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CNN Live At Daybreak
Negotiations Between Iraqi Government Officials, Muqtada Al- Sadr Fall Apart; Today's Court Hearing of Eight Suspected Terrorists in Britain
Aired August 18, 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: Eight men on their way to appear in a London court this morning, some charged with casing a U.S. building in an alleged terror plot.
It is Wednesday, August 18.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, high security at a London court where some terror suspects are appearing this morning. Police arrested them in raids two weeks ago. Two of them allegedly scoped out the Prudential Building in New Jersey. And that led to that recent terror alert, heightened terror alert, I should say. Another suspect allegedly had a how to book for making bombs.
Heavy fighting now reported in Najaf. Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has refused to meet with an Iraqi delegation sent to negotiate a cease-fire. John Vause told us minutes ago that the Iraqi government is now telling him the time for negotiations is over. There's new pictures of the fighting this morning.
Behind closed doors, the House Select Intelligence Committee meets with the co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission in three hours. Also set to appear, the former heads of the CIA and the FBI.
And back home, firefighters are using helicopters to battle a northern California wildfire. The blaze has now grown to 10,000 acres. It's burned more than 20 homes and the historic gold mining town of French Gulch.
Over to Chad now.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Today could be a decisive day in the battle for Najaf. There were tough words this morning from the Iraqi defense minister. To quote him: "The time for negotiations are over."
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now with more on this developing story.
And we do have new pictures just in from Najaf of the battles going on there now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: That's correct.
Around the same time that we know that the delegation from the Iraqi Conference, the Iraqi government, effectively, went down to Najaf last night, around the time they left, having failed to meet with Muqtada al-Sadr, having failed to negotiate with him.
Around the time they left, large explosions in Najaf around the mosque area. And all this morning, we're hearing reports of significant fighting.
Now, on the other hand, it's basically back to the level it was a few days ago, before this delegation went in. So we're not yet clear that this is the beginning of any kind of offensive on the mosque.
COSTELLO: The words from the Iraqi defense minister, "The time for negotiations is just over," what exactly does he mean? Will there be a huge offensive in Najaf?
CLINCH: Well, that -- there are two things to say about that. One, he's the defense minister, not the prime minister. And the prime minister, Allawi, is the one who will make the final decision. And, also, of course, this is the key point we have been making, and our reporters on the ground telling us this again and again, both the reporters in Baghdad and the reporters who are embedded with the U.S. forces in Najaf saying it will not be U.S. forces that go into the mosque. It will be, if anyone goes in, the Iraqi forces. And Allawi will make that final decision, not the defense minister.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you this, too, because every time we do a story about Najaf, people e-mail us asking us why? Why don't they just get rid of Muqtada al-Sadr? Why go and try to negotiate with this guy? I mean that delegation went to negotiate with him and he never showed.
CLINCH: Well, that's true. And Allawi's patience is clearly running out. He's in Baghdad at the moment, meeting with his leadership. And he will make a decision. It's a tough decision, though. Our reporters there on the ground saying that Muqtada al-Sadr dead may be more trouble than he is alive. And the defense minister is a very interesting character to illustrate the problem.
He is a man who has been saying that it's Iran, next door Iran, the Shiite country Iran right next door, that's been helping Muqtada al-Sadr, supporting him. Now the rest...
COSTELLO: Arming him. Arming his militia.
CLINCH: Exactly.
Now, Allawi and the others in the government not so clear on that point. In fact, they, as Shiites, Allawi in particular, reluctant to blame Iran. But that just shows you how explosive this is. If the Iraqi government, led by a Shiite, the interim government, were to attack -- and, whether they meant to or not -- kill Muqtada al-Sadr, they've got a big problem on their hands. The majority Shiite population very reluctant to see the blood of a cleric, even a rebel cleric, come out as a result of this.
This is a very difficult decision. Our reporters on the ground making it absolutely clear the difficult decisions being faced by the U.S. over the last few months and few years since the invasion happened are now in the hands of the Iraqis. A big problem, and they have to handle it.
COSTELLO: All right, well, we'll keep an eye on what's happening in Najaf this morning.
Thank you, David.
Joining us in 15 minutes, CNN's senior Arab affairs editor, Octavia Nasr, with the Arab voice, a view of how Arab TV is covering these latest developments in Najaf.
Eight men charged with terror related activity will appear in a British court today. Some of the information obtained from the suspects prompted this month's heightened terror alert level in the States.
Walter Rodgers has more on the case against those men.
COSTELLO:
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The eight men now formally charged in Britain were arrested two weeks ago in a nationwide dragnet for terror suspects. They are accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to use radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals and explosives.
Terrorism experts say British police were worried.
NICK FIELDING, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: They believe there's a connection between this group and the most senior levels of the al Qaeda organization. There's some suggestion going around just at this moment that there was a very important meeting in Pakistan, in the tribal areas, in March this year, and that one or possibly more of this group were present or connected with that meeting in some way.
RODGERS: The alleged terror conspiracy spanned three continents -- Asia, specifically Pakistan; Europe, specifically Britain, where the men were arrested; and the U.S., the sites of their alleged targets. Reconnaissance was allegedly conducted at the New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, New Jersey's Prudential Center and the IMF in Washington.
Still, the man who lives in this house, Eisa al-Hindi, was a prize catch for the British. U.S. officials believe he is a top terrorism operative, an Indian Hindu who converted to Islam.
FIELDING: He then worked in the Afghan training camps, possibly as a trainer. And he wrote a book -- which is available in this country, it's been published in this country -- which is a kind of manual for conducting terrorist activities.
RODGERS: The difficulty for British police and the courts now is the matter of evidence. Pakistani intelligence reportedly told Western intelligence agencies some of the reconnaissance done on those U.S. buildings was four years old.
(on camera): The legal process is expected to be long and difficult. Experts here say it could be six to 10 months before this trial ever begins.
Walter Rodgers, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And terrorism is topping the agenda on Capitol Hill today. A House panel will meet behind closed doors to talk about the 9/11 Commission's report. And that's just one of the congressional committees hearing testimony on this issue.
Let's check in with CNN Radio reporter Dick Uliano, who's got the latest on the hearings.
You've been sitting in, oh, jeez, for weeks, it seems now.
Bring us up to date.
DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, no surprise. Guess who's back on Capitol Hill this morning? The chairman and the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, the third straight day they're testifying. Today, they'll be before the House Intelligence Committee, behind closed doors, talking about their recommendation that there be a national intelligence director; as the Congress, both the Senate and the House, continue to go down this road of intelligence reform, determined to get this job done and showing the American people the resolve that they are tackling this issue -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, so far many people believe the only resolve they're showing is that they can continue talking.
What are the 9/11 families feeling about this?
ULIANO: Well, the 9/11 families, three family members appeared before a Senate panel yesterday, and their message was really quite clear. They said, look, they were unable to protect their loved ones from death on 9/11, the least they can do is continue to work for these reforms that the 9/11 Commission put forward and thereby increase the national security.
And the heart of all of these reforms, Carol, as you know, is the creation of a so-called national intelligence director, who would oversee all the nation's intelligence agencies.
COSTELLO: And the defense secretary testified as to that national intelligence director, and he said maybe we shouldn't move too fast on this.
ULIANO: Yes. Rumsfeld seems to think this is a bad idea. Remember, the Defense Department controls the budget of most of these intelligence agencies, such as defense intelligence and the NASA and agencies like this. And he's concerned, he says, about real time battlefield intelligence. What will happen to that? He says there's a war ongoing and it's difficult to change horses in mid-stream during a war.
COSTELLO: So when will these committee hearings wrap up? I know Congress is coming back soon. What will happen then? And then what movement, what, you know, solid movement can Americans expect?
ULIANO: Well, there's two ways to look at this, Carol.
Number one, it looks like, you know, it could be a lot of noise over this and the law makers simply trying to show the American public that they're being responsive to the 9/11 Commission's proposals. But, on the other hand, leaders of the House and the Senate say they may have legislation ready by early October or late September in which they could put forward -- and we could see votes later this year -- in creating this national intelligence director.
So it would be Congress moving rather quickly if that takes place.
COSTELLO: All right, Dick Uliano from CNN Radio joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
In other stories across America this morning, they were found in a Nigerian orphanage, a Nigerian orphanage, suffering from malnutrition and malaria. This morning, seven Texas children, Americans, are back in the state in foster care. Texas officials are looking into the children's claims that their adoptive mother abandoned them in Nigeria back in October.
In California, courtroom fireworks in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The judge has slapped a $1,000 fine on the Jackson lawyer in a pretrial hearing. The attorney wouldn't back off on questions the judge said were off limits. The judge also denied a defense bid to invalidate the warrant used to search Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
In the Scott Peterson trial, it is the defense's turn now. Today, Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, will cross-examine Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey. Jurors have been hearing tape-recorded phone conversations between Frey and Peterson, who could face the death penalty if convicted.
And 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. 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: The only difference between prescription drugs here and prescription drugs there is the price. And so today, I am announcing that Illinois will become the first state in the nation to give its citizens the opportunity to purchase prescription drugs directly from Canada and directly from Ireland and directly from the United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And, as you might imagine, the FDA is not so happy with that, because the drugs coming in from those countries many times aren't regulated.
That takes us to our e-mail Question of the Day. Should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? Can all of us -- I mean should it enable all of us the choice of buying drugs online?
E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Millions of dollars being spent on campaign ads this year.
At 15 after, we'll see if radio, television or newspapers are raking in the most dough.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have three kids at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated! Oh, come on, man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, we've been hearing from you about this story, as well. Emotions running high in Florida as one homeowner, a victim of hurricane Charley, clashes with authorities. He was trying to get to his house. At 20 minutes after the hour, we'll tell you the rest of the problem.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Will the stock markets gain for a third straight day? Oh, we hope so. Here's a look at the closing numbers. The Dow was up 18 points.
The Nasdaq gained 12.
The S&P 500 moved 2 points higher.
Time for a little more business buzz.
The people who place political ads are using a new strategy the election year. So where are the dollars going? Ooh.
Carrie Lee has some interesting numbers from the Nasdaq market site -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, a sign of the times here, because television and radio still get the bulk of campaign ad dollars. But this year, cable and satellite companies are expected to surpass newspapers for the third largest slice of this year's campaign dollars. And we're talking about a lot of money here.
Cable and satellite will collect 2.9 percent of the $2.7 billion being spent by all sources on election related media this year. This according to a study from PQ Media. And that's up from 1.6 percent of $1.2 billion in 2000. So a lot more money going around this time.
Also, the Internet will see nearly 1 percent, 9/10 of 1 percent of the money, and that's up from just 1/10 in the year 2000.
Interesting, as one source says, a lot of people are going to blogs for their political information, those online Web sites. And so that's where a lot of voters are going. So that's where advertisers are going.
Also, e-mail an advertising component this time around, Carol. So things certainly changing as technology does.
COSTELLO: Certainly so.
Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:17 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat admits his leadership has made mistakes and he is vowing to correct them. Arafat made that rare admission during an address to Palestinian law makers just a short time ago.
Check out the power of Mother Nature in Boscastle, England. A wall of water sweeps through the village after heavy rain. It sends cars hurtling through the flooded states. Thankfully, no reports of deaths this morning. 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 just barely, to squeak by Greece 77-71. The team had lost to Puerto Rico in an opening day game.
To Chad now.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you.
There is so much going on today in Iraq. And, as usual, events on the ground are playing out rather quickly.
To get the Arab view on what's happening, as well as how the Arab media are covering the developments, Octavia Nasr is with me now.
And let's jump right into Najaf, because there has been an announcement that Iraqi forces have been cleared to go inside that mosque.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Al-Arabiya Television just had an exclusive interview with the Iraqi defense minister. And, indeed, he said that his forces are ready to enter Najaf, enter the holy shrine and the other holy sites. And he did say that the troops are ready. He did indicate that only Iraqi troops will be entering the holy sites. You know, this is a very important point for Iraqis and Arabs and Muslims around the world.
So he indicated only Iraqis will be entering, that the U.S. will be helping by air and land defending the Iraqi troops entering the holy sites.
COSTELLO: This is the Iraqi defense minister now.
NASR: That's him on Al-Arabiya, right.
COSTELLO: This could get really ugly, even if it is Iraqi -- only Iraqi troops entering this mosque.
Tell us the possible repercussions from this. NASR: Well, Arab media have been talking about this for a while. It seems, by watching Arab media, you kind of knew this is what's going to happen, that at the end it had to be an Iraqi move into Najaf because of the holy sites and, you know, U.S. troops entering will desecrate these sites. And the Arabs on Arab media, you know, observers, analysts, the clerics, all of them, have been warning about entering Najaf and warning of the bloodshed that could happen.
COSTELLO: This might inflame Shiites not only throughout Iraq, but also in Iran.
Let's talk about Muqtada al-Sadr.
This is fighting, by the way, from this morning in Najaf. Muqtada al-Sadr. Let's say he's inside that mosque. What do the Iraqi troops do?
NASR: Well, Arab media are telling us, and this defense minister that we've just heard from, he's a tough guy and he's been talking tough since he really took office. His word is give up. Give up your weapons, surrender right now, before we enter Najaf. This -- he said it clearly.
So basically if Muqtada al-Sadr is in there, the troops are going to enter. He could be wounded, he could be killed. At that point, that's not going to be an issue. The issue is to enter Najaf, secure it and stay there until all the militias have given yup their weapons and have surrendered.
COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
NASR: You bet.
COSTELLO: As victims of hurricane Charley try to pick up the pieces, tempers flare when one family affected by the hurricane tries desperately to get back to their home. We'll give you a hint -- they were tasered by police.
We'll have more on that story when DAYBREAK returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is promising to get help to Florida's victims of hurricane Charley quickly. He says right now $11 million, federal staffers and supplies are on the way. The water is running again in Charlotte County but you'll still need to purify it before drinking or cooking with it. Now, close to 400,000 people are still without power.
And frustrations are clearly boiling over for many of those people trying to rebuild their lives in Florida.
MYERS: The electricity is going to be out for a long time, by the way. There's no...
COSTELLO: For a long time. And a lot of people aren't being allowed to go back to their homes at all because of safety issues.
MYERS: Right. Thousands of power lines down and things like that. A lot of the houses are absolutely unstable. You've got two walls and a roof that's still hanging there, the police don't want to let these people to get there to get injured.
COSTELLO: Bob Franken has more on that taser incident because of those frustrations.
MYERS: I know.
COSTELLO: Let's look at his story now.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lee County sheriff said his deputies had no choice but to temporarily incapacitate this man with a high-voltage taser gun after police say he tried to run over officers who were preventing them from crossing their blockades in this Fort Meyers Beach neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: That violence can escalate, and it can escalate not just from there, but to other people. Once you get 20, 30, 40 people, now you've really have a problem.
FRANKEN: Attempts by CNN to locate the man for his comments have been unsuccessful. He was briefly jailed, and is now charged with failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest without violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated.
FRANKEN: It was a case of frustration exploding into anger. Witnesses the man, with his three children in his minivan, simply wanted to get back to his house. When he tried to move his van past police, they tasered him and pulled him from the car. He was one of so many prevented from returning to their homes for safety reasons.
Structures that aren't destroyed are often unlivable, with no electric power for hundreds of thousands to refrigerate food and provide air conditioning in the intense summer heat.
It all adds up to more and more heated tempers. Supplies are often short, lines long for everyone. Patience is thin.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: You know, Chad and I have been talking about this and we have two different opinions on what should have happened. You know, I -- just from an emotional standpoint, in wanting to go back to your home to see what happened, especially if I had animals there, my dog or my cat, I mean I would just want to get to my house. If the police would have said to me, you know, it's dangerous, you might get hurt, I would have said, OK, I'll take that chance. I just want to go see my house.
MYERS: They can't. They don't have time to take 10,000 people one at a time, escort them, baby-sit them, to their houses.
COSTELLO: But I wouldn't want them to go with me.
MYERS: Well, and then they're going to -- then you're going to go to the next door neighbor and take some of their stuff. I know you wouldn't, but people do. People are -- there are scams out there and the police can't tell whether you're -- they don't know that you actually live there.
COSTELLO: Well, I've got a driver's license with my address on it.
MYERS: How hard is it to make that?
COSTELLO: I know.
We've got some e-mail.
"Chad, what country do you live in? What are you promoting by saying that sheriff's deputies had the right to act as they did?"
MYERS: It's a police state. That whole thing, it's a state of emergency down there. There are hundreds of homes that are nails and glass and things and ready to fall down because there's only two walls left and the roof's up there.
COSTELLO: You did bring up a good point, because if they have to send emergency personnel to get you out of there because you got hurt, that would cause them trauma.
MYERS: The pol -- here's -- I was there. The police want to make sure everything is safe. They don't want anybody in there until they know that every building is safe, that they've brought everything down, they have the structural engineers in there. They're going to say OK, now, everybody can go back at the same time. They're going to keep the media out, and that's good. But they want the owners to all go back at the same time and they don't want one owner taking from some other owner that's not there. You know, there's looting. People are just -- I don't know.
COSTELLO: I know, it's a tough situation.
One more from John. He says: "Under what law can the authorities keep one of their own off their own property? And why didn't the authorities want cameras around?"
Because in that videotape...
MYERS: Yes, I did hear that. I don't know what that was about.
COSTELLO: I know it.
MYERS: You know what? There still could be bodies out there. Heaven forbid that there is, but there still could be. Maybe that's why they don't want it.
COSTELLO: OK.
MYERS: Here's another thing, and Neal Boortz actually had this on the air, and I heard this second-hand from a guy in our control room. At noon yesterday, he said now people are going to watch this video, the next time there's a hurricane, they're not going to evacuate because they're going to say to themselves, well, you know what? I can't get back to my house if I leave...
COSTELLO: You've just switched sides in the argument.
That's a good point, though.
MYERS: It's a point. It's a point that now people are actually going to stay on the Barrier Island. I don't have a side on this. I was there and I saw and I heard on the radio why they want people to stay off those Barrier Islands, because they're a disaster area. They literally are. Literally and figuratively, they are a disaster area.
COSTELLO: I understand.
I'm sure that much more discussion will be swirling around this topic in the days to come.
The headlines coming your way in two minutes.
You stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 18, 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: Eight men on their way to appear in a London court this morning, some charged with casing a U.S. building in an alleged terror plot.
It is Wednesday, August 18.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, high security at a London court where some terror suspects are appearing this morning. Police arrested them in raids two weeks ago. Two of them allegedly scoped out the Prudential Building in New Jersey. And that led to that recent terror alert, heightened terror alert, I should say. Another suspect allegedly had a how to book for making bombs.
Heavy fighting now reported in Najaf. Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has refused to meet with an Iraqi delegation sent to negotiate a cease-fire. John Vause told us minutes ago that the Iraqi government is now telling him the time for negotiations is over. There's new pictures of the fighting this morning.
Behind closed doors, the House Select Intelligence Committee meets with the co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission in three hours. Also set to appear, the former heads of the CIA and the FBI.
And back home, firefighters are using helicopters to battle a northern California wildfire. The blaze has now grown to 10,000 acres. It's burned more than 20 homes and the historic gold mining town of French Gulch.
Over to Chad now.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Today could be a decisive day in the battle for Najaf. There were tough words this morning from the Iraqi defense minister. To quote him: "The time for negotiations are over."
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now with more on this developing story.
And we do have new pictures just in from Najaf of the battles going on there now.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: That's correct.
Around the same time that we know that the delegation from the Iraqi Conference, the Iraqi government, effectively, went down to Najaf last night, around the time they left, having failed to meet with Muqtada al-Sadr, having failed to negotiate with him.
Around the time they left, large explosions in Najaf around the mosque area. And all this morning, we're hearing reports of significant fighting.
Now, on the other hand, it's basically back to the level it was a few days ago, before this delegation went in. So we're not yet clear that this is the beginning of any kind of offensive on the mosque.
COSTELLO: The words from the Iraqi defense minister, "The time for negotiations is just over," what exactly does he mean? Will there be a huge offensive in Najaf?
CLINCH: Well, that -- there are two things to say about that. One, he's the defense minister, not the prime minister. And the prime minister, Allawi, is the one who will make the final decision. And, also, of course, this is the key point we have been making, and our reporters on the ground telling us this again and again, both the reporters in Baghdad and the reporters who are embedded with the U.S. forces in Najaf saying it will not be U.S. forces that go into the mosque. It will be, if anyone goes in, the Iraqi forces. And Allawi will make that final decision, not the defense minister.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you this, too, because every time we do a story about Najaf, people e-mail us asking us why? Why don't they just get rid of Muqtada al-Sadr? Why go and try to negotiate with this guy? I mean that delegation went to negotiate with him and he never showed.
CLINCH: Well, that's true. And Allawi's patience is clearly running out. He's in Baghdad at the moment, meeting with his leadership. And he will make a decision. It's a tough decision, though. Our reporters there on the ground saying that Muqtada al-Sadr dead may be more trouble than he is alive. And the defense minister is a very interesting character to illustrate the problem.
He is a man who has been saying that it's Iran, next door Iran, the Shiite country Iran right next door, that's been helping Muqtada al-Sadr, supporting him. Now the rest...
COSTELLO: Arming him. Arming his militia.
CLINCH: Exactly.
Now, Allawi and the others in the government not so clear on that point. In fact, they, as Shiites, Allawi in particular, reluctant to blame Iran. But that just shows you how explosive this is. If the Iraqi government, led by a Shiite, the interim government, were to attack -- and, whether they meant to or not -- kill Muqtada al-Sadr, they've got a big problem on their hands. The majority Shiite population very reluctant to see the blood of a cleric, even a rebel cleric, come out as a result of this.
This is a very difficult decision. Our reporters on the ground making it absolutely clear the difficult decisions being faced by the U.S. over the last few months and few years since the invasion happened are now in the hands of the Iraqis. A big problem, and they have to handle it.
COSTELLO: All right, well, we'll keep an eye on what's happening in Najaf this morning.
Thank you, David.
Joining us in 15 minutes, CNN's senior Arab affairs editor, Octavia Nasr, with the Arab voice, a view of how Arab TV is covering these latest developments in Najaf.
Eight men charged with terror related activity will appear in a British court today. Some of the information obtained from the suspects prompted this month's heightened terror alert level in the States.
Walter Rodgers has more on the case against those men.
COSTELLO:
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The eight men now formally charged in Britain were arrested two weeks ago in a nationwide dragnet for terror suspects. They are accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to use radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals and explosives.
Terrorism experts say British police were worried.
NICK FIELDING, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: They believe there's a connection between this group and the most senior levels of the al Qaeda organization. There's some suggestion going around just at this moment that there was a very important meeting in Pakistan, in the tribal areas, in March this year, and that one or possibly more of this group were present or connected with that meeting in some way.
RODGERS: The alleged terror conspiracy spanned three continents -- Asia, specifically Pakistan; Europe, specifically Britain, where the men were arrested; and the U.S., the sites of their alleged targets. Reconnaissance was allegedly conducted at the New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, New Jersey's Prudential Center and the IMF in Washington.
Still, the man who lives in this house, Eisa al-Hindi, was a prize catch for the British. U.S. officials believe he is a top terrorism operative, an Indian Hindu who converted to Islam.
FIELDING: He then worked in the Afghan training camps, possibly as a trainer. And he wrote a book -- which is available in this country, it's been published in this country -- which is a kind of manual for conducting terrorist activities.
RODGERS: The difficulty for British police and the courts now is the matter of evidence. Pakistani intelligence reportedly told Western intelligence agencies some of the reconnaissance done on those U.S. buildings was four years old.
(on camera): The legal process is expected to be long and difficult. Experts here say it could be six to 10 months before this trial ever begins.
Walter Rodgers, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And terrorism is topping the agenda on Capitol Hill today. A House panel will meet behind closed doors to talk about the 9/11 Commission's report. And that's just one of the congressional committees hearing testimony on this issue.
Let's check in with CNN Radio reporter Dick Uliano, who's got the latest on the hearings.
You've been sitting in, oh, jeez, for weeks, it seems now.
Bring us up to date.
DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, no surprise. Guess who's back on Capitol Hill this morning? The chairman and the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, the third straight day they're testifying. Today, they'll be before the House Intelligence Committee, behind closed doors, talking about their recommendation that there be a national intelligence director; as the Congress, both the Senate and the House, continue to go down this road of intelligence reform, determined to get this job done and showing the American people the resolve that they are tackling this issue -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, so far many people believe the only resolve they're showing is that they can continue talking.
What are the 9/11 families feeling about this?
ULIANO: Well, the 9/11 families, three family members appeared before a Senate panel yesterday, and their message was really quite clear. They said, look, they were unable to protect their loved ones from death on 9/11, the least they can do is continue to work for these reforms that the 9/11 Commission put forward and thereby increase the national security.
And the heart of all of these reforms, Carol, as you know, is the creation of a so-called national intelligence director, who would oversee all the nation's intelligence agencies.
COSTELLO: And the defense secretary testified as to that national intelligence director, and he said maybe we shouldn't move too fast on this.
ULIANO: Yes. Rumsfeld seems to think this is a bad idea. Remember, the Defense Department controls the budget of most of these intelligence agencies, such as defense intelligence and the NASA and agencies like this. And he's concerned, he says, about real time battlefield intelligence. What will happen to that? He says there's a war ongoing and it's difficult to change horses in mid-stream during a war.
COSTELLO: So when will these committee hearings wrap up? I know Congress is coming back soon. What will happen then? And then what movement, what, you know, solid movement can Americans expect?
ULIANO: Well, there's two ways to look at this, Carol.
Number one, it looks like, you know, it could be a lot of noise over this and the law makers simply trying to show the American public that they're being responsive to the 9/11 Commission's proposals. But, on the other hand, leaders of the House and the Senate say they may have legislation ready by early October or late September in which they could put forward -- and we could see votes later this year -- in creating this national intelligence director.
So it would be Congress moving rather quickly if that takes place.
COSTELLO: All right, Dick Uliano from CNN Radio joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
In other stories across America this morning, they were found in a Nigerian orphanage, a Nigerian orphanage, suffering from malnutrition and malaria. This morning, seven Texas children, Americans, are back in the state in foster care. Texas officials are looking into the children's claims that their adoptive mother abandoned them in Nigeria back in October.
In California, courtroom fireworks in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The judge has slapped a $1,000 fine on the Jackson lawyer in a pretrial hearing. The attorney wouldn't back off on questions the judge said were off limits. The judge also denied a defense bid to invalidate the warrant used to search Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
In the Scott Peterson trial, it is the defense's turn now. Today, Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, will cross-examine Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey. Jurors have been hearing tape-recorded phone conversations between Frey and Peterson, who could face the death penalty if convicted.
And 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. 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: The only difference between prescription drugs here and prescription drugs there is the price. And so today, I am announcing that Illinois will become the first state in the nation to give its citizens the opportunity to purchase prescription drugs directly from Canada and directly from Ireland and directly from the United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And, as you might imagine, the FDA is not so happy with that, because the drugs coming in from those countries many times aren't regulated.
That takes us to our e-mail Question of the Day. Should the federal government drop the ban on prescription drug imports? Can all of us -- I mean should it enable all of us the choice of buying drugs online?
E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Millions of dollars being spent on campaign ads this year.
At 15 after, we'll see if radio, television or newspapers are raking in the most dough.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have three kids at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated! Oh, come on, man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, we've been hearing from you about this story, as well. Emotions running high in Florida as one homeowner, a victim of hurricane Charley, clashes with authorities. He was trying to get to his house. At 20 minutes after the hour, we'll tell you the rest of the problem.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Will the stock markets gain for a third straight day? Oh, we hope so. Here's a look at the closing numbers. The Dow was up 18 points.
The Nasdaq gained 12.
The S&P 500 moved 2 points higher.
Time for a little more business buzz.
The people who place political ads are using a new strategy the election year. So where are the dollars going? Ooh.
Carrie Lee has some interesting numbers from the Nasdaq market site -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, a sign of the times here, because television and radio still get the bulk of campaign ad dollars. But this year, cable and satellite companies are expected to surpass newspapers for the third largest slice of this year's campaign dollars. And we're talking about a lot of money here.
Cable and satellite will collect 2.9 percent of the $2.7 billion being spent by all sources on election related media this year. This according to a study from PQ Media. And that's up from 1.6 percent of $1.2 billion in 2000. So a lot more money going around this time.
Also, the Internet will see nearly 1 percent, 9/10 of 1 percent of the money, and that's up from just 1/10 in the year 2000.
Interesting, as one source says, a lot of people are going to blogs for their political information, those online Web sites. And so that's where a lot of voters are going. So that's where advertisers are going.
Also, e-mail an advertising component this time around, Carol. So things certainly changing as technology does.
COSTELLO: Certainly so.
Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:17 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat admits his leadership has made mistakes and he is vowing to correct them. Arafat made that rare admission during an address to Palestinian law makers just a short time ago.
Check out the power of Mother Nature in Boscastle, England. A wall of water sweeps through the village after heavy rain. It sends cars hurtling through the flooded states. Thankfully, no reports of deaths this morning. 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 just barely, to squeak by Greece 77-71. The team had lost to Puerto Rico in an opening day game.
To Chad now.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you.
There is so much going on today in Iraq. And, as usual, events on the ground are playing out rather quickly.
To get the Arab view on what's happening, as well as how the Arab media are covering the developments, Octavia Nasr is with me now.
And let's jump right into Najaf, because there has been an announcement that Iraqi forces have been cleared to go inside that mosque.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Al-Arabiya Television just had an exclusive interview with the Iraqi defense minister. And, indeed, he said that his forces are ready to enter Najaf, enter the holy shrine and the other holy sites. And he did say that the troops are ready. He did indicate that only Iraqi troops will be entering the holy sites. You know, this is a very important point for Iraqis and Arabs and Muslims around the world.
So he indicated only Iraqis will be entering, that the U.S. will be helping by air and land defending the Iraqi troops entering the holy sites.
COSTELLO: This is the Iraqi defense minister now.
NASR: That's him on Al-Arabiya, right.
COSTELLO: This could get really ugly, even if it is Iraqi -- only Iraqi troops entering this mosque.
Tell us the possible repercussions from this. NASR: Well, Arab media have been talking about this for a while. It seems, by watching Arab media, you kind of knew this is what's going to happen, that at the end it had to be an Iraqi move into Najaf because of the holy sites and, you know, U.S. troops entering will desecrate these sites. And the Arabs on Arab media, you know, observers, analysts, the clerics, all of them, have been warning about entering Najaf and warning of the bloodshed that could happen.
COSTELLO: This might inflame Shiites not only throughout Iraq, but also in Iran.
Let's talk about Muqtada al-Sadr.
This is fighting, by the way, from this morning in Najaf. Muqtada al-Sadr. Let's say he's inside that mosque. What do the Iraqi troops do?
NASR: Well, Arab media are telling us, and this defense minister that we've just heard from, he's a tough guy and he's been talking tough since he really took office. His word is give up. Give up your weapons, surrender right now, before we enter Najaf. This -- he said it clearly.
So basically if Muqtada al-Sadr is in there, the troops are going to enter. He could be wounded, he could be killed. At that point, that's not going to be an issue. The issue is to enter Najaf, secure it and stay there until all the militias have given yup their weapons and have surrendered.
COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
NASR: You bet.
COSTELLO: As victims of hurricane Charley try to pick up the pieces, tempers flare when one family affected by the hurricane tries desperately to get back to their home. We'll give you a hint -- they were tasered by police.
We'll have more on that story when DAYBREAK returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is promising to get help to Florida's victims of hurricane Charley quickly. He says right now $11 million, federal staffers and supplies are on the way. The water is running again in Charlotte County but you'll still need to purify it before drinking or cooking with it. Now, close to 400,000 people are still without power.
And frustrations are clearly boiling over for many of those people trying to rebuild their lives in Florida.
MYERS: The electricity is going to be out for a long time, by the way. There's no...
COSTELLO: For a long time. And a lot of people aren't being allowed to go back to their homes at all because of safety issues.
MYERS: Right. Thousands of power lines down and things like that. A lot of the houses are absolutely unstable. You've got two walls and a roof that's still hanging there, the police don't want to let these people to get there to get injured.
COSTELLO: Bob Franken has more on that taser incident because of those frustrations.
MYERS: I know.
COSTELLO: Let's look at his story now.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lee County sheriff said his deputies had no choice but to temporarily incapacitate this man with a high-voltage taser gun after police say he tried to run over officers who were preventing them from crossing their blockades in this Fort Meyers Beach neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: That violence can escalate, and it can escalate not just from there, but to other people. Once you get 20, 30, 40 people, now you've really have a problem.
FRANKEN: Attempts by CNN to locate the man for his comments have been unsuccessful. He was briefly jailed, and is now charged with failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest without violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave him alone, man! He's frustrated.
FRANKEN: It was a case of frustration exploding into anger. Witnesses the man, with his three children in his minivan, simply wanted to get back to his house. When he tried to move his van past police, they tasered him and pulled him from the car. He was one of so many prevented from returning to their homes for safety reasons.
Structures that aren't destroyed are often unlivable, with no electric power for hundreds of thousands to refrigerate food and provide air conditioning in the intense summer heat.
It all adds up to more and more heated tempers. Supplies are often short, lines long for everyone. Patience is thin.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: You know, Chad and I have been talking about this and we have two different opinions on what should have happened. You know, I -- just from an emotional standpoint, in wanting to go back to your home to see what happened, especially if I had animals there, my dog or my cat, I mean I would just want to get to my house. If the police would have said to me, you know, it's dangerous, you might get hurt, I would have said, OK, I'll take that chance. I just want to go see my house.
MYERS: They can't. They don't have time to take 10,000 people one at a time, escort them, baby-sit them, to their houses.
COSTELLO: But I wouldn't want them to go with me.
MYERS: Well, and then they're going to -- then you're going to go to the next door neighbor and take some of their stuff. I know you wouldn't, but people do. People are -- there are scams out there and the police can't tell whether you're -- they don't know that you actually live there.
COSTELLO: Well, I've got a driver's license with my address on it.
MYERS: How hard is it to make that?
COSTELLO: I know.
We've got some e-mail.
"Chad, what country do you live in? What are you promoting by saying that sheriff's deputies had the right to act as they did?"
MYERS: It's a police state. That whole thing, it's a state of emergency down there. There are hundreds of homes that are nails and glass and things and ready to fall down because there's only two walls left and the roof's up there.
COSTELLO: You did bring up a good point, because if they have to send emergency personnel to get you out of there because you got hurt, that would cause them trauma.
MYERS: The pol -- here's -- I was there. The police want to make sure everything is safe. They don't want anybody in there until they know that every building is safe, that they've brought everything down, they have the structural engineers in there. They're going to say OK, now, everybody can go back at the same time. They're going to keep the media out, and that's good. But they want the owners to all go back at the same time and they don't want one owner taking from some other owner that's not there. You know, there's looting. People are just -- I don't know.
COSTELLO: I know, it's a tough situation.
One more from John. He says: "Under what law can the authorities keep one of their own off their own property? And why didn't the authorities want cameras around?"
Because in that videotape...
MYERS: Yes, I did hear that. I don't know what that was about.
COSTELLO: I know it.
MYERS: You know what? There still could be bodies out there. Heaven forbid that there is, but there still could be. Maybe that's why they don't want it.
COSTELLO: OK.
MYERS: Here's another thing, and Neal Boortz actually had this on the air, and I heard this second-hand from a guy in our control room. At noon yesterday, he said now people are going to watch this video, the next time there's a hurricane, they're not going to evacuate because they're going to say to themselves, well, you know what? I can't get back to my house if I leave...
COSTELLO: You've just switched sides in the argument.
That's a good point, though.
MYERS: It's a point. It's a point that now people are actually going to stay on the Barrier Island. I don't have a side on this. I was there and I saw and I heard on the radio why they want people to stay off those Barrier Islands, because they're a disaster area. They literally are. Literally and figuratively, they are a disaster area.
COSTELLO: I understand.
I'm sure that much more discussion will be swirling around this topic in the days to come.
The headlines coming your way in two minutes.
You stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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