Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

New Overtime Rules & Who They Affect; Controversy Over Senator Kerry's War Record

Aired August 23, 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: New overtime rules take effect today. Will you be affected?
It is Monday, August 23.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, more bombing in the Iraqi city of Najaf this morning. U.S. warplanes have been pounding an area around the Imam Ali Mosque. That's where fighters loyal to a radical cleric have been holed up. A spokesman for the cleric says the air strikes damaged a wall around the mosque and caused casualties.

Hearings started about an hour and a half ago in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Four U.S. soldiers are facing pretrial hearings today and tomorrow in Germany. Security fears prompted a move from Baghdad.

Back home, what will your next paycheck look like? Sweeping changes to overtime pay take effect today. There's little agreement on how many workers might gain or lose overtime pay under the new rules.

And out West, firefighters were praying for rain and they got it. Rainy weather and cooler temperatures are helping them battle wildfires in Oregon and Washington State.

And that doesn't happen often, when you have an answer to your prayers -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, exactly. And there's a lot more rain out there today, Carol. That was a massive storm that moved on shore in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend. Folks there were very thankful for that rain, all the way from British Columbia down to northern California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: It's all about your paycheck this morning. New overtime rules take effect today and there is widespread disagreement about just who will be affected and how. Some paychecks will shrink; others will have a little more in them. Our Louise Schiavone looks at the rules and the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): James Ware is a sous chef at a big Washington hotel. He worries about the new overtime rules.

JAMES WARE, CHEF'S ASSISTANT: If I didn't have the overtime, my income would be cut at least by a quarter or better.

SCHIAVONE: His big concern, if he becomes a non-union chef, the new rules might cost him 10 hours a week of overtime pay.

WARE: All the managers work a 10 hour shift, and unlike the non- union managers, we get paid overtime.

SCHIAVONE: The Labor Department says it's clarifying complex and outdated federal overtime rules. As of today, among those guaranteed overtime wage protections, all hourly workers and anyone earning no more than $23,660 annually.

VICTORIA LIPNIC, ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY: That will result in about another 1.3 million people getting overtime who don't have it today and we also think that until strengthen overtime protection for about another 6.7 million people.

SCHIAVONE: But it's not that clear. While labor officials predict that almost no one earning less than $100,000 will lose their overtime privileges, they admit that 100,000 workers earning more than that could be hit. Labor advocates predict that as many as six million workers will find themselves fighting the new regulations, due in large part to new management descriptions.

ROSS EISENBREY, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: This is going to be a mess, because they've said it doesn't matter what degree you have, what matters is what level of knowledge you have. And that's a very hard thing to test. The Department of Labor, for example, doesn't have people who can decide whether a cook has the same skills as somebody who graduated from a culinary arts school.

SCHIAVONE: The new rules specify that regardless of annual pay, most blue collar workers, like plumbers and carpenters, along with police and firefighters, are guaranteed overtime pay.

(on camera): Democrats have stood by for a year with legislation to block any new regulations that would take overtime pay away from workers who now have it. But it's tough to get anything done this close to elections and this issue is no exception.

Lisa Schiavone, CNN Financial News, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Again, among those entitled to overtime, some police officers, firefighters, first responders and better paid blue collar workers. Labor officials say some upper ranking police officers could lose overtime, though.

Among those exempt from overtime, administrative assistants, finance industry workers, insurance adjusters, computer programmers, dental hygienists, pharmacists, journalists, funeral directors and chefs.

Very confusing, I know. Very confusing because this is the policy. Take a look. This is just chapter one. This is 159 pages. Very complicated. So really it's up to your employer to read this and decipher exactly what it means and how the definitions fit your job.

So, we'll ask you this morning, are the new overtime rules fair? Do you even get them?

E-mail us your response, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com. And, of course, we will eagerly read your e-mails on the air throughout our show.

In news across America this morning, a search of resumes -- I mean a search resumes, rather, off California's Malibu Beach today for debris from two small planes that collided on Sunday. Three people confirmed dead now. The planes collided near Matador State Beach. No identities on those victims yet.

There could be fireworks at the Scott Peterson trial in Redwood City, California today. Amber Frey, Peterson's former mistress, expected back on the witness stand. Frey faces cross-examination from Peterson's attorney. For the last couple of weeks, the trial has focused on taped phone calls between Peterson and Frey.

Michael Jackson, another high profile court case in California today. More pretrial witnesses are set to take the stand in the child molestation case. Jackson's trial is scheduled to begin on January 31.

Oh, let's talk politics now.

The John Kerry campaign plans to release a new television ad today that accuses the Bush campaign of attacking Kerry through a front group. This is in response to ads blasting Kerry's Vietnam War record.

The latest on the controversy from CNN's Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., the memory of that conflict still cuts like a knife, especially for men like Delfino Trujillo, who were there.

DELFINO TRUJILLO, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: And I guess as a veteran coming back, you know, and the reaction that we would get was, you know, and being called baby killers and being spat at and stuff like that. DOUGHERTY: This presidential campaign is opening old wounds. Two candidates who served during the Vietnam War, two men attacked for how they fulfilled their duty. The hurt on both sides runs deep.

VANESSA KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S DAUGHTER: Which wound do you want to see? Which scar to you need to see to prove that my father served?

BOB DOLE: And boasting about three Purple Hearts, when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam.

DOUGHERTY: The attacks began several months ago. Democrats accusing George W. Bush of being AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He betrayed us in the past. How could we be loyal to him now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Then came the Swift Boat attack ads targeting John Kerry.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty.

DOUGHERTY: This isn't the way the Kerry campaign thought it would be with a war hero candidate. Now, both campaigns say they don't want to refight a war that ended three decades ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back to the issues. America deserves better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: But with the country fighting a new war, some veterans say the pain of Vietnam is not over.

DAVID GAUVIN, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: So it still boils up in people's minds and in their stomachs that, you know, we still have this wondering whether we're doing the right thing.

DOUGHERTY: Jill Dougherty, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: And there is more intense fighting today outside a revered mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf. This despite signs the crisis at the Imam Ali Mosque was nearing an end.

CNN's Diana Muriel has the latest for us live from Baghdad -- hello.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Yes, indeed, more air strikes at Najaf overnight. It started at about 11 o'clock at night and they went through into the early hours of Monday morning. The team on the ground that we have in Najaf have been to the shrine of Imam Ali this morning and they can confirm that there is a two foot wide hole in the outer wall that protects the shrine compound.

Now, the shrine has been hit before. The minarets have been partially damaged in previous fighting. But there was this intense air strike on Sunday night/Monday morning by U.S. forces nearby.

Meanwhile, negotiations in Najaf continue to try and find an end to this impasse. The latest development there has been the offer by Iran's 600 representatives of Shia and Sunni clerics, who have offered to end -- try and end the fighting and negotiate between the two sides, between the supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr and the government.

But the Sadr representatives, an al-Sadr representative in Najaf told our team on the ground that although they supported this initiative, they had been told that the government did not.

Now, we haven't been able to confirm the government's view on this or whether, indeed, this offer was made. But it seems that there is still no end in sight to those tortured negotiations to try and resolve the problem in Najaf.

But better news on another front, with a negotiation that was successful that led to the release of the 36-year-old French American hostage Micah Garen, who is a journalist who was captured in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Friday, August the 13, together with his translator, Amir Doshe.

Both of them have been released from their captivity and they, we understand that a U.S. Embassy medical check of Micah Garen indicates that he is actually in good health. And he said that he was well treated by his captors. He said that he wanted to thank the people of al-Sadr who had helped in the negotiation to release him. And, in fact, it was Aws al-Khafaji who was, if you like, the office representative for al-Sadr in Nasiriyah who was involved in the negotiation for his release. And he was the same person who was involved in the negotiations for the release of James Brandon, who is that British journalist who was captured in Basra earlier this month.

So he is a free man after more than a week in captivity, but the situation in Najaf continues as troubled as ever -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel bringing us a live update from Baghdad this morning.

Well, they've been locked up for nearly three years without formal charges or access to attorneys. But now they are getting a day in court. Preliminary hearings start tomorrow for four Guantanamo detainees. They include an Australian citizen, David Hicks, who is accused of fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. New details this morning about fatal flaws in the U.S. immigration system. The 9/11 Commission says the hijackers made use of those flaws to carry out their plot. Thirteen of the 19 hijackers showed passports that were less than three weeks old. But their U.S. visa applications didn't get a closer look. The information is, in part, of two extra staff reports from the commission, which officially disbanded on Saturday.

Law makers generally agree intelligence reform is necessary. Now Senate Republicans have a plan that's already drawing fire. They want to reorganize the CIA and strip the Pentagon of its intelligence agencies. The GOP plan would put the nation's largest intelligence gathering operations in the hands of a new national intelligence director. Senate Republicans have yet to share details of the plan with Democrats or even the White House.

They're up, they're down -- what's going on with oil prices? We'll get some historical perspective in three minutes.

And it's enough to make you scream. Get this, armed masked men stage a daring broad daylight heist of famous art worth millions. That story from Colleen McEdwards in 25 minutes.

And the Cinderella story of Iraq's soccer team at the Summer Games. We'll take you live to Athens for the latest Olympics update in 42 minutes.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: On Wall Street, stocks open on the smiley side of the morning after a welcome slide in oil prices.

The Dow begins the day up 69 points.

The Nasdaq up 18 points.

And the S&P 500 up 7.

In overseas markets, Britain's FTSE 100 is up just over 40 points.

And France's CAC up 50.

In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei Index rose nearly 72 points.

You're probably going to see at least a temporary increase in gas prices, though, after the cost of crude oil jumped to almost $50 a barrel on Friday. But in New York, oil prices did retreat, closing below $48 a barrel. That's down $1.10 from its peak earlier in the day. So it's not much, but it's something.

High oil prices, of course, are nothing new. They jumped higher back in the '70s and '80s, when supplies were squeezed by OPEC. But if you look at oil prices then and now, CNN's Ceci Rodgers has some comparisons that might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major war in the Middle East and oil prices soar to record highs. If it sounds familiar, we've been there before. Cars lined up for gas during both the Iran hostage crisis in 1980 and the Arab oil embargo in 1973.

But this is not your mother's energy crisis. For one thing, in today's dollars, the price of a barrel of crude oil is half what it was at its peak, reached in 1980. And low interest rates are easing the burden of higher energy prices on consumers and the economy.

LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: If you go and look at what was going on when oil spiked in terms of its prices relative to where they were a few years ago, in 2000, or decades ago in the '70s, you'll see that interest rates were nowhere near as accumulative as they are today. And I think that is the key fundamental difference.

RODGERS: OPEC had an iron grip on the world's supply of oil in the 1970s and '80s and used it to disrupt supplies to the U.S. Today, the main factor behind soaring oil prices, traders say, is booming demand.

BILL WALLACE, MANN FINANCIAL: I think it's a problem that participants have been staring at for a long time and I think it's not going to go away any time soon, either.

RODGERS: China alone is importing 40 percent more oil now than it did a year ago. India is importing 11 percent more. A supply problem cannot be solved overnight, but demand can drop off quickly.

(on camera): In the U.S., record high gasoline prices last spring helped put the brakes on demand this summer. And prices at the gas pump actually fell a little bit, even as crude oil prices continued to set new highs.

(voice-over): In other words, consumers have pulled back on their gas purchases slightly, and even as prices are shocking some at the pumps, there's no sign of panic this time around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people are a little bit more comfortable and they can look back at history and say well, it has happened before, it was a tough time, but we came out of it OK and, you know, we'll probably weather the storm OK this time around.

RODGERS: Americans' attitudes probably the most important difference between then and now.

Ceci Rodgers for CNN Financial News, Chicago.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:18 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

A surveillance tape shows armed masked robbers putting two priceless paintings by Edvard into a getaway car. Monk, rather. One of the pieces stolen was the world famous "The Scream." The thieves snatched the paintings at gunpoint from the Oslo Museum in board daylight.

In Colorado, the "Denver Post" reports a grand jury has handed down an indictment for the alleged use of prostitutes to entice recruits to the University of Colorado football teams. No names revealed yet.

In money news, the Halliburton Company is awaiting a call from the Pentagon. The military is considering withholding 15 percent, about $60 million, from payment for work done in Iraq. There are several investigations into the company's work there.

In culture, a couple of uglies get whipped by the devil. "Exorcist: The Beginning" took in more than $18 million over the weekend, knocking out last week's winner, "Alien Versus Predator." It knocked them out of the top spot.

In sports, the problems just keep coming for the boys in pinstripes. Anaheim has swept a three game series against New York the Yankee Stadium. Sunday's final, 4-3. But the Yankees are so far ahead of the Red Sox, does it really matter -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, but you know what? The Red Sox are only like five and a half back now.

COSTELLO: Really?

MYERS: Yes. So you've got to be careful when you get swept at home.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: What's out on the Web this morning? Well, a modern day love story, including war, romance and a fairy tale ending. We've got the complete story ahead in our Web clicks.

And our e-mail Question of the Day -- do you think the new overtime rules are fair? Do you even understand them? E-mail us now, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com. And, of course, we'll read some of your comments on the air throughout our show.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Monday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time to check out cnn.com now, because we always are interested in what you're clicking onto.

MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: And the number one story on our Web this morning.

MYERS: Iraqi marries U.S. soldier.

COSTELLO: It's love.

MYERS: It was love at first sight, according to him. She was one of the cleaning ladies or cleaning women, if you will...

COSTELLO: Clean professional.

MYERS: I'm not sure where you get p.c. on that one. In the palace that he was working in. Did everything legal. Even talked to counsel there in Iraq. He said wait a minute, I don't want to do anything illegal here, I don't want to get anything wrong here, I want to make this all right and the lady...

COSTELLO: The fascinating thing about this is she doesn't speak much England, but he was attracted to her beauty and watched her cleaning a lot. And, she is a Christian. So they're both Christians. And now they're living in San Diego and she's kind of freaked out.

MYERS: She's missing her family a little bit.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think so.

The second most clicked on story, can you believe this, in Norway...

MYERS: How do you sell this thing? I mean it's like trying to sell the Hope Diamond, right?

COSTELLO: I don't think you do.

MYERS: I mean...

COSTELLO: Two paintings by Edvard Munch stolen right from the wall in the museum there in Oslo...

MYERS: While it was open. People were there, guards were there and they ripped them off the wall.

COSTELLO: Yes. They found the frames like down the street. They had cut the paintings out of the frames, which makes you go oh.

MYERS: That is so sad right there.

COSTELLO: It really is. They'll probably hold these paintings for ransom, because you're right, you couldn't sell them anywhere.

MYERS: Robbers tried to do it three years ago, withholding them for ransom. They didn't get anywhere. In fact, they did get somewhere, they got to jail.

COSTELLO: Well, let's hope these guys do, too.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And the third most clicked on story, the 9/11 panel describes how the attackers got money.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: They finally figured out the money trail, at least in part. And we're going to have much more on this story later on DAYBREAK.

MYERS: And this, according to the story, it may have cost maybe only about $400,000 for all the planning and all the effort to do that.

COSTELLO: It's something else, isn't it?

MYERS: It's pretty scary.

COSTELLO: All right, those are your Web clicks of the morning.

Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Openers" right now.

Meet some real runners. A teacher from Cornwall in England is the new ultra marathoner. Bob Brown finished first in the 3,100 mile run across America. It took him 510 hours, 47 minutes and a few seconds to run from southern California to New York's Central Park. Athletes had to run an average of 44 miles a day to stay in the race. Talk about the agony of defeat. That's amazing.

MYERS: Wow!

COSTELLO: From defeat to debauch. The scanty costumes worn by some of the 50,000 ravers in Germany didn't quite fit in with the weather. But no matter. The revelry beebooped its way through the streets of Hanover at the 2004 German Techno Music Parade.

Laura Bush will be there as the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is being dedicated today in Cincinnati. It was open to the public earlier this month and we'll see what visitors think about it in the next hour of DAYBREAK when we talk with the museum's outreach director live from Cincinnati.

MYERS: Our own Cincinnati's Bill Hemmer will also be part of that.

COSTELLO: Really?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, he is a native of Cincinnati.

MYERS: He certainly is. And proud of it.

COSTELLO: Definitely.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK. A startling win for the Iraqi Dream Team. We'll tell you how the underdogs pulled off a major upset.

And a virtual unknown becomes the world's fastest man. We'll take you live to Athens for the latest.

But first, a pretrial hearing gets under way for U.S. soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. We'll have a preview for you straight ahead.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He then saw the scream and ran toward that and grabbed that off the wall. And then he started rushing out in front of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yet more on that museum heist. The art world screams at its latest loss.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many people recognize him as a judge on "American Idol." But for 25 years, Randy Jackson has built a successful music career as a bassist, songwriter, producer and executive. He has worked on over 1,000 gold and platinum albums and last year he added author to his list of accomplishments.

In his book, Jackson provides tips for making it big in the music industry.

RANDY JACKSON, GRAMMY AWARD WINNING PRODUCER: What particular talent do you have? Can you recognize it early enough so you can start working on it? You really have to know what you're after. Are you a singer? Are you a dancer? Are you a musician? Who are you? You just have to identify what that is in you because most times people often dream about wanting to do somebody, but they're really better at something else.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired August 23, 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: New overtime rules take effect today. Will you be affected?
It is Monday, August 23.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, more bombing in the Iraqi city of Najaf this morning. U.S. warplanes have been pounding an area around the Imam Ali Mosque. That's where fighters loyal to a radical cleric have been holed up. A spokesman for the cleric says the air strikes damaged a wall around the mosque and caused casualties.

Hearings started about an hour and a half ago in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Four U.S. soldiers are facing pretrial hearings today and tomorrow in Germany. Security fears prompted a move from Baghdad.

Back home, what will your next paycheck look like? Sweeping changes to overtime pay take effect today. There's little agreement on how many workers might gain or lose overtime pay under the new rules.

And out West, firefighters were praying for rain and they got it. Rainy weather and cooler temperatures are helping them battle wildfires in Oregon and Washington State.

And that doesn't happen often, when you have an answer to your prayers -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, exactly. And there's a lot more rain out there today, Carol. That was a massive storm that moved on shore in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend. Folks there were very thankful for that rain, all the way from British Columbia down to northern California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: It's all about your paycheck this morning. New overtime rules take effect today and there is widespread disagreement about just who will be affected and how. Some paychecks will shrink; others will have a little more in them. Our Louise Schiavone looks at the rules and the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): James Ware is a sous chef at a big Washington hotel. He worries about the new overtime rules.

JAMES WARE, CHEF'S ASSISTANT: If I didn't have the overtime, my income would be cut at least by a quarter or better.

SCHIAVONE: His big concern, if he becomes a non-union chef, the new rules might cost him 10 hours a week of overtime pay.

WARE: All the managers work a 10 hour shift, and unlike the non- union managers, we get paid overtime.

SCHIAVONE: The Labor Department says it's clarifying complex and outdated federal overtime rules. As of today, among those guaranteed overtime wage protections, all hourly workers and anyone earning no more than $23,660 annually.

VICTORIA LIPNIC, ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY: That will result in about another 1.3 million people getting overtime who don't have it today and we also think that until strengthen overtime protection for about another 6.7 million people.

SCHIAVONE: But it's not that clear. While labor officials predict that almost no one earning less than $100,000 will lose their overtime privileges, they admit that 100,000 workers earning more than that could be hit. Labor advocates predict that as many as six million workers will find themselves fighting the new regulations, due in large part to new management descriptions.

ROSS EISENBREY, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: This is going to be a mess, because they've said it doesn't matter what degree you have, what matters is what level of knowledge you have. And that's a very hard thing to test. The Department of Labor, for example, doesn't have people who can decide whether a cook has the same skills as somebody who graduated from a culinary arts school.

SCHIAVONE: The new rules specify that regardless of annual pay, most blue collar workers, like plumbers and carpenters, along with police and firefighters, are guaranteed overtime pay.

(on camera): Democrats have stood by for a year with legislation to block any new regulations that would take overtime pay away from workers who now have it. But it's tough to get anything done this close to elections and this issue is no exception.

Lisa Schiavone, CNN Financial News, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Again, among those entitled to overtime, some police officers, firefighters, first responders and better paid blue collar workers. Labor officials say some upper ranking police officers could lose overtime, though.

Among those exempt from overtime, administrative assistants, finance industry workers, insurance adjusters, computer programmers, dental hygienists, pharmacists, journalists, funeral directors and chefs.

Very confusing, I know. Very confusing because this is the policy. Take a look. This is just chapter one. This is 159 pages. Very complicated. So really it's up to your employer to read this and decipher exactly what it means and how the definitions fit your job.

So, we'll ask you this morning, are the new overtime rules fair? Do you even get them?

E-mail us your response, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com. And, of course, we will eagerly read your e-mails on the air throughout our show.

In news across America this morning, a search of resumes -- I mean a search resumes, rather, off California's Malibu Beach today for debris from two small planes that collided on Sunday. Three people confirmed dead now. The planes collided near Matador State Beach. No identities on those victims yet.

There could be fireworks at the Scott Peterson trial in Redwood City, California today. Amber Frey, Peterson's former mistress, expected back on the witness stand. Frey faces cross-examination from Peterson's attorney. For the last couple of weeks, the trial has focused on taped phone calls between Peterson and Frey.

Michael Jackson, another high profile court case in California today. More pretrial witnesses are set to take the stand in the child molestation case. Jackson's trial is scheduled to begin on January 31.

Oh, let's talk politics now.

The John Kerry campaign plans to release a new television ad today that accuses the Bush campaign of attacking Kerry through a front group. This is in response to ads blasting Kerry's Vietnam War record.

The latest on the controversy from CNN's Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., the memory of that conflict still cuts like a knife, especially for men like Delfino Trujillo, who were there.

DELFINO TRUJILLO, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: And I guess as a veteran coming back, you know, and the reaction that we would get was, you know, and being called baby killers and being spat at and stuff like that. DOUGHERTY: This presidential campaign is opening old wounds. Two candidates who served during the Vietnam War, two men attacked for how they fulfilled their duty. The hurt on both sides runs deep.

VANESSA KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S DAUGHTER: Which wound do you want to see? Which scar to you need to see to prove that my father served?

BOB DOLE: And boasting about three Purple Hearts, when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam.

DOUGHERTY: The attacks began several months ago. Democrats accusing George W. Bush of being AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He betrayed us in the past. How could we be loyal to him now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Then came the Swift Boat attack ads targeting John Kerry.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty.

DOUGHERTY: This isn't the way the Kerry campaign thought it would be with a war hero candidate. Now, both campaigns say they don't want to refight a war that ended three decades ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back to the issues. America deserves better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: But with the country fighting a new war, some veterans say the pain of Vietnam is not over.

DAVID GAUVIN, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: So it still boils up in people's minds and in their stomachs that, you know, we still have this wondering whether we're doing the right thing.

DOUGHERTY: Jill Dougherty, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: And there is more intense fighting today outside a revered mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf. This despite signs the crisis at the Imam Ali Mosque was nearing an end.

CNN's Diana Muriel has the latest for us live from Baghdad -- hello.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Yes, indeed, more air strikes at Najaf overnight. It started at about 11 o'clock at night and they went through into the early hours of Monday morning. The team on the ground that we have in Najaf have been to the shrine of Imam Ali this morning and they can confirm that there is a two foot wide hole in the outer wall that protects the shrine compound.

Now, the shrine has been hit before. The minarets have been partially damaged in previous fighting. But there was this intense air strike on Sunday night/Monday morning by U.S. forces nearby.

Meanwhile, negotiations in Najaf continue to try and find an end to this impasse. The latest development there has been the offer by Iran's 600 representatives of Shia and Sunni clerics, who have offered to end -- try and end the fighting and negotiate between the two sides, between the supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr and the government.

But the Sadr representatives, an al-Sadr representative in Najaf told our team on the ground that although they supported this initiative, they had been told that the government did not.

Now, we haven't been able to confirm the government's view on this or whether, indeed, this offer was made. But it seems that there is still no end in sight to those tortured negotiations to try and resolve the problem in Najaf.

But better news on another front, with a negotiation that was successful that led to the release of the 36-year-old French American hostage Micah Garen, who is a journalist who was captured in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Friday, August the 13, together with his translator, Amir Doshe.

Both of them have been released from their captivity and they, we understand that a U.S. Embassy medical check of Micah Garen indicates that he is actually in good health. And he said that he was well treated by his captors. He said that he wanted to thank the people of al-Sadr who had helped in the negotiation to release him. And, in fact, it was Aws al-Khafaji who was, if you like, the office representative for al-Sadr in Nasiriyah who was involved in the negotiation for his release. And he was the same person who was involved in the negotiations for the release of James Brandon, who is that British journalist who was captured in Basra earlier this month.

So he is a free man after more than a week in captivity, but the situation in Najaf continues as troubled as ever -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel bringing us a live update from Baghdad this morning.

Well, they've been locked up for nearly three years without formal charges or access to attorneys. But now they are getting a day in court. Preliminary hearings start tomorrow for four Guantanamo detainees. They include an Australian citizen, David Hicks, who is accused of fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. New details this morning about fatal flaws in the U.S. immigration system. The 9/11 Commission says the hijackers made use of those flaws to carry out their plot. Thirteen of the 19 hijackers showed passports that were less than three weeks old. But their U.S. visa applications didn't get a closer look. The information is, in part, of two extra staff reports from the commission, which officially disbanded on Saturday.

Law makers generally agree intelligence reform is necessary. Now Senate Republicans have a plan that's already drawing fire. They want to reorganize the CIA and strip the Pentagon of its intelligence agencies. The GOP plan would put the nation's largest intelligence gathering operations in the hands of a new national intelligence director. Senate Republicans have yet to share details of the plan with Democrats or even the White House.

They're up, they're down -- what's going on with oil prices? We'll get some historical perspective in three minutes.

And it's enough to make you scream. Get this, armed masked men stage a daring broad daylight heist of famous art worth millions. That story from Colleen McEdwards in 25 minutes.

And the Cinderella story of Iraq's soccer team at the Summer Games. We'll take you live to Athens for the latest Olympics update in 42 minutes.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: On Wall Street, stocks open on the smiley side of the morning after a welcome slide in oil prices.

The Dow begins the day up 69 points.

The Nasdaq up 18 points.

And the S&P 500 up 7.

In overseas markets, Britain's FTSE 100 is up just over 40 points.

And France's CAC up 50.

In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei Index rose nearly 72 points.

You're probably going to see at least a temporary increase in gas prices, though, after the cost of crude oil jumped to almost $50 a barrel on Friday. But in New York, oil prices did retreat, closing below $48 a barrel. That's down $1.10 from its peak earlier in the day. So it's not much, but it's something.

High oil prices, of course, are nothing new. They jumped higher back in the '70s and '80s, when supplies were squeezed by OPEC. But if you look at oil prices then and now, CNN's Ceci Rodgers has some comparisons that might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major war in the Middle East and oil prices soar to record highs. If it sounds familiar, we've been there before. Cars lined up for gas during both the Iran hostage crisis in 1980 and the Arab oil embargo in 1973.

But this is not your mother's energy crisis. For one thing, in today's dollars, the price of a barrel of crude oil is half what it was at its peak, reached in 1980. And low interest rates are easing the burden of higher energy prices on consumers and the economy.

LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: If you go and look at what was going on when oil spiked in terms of its prices relative to where they were a few years ago, in 2000, or decades ago in the '70s, you'll see that interest rates were nowhere near as accumulative as they are today. And I think that is the key fundamental difference.

RODGERS: OPEC had an iron grip on the world's supply of oil in the 1970s and '80s and used it to disrupt supplies to the U.S. Today, the main factor behind soaring oil prices, traders say, is booming demand.

BILL WALLACE, MANN FINANCIAL: I think it's a problem that participants have been staring at for a long time and I think it's not going to go away any time soon, either.

RODGERS: China alone is importing 40 percent more oil now than it did a year ago. India is importing 11 percent more. A supply problem cannot be solved overnight, but demand can drop off quickly.

(on camera): In the U.S., record high gasoline prices last spring helped put the brakes on demand this summer. And prices at the gas pump actually fell a little bit, even as crude oil prices continued to set new highs.

(voice-over): In other words, consumers have pulled back on their gas purchases slightly, and even as prices are shocking some at the pumps, there's no sign of panic this time around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people are a little bit more comfortable and they can look back at history and say well, it has happened before, it was a tough time, but we came out of it OK and, you know, we'll probably weather the storm OK this time around.

RODGERS: Americans' attitudes probably the most important difference between then and now.

Ceci Rodgers for CNN Financial News, Chicago.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:18 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

A surveillance tape shows armed masked robbers putting two priceless paintings by Edvard into a getaway car. Monk, rather. One of the pieces stolen was the world famous "The Scream." The thieves snatched the paintings at gunpoint from the Oslo Museum in board daylight.

In Colorado, the "Denver Post" reports a grand jury has handed down an indictment for the alleged use of prostitutes to entice recruits to the University of Colorado football teams. No names revealed yet.

In money news, the Halliburton Company is awaiting a call from the Pentagon. The military is considering withholding 15 percent, about $60 million, from payment for work done in Iraq. There are several investigations into the company's work there.

In culture, a couple of uglies get whipped by the devil. "Exorcist: The Beginning" took in more than $18 million over the weekend, knocking out last week's winner, "Alien Versus Predator." It knocked them out of the top spot.

In sports, the problems just keep coming for the boys in pinstripes. Anaheim has swept a three game series against New York the Yankee Stadium. Sunday's final, 4-3. But the Yankees are so far ahead of the Red Sox, does it really matter -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, but you know what? The Red Sox are only like five and a half back now.

COSTELLO: Really?

MYERS: Yes. So you've got to be careful when you get swept at home.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: What's out on the Web this morning? Well, a modern day love story, including war, romance and a fairy tale ending. We've got the complete story ahead in our Web clicks.

And our e-mail Question of the Day -- do you think the new overtime rules are fair? Do you even understand them? E-mail us now, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com. And, of course, we'll read some of your comments on the air throughout our show.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Monday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time to check out cnn.com now, because we always are interested in what you're clicking onto.

MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: And the number one story on our Web this morning.

MYERS: Iraqi marries U.S. soldier.

COSTELLO: It's love.

MYERS: It was love at first sight, according to him. She was one of the cleaning ladies or cleaning women, if you will...

COSTELLO: Clean professional.

MYERS: I'm not sure where you get p.c. on that one. In the palace that he was working in. Did everything legal. Even talked to counsel there in Iraq. He said wait a minute, I don't want to do anything illegal here, I don't want to get anything wrong here, I want to make this all right and the lady...

COSTELLO: The fascinating thing about this is she doesn't speak much England, but he was attracted to her beauty and watched her cleaning a lot. And, she is a Christian. So they're both Christians. And now they're living in San Diego and she's kind of freaked out.

MYERS: She's missing her family a little bit.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think so.

The second most clicked on story, can you believe this, in Norway...

MYERS: How do you sell this thing? I mean it's like trying to sell the Hope Diamond, right?

COSTELLO: I don't think you do.

MYERS: I mean...

COSTELLO: Two paintings by Edvard Munch stolen right from the wall in the museum there in Oslo...

MYERS: While it was open. People were there, guards were there and they ripped them off the wall.

COSTELLO: Yes. They found the frames like down the street. They had cut the paintings out of the frames, which makes you go oh.

MYERS: That is so sad right there.

COSTELLO: It really is. They'll probably hold these paintings for ransom, because you're right, you couldn't sell them anywhere.

MYERS: Robbers tried to do it three years ago, withholding them for ransom. They didn't get anywhere. In fact, they did get somewhere, they got to jail.

COSTELLO: Well, let's hope these guys do, too.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And the third most clicked on story, the 9/11 panel describes how the attackers got money.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: They finally figured out the money trail, at least in part. And we're going to have much more on this story later on DAYBREAK.

MYERS: And this, according to the story, it may have cost maybe only about $400,000 for all the planning and all the effort to do that.

COSTELLO: It's something else, isn't it?

MYERS: It's pretty scary.

COSTELLO: All right, those are your Web clicks of the morning.

Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Openers" right now.

Meet some real runners. A teacher from Cornwall in England is the new ultra marathoner. Bob Brown finished first in the 3,100 mile run across America. It took him 510 hours, 47 minutes and a few seconds to run from southern California to New York's Central Park. Athletes had to run an average of 44 miles a day to stay in the race. Talk about the agony of defeat. That's amazing.

MYERS: Wow!

COSTELLO: From defeat to debauch. The scanty costumes worn by some of the 50,000 ravers in Germany didn't quite fit in with the weather. But no matter. The revelry beebooped its way through the streets of Hanover at the 2004 German Techno Music Parade.

Laura Bush will be there as the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is being dedicated today in Cincinnati. It was open to the public earlier this month and we'll see what visitors think about it in the next hour of DAYBREAK when we talk with the museum's outreach director live from Cincinnati.

MYERS: Our own Cincinnati's Bill Hemmer will also be part of that.

COSTELLO: Really?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, he is a native of Cincinnati.

MYERS: He certainly is. And proud of it.

COSTELLO: Definitely.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK. A startling win for the Iraqi Dream Team. We'll tell you how the underdogs pulled off a major upset.

And a virtual unknown becomes the world's fastest man. We'll take you live to Athens for the latest.

But first, a pretrial hearing gets under way for U.S. soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. We'll have a preview for you straight ahead.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He then saw the scream and ran toward that and grabbed that off the wall. And then he started rushing out in front of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yet more on that museum heist. The art world screams at its latest loss.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many people recognize him as a judge on "American Idol." But for 25 years, Randy Jackson has built a successful music career as a bassist, songwriter, producer and executive. He has worked on over 1,000 gold and platinum albums and last year he added author to his list of accomplishments.

In his book, Jackson provides tips for making it big in the music industry.

RANDY JACKSON, GRAMMY AWARD WINNING PRODUCER: What particular talent do you have? Can you recognize it early enough so you can start working on it? You really have to know what you're after. Are you a singer? Are you a dancer? Are you a musician? Who are you? You just have to identify what that is in you because most times people often dream about wanting to do somebody, but they're really better at something else.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com