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CNN Live At Daybreak

Report on Progress of Hurricane Charley; Look at Latest Fighting Between Insurgents, U.S. Troops in Najaf

Aired August 13, 2004 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Motorists jam Florida interstates. Take a look at that. Trying to avoid what could be a very dangerous storm.
It is Friday, August 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news, wounded -- radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is said to be hit in the arm and chest during fighting today between the Medhi militia and American and Iraqi troops. Earlier, U.S. Marines busted into al-Sadr's living compound in Najaf. But the cleric was not at home. An aide to al-Sadr says he will recover from his wounds.

Also in Iraq, a British journalist has been taken hostage in Basra. James Brandon of the British newspaper "Sunday Telegraph" was seized from outside the gate of his hotel. Police gave chase but lost the kidnappers.

Firefighters in northern California get the upper hand on a wildfire that's destroyed or damages dozens of homes. Hundreds of people have been forced to flee the so-called Bear Fire.

And a tornado is part of the legacy from tropical storm Bonnie in Florida. The twister hit four miles north of downtown Jacksonville. It uprooted trees, damaged cars, but nobody got hurt.

Let's talk about Charley now.

Chad is live in Tampa this morning.

Bring us up to date.

And Rob is in the forecast center, as well.

We'll get to you.

Go ahead -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course.

Carol, you know, a tornado always possible with any land falling hurricane. You have a lot of twists in the atmosphere already and then you have the air going up onto land, making the storms even larger at times. So, yes, there's always, in a big storm, and certainly with Charley, there will be tornado watches and maybe water spouts coming onshore; tornado warnings, as well. You need to watch out for that, not only here, though, the rising water. That's the problem here.

We have all of these boats up and down Harbor Island here in Tampa, all the way up by MacDill Air Force Base. This entire area, we are almost at sea level here. I can look down at the water. It's about four feet below where I am here. The water will be 10 feet over my head before the storm surge stops.

Now, the good news is the island is built up, up, up and up. But Class A, B and C areas of Tampa are being evacuated and have been evacuated all day yesterday. Cars were just streaming out of town, Carol, and it looked like a pretty orderly process because they went from Tampa -- they went to go to St. Pete, then they went Tampa. They went -- and it's almost like loading an airplane. They knew the people they wanted to get off first and then they moved them. Then they moved people from the farther back and then so on and so on and so on. And it was really well done by the Tampa police.

COSTELLO: Well, good for them.

Thank you, Chad.

We'll get back to you.

Rob -- can you give us specifics, like where Charley is now and what time it might hit.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It just passed over Havana during the last couple of hours, Charley, Havana -- Charley. Carol. Here's Charley moving over Havana. Key West about 85 miles west- southwest of Key West. And it's picking up steam as it gets a little bit farther to the north, Tampa, Fort Myers.

The thing about this is the track. As it continues up toward the north, I mean it's basically running parallel to the coastline. So all it has to do is make a quick right turn and boom, you're into Fort Myers. Or hang out a little bit farther to the left and you're past Tampa.

So any sort of error in the track of this thing, either east or west, is going to throw off what happens to who.

So needless to say, there are hurricane warnings pretty much up and down the coastline of the western shores of this area.

It will be a category three. What does that mean? Winds 111 to 130 miles an hour. But the storm surge, which Chad has been talking about all morning long, that really is going to be the big issue. Up to 12 feet with Tampa and the surrounding area at such a low elevation. Severe damage expected from winds. I mean, 110 to 130 miles an hour winds, that's nothing to sneeze at. Pretty impressive here on the radar picture, Carol. You know, as meteorologists, we look at this and we kind of get excited because it's such an impressive storm. But we also know the damage it can do. And it looks like it will make landfall somewhere along the west coast of Florida later on today.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.

You can read up on hurricane Charley on our Web site, plus browse photos. Just click onto cnn.com/weather.

U.S. troops may have come close to taking out radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He's said to be recovering from shrapnel wounds suffered during a U.S. bombardment of Najaf. This is day nine of heavy fighting there.

John Vause live in Baghdad with the latest.

Do we know yet where -- I mean we know physically where Muqtada al-Sadr was shot, but, you know, location wise where was he shot?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't actually know where he was. And, in fact, Carol, we've got to be very careful in reporting this. We have had no independent verification that Muqtada al-Sadr was, in fact, wounded. We have heard from a number of his spokesmen saying that the Shiite cleric was wounded from shrapnel. But we are getting conflicting reports.

From the interior ministry here in Baghdad, a spokesperson says that Muqtada al-Sadr was not wounded, that he is in good health. Also from the U.S. Marines in Najaf, saying we cannot confirm media reports that Muqtada was wounded.

And a statement was put out a short time ago on behalf of the U.S. forces here from a brigadier general saying forces have not participated in actions at or near the Imam Ali and Kufa Mosques. The combined Iraq and multinational security forces continue to operate in compliance with guidelines set down by the prime minister to safeguard and prevent possible harm to these holy shrines. So the U.S. is making it very clear that they are not operating anywhere near the Imam Ali Mosque right now.

So it's very difficult to find out exactly what the current state of play is with Muqtada al-Sadr -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And there are also, we know that there are demonstrations going on in Baghdad because supposedly Muqtada al- Sadr's people called for a demonstration.

Is it large, if it is, indeed, going on?

VAUSE: That's right, Carol, they did call for a sit-in outside the green zone. Several thousand people have turned up there, still there right now. It's a very noisy protest. They're there to support Muqtada al-Sadr. They're condemning the U.S. Slogans are being chanted like "Out With America!" or "Down With America!," that kind of thing. The reports we've been getting at this stage is that it is, in fact, a peaceful, or mostly peaceful protest.

But the actions in Najaf is causing a ripple effect across Iraq. In Basra today, a British journalist has been kidnapped. The British foreign ministry has confirmed that James Brandon, a journalist working for the "Sunday Telegraph," was kidnapped while in his hotel room. There have been conflicting reports also about how he was kidnapped. Some witnesses say dozens of gunmen burst into the room. But Iraqi police say at least six gunmen took Brandon hostage. They have released a videotape, as they often do in these cases. The demand on the videotape is that the U.S.-led assault in Najaf end within the next 24 hours.

We also know that Brandon works for the Bloomberg television channel, but he was on assignment working for the "Sunday Telegraph" in Basra -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we were seeing video of that British journalist and it was confusing.

So the kidnappers rush into his hotel room and immediately take a videotape and release it to someone?

VAUSE: Yes, that's right, Carol. That's how these things usually work. They put these videotapes out there. It serves their purpose.

One interesting point to note in all of this, though, a spokesperson on behalf of al-Sadr has actually pleaded for the kidnappers to release Brandon. So that's one positive sign in all of this.

COSTELLO: Hopefully they will.

John Vause live in Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

Back here in the States, a political bombshell. New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey announces that he is gay and had an extramarital affair and he'll resign from office. The shocking revelation came as former aide Golan Cipel prepared to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against McGreevey.

CNN has made repeated attempts, without success, to get a comment from Cipel.

In the meantime, the governor says the circumstances dictate that he resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES E. MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it, or hope to see it, but as it is. And so my truth is that I am a gay American. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's becoming a pretty sordid tale. I mean, if you take a look at the headlines in the newspapers this morning, online, of course, because it's too early for them to be out, this one is from the "Boston Herald." "Should Wife Stand By Her Manly Man?" "L.A. Times": "Straight Or Gay -- Jersey Governor Flings A Curve Ball." And this is from the "New York Times": "Across the State, Sympathy and Skepticism." Some of the headlines are rougher than that. I suspect it's going to get worse for Governor McGreevey.

Joining us live by phone is political reporter for the "Star- Ledger" in Newark, New Jersey, John Hassell.

Thanks for joining us this morning, John.

JOHN HASSELL, POLITICAL REPORTER, "STAR-LEDGER": Thank you.

COSTELLO: Tell us about the shock value of this for the people of New Jersey.

HASSELL: Well, it's a jaw dropper, even in New Jersey, a state that is no stranger to political scandal of one stripe or another. I think this caught everybody off guard and what can you say, right?

COSTELLO: Well, I know, but you've covered this man for a long time.

Were there rumors going around the state that he might have been gay?

HASSELL: Those rumors have been around for years. They've been pursued in one way or another by various news agencies. But until yesterday, all we had was rumors.

COSTELLO: You know, I'm reading through some of these editorials in papers from across the land. And I'm going to read you excerpts and get your reaction, since you're right there and you've covered this so much.

HASSELL: Sure.

COSTELLO: This is from the "L.A. Times": "For one thing, you aren't automatically disqualified as governor if you happen to be gay. And why was McGreevey's wife standing by her man as if he was announcing a New Jersey Turnpike beautification project?"

HASSELL: Good question. I wish I knew the answer. You know, so many things about this yesterday were surreal. The family tableau presented was one of those things. I mean here are people who have appeared with McGreevey on the campaign trail for years and here they were yesterday in what we presume was his last major public appearance. And nothing had changed on the surface.

I suspect that a lot has changed behind closed doors.

COSTELLO: Certainly so.

Here's another excerpt from the "The Toronto Star": "I feel very bad for this man. I believe he resigned to focus on his family situation."

But there are other allegations out there, too, aren't there?

HASSELL: Well, yes. And I think that the most significant of them is that the individual, Golan Cipel, who administration officials named as McGreevey's lover here, was appointed by McGreevey to a senior post, and a sensitive one, that of homeland security adviser, despite a lack of qualifications. And the history of Cipel's employment by the state shows that he rose very quickly in pay and stature within the administration and during this time apparently they were having an affair.

So all questions of gender aside, the appropriateness of McGreevey's conduct with a state employee is at issue here.

COSTELLO: Yes, and that's something very difficult to overcome as a politician, if that's true.

HASSELL: I think so. Obviously, McGreevey made that calculation and decided to resign.

COSTELLO: So is his career in politics over?

HASSELL: You never say never these days, but it's hard to imagine how he rebounds from this. I would imagine that he will remain in the political arena in some shape or form. You know, he's made his living doing this. There may be room for him as a lobbyist or -- who knows? We'll see.

COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what, John? If he can paint a sympathetic portrait of himself, that he did this because of his confusion about his orientation, that he didn't mean it, he comes out and apologizes, who knows?

HASSELL: You may be right. Again, if this were an affair with someone not associated with state government in New Jersey, I think that argument might be easier to make. But ultimately you're right, this is a matter for the public to decide and people will make their decisions.

COSTELLO: All right, John Hassell from the "Star-Ledger," Newark, New Jersey newspaper.

Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

Still to come, the Olympic Torch is carried by someone who is fully clothed. But during the ancient games, athletes competed completely naked. We've got the story at 20 after the hour.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Crude oil prices surging past $45 a barrel sink Wall Street. Of course, you know that by now. The Dow opens in a few hours down, oh, nearly 124 points.

The Nasdaq opens down nearly 30 points.

The S&P 500 opens down 12 1/2 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

Now it's 6:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Muqtada al-Sadr has reportedly been wounded. We have conflicting reports out of Najaf. Some say the cleric was hit by shrapnel in the arm and the chest. The U.S. military and Iraqi security forces are battling al-Sadr's army for control of that city.

A Virginia woman has been sentenced to jail for smoking. The woman defied a court order that prohibits her from smoking around her two children. She has to serve 10 days for lighting up.

In money, tax day part two is coming. For the more than eight million of you who filed for income tax extensions, Monday at midnight is the deadline to pay the piper.

In culture, an update on the lawsuit Rosa Parks has filed over a 1998 song by the group OutKast. The song is entitled "Rosa Parks." The doctor for the civil rights pioneer will have to explain why she cannot testify in her own suit.

In sports, the Yankees are at it again. They power their way over the Texas Rangers 5-1, to increase their lead over the rest of the league. New York has won eight of 11 games this month.

Let's head out to Tampa now and check in with Chad -- Chad, are you there?

MYERS: I am, Carol. And, you know, we've been showing you what we call the little boats, I guess, if you will, compared to the one behind me. Boats here worth $100,000 or more, some a quarter of a million dollars. But if you take a look, a long look down the dock, one of those sun cruisers, one of those casino boats also in harbor. And we know that there are many other boats. I mean this one has got to be worth millions and millions of dollars.

And where do you put it? You can't take it out into the Gulf of Mexico because you're not really sure where the thing is going. If it turns left, you're in the middle of it. If it turns right, then you've missed it.

But, so they're trying to dock here. The guys are already out this morning trying to put some more lines on it, tying the lines higher, as well, trying to get the boat or the ship, if you will, in this case, higher tied up so that when the water does come up -- and remember this water is going to be over my head here by 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 this afternoon, and maybe even higher than that as the eye -- if the eye wall comes right over us, if the center of the eye comes right over us.

And then -- so they're trying to get the lines up so that when the boat goes up, it has someplace to go.

You know, we're going to lose -- there's going to be millions and millions of dollars, if not more than that, damage here in the Tampa region, anywhere from Naples right on up almost to Cedar Key, still under the gun. That's where the warnings are. And you know what? Rob Marciano is going to have more for you on that, because he's been looking at the radar all morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: He has been studying it.

Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: There are certain states that can determine the outcome of a presidential election. In the next half hour of DAYBREAK, we will travel to West Virginia, a state that could have a big impact.

But first, straight ahead, nowadays the most skin you'll see Olympians show is during the swim competition. But long ago, those athletes competed naked. We'll have more -- oh, jeez. We'll have more on that story coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Some levity now. The Olympics' opening ceremony is tonight. And if NBC really wants to boost its ratings, perhaps it should persuade the athletes to compete the way they did way back in 776 B.C. -- completely naked.

Australian travel writer Tony Perrottet has written a book on the ancient Olympics that lets it all hang out, so to speak.

He joins us, as you saw, with clothes on, from New York.

Good morning.

TONY PERROTTET, AUTHOR, "THE NAKED OLYMPICS": Hi, there.

COSTELLO: They really did compete completely naked?

PERROTTET: Absolutely. Without a stitch of clothing, just covered in olive oil.

COSTELLO: Covered in olive oil?

PERROTTET: In olive oil, yes. They would cover each -- and they had special boy rubbers who would apply the olive oil. And I must say, if you -- this month's "Playboy" has the Olympic athletes revealing a little more flesh than you might see at the games. But in the ancient games, it was all men.

COSTELLO: Yes, but why did they compete naked and why did they cover themselves with olive oil?

PERROTTET: It was one of those things that actually mystified other cultures and it -- and the Greeks themselves forgot how it started. It was part of Greek culture. It was only barbarians who were ashamed to show their bodies. So the Greeks came up with all these ideas, these stories of how it all began.

There was story, a guy was running along and he had his loincloth and it fell down and he tripped and he lost the race. So the judges ordered that everyone had to run naked from that day on.

There was another story that a guy, a runner, declared that he could actually go faster if he ran naked. And he went and ran the race and he won and proved it. So everyone after that decided to go naked.

But the reason they went naked -- they really stayed doing it was because it appealed to their vanity. It appealed to this sort of exhibitionism of the Greek athletes in the aesthetic sense. I mean they admired the male body above all else.

So they would go out there covered in oil, strutting around like peacocks, flexing their muscles comparing. And the audience loved it. You know, they -- the spectators could admire the physiques. And it was very spectacular to observe, apparently.

COSTELLO: I'll betcha.

Some of the games that they played were very violent, though. And I just can't imagine, like the chariot races and also they had hand-to-hand combat, almost.

PERROTTET: Yes. Now, Dr. Galen (ph) says that the bareback horse races led to many groin injuries. And I think that the men watching should -- you know, there was one called the Pancreatean, which was kind of like Thai kick boxing. And so they were going at each other, kicking away. So -- I can barely talk about it without crossing my legs. It's, it would have been quite a scene.

COSTELLO: Quite a scene.

What similarities are there from the ancient games to the games today?

PERROTTET: Well, I think we would recognize some of the events, like the running and the javelin and the discus. And think the sense of spectacle, the sense that all the eyes of mortals and the gods were on one spot. So this incredible excitement that you would get. I think the Greeks would recognize that today.

But if we went back to ancient times, there's a lot of sports we wouldn't quite get, like the chariot race and the, you know, many of the Christian events. And, for example, the boxing was -- it was much more violent and gory and ruthless in ancient times. The boxing, these guys would wrap leather thongs around their knuckles and pummel one another's heads. And it was incredibly gory. There were no rounds and you could only land head blows. There were no body blows. So these guys were losing their teeth. Their faces were bloody messes and, you know, there's stories of one guy, he didn't want to give his opponent the satisfaction of spitting out his teeth, so he swallowed them all one by one.

So, it...

COSTELLO: Oh, this is sounding bad.

PERROTTET: Yes. I mean so then...

COSTELLO: This is bad.

PERROTTET: ... you've got the naked, you know, the spectacle of it all and these very graceful events, you know? But you have, but then it's much more dramatic and horrifying, as well.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think I like the modern games a lot better. Thank you, thank you so...

PERROTTET: Well, you never know.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining us live from New York.

PERROTTET: Oh, OK, thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Tony Perrottet, who has written the book "The Naked Olympics" about the ancient Olympics.

Today's top stories coming your way in two minutes.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Hurricane Charley steadily makes its way toward the Sunshine State.

It is Friday, August 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news, the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is wounded in the battle for Najaf, hit in his chest, leg and arm with shrapnel. Al-Sadr is expected to make a full recovery. He was wounded as his militiamen tangled with U.S. and Iraqi troops. A British journalist, James Brandon, of the "Sunday Telegraph", has been kidnapped by gunmen in Basra. He was seized outside of his hotel. The kidnappers are threatening to kill Brandon unless U.S. troops withdraw from Najaf in 24 hours.

Still burning out of control, a 7,500-acre wildfire that has destroyed 67 homes near Shasta Lake, east of Redding, California. Nearly 400 other homes have been evacuated.

What's left of tropical storm Bonnie is long gone from Florida. But before leaving, it spawned a tornado in Jacksonville. The twister touched down north of downtown, dropping trees and damaging cars, but injuring no one.

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Aired August 13, 2004 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Motorists jam Florida interstates. Take a look at that. Trying to avoid what could be a very dangerous storm.
It is Friday, August 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news, wounded -- radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is said to be hit in the arm and chest during fighting today between the Medhi militia and American and Iraqi troops. Earlier, U.S. Marines busted into al-Sadr's living compound in Najaf. But the cleric was not at home. An aide to al-Sadr says he will recover from his wounds.

Also in Iraq, a British journalist has been taken hostage in Basra. James Brandon of the British newspaper "Sunday Telegraph" was seized from outside the gate of his hotel. Police gave chase but lost the kidnappers.

Firefighters in northern California get the upper hand on a wildfire that's destroyed or damages dozens of homes. Hundreds of people have been forced to flee the so-called Bear Fire.

And a tornado is part of the legacy from tropical storm Bonnie in Florida. The twister hit four miles north of downtown Jacksonville. It uprooted trees, damaged cars, but nobody got hurt.

Let's talk about Charley now.

Chad is live in Tampa this morning.

Bring us up to date.

And Rob is in the forecast center, as well.

We'll get to you.

Go ahead -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course.

Carol, you know, a tornado always possible with any land falling hurricane. You have a lot of twists in the atmosphere already and then you have the air going up onto land, making the storms even larger at times. So, yes, there's always, in a big storm, and certainly with Charley, there will be tornado watches and maybe water spouts coming onshore; tornado warnings, as well. You need to watch out for that, not only here, though, the rising water. That's the problem here.

We have all of these boats up and down Harbor Island here in Tampa, all the way up by MacDill Air Force Base. This entire area, we are almost at sea level here. I can look down at the water. It's about four feet below where I am here. The water will be 10 feet over my head before the storm surge stops.

Now, the good news is the island is built up, up, up and up. But Class A, B and C areas of Tampa are being evacuated and have been evacuated all day yesterday. Cars were just streaming out of town, Carol, and it looked like a pretty orderly process because they went from Tampa -- they went to go to St. Pete, then they went Tampa. They went -- and it's almost like loading an airplane. They knew the people they wanted to get off first and then they moved them. Then they moved people from the farther back and then so on and so on and so on. And it was really well done by the Tampa police.

COSTELLO: Well, good for them.

Thank you, Chad.

We'll get back to you.

Rob -- can you give us specifics, like where Charley is now and what time it might hit.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It just passed over Havana during the last couple of hours, Charley, Havana -- Charley. Carol. Here's Charley moving over Havana. Key West about 85 miles west- southwest of Key West. And it's picking up steam as it gets a little bit farther to the north, Tampa, Fort Myers.

The thing about this is the track. As it continues up toward the north, I mean it's basically running parallel to the coastline. So all it has to do is make a quick right turn and boom, you're into Fort Myers. Or hang out a little bit farther to the left and you're past Tampa.

So any sort of error in the track of this thing, either east or west, is going to throw off what happens to who.

So needless to say, there are hurricane warnings pretty much up and down the coastline of the western shores of this area.

It will be a category three. What does that mean? Winds 111 to 130 miles an hour. But the storm surge, which Chad has been talking about all morning long, that really is going to be the big issue. Up to 12 feet with Tampa and the surrounding area at such a low elevation. Severe damage expected from winds. I mean, 110 to 130 miles an hour winds, that's nothing to sneeze at. Pretty impressive here on the radar picture, Carol. You know, as meteorologists, we look at this and we kind of get excited because it's such an impressive storm. But we also know the damage it can do. And it looks like it will make landfall somewhere along the west coast of Florida later on today.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.

You can read up on hurricane Charley on our Web site, plus browse photos. Just click onto cnn.com/weather.

U.S. troops may have come close to taking out radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He's said to be recovering from shrapnel wounds suffered during a U.S. bombardment of Najaf. This is day nine of heavy fighting there.

John Vause live in Baghdad with the latest.

Do we know yet where -- I mean we know physically where Muqtada al-Sadr was shot, but, you know, location wise where was he shot?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't actually know where he was. And, in fact, Carol, we've got to be very careful in reporting this. We have had no independent verification that Muqtada al-Sadr was, in fact, wounded. We have heard from a number of his spokesmen saying that the Shiite cleric was wounded from shrapnel. But we are getting conflicting reports.

From the interior ministry here in Baghdad, a spokesperson says that Muqtada al-Sadr was not wounded, that he is in good health. Also from the U.S. Marines in Najaf, saying we cannot confirm media reports that Muqtada was wounded.

And a statement was put out a short time ago on behalf of the U.S. forces here from a brigadier general saying forces have not participated in actions at or near the Imam Ali and Kufa Mosques. The combined Iraq and multinational security forces continue to operate in compliance with guidelines set down by the prime minister to safeguard and prevent possible harm to these holy shrines. So the U.S. is making it very clear that they are not operating anywhere near the Imam Ali Mosque right now.

So it's very difficult to find out exactly what the current state of play is with Muqtada al-Sadr -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And there are also, we know that there are demonstrations going on in Baghdad because supposedly Muqtada al- Sadr's people called for a demonstration.

Is it large, if it is, indeed, going on?

VAUSE: That's right, Carol, they did call for a sit-in outside the green zone. Several thousand people have turned up there, still there right now. It's a very noisy protest. They're there to support Muqtada al-Sadr. They're condemning the U.S. Slogans are being chanted like "Out With America!" or "Down With America!," that kind of thing. The reports we've been getting at this stage is that it is, in fact, a peaceful, or mostly peaceful protest.

But the actions in Najaf is causing a ripple effect across Iraq. In Basra today, a British journalist has been kidnapped. The British foreign ministry has confirmed that James Brandon, a journalist working for the "Sunday Telegraph," was kidnapped while in his hotel room. There have been conflicting reports also about how he was kidnapped. Some witnesses say dozens of gunmen burst into the room. But Iraqi police say at least six gunmen took Brandon hostage. They have released a videotape, as they often do in these cases. The demand on the videotape is that the U.S.-led assault in Najaf end within the next 24 hours.

We also know that Brandon works for the Bloomberg television channel, but he was on assignment working for the "Sunday Telegraph" in Basra -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we were seeing video of that British journalist and it was confusing.

So the kidnappers rush into his hotel room and immediately take a videotape and release it to someone?

VAUSE: Yes, that's right, Carol. That's how these things usually work. They put these videotapes out there. It serves their purpose.

One interesting point to note in all of this, though, a spokesperson on behalf of al-Sadr has actually pleaded for the kidnappers to release Brandon. So that's one positive sign in all of this.

COSTELLO: Hopefully they will.

John Vause live in Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

Back here in the States, a political bombshell. New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey announces that he is gay and had an extramarital affair and he'll resign from office. The shocking revelation came as former aide Golan Cipel prepared to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against McGreevey.

CNN has made repeated attempts, without success, to get a comment from Cipel.

In the meantime, the governor says the circumstances dictate that he resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES E. MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it, or hope to see it, but as it is. And so my truth is that I am a gay American. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's becoming a pretty sordid tale. I mean, if you take a look at the headlines in the newspapers this morning, online, of course, because it's too early for them to be out, this one is from the "Boston Herald." "Should Wife Stand By Her Manly Man?" "L.A. Times": "Straight Or Gay -- Jersey Governor Flings A Curve Ball." And this is from the "New York Times": "Across the State, Sympathy and Skepticism." Some of the headlines are rougher than that. I suspect it's going to get worse for Governor McGreevey.

Joining us live by phone is political reporter for the "Star- Ledger" in Newark, New Jersey, John Hassell.

Thanks for joining us this morning, John.

JOHN HASSELL, POLITICAL REPORTER, "STAR-LEDGER": Thank you.

COSTELLO: Tell us about the shock value of this for the people of New Jersey.

HASSELL: Well, it's a jaw dropper, even in New Jersey, a state that is no stranger to political scandal of one stripe or another. I think this caught everybody off guard and what can you say, right?

COSTELLO: Well, I know, but you've covered this man for a long time.

Were there rumors going around the state that he might have been gay?

HASSELL: Those rumors have been around for years. They've been pursued in one way or another by various news agencies. But until yesterday, all we had was rumors.

COSTELLO: You know, I'm reading through some of these editorials in papers from across the land. And I'm going to read you excerpts and get your reaction, since you're right there and you've covered this so much.

HASSELL: Sure.

COSTELLO: This is from the "L.A. Times": "For one thing, you aren't automatically disqualified as governor if you happen to be gay. And why was McGreevey's wife standing by her man as if he was announcing a New Jersey Turnpike beautification project?"

HASSELL: Good question. I wish I knew the answer. You know, so many things about this yesterday were surreal. The family tableau presented was one of those things. I mean here are people who have appeared with McGreevey on the campaign trail for years and here they were yesterday in what we presume was his last major public appearance. And nothing had changed on the surface.

I suspect that a lot has changed behind closed doors.

COSTELLO: Certainly so.

Here's another excerpt from the "The Toronto Star": "I feel very bad for this man. I believe he resigned to focus on his family situation."

But there are other allegations out there, too, aren't there?

HASSELL: Well, yes. And I think that the most significant of them is that the individual, Golan Cipel, who administration officials named as McGreevey's lover here, was appointed by McGreevey to a senior post, and a sensitive one, that of homeland security adviser, despite a lack of qualifications. And the history of Cipel's employment by the state shows that he rose very quickly in pay and stature within the administration and during this time apparently they were having an affair.

So all questions of gender aside, the appropriateness of McGreevey's conduct with a state employee is at issue here.

COSTELLO: Yes, and that's something very difficult to overcome as a politician, if that's true.

HASSELL: I think so. Obviously, McGreevey made that calculation and decided to resign.

COSTELLO: So is his career in politics over?

HASSELL: You never say never these days, but it's hard to imagine how he rebounds from this. I would imagine that he will remain in the political arena in some shape or form. You know, he's made his living doing this. There may be room for him as a lobbyist or -- who knows? We'll see.

COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what, John? If he can paint a sympathetic portrait of himself, that he did this because of his confusion about his orientation, that he didn't mean it, he comes out and apologizes, who knows?

HASSELL: You may be right. Again, if this were an affair with someone not associated with state government in New Jersey, I think that argument might be easier to make. But ultimately you're right, this is a matter for the public to decide and people will make their decisions.

COSTELLO: All right, John Hassell from the "Star-Ledger," Newark, New Jersey newspaper.

Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

Still to come, the Olympic Torch is carried by someone who is fully clothed. But during the ancient games, athletes competed completely naked. We've got the story at 20 after the hour.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Crude oil prices surging past $45 a barrel sink Wall Street. Of course, you know that by now. The Dow opens in a few hours down, oh, nearly 124 points.

The Nasdaq opens down nearly 30 points.

The S&P 500 opens down 12 1/2 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

Now it's 6:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Muqtada al-Sadr has reportedly been wounded. We have conflicting reports out of Najaf. Some say the cleric was hit by shrapnel in the arm and the chest. The U.S. military and Iraqi security forces are battling al-Sadr's army for control of that city.

A Virginia woman has been sentenced to jail for smoking. The woman defied a court order that prohibits her from smoking around her two children. She has to serve 10 days for lighting up.

In money, tax day part two is coming. For the more than eight million of you who filed for income tax extensions, Monday at midnight is the deadline to pay the piper.

In culture, an update on the lawsuit Rosa Parks has filed over a 1998 song by the group OutKast. The song is entitled "Rosa Parks." The doctor for the civil rights pioneer will have to explain why she cannot testify in her own suit.

In sports, the Yankees are at it again. They power their way over the Texas Rangers 5-1, to increase their lead over the rest of the league. New York has won eight of 11 games this month.

Let's head out to Tampa now and check in with Chad -- Chad, are you there?

MYERS: I am, Carol. And, you know, we've been showing you what we call the little boats, I guess, if you will, compared to the one behind me. Boats here worth $100,000 or more, some a quarter of a million dollars. But if you take a look, a long look down the dock, one of those sun cruisers, one of those casino boats also in harbor. And we know that there are many other boats. I mean this one has got to be worth millions and millions of dollars.

And where do you put it? You can't take it out into the Gulf of Mexico because you're not really sure where the thing is going. If it turns left, you're in the middle of it. If it turns right, then you've missed it.

But, so they're trying to dock here. The guys are already out this morning trying to put some more lines on it, tying the lines higher, as well, trying to get the boat or the ship, if you will, in this case, higher tied up so that when the water does come up -- and remember this water is going to be over my head here by 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 this afternoon, and maybe even higher than that as the eye -- if the eye wall comes right over us, if the center of the eye comes right over us.

And then -- so they're trying to get the lines up so that when the boat goes up, it has someplace to go.

You know, we're going to lose -- there's going to be millions and millions of dollars, if not more than that, damage here in the Tampa region, anywhere from Naples right on up almost to Cedar Key, still under the gun. That's where the warnings are. And you know what? Rob Marciano is going to have more for you on that, because he's been looking at the radar all morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: He has been studying it.

Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: There are certain states that can determine the outcome of a presidential election. In the next half hour of DAYBREAK, we will travel to West Virginia, a state that could have a big impact.

But first, straight ahead, nowadays the most skin you'll see Olympians show is during the swim competition. But long ago, those athletes competed naked. We'll have more -- oh, jeez. We'll have more on that story coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Some levity now. The Olympics' opening ceremony is tonight. And if NBC really wants to boost its ratings, perhaps it should persuade the athletes to compete the way they did way back in 776 B.C. -- completely naked.

Australian travel writer Tony Perrottet has written a book on the ancient Olympics that lets it all hang out, so to speak.

He joins us, as you saw, with clothes on, from New York.

Good morning.

TONY PERROTTET, AUTHOR, "THE NAKED OLYMPICS": Hi, there.

COSTELLO: They really did compete completely naked?

PERROTTET: Absolutely. Without a stitch of clothing, just covered in olive oil.

COSTELLO: Covered in olive oil?

PERROTTET: In olive oil, yes. They would cover each -- and they had special boy rubbers who would apply the olive oil. And I must say, if you -- this month's "Playboy" has the Olympic athletes revealing a little more flesh than you might see at the games. But in the ancient games, it was all men.

COSTELLO: Yes, but why did they compete naked and why did they cover themselves with olive oil?

PERROTTET: It was one of those things that actually mystified other cultures and it -- and the Greeks themselves forgot how it started. It was part of Greek culture. It was only barbarians who were ashamed to show their bodies. So the Greeks came up with all these ideas, these stories of how it all began.

There was story, a guy was running along and he had his loincloth and it fell down and he tripped and he lost the race. So the judges ordered that everyone had to run naked from that day on.

There was another story that a guy, a runner, declared that he could actually go faster if he ran naked. And he went and ran the race and he won and proved it. So everyone after that decided to go naked.

But the reason they went naked -- they really stayed doing it was because it appealed to their vanity. It appealed to this sort of exhibitionism of the Greek athletes in the aesthetic sense. I mean they admired the male body above all else.

So they would go out there covered in oil, strutting around like peacocks, flexing their muscles comparing. And the audience loved it. You know, they -- the spectators could admire the physiques. And it was very spectacular to observe, apparently.

COSTELLO: I'll betcha.

Some of the games that they played were very violent, though. And I just can't imagine, like the chariot races and also they had hand-to-hand combat, almost.

PERROTTET: Yes. Now, Dr. Galen (ph) says that the bareback horse races led to many groin injuries. And I think that the men watching should -- you know, there was one called the Pancreatean, which was kind of like Thai kick boxing. And so they were going at each other, kicking away. So -- I can barely talk about it without crossing my legs. It's, it would have been quite a scene.

COSTELLO: Quite a scene.

What similarities are there from the ancient games to the games today?

PERROTTET: Well, I think we would recognize some of the events, like the running and the javelin and the discus. And think the sense of spectacle, the sense that all the eyes of mortals and the gods were on one spot. So this incredible excitement that you would get. I think the Greeks would recognize that today.

But if we went back to ancient times, there's a lot of sports we wouldn't quite get, like the chariot race and the, you know, many of the Christian events. And, for example, the boxing was -- it was much more violent and gory and ruthless in ancient times. The boxing, these guys would wrap leather thongs around their knuckles and pummel one another's heads. And it was incredibly gory. There were no rounds and you could only land head blows. There were no body blows. So these guys were losing their teeth. Their faces were bloody messes and, you know, there's stories of one guy, he didn't want to give his opponent the satisfaction of spitting out his teeth, so he swallowed them all one by one.

So, it...

COSTELLO: Oh, this is sounding bad.

PERROTTET: Yes. I mean so then...

COSTELLO: This is bad.

PERROTTET: ... you've got the naked, you know, the spectacle of it all and these very graceful events, you know? But you have, but then it's much more dramatic and horrifying, as well.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think I like the modern games a lot better. Thank you, thank you so...

PERROTTET: Well, you never know.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining us live from New York.

PERROTTET: Oh, OK, thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Tony Perrottet, who has written the book "The Naked Olympics" about the ancient Olympics.

Today's top stories coming your way in two minutes.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Hurricane Charley steadily makes its way toward the Sunshine State.

It is Friday, August 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news, the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is wounded in the battle for Najaf, hit in his chest, leg and arm with shrapnel. Al-Sadr is expected to make a full recovery. He was wounded as his militiamen tangled with U.S. and Iraqi troops. A British journalist, James Brandon, of the "Sunday Telegraph", has been kidnapped by gunmen in Basra. He was seized outside of his hotel. The kidnappers are threatening to kill Brandon unless U.S. troops withdraw from Najaf in 24 hours.

Still burning out of control, a 7,500-acre wildfire that has destroyed 67 homes near Shasta Lake, east of Redding, California. Nearly 400 other homes have been evacuated.

What's left of tropical storm Bonnie is long gone from Florida. But before leaving, it spawned a tornado in Jacksonville. The twister touched down north of downtown, dropping trees and damaging cars, but injuring no one.

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