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CNN Live At Daybreak
Examining Mood Among Undecided Voters in Ohio; Update on Latest Testimony in Scott Peterson Murder Trial
Aired August 18, 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, court hearings start in about an hour and a half for some terror suspects in Britain. Two of them allegedly scoped out a U.S. financial building mentioned in the recent terror alert. Another allegedly had a how-to book for making bombs.
Terrorism is still topping the agenda on Capitol Hill. A House panel meets behind closed doors today on the 9/11 Commission's report. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned senators on Tuesday not to rush into any reforms.
Turning overseas, they're back. Members of the Iraqi National Conference had gone from Baghdad to Najaf to talk peace with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. But he snubbed them. There's now talk of sending another delegation.
And back home, in northern California, a wildfire still going. The blaze has grown to 10,000 acres. It's burned more than 20 homes in the historic gold mining town of French Gulch.
To the forecast center -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: A little more than two months to go before the November elections and the candidates are stepping it up. President Bush boards his campaign bus this morning for Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He then heads to St. Croix, Wisconsin, and then on to St. Paul, Minnesota. He'll return to Texas to overnight at his ranch.
The president was in West Virginia on Tuesday and like West Virginia, Wisconsin and Minnesota are among the 17 so-called battleground states.
Senator John Kerry addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati this morning. He then heads to Boston, where he has no scheduled events. Kerry said good-bye to people who came out to watch him leave Idaho Tuesday. Kerry has spent the last few days at his Ketchum vacation home.
CNN LIVE TODAY will bring you Kerry's remarks this morning to the VFW. That airs at 10:30 Eastern time.
Ohio, of course, is another one of those battleground states. Talk to anyone there, they'll tell you Ohio is much like the rest of the nation and opinions vary about the top candidates.
Tom Foreman has more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With nearly 250,000 jobs lost, more than 5,000 citizens fighting in Iraq, and a serious split in public opinion, Ohio has become one of the most critical battleground states.
RICK FARMER, UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: Ohio's very much like the country, and Ohio is very polarized, just like the country is.
FOREMAN: And squarely divided Stark County, south of Akron, may be the tipping point. Here, the leading employer plans to close three plants which make precision bearings, dropping 1,300 jobs. Timken says that will keep other divisions growing, other jobs safe.
JIM GRIFFITH, PRESIDENT & CEO, TIMKEN: The only job security is producing something that's of value to your customer.
FOREMAN: But that's no comfort to workers facing unemployment.
BRIAN VERDOORN, TIMKEN EMPLOYEE: Ohio's going to have to find something else at this point, because we're losing the manufacturing jobs. They're going elsewhere.
FOREMAN: On other issues, the divide runs just as deep. Brian Sarver is in Iraq, and his wife Kimberly, even taking care of six kids, is so proud.
KIMBERLY SARVER, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: I think it's awesome. I think it's awesome to fight for your country.
FOREMAN: But Rebecca Jones' brother is fighting too, and she is so scared.
REBECCA JONES, BROTHER SERVING IN IRAQ: We're losing too many. We're tired of seeing our loved ones being hurt and not come home.
PAUL SRACIC, YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: I think voters here and elsewhere in Ohio are looking for anything solid to kind of hang their vote on. And that's kind of been the problem.
FOREMAN: The battle for Ohio is coming down to which reality more voters are living: the dire headlines, closed factories, and losses in combats, or the shiny new malls, growing suburbs, and a winnable war.
And the presidency may be decided by which way Ohio leans at the polls.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Paula Zahn is in Canton, Ohio to host a town hall meeting. It's called "The Undecided Vote." Key officials of both campaigns will be there to answer questions. And be sure to e-mail your questions to cnn.com/paula. PAULA ZAHN NOW, live at 8:00 Eastern tonight. That's p.m.
He's at the center of the scandal surrounding New Jersey Governor James McGreevey. But former aide Golan Cipel says he just wants to be left alone. Cipel has accused McGreevey of sexually harassing him, but he has not filed a lawsuit. McGreevey has resigned after admitting to a gay affair, but he didn't mention any names.
In the meantime, Cipel has returned to his native Israel, where he had this to say through a translator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLAN CIPEL, FORMER AIDE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I have had a very difficult time. I've come to Israel to be with my family at this time. I cannot expand on anything for legal reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And what does a former New Jersey governor think of the current governor's problems? You can find out on "AMERICAN MORNING." Former Governor Christie Todd-Whitman will be the guest in the 7:00 a.m. Eastern time hour.
It could be getting interesting today at the Scott Peterson murder trial when Mark Geragos cross-examines Amber Frey.
CNN's Ted Rowlands bring us up to date from Redwood City, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More taped conversations of Frey grilling Peterson looking for more information.
SCOTT PETERSON: The truth will prevail. And that's why we're confident.
AMBER FREY: When? When? Why does it have to take so long? Why does my life have to be affected by this and when sit going to stop, Scott?
ROWLANDS: In this conversation recorded five weeks after Laci Peterson disappeared, Scott tries to arrange a meeting with Amber.
FREY: What do you think or what do you feel would come of, you know, seeing me?
PETERSON: I just think it would help both of us so much in easing the things we're going so through. I just never felt such a strong desire as I do. ROWLANDS: At one point Peterson sounds like he's crying while he keeps pressing for a rendezvous.
PETERSON: I thought I could come to wherever you are. Like tonight just for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or something to see you or talk to you.
FREY: I can't have you come to my house, Scott.
PETERSON: OK.
FREY: And I have Ayanna with me.
PETERSON: I know. I can't say I understand, but OK.
FREY: Scott?
PETERSON: You know I'm not a monster, Amber.
FREY: I never said you were, Scott.
PETERSON: Thank God I know. But you know I could never hurt you or her or anyone. You know that, don't you?
ROWLANDS: Peterson even suggests meeting at his half sister's cabin. Frey never agrees on the tapes to a meeting, and eventually on February 19, almost four weeks after she started cooperating with police, she cuts off communication with Scott Peterson.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In news across America this morning, in California, courtroom fireworks in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The judge has slapped a $1,000 fine on a Jackson lawyer in a pretrial hearing. The attorney wouldn't back off questions that the judge said were off limits. The judge also denied a defense bid to invalidate the warrants used to search Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
They were found in a Nigerian orphanage suffering from malnutrition and malaria. This morning, seven Texas children were back in the state in foster care. Texas officials are looking into the children's claims that their adopted mother abandoned them in Nigeria back in October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have three kids and a dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated. Oh, come on, man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, can you believe this? A flood of frustration after hurricane Charley. Sheriffs' deputies used a high voltage taser gun on an evacuee in Fort Myers Beach. The evacuee allegedly tried to run a roadblock and get back to his home. Attempts by CNN to locate the man for his side of the story have been unsuccessful. He was jailed briefly and is charged with failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest without violence.
There's plenty of frustration to go around from his hurricane, much like after hurricane Andrew. The response to Andrew by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, was highly criticized. FEMA reorganized and came back strong. But now the agency is being watched to see if it's doing the job under the Department of Homeland Security.
Jeanne Meserve has more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From 700 feet up, the secretary of homeland security surveyed the smash 'em up, break 'em up, junk strewn path of hurricane Charley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my. Oh, those poor people.
MESERVE: Charley is likely to rank as the most devastating natural disaster and biggest test since the Federal Emergency Management Agency was gobbled up by the Department of Homeland Security.
MICHAEL GREENBERGER, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Some people believe DHS has dragged FEMA down. If FEMA falters in this response to hurricane Charley, it's going to be a black mark on the Department of Homeland Security.
MESERVE: Among those who think FEMA's mission has been diluted, a former director, James Lee Witt, who said in March: "FEMA has been buried beneath a massive bureaucracy whose main and seemingly only focus is fighting terrorism. And while that is absolutely critical, it should not be at the expense of preparing for and responding to natural disasters."
But Ridge categorically rejects criticism that FEMA's effectiveness, budget and morale have dropped.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: As a former governor, I know how important it is to maintain a emergency management infrastructure to deal with, more often than not, natural disasters. And we will never, never, never diminish or denigrate that capacity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the trees come in sideways. The mailboxes come in sideways.
MESERVE: During a tour of Fort Myers, Ridge took every opportunity to praise FEMA's performance and some local officials gave the agency glowing reviews.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The state and local FEMA partnership has just worked without a hitch here. So it's been great to be a part of that. RIDGE: Good. Well, we've got a lot more work to do. We just began, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we've only just begun.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. There's a lot more work to do.
MESERVE: Others say for exactly that reason, they cannot judge yet whether FEMA's interrogation into DHS is a plus or a minus.
JOHN WILSON, PUBLIC SAFETY, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I can't, I don't, you know, no, I haven't seen one way or the other at this point.
MESERVE: Ultimately, FEMA will be graded by the thousands in Florida who need its help.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Fort Myers, Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Making it easier to buy prescription medicine from Canada, Ireland and the U.K. -- that's what Illinois is going to do. The state is setting up an Internet network within the next month for state residents to use. Other states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, already have Web sites to help residents buy drugs from Canada. But Illinois is the first to tap into pharmacies in Europe and the FDA is not happy.
So our question this morning, should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com.
It's a big morning for the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat is announcing his plan for reforms in the Middle East. Is he saying anything new? We'll have a live report for you from Ramallah, just ahead.
An Iraqi delegation looking for peace gets a cold shoulder in Najaf. We'll take you live to Baghdad for an update on the national conference meeting right now.
And we're going live to Athens, where two Greek athletes face the IOC's questions about drug use.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The stock market has gained for the third straight day. Here's a look at the closing numbers.
The Dow was up 18 points.
The Nasdaq gained 12 points.
And the S&P 500 was 2 points higher.
In the international markets, Tokyo's Nikkei closed up more than 48 points today.
The markets are moving in the opposite direction, though, in Europe.
London's FTSE is trading down more than 22 points.
And the Paris CAC down nearly 19 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
More heavy fighting reported just an hour ago in the Iraqi city of Najaf. U.S. troops have been battling militia fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He's refusing to meet with an Iraqi delegation that's trying to end the clashes.
Check out the power of Mother Nature in Boscastle, England. A wall of water swept through the village after heavy rain. It sent cars hurtling through the flooded states. Thankfully, there have been no reports of deaths.
In money news, Google has cut the price range on its long awaited initial public offering. It's now expected to be offered at between $85 and $95 a share. The company says it's asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to give final approval to its IPO paperwork by 4:00 p.m. today.
In culture, can you believe it's "American Idol" time again? These superstar wannabes are waiting their turn to audition in Washington, D.C. Tryouts get under way today for the show's fourth season, which begins in January.
And in sports, the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team bounces back barely, to beat Greece 77-71. The team had lost to Puerto Rico at an opening day game.
To the forecast center and Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad.
MYERS: I actually watched some Olympics yesterday. Boxing was on.
COSTELLO: Oh?
MYERS: Yes. And some of the gymnastics and high def was on. COSTELLO: Did you watch gymnastics?
MYERS: I really did. I thought the Americans got lousy scores, but other than that, you know, what do you think?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is a big day for both Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon. The Palestinian leader is laying out his plans for reforms, while the Israeli leader is going to try to convince the party that it needs the support of the opposition Labor Party. Yasser Arafat now holding a live press conference in Palestinian territory.
Let's go live to our Stan Grant.
He's in Ramallah and he's been listening in -- Stan, bring us up to date.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, the address has been going on for about half an hour now in the very much bombed out, the old bombed headquarters of Yasser Arafat here in Ramallah.
I must say that he began before the speech to wander around the room, greeting international diplomats and members of the Palestinian Authority with a very big smile on his face, looking very relaxed, very energetic. That belies the pressure he's been under.
Many are saying that Arafat is facing the biggest challenge to his leadership for the past 30 years. There's been widespread chaos in Gaza and the West Bank over the past month. A lot of concern about the need for reform of the Palestinian Authority and allegations of corruption and nepotism rife in the Palestinian Authority.
In fact, and internal Palestinian investigation pointed the finger very much at Arafat himself, and the other leaders saying they are not doing enough to quell this violence.
We've heard nothing so far from Arafat about the need for reforms. What he has done is go over the history of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, particularly the past 10 years. He's regretting the advantages that they actually gained to the Oslo Peace Accords. He said a lot of those have been frittered away. He said the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was very important. And that's the former Israeli prime minister. He says it was a body blow to the peace process. He said since then, the Israelis have shown no commitment to the concept of peace.
He also pointed to the continuing growth of Israeli settlements in West Bank areas as being the biggest obstacle to peace. He said as far as the road map is concerned, George W. Bush's road map for peace, the Israelis have more reservations to that than actual points of order raised in the road map itself.
He did say the Palestinian people are a wounded people, yet full of optimism. And he has admitted that he has made mistakes himself over the past 10 years. He says, Carol, you need to be big enough to admit your mistakes.
COSTELLO: So, Stan, if he doesn't offer any specifics in this speech, because he seems to be relying on emotion, will that further anger the Palestinian people? And what might they do?
GRANT: Well, there's been a big push recently to have a look at the need for these reforms, to end the corruption. The Palestinian people are saying many of them not being paid. They're concerned about education. They're concerned about health. They're concerned about their daily lives.
Mohamed Dahlan, the former security minister, the former Palestinian security minister, has taken up a lot of that call and he's been criticizing Arafat personally, particularly quoted in the Arab press naming Arafat and blaming him for a lot of these reforms. He's been seen as mounting a challenge to Arafat's leadership.
Many of the observers I've spoken to have said that this is not an overture of Arafat's, but an opportunity to try to position himself in Dahlan's case, to succeed Arafat.
Interestingly, I spoke to an insider, one who listened to the address by Arafat today. And he said as far as he's concerned, Dahlan is finished. He has not raised enough of a power base to challenge Arafat and he's seen very much as doing the Israeli and the U.S. job for them -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Stan Grant reporting live from Ramallah this morning.
Thank you.
A man described as a senior al Qaeda figure gets set to face the music in the U.K. We'll tell you about the U.S. connection ahead.
And our e-mail question of the morning, should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? We will have that here for you this morning. The address, daybreak@cnn.com.
And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Before we get to our Web clicks of the morning, I want to show this video again to our viewers, because it really caught me. This is sheriffs' deputies. They're stopping a man from getting to his hurricane damaged home somewhere in the Fort Myers area. And they tasered him because he tried to, I guess, run the police roadblock.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But, you know, do you know the answer to the question?
MYERS: What is it?
COSTELLO: I mean can police really keep you away from your home?
MYERS: Of course. Absolutely. They keep...
COSTELLO: If it's an evacuation route.
MYERS: No, no, no. If they, no. They keep everybody away. No one was allowed on Captiva Island. No one was allowed on Sanibel Island until all the investigators were there. Everybody went there and made sure that the island was safe, made sure that there wasn't anything dangerous for the people there. They were also keeping onlookers. We couldn't get there. We couldn't fly, basically, fly over it. They obviously, they had patrol boats around and you couldn't even take a boat to your island.
COSTELLO: Yes, but this is after the hurricane.
MYERS: I don't care. They can keep you away for as long as they want until they deem your area is safe.
COSTELLO: Let's pause a moment and listen to what's being said on this tape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we all want to go over there and help clean up, but you all are keeping us from helping that out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you guys just need to settle down and give us a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to avoid...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care. I don't want to hear one thing and I don't want to see one camera. If you people can't behave...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't have a camera?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to tell you why not. You get my face, you listen to me, we don't want you here. You understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit there and shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had enough of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So have we.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, this is a sheriff's deputy talking to residents. And I'm just looking at it from purely an emotional standpoint. I know something has probably happened to my home that matters a lot to me. I just want to get there to find out what's going on.
MYERS: They have the right to keep you off there. Or at least they did down there. They kept us off, absolutely. And we didn't even try. We didn't even try to go there, because we knew, we listened to it on the radio. Don't try to get here, we're not going to let you on. You can get on at 9:00, so and so and so and so day. They had it all down.
COSTELLO: Well, I guess to me there's a difference between the media and the actual homeowner, because, you know, when you buy your property and you pour everything you have into it, I mean there's such an emotional bond there.
MYERS: And if authorities think that it's dangerous for you to be there, they have a right to keep you away.
COSTELLO: Yes. So something to think about this morning.
Let's get to our Web clicks now.
The number one story clicked on to cnn.com.
MYERS: Silly string.
COSTELLO: Silly string.
MYERS: It's not silly!
COSTELLO: No, it is not silly, says the Los Angeles City Council. In fact, they have banned it because I guess on Halloween people get out of control and they spray silly string everywhere on Hollywood Boulevard.
MYERS: And you know what? It is hard to clean up. I mean it's got a lot of colors on it. But they're spraying it in each other's faces. And if you actually use it, if you get a can, the fine is either $250 or $1,000.
COSTELLO: So do not use silly string in Los Angeles, for goodness sake.
MYERS: Wow.
COSTELLO: The second most clicked on story at cnn.com, the judge in the Michael Jackson case fines one of Jackson's attorneys $1,000 after he refused to back off a line of questioning he'd been told to stop. Apparently he was questioning a psychologist.
MYERS: Yes, and there was attorney-client or physician-client privileges, doctor-patient privileges. And he just wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop, and finally it was $1,000, payable immediately.
COSTELLO: Yes, the judge's patience just ran out.
The third most clicked on story on cnn.com, demographers say world population is expected to increase by 50 percent by the year 2050, except in the case of industrialized nations, with the exception of the United States.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: So Japan and Germany and countries like that, the population is going down, because people are waiting longer to have children and they're having less children.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But in America, because of immigration, the population is still expected to rise.
MYERS: I know. We'll see.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Cnn.com.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Swimming phenom...
MYERS: Look at that! He did it again!
COSTELLO: That's amazing. Good for him. He knows that all that glitters is gold.
And can the Dream Team rebound from its nightmare showing? Did you watch the Americans versus the Greeks in basketball?
MYERS: No, I don't watch basketball actually.
COSTELLO: But first, let's take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You find that you're just taking medicine and that you have to keep going to work so you can pay for the medicine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Importing prescription drugs -- state and federal governments collide head on as more citizens buy drugs abroad.
And a peace delegation gets a cold shoulder from a radical cleric. We'll take you live to Baghdad. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 18, 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, court hearings start in about an hour and a half for some terror suspects in Britain. Two of them allegedly scoped out a U.S. financial building mentioned in the recent terror alert. Another allegedly had a how-to book for making bombs.
Terrorism is still topping the agenda on Capitol Hill. A House panel meets behind closed doors today on the 9/11 Commission's report. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned senators on Tuesday not to rush into any reforms.
Turning overseas, they're back. Members of the Iraqi National Conference had gone from Baghdad to Najaf to talk peace with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. But he snubbed them. There's now talk of sending another delegation.
And back home, in northern California, a wildfire still going. The blaze has grown to 10,000 acres. It's burned more than 20 homes in the historic gold mining town of French Gulch.
To the forecast center -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: A little more than two months to go before the November elections and the candidates are stepping it up. President Bush boards his campaign bus this morning for Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He then heads to St. Croix, Wisconsin, and then on to St. Paul, Minnesota. He'll return to Texas to overnight at his ranch.
The president was in West Virginia on Tuesday and like West Virginia, Wisconsin and Minnesota are among the 17 so-called battleground states.
Senator John Kerry addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati this morning. He then heads to Boston, where he has no scheduled events. Kerry said good-bye to people who came out to watch him leave Idaho Tuesday. Kerry has spent the last few days at his Ketchum vacation home.
CNN LIVE TODAY will bring you Kerry's remarks this morning to the VFW. That airs at 10:30 Eastern time.
Ohio, of course, is another one of those battleground states. Talk to anyone there, they'll tell you Ohio is much like the rest of the nation and opinions vary about the top candidates.
Tom Foreman has more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With nearly 250,000 jobs lost, more than 5,000 citizens fighting in Iraq, and a serious split in public opinion, Ohio has become one of the most critical battleground states.
RICK FARMER, UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: Ohio's very much like the country, and Ohio is very polarized, just like the country is.
FOREMAN: And squarely divided Stark County, south of Akron, may be the tipping point. Here, the leading employer plans to close three plants which make precision bearings, dropping 1,300 jobs. Timken says that will keep other divisions growing, other jobs safe.
JIM GRIFFITH, PRESIDENT & CEO, TIMKEN: The only job security is producing something that's of value to your customer.
FOREMAN: But that's no comfort to workers facing unemployment.
BRIAN VERDOORN, TIMKEN EMPLOYEE: Ohio's going to have to find something else at this point, because we're losing the manufacturing jobs. They're going elsewhere.
FOREMAN: On other issues, the divide runs just as deep. Brian Sarver is in Iraq, and his wife Kimberly, even taking care of six kids, is so proud.
KIMBERLY SARVER, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: I think it's awesome. I think it's awesome to fight for your country.
FOREMAN: But Rebecca Jones' brother is fighting too, and she is so scared.
REBECCA JONES, BROTHER SERVING IN IRAQ: We're losing too many. We're tired of seeing our loved ones being hurt and not come home.
PAUL SRACIC, YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: I think voters here and elsewhere in Ohio are looking for anything solid to kind of hang their vote on. And that's kind of been the problem.
FOREMAN: The battle for Ohio is coming down to which reality more voters are living: the dire headlines, closed factories, and losses in combats, or the shiny new malls, growing suburbs, and a winnable war.
And the presidency may be decided by which way Ohio leans at the polls.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Paula Zahn is in Canton, Ohio to host a town hall meeting. It's called "The Undecided Vote." Key officials of both campaigns will be there to answer questions. And be sure to e-mail your questions to cnn.com/paula. PAULA ZAHN NOW, live at 8:00 Eastern tonight. That's p.m.
He's at the center of the scandal surrounding New Jersey Governor James McGreevey. But former aide Golan Cipel says he just wants to be left alone. Cipel has accused McGreevey of sexually harassing him, but he has not filed a lawsuit. McGreevey has resigned after admitting to a gay affair, but he didn't mention any names.
In the meantime, Cipel has returned to his native Israel, where he had this to say through a translator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLAN CIPEL, FORMER AIDE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I have had a very difficult time. I've come to Israel to be with my family at this time. I cannot expand on anything for legal reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And what does a former New Jersey governor think of the current governor's problems? You can find out on "AMERICAN MORNING." Former Governor Christie Todd-Whitman will be the guest in the 7:00 a.m. Eastern time hour.
It could be getting interesting today at the Scott Peterson murder trial when Mark Geragos cross-examines Amber Frey.
CNN's Ted Rowlands bring us up to date from Redwood City, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More taped conversations of Frey grilling Peterson looking for more information.
SCOTT PETERSON: The truth will prevail. And that's why we're confident.
AMBER FREY: When? When? Why does it have to take so long? Why does my life have to be affected by this and when sit going to stop, Scott?
ROWLANDS: In this conversation recorded five weeks after Laci Peterson disappeared, Scott tries to arrange a meeting with Amber.
FREY: What do you think or what do you feel would come of, you know, seeing me?
PETERSON: I just think it would help both of us so much in easing the things we're going so through. I just never felt such a strong desire as I do. ROWLANDS: At one point Peterson sounds like he's crying while he keeps pressing for a rendezvous.
PETERSON: I thought I could come to wherever you are. Like tonight just for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or something to see you or talk to you.
FREY: I can't have you come to my house, Scott.
PETERSON: OK.
FREY: And I have Ayanna with me.
PETERSON: I know. I can't say I understand, but OK.
FREY: Scott?
PETERSON: You know I'm not a monster, Amber.
FREY: I never said you were, Scott.
PETERSON: Thank God I know. But you know I could never hurt you or her or anyone. You know that, don't you?
ROWLANDS: Peterson even suggests meeting at his half sister's cabin. Frey never agrees on the tapes to a meeting, and eventually on February 19, almost four weeks after she started cooperating with police, she cuts off communication with Scott Peterson.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In news across America this morning, in California, courtroom fireworks in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The judge has slapped a $1,000 fine on a Jackson lawyer in a pretrial hearing. The attorney wouldn't back off questions that the judge said were off limits. The judge also denied a defense bid to invalidate the warrants used to search Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
They were found in a Nigerian orphanage suffering from malnutrition and malaria. This morning, seven Texas children were back in the state in foster care. Texas officials are looking into the children's claims that their adopted mother abandoned them in Nigeria back in October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have three kids and a dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated. Oh, come on, man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, can you believe this? A flood of frustration after hurricane Charley. Sheriffs' deputies used a high voltage taser gun on an evacuee in Fort Myers Beach. The evacuee allegedly tried to run a roadblock and get back to his home. Attempts by CNN to locate the man for his side of the story have been unsuccessful. He was jailed briefly and is charged with failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest without violence.
There's plenty of frustration to go around from his hurricane, much like after hurricane Andrew. The response to Andrew by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, was highly criticized. FEMA reorganized and came back strong. But now the agency is being watched to see if it's doing the job under the Department of Homeland Security.
Jeanne Meserve has more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From 700 feet up, the secretary of homeland security surveyed the smash 'em up, break 'em up, junk strewn path of hurricane Charley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my. Oh, those poor people.
MESERVE: Charley is likely to rank as the most devastating natural disaster and biggest test since the Federal Emergency Management Agency was gobbled up by the Department of Homeland Security.
MICHAEL GREENBERGER, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Some people believe DHS has dragged FEMA down. If FEMA falters in this response to hurricane Charley, it's going to be a black mark on the Department of Homeland Security.
MESERVE: Among those who think FEMA's mission has been diluted, a former director, James Lee Witt, who said in March: "FEMA has been buried beneath a massive bureaucracy whose main and seemingly only focus is fighting terrorism. And while that is absolutely critical, it should not be at the expense of preparing for and responding to natural disasters."
But Ridge categorically rejects criticism that FEMA's effectiveness, budget and morale have dropped.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: As a former governor, I know how important it is to maintain a emergency management infrastructure to deal with, more often than not, natural disasters. And we will never, never, never diminish or denigrate that capacity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the trees come in sideways. The mailboxes come in sideways.
MESERVE: During a tour of Fort Myers, Ridge took every opportunity to praise FEMA's performance and some local officials gave the agency glowing reviews.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The state and local FEMA partnership has just worked without a hitch here. So it's been great to be a part of that. RIDGE: Good. Well, we've got a lot more work to do. We just began, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we've only just begun.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. There's a lot more work to do.
MESERVE: Others say for exactly that reason, they cannot judge yet whether FEMA's interrogation into DHS is a plus or a minus.
JOHN WILSON, PUBLIC SAFETY, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I can't, I don't, you know, no, I haven't seen one way or the other at this point.
MESERVE: Ultimately, FEMA will be graded by the thousands in Florida who need its help.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Fort Myers, Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Making it easier to buy prescription medicine from Canada, Ireland and the U.K. -- that's what Illinois is going to do. The state is setting up an Internet network within the next month for state residents to use. Other states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, already have Web sites to help residents buy drugs from Canada. But Illinois is the first to tap into pharmacies in Europe and the FDA is not happy.
So our question this morning, should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com.
It's a big morning for the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat is announcing his plan for reforms in the Middle East. Is he saying anything new? We'll have a live report for you from Ramallah, just ahead.
An Iraqi delegation looking for peace gets a cold shoulder in Najaf. We'll take you live to Baghdad for an update on the national conference meeting right now.
And we're going live to Athens, where two Greek athletes face the IOC's questions about drug use.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The stock market has gained for the third straight day. Here's a look at the closing numbers.
The Dow was up 18 points.
The Nasdaq gained 12 points.
And the S&P 500 was 2 points higher.
In the international markets, Tokyo's Nikkei closed up more than 48 points today.
The markets are moving in the opposite direction, though, in Europe.
London's FTSE is trading down more than 22 points.
And the Paris CAC down nearly 19 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
More heavy fighting reported just an hour ago in the Iraqi city of Najaf. U.S. troops have been battling militia fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He's refusing to meet with an Iraqi delegation that's trying to end the clashes.
Check out the power of Mother Nature in Boscastle, England. A wall of water swept through the village after heavy rain. It sent cars hurtling through the flooded states. Thankfully, there have been no reports of deaths.
In money news, Google has cut the price range on its long awaited initial public offering. It's now expected to be offered at between $85 and $95 a share. The company says it's asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to give final approval to its IPO paperwork by 4:00 p.m. today.
In culture, can you believe it's "American Idol" time again? These superstar wannabes are waiting their turn to audition in Washington, D.C. Tryouts get under way today for the show's fourth season, which begins in January.
And in sports, the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team bounces back barely, to beat Greece 77-71. The team had lost to Puerto Rico at an opening day game.
To the forecast center and Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad.
MYERS: I actually watched some Olympics yesterday. Boxing was on.
COSTELLO: Oh?
MYERS: Yes. And some of the gymnastics and high def was on. COSTELLO: Did you watch gymnastics?
MYERS: I really did. I thought the Americans got lousy scores, but other than that, you know, what do you think?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is a big day for both Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon. The Palestinian leader is laying out his plans for reforms, while the Israeli leader is going to try to convince the party that it needs the support of the opposition Labor Party. Yasser Arafat now holding a live press conference in Palestinian territory.
Let's go live to our Stan Grant.
He's in Ramallah and he's been listening in -- Stan, bring us up to date.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, the address has been going on for about half an hour now in the very much bombed out, the old bombed headquarters of Yasser Arafat here in Ramallah.
I must say that he began before the speech to wander around the room, greeting international diplomats and members of the Palestinian Authority with a very big smile on his face, looking very relaxed, very energetic. That belies the pressure he's been under.
Many are saying that Arafat is facing the biggest challenge to his leadership for the past 30 years. There's been widespread chaos in Gaza and the West Bank over the past month. A lot of concern about the need for reform of the Palestinian Authority and allegations of corruption and nepotism rife in the Palestinian Authority.
In fact, and internal Palestinian investigation pointed the finger very much at Arafat himself, and the other leaders saying they are not doing enough to quell this violence.
We've heard nothing so far from Arafat about the need for reforms. What he has done is go over the history of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, particularly the past 10 years. He's regretting the advantages that they actually gained to the Oslo Peace Accords. He said a lot of those have been frittered away. He said the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was very important. And that's the former Israeli prime minister. He says it was a body blow to the peace process. He said since then, the Israelis have shown no commitment to the concept of peace.
He also pointed to the continuing growth of Israeli settlements in West Bank areas as being the biggest obstacle to peace. He said as far as the road map is concerned, George W. Bush's road map for peace, the Israelis have more reservations to that than actual points of order raised in the road map itself.
He did say the Palestinian people are a wounded people, yet full of optimism. And he has admitted that he has made mistakes himself over the past 10 years. He says, Carol, you need to be big enough to admit your mistakes.
COSTELLO: So, Stan, if he doesn't offer any specifics in this speech, because he seems to be relying on emotion, will that further anger the Palestinian people? And what might they do?
GRANT: Well, there's been a big push recently to have a look at the need for these reforms, to end the corruption. The Palestinian people are saying many of them not being paid. They're concerned about education. They're concerned about health. They're concerned about their daily lives.
Mohamed Dahlan, the former security minister, the former Palestinian security minister, has taken up a lot of that call and he's been criticizing Arafat personally, particularly quoted in the Arab press naming Arafat and blaming him for a lot of these reforms. He's been seen as mounting a challenge to Arafat's leadership.
Many of the observers I've spoken to have said that this is not an overture of Arafat's, but an opportunity to try to position himself in Dahlan's case, to succeed Arafat.
Interestingly, I spoke to an insider, one who listened to the address by Arafat today. And he said as far as he's concerned, Dahlan is finished. He has not raised enough of a power base to challenge Arafat and he's seen very much as doing the Israeli and the U.S. job for them -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Stan Grant reporting live from Ramallah this morning.
Thank you.
A man described as a senior al Qaeda figure gets set to face the music in the U.K. We'll tell you about the U.S. connection ahead.
And our e-mail question of the morning, should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? We will have that here for you this morning. The address, daybreak@cnn.com.
And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Before we get to our Web clicks of the morning, I want to show this video again to our viewers, because it really caught me. This is sheriffs' deputies. They're stopping a man from getting to his hurricane damaged home somewhere in the Fort Myers area. And they tasered him because he tried to, I guess, run the police roadblock.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But, you know, do you know the answer to the question?
MYERS: What is it?
COSTELLO: I mean can police really keep you away from your home?
MYERS: Of course. Absolutely. They keep...
COSTELLO: If it's an evacuation route.
MYERS: No, no, no. If they, no. They keep everybody away. No one was allowed on Captiva Island. No one was allowed on Sanibel Island until all the investigators were there. Everybody went there and made sure that the island was safe, made sure that there wasn't anything dangerous for the people there. They were also keeping onlookers. We couldn't get there. We couldn't fly, basically, fly over it. They obviously, they had patrol boats around and you couldn't even take a boat to your island.
COSTELLO: Yes, but this is after the hurricane.
MYERS: I don't care. They can keep you away for as long as they want until they deem your area is safe.
COSTELLO: Let's pause a moment and listen to what's being said on this tape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we all want to go over there and help clean up, but you all are keeping us from helping that out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you guys just need to settle down and give us a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to avoid...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care. I don't want to hear one thing and I don't want to see one camera. If you people can't behave...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't have a camera?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to tell you why not. You get my face, you listen to me, we don't want you here. You understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit there and shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had enough of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So have we.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, this is a sheriff's deputy talking to residents. And I'm just looking at it from purely an emotional standpoint. I know something has probably happened to my home that matters a lot to me. I just want to get there to find out what's going on.
MYERS: They have the right to keep you off there. Or at least they did down there. They kept us off, absolutely. And we didn't even try. We didn't even try to go there, because we knew, we listened to it on the radio. Don't try to get here, we're not going to let you on. You can get on at 9:00, so and so and so and so day. They had it all down.
COSTELLO: Well, I guess to me there's a difference between the media and the actual homeowner, because, you know, when you buy your property and you pour everything you have into it, I mean there's such an emotional bond there.
MYERS: And if authorities think that it's dangerous for you to be there, they have a right to keep you away.
COSTELLO: Yes. So something to think about this morning.
Let's get to our Web clicks now.
The number one story clicked on to cnn.com.
MYERS: Silly string.
COSTELLO: Silly string.
MYERS: It's not silly!
COSTELLO: No, it is not silly, says the Los Angeles City Council. In fact, they have banned it because I guess on Halloween people get out of control and they spray silly string everywhere on Hollywood Boulevard.
MYERS: And you know what? It is hard to clean up. I mean it's got a lot of colors on it. But they're spraying it in each other's faces. And if you actually use it, if you get a can, the fine is either $250 or $1,000.
COSTELLO: So do not use silly string in Los Angeles, for goodness sake.
MYERS: Wow.
COSTELLO: The second most clicked on story at cnn.com, the judge in the Michael Jackson case fines one of Jackson's attorneys $1,000 after he refused to back off a line of questioning he'd been told to stop. Apparently he was questioning a psychologist.
MYERS: Yes, and there was attorney-client or physician-client privileges, doctor-patient privileges. And he just wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop, and finally it was $1,000, payable immediately.
COSTELLO: Yes, the judge's patience just ran out.
The third most clicked on story on cnn.com, demographers say world population is expected to increase by 50 percent by the year 2050, except in the case of industrialized nations, with the exception of the United States.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: So Japan and Germany and countries like that, the population is going down, because people are waiting longer to have children and they're having less children.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But in America, because of immigration, the population is still expected to rise.
MYERS: I know. We'll see.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Cnn.com.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Swimming phenom...
MYERS: Look at that! He did it again!
COSTELLO: That's amazing. Good for him. He knows that all that glitters is gold.
And can the Dream Team rebound from its nightmare showing? Did you watch the Americans versus the Greeks in basketball?
MYERS: No, I don't watch basketball actually.
COSTELLO: But first, let's take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You find that you're just taking medicine and that you have to keep going to work so you can pay for the medicine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Importing prescription drugs -- state and federal governments collide head on as more citizens buy drugs abroad.
And a peace delegation gets a cold shoulder from a radical cleric. We'll take you live to Baghdad. This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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