Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Talking Politics; Update on Scott Peterson Trial; Surviving the Storms in the Caribbean
Aired September 23, 2004 - 06:29 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: Countdown to election this Thursday morning. America votes in just 40 days.
A busy day for President Bush today. The president meets at the White House this morning with Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. And then the two will hold a joint news conference. Later, Mr. Bush heads for Bangor, Maine, and a rally at the airport there.
A severe cold has given John Kerry a raspy voice, and the senator is giving it a rest today. Kerry has canceled a campaign trip to Ohio, and his running mate, John Edwards, will substitute at an appearance in Iowa.
On the subject of John Edwards, Senator Edwards told Larry King last night that President Bush's policies have been a disaster at home and abroad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I take very personally what George Bush has done to my country. I take personally, Larry, what he's done to the kind of people I grew up with in that small town in North Carolina, the kind of people who worked in the mill with my father, the kind of people that I went to Friday night football games with. I think he has made life almost impossible for them. He has crushed the American dream in a period of four short years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Edwards said that in Iraq, President Bush has created a mess that he cannot fix. So, strong words from John Edwards and you can bet the message on both sides will get even more heated. Two new campaign ads are out this morning, and we want to check the spin.
So, let's head live to Washington and our political analyst, Rob Brownstein.
Good morning.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the anti-Kerry ad first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I approve this message.
ANNOUNCER: In which direction would John Kerry lead? Kerry voted for the Iraq war, opposed, it, supported it, and now opposes it again. He bragged about voting for the...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, you get the theme here. It's simple. John Kerry's opinions change with the wind. Effective?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, this has been effective. It's been the central line of argument they've laid down really all year and never wavered from on the Republican side. Of course, there is a secondary message that isn't exactly subliminal is that John Kerry is not one of you. He's an elitist who wind surfs, not a passion shared by large numbers of American, although certainly there are...
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: That's difficult to do.
BROWNSTEIN: The challenge for John Kerry is to move President Bush into a more substantive argument over his critique of Iraq. As Kerry has stepped up his critique, really since the Republican Convention, the president has responded almost entirely with really two lines of argument. One, things are going fine, or at least they're getting better. And, two, John Kerry is a flip-flopper; therefore, you can't trust him.
He really hasn't -- Kerry hasn't been able to force him to go deeper. The debate will obviously be his best opportunity to do that.
COSTELLO: Well, he's sort of trying to do that with his new campaign ad. John Kerry actually is calling the anti-Kerry ad juvenile. But I wanted to get this out, too. Humor does seem to work. And this ad is somewhat humorous, isn't it?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, yes. Look, all along, the president's advisors have felt that any kind of critique or negative attack, depending on how you want to phrase it, in the presidential campaign works better when it's leavened with a little humor. And they are clearly seeing this as poking fun. What Kerry is saying, look, this is not a subject fit for poking fun about when we are past 1,000 American deaths in Iraq, and we have the beheadings.
This ad for Senator Kerry, which you alluded to, is the toughest they have put out, and it really, I think, does reflect the view in the Democratic Party that if there is anything that's going to turn this race around, perhaps it's the debates, more likely it is Iraq.
COSTELLO: Now, you mentioned the ad. Let's take a look at it now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: One thousand U.S. casualties, two Americans beheaded just this week. The Pentagon admits terrorists are pouring into Iraq. In the face of the Iraq quagmire, George Bush's answer is to run a juvenile and tasteless attack ad. John Kerry has a plan...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, it's very serious, no humor involved at all. And, of course, Kerry called the anti-Kerry ad "juvenile." But he tries to outline what he would do with the war in Iraq. Is that effective enough?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, first of all, I think the main thing he's trying to do here is make the case that the president's course in Iraq is headed toward failure. I really do think that changing -- improving public attitudes toward Iraq have been critical to the turnaround in this race from the early summer when John Kerry was ahead to now when President Bush is clearly in the lead.
Over the summer, the percentage of people who said it was a mistake to go into Iraq has been declining. The percentage of people who said it has been worth the cost has been increasing. And as views about Iraq improve, so do overall attitudes on the president's performance. I really think it is a tipping-point issue. He's now over 50 percent in approval. That makes him very tough to beat in November.
And I think John Kerry's camp has somewhat belatedly realized they have to challenge and question the president's argument that this is part of a long-term strategy to make us safer. If he does sell that argument, Carol, I think it's very hard to beat him on other fronts, things like social security or the economy.
So, they are going frontally at the president's strength, and I think that is the real message of this very tough ad.
COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein joining us live from Washington, thank you.
CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" will have more on the campaign controversies. Bush-Cheney manager Ken Mehlman and senior advisor to the Kerry camp, Tad Devine, will be guests on the show. That will happen at the top of the hour.
A police detective is expected back on the stand this morning in the Scott Peterson murder trial. Modesto, California, police have released video of their search of Scott Peterson's home. Take a look there.
Peterson, as you know, is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son.
Janelle Wang of CNN affiliate KGO is covering the trial in Redwood City, California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANELLE WANG, CNN AFFILIATE KGO REPORTER (voice over): "Have they found my wife and son?" Those were the first words out of Scott Peterson's mouth when he was arrested on April 18, 2003. An undercover agent testified that Peterson looked different with orange- ish hair and a goatee. Prosecutors believed Peterson was going to flee, because the bodies of his wife and son had recently washed ashore.
But the defense argued Peterson was just trying to escape hounding reporters.
DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: What the defense is going to say is that this is not an attempt to shake the tail of police surveillance. It's simply an attempt to shake media coverage.
WANG: One of the lead detectives on the case continued his testimony for the third day in a row. Detective Craig Grogan, who interviewed Peterson, said he could never rule him out as a suspect.
A doctor pinpointed the time when he thought Conner, Peterson was killed. He said according to his leg bone, the age of death for the fetus was 33 weeks and 1 day. The specific date? December 23, 2002, the night before Scott reported Laci missing.
JOHNSON: This was a powerful, experienced, quality witness, who indicated that the bottom line of his testimony was that Laci and the child were killed on December 23 or December 24.
WANG: But during cross-examination, the defense said other calculations, including one last week by a forensics scientist, put Conner's death anywhere from 33 to 38 weeks.
TERENCE HALLINAN, LEGAL ANALYST: I think it appears that Geragos has shown that these are not exact sciences, that they can't predict it to the hour, to the day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That report from Janelle Wang of our San Francisco affiliate, KGO.
A State Justice Department agent also testified that Scott Peterson altered his appearance and loaded his car with cash in the days before his arrest on April 18, 2003.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, crisis in the Caribbean. Will foreign aid be enough to get these island nations up and running again? That comes your way at 46 minutes past the hour.
Plus, it's not just a pain at the pump for car owners. Find out how one airline is reacting to the high price of fuel.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Not a great day internationally in the markets. Tokyo's Nikkei is down more than 61 points, London's FTSE down 9, the Paris CAC down nearly 21 points.
It's time for a little more business buzz. Booking a flight on American? Expect to pay a little more.
Carrie Lee has that live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
American Airlines is raising fare prices on most of its North American flights by $5 one way, $10 on round trips. You can probably guess why. Higher jet fuel costs. American said yesterday that at current oil prices, it's spending on fuel this year is going to rise by more than $1 billion over the 2.7 billion it spent last year. American says that for every 1 cent increase in the price of a gallon of jet fuel, well, that costs it more than $30 million a year.
And, Carol, oil yesterday was well over $48 a barrel. That's a big part of the reason we saw the big Wall Street sell-off yesterday.
Futures are looking a little weak for today's session. Bed, Bath and Beyond in focus, the stock was down about 4 percent in the after- hour's session last night. Some concern about slowing sales growth. They did, though, post a 24-percent rise in Q2 earnings over the year- ago period -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:41 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Muslim and Christian leaders in Liverpool, England, are pleading for the life of British engineer Ken Bigley. Islamic militants in Iraq have threatened to kill Bigley unless Iraqi and U.S. officials release all female prisoners.
CBS had named Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi to look into what happened in that Dan Rather document fiasco about President Bush's National Guard service. Thornburgh is a former U.S. is a former U.S. attorney general. Boccardi is the retired CEO of the Associated Press.
In money news, Senate and House negotiators have agreed on a couple of popular tax breaks. The legislation extends a $1,000 child tax credit for five years and a break for married couples.
In culture, Martha Stewart wants to be in primetime. Her company hired producer Mark Burnett to develop some kind of new show starring the embattled Stewart. Burnett's credits include reality shows "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."
In sports, the New York Yankees missed their chance to clinch a playoff spot. They lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4. The Yanks get another chance to clinch today when they face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
Let's head live to New York to check in with Bill and Heidi to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Carol. Good morning to you. We're listening to Chad talk this morning about Ivan.
COLLINS: Unbelievable, isn't it?
HEMMER: He's back. How did this happen? Why this year the deadly hurricane season does continue? And Jeanne is still out there. The death toll in Haiti is going up again by the day. So, Chad is going to be back with us today talking about his hurricane series. We'll get to that this morning.
COLLINS: And we will also get to politics, of course. That seems like it won't go away either. Back and forth ads now. A Bush ad is digging at Kerry. There is some windsurfing in there. There is some flip-flopping. And the Kerry ad calls all of that juvenile. So, Bill Schneider is going to talk to us about that and the analysis behind it.
HEMMER: Yes. Also, some very significant things in Congress today. Iyad Allawi will address Congress today, the interim prime minister in Iraq. This man has talked publicly about how optimistic he is for his own country. We'll see if that message can translate to members of Congress today on Capitol Hill. A preview of that and a whole lot more, Carol.
COLLINS: Some surprises, Carol.
HEMMER: Yes, we do.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: Well, yes.
COSTELLO: Surprises?
COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), right?
HEMMER: We've got a three-hour tour, you know, Carol.
COSTELLO: I understand. Thanks to you both.
HEMMER: Bye-bye.
COSTELLO: We'll catch you in 15 minutes. The death toll continues to rise in Haiti as the result of Tropical Storm Jeanne. At least 1,000 people were killed by the massive flooding brought on by that storm. The northern city of Gonaives is still under water. Officials say that once the floodwaters subside, many of the 1,200 people who are missing will likely be found.
Tropical Storm Jeanne was just the latest in a string of devastating storms that swept through the Caribbean.
CNN's Jim Bolden looks at some of the other countries that can only hope for a brighter future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Along with the cleaning up, counting the cost in the Caribbean of four deadly storms. Tropical Storm Jeanne laid waste to Haiti, while Hurricane Ivan wreaked havoc on the Cayman Islands, parts of Jamaica and Grenada. Grenada's high commissioner in Britain, Joslyn Whiteman, spent another day Wednesday pleading for aid from European governments. He has this stark message.
JOSLYN WHITEMAN, GRENADA HIGH COMMISSIONER: Then let's put it this way: There is absolutely nothing left.
BOLDEN: Tiny Grenada may need several billion dollars to help re-house left homeless, and then rebuild its devastated banana plantation and its nutmeg industry, the backbone of the economy.
WHITEMAN: And I'm sure some of these countries from whom we had to borrow would give us what you refer to as debt forgiveness, because there is absolutely no way in which we would be in any position to generate any income.
BOLDEN: Beyond asking for debt forgiveness, the Caribbean countries are considering what they can do to better prepare for the next storm. The Caymans, for instance, diversified away from agriculture. So, while many homes were heavily damaged, there was little damage to its key industry of offshore banking. And luckily, those parts of the Caribbean that have a booming tourism sector appeared to have missed most of the storms.
FRANCIS TUKE, ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH TRAVEL AGENTS: At the moment, prices are remaining pretty steady for the Caribbean, because -- especially the American market. They realize that this is to do with the hurricane season, and that things will rectify very quickly.
BOLDEN: The Caribbean countries hit hard in the last month say they are getting some aid from their developing neighbors, who weren't affected. But it isn't enough.
PRIME MINISTER RALPH GONSALVES, ST. VINCENT AND GRENADINES: Grenada needs massive aid to rebuild. It has been simply ravaged. Imagine a highly-sophisticated country reduced to rubble within two hours. Incredible. It shows the vulnerability of these islands. BOLDEN: Grenada may now not see economic growth for a decade after spending years and billions of dollars on an infrastructure wiped out by Ivan.
Jim Bolden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's not easy for stay-at-home moms to make the transition back into the workforce. So, how do you know when it's time to put away the Power Rangers and pull out the power suit again? Coming up, we have some career advice for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Working moms have a lot to worry about. In addition to child rearing are things like benefits, time off and day care.
"Working Mother" magazine just released its annual list of the top 100 companies for working mothers. You'll probably recognize some of the names: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Discovery, Eli Lilly, IBM, Johnson & Johnson.
In the financial sector, the best companies for moms are JP Morgan, Pricewaterhouse -- PricewaterhouseCoopers, I should say, Prudential, S.C. Johnson & Son and Wachovia.
Also on the list, Turner Broadcasting Systems, which is, of course, owned by -- or CNN is affiliated with that.
But what if you've been out of the office for a while? That's what we want to talk about now. How hard is it for mothers to re- enter the workforce?
Rosemary Haefner from Careerbuilder.com joins us live from Chicago.
Good morning.
ROSEMARY HAEFNER, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, how difficult is it for mothers to re-enter the workforce? Will it take them a long time?
I think now is actually the prime time. It's definitely ideal. We're seeing at Careerbuilder.com in our employment forecast outlook for Q4, in particular in the service industries, 49 percent of the hiring managers said that they plan to be hiring in the fourth quarter. Twelve percent said they're planning to scale back. But still the numbers are looking good.
So, it is a great time. I think, like any job search, whether you're re-entering the workforce or whether you're moving from one company to another, it takes a little bit of up-front planning. And I think there are some tips that working moms will want to look at in particular... COSTELLO: Well, tell us about those tips.
HAEFNER: Sure. I think the first and foremost idea I would recommend to a mother that wants to re-enter the workforce is take a look at your resume. A lot of women that I talk to are very conscious of the fact that perhaps they have been at home with their children for a few years, and how should they best represent that on the resume.
So, you can consider something called a functional resume versus the more traditional chronological resume. So, the functional resume is really going to highlight, first and foremost, your skills and less of an emphasis on the work employment dates.
COSTELLO: Oh, isn't that kind of a tricky way to sort of fudge?
HAEFNER: I don't know that I'd say it's fudging. I think what happens in the whole job search process is that that hiring manager looks very quickly at every resume. So, you want to make sure the first thing they see on the page is really your leading message. So, lead with, you know, if you have sales experience or project management experience, have them look at those skills versus, you know, I was a sales manager from 1996 to 2004 -- things of that sort.
COSTELLO: So, let's say you get an interview. What should you say in the interview to better get the job?
HAEFNER: I think that there are a lot of skills that you are using on a daily basis as a mother at home, and you just need to translate those to the potential opportunity, just like you would if you are already in another organization. So, it's a job search strategy you should follow regardless what move you are making.
So, I'd recommend that mothers looking to re-enter do that up- front work, that up-front homework, look at what type of opportunity do they want, what have they done in their background that really fits, and just get that hiring manager to focus on that information and not so much focused on why you were a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years.
COSTELLO: Rosemary Haefner from Careerbuilder.com joining us on DAYBREAK this morning, thank you.
We're going to announce today's mug winner in two minutes. This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We've been talking about the draft. Actually, we were in the 5:00 hour. We asked you the question: Should the draft be reinstated? Because Senator John Kerry said -- he brought up the idea of the draft, said he would not do it, but he intimated that President Bush might.
So, we asked you: Should the draft be reinstated? I want to read two. This is from Dawn (ph) from North Carolina: She says: "Yes, I do believe the draft should be reinstated. I believe that, because my husband is in the military and has already been sent to Iraq once and will probably be sent back once again before his time is up. I understand that military service is voluntary, but why should the same people have to risk their lives over and over again for millions of people who act like they just don't care?"
This is from Terry (ph) from New Jersey. She says: "As much as I'd like to see the draft reinstated, I don't think it would be a good thing. Forcing a coward into a foxhole with a professional soldier is detrimental to all."
And I'm sure those who were drafted during World War II will not appreciate your comments, Terry (ph). But we read them like they come in on DAYBREAK.
Chad, it is time to reveal the coffee mug winner.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have them right here, Carol.
COSTELLO: Cool.
MYERS: And I have questions for today as well. So, get ready.
Now, the questions from yesterday: What is the main source of fat in this new -- well, not so new for the people out there, but for us -- the Mediterranean diet? And that is olive oil. And what pro- consumer bill was considered by a House committee yesterday? And that was that right to repair bill, so that you can actually go get your car fixed anywhere. Everyone will be able to have those computer chips so they know what's wrong with your car.
Kim Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee, you are the winner of our first mug that goes to Tennessee so far. So congratulations, Kim.
And now the mug for today. Here are your questions. According to a report about homeland security screeners, how many were able to slip by explosives and weapons through how many airports? Homeland security screeners were able to slip explosives and weapons through how many U.S. airports? And who is being honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild?
Carol, so there you go.
COSTELLO: Daybreak@CNN.com. That's Daybreak@CNN.com.
And remember earlier, Chad, we were talking about Oprah giving the cars away...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... and the people that got the free cars would have to pay, like, $7,800 in taxes?
MYERS: In income taxes, federal income taxes. COSTELLO: Right. We got this e-mail from Rich from Tallahassee. He says: "Oprah and those taxes on the car-giveaway, what if Oprah had sold the cars for $1, would the recipients have to pay the tax?"
That's interesting, don't you think?
MYERS: I would say probably, yes, they still would, because that would be an unreasonable amount for the car.
COSTELLO: Maybe so.
"AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now. Thank you for joining us.
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 23, 2004 - 06:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Countdown to election this Thursday morning. America votes in just 40 days.
A busy day for President Bush today. The president meets at the White House this morning with Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. And then the two will hold a joint news conference. Later, Mr. Bush heads for Bangor, Maine, and a rally at the airport there.
A severe cold has given John Kerry a raspy voice, and the senator is giving it a rest today. Kerry has canceled a campaign trip to Ohio, and his running mate, John Edwards, will substitute at an appearance in Iowa.
On the subject of John Edwards, Senator Edwards told Larry King last night that President Bush's policies have been a disaster at home and abroad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I take very personally what George Bush has done to my country. I take personally, Larry, what he's done to the kind of people I grew up with in that small town in North Carolina, the kind of people who worked in the mill with my father, the kind of people that I went to Friday night football games with. I think he has made life almost impossible for them. He has crushed the American dream in a period of four short years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Edwards said that in Iraq, President Bush has created a mess that he cannot fix. So, strong words from John Edwards and you can bet the message on both sides will get even more heated. Two new campaign ads are out this morning, and we want to check the spin.
So, let's head live to Washington and our political analyst, Rob Brownstein.
Good morning.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the anti-Kerry ad first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I approve this message.
ANNOUNCER: In which direction would John Kerry lead? Kerry voted for the Iraq war, opposed, it, supported it, and now opposes it again. He bragged about voting for the...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, you get the theme here. It's simple. John Kerry's opinions change with the wind. Effective?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, this has been effective. It's been the central line of argument they've laid down really all year and never wavered from on the Republican side. Of course, there is a secondary message that isn't exactly subliminal is that John Kerry is not one of you. He's an elitist who wind surfs, not a passion shared by large numbers of American, although certainly there are...
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: That's difficult to do.
BROWNSTEIN: The challenge for John Kerry is to move President Bush into a more substantive argument over his critique of Iraq. As Kerry has stepped up his critique, really since the Republican Convention, the president has responded almost entirely with really two lines of argument. One, things are going fine, or at least they're getting better. And, two, John Kerry is a flip-flopper; therefore, you can't trust him.
He really hasn't -- Kerry hasn't been able to force him to go deeper. The debate will obviously be his best opportunity to do that.
COSTELLO: Well, he's sort of trying to do that with his new campaign ad. John Kerry actually is calling the anti-Kerry ad juvenile. But I wanted to get this out, too. Humor does seem to work. And this ad is somewhat humorous, isn't it?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, yes. Look, all along, the president's advisors have felt that any kind of critique or negative attack, depending on how you want to phrase it, in the presidential campaign works better when it's leavened with a little humor. And they are clearly seeing this as poking fun. What Kerry is saying, look, this is not a subject fit for poking fun about when we are past 1,000 American deaths in Iraq, and we have the beheadings.
This ad for Senator Kerry, which you alluded to, is the toughest they have put out, and it really, I think, does reflect the view in the Democratic Party that if there is anything that's going to turn this race around, perhaps it's the debates, more likely it is Iraq.
COSTELLO: Now, you mentioned the ad. Let's take a look at it now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: One thousand U.S. casualties, two Americans beheaded just this week. The Pentagon admits terrorists are pouring into Iraq. In the face of the Iraq quagmire, George Bush's answer is to run a juvenile and tasteless attack ad. John Kerry has a plan...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, it's very serious, no humor involved at all. And, of course, Kerry called the anti-Kerry ad "juvenile." But he tries to outline what he would do with the war in Iraq. Is that effective enough?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, first of all, I think the main thing he's trying to do here is make the case that the president's course in Iraq is headed toward failure. I really do think that changing -- improving public attitudes toward Iraq have been critical to the turnaround in this race from the early summer when John Kerry was ahead to now when President Bush is clearly in the lead.
Over the summer, the percentage of people who said it was a mistake to go into Iraq has been declining. The percentage of people who said it has been worth the cost has been increasing. And as views about Iraq improve, so do overall attitudes on the president's performance. I really think it is a tipping-point issue. He's now over 50 percent in approval. That makes him very tough to beat in November.
And I think John Kerry's camp has somewhat belatedly realized they have to challenge and question the president's argument that this is part of a long-term strategy to make us safer. If he does sell that argument, Carol, I think it's very hard to beat him on other fronts, things like social security or the economy.
So, they are going frontally at the president's strength, and I think that is the real message of this very tough ad.
COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein joining us live from Washington, thank you.
CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" will have more on the campaign controversies. Bush-Cheney manager Ken Mehlman and senior advisor to the Kerry camp, Tad Devine, will be guests on the show. That will happen at the top of the hour.
A police detective is expected back on the stand this morning in the Scott Peterson murder trial. Modesto, California, police have released video of their search of Scott Peterson's home. Take a look there.
Peterson, as you know, is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son.
Janelle Wang of CNN affiliate KGO is covering the trial in Redwood City, California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANELLE WANG, CNN AFFILIATE KGO REPORTER (voice over): "Have they found my wife and son?" Those were the first words out of Scott Peterson's mouth when he was arrested on April 18, 2003. An undercover agent testified that Peterson looked different with orange- ish hair and a goatee. Prosecutors believed Peterson was going to flee, because the bodies of his wife and son had recently washed ashore.
But the defense argued Peterson was just trying to escape hounding reporters.
DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: What the defense is going to say is that this is not an attempt to shake the tail of police surveillance. It's simply an attempt to shake media coverage.
WANG: One of the lead detectives on the case continued his testimony for the third day in a row. Detective Craig Grogan, who interviewed Peterson, said he could never rule him out as a suspect.
A doctor pinpointed the time when he thought Conner, Peterson was killed. He said according to his leg bone, the age of death for the fetus was 33 weeks and 1 day. The specific date? December 23, 2002, the night before Scott reported Laci missing.
JOHNSON: This was a powerful, experienced, quality witness, who indicated that the bottom line of his testimony was that Laci and the child were killed on December 23 or December 24.
WANG: But during cross-examination, the defense said other calculations, including one last week by a forensics scientist, put Conner's death anywhere from 33 to 38 weeks.
TERENCE HALLINAN, LEGAL ANALYST: I think it appears that Geragos has shown that these are not exact sciences, that they can't predict it to the hour, to the day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That report from Janelle Wang of our San Francisco affiliate, KGO.
A State Justice Department agent also testified that Scott Peterson altered his appearance and loaded his car with cash in the days before his arrest on April 18, 2003.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, crisis in the Caribbean. Will foreign aid be enough to get these island nations up and running again? That comes your way at 46 minutes past the hour.
Plus, it's not just a pain at the pump for car owners. Find out how one airline is reacting to the high price of fuel.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Not a great day internationally in the markets. Tokyo's Nikkei is down more than 61 points, London's FTSE down 9, the Paris CAC down nearly 21 points.
It's time for a little more business buzz. Booking a flight on American? Expect to pay a little more.
Carrie Lee has that live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
American Airlines is raising fare prices on most of its North American flights by $5 one way, $10 on round trips. You can probably guess why. Higher jet fuel costs. American said yesterday that at current oil prices, it's spending on fuel this year is going to rise by more than $1 billion over the 2.7 billion it spent last year. American says that for every 1 cent increase in the price of a gallon of jet fuel, well, that costs it more than $30 million a year.
And, Carol, oil yesterday was well over $48 a barrel. That's a big part of the reason we saw the big Wall Street sell-off yesterday.
Futures are looking a little weak for today's session. Bed, Bath and Beyond in focus, the stock was down about 4 percent in the after- hour's session last night. Some concern about slowing sales growth. They did, though, post a 24-percent rise in Q2 earnings over the year- ago period -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:41 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Muslim and Christian leaders in Liverpool, England, are pleading for the life of British engineer Ken Bigley. Islamic militants in Iraq have threatened to kill Bigley unless Iraqi and U.S. officials release all female prisoners.
CBS had named Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi to look into what happened in that Dan Rather document fiasco about President Bush's National Guard service. Thornburgh is a former U.S. is a former U.S. attorney general. Boccardi is the retired CEO of the Associated Press.
In money news, Senate and House negotiators have agreed on a couple of popular tax breaks. The legislation extends a $1,000 child tax credit for five years and a break for married couples.
In culture, Martha Stewart wants to be in primetime. Her company hired producer Mark Burnett to develop some kind of new show starring the embattled Stewart. Burnett's credits include reality shows "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."
In sports, the New York Yankees missed their chance to clinch a playoff spot. They lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4. The Yanks get another chance to clinch today when they face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
Let's head live to New York to check in with Bill and Heidi to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Carol. Good morning to you. We're listening to Chad talk this morning about Ivan.
COLLINS: Unbelievable, isn't it?
HEMMER: He's back. How did this happen? Why this year the deadly hurricane season does continue? And Jeanne is still out there. The death toll in Haiti is going up again by the day. So, Chad is going to be back with us today talking about his hurricane series. We'll get to that this morning.
COLLINS: And we will also get to politics, of course. That seems like it won't go away either. Back and forth ads now. A Bush ad is digging at Kerry. There is some windsurfing in there. There is some flip-flopping. And the Kerry ad calls all of that juvenile. So, Bill Schneider is going to talk to us about that and the analysis behind it.
HEMMER: Yes. Also, some very significant things in Congress today. Iyad Allawi will address Congress today, the interim prime minister in Iraq. This man has talked publicly about how optimistic he is for his own country. We'll see if that message can translate to members of Congress today on Capitol Hill. A preview of that and a whole lot more, Carol.
COLLINS: Some surprises, Carol.
HEMMER: Yes, we do.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: Well, yes.
COSTELLO: Surprises?
COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), right?
HEMMER: We've got a three-hour tour, you know, Carol.
COSTELLO: I understand. Thanks to you both.
HEMMER: Bye-bye.
COSTELLO: We'll catch you in 15 minutes. The death toll continues to rise in Haiti as the result of Tropical Storm Jeanne. At least 1,000 people were killed by the massive flooding brought on by that storm. The northern city of Gonaives is still under water. Officials say that once the floodwaters subside, many of the 1,200 people who are missing will likely be found.
Tropical Storm Jeanne was just the latest in a string of devastating storms that swept through the Caribbean.
CNN's Jim Bolden looks at some of the other countries that can only hope for a brighter future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Along with the cleaning up, counting the cost in the Caribbean of four deadly storms. Tropical Storm Jeanne laid waste to Haiti, while Hurricane Ivan wreaked havoc on the Cayman Islands, parts of Jamaica and Grenada. Grenada's high commissioner in Britain, Joslyn Whiteman, spent another day Wednesday pleading for aid from European governments. He has this stark message.
JOSLYN WHITEMAN, GRENADA HIGH COMMISSIONER: Then let's put it this way: There is absolutely nothing left.
BOLDEN: Tiny Grenada may need several billion dollars to help re-house left homeless, and then rebuild its devastated banana plantation and its nutmeg industry, the backbone of the economy.
WHITEMAN: And I'm sure some of these countries from whom we had to borrow would give us what you refer to as debt forgiveness, because there is absolutely no way in which we would be in any position to generate any income.
BOLDEN: Beyond asking for debt forgiveness, the Caribbean countries are considering what they can do to better prepare for the next storm. The Caymans, for instance, diversified away from agriculture. So, while many homes were heavily damaged, there was little damage to its key industry of offshore banking. And luckily, those parts of the Caribbean that have a booming tourism sector appeared to have missed most of the storms.
FRANCIS TUKE, ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH TRAVEL AGENTS: At the moment, prices are remaining pretty steady for the Caribbean, because -- especially the American market. They realize that this is to do with the hurricane season, and that things will rectify very quickly.
BOLDEN: The Caribbean countries hit hard in the last month say they are getting some aid from their developing neighbors, who weren't affected. But it isn't enough.
PRIME MINISTER RALPH GONSALVES, ST. VINCENT AND GRENADINES: Grenada needs massive aid to rebuild. It has been simply ravaged. Imagine a highly-sophisticated country reduced to rubble within two hours. Incredible. It shows the vulnerability of these islands. BOLDEN: Grenada may now not see economic growth for a decade after spending years and billions of dollars on an infrastructure wiped out by Ivan.
Jim Bolden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's not easy for stay-at-home moms to make the transition back into the workforce. So, how do you know when it's time to put away the Power Rangers and pull out the power suit again? Coming up, we have some career advice for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Working moms have a lot to worry about. In addition to child rearing are things like benefits, time off and day care.
"Working Mother" magazine just released its annual list of the top 100 companies for working mothers. You'll probably recognize some of the names: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Discovery, Eli Lilly, IBM, Johnson & Johnson.
In the financial sector, the best companies for moms are JP Morgan, Pricewaterhouse -- PricewaterhouseCoopers, I should say, Prudential, S.C. Johnson & Son and Wachovia.
Also on the list, Turner Broadcasting Systems, which is, of course, owned by -- or CNN is affiliated with that.
But what if you've been out of the office for a while? That's what we want to talk about now. How hard is it for mothers to re- enter the workforce?
Rosemary Haefner from Careerbuilder.com joins us live from Chicago.
Good morning.
ROSEMARY HAEFNER, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, how difficult is it for mothers to re-enter the workforce? Will it take them a long time?
I think now is actually the prime time. It's definitely ideal. We're seeing at Careerbuilder.com in our employment forecast outlook for Q4, in particular in the service industries, 49 percent of the hiring managers said that they plan to be hiring in the fourth quarter. Twelve percent said they're planning to scale back. But still the numbers are looking good.
So, it is a great time. I think, like any job search, whether you're re-entering the workforce or whether you're moving from one company to another, it takes a little bit of up-front planning. And I think there are some tips that working moms will want to look at in particular... COSTELLO: Well, tell us about those tips.
HAEFNER: Sure. I think the first and foremost idea I would recommend to a mother that wants to re-enter the workforce is take a look at your resume. A lot of women that I talk to are very conscious of the fact that perhaps they have been at home with their children for a few years, and how should they best represent that on the resume.
So, you can consider something called a functional resume versus the more traditional chronological resume. So, the functional resume is really going to highlight, first and foremost, your skills and less of an emphasis on the work employment dates.
COSTELLO: Oh, isn't that kind of a tricky way to sort of fudge?
HAEFNER: I don't know that I'd say it's fudging. I think what happens in the whole job search process is that that hiring manager looks very quickly at every resume. So, you want to make sure the first thing they see on the page is really your leading message. So, lead with, you know, if you have sales experience or project management experience, have them look at those skills versus, you know, I was a sales manager from 1996 to 2004 -- things of that sort.
COSTELLO: So, let's say you get an interview. What should you say in the interview to better get the job?
HAEFNER: I think that there are a lot of skills that you are using on a daily basis as a mother at home, and you just need to translate those to the potential opportunity, just like you would if you are already in another organization. So, it's a job search strategy you should follow regardless what move you are making.
So, I'd recommend that mothers looking to re-enter do that up- front work, that up-front homework, look at what type of opportunity do they want, what have they done in their background that really fits, and just get that hiring manager to focus on that information and not so much focused on why you were a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years.
COSTELLO: Rosemary Haefner from Careerbuilder.com joining us on DAYBREAK this morning, thank you.
We're going to announce today's mug winner in two minutes. This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We've been talking about the draft. Actually, we were in the 5:00 hour. We asked you the question: Should the draft be reinstated? Because Senator John Kerry said -- he brought up the idea of the draft, said he would not do it, but he intimated that President Bush might.
So, we asked you: Should the draft be reinstated? I want to read two. This is from Dawn (ph) from North Carolina: She says: "Yes, I do believe the draft should be reinstated. I believe that, because my husband is in the military and has already been sent to Iraq once and will probably be sent back once again before his time is up. I understand that military service is voluntary, but why should the same people have to risk their lives over and over again for millions of people who act like they just don't care?"
This is from Terry (ph) from New Jersey. She says: "As much as I'd like to see the draft reinstated, I don't think it would be a good thing. Forcing a coward into a foxhole with a professional soldier is detrimental to all."
And I'm sure those who were drafted during World War II will not appreciate your comments, Terry (ph). But we read them like they come in on DAYBREAK.
Chad, it is time to reveal the coffee mug winner.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have them right here, Carol.
COSTELLO: Cool.
MYERS: And I have questions for today as well. So, get ready.
Now, the questions from yesterday: What is the main source of fat in this new -- well, not so new for the people out there, but for us -- the Mediterranean diet? And that is olive oil. And what pro- consumer bill was considered by a House committee yesterday? And that was that right to repair bill, so that you can actually go get your car fixed anywhere. Everyone will be able to have those computer chips so they know what's wrong with your car.
Kim Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee, you are the winner of our first mug that goes to Tennessee so far. So congratulations, Kim.
And now the mug for today. Here are your questions. According to a report about homeland security screeners, how many were able to slip by explosives and weapons through how many airports? Homeland security screeners were able to slip explosives and weapons through how many U.S. airports? And who is being honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild?
Carol, so there you go.
COSTELLO: Daybreak@CNN.com. That's Daybreak@CNN.com.
And remember earlier, Chad, we were talking about Oprah giving the cars away...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... and the people that got the free cars would have to pay, like, $7,800 in taxes?
MYERS: In income taxes, federal income taxes. COSTELLO: Right. We got this e-mail from Rich from Tallahassee. He says: "Oprah and those taxes on the car-giveaway, what if Oprah had sold the cars for $1, would the recipients have to pay the tax?"
That's interesting, don't you think?
MYERS: I would say probably, yes, they still would, because that would be an unreasonable amount for the car.
COSTELLO: Maybe so.
"AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now. Thank you for joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
