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CNN Live At Daybreak

Prisoner Abuse Scandal; Daring Art Heist; Scott Peterson Trial; Iraq's Dream Team; Olympic Gold Rush

Aired August 23, 2004 - 05:30   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: Behind the bars of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib Prison this hour pretrial hearings for four Americans.
It is Monday, August 23. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

"Now in the News," intense fighting is reported this morning in Najaf between U.S. troops and militiamen holding a Shiite mosque. At least 10 explosions have been heard. An aide to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says several people have been killed and wounded.

Hearings started about an hour 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 rules take effect today. There's little agreement on how many workers might gain or lose overtime pay under those new rules.

Two hearings in the House today on the 9/11 Commission report. Homeland Security Undersecretary Frank Libutti testifies before the Financial Services Committee. And a Crime in Terrorism subcommittee hears from officials of the Commission, the FBI and the ACLU -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Well let's hope it stays far out to sea.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Pretrial hearings are going on right now in Germany for four of the seven soldiers charged with abusing prisoners in Iraq.

CNN's Chris Burns covering the hearings in Mannheim, and he's filed this report before going into court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're at a U.S. Army barracks here in Mannheim where these pretrial hearings will be happening over the next two days. Probably of greatest interest is the one today which is going to be happening for Charles Graner, Corporal Charles Graner or Specialist Charles Graner, who is considered to be the ringleader of what had gone on.

There are seven different members of the Reservist MP, military police, who were charged in this case. You might remember and you can see those pictures that outraged quite a few people around the world of the Charles Graner and others. Lynndie England, who has also been charged, who have been accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison just outside of Baghdad.

Among the charges that Graner is facing are assault, mistreatment of prisoners, conspiracy, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, adultery, adultery linked with Lynndie England because she is pregnant with his child and committing indecent acts. All of that together, he could face more than 24 years in prison.

What's going on today is there will be arguments back and forth over what evidence to include, which pictures could be included, which witnesses to call. I asked one military source how high could this go? He said very, very high.

And in Lynndie England's case, the witnesses have been asked for include Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, among others, so big arguments today. And the judge is going to have to decide who to call as witnesses, what evidence to include and whether to have the trial in Iraq or whether to have it perhaps here in Germany or back in the States. So a lot of decisions to be made.

And at the end of the hearing, there could be a chance for a plea, which has happened in one of the cases, where one of the accused has plead guilty and gotten a one-year sentence and is going to be testifying against the others. So there is also that pressure on the defendants to possibly plead to possibly lesser charges and then talk and testify against some of the other defendants. So there will be a lot of suspense in this courtroom in this pretrial hearing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Chris Burns reporting.

The hearings for those four soldiers got under way about 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time and they do continue right now.

Here is a check of the top stories out of Iraq in our "Situation Report."

U.S. warplanes seeing more action in Najaf. This morning they kept up their bombing of Shiite militia positions around a key mosque.

French-American journalist back in U.S. hands this morning. Micah Garen was freed after more than a week in captivity in Iraq. And as we have been telling you, pretrial hearings begin in Germany today for four of those seven U.S. soldiers charged in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.

We want to talk a little bit more about that with our senior international editor David Clinch, because I know Chris Burns had to go back into the courtroom.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right, he's inside the courtroom and following the proceedings there. But I've been talking to Chris and the other people covering this story today, really wanting to focus on why we care about this story. If you remember, we at CNN and others were aware of an investigation into prison abuse months before any images came out. We were looking into it.

We were then aware, as everybody else was, when "60 Minutes" aired it here in the U.S. The reason this story hit the resonance that it did, the level that it did, was not because of our coverage, but because of the coverage it received in the region, on Al Jazeera, on Iraqi TV and elsewhere, hitting that nerve in Iraq. And a massive stigma, of course, now attached to the U.S. forces in Iraq because of those images.

COSTELLO: Well, and many Americans are really angry that such things could have happened.

CLINCH: And right, and of course that's important. But the question that lingers is does any of these proceedings in Germany, Baghdad or anywhere else, do anything to get rid of that stigma originally for the U.S. forces? And certainly in Iraq, as far as we can see, the Iraqis that we have spoken to, the answer is no, it can't. The damage is done. It doesn't matter, unless, and of course you know people have called Donald Rumsfeld and others as witnesses. The chances of that actually happening not so great. But unless something like that were to happen, most Iraqis are of the opinion that it's done, the damage is done.

As you say, though, of course a lot of Americans determined to see justice done. And whether it's just these soldiers or higher up the rankings, very important to go through the legal proceedings. So we're watching it in Germany.

COSTELLO: So quickly, the Iraqi soccer team, bring us up to date.

CLINCH: Well the Iraqi soccer team, they won their quarterfinal. They're playing in the semifinal tomorrow in the Olympics. Big thrill for them and most Iraqis. But they're also a little bit uncomfortable about some images of the Iraqi soccer team being used in Bush campaign ads. That's still an issue for them. So we'll see if they win tomorrow that issue may also come back. So watching tomorrow, a big game for them.

COSTELLO: And Michael Holmes will have, I guess, a story about that later on DAYBREAK. CLINCH: Yes, and we're following their families in Iraq as well.

COSTELLO: Awesome.

CLINCH: So a huge story in Iraq.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks.

It's enough to make art lovers scream. Officials in Norway this morning are still looking for those thieves who made off with two famous paintings, including Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

More now from CNN's Colleen McEdwards.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened in broad daylight, two well known paintings from Oslo's Munch Museum were simply marched out the door, taking guards and patrons by surprise.

JORNUN CHRISTOPHERSEN, MUNCH MUSEUM SPOKESWOMAN: Persons with hoods on their heads, they were disguised and with weapons, rushed into the museum. And they knew exactly where these paintings were. So they went directly up to them, took them down from the wall and run out as the alarm came on. And they threatened the guards with guns.

MCEDWARDS: The paintings were worth millions of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man coming forward with a black guard over his mouth and nose and black pants but a gray sweatshirt. So we weren't sure what to think of him. And he came, he kind of paused at the back and then he came rushing forward. And he went towards the "Madonna" painting and he grabbed that off the wall.

And he kind of started banging it against the wall and against the ground, I guess because the gray strings weren't breaking off for him. And then he kind of looked confused as to what to do next. He then saw "The Scream" and ran towards that and grabbed that off the wall. And then he started rushing out the front and we started rushing out the back.

MCEDWARDS: The picture frames were later found in another part of the city, the canvases cut out. Investigators are still looking for more clues.

Edvard Munch, who lived from 1863 to 1944, painted four versions of "The Scream." A founder of modern expressionism, he painted both "The Scream" and "Madonna" as part of a series about love, fear and death. The best known version of "The Scream" was stolen in 1994 and later recovered. It now hangs in the Oslo National Gallery.

Colleen McEdwards, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, Amber Frey back on the stand this week. In five minutes, we'll get a preview of the Scott Peterson trial.

And his track record speaks for itself. In 12 minutes, we'll show you the fastest man in the world.

And our e-mail "Question of the Day," do you think the new overtime rules are fair? Do you even know what they are? E-mail your responses to DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In California, Amber Frey is expected to be cross- examined when the Scott Peterson murder trial resumes this morning. You'll remember that the trial came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday because of a mysterious potential development.

CNN's Rusty Dornin brings you up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just what is fair game for defense attorney Mark Geragos in his questioning of Scott Peterson's former mistress Amber Frey? That's the question the court may address when it resumes Monday morning after an unexpected delay last week.

A source close to the case tells CNN the delay in Frey's cross- examination came after prosecutors tried to stop the defense from using additional recordings of phone conversations between Frey and Scott Peterson beyond the 43 calls that were already played in court. According to the source, the judge approved their request, but only if Frey refers to those additional calls when answering questions during cross-examination.

Frey's attorney says her client has already revealed intimate details of her private life. And for her, the delay has been unnerving.

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY ATTORNEY: She may have to reveal more on the witness stand. And I'm sure that's not going to be easy.

DORNIN: Scott Peterson's father, Lee, was expected to be called by prosecutors as a witness last Thursday. Lee Peterson testified at the preliminary hearing that he did not know his son bought a boat, nor did Scott tell him he went fishing in a phone conversation on Christmas Eve, the day Laci Peterson disappeared.

Amber Frey is due back on the stand Monday morning. The cross- examination is expected to last one to two days.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Pretrial hearings under way for four of the seven U.S. soldiers charged in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. The proceedings are not being held in Baghdad. They were moved to Germany because the defense was concerned about the security in Iraq.

In Iraq itself there is more fighting today outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. A spokesman for the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says a U.S. airstrike hit a wall surrounding the shrine causing casualties and damage.

In money news, are we going to be paying more or less for gasoline? The answer is probably yes. Crude oil prices jumped to almost $50 a barrel Friday, but now they've settled below the $48 mark.

In culture, the latest installment of the "Exorcist" spoofed the competition at the box office. Preliminary estimates show "Exorcist: The Beginning" took in $18.2 million over the weekend.

And in sports, the city of Chicago expected to decide by noon if the Cubs can play the Brewers tonight at Wrigley Field. At issue, will a protective netting protect fans from concrete chunks that have been falling from the 90-year-old stadium. How would you like to be sitting under that part of the stadium?

MYERS: No, I've seen some of those concrete chunks. They're not really that small. Yes, better than the bigger than canned hams in some spots (ph), Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Are you heading for work, expecting some overtime in that next paycheck? Well the federal government's new rules detailing who gets overtime and who doesn't takes effect today. But do not expect to grab a copy of the rules for an easy explanation. That would be hundreds and hundreds of pages to read.

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

We have been soliciting e-mail for you, asking you about the overtime rules and if you think they are fair, if you can understand them. And we've gotten some response.

This is from Jim. He says are they fair to employers, yes. To employees, no. We can only hope that every employee who loses under these rules will remember in November. And Jim is from North Aurora, Illinois.

Don't know who this is from, but this person says I don't see how anyone could have the time to figure out the new rules and still be sane. And that includes your employer, because your employer is going to have to go through these hundreds of pages of these new rules and interpret them as he or she wishes.

This is from Lynn (ph) from Medford, New York. The new rules, while different and complicated, to insure overtime is awarded to those that need it. The new rules, which may seem complicated to start, that doesn't make them bad. Any new system is challenging until you get used to it. That's looking at the glass half full.

We'll have more for you later. DAYBREAK@CNN.com. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Olympic doping rears its ugly head again in Athens. Up next in a live report, the thrill of victory is followed by the agony of defeat for a Russian athlete. We'll tell you why she was stripped of gold. This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Iraqis of all ethnic, religious and political persuasions are united in celebration over their dream team. Iraq's national soccer team has advanced to the semifinal round of the Olympics. Unbelievable.

Our Michael Holmes has more for you on all of the excitement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They poured onto the Island of Crete, Iraqis, from England, from Sweden, some of them refugees from Saddam Hussein's regime. All of them intensely proud of their soccer team.

They use to train, three, four of them, in different areas, sometimes the bombs and sometimes the terrorists attacks, and -- so it is incredible they are here. So far I think they achieved a miracle.

HOLMES: Their Olympic campaign would have been successful without a win, but win they have, defeating giants like Portugal on route to Crete and a quarterfinal match against Australia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very important in this situation you know.

HOLMES: No other Olympic team could possibly have faced the battle these men have fought just to be here. They trained and qualified in other countries, their own, simply too dangerous. And now they play for the love of their sport and their country and not the fear of torture should they fail.

AHMED ABDUL GHAFOUR ASSAMARAI, NATL. OLYMPIC CMTE. OF Iraq: The spirit of our athletes now, to be here in Athens, this is -- the fear was huge when you control our athletes before. Fear from the previous (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and its president, or that even if he didn't show the thing which he would like to see, he is going to put them in prison or torturing them.

HOLMES: In Baghdad, those without the option of being here watched every minute on television. At the very least a diversion, but much more as well -- hope.

(on camera): It is easy to glamorize this team's achievements, they are, without question, the stuff of fairy tales, but back home there are stark realities, matters of life and death with which to contend.

(voice-over): Many in this young team are from the slums of Sadr City, others from hot spots like Fallujah and Najaf. Homecoming parades are unlikely in such places. But, they had their parade in Crete this night. Iraq's dream team continuing its remarkable journey with another win. One more victory and they're guaranteed their nation's second-ever Olympic medal. If they lose, they still get to play for bronze. But as we've heard, this is about so much more than winning or medals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's any -- any game which can unite the whole world, not just a nation, it's football.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Crete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

We want to take you live to Athens now to check in with Larry Smith for the rest of the Olympics. But I want to talk a little bit more about the Iraqi soccer team. Tell me, do they have fans in the stands from Iraq?

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact not only that, there are also fans on one of the local areas here called Omonia Square. After their victory, I was out there Saturday night, and it was just hundreds were gathering, chanting and waiving their flags. I mean it was just a phenomenal sight and what a great story that they have had here in these Games -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

SMITH: Khalimetta (ph) to you. Yes, khalimetta to you.

COSTELLO: I was just going to tell you to bring us up to date on other stuff.

SMITH: That's right. Khalimetta means good afternoon or I should say khalispetta (ph), good morning in the United States, as we are now in day 10 of competition. Hard to believe this is the beginning of the final week of competition here at the 28th Olympiad.

One-hundred-meter champion we were talking about this morning. He is the youngest to win gold in the Olympic 100-meter men's dash in more than three decades. Justin Gatlin outsprinting the fastest field in Olympic history. Last night the 22-year-old clocked a time of 9.85 seconds, just missing an Olympic record, winning by 100th of a second, the closest finish since 1980. Five sprinters ran in 10 seconds or less, the first time that's happened in the Summer Games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN GATLIN, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER: You're always going to remember who the Olympic champion in 2004 was, not at some grand prix meet, you know in '95, nobody can tell you that. But you'll always remember in 2004 that Justin Gatlin was the Olympic champion in 100 meters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Absolutely.

Now afterwards, Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, admitted that he was the unidentified coach who back in June sent a syringe of the steroid, the designer steroid, THG to doping agency officials that sparked a ban on Abalco Labs (ph) in San Francisco and new testing as well, and of course the banning of several top athletes of the U.S. and around the world. He said last night after Gatlin's gold winning performance, Trevor Graham did, he said I did it because it seemed like the right thing to do. Would I do it again? Yes, I would.

Very quickly, Russia's Irina Korzhanenko has been stripped of her gold medal in the shot put and USA softball. Gold medal mass this afternoon 4:00 p.m. local time here versus Australia.

Let's go back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Larry Smith, live from Athens this morning, thank you.

We'll talk more about the 2004 Summer Games in the next hour of DAYBREAK with Chris Cotter in our DAYBREAK scorecard.

But first, intense fighting overnight in the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. We're going to take you live to that region for the latest.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Monday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: U.S. warplanes bomb an area near the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Fighters loyal to a radical cleric are still holed up inside.

It is Monday, August 23. This is DAYBREAK.

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 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Behind the bars of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib Prison this hour pretrial hearings for four Americans.
It is Monday, August 23. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

"Now in the News," intense fighting is reported this morning in Najaf between U.S. troops and militiamen holding a Shiite mosque. At least 10 explosions have been heard. An aide to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says several people have been killed and wounded.

Hearings started about an hour 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 rules take effect today. There's little agreement on how many workers might gain or lose overtime pay under those new rules.

Two hearings in the House today on the 9/11 Commission report. Homeland Security Undersecretary Frank Libutti testifies before the Financial Services Committee. And a Crime in Terrorism subcommittee hears from officials of the Commission, the FBI and the ACLU -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Well let's hope it stays far out to sea.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Pretrial hearings are going on right now in Germany for four of the seven soldiers charged with abusing prisoners in Iraq.

CNN's Chris Burns covering the hearings in Mannheim, and he's filed this report before going into court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're at a U.S. Army barracks here in Mannheim where these pretrial hearings will be happening over the next two days. Probably of greatest interest is the one today which is going to be happening for Charles Graner, Corporal Charles Graner or Specialist Charles Graner, who is considered to be the ringleader of what had gone on.

There are seven different members of the Reservist MP, military police, who were charged in this case. You might remember and you can see those pictures that outraged quite a few people around the world of the Charles Graner and others. Lynndie England, who has also been charged, who have been accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison just outside of Baghdad.

Among the charges that Graner is facing are assault, mistreatment of prisoners, conspiracy, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, adultery, adultery linked with Lynndie England because she is pregnant with his child and committing indecent acts. All of that together, he could face more than 24 years in prison.

What's going on today is there will be arguments back and forth over what evidence to include, which pictures could be included, which witnesses to call. I asked one military source how high could this go? He said very, very high.

And in Lynndie England's case, the witnesses have been asked for include Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, among others, so big arguments today. And the judge is going to have to decide who to call as witnesses, what evidence to include and whether to have the trial in Iraq or whether to have it perhaps here in Germany or back in the States. So a lot of decisions to be made.

And at the end of the hearing, there could be a chance for a plea, which has happened in one of the cases, where one of the accused has plead guilty and gotten a one-year sentence and is going to be testifying against the others. So there is also that pressure on the defendants to possibly plead to possibly lesser charges and then talk and testify against some of the other defendants. So there will be a lot of suspense in this courtroom in this pretrial hearing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Chris Burns reporting.

The hearings for those four soldiers got under way about 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time and they do continue right now.

Here is a check of the top stories out of Iraq in our "Situation Report."

U.S. warplanes seeing more action in Najaf. This morning they kept up their bombing of Shiite militia positions around a key mosque.

French-American journalist back in U.S. hands this morning. Micah Garen was freed after more than a week in captivity in Iraq. And as we have been telling you, pretrial hearings begin in Germany today for four of those seven U.S. soldiers charged in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.

We want to talk a little bit more about that with our senior international editor David Clinch, because I know Chris Burns had to go back into the courtroom.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right, he's inside the courtroom and following the proceedings there. But I've been talking to Chris and the other people covering this story today, really wanting to focus on why we care about this story. If you remember, we at CNN and others were aware of an investigation into prison abuse months before any images came out. We were looking into it.

We were then aware, as everybody else was, when "60 Minutes" aired it here in the U.S. The reason this story hit the resonance that it did, the level that it did, was not because of our coverage, but because of the coverage it received in the region, on Al Jazeera, on Iraqi TV and elsewhere, hitting that nerve in Iraq. And a massive stigma, of course, now attached to the U.S. forces in Iraq because of those images.

COSTELLO: Well, and many Americans are really angry that such things could have happened.

CLINCH: And right, and of course that's important. But the question that lingers is does any of these proceedings in Germany, Baghdad or anywhere else, do anything to get rid of that stigma originally for the U.S. forces? And certainly in Iraq, as far as we can see, the Iraqis that we have spoken to, the answer is no, it can't. The damage is done. It doesn't matter, unless, and of course you know people have called Donald Rumsfeld and others as witnesses. The chances of that actually happening not so great. But unless something like that were to happen, most Iraqis are of the opinion that it's done, the damage is done.

As you say, though, of course a lot of Americans determined to see justice done. And whether it's just these soldiers or higher up the rankings, very important to go through the legal proceedings. So we're watching it in Germany.

COSTELLO: So quickly, the Iraqi soccer team, bring us up to date.

CLINCH: Well the Iraqi soccer team, they won their quarterfinal. They're playing in the semifinal tomorrow in the Olympics. Big thrill for them and most Iraqis. But they're also a little bit uncomfortable about some images of the Iraqi soccer team being used in Bush campaign ads. That's still an issue for them. So we'll see if they win tomorrow that issue may also come back. So watching tomorrow, a big game for them.

COSTELLO: And Michael Holmes will have, I guess, a story about that later on DAYBREAK. CLINCH: Yes, and we're following their families in Iraq as well.

COSTELLO: Awesome.

CLINCH: So a huge story in Iraq.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks.

It's enough to make art lovers scream. Officials in Norway this morning are still looking for those thieves who made off with two famous paintings, including Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

More now from CNN's Colleen McEdwards.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened in broad daylight, two well known paintings from Oslo's Munch Museum were simply marched out the door, taking guards and patrons by surprise.

JORNUN CHRISTOPHERSEN, MUNCH MUSEUM SPOKESWOMAN: Persons with hoods on their heads, they were disguised and with weapons, rushed into the museum. And they knew exactly where these paintings were. So they went directly up to them, took them down from the wall and run out as the alarm came on. And they threatened the guards with guns.

MCEDWARDS: The paintings were worth millions of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man coming forward with a black guard over his mouth and nose and black pants but a gray sweatshirt. So we weren't sure what to think of him. And he came, he kind of paused at the back and then he came rushing forward. And he went towards the "Madonna" painting and he grabbed that off the wall.

And he kind of started banging it against the wall and against the ground, I guess because the gray strings weren't breaking off for him. And then he kind of looked confused as to what to do next. He then saw "The Scream" and ran towards that and grabbed that off the wall. And then he started rushing out the front and we started rushing out the back.

MCEDWARDS: The picture frames were later found in another part of the city, the canvases cut out. Investigators are still looking for more clues.

Edvard Munch, who lived from 1863 to 1944, painted four versions of "The Scream." A founder of modern expressionism, he painted both "The Scream" and "Madonna" as part of a series about love, fear and death. The best known version of "The Scream" was stolen in 1994 and later recovered. It now hangs in the Oslo National Gallery.

Colleen McEdwards, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, Amber Frey back on the stand this week. In five minutes, we'll get a preview of the Scott Peterson trial.

And his track record speaks for itself. In 12 minutes, we'll show you the fastest man in the world.

And our e-mail "Question of the Day," do you think the new overtime rules are fair? Do you even know what they are? E-mail your responses to DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In California, Amber Frey is expected to be cross- examined when the Scott Peterson murder trial resumes this morning. You'll remember that the trial came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday because of a mysterious potential development.

CNN's Rusty Dornin brings you up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just what is fair game for defense attorney Mark Geragos in his questioning of Scott Peterson's former mistress Amber Frey? That's the question the court may address when it resumes Monday morning after an unexpected delay last week.

A source close to the case tells CNN the delay in Frey's cross- examination came after prosecutors tried to stop the defense from using additional recordings of phone conversations between Frey and Scott Peterson beyond the 43 calls that were already played in court. According to the source, the judge approved their request, but only if Frey refers to those additional calls when answering questions during cross-examination.

Frey's attorney says her client has already revealed intimate details of her private life. And for her, the delay has been unnerving.

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY ATTORNEY: She may have to reveal more on the witness stand. And I'm sure that's not going to be easy.

DORNIN: Scott Peterson's father, Lee, was expected to be called by prosecutors as a witness last Thursday. Lee Peterson testified at the preliminary hearing that he did not know his son bought a boat, nor did Scott tell him he went fishing in a phone conversation on Christmas Eve, the day Laci Peterson disappeared.

Amber Frey is due back on the stand Monday morning. The cross- examination is expected to last one to two days.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Pretrial hearings under way for four of the seven U.S. soldiers charged in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. The proceedings are not being held in Baghdad. They were moved to Germany because the defense was concerned about the security in Iraq.

In Iraq itself there is more fighting today outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. A spokesman for the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says a U.S. airstrike hit a wall surrounding the shrine causing casualties and damage.

In money news, are we going to be paying more or less for gasoline? The answer is probably yes. Crude oil prices jumped to almost $50 a barrel Friday, but now they've settled below the $48 mark.

In culture, the latest installment of the "Exorcist" spoofed the competition at the box office. Preliminary estimates show "Exorcist: The Beginning" took in $18.2 million over the weekend.

And in sports, the city of Chicago expected to decide by noon if the Cubs can play the Brewers tonight at Wrigley Field. At issue, will a protective netting protect fans from concrete chunks that have been falling from the 90-year-old stadium. How would you like to be sitting under that part of the stadium?

MYERS: No, I've seen some of those concrete chunks. They're not really that small. Yes, better than the bigger than canned hams in some spots (ph), Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Are you heading for work, expecting some overtime in that next paycheck? Well the federal government's new rules detailing who gets overtime and who doesn't takes effect today. But do not expect to grab a copy of the rules for an easy explanation. That would be hundreds and hundreds of pages to read.

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

We have been soliciting e-mail for you, asking you about the overtime rules and if you think they are fair, if you can understand them. And we've gotten some response.

This is from Jim. He says are they fair to employers, yes. To employees, no. We can only hope that every employee who loses under these rules will remember in November. And Jim is from North Aurora, Illinois.

Don't know who this is from, but this person says I don't see how anyone could have the time to figure out the new rules and still be sane. And that includes your employer, because your employer is going to have to go through these hundreds of pages of these new rules and interpret them as he or she wishes.

This is from Lynn (ph) from Medford, New York. The new rules, while different and complicated, to insure overtime is awarded to those that need it. The new rules, which may seem complicated to start, that doesn't make them bad. Any new system is challenging until you get used to it. That's looking at the glass half full.

We'll have more for you later. DAYBREAK@CNN.com. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Olympic doping rears its ugly head again in Athens. Up next in a live report, the thrill of victory is followed by the agony of defeat for a Russian athlete. We'll tell you why she was stripped of gold. This is DAYBREAK.

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COSTELLO: Iraqis of all ethnic, religious and political persuasions are united in celebration over their dream team. Iraq's national soccer team has advanced to the semifinal round of the Olympics. Unbelievable.

Our Michael Holmes has more for you on all of the excitement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They poured onto the Island of Crete, Iraqis, from England, from Sweden, some of them refugees from Saddam Hussein's regime. All of them intensely proud of their soccer team.

They use to train, three, four of them, in different areas, sometimes the bombs and sometimes the terrorists attacks, and -- so it is incredible they are here. So far I think they achieved a miracle.

HOLMES: Their Olympic campaign would have been successful without a win, but win they have, defeating giants like Portugal on route to Crete and a quarterfinal match against Australia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very important in this situation you know.

HOLMES: No other Olympic team could possibly have faced the battle these men have fought just to be here. They trained and qualified in other countries, their own, simply too dangerous. And now they play for the love of their sport and their country and not the fear of torture should they fail.

AHMED ABDUL GHAFOUR ASSAMARAI, NATL. OLYMPIC CMTE. OF Iraq: The spirit of our athletes now, to be here in Athens, this is -- the fear was huge when you control our athletes before. Fear from the previous (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and its president, or that even if he didn't show the thing which he would like to see, he is going to put them in prison or torturing them.

HOLMES: In Baghdad, those without the option of being here watched every minute on television. At the very least a diversion, but much more as well -- hope.

(on camera): It is easy to glamorize this team's achievements, they are, without question, the stuff of fairy tales, but back home there are stark realities, matters of life and death with which to contend.

(voice-over): Many in this young team are from the slums of Sadr City, others from hot spots like Fallujah and Najaf. Homecoming parades are unlikely in such places. But, they had their parade in Crete this night. Iraq's dream team continuing its remarkable journey with another win. One more victory and they're guaranteed their nation's second-ever Olympic medal. If they lose, they still get to play for bronze. But as we've heard, this is about so much more than winning or medals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's any -- any game which can unite the whole world, not just a nation, it's football.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Crete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

We want to take you live to Athens now to check in with Larry Smith for the rest of the Olympics. But I want to talk a little bit more about the Iraqi soccer team. Tell me, do they have fans in the stands from Iraq?

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact not only that, there are also fans on one of the local areas here called Omonia Square. After their victory, I was out there Saturday night, and it was just hundreds were gathering, chanting and waiving their flags. I mean it was just a phenomenal sight and what a great story that they have had here in these Games -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

SMITH: Khalimetta (ph) to you. Yes, khalimetta to you.

COSTELLO: I was just going to tell you to bring us up to date on other stuff.

SMITH: That's right. Khalimetta means good afternoon or I should say khalispetta (ph), good morning in the United States, as we are now in day 10 of competition. Hard to believe this is the beginning of the final week of competition here at the 28th Olympiad.

One-hundred-meter champion we were talking about this morning. He is the youngest to win gold in the Olympic 100-meter men's dash in more than three decades. Justin Gatlin outsprinting the fastest field in Olympic history. Last night the 22-year-old clocked a time of 9.85 seconds, just missing an Olympic record, winning by 100th of a second, the closest finish since 1980. Five sprinters ran in 10 seconds or less, the first time that's happened in the Summer Games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN GATLIN, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER: You're always going to remember who the Olympic champion in 2004 was, not at some grand prix meet, you know in '95, nobody can tell you that. But you'll always remember in 2004 that Justin Gatlin was the Olympic champion in 100 meters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Absolutely.

Now afterwards, Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, admitted that he was the unidentified coach who back in June sent a syringe of the steroid, the designer steroid, THG to doping agency officials that sparked a ban on Abalco Labs (ph) in San Francisco and new testing as well, and of course the banning of several top athletes of the U.S. and around the world. He said last night after Gatlin's gold winning performance, Trevor Graham did, he said I did it because it seemed like the right thing to do. Would I do it again? Yes, I would.

Very quickly, Russia's Irina Korzhanenko has been stripped of her gold medal in the shot put and USA softball. Gold medal mass this afternoon 4:00 p.m. local time here versus Australia.

Let's go back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Larry Smith, live from Athens this morning, thank you.

We'll talk more about the 2004 Summer Games in the next hour of DAYBREAK with Chris Cotter in our DAYBREAK scorecard.

But first, intense fighting overnight in the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. We're going to take you live to that region for the latest.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Monday.

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COSTELLO: U.S. warplanes bomb an area near the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Fighters loyal to a radical cleric are still holed up inside.

It is Monday, August 23. This is DAYBREAK.

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