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CNN Live At Daybreak

Escalating Violence; Nuclear Worries; Ivan Eyes Cuba; Peterson Murder Trial; Investing in Mary

Aired September 13, 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: An explosion of violence, on edge, on guard and on alert across Iraq.
It is Monday, September 13. 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."

U.S. warplanes and artillery blasted the insurgents' stronghold of Fallujah this morning. Hospital officials say at least 10 people were killed. The action follows a bloody weekend in Iraq. At least 78 Iraqis were killed in the 24 hours ending at 1:00 this morning Eastern Time.

President Vladimir Putin huddles with is cabinet to discuss Russia's response to a wave of terrorist attacks. At least 430 people have been killed in three weeks, capped by the massacre at that school in Beslan.

The federal ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons expires at midnight, and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist says that's the will of the American people. The ban was enacted 10 years ago after three multiple killings in California.

Cubans are preparing as best they can for Hurricane Ivan. The category 5 storm has been wrecking and flooding the Cayman Islands. Ivan expected to hit the western tip of Cuba, well, let's ask Chad Myers that question.

Good morning -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, actually it's going to drive itself right between Cancun and the western tip of Cuba. Some of the eye is here. The eastern side of this eyewall here could have some flooding here. The storm surge could be 25 feet here on the very western tip of Cuba.

And also now hurricane warnings in effect for Cancun and Cozumel as this whole thing kind of moves on up into the Gulf of Mexico. That's where we really get concerned. As it moves on up through that little channel, as we call it, it could in fact and will in fact turn on up toward the north and toward the northwest. Category 5 right now, winds are 160. These are the very latest numbers, 20.2 and 83.9, moving to the west-northwest at 9 to maybe 10 miles per hour, coming across the western tip of Cuba and then into the Gulf of Mexico. These are the latest forecast numbers now, getting ever so close to Mobile and even scaring me about New Orleans. Although you are not in the line right now, clearly you are in the yellow path, New Orleans. See how this yellow path is now getting skinnier because the storm is getting smaller.

That's how it happens, Carol. If you are 200 miles from that, it goes out farther, farther, farther, farther and then you've got a big wide thing. But if you're only 100 miles from it, it goes out and out and, oops, it's not as far wide. So as it gets closer and closer, obviously this error cone gets smaller and we know exactly where it's going to be hitting. Still, though, still almost, I would say, 72 hours away from making landfall, but people need to be prepared now.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Start of the new week in Iraq begins as it ended, with violence. We told you the casualty figures. Scores of Iraqis dead, more than 150 hurt.

Our Diana Muriel is in Baghdad this morning with a look at what appears to be intensifying violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As dawn broke over Baghdad on Sunday. Parts of the city were burning. Mortars raining down on the enplade (ph) west of the River Tigress where the Iraqi interim government is based. No casualties reported, but later, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a checkpoint, killing only himself. The most intense fighting took place on nearby Haifa Street, nicknamed little Fallujah by its inhabitants.

U.S. forces crashed with insurgents and blew up a Bradley armored personnel carrier with a home made car bomb. The U.S. military says soldiers came under fire with grenades of moalital (ph) cocktails as they were being evacuated. Four soldiers were injured. A military spokesman says a helicopter gunship later fired on the Bradley to prevent looters from stripping it of ammunition, but eyewitnesses say a large crowd of civilians had gathered around the vehicle by that time, and the strike was responsible for most of the casualties, 13 dead, 55 wounded.

According to Iraq's ministry of health. Many of the victims brought here to this center Baghdad hospital. Elsewhere, more killings, a senior police officer and a colleague died in a car bomb attack to the west of the city. Four others injured in the blast.

At Abu Ghraib Prison, coalition forces destroyed a car whose driver tried to ram the gates. They say the car was carrying explosives. MURIEL (on camera): With more than 20 dead and over 60 wounded in Sunday's attacks, the struggle between insurgents and coalition- backed Iraqi national forces seems to be intensifying. Fire fights are a daily occurrence in some parts of the city. Insurgent mortar attacks remain a constant threat.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURIEL: With 25 dead and 108 wounded in Sunday's attacks, the struggles between insurgents and coalition-backed Iraqi national forces seems to be intensifying here in the capital. Firefights have become a daily occurrence in some parts of the city. And insurgent mortar attacks remain a constant threat -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel, live from Baghdad this morning, thank you.

Atomic ambitions, U.S. officials say North Korea and Iran have them and that is worrying Washington.

Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to tell us more. And you know everybody was all freaked out over the weekend about this big, shall I call it a mushroom-shaped cloud in North Korea?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well, I'll tell you what, I have worked in this business for about 18 years or so, and I could quite happily go another 18 years without reading this line, which I read on Saturday night, mushroom cloud, up to two miles in diameter, spotted after North Korea blast, period.

COSTELLO: I'm with you.

CLINCH: Right. It took us quite some time to go from that initial bulletin, which obviously created fear here and everywhere that a nuclear blast or explosion or accident had taken place, to an understanding that it was an explosion of some kind that had happened a few days beforehand, to likely not nuclear, to now North Korea is saying it was just a planned explosion to blow up a mountain for a hydroelectric plant.

Well I'm very sad that there is now one less mountain in North Korea, but again, very happy that, as far as we can judge right now in the U.S. assessment from Colin Powell and others, no nuclear accident and no nuclear test. But of course...

COSTELLO: Well how can they really say that when you can't get in to North Korea?

CLINCH: Well no seismological information of any kind about a blast of that level and no information picked up from satellite so far that it would indicate that it's a nuclear blast. But of course the issue really is beyond that. The fear that it could have been a nuclear test is there because the U.S. and others are right now trying to persuade North Korea to stop and not do a nuclear test and not continue to build weapons.

And of course on the Iranian side, too, the U.S. in a very difficult situation there. They already know North Korea likely has weapons. With Iran, they are trying to prevent it getting its weapons. And so they know they are building big nuclear plants. They know that they may very well be used to build nuclear weapons. And they, the U.S. and others, are at the IAEA in Vienna this week, today talking to all of their allies in Europe and elsewhere to try to pile pressure on the diplomatic side on Iran to not go forward with that.

COSTELLO: Well now Israel has gotten into the mix as in regards to Iran.

CLINCH: Well that's the thing, there are two different levels on this story. There is the diplomatic level with Iran and North Korea, and then particularly with Iran, because of the sensitivity of where it is and the fear of what a weapon could mean in that part of the world. Israel has its own opinion on this subject and is going well beyond the diplomatic realm and saying that in its view, Iran might have a weapon within six months and they will not let that happen. That's their version, they will not let it happen.

COSTELLO: Have they come right out and said that a military strike may be involved, because you know didn't...

CLINCH: They always retain that. All they are saying is that they retain that option, of course. But in some areas we're hearing that Iran may be years away. But when Israel starts talking about six months from now, they may very well, you know, be exaggerating. We don't know.

All we know is what they are saying, and what they are saying is they believe it is imminent and they won't let it happen. That's a completely different situation from the diplomacy we see on the North Korean side. So the Iran story is in many ways much more nerve- racking for me, notwithstanding that bulletin from North Korea a couple of days ago, so.

COSTELLO: All right. David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Hurricane Ivan is now a monster of a storm. It is lumbering towards Cuba, packing a mind-boggling 160-mile-an-hour winds.

As CNN's Lucia Newman reports, Cubans are preparing for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Unwilling to lose everything they have, like they did a few years ago during Hurricane Isadora, the 6,000 residents of La Coloma (ph) in Western Cuba are rushing to leave, taking as much with them as they can. "You have to try to preserve your belongings," says this woman. Absolutely everything is being evacuated. People who live in low lying areas or whose homes are too feeble are going to shelters set up in schools and other sturdy buildings. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are being evacuated.

People like Myra Perez, who lives in Havana. She and her children were sleeping when their roof was blown off exactly one month ago when Hurricane Charley plowed through here. So she's understandably frightened.

"You can replace your walls," she says, "but not your life."

On state run farms, workers are rushing to harvest the banana crop before it's destroyed.

(on camera): And in a country where so many people have so little and where home and property insurance is unheard of, most here will tell you that the worst part is thinking about how they're going to recover from the aftermath.

(voice-over): As they try to take down the statue of Neptune, the Greek god of the seas, workers grumble that not even he seems to be safe from Hurricane Ivan.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And here are some other stories making news "Across America" this morning.

In Ohio, police suspect arson in a weekend fire that killed 10 people, most of them members of the same family. The flames engulfed an apartment building just outside of Columbus. One survivor says he desperately tried to reach his relatives who were trapped on the third floor. Police have no suspects.

Wildfires taking a deadly toll in California, flames overran seven firefighters as they battled a blaze in a national forest. One of them died. The others were hurt. Officials describe the fire as relatively small but tricky.

Back to Ohio, a woman was killed in suburban Cincinnati. The culprit, one of her pets. Police say she died after being bitten by a viper. The woman kept a number of poisonous animals and other exotic pets in her home.

To the race for the White House now, President Bush is in Muskegon, Michigan to give a speech on health care later this morning. After lunch, he heads to Holland, Michigan. And then later this afternoon, he'll be in Battle Creek.

Senator John Kerry heads to Washington this morning. He'll be talking about a plan to battle crime. And later, he'll fly to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for an overnight stay. You can keep up with what the candidates are saying all along the campaign trail. Just log on to our Web site 24/7. The address, CNN.com/politics.

Speaking of things political, John Kerry wants President Bush to renew the decade old ban on assault weapons. It's set to expire at midnight tonight. The president says he would sign such a measure but hasn't pushed lawmakers to put it on his desk. Supporters of the ban say ending it could boost crime or terrorism, but opponents say it tramples on the Second Amendment.

And that takes us back to our e-mail "Question of the Morning," should the ban on assault weapons continue? And boy, we've gotten a lot of e-mails on the subject this morning and most of them are along these lines.

This is from Pat. The ban was an idiotic attempt by the ultra left to take guns away from good citizens. It did nothing to get the guns out of the hands of criminals. The ban should be allowed to die a natural death.

This from M. Davis (ph) in Wabash, Indiana. I'm a police officer, and I welcome the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Criminals still get weapons illegally with or without the ban. And you are splitting from what most police officers are saying.

This is from Darren (ph). As a member of the Armed Services, I know that these weapons are very dangerous and they should be banned on the streets. This just shows where America is going with the presidential elections, and it's sad to see that we will put the lives of innocent people in danger.

And finally, this from Penny (ph) in Brooklyn, New York. She says yes, I think it should be extended. Someone tell Ton DeLay this is Democracy. However, I suspect that Kerry will have to win the presidency before we can get the ban again.

Thank you for your e-mail. Keep them coming, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Another week begins in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. Coming up next, details on what prosecutors are focusing on the murder of Laci Peterson.

And later, forget applying for financial aid, this student took a very different approach to getting cash for college. We'll explain a little later on DAYBREAK.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Something is taking a bite out of crime. Violent and property crime rates in the U.S. are holding steady at a 30-year low. Officials say one reason could be that more crooks are still behind bars.

Even low speed crashes between cars and SUVs can lead to costly repairs. An insurance group says that's because the bumpers in two types of vehicles don't line up -- in the two types of vehicles, I should say. That would be SUVs and the cars.

In money news, driving around has gotten cheaper. Really? Gas prices dipped nearly two cents over the past two weeks to about $1.86 a gallon for self-serve regular.

In culture, singer Alicia Keys has canceled plans for an October performance in Jakarta. The Grammy winner made the decision following last week's deadly bombing of the Australian Embassy in Indonesia.

In sports, Roger Federer put on a dominating show at the U.S. Open. Federer lost just six games to sweep past Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. Federer becomes the first men's player since 1988 to win three grand slam titles in one year -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

Doing a little drawing here on the satellite picture for you, trying to give you an idea of where this storm is actually going. Trying to follow this part of the circulation right there is along this line. It's supposed to be along this line by now heading to the north, but in fact it's not doing that. That's why they just put out hurricane warnings for the entire northeastern coast there of Mexico.

This storm itself is going to drive itself through the Yucatan Channel and then on up into the Gulf of Mexico, and that's when it gets really scary, because it could go anywhere after that. The official forecast though, right now 160-mile-per-hour winds, winds gusting to 195. And the very latest now, the forecast track moving a little bit farther to the west than it was yesterday. And the official line somewhere here.

My opinion, from New Orleans, not out of it, all the way over to Fort Walton Beach, not out of it. And still over here across parts of Florida, you have to keep watching it. It could still hook right, like Charley did, but that at least right now is not the forecast -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Up next in the Peterson murder trial, testimony about the GPS devices used to track Scott Peterson.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is covering the trial in Redwood City, California where Peterson's father was last week's prosecution witness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No surprise that Lee Peterson is steadfast about his son Scott's innocence.

Called to the stand, prosecutors tried to get the father to admit there were many things he didn't know about his son. Lee Peterson acknowledged he didn't know his son bought a boat. But when questioned by the defense, that it wasn't unusual for his son not to tell him about large purchases. Nor did he think it was odd when Scott Peterson called him the afternoon of the 24th of December and didn't mention that he went fishing.

Some legal analysts say Lee Peterson may have backfired as a prosecution witness, allowing jurors to see a different, more sympathetic side to the defendant.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: He became a real person for this jury. And if you humanize the father, it becomes much more difficult for the jury to convict the son.

DORNIN: Prosecutors say this woman was pregnant at the same time as Laci Peterson and walked in the neighborhood where Scott says Laci was walking the dog the day she disappeared. She's one of six women that testified. Prosecutors maintain Laci Peterson never walked her dog that day. And witnesses who say they saw her might have been mistaken.

The defense maintains the women either didn't resemble Peterson, or didn't take a walk on the day she disappeared. Earlier last week, an FBI expert on DNA testified that at least one strand of hair found on Scott Peterson's boat likely came from his wife. But defense attorney Mark Geragos has argued the type of DNA testing is not reliable.

The defense also claims the hair was mishandled by investigators and could have been contaminated.

Up this week, an expert expected to testify about the accuracy of the GPS devices investigators used to follow Scott Peterson. The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case by the end of September. The defense is estimating three weeks to present Scott Peterson's side of the story.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A creative way to raise cash for college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SHODIYA, BARNARD STUDENT: You know how much money walks down that street every day. And I literally stopped and hesitated, and I'm just like you know what, I'm absolutely crazy enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She is crazy. Ahead, what a walk on Wall Street turns up for one student trying to pay for school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Think we only do bad news, well, think again. This is the story of a 19-year-old Nigerian woman who was accepted to one of the most selective colleges in the United States. But she doesn't have the money to go and she could not quality for federal aid because she's an international student.

CNN's Alina Cho tells us what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Mary Shodiya.

MARY SHODIYA, BARNARD STUDENT: Hi, I'm Mary. I'm brilliant. Columbia University agrees. All I need is a loan. Name you're interest rate.

CHO: Already accepted to Columbia's prestigious women's college, Barnard, Shodiya wanted desperately to go. She couldn't afford to, until someone smartly advised her, get a sign and go to Wall Street.

SHODIYA: You know how many people walk down that street a day? And I literally stopped and hesitated, and I'm just like, you know what, I'm absolutely crazy enough.

CHO: Reporter: Desperate enough, with one week to go before the start of the school year, the 19-year-old Nigerian native took to the streets to no avail.

SHODIYA: At the end of the day, at 6:00, I met this lady, this absolutely guardian angel.

CHO: Judith Adod, the Harvard law school graduate and investment banker asked Shodiya for a copy of her acceptance letter. She then went to work, sending an e-mail that has since made it around the world.

JUDITH ADOD, INVESTMENT BANKER: I literally just sent it out, I said the craziest thing happened to me last night, I met this young lady, standing in front of the New York Stock Exchange looking for investors in her education. Can you help her? I want to see that we can send her to school in the next three days.

CHO: Adod even helped launch a Web site, maryshodiya.com.

Patrick Okigbo was one of those who responded.

PATRICK OKIGBO, FINANCIAL ANALYST: And I thought, if she had the smarts and the humility to go stand in front of the New York Stock Exchange, to look for financing, then she would be a good investment.

CHO: Adod calls it the West African way.

ADOD: You hear stories all the time of somebody getting into a university somewhere abroad, and the entire community, literally strangers, come in and pitch in.

CHO (on camera): So is it weird being on campus?

(voice-over): So far, Mary has enough money to finish her first semester. Barnard costs $38,000 a year though.

SHODIYA: These people I don't know. I don't know why they have so much faith in me, but by God, I'm glad they did.

CHO: One semester down, seven more to go.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Good for her.

First Charley, then Frances, now Ivan. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, Floridians aren't taking any chances with this latest threat of stormy weather. All the details from Chad coming your way.

This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 13, 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: An explosion of violence, on edge, on guard and on alert across Iraq.
It is Monday, September 13. 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."

U.S. warplanes and artillery blasted the insurgents' stronghold of Fallujah this morning. Hospital officials say at least 10 people were killed. The action follows a bloody weekend in Iraq. At least 78 Iraqis were killed in the 24 hours ending at 1:00 this morning Eastern Time.

President Vladimir Putin huddles with is cabinet to discuss Russia's response to a wave of terrorist attacks. At least 430 people have been killed in three weeks, capped by the massacre at that school in Beslan.

The federal ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons expires at midnight, and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist says that's the will of the American people. The ban was enacted 10 years ago after three multiple killings in California.

Cubans are preparing as best they can for Hurricane Ivan. The category 5 storm has been wrecking and flooding the Cayman Islands. Ivan expected to hit the western tip of Cuba, well, let's ask Chad Myers that question.

Good morning -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, actually it's going to drive itself right between Cancun and the western tip of Cuba. Some of the eye is here. The eastern side of this eyewall here could have some flooding here. The storm surge could be 25 feet here on the very western tip of Cuba.

And also now hurricane warnings in effect for Cancun and Cozumel as this whole thing kind of moves on up into the Gulf of Mexico. That's where we really get concerned. As it moves on up through that little channel, as we call it, it could in fact and will in fact turn on up toward the north and toward the northwest. Category 5 right now, winds are 160. These are the very latest numbers, 20.2 and 83.9, moving to the west-northwest at 9 to maybe 10 miles per hour, coming across the western tip of Cuba and then into the Gulf of Mexico. These are the latest forecast numbers now, getting ever so close to Mobile and even scaring me about New Orleans. Although you are not in the line right now, clearly you are in the yellow path, New Orleans. See how this yellow path is now getting skinnier because the storm is getting smaller.

That's how it happens, Carol. If you are 200 miles from that, it goes out farther, farther, farther, farther and then you've got a big wide thing. But if you're only 100 miles from it, it goes out and out and, oops, it's not as far wide. So as it gets closer and closer, obviously this error cone gets smaller and we know exactly where it's going to be hitting. Still, though, still almost, I would say, 72 hours away from making landfall, but people need to be prepared now.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Start of the new week in Iraq begins as it ended, with violence. We told you the casualty figures. Scores of Iraqis dead, more than 150 hurt.

Our Diana Muriel is in Baghdad this morning with a look at what appears to be intensifying violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As dawn broke over Baghdad on Sunday. Parts of the city were burning. Mortars raining down on the enplade (ph) west of the River Tigress where the Iraqi interim government is based. No casualties reported, but later, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a checkpoint, killing only himself. The most intense fighting took place on nearby Haifa Street, nicknamed little Fallujah by its inhabitants.

U.S. forces crashed with insurgents and blew up a Bradley armored personnel carrier with a home made car bomb. The U.S. military says soldiers came under fire with grenades of moalital (ph) cocktails as they were being evacuated. Four soldiers were injured. A military spokesman says a helicopter gunship later fired on the Bradley to prevent looters from stripping it of ammunition, but eyewitnesses say a large crowd of civilians had gathered around the vehicle by that time, and the strike was responsible for most of the casualties, 13 dead, 55 wounded.

According to Iraq's ministry of health. Many of the victims brought here to this center Baghdad hospital. Elsewhere, more killings, a senior police officer and a colleague died in a car bomb attack to the west of the city. Four others injured in the blast.

At Abu Ghraib Prison, coalition forces destroyed a car whose driver tried to ram the gates. They say the car was carrying explosives. MURIEL (on camera): With more than 20 dead and over 60 wounded in Sunday's attacks, the struggle between insurgents and coalition- backed Iraqi national forces seems to be intensifying. Fire fights are a daily occurrence in some parts of the city. Insurgent mortar attacks remain a constant threat.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURIEL: With 25 dead and 108 wounded in Sunday's attacks, the struggles between insurgents and coalition-backed Iraqi national forces seems to be intensifying here in the capital. Firefights have become a daily occurrence in some parts of the city. And insurgent mortar attacks remain a constant threat -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel, live from Baghdad this morning, thank you.

Atomic ambitions, U.S. officials say North Korea and Iran have them and that is worrying Washington.

Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to tell us more. And you know everybody was all freaked out over the weekend about this big, shall I call it a mushroom-shaped cloud in North Korea?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well, I'll tell you what, I have worked in this business for about 18 years or so, and I could quite happily go another 18 years without reading this line, which I read on Saturday night, mushroom cloud, up to two miles in diameter, spotted after North Korea blast, period.

COSTELLO: I'm with you.

CLINCH: Right. It took us quite some time to go from that initial bulletin, which obviously created fear here and everywhere that a nuclear blast or explosion or accident had taken place, to an understanding that it was an explosion of some kind that had happened a few days beforehand, to likely not nuclear, to now North Korea is saying it was just a planned explosion to blow up a mountain for a hydroelectric plant.

Well I'm very sad that there is now one less mountain in North Korea, but again, very happy that, as far as we can judge right now in the U.S. assessment from Colin Powell and others, no nuclear accident and no nuclear test. But of course...

COSTELLO: Well how can they really say that when you can't get in to North Korea?

CLINCH: Well no seismological information of any kind about a blast of that level and no information picked up from satellite so far that it would indicate that it's a nuclear blast. But of course the issue really is beyond that. The fear that it could have been a nuclear test is there because the U.S. and others are right now trying to persuade North Korea to stop and not do a nuclear test and not continue to build weapons.

And of course on the Iranian side, too, the U.S. in a very difficult situation there. They already know North Korea likely has weapons. With Iran, they are trying to prevent it getting its weapons. And so they know they are building big nuclear plants. They know that they may very well be used to build nuclear weapons. And they, the U.S. and others, are at the IAEA in Vienna this week, today talking to all of their allies in Europe and elsewhere to try to pile pressure on the diplomatic side on Iran to not go forward with that.

COSTELLO: Well now Israel has gotten into the mix as in regards to Iran.

CLINCH: Well that's the thing, there are two different levels on this story. There is the diplomatic level with Iran and North Korea, and then particularly with Iran, because of the sensitivity of where it is and the fear of what a weapon could mean in that part of the world. Israel has its own opinion on this subject and is going well beyond the diplomatic realm and saying that in its view, Iran might have a weapon within six months and they will not let that happen. That's their version, they will not let it happen.

COSTELLO: Have they come right out and said that a military strike may be involved, because you know didn't...

CLINCH: They always retain that. All they are saying is that they retain that option, of course. But in some areas we're hearing that Iran may be years away. But when Israel starts talking about six months from now, they may very well, you know, be exaggerating. We don't know.

All we know is what they are saying, and what they are saying is they believe it is imminent and they won't let it happen. That's a completely different situation from the diplomacy we see on the North Korean side. So the Iran story is in many ways much more nerve- racking for me, notwithstanding that bulletin from North Korea a couple of days ago, so.

COSTELLO: All right. David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Hurricane Ivan is now a monster of a storm. It is lumbering towards Cuba, packing a mind-boggling 160-mile-an-hour winds.

As CNN's Lucia Newman reports, Cubans are preparing for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Unwilling to lose everything they have, like they did a few years ago during Hurricane Isadora, the 6,000 residents of La Coloma (ph) in Western Cuba are rushing to leave, taking as much with them as they can. "You have to try to preserve your belongings," says this woman. Absolutely everything is being evacuated. People who live in low lying areas or whose homes are too feeble are going to shelters set up in schools and other sturdy buildings. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are being evacuated.

People like Myra Perez, who lives in Havana. She and her children were sleeping when their roof was blown off exactly one month ago when Hurricane Charley plowed through here. So she's understandably frightened.

"You can replace your walls," she says, "but not your life."

On state run farms, workers are rushing to harvest the banana crop before it's destroyed.

(on camera): And in a country where so many people have so little and where home and property insurance is unheard of, most here will tell you that the worst part is thinking about how they're going to recover from the aftermath.

(voice-over): As they try to take down the statue of Neptune, the Greek god of the seas, workers grumble that not even he seems to be safe from Hurricane Ivan.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And here are some other stories making news "Across America" this morning.

In Ohio, police suspect arson in a weekend fire that killed 10 people, most of them members of the same family. The flames engulfed an apartment building just outside of Columbus. One survivor says he desperately tried to reach his relatives who were trapped on the third floor. Police have no suspects.

Wildfires taking a deadly toll in California, flames overran seven firefighters as they battled a blaze in a national forest. One of them died. The others were hurt. Officials describe the fire as relatively small but tricky.

Back to Ohio, a woman was killed in suburban Cincinnati. The culprit, one of her pets. Police say she died after being bitten by a viper. The woman kept a number of poisonous animals and other exotic pets in her home.

To the race for the White House now, President Bush is in Muskegon, Michigan to give a speech on health care later this morning. After lunch, he heads to Holland, Michigan. And then later this afternoon, he'll be in Battle Creek.

Senator John Kerry heads to Washington this morning. He'll be talking about a plan to battle crime. And later, he'll fly to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for an overnight stay. You can keep up with what the candidates are saying all along the campaign trail. Just log on to our Web site 24/7. The address, CNN.com/politics.

Speaking of things political, John Kerry wants President Bush to renew the decade old ban on assault weapons. It's set to expire at midnight tonight. The president says he would sign such a measure but hasn't pushed lawmakers to put it on his desk. Supporters of the ban say ending it could boost crime or terrorism, but opponents say it tramples on the Second Amendment.

And that takes us back to our e-mail "Question of the Morning," should the ban on assault weapons continue? And boy, we've gotten a lot of e-mails on the subject this morning and most of them are along these lines.

This is from Pat. The ban was an idiotic attempt by the ultra left to take guns away from good citizens. It did nothing to get the guns out of the hands of criminals. The ban should be allowed to die a natural death.

This from M. Davis (ph) in Wabash, Indiana. I'm a police officer, and I welcome the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Criminals still get weapons illegally with or without the ban. And you are splitting from what most police officers are saying.

This is from Darren (ph). As a member of the Armed Services, I know that these weapons are very dangerous and they should be banned on the streets. This just shows where America is going with the presidential elections, and it's sad to see that we will put the lives of innocent people in danger.

And finally, this from Penny (ph) in Brooklyn, New York. She says yes, I think it should be extended. Someone tell Ton DeLay this is Democracy. However, I suspect that Kerry will have to win the presidency before we can get the ban again.

Thank you for your e-mail. Keep them coming, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Another week begins in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. Coming up next, details on what prosecutors are focusing on the murder of Laci Peterson.

And later, forget applying for financial aid, this student took a very different approach to getting cash for college. We'll explain a little later on DAYBREAK.

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

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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Something is taking a bite out of crime. Violent and property crime rates in the U.S. are holding steady at a 30-year low. Officials say one reason could be that more crooks are still behind bars.

Even low speed crashes between cars and SUVs can lead to costly repairs. An insurance group says that's because the bumpers in two types of vehicles don't line up -- in the two types of vehicles, I should say. That would be SUVs and the cars.

In money news, driving around has gotten cheaper. Really? Gas prices dipped nearly two cents over the past two weeks to about $1.86 a gallon for self-serve regular.

In culture, singer Alicia Keys has canceled plans for an October performance in Jakarta. The Grammy winner made the decision following last week's deadly bombing of the Australian Embassy in Indonesia.

In sports, Roger Federer put on a dominating show at the U.S. Open. Federer lost just six games to sweep past Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. Federer becomes the first men's player since 1988 to win three grand slam titles in one year -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

Doing a little drawing here on the satellite picture for you, trying to give you an idea of where this storm is actually going. Trying to follow this part of the circulation right there is along this line. It's supposed to be along this line by now heading to the north, but in fact it's not doing that. That's why they just put out hurricane warnings for the entire northeastern coast there of Mexico.

This storm itself is going to drive itself through the Yucatan Channel and then on up into the Gulf of Mexico, and that's when it gets really scary, because it could go anywhere after that. The official forecast though, right now 160-mile-per-hour winds, winds gusting to 195. And the very latest now, the forecast track moving a little bit farther to the west than it was yesterday. And the official line somewhere here.

My opinion, from New Orleans, not out of it, all the way over to Fort Walton Beach, not out of it. And still over here across parts of Florida, you have to keep watching it. It could still hook right, like Charley did, but that at least right now is not the forecast -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you.

Up next in the Peterson murder trial, testimony about the GPS devices used to track Scott Peterson.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is covering the trial in Redwood City, California where Peterson's father was last week's prosecution witness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No surprise that Lee Peterson is steadfast about his son Scott's innocence.

Called to the stand, prosecutors tried to get the father to admit there were many things he didn't know about his son. Lee Peterson acknowledged he didn't know his son bought a boat. But when questioned by the defense, that it wasn't unusual for his son not to tell him about large purchases. Nor did he think it was odd when Scott Peterson called him the afternoon of the 24th of December and didn't mention that he went fishing.

Some legal analysts say Lee Peterson may have backfired as a prosecution witness, allowing jurors to see a different, more sympathetic side to the defendant.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: He became a real person for this jury. And if you humanize the father, it becomes much more difficult for the jury to convict the son.

DORNIN: Prosecutors say this woman was pregnant at the same time as Laci Peterson and walked in the neighborhood where Scott says Laci was walking the dog the day she disappeared. She's one of six women that testified. Prosecutors maintain Laci Peterson never walked her dog that day. And witnesses who say they saw her might have been mistaken.

The defense maintains the women either didn't resemble Peterson, or didn't take a walk on the day she disappeared. Earlier last week, an FBI expert on DNA testified that at least one strand of hair found on Scott Peterson's boat likely came from his wife. But defense attorney Mark Geragos has argued the type of DNA testing is not reliable.

The defense also claims the hair was mishandled by investigators and could have been contaminated.

Up this week, an expert expected to testify about the accuracy of the GPS devices investigators used to follow Scott Peterson. The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case by the end of September. The defense is estimating three weeks to present Scott Peterson's side of the story.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A creative way to raise cash for college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SHODIYA, BARNARD STUDENT: You know how much money walks down that street every day. And I literally stopped and hesitated, and I'm just like you know what, I'm absolutely crazy enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She is crazy. Ahead, what a walk on Wall Street turns up for one student trying to pay for school.

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COSTELLO: Think we only do bad news, well, think again. This is the story of a 19-year-old Nigerian woman who was accepted to one of the most selective colleges in the United States. But she doesn't have the money to go and she could not quality for federal aid because she's an international student.

CNN's Alina Cho tells us what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Mary Shodiya.

MARY SHODIYA, BARNARD STUDENT: Hi, I'm Mary. I'm brilliant. Columbia University agrees. All I need is a loan. Name you're interest rate.

CHO: Already accepted to Columbia's prestigious women's college, Barnard, Shodiya wanted desperately to go. She couldn't afford to, until someone smartly advised her, get a sign and go to Wall Street.

SHODIYA: You know how many people walk down that street a day? And I literally stopped and hesitated, and I'm just like, you know what, I'm absolutely crazy enough.

CHO: Reporter: Desperate enough, with one week to go before the start of the school year, the 19-year-old Nigerian native took to the streets to no avail.

SHODIYA: At the end of the day, at 6:00, I met this lady, this absolutely guardian angel.

CHO: Judith Adod, the Harvard law school graduate and investment banker asked Shodiya for a copy of her acceptance letter. She then went to work, sending an e-mail that has since made it around the world.

JUDITH ADOD, INVESTMENT BANKER: I literally just sent it out, I said the craziest thing happened to me last night, I met this young lady, standing in front of the New York Stock Exchange looking for investors in her education. Can you help her? I want to see that we can send her to school in the next three days.

CHO: Adod even helped launch a Web site, maryshodiya.com.

Patrick Okigbo was one of those who responded.

PATRICK OKIGBO, FINANCIAL ANALYST: And I thought, if she had the smarts and the humility to go stand in front of the New York Stock Exchange, to look for financing, then she would be a good investment.

CHO: Adod calls it the West African way.

ADOD: You hear stories all the time of somebody getting into a university somewhere abroad, and the entire community, literally strangers, come in and pitch in.

CHO (on camera): So is it weird being on campus?

(voice-over): So far, Mary has enough money to finish her first semester. Barnard costs $38,000 a year though.

SHODIYA: These people I don't know. I don't know why they have so much faith in me, but by God, I'm glad they did.

CHO: One semester down, seven more to go.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Good for her.

First Charley, then Frances, now Ivan. In the next hour of DAYBREAK, Floridians aren't taking any chances with this latest threat of stormy weather. All the details from Chad coming your way.

This is DAYBREAK.

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