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CNN Live At Daybreak

New 527 Questions Bush Guard Service; NASA Salvages Info from Crashed Genesis Probe

Aired September 09, 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: President Bush's National Guard service -- new accusations this morning.
It is Thursday, September 9.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, a huge explosion has killed at least six people and wounded about 100 others in Jakarta, Indonesia. Witnesses say a powerful car bomb detonated outside the Australian embassy.

In Iraq, a U.S. air strike today on a building allegedly used by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. officials say Zarqawi has close ties to al Qaeda. The attack killed 10 to 12 people, including women and children.

U.S. and Iraqi forces are also on the attack in the northern city of Talafar, just outside of Mosul. The U.S. military says the operation is aimed at ousting terrorists who have overrun the city.

And a ferocious hurricane Ivan also on the attack. Ivan has caused at least 15 deaths. Most of the homes and buildings on Grenada have been damaged. It's now a rare category five storm and it is now threatening Jamaica.

But let's go to Chad for more on Ivan.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a huge storm, Carol.

I had to actually, I had to widen the view of my satellite picture this morning so that I could actually get all of Ivan in. I had it much closer yesterday, but you couldn't tell where it was, because obviously it filled up the entire screen.

There is the eye, though, north of Aruba. Aruba getting some winds and some big waves, but certainly now on the north side of the eye, the dangerous side is actually the other side. If you are north of the eye, then that's when you really get the damage and that's what Grenada got back here. So Aruba being well south of the eye itself, about, oh, 75 to 100 miles, they are in pretty good shape.

A look at the winds right now, 160 miles per hour, gusting to 195. The only good news is that it's in the middle of the ocean, or at least the middle of the Caribbean.

But here you go, right over Jamaica is the official forecast, although a few models now taking it to the north of Jamaica. We'll have to hope for that for those folks in Jamaica, because look at the winds, still at 145 miles per hour as it approaches the southern part of Cuba.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Oh, the gloves are off in the presidential race. The White House facing new questions about President Bush's stateside service during the Vietnam War. The former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives talked to CBS' "60 Minutes" about his recollections of those years. Ben Barnes says he helped George W. Bush get into the Air National Guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "60 MINUTES," COURTESY CBS NEWS) BEN BARNES, FORMER TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER: I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get into the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard. I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam, that didn't want to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Memos obtained by CNN indicate the president's commanding officer in 1973 felt pressured to give Bush a good performance evaluation. But the White House says the same documents prove the president completed his service obligation honorably.

As CNN's John King reports, the Vietnam War is an election issue that doesn't appear to be going away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New questions about the president's National Guard service are shifting the campaign focus on Vietnam-era conduct his way, and drawing an aggressive White House response.

Mr. Bush in 1973 signed this promise to associate with a new Guard unit when he moved from Texas to enroll at Harvard Business School. If not, he could face possible "involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months."

"The Boston Globe" says its investigation found Mr. Bush did not keep that commitment.

But the White House cited documents released months ago that show Mr. Bush was reassigned in October 1973 to inactive reserve status with a unit in Denver, Colorado, and listed Harvard as his address.

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The fact of the matter is that President Bush would not have been honorably discharged if he had not met his obligations.

KING: A former head of the Air National Guard who reviewed the records for CNN backs the White House.

GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: He did everything right, everything in accordance with what he was supposed to do.

KING: The Pentagon says it recently discovered these records detailing Mr. Bush's early flight training in the Texas Air National Guard. Critics say still missing are logs of what, if any, drills Mr. Bush performed during a four- to six-month period in 1972 after he transferred to the Alabama Guard A group calling itself Texans for Truth launched a new ad campaign suggesting Mr. Bush never showed up.

LT. COL. ROBERT MINTZ (RET.), 187TH TACTICAL SQUADRON, AIR NATIONAL GUARD, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: That was my unit, and I don't remember seeing you there. So I called friends, you know, and, did you know that George served in our unit? No, I never saw him there.

KING: The White House says dental and pay records prove he did report for duty. And note that liberal Bush critics are bankrolling the ad.

BARTLETT: Their strategy is now, is President Bush is ahead in the polls, and we're going to try to bring him down. So let's recycle old charges.

KING: In a memo made public Wednesday, however, a commanding officer speculates that when he was trying to transfer to Alabama, Lieutenant Bush was, quote: "talking to someone upstairs."

Another refers to a superior officer who wanted to sugarcoat Lieutenant Bush's evaluation. The memos were first reported by "60 MINUTES." The officer who wrote them died 20 years ago.

(on camera): The Democratic Party's national chairman says those new memos contradict Mr. Bush's longstanding claim of receiving no special treatment and call into question his credibility now as well as his conduct back then.

The White House says those memos prove nothing and call the Democratic attacks recycled partisan garbage.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Vietnam has become part of this year's presidential campaign. That is certainly evident. Two months ago, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads saying they had the true story about John Kerry in Vietnam. Now, as you saw in John King's report, Texans for Truth say they have the real story about President Bush during those years.

So, we want to know what you think about this campaign and how it's going. Have campaign tactics become too negative?

E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. Both candidates are on the campaign trail today. John Kerry is spending the morning in Des Moines, Iowa and this afternoon he'll speak at the National Baptist Convention in New Orleans. He'll wrap up the day in St. Louis, Missouri.

President Bush has two rallies on his agenda today. Both are in the hotly contested battleground state of Pennsylvania. A campaign aid says the president will lay out his vision for the economy in today's talks.

We've got the accusations, the rebuttals, all the records you could ever want on our Web site. Just log onto cnn.com/politics.

Bill Cosby has more harsh words and advice for African-American parents. He says too many parents are managing their kids' lives by cell phone. The comedian was speaking at an education panel at the Congressional Black Caucus convention in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL COSBY, ENTERTAINER: If your parents come and sit in the classroom or come to meetings and know what classes you have, your game is gone. And you will behave. These children need that. With all of the systematic racism that pounds away at us every day, there is nothing that will defeat parenting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The panel discussion, which Cosby addressed, was titled, "Educational Apartheid in the United States."

The moderator of that session, Maya Rockeymoore, will join us in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

In news across America this morning, the 10-year-old assault weapons ban is on its last legs. Republican congressional leaders say they have no plans to bring the bill back up for a vote before it expires on Monday. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says he won't budge, even if President Bush requests a vote on the bill.

An indictment in Detroit. A human smuggling ring specializing in Middle Eastern immigrants has been brought down. Three naturalized citizens from Iraq were indicted for their alleged part. Hundreds of people from Iraq, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries were smuggled into the U.S. since 2001. Officials say there is no link between the illegal immigrants and any terrorist activity.

In Oregon, a stuck trap door caused problems in the planned disposal of a chemical weapons stockpile. On the first day of disposal, only one rocket was successfully destroyed, and that rocket carried nearly one gallon of the deadly nerve agent sarin. It's the first of 220,000 weapons slated for destruction.

And there's a lack of breeze on Lake Ontario. The Breeze ferry, which travels between Rochester, New York and Toronto has ceased operations for the time being. Hundreds of passengers are now left looking for alternate transportation. Owners say mounting debts led the ferry to dry dock.

Pregnant women walking dogs in the park has become the focal point in the Scott Peterson trial. Prosecutors say eyewitnesses may have been mistaken when they say they saw Laci Peterson on the day she disappeared.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has more on the day's testimony from Redwood City, California.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the only pieces of potential physical evidence in the Scott Peterson murder trial was at the center of testimony. At issue is whether a hair found in Scott Peterson's boat belonged to his wife Laci. Prosecutors contend Scott Peterson used his boat to dispose of his wife's body after killing her.

FBI DNA expert Dr. Constance Fisher testified the hair was consistent with the mitochondrial DNA makeup of Laci Peterson. Fisher says in addition to Laci Peterson, one in 112 Caucasians could be expected to have the same DNA makeup. The doctor was able to rule out Scott Peterson as the source of the hair.

The DNA testimony, which the judge warned could last two days, wrapped up early, allowing other witnesses to take the stand. A man who says he saw a pregnant woman walking a dog in the park near the Peterson house the morning Laci Peterson disappeared said he didn't think the woman he saw was Laci Peterson. Then, three separate women testified, saying they lived near the Petersons and were pregnant at the same time. The defense has claimed that eyewitnesses saw Laci that morning walking her dog. Legal experts say the fact that other pregnant women were in the area hurts the defense.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: That person was not Laci Peterson so it undercuts the testimony of all of these so-called eyewitnesses.

ROWLANDS (on camera): In all, there were four pregnant women living in the Peterson's neighborhood at the time. All four say they walked the same park Laci did during their pregnancy. Two of them said they were walking the day that Laci disappeared.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: A powerful bomb explodes this morning, right outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. It has shattered windows in the embassy. It's blasted a hole in the security gate. It's killed at least six people and injured about 100. Most of the victims were locally based security personnel and passersby.

Some of the embassy's Australian staff suffered minor injuries. Australia foreign minister says initial suspicions fell on Jamia Islamia, the Indonesian based terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda. We will have a live report for you from Jakarta at the half hour. Much like the great myth about Icarus, did NASA's latest spacecraft fly too close to the sun to survive? The space agency faces another catastrophic end to a mission. Details for you at 17 minutes past.

And Russian officials issue a warning to anyone else planning terrorist attacks, as people across the nation continue to mourn the hundreds killed in that school hostage crisis. We'll have that for you at 32 minutes past.

And is a drug that's supposed to help students focus doing more harm than good on college campuses? At 54 after the hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a warning about a growing addiction problem.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Stocks are down this morning, with players taking a wait and see attitude on the economy.

The Dow was down more than 29 points.

The Nasdaq down 8 points.

And the S&P 500 down about 5 points.

The international markets are also seeing a slump.

Japan's Nikkei is down 108 points.

Britain's FTSE is trading down around 22 points.

And France's CAC is down 34 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

President Bill Clinton is out of intensive care, but will remain hospitalized for at least a few more days. The former president had quadruple bypass surgery on Monday. His doctors say they expect a full recovery.

The prosecutor in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case says his accuser pulled out of the case because she became ill shortly before the trial was to begin. Attorney Dana Easter also says the 20-year- old alleged victim had gone to Bryant's room for an autograph, but was instead raped.

In money news, Delta Air Lines plans to cut up to 7,000 jobs as part of its reorganization. The plan also calls for Delta to stop using Dallas-Fort Worth as a hub. In culture, Donald Trump fans take notice. "Apprentice 2" begins tonight. Over the next 16 weeks, "The Donald" will once again fire a bunch of schemers and over achievers.

In sports, another season premier. The pro-football season kicks off tonight with defending champions New England Patriots taking on the Indianapolis Cults -- Chad.

MYERS: In a very wet Boston, by the way, or Foxboro, if you will. But you get the idea.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

It's not quite a total loss for NASA scientists, but it's pretty close. The Genesis capsule made a less than perfect landing. That's an understatement. Scientists are hoping to salvage whatever they can from the capsule's crater.

CNN's space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to end with a high budget action movie hook. Instead, it looked like grade B sci-fi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impact. Impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an altitude?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's impact, sir, at ground level.

O'BRIEN: The 450-pound, five foot wide craft plowed into the Utah salt flats at nearly 200 miles an hour. The fate of its precious, fragile scientific payload officially unknown, but clearly in great jeopardy.

CHRIS JONES, SOLAR SYSTEMS EXPLORATION: When it hit the ground, there was this moment of gee, did that really happen?

O'BRIEN: NASA's Genesis capsule returned after spending more than 800 days soaking up the sun in space. Tiny wafers made of silicon, diamonds, sapphires and gold snagged atom-sized bits of the solar wind, which contains the basic ingredients of our solar system. Because the wafers are so fragile, even a gentle parachute landing was considered too much of a jolt. So the Genesis team designed an odd landing system that called for the unfurling of two parachutes and then a midair helicopter retrieval.

NASA hired a pair of Hollywood stunt pilots to do the fancy flying. They practiced it 17 times and never missed. But when it came time for the money shot, they got written out of the script.

ROY HAGGARD, VERTIGO INC.: We're sorry we didn't get to perform the midair retrieval that we trained so hard to perform. But our hearts really go out to the science team.

O'BRIEN: Neither parachute opened. In fact, none of the pyrotechnic devices designed to launch the chutes never fired. But beyond that, there are only questions, a hole in the desert and a pit in some dedicated scientists' stomachs. The search for the origins of the solar system may have to wait for answers to why a piece of the sun came crashing down on earth.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Well, seeing is believing. Take a close look at these. We'll explain. Take a close look. Yes, we'll explain why this playful pooch is making waves in the record books.

Also, we want to hear from you. Our e-mail Question of the Day, have campaign tactics become too negative? You know, there are new accusations about President Bush's Air National Guard service. Are you sick of that? E-mail us, daybreak@cnn.com. E-mail us now at daybreak@cnn.com.

And you are watching DAYBREAK for Thursday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time to check out our Web clicks this morning, because we're always interested in what you're interested in on cnn.com. So let's go there now.

You know, most of the stories in the top 10 were what you might expect. But the number two clicked on story this morning, Pam Anderson lends her name to a KFC campaign. Big billboards are going to go up. She's working on behalf of PETA and she wants everybody to boycott KFC because KFC is cruel to the chickens it slaughters for its feasts in its restaurants. So there you have it. If you live in big cities across this nation, actually, on the East Coast and out in Los Angeles, you will see those big billboards with Pam Anderson's face going up soon.

Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye-Openers."

It may take a little cash to own some Cash. Sotheby's will begin auctioning off items from Johnny Cash's estate next week. Among the items are seven Grammies, seven rifles and 10 guitars, and, of course, one black coat.

Do you notice something different about this dog? Well, Jack the Bassett hound is the new record holder for having the longest dog ears. His floppy ears measure more than a foot each, breaking the old record by half an inch. The old record holder had his ears insured for more than $47,000. Why? I don't know.

Big news for technophiles everywhere. Nokia is hoping to have its newest gadget on the market early next year. The 9300 Communicator can offer spreadsheets and e-mail and do word processing. Oh, yes, it's also a phone. It weighs just under six ounces but comes with a pretty hefty price tag, around $800.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

With less than two months to go before the much anticipated presidential elections, could dirty politics spell disaster for the candidates? We're taking your e-mails this morning in light of the new accusations against President Bush's service in the Air National Guard. Are you sick of it? Have campaign tactics become too negative, too dirty?

The address, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I took it to study, I would just stay at the library for hours, until I had everything done and I knew everything front to back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Colleges and universities across the country are gearing up for the fall semester. But will abuse of a popular drug make college a drag? We'll have that story for you ahead. This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday.

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 September 9, 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: President Bush's National Guard service -- new accusations this morning.
It is Thursday, September 9.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, a huge explosion has killed at least six people and wounded about 100 others in Jakarta, Indonesia. Witnesses say a powerful car bomb detonated outside the Australian embassy.

In Iraq, a U.S. air strike today on a building allegedly used by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. officials say Zarqawi has close ties to al Qaeda. The attack killed 10 to 12 people, including women and children.

U.S. and Iraqi forces are also on the attack in the northern city of Talafar, just outside of Mosul. The U.S. military says the operation is aimed at ousting terrorists who have overrun the city.

And a ferocious hurricane Ivan also on the attack. Ivan has caused at least 15 deaths. Most of the homes and buildings on Grenada have been damaged. It's now a rare category five storm and it is now threatening Jamaica.

But let's go to Chad for more on Ivan.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a huge storm, Carol.

I had to actually, I had to widen the view of my satellite picture this morning so that I could actually get all of Ivan in. I had it much closer yesterday, but you couldn't tell where it was, because obviously it filled up the entire screen.

There is the eye, though, north of Aruba. Aruba getting some winds and some big waves, but certainly now on the north side of the eye, the dangerous side is actually the other side. If you are north of the eye, then that's when you really get the damage and that's what Grenada got back here. So Aruba being well south of the eye itself, about, oh, 75 to 100 miles, they are in pretty good shape.

A look at the winds right now, 160 miles per hour, gusting to 195. The only good news is that it's in the middle of the ocean, or at least the middle of the Caribbean.

But here you go, right over Jamaica is the official forecast, although a few models now taking it to the north of Jamaica. We'll have to hope for that for those folks in Jamaica, because look at the winds, still at 145 miles per hour as it approaches the southern part of Cuba.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Oh, the gloves are off in the presidential race. The White House facing new questions about President Bush's stateside service during the Vietnam War. The former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives talked to CBS' "60 Minutes" about his recollections of those years. Ben Barnes says he helped George W. Bush get into the Air National Guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "60 MINUTES," COURTESY CBS NEWS) BEN BARNES, FORMER TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER: I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get into the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard. I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam, that didn't want to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Memos obtained by CNN indicate the president's commanding officer in 1973 felt pressured to give Bush a good performance evaluation. But the White House says the same documents prove the president completed his service obligation honorably.

As CNN's John King reports, the Vietnam War is an election issue that doesn't appear to be going away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New questions about the president's National Guard service are shifting the campaign focus on Vietnam-era conduct his way, and drawing an aggressive White House response.

Mr. Bush in 1973 signed this promise to associate with a new Guard unit when he moved from Texas to enroll at Harvard Business School. If not, he could face possible "involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months."

"The Boston Globe" says its investigation found Mr. Bush did not keep that commitment.

But the White House cited documents released months ago that show Mr. Bush was reassigned in October 1973 to inactive reserve status with a unit in Denver, Colorado, and listed Harvard as his address.

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The fact of the matter is that President Bush would not have been honorably discharged if he had not met his obligations.

KING: A former head of the Air National Guard who reviewed the records for CNN backs the White House.

GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: He did everything right, everything in accordance with what he was supposed to do.

KING: The Pentagon says it recently discovered these records detailing Mr. Bush's early flight training in the Texas Air National Guard. Critics say still missing are logs of what, if any, drills Mr. Bush performed during a four- to six-month period in 1972 after he transferred to the Alabama Guard A group calling itself Texans for Truth launched a new ad campaign suggesting Mr. Bush never showed up.

LT. COL. ROBERT MINTZ (RET.), 187TH TACTICAL SQUADRON, AIR NATIONAL GUARD, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: That was my unit, and I don't remember seeing you there. So I called friends, you know, and, did you know that George served in our unit? No, I never saw him there.

KING: The White House says dental and pay records prove he did report for duty. And note that liberal Bush critics are bankrolling the ad.

BARTLETT: Their strategy is now, is President Bush is ahead in the polls, and we're going to try to bring him down. So let's recycle old charges.

KING: In a memo made public Wednesday, however, a commanding officer speculates that when he was trying to transfer to Alabama, Lieutenant Bush was, quote: "talking to someone upstairs."

Another refers to a superior officer who wanted to sugarcoat Lieutenant Bush's evaluation. The memos were first reported by "60 MINUTES." The officer who wrote them died 20 years ago.

(on camera): The Democratic Party's national chairman says those new memos contradict Mr. Bush's longstanding claim of receiving no special treatment and call into question his credibility now as well as his conduct back then.

The White House says those memos prove nothing and call the Democratic attacks recycled partisan garbage.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Vietnam has become part of this year's presidential campaign. That is certainly evident. Two months ago, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads saying they had the true story about John Kerry in Vietnam. Now, as you saw in John King's report, Texans for Truth say they have the real story about President Bush during those years.

So, we want to know what you think about this campaign and how it's going. Have campaign tactics become too negative?

E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. Both candidates are on the campaign trail today. John Kerry is spending the morning in Des Moines, Iowa and this afternoon he'll speak at the National Baptist Convention in New Orleans. He'll wrap up the day in St. Louis, Missouri.

President Bush has two rallies on his agenda today. Both are in the hotly contested battleground state of Pennsylvania. A campaign aid says the president will lay out his vision for the economy in today's talks.

We've got the accusations, the rebuttals, all the records you could ever want on our Web site. Just log onto cnn.com/politics.

Bill Cosby has more harsh words and advice for African-American parents. He says too many parents are managing their kids' lives by cell phone. The comedian was speaking at an education panel at the Congressional Black Caucus convention in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL COSBY, ENTERTAINER: If your parents come and sit in the classroom or come to meetings and know what classes you have, your game is gone. And you will behave. These children need that. With all of the systematic racism that pounds away at us every day, there is nothing that will defeat parenting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The panel discussion, which Cosby addressed, was titled, "Educational Apartheid in the United States."

The moderator of that session, Maya Rockeymoore, will join us in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

In news across America this morning, the 10-year-old assault weapons ban is on its last legs. Republican congressional leaders say they have no plans to bring the bill back up for a vote before it expires on Monday. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says he won't budge, even if President Bush requests a vote on the bill.

An indictment in Detroit. A human smuggling ring specializing in Middle Eastern immigrants has been brought down. Three naturalized citizens from Iraq were indicted for their alleged part. Hundreds of people from Iraq, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries were smuggled into the U.S. since 2001. Officials say there is no link between the illegal immigrants and any terrorist activity.

In Oregon, a stuck trap door caused problems in the planned disposal of a chemical weapons stockpile. On the first day of disposal, only one rocket was successfully destroyed, and that rocket carried nearly one gallon of the deadly nerve agent sarin. It's the first of 220,000 weapons slated for destruction.

And there's a lack of breeze on Lake Ontario. The Breeze ferry, which travels between Rochester, New York and Toronto has ceased operations for the time being. Hundreds of passengers are now left looking for alternate transportation. Owners say mounting debts led the ferry to dry dock.

Pregnant women walking dogs in the park has become the focal point in the Scott Peterson trial. Prosecutors say eyewitnesses may have been mistaken when they say they saw Laci Peterson on the day she disappeared.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has more on the day's testimony from Redwood City, California.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the only pieces of potential physical evidence in the Scott Peterson murder trial was at the center of testimony. At issue is whether a hair found in Scott Peterson's boat belonged to his wife Laci. Prosecutors contend Scott Peterson used his boat to dispose of his wife's body after killing her.

FBI DNA expert Dr. Constance Fisher testified the hair was consistent with the mitochondrial DNA makeup of Laci Peterson. Fisher says in addition to Laci Peterson, one in 112 Caucasians could be expected to have the same DNA makeup. The doctor was able to rule out Scott Peterson as the source of the hair.

The DNA testimony, which the judge warned could last two days, wrapped up early, allowing other witnesses to take the stand. A man who says he saw a pregnant woman walking a dog in the park near the Peterson house the morning Laci Peterson disappeared said he didn't think the woman he saw was Laci Peterson. Then, three separate women testified, saying they lived near the Petersons and were pregnant at the same time. The defense has claimed that eyewitnesses saw Laci that morning walking her dog. Legal experts say the fact that other pregnant women were in the area hurts the defense.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: That person was not Laci Peterson so it undercuts the testimony of all of these so-called eyewitnesses.

ROWLANDS (on camera): In all, there were four pregnant women living in the Peterson's neighborhood at the time. All four say they walked the same park Laci did during their pregnancy. Two of them said they were walking the day that Laci disappeared.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: A powerful bomb explodes this morning, right outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. It has shattered windows in the embassy. It's blasted a hole in the security gate. It's killed at least six people and injured about 100. Most of the victims were locally based security personnel and passersby.

Some of the embassy's Australian staff suffered minor injuries. Australia foreign minister says initial suspicions fell on Jamia Islamia, the Indonesian based terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda. We will have a live report for you from Jakarta at the half hour. Much like the great myth about Icarus, did NASA's latest spacecraft fly too close to the sun to survive? The space agency faces another catastrophic end to a mission. Details for you at 17 minutes past.

And Russian officials issue a warning to anyone else planning terrorist attacks, as people across the nation continue to mourn the hundreds killed in that school hostage crisis. We'll have that for you at 32 minutes past.

And is a drug that's supposed to help students focus doing more harm than good on college campuses? At 54 after the hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a warning about a growing addiction problem.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Stocks are down this morning, with players taking a wait and see attitude on the economy.

The Dow was down more than 29 points.

The Nasdaq down 8 points.

And the S&P 500 down about 5 points.

The international markets are also seeing a slump.

Japan's Nikkei is down 108 points.

Britain's FTSE is trading down around 22 points.

And France's CAC is down 34 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

President Bill Clinton is out of intensive care, but will remain hospitalized for at least a few more days. The former president had quadruple bypass surgery on Monday. His doctors say they expect a full recovery.

The prosecutor in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case says his accuser pulled out of the case because she became ill shortly before the trial was to begin. Attorney Dana Easter also says the 20-year- old alleged victim had gone to Bryant's room for an autograph, but was instead raped.

In money news, Delta Air Lines plans to cut up to 7,000 jobs as part of its reorganization. The plan also calls for Delta to stop using Dallas-Fort Worth as a hub. In culture, Donald Trump fans take notice. "Apprentice 2" begins tonight. Over the next 16 weeks, "The Donald" will once again fire a bunch of schemers and over achievers.

In sports, another season premier. The pro-football season kicks off tonight with defending champions New England Patriots taking on the Indianapolis Cults -- Chad.

MYERS: In a very wet Boston, by the way, or Foxboro, if you will. But you get the idea.

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COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

It's not quite a total loss for NASA scientists, but it's pretty close. The Genesis capsule made a less than perfect landing. That's an understatement. Scientists are hoping to salvage whatever they can from the capsule's crater.

CNN's space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, has more for you.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to end with a high budget action movie hook. Instead, it looked like grade B sci-fi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impact. Impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an altitude?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's impact, sir, at ground level.

O'BRIEN: The 450-pound, five foot wide craft plowed into the Utah salt flats at nearly 200 miles an hour. The fate of its precious, fragile scientific payload officially unknown, but clearly in great jeopardy.

CHRIS JONES, SOLAR SYSTEMS EXPLORATION: When it hit the ground, there was this moment of gee, did that really happen?

O'BRIEN: NASA's Genesis capsule returned after spending more than 800 days soaking up the sun in space. Tiny wafers made of silicon, diamonds, sapphires and gold snagged atom-sized bits of the solar wind, which contains the basic ingredients of our solar system. Because the wafers are so fragile, even a gentle parachute landing was considered too much of a jolt. So the Genesis team designed an odd landing system that called for the unfurling of two parachutes and then a midair helicopter retrieval.

NASA hired a pair of Hollywood stunt pilots to do the fancy flying. They practiced it 17 times and never missed. But when it came time for the money shot, they got written out of the script.

ROY HAGGARD, VERTIGO INC.: We're sorry we didn't get to perform the midair retrieval that we trained so hard to perform. But our hearts really go out to the science team.

O'BRIEN: Neither parachute opened. In fact, none of the pyrotechnic devices designed to launch the chutes never fired. But beyond that, there are only questions, a hole in the desert and a pit in some dedicated scientists' stomachs. The search for the origins of the solar system may have to wait for answers to why a piece of the sun came crashing down on earth.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

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COSTELLO: Well, seeing is believing. Take a close look at these. We'll explain. Take a close look. Yes, we'll explain why this playful pooch is making waves in the record books.

Also, we want to hear from you. Our e-mail Question of the Day, have campaign tactics become too negative? You know, there are new accusations about President Bush's Air National Guard service. Are you sick of that? E-mail us, daybreak@cnn.com. E-mail us now at daybreak@cnn.com.

And you are watching DAYBREAK for Thursday.

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COSTELLO: Time to check out our Web clicks this morning, because we're always interested in what you're interested in on cnn.com. So let's go there now.

You know, most of the stories in the top 10 were what you might expect. But the number two clicked on story this morning, Pam Anderson lends her name to a KFC campaign. Big billboards are going to go up. She's working on behalf of PETA and she wants everybody to boycott KFC because KFC is cruel to the chickens it slaughters for its feasts in its restaurants. So there you have it. If you live in big cities across this nation, actually, on the East Coast and out in Los Angeles, you will see those big billboards with Pam Anderson's face going up soon.

Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye-Openers."

It may take a little cash to own some Cash. Sotheby's will begin auctioning off items from Johnny Cash's estate next week. Among the items are seven Grammies, seven rifles and 10 guitars, and, of course, one black coat.

Do you notice something different about this dog? Well, Jack the Bassett hound is the new record holder for having the longest dog ears. His floppy ears measure more than a foot each, breaking the old record by half an inch. The old record holder had his ears insured for more than $47,000. Why? I don't know.

Big news for technophiles everywhere. Nokia is hoping to have its newest gadget on the market early next year. The 9300 Communicator can offer spreadsheets and e-mail and do word processing. Oh, yes, it's also a phone. It weighs just under six ounces but comes with a pretty hefty price tag, around $800.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

With less than two months to go before the much anticipated presidential elections, could dirty politics spell disaster for the candidates? We're taking your e-mails this morning in light of the new accusations against President Bush's service in the Air National Guard. Are you sick of it? Have campaign tactics become too negative, too dirty?

The address, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.

Also...

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I took it to study, I would just stay at the library for hours, until I had everything done and I knew everything front to back.

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COSTELLO: Colleges and universities across the country are gearing up for the fall semester. But will abuse of a popular drug make college a drag? We'll have that story for you ahead. This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday.

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