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CNN Live At Daybreak

Embassy Bomb; Bomb Deaths in Egypt; Debate Prep; Prison Terms

Aired October 08, 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize is announced in Oslo, Norway, and the winner is a noted environmentalist in Kenya. She is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is Friday, October 8, and this is DAYBREAK.

Good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin in this morning for Carol Costello.

Right "Now in the News," the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to environmentalist Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Maathai is known for championing democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She is former chair of the National Council of Women in Kenya.

And a hospital official says the latest U.S. airstrike in Fallujah killed 14 people. A doctor says a wedding party was hit. The U.S. military says the target was a terrorist safe house.

And explosions at a resort in Egypt, just across the Israeli border, has killed at least 24 people and at least 30 others are missing. No claim of responsibility, but one Israeli official is blaming al Qaeda.

U.S. presidential debate No. 2 is tonight in St. Louis with a town hall meeting format and the debate begins at 9:00. And of course you are going to tune in to CNN's live coverage which begins at 7:00.

In the meantime, Martha Stewart reports today to a minimum- security women's prison in West Virginia known as Camp Cupcake. Stewart begins serving her five-month prison sentence for lying about a stock sale.

Chad, they call it Camp Cupcake because there's not even a fence in this place.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: But it's very cold there this morning.

LIN: OK, well there.

MYERS: So Martha said it will be a cold day in Connecticut when I go to West Virginia.

LIN: And she was right.

MYERS: And it's a frosty day in both those places.

Good morning, everybody.

LIN: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: All right, looks like it's going to be a wet weekend in some parts, huh?

MYERS: It sure will.

LIN: All right, thanks -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

LIN: And we've got some news around the world right now. It was a violent night, and there's bloodshed across the globe this morning in France and Iraq and Egypt.

We're going to begin in Paris right now where a bomb detonated hours ago just outside the Indonesian Embassy. Police say 10 people were slightly wounded.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Fallujah reports 14 people killed and 16 wounded in a U.S. airstrike. A doctor there says the strike hit a wedding party. Now a military statement says it targeted a meeting of terrorist leaders.

And the latest figures out of Taba, Egypt, now is 24 dead and 30 missing, following two explosions at a resort hotel frequented by Israelis. Dozens more people are wounded. Two other Egyptian resorts were also bombed.

First, we're going to begin in France, first to Paris and the bomb that exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy, which shattered windows in the upscale neighborhood there.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is on the telephone from the French capital.

Jim, tell us more exactly about what happened and where it detonated.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is an area right across the river from the Eiffel Tower, the 16th Arondis Mall (ph) in Paris, and it's home to a number of diplomatic missions, including the Indonesian Embassy, where just after about 5:00 this morning local time, a bomb went off, and certainly blew out a number of windows in a number of houses nearby, destroyed a couple of cars and injured about 10 people, slightly injured them. Nine of the 10 were taken to hospital.

The Interior Minister here, Dominique de Villepin, was on the scene within about an hour after the blast, and he said that the injuries to those involved were minor. But he also confirmed that it was definitely a bomb of criminal intent. He said it was placed directly underneath the Indonesian flag, which flies outside the embassy. So pretty clear that this was the target of the bomb. And he said it left a hole about a half meter, about 20 inches or so, that in the sidewalk in front of the embassy.

He said that there has been no specific threat that he knew of to the Indonesian mission here. But of course Indonesia has had its own problems at home with Islamic fundamentalists who have committed three major bomb attacks within Indonesia since 2002. And they also have out there about 150 fundamentalists in jail. So there might be some kind of connection with that or there might be some kind of connection with the idea that there's a new president about to be inaugurated in Indonesia on October 20 -- Carol.

LIN: Jim, interesting that Israeli officials are blaming the strike against the Egyptian resort in Taba as possibly al Qaeda related, you know that al Qaeda was responsible for that attack. Given that Indonesia is a predominately Muslim country, is it likely at all that al Qaeda would be responsible in this case?

BITTERMANN: Well al Qaeda is kind of a generic term. I mean you know it refers to the base and that can refer to a lot of different strands. I mean we have seen things that have been claimed by al Qaeda in other countries that, really, where the countries, the fundamentalist terrorist groups in those countries really have nothing to do with the al Qaeda attack on the United States.

For example, we were down in Casablanca a year or two ago and the attacks down there. It was also in part blamed on al Qaeda. And in fact, those attacks really had to do more with the local conditions in Morocco than in fact any kind of generic worldwide trend.

So I mean the way this was carried out, certainly it was a different modus operandi than you would have seen in, for instance, in the Taba attacks. This was a very small explosion, comparatively. It was loud enough to get everybody up in the 16th Arondis Mall this morning and cause some injuries. But compared to what has taken place elsewhere, a fairly minor explosion -- Carol.

LIN: Right, small explosion compared to the truck bomb in Taba, as well as the suicide bomber there. All right, thank you very much, Jim Bittermann on the phone from Paris this morning.

Going to move on to Iraq now. A U.S. airstrike there has killed 14 people and wounded 16 others at a wedding party in Fallujah. Now that's according to hospital officials there. Women and children are listed among the dead and the wounded. The groom is also said to have been killed. Now the military reports the airstrike targeted a safe house where terrorist leaders were meeting.

And right now a good time to move on to Egypt, where at least two dozen people have been killed by terrorist bombs at that Red Sea resort we've been telling you about. A number of others are listed as missing, which means that the death toll is likely to rise.

CNN's John Vause is at the Taba crossing on the Egypt-Israeli border -- John. JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We're actually on the Israeli side of the border. The border is just behind me.

And this is a scene that we've been seeing here all morning long and going into the afternoon now. It's quarter until 12:00 local time. This is the kind of heavy earth-moving equipment, which the Israelis have been moving across the border. They had a lot of trouble getting this equipment in to begin with. There's a lot of bureaucratic problems they had to work out with the Egyptians.

It was only about 11 hours after the blast, first blast occurred, when the Israelis actually got that earth-moving equipment into Taba, because the Egyptians had nothing there to remove the debris and the rubble from the Hilton Hotel. There was also a problem in the early hours of getting ambulances across the border.

But what we have been seeing since we have been here since first light, a steady stream of Israelis making their way home from the Taba region in Egypt. Officials here say there were in fact 35,000 Israelis who were spending the Jewish holidays in the Taba region. We're told more than 25,000 have now made it across the border back into Israel, leaving 10,000 still in there. They say some want to stay. Others are still having trouble getting out. There's a lot of problems with transportation, that kind of thing.

We may have to move here in a minute, Carol, but I'll keep going.

We have heard from the Israeli Defense Minister saying that he has a suspicion that al Qaeda may in fact be behind the blast at the Hilton Hotel, and also at the other resort not far away from the Hilton Hotel in Taba, because it was coordinated, because the scale. They are not ruling out that it could be some kind of Palestinian militant group, but it appears at this stage that this scope of this attack is beyond the reach of the Palestinian militant groups, like Hamas and like Islamic Jihad.

You mentioned the death toll, Carol, that's been going up and down all day long. We heard some figures from the Egyptians saying it could be as high as 40. Right now it appears that the Israeli figures of 26 are now confirmed dead, according to the Israelis. As many as 20 others still missing. And of course more than 120 people were wounded in these explosions -- Carol.

LIN: John, it's been, I think, more than 30 years since the peace deal was signed between Israel and Egypt, and yet there was a travel warning that Israelis were warned not to travel to Egypt. Why is that? And then why so many? I mean you mentioned 25,000 people, at least, now trying to get back into Israel from Egypt.

VAUSE: Well the travel advisory warning was put out two weeks ago leading up to the Jewish holiday period of Sukkot (ph). Now that warning was issued merely because of the large number of Israelis in the one place at the one time at this Egyptian resort which is seen, in many ways, as a soft target. The Egyptian hotels certainly do not have the same level of security that you find at the Israeli hotels. I spoke with an Israeli official here a few hours ago. They say they had no specific information about this kind of an attack. It was merely a precaution because of the holidays and because of a large group of Israelis in the one place at the one time -- Carol.

LIN: All right. John Vause, on the border between Israel and Egypt on the Israeli side, thank you.

Well, the political race to the White House is going to go domestic as President Bush and John Kerry gear up for round two. In seven minutes, we're going to have a preview straight ahead.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The real presidential contest is in the battleground states. And right now in many states it's still too close to call. Take New Mexico, for example, President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 3 percentage points among likely voters and only 1 percentage point among registered voters. That is the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll.

In Wisconsin, President Bush leads by 3 percentage points among likely voters and among registered voters. But in both cases, it is a statistical tie.

And in Colorado, Bush and Kerry are tied among likely voters and among registered voters.

Now it's looking like this election will be decided by those still undecided and many of whom will be watching tonight's debate between George Bush and John Kerry.

So let's talk politics now with Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier at WOKQ, the Wake Up Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire.

Good morning -- guys.

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH & MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Morning, Carol.

DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH & MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey.

LIN: We've been talking to you since the primary season. Has much changed here? OK, we know who the guys are and they are going at it again tonight, only this time in a town hall style meeting. So they are not going to know the questions that they are going to be thrown, right?

ERICSON: No, they are not going to know the questions. And the audience is going to be made up of folks who are set to be voters and they lean towards one of the two candidates, but they are not really solid supporters of either one. LIN: OK, from a performance standpoint, conventional wisdom says that George W. Bush has to make up for the last debate, for a few of the scowls, a little unsteady on his feet, perhaps, and defensive in responding to criticism of his foreign policy.

ERICSON: Well that's one of the situations tonight is that his opponent may not be so much John Kerry as just himself and doing a better job of then what he did in the first debate.

LIN: Yes. Danielle, what do you think? I mean what do you think people are going to be looking for in tonight's debate? Do you think it's going to be performance? Do you think people are still focused on the issues, because tonight it's about domestic policy, and we're waiting for those unemployment figures to come out this morning?

CARRIER: Well I think it's going to be a lot of things. I mean these are the folks who are kind of sort of leaning to one candidate and towards the other, so I think they are looking for reinforcement in who they are going to choose. And a lot of things happened this week, especially for the Bush campaign with the whole weapons of mass destruction thing. I'm not quite sure -- I don't even know how I'm going to vote at this point.

LIN: Really, because, well, they haven't found any, but President Bush says look, you know if not now, then soon, you know sometime in the years to come that Saddam Hussein would have built a nuclear weapon or a weapon of mass destruction.

CARRIER: Right. Some people feel, you know, OK, I wouldn't say I was exactly lied to, but were they misled, were they not misled? This leads to a trust issue with the president.

ERICSON: And a lot of people think that tonight the president will try to position a Kerry presidency as one that would endanger national security, as well as the economy. Look for President Bush to be on the offensive tonight.

LIN: On the offensive. And what does that mean?

ERICSON: I think you're going to find President Bush is going to come out swinging. He needs to be in control and he needs to be in charge and he needs to portray that image tonight for a number of different reasons, including his performance at the last debate. And say what you will about the vice presidential debate, Vice President Cheney was in command in that room.

LIN: But you know what, what's still, people were critical. I mean our polling shows that viewers were critical of President Bush's performance. But when you look at the polls, he still is seen as the person stronger in the war on terror. So even though John Kerry picked up some steam, he still hasn't, you know, sealed the deal with a lot of voters, you know?

ERICSON: No, he hasn't done that. But again, this has been a tough week for the Bush campaign with the war on terror. And I think you will see Senator Kerry come out swinging along those lines. The Iraq issue will be important tonight, in spite of the fact that they are going to try to focus on some domestic issues.

LIN: Right.

CARRIER: And I think it's really important how many people are undecided. I mean that could be a huge issue as well.

LIN: Right, right, right, right. Interesting. All right, guys, well, we'll see what happens. Mark, Danielle, we'll talk to you after the debate and in the days and weeks to come.

CARRIER: All right, great, thanks, Carol.

ERICSON: Thanks -- Carol.

LIN: Only just a few more days, a few more weeks until Election Day.

All right, today, though, is the day for Martha Stewart, one that I'm sure she hoped would never come, but she's scheduled to report for prison today in Alderson, West Virginia.

CNN's Allan Chernoff takes a look at her new digs and tells us why some people are happy to see her coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Stewart now faces the harsh reality of prison life at the minimum-security camp in Alderson, West Virginia. Wake up at 6:00 a.m. Breakfast of cereal and juice, sometimes eggs. Then at 7:30, work begins.

The former chief executive will be paid 12 cents an hour. Potential assignments include groundskeeper, janitor, kitchen aide. For a powerful woman, used to giving orders, not taking them, it will be a huge adjustment.

MARTHA STEWART, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: I know I have a very tough five months ahead of me.

CHERNOFF: Former inmates say the toughest part may be Stewart's loss of privacy, especially at night.

CLAIRE HANRAHAN, FORMER ALDERSON INMATE: If you pull the sheet over yourself at night, just to give yourself some sense of boundary, the prison guards are allowed, they say we must see flesh, ladies, when they do their midnight count. So you could expect in several times I was awakened in the night with a guard pulling the sheet off of me.

CHERNOFF: The majority of Alderson's 1,040 prisoners are drug offenders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free Martha.

CHERNOFF: Many are looking forward to Stewart's arrival, according to Judith Kelly who recently did time at Alderson.

JUDITH KELLY, FORMER ALDERSON INMATE: They really hope that her heart will be opened, her eyes will be opened and she'll be able to expose the kinds of things that are going on inside the prison. So they felt it would be to their advantage. I think they are going to welcome her totally.

CHERNOFF: Martha Stewart has said she'll make it through her prison sentence by focusing on the future, anticipating a return to her company. Immediately following her term here, though, Stewart will do five months of home confinement at her 150-acre compound in Bedford, New York.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Alderson, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, politics is also high on the pulse of the American public and of course the butt of jokes for late night talk. But a former president was the center of attention for David Letterman. We're going to show you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Hey, it's time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener." Chad, look at this.

MYERS: Pillow fight.

LIN: I think people pay to do this. They are called Flash Mobs. And this group showed up in front of St. Paul's Cathedral in London for an impromptu pillow fight. Now the rules are pretty simple, all you have to do is bring an unconcealed pillow.

MYERS: Right.

LIN: Yes, hard to conceal a pillow, though.

MYERS: But if the feathers fly, do you lose?

LIN: Well that's a good question, you know. And what if you use fiber filled, I mean are you disqualified?

MYERS: Well it wouldn't hurt as much.

LIN: Yes, that's true. But can you imagine? So they are just, you know, so much for those...

MYERS: Letting off some steam.

LIN: So much for those stayed Brits, right?

MYERS: Maybe we could get all the leaders of the world to come together and have a pillow fight. If we could get a lot more done this way. LIN: You know, next, OK. I didn't think there was anything next. We have something else, too, on the "Eye Opener." Paul McCartney's daughter, Stella, unveiled her new collection, which she calls Bohemian Chic. I have no idea why we're looking at an overweight child, though.

MYERS: He swallowed a pencil.

LIN: OK. Is that chic? Don't do this.

MYERS: No, well, no, this is chic.

LIN: Don't do this at home. OK, that's Bohemian Chic.

MYERS: Don't do that at home either or else you're going to...

LIN: Well, I think it would take me probably about 30 more minutes to get dressed if I had to figure out how to tie that thing up.

What is this with the pencil kid? OK, don't chew your pencil or pen, for that matter. This is the copy they are giving me. This kid is from Alabama. And he surprised a fellow student when he swallowed his pencil. It was an oversized eraser and everything.

MYERS: Yes.

LIN: His teacher didn't believe him. But once he got home, his mother took him to the hospital, got some X-rays and proved the point.

MYERS: Don't try that -- period.

LIN: Don't try that. That's kind of stupid.

MYERS: Yes, no, that was not -- and getting that out was also not pleasant for that young boy.

LIN: Right, he was just trying to be funny.

MYERS: So, don't try that.

LIN: Yes. You know if you want some attention, go to journalism school and become a banker (ph).

MYERS: I guess so.

LIN: All right, be productive with your life.

MYERS: That's right.

LIN: All right, it's barely fall and already the spring and summer fashions are hitting the runways in Paris.

MYERS: That's the pictures we were showing you.

LIN: Yes, there you go. I'm a little confused this morning. I'm focused on the Nobel Peace Prize, not the latest fashion statements out of Paris. Bohemian Chic, Stella McCartney, you know she's done really well with her company. And you know the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna wear her stuff.

MYERS: Coming to a beach near you.

LIN: Yes, right.

MYERS: Not!

LIN: Well, you know I think your wife would look lovely in one of those after the baby comes.

MYERS: There you go.

LIN: You have to say things like that to keep her morale up.

All right, in case you missed Letterman last night, he noted a special day for New York's most famous transplanted couple, Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton.

MYERS: Hard to say.

LIN: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: Well, ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to Bill and Hillary Clinton, their 29th wedding anniversary this weekend, 29 years.

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: They will be celebrating with a romantic dinner. And I understand Bill is bringing a date.

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: Good. Be nice. Actually, Clinton's are very, very close. In 29 years, Hillary is the only woman that Bill has ever cheated on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well.

MYERS: Harsh.

LIN: You know 29 years together still says something, right?

MYERS: Yes, seven or eight good years in there.

LIN: At least.

MYERS: Right?

LIN: And a cat and a dog.

MYERS: That's right.

LIN: And a daughter.

All right, still to come, the political power play, John Kerry, George Bush, they're going to face off tonight. And they are going to face some of their toughest critics, undecided voters. So just ahead on DAYBREAK, CNN's political editor gives us a preview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 8, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize is announced in Oslo, Norway, and the winner is a noted environmentalist in Kenya. She is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is Friday, October 8, and this is DAYBREAK.

Good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin in this morning for Carol Costello.

Right "Now in the News," the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to environmentalist Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Maathai is known for championing democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She is former chair of the National Council of Women in Kenya.

And a hospital official says the latest U.S. airstrike in Fallujah killed 14 people. A doctor says a wedding party was hit. The U.S. military says the target was a terrorist safe house.

And explosions at a resort in Egypt, just across the Israeli border, has killed at least 24 people and at least 30 others are missing. No claim of responsibility, but one Israeli official is blaming al Qaeda.

U.S. presidential debate No. 2 is tonight in St. Louis with a town hall meeting format and the debate begins at 9:00. And of course you are going to tune in to CNN's live coverage which begins at 7:00.

In the meantime, Martha Stewart reports today to a minimum- security women's prison in West Virginia known as Camp Cupcake. Stewart begins serving her five-month prison sentence for lying about a stock sale.

Chad, they call it Camp Cupcake because there's not even a fence in this place.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: But it's very cold there this morning.

LIN: OK, well there.

MYERS: So Martha said it will be a cold day in Connecticut when I go to West Virginia.

LIN: And she was right.

MYERS: And it's a frosty day in both those places.

Good morning, everybody.

LIN: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: All right, looks like it's going to be a wet weekend in some parts, huh?

MYERS: It sure will.

LIN: All right, thanks -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

LIN: And we've got some news around the world right now. It was a violent night, and there's bloodshed across the globe this morning in France and Iraq and Egypt.

We're going to begin in Paris right now where a bomb detonated hours ago just outside the Indonesian Embassy. Police say 10 people were slightly wounded.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Fallujah reports 14 people killed and 16 wounded in a U.S. airstrike. A doctor there says the strike hit a wedding party. Now a military statement says it targeted a meeting of terrorist leaders.

And the latest figures out of Taba, Egypt, now is 24 dead and 30 missing, following two explosions at a resort hotel frequented by Israelis. Dozens more people are wounded. Two other Egyptian resorts were also bombed.

First, we're going to begin in France, first to Paris and the bomb that exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy, which shattered windows in the upscale neighborhood there.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is on the telephone from the French capital.

Jim, tell us more exactly about what happened and where it detonated.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is an area right across the river from the Eiffel Tower, the 16th Arondis Mall (ph) in Paris, and it's home to a number of diplomatic missions, including the Indonesian Embassy, where just after about 5:00 this morning local time, a bomb went off, and certainly blew out a number of windows in a number of houses nearby, destroyed a couple of cars and injured about 10 people, slightly injured them. Nine of the 10 were taken to hospital.

The Interior Minister here, Dominique de Villepin, was on the scene within about an hour after the blast, and he said that the injuries to those involved were minor. But he also confirmed that it was definitely a bomb of criminal intent. He said it was placed directly underneath the Indonesian flag, which flies outside the embassy. So pretty clear that this was the target of the bomb. And he said it left a hole about a half meter, about 20 inches or so, that in the sidewalk in front of the embassy.

He said that there has been no specific threat that he knew of to the Indonesian mission here. But of course Indonesia has had its own problems at home with Islamic fundamentalists who have committed three major bomb attacks within Indonesia since 2002. And they also have out there about 150 fundamentalists in jail. So there might be some kind of connection with that or there might be some kind of connection with the idea that there's a new president about to be inaugurated in Indonesia on October 20 -- Carol.

LIN: Jim, interesting that Israeli officials are blaming the strike against the Egyptian resort in Taba as possibly al Qaeda related, you know that al Qaeda was responsible for that attack. Given that Indonesia is a predominately Muslim country, is it likely at all that al Qaeda would be responsible in this case?

BITTERMANN: Well al Qaeda is kind of a generic term. I mean you know it refers to the base and that can refer to a lot of different strands. I mean we have seen things that have been claimed by al Qaeda in other countries that, really, where the countries, the fundamentalist terrorist groups in those countries really have nothing to do with the al Qaeda attack on the United States.

For example, we were down in Casablanca a year or two ago and the attacks down there. It was also in part blamed on al Qaeda. And in fact, those attacks really had to do more with the local conditions in Morocco than in fact any kind of generic worldwide trend.

So I mean the way this was carried out, certainly it was a different modus operandi than you would have seen in, for instance, in the Taba attacks. This was a very small explosion, comparatively. It was loud enough to get everybody up in the 16th Arondis Mall this morning and cause some injuries. But compared to what has taken place elsewhere, a fairly minor explosion -- Carol.

LIN: Right, small explosion compared to the truck bomb in Taba, as well as the suicide bomber there. All right, thank you very much, Jim Bittermann on the phone from Paris this morning.

Going to move on to Iraq now. A U.S. airstrike there has killed 14 people and wounded 16 others at a wedding party in Fallujah. Now that's according to hospital officials there. Women and children are listed among the dead and the wounded. The groom is also said to have been killed. Now the military reports the airstrike targeted a safe house where terrorist leaders were meeting.

And right now a good time to move on to Egypt, where at least two dozen people have been killed by terrorist bombs at that Red Sea resort we've been telling you about. A number of others are listed as missing, which means that the death toll is likely to rise.

CNN's John Vause is at the Taba crossing on the Egypt-Israeli border -- John. JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We're actually on the Israeli side of the border. The border is just behind me.

And this is a scene that we've been seeing here all morning long and going into the afternoon now. It's quarter until 12:00 local time. This is the kind of heavy earth-moving equipment, which the Israelis have been moving across the border. They had a lot of trouble getting this equipment in to begin with. There's a lot of bureaucratic problems they had to work out with the Egyptians.

It was only about 11 hours after the blast, first blast occurred, when the Israelis actually got that earth-moving equipment into Taba, because the Egyptians had nothing there to remove the debris and the rubble from the Hilton Hotel. There was also a problem in the early hours of getting ambulances across the border.

But what we have been seeing since we have been here since first light, a steady stream of Israelis making their way home from the Taba region in Egypt. Officials here say there were in fact 35,000 Israelis who were spending the Jewish holidays in the Taba region. We're told more than 25,000 have now made it across the border back into Israel, leaving 10,000 still in there. They say some want to stay. Others are still having trouble getting out. There's a lot of problems with transportation, that kind of thing.

We may have to move here in a minute, Carol, but I'll keep going.

We have heard from the Israeli Defense Minister saying that he has a suspicion that al Qaeda may in fact be behind the blast at the Hilton Hotel, and also at the other resort not far away from the Hilton Hotel in Taba, because it was coordinated, because the scale. They are not ruling out that it could be some kind of Palestinian militant group, but it appears at this stage that this scope of this attack is beyond the reach of the Palestinian militant groups, like Hamas and like Islamic Jihad.

You mentioned the death toll, Carol, that's been going up and down all day long. We heard some figures from the Egyptians saying it could be as high as 40. Right now it appears that the Israeli figures of 26 are now confirmed dead, according to the Israelis. As many as 20 others still missing. And of course more than 120 people were wounded in these explosions -- Carol.

LIN: John, it's been, I think, more than 30 years since the peace deal was signed between Israel and Egypt, and yet there was a travel warning that Israelis were warned not to travel to Egypt. Why is that? And then why so many? I mean you mentioned 25,000 people, at least, now trying to get back into Israel from Egypt.

VAUSE: Well the travel advisory warning was put out two weeks ago leading up to the Jewish holiday period of Sukkot (ph). Now that warning was issued merely because of the large number of Israelis in the one place at the one time at this Egyptian resort which is seen, in many ways, as a soft target. The Egyptian hotels certainly do not have the same level of security that you find at the Israeli hotels. I spoke with an Israeli official here a few hours ago. They say they had no specific information about this kind of an attack. It was merely a precaution because of the holidays and because of a large group of Israelis in the one place at the one time -- Carol.

LIN: All right. John Vause, on the border between Israel and Egypt on the Israeli side, thank you.

Well, the political race to the White House is going to go domestic as President Bush and John Kerry gear up for round two. In seven minutes, we're going to have a preview straight ahead.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The real presidential contest is in the battleground states. And right now in many states it's still too close to call. Take New Mexico, for example, President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 3 percentage points among likely voters and only 1 percentage point among registered voters. That is the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll.

In Wisconsin, President Bush leads by 3 percentage points among likely voters and among registered voters. But in both cases, it is a statistical tie.

And in Colorado, Bush and Kerry are tied among likely voters and among registered voters.

Now it's looking like this election will be decided by those still undecided and many of whom will be watching tonight's debate between George Bush and John Kerry.

So let's talk politics now with Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier at WOKQ, the Wake Up Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire.

Good morning -- guys.

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH & MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Morning, Carol.

DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH & MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hey.

LIN: We've been talking to you since the primary season. Has much changed here? OK, we know who the guys are and they are going at it again tonight, only this time in a town hall style meeting. So they are not going to know the questions that they are going to be thrown, right?

ERICSON: No, they are not going to know the questions. And the audience is going to be made up of folks who are set to be voters and they lean towards one of the two candidates, but they are not really solid supporters of either one. LIN: OK, from a performance standpoint, conventional wisdom says that George W. Bush has to make up for the last debate, for a few of the scowls, a little unsteady on his feet, perhaps, and defensive in responding to criticism of his foreign policy.

ERICSON: Well that's one of the situations tonight is that his opponent may not be so much John Kerry as just himself and doing a better job of then what he did in the first debate.

LIN: Yes. Danielle, what do you think? I mean what do you think people are going to be looking for in tonight's debate? Do you think it's going to be performance? Do you think people are still focused on the issues, because tonight it's about domestic policy, and we're waiting for those unemployment figures to come out this morning?

CARRIER: Well I think it's going to be a lot of things. I mean these are the folks who are kind of sort of leaning to one candidate and towards the other, so I think they are looking for reinforcement in who they are going to choose. And a lot of things happened this week, especially for the Bush campaign with the whole weapons of mass destruction thing. I'm not quite sure -- I don't even know how I'm going to vote at this point.

LIN: Really, because, well, they haven't found any, but President Bush says look, you know if not now, then soon, you know sometime in the years to come that Saddam Hussein would have built a nuclear weapon or a weapon of mass destruction.

CARRIER: Right. Some people feel, you know, OK, I wouldn't say I was exactly lied to, but were they misled, were they not misled? This leads to a trust issue with the president.

ERICSON: And a lot of people think that tonight the president will try to position a Kerry presidency as one that would endanger national security, as well as the economy. Look for President Bush to be on the offensive tonight.

LIN: On the offensive. And what does that mean?

ERICSON: I think you're going to find President Bush is going to come out swinging. He needs to be in control and he needs to be in charge and he needs to portray that image tonight for a number of different reasons, including his performance at the last debate. And say what you will about the vice presidential debate, Vice President Cheney was in command in that room.

LIN: But you know what, what's still, people were critical. I mean our polling shows that viewers were critical of President Bush's performance. But when you look at the polls, he still is seen as the person stronger in the war on terror. So even though John Kerry picked up some steam, he still hasn't, you know, sealed the deal with a lot of voters, you know?

ERICSON: No, he hasn't done that. But again, this has been a tough week for the Bush campaign with the war on terror. And I think you will see Senator Kerry come out swinging along those lines. The Iraq issue will be important tonight, in spite of the fact that they are going to try to focus on some domestic issues.

LIN: Right.

CARRIER: And I think it's really important how many people are undecided. I mean that could be a huge issue as well.

LIN: Right, right, right, right. Interesting. All right, guys, well, we'll see what happens. Mark, Danielle, we'll talk to you after the debate and in the days and weeks to come.

CARRIER: All right, great, thanks, Carol.

ERICSON: Thanks -- Carol.

LIN: Only just a few more days, a few more weeks until Election Day.

All right, today, though, is the day for Martha Stewart, one that I'm sure she hoped would never come, but she's scheduled to report for prison today in Alderson, West Virginia.

CNN's Allan Chernoff takes a look at her new digs and tells us why some people are happy to see her coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Stewart now faces the harsh reality of prison life at the minimum-security camp in Alderson, West Virginia. Wake up at 6:00 a.m. Breakfast of cereal and juice, sometimes eggs. Then at 7:30, work begins.

The former chief executive will be paid 12 cents an hour. Potential assignments include groundskeeper, janitor, kitchen aide. For a powerful woman, used to giving orders, not taking them, it will be a huge adjustment.

MARTHA STEWART, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: I know I have a very tough five months ahead of me.

CHERNOFF: Former inmates say the toughest part may be Stewart's loss of privacy, especially at night.

CLAIRE HANRAHAN, FORMER ALDERSON INMATE: If you pull the sheet over yourself at night, just to give yourself some sense of boundary, the prison guards are allowed, they say we must see flesh, ladies, when they do their midnight count. So you could expect in several times I was awakened in the night with a guard pulling the sheet off of me.

CHERNOFF: The majority of Alderson's 1,040 prisoners are drug offenders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free Martha.

CHERNOFF: Many are looking forward to Stewart's arrival, according to Judith Kelly who recently did time at Alderson.

JUDITH KELLY, FORMER ALDERSON INMATE: They really hope that her heart will be opened, her eyes will be opened and she'll be able to expose the kinds of things that are going on inside the prison. So they felt it would be to their advantage. I think they are going to welcome her totally.

CHERNOFF: Martha Stewart has said she'll make it through her prison sentence by focusing on the future, anticipating a return to her company. Immediately following her term here, though, Stewart will do five months of home confinement at her 150-acre compound in Bedford, New York.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Alderson, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, politics is also high on the pulse of the American public and of course the butt of jokes for late night talk. But a former president was the center of attention for David Letterman. We're going to show you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Hey, it's time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener." Chad, look at this.

MYERS: Pillow fight.

LIN: I think people pay to do this. They are called Flash Mobs. And this group showed up in front of St. Paul's Cathedral in London for an impromptu pillow fight. Now the rules are pretty simple, all you have to do is bring an unconcealed pillow.

MYERS: Right.

LIN: Yes, hard to conceal a pillow, though.

MYERS: But if the feathers fly, do you lose?

LIN: Well that's a good question, you know. And what if you use fiber filled, I mean are you disqualified?

MYERS: Well it wouldn't hurt as much.

LIN: Yes, that's true. But can you imagine? So they are just, you know, so much for those...

MYERS: Letting off some steam.

LIN: So much for those stayed Brits, right?

MYERS: Maybe we could get all the leaders of the world to come together and have a pillow fight. If we could get a lot more done this way. LIN: You know, next, OK. I didn't think there was anything next. We have something else, too, on the "Eye Opener." Paul McCartney's daughter, Stella, unveiled her new collection, which she calls Bohemian Chic. I have no idea why we're looking at an overweight child, though.

MYERS: He swallowed a pencil.

LIN: OK. Is that chic? Don't do this.

MYERS: No, well, no, this is chic.

LIN: Don't do this at home. OK, that's Bohemian Chic.

MYERS: Don't do that at home either or else you're going to...

LIN: Well, I think it would take me probably about 30 more minutes to get dressed if I had to figure out how to tie that thing up.

What is this with the pencil kid? OK, don't chew your pencil or pen, for that matter. This is the copy they are giving me. This kid is from Alabama. And he surprised a fellow student when he swallowed his pencil. It was an oversized eraser and everything.

MYERS: Yes.

LIN: His teacher didn't believe him. But once he got home, his mother took him to the hospital, got some X-rays and proved the point.

MYERS: Don't try that -- period.

LIN: Don't try that. That's kind of stupid.

MYERS: Yes, no, that was not -- and getting that out was also not pleasant for that young boy.

LIN: Right, he was just trying to be funny.

MYERS: So, don't try that.

LIN: Yes. You know if you want some attention, go to journalism school and become a banker (ph).

MYERS: I guess so.

LIN: All right, be productive with your life.

MYERS: That's right.

LIN: All right, it's barely fall and already the spring and summer fashions are hitting the runways in Paris.

MYERS: That's the pictures we were showing you.

LIN: Yes, there you go. I'm a little confused this morning. I'm focused on the Nobel Peace Prize, not the latest fashion statements out of Paris. Bohemian Chic, Stella McCartney, you know she's done really well with her company. And you know the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna wear her stuff.

MYERS: Coming to a beach near you.

LIN: Yes, right.

MYERS: Not!

LIN: Well, you know I think your wife would look lovely in one of those after the baby comes.

MYERS: There you go.

LIN: You have to say things like that to keep her morale up.

All right, in case you missed Letterman last night, he noted a special day for New York's most famous transplanted couple, Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton.

MYERS: Hard to say.

LIN: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: Well, ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to Bill and Hillary Clinton, their 29th wedding anniversary this weekend, 29 years.

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: They will be celebrating with a romantic dinner. And I understand Bill is bringing a date.

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: Good. Be nice. Actually, Clinton's are very, very close. In 29 years, Hillary is the only woman that Bill has ever cheated on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well.

MYERS: Harsh.

LIN: You know 29 years together still says something, right?

MYERS: Yes, seven or eight good years in there.

LIN: At least.

MYERS: Right?

LIN: And a cat and a dog.

MYERS: That's right.

LIN: And a daughter.

All right, still to come, the political power play, John Kerry, George Bush, they're going to face off tonight. And they are going to face some of their toughest critics, undecided voters. So just ahead on DAYBREAK, CNN's political editor gives us a preview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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