, we'll pass it along to you.
Time to check out our Web clicks this morning. What stories are getting your attention?
We want to go to cnn.com right now because oftentimes the stories that our Web clickers are interested in we don't really cover, except for this one. People are really into Mary Kay Letourneau.
Chad is here with me to discuss this.
MYERS: She's out of jail.
COSTELLO: She is out of jail. She was released yesterday. And, of course, she's been court ordered to stay away from the...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Well, he's 21 now, but then he was 12. She's been court ordered to stay away from the boy that she raped way back then. But apparently he still loves her and he's going to ask the court to allow him to see her.
MYERS: Take it away. Yes. Take away that court order, get rid of that court order, so now that he's in the age of majority, he's 21, now he can see her.
COSTELLO: Yes.
OK, so...
MYERS: We don't know what she thinks yet, though.
COSTELLO: No, we don't.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: We don't. She's not talking.
MYERS: Not yet.
COSTELLO: OK, the second most popular clicked on story on our cnn.com Web site...
MYERS: Tigger!
COSTELLO: Tigger. Tigger's innocent. He was cleared of fondling a 13-year-old girl while he was posing for a picture with her at Walt Disney World. And you know how they proved it?
MYERS: They couldn't tell who he was.
COSTELLO: No. Well, that was one thing. That was one thing.
MYERS: Yes? OK.
COSTELLO: But the defense attorney actually put the Tigger costume on to show people how difficult it was to feel anything through the costume or even to see anything through the big Tigger head.
MYERS: As you know, I was the Nebraska mascot. You literally, you have tunnel vision. You're like this. You can't see anything at all out of that.
COSTELLO: And your fake hands are so big you can't really feel anything. So happy news, Tigger's been cleared.
The third most popular clicked on story on our Web site, Parrot Leads Couple to Quit Smoking. This is out of London, England. And apparently this couple's parrot was feeling sickly and they couldn't figure out why. And it so happens they had a 50 cigarette a day habit.
MYERS: Second-hand smoke.
COSTELLO: Second-hand smoke.
MYERS: The vet said you guys got to quit smoking or put your parrot outside.
COSTELLO: So they actually went to a clinic.
MYERS: Yes, they did.
COSTELLO: They got out of the house, they went to a clinic to try to quit smoking to save their parrot's life.
MYERS: That's great.
COSTELLO: So those are our three most popular stories clicked on on cnn.com.
So what do you think? Want to see more coverage of a story? Do you think we're doing a good job...
MYERS: No, no, don't answer that.
COSTELLO: Yes. Shoot Chad and me an e-mail and let it all out. The address, daybreak@cnn.com.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" right now.
Imagine calling 911 and having the emergency operator fall asleep on you. Oh, that actually happened to one Maryland woman who called about a possible break-in. Police are looking into exactly why the operator was heard snoring on the 911 tape.
"American Idol" auditions resume this morning in Cleveland. Fifteen hundred hopefuls camped out all night long for their chance at "Idol" worship. But just a selected few were invited back for round two. Cleveland is the first stop on the eight city "Idol" audition tour. St. Louis is the next stop.
Hawaii may be proud of its pineapples and coconuts, but not enough to let them be used in cigarettes. Governor Linda Lingle has asked R.J. Reynolds to stop its ad campaign for their Camel Kauia Kolada cigarettes. The governor says the project sullies the state's reputation for purity and health and maybe clean air, as well.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Going to the hospital just ain't what it used to be. While the best of the best try to beef up customer service, how much will you have to pay out of pocket, though?
Also, the dramatic story of Saddam Hussein's capture from the man who pulled Saddam out of that spider hole.
And a new twist in Britain's terrorist trail. The suspects arrested in a terrorist swoop reportedly had a specific target in mind.
This is DAYBREAK for Thursday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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