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CNN Live At Daybreak

Members of Ayad Allawi's Family Kidnapped By Insurgents; Update On Arafat's Condition; Reaction in Middle East and Burial Plans For Arafat

Aired November 10, 2004 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
It is Wednesday, November 10.

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

Now in the news -- word in from Iraq this morning, gunmen have kidnapped three members of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's family. The government says Allawi's first cousin, the cousin's wife and another relative were taken from their Baghdad home on Tuesday.

Yasser Arafat remains gravely ill at this hour and Palestinian officials are making plans for his funeral service and burial even though they have not confirmed his status yet. Sources tell CNN a funeral could be held in Egypt on Friday. Plans call for a West Bank burial.

The State Department's second in command is in Afghanistan this morning. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage praised the nation's recent presidential election, but he suggests next year's parliamentary elections may be tougher to handle.

Starting over, that's what the jury in Scott Peterson's California murder trial is doing this morning. The judge has dismissed juror number seven, identified as Fran Gorman. The jury is restarting deliberations with an alternate.

To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: A distributing situation in Iraq to tell you about. There has been another kidnapping, this time targeting the family of the Interim Iraqi Prime Minister.

Our Ayman Mohyeldin is in Baghdad with the latest -- tell us what happened.

AYMAN MOHYELDIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

No official word yet from the prime minister's office here in Iraq exactly what happened, but sources close to the family have told CNN that an early morning raid at the house of the prime minister's cousin is where the kidnapping took place.

Apparently Tuesday early morning, gunmen raided the house of first cousin Ghazi Allawi. They kidnapped the prime minister's first cousin, the cousin's wife and a third relative unknown at this time. The raid happened at gunpoint and, again, the details right now are not clear exactly what the demands are. They have not been, we are told, have not been contacted. The prime minister's office has not been contacted by the kidnappers. We don't know if the motive behind this was political or financial and so the details are still coming in at this time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Do we know if the house was guarded?

MOHYELDIN: To be honest with you, the details of the house sometimes are unclear. We know that there were security guards at the house. However, we don't know if they were present at the time of the kidnapping, if there was an exchange of fire, if there was any type of fire that was put up. We don't know the details to which members of the Iraqi government are protected. There's all sorts of security around the principals of the interim government but we don't know to what extent security is provided for their family.

COSTELLO: Is Prime Minister Allawi expected to talk about this at any point this morning or this afternoon for you?

MOHYELDIN: Well, the official word out of the prime minister's office CNN was told was that we can expect a spokesperson to be making a statement -- we're not sure if it will be written or taped -- within the hour. The details, again, the prime minister's office has not confirmed this. The source on this was a former aide to the prime minister, a former spokesman, a current adviser to the prime minister.

The official word out of the prime minister's office right now is no comment. So we are anticipating any word that may come out of that from the prime minister's office.

COSTELLO: Ayman Mohyeldin reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Thanks so much.

Switching to another developing story this hour, any time now a top Islamic cleric is expected to arrive at Yasser Arafat's bedside at a French hospital.

For the latest on that, let's head to Paris and CNN's Jim Bittermann -- hello, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.

We talked a short while ago with Leila Shahid, who is the Palestinian representative here in France. And she says there has basically been no change in Yasser Arafat's condition overnight, that he remains in a deeper coma, that he still is critical -- critically ill, but there are still signs of brain function, although his kidneys and lungs are weak. She denied that Islamic cleric, Taisser al-Tamimi, who may show up here at any moment now at the hospital, she denied that he is coming here to authorize the removal of life support equipment. She said rather that he is a friend of Arafat's and he is here to offer religious support in what could be, as she put it, Arafat's final hours.

They are, of course, nonetheless, making plans here for after Arafat's death. They say that his body will be taken to a brief ceremony here in Paris and then to a military airport where a French military jet will fly Yasser Arafat back home to the Middle East -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A question for you about yesterday. Suha Arafat wasn't exactly thrilled to allow Palestinian leaders in to see her husband.

How did that all go down?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think the tone changed when they got here. They said that she was quite emotional, that she was in tears, in fact, when they arrived, but that she embraced them all and then, in fact, did authorize, as French law demands and she, as the closest relative, she was the only one who could authorize any of them to actually see Yasser Arafat.

She did authorize Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei to go in and see Arafat lying in the bed. So something definitely changed in her tone, because this was the same delegation that she accused just 36 hours before of trying to bury her husband alive.

So whatever happened, whether it was a question of emotions, the earlier outburst was a question of emotions or what, but there seems to be a reconciliation there between her and the top Palestinian leadership -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Bittermann live in Paris.

Thank you.

Back in the West Bank, top Palestinian officials are talking about the future.

Let's head live now to Ramallah and CNN's Michael Holmes -- hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you, Carol.

Yes, we'll get to those Palestinian meetings in a minute.

I can tell you, however, we do have news from the Israeli side. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, met with security and military officials a few hours ago and then went into a cabinet meeting. We've been told as a result of that meeting that the Israeli government has officially approved Ramallah as the final resting place of the Palestinian leader should he die. A couple of points from that meeting. The security for the Ramallah area will be the responsibility of the Palestinians. There will be increased security in Jerusalem. That will be handled, of course, by the Israelis. We are being told that Israelis will be allowed to attend the funeral here in the West Bank -- the burial, rather, here in the West Bank should they choose to do so. Let's remember, there are many Arab-Israelis living in Israel proper. However, no Gaza residents will be allowed to travel here for the burial unless they are VIPs.

Now, this, as I said, there's a couple of meetings going on here in Ramallah at the Palestinian Authority headquarters behind me, Carol. While officials say Yasser Arafat is still alive and it is a little unseemly to be talking about his funeral and burial, arrangements necessarily are having to be made.

Yasser Arafat is likely to have a funeral in Cairo, Egypt. That's likely to take place Friday, of course, dependent on if and when he does pass away. That same day his body would be flown by helicopter here to Ramallah, in fact, to the Palestinian Authority headquarters behind me, the Muqata, where he would be laid to rest -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And will he be laid to rest there permanently? Because there was some talk earlier that his body would be moved then to Jerusalem if Israel allowed that?

HOLMES: It's a very difficult question. Israel has essentially said no to Jerusalem, it's just not going to happen. They wanted the Palestinian leader buried in Gaza. That did not suit the Palestinians. Ramallah is a compromise.

Now, it's difficult under Islamic law. It's not easy, if you like, to have somebody reburied somewhere else. But we're being told by a couple of Palestinian officials that if somebody declares that they wish to be buried somewhere, in this case Yasser Arafat has said he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, it is technically possible under Islamic law to rebury him at some later date. Whether that's likely to happen or not, it's probably problematic.

Here is a symbolic home of Yasser Arafat, particularly in the last three years, where he's been a virtual prisoner at the Palestinian Authority headquarters and it does seem to be the likely final resting place -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Michael Holmes reporting live from Ramallah this morning.

Thank you.

The battle of Falluja not letting up and U.S. forces say they're gaining ground, taking about 70 percent of the insurgent stronghold.

Our Jane Arraf embedded with some U.S. Marines. She bring us the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Army is continuing search and attack operations in its sector of Falluja. That sector is the eastern part of the city, thought to be a stronghold particularly of foreign fighters. And what they're encountering are still pockets of resistance.

You can hear behind us artillery and machine guns being fired at some of those pockets. Rocket propelled grenades landed here a short while ago. But they are not finding resistance fighters or terrorists, in their minds, in any large numbers, not in the way they had expected to find them, not making their last stand against American forces.

Major John Reynolds from Task Force 22 from the 1st Infantry Division says he believes it may have been the pre-battle attacks that have softened that resistance.

MAJOR JOHN REYNOLDS, 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION: The battle has been going really well. It is almost a textbook answer to how we do operations when we go against an enemy that we considered their strong point in the city. The breach went well. We had the Army engineers' equipment out there. We assaulted through the breach and we're clearing the enemy within our area of operation.

ARRAF: The Army is continuing to clear roads, as well, through its sector. It says it has seen no civilians. Some of those civilians, it's believed, have been forced out of these areas, particularly the industrial area so insurgents could lay improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs and booby-trapped streets.

In other areas of the city, there is a large civilian population. No clear indication of how they are faring yet. But this battle is expected to go on with these pockets of fighters still continuing to fight. Some of those have tried to flee the city and may have been able to. Others are believed to have been forced into the center.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We'll get the view from the Pentagon on this offensive in Falluja. Kathleen Koch will join us live from Washington.

John Ashcroft is out as attorney general, and he isn't the only cabinet member that won't be around for a second Bush administration. Ashcroft was the architect behind changes in the Justice Department which moved its focus to anti-terrorism activities. His resignation letter was dated November 2, which was Election Day. In that handwritten letter, Afghanistan said, "The Justice Department will be better served by new leadership and fresh inspiration."

Also resigning from the cabinet, Commerce Secretary Don Evans. Evans is an old friend of President Bush dating back to their days as oil men in Texas. In his letter, he told the president he was ready to go home. Evans will stay on until a replacement is named. Back to John Ashcroft for a bit. He'll also stay on until his replacement is named. Some of those on a potential short list of successors are Ashcroft's former deputy, Larry Thompson; former Montana Governor Mark Racicot; and current White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ALLEN, "WASHINGTON POST": Your viewers saw today General Ashcroft is stepping down. He's likely to be replaced by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzalez. He was a possible Supreme Court pick that would be maybe more confirmable, maybe more acceptable to Democrats. The fact that they're putting him in the attorney general is an indication they plan to go with strong, unyielding conservatives as their nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The 49-year-old Gonzalez is a former Texas secretary of state and state supreme court justice. He would be the nation's first Hispanic attorney general.

How does a young man go from a California environmentalist to an al Qaeda operative? At 18 minutes past the hour, we'll tell you what intelligence sources have learned about the man who calls himself Azzam "The American."

At 36 minutes past, we'll take you live to Cairo, where plans are moving forward for an official good-bye to Yasser Arafat.

And at 54 minutes past, our Starving For Perfection series examines a woman's pressure to stay thin even in the face of pregnancy.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 5:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Three members of the Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's family are missing this morning. They were taken away at gunpoint as they left their Baghdad home. Iraqi authorities have not received any demands from the kidnappers.

Evacuations now under way in the Ivory Coast due to rising anti- foreigner violence in the country's largest city. Thousands of Western nationals and other foreigners will be taken out of the country by the United Nations. In money news, confidence over the winter supply led oil prices to fall in overnight trading. The price per barrel is now down to $47.28. That's down nearly $8 a barrel in the past three weeks.

In culture, Kenny Chesney was the big winner at last night's Country Music Awards. Chesney grabbed the award for entertainer of the year and best album. Martina McBride won best female vocalist for the third year in a row.

In sports, Miami Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt calls it quits. Oh, you expected that to come, didn't you? The team has the worst record in football. The Dolphins are one and eight, their worst start since 1967 -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, but, Carol, in 1972 they went undefeated.

COSTELLO: Yes, it was a, and, you know, he's really not to blame for all of the Dolphins' problems, either, so.

MYERS: It's really just a rebuilding year, as we like to say.

COSTELLO: It's a Ricky Williams dissing year for the Miami Dolphins.

MYERS: Well, yes, he owes them all that money.

COSTELLO: Well, he was a good player and he just simply retired and left them in the lurch.

MYERS: And just in case you're from Toledo, the University of Toledo beat Northern Illinois yesterday 31-17, Carol, in college football. I just want to throw that in.

COSTELLO: Oh, my microphone was off. I was going whoo.

MYERS: I'm sorry.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

An American has been identified as the voice behind a recent al Qaeda terror tape and he is not a newcomer to the terrorist scene.

David Ensor has all the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the videotape, obtained in Pakistan in late October by ABC News, a young man identified a Azzam "The American," his face concealed, threatened more terrorism against the United States.

AZZAM "THE AMERICAN": The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11.

ADAM GADAHN: What about the garbage problem at the Grand Canyon?

ENSOR: Now U.S. intelligence officials say they believe that voice is probably the same as this one, the voice of Adam Gadahn of Riverside County in southern California, who appeared years ago as a teenager along with his father discussing environmental issues at a news conference.

GADAHN: How does this, the garbage project, help the future of the earth?

ENSOR: Gadahn, born in 1978 as Adam Perlman, has been on an FBI list since May of suspects wanted for possible involvement in terrorist threats.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Adam Gadahn is a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam, who associated with Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan and he attended the training camps in Afghanistan. He is known to have performed translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: He's somebody that the FBI regards as one of the seven people they'd most like to find. One or two of those people have been found in Pakistan since, but Gadahn obviously remains at liberty.

ENSOR (on camera): Officials note that Gadahn's voice also appears to be on another al Qaeda tape released earlier. U.S. officials say his family are under loose surveillance in case he tries to contact them.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And stay with us.

Next on DAYBREAK, see or be seen -- security measures in the U.K. have travelers seeing red. We'll have the naked truth ahead.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Airport security in Britain is getting a second look thanks to a new x-ray system. It's able to look through a person's clothes to see if there are any dangerous objects being carried onto the planes. Now, passengers are picked at random and are asked to volunteer for these scans. But a British civil rights group calls is an invasion of privacy. And here's why.

The new x-ray machines can see through your clothes. It projects sort of a naked image on the x-ray screen. And that's at Heathrow Airport. And they're going to test it out for four months.

You know, David Clinch, our international editor, is over in London right now and he went through the airport. He says they didn't ask him to volunteer, but that he wouldn't mind it at all.

MYERS: That tells you something about him, doesn't it?

COSTELLO: We always knew. No, I'm just kidding. Poor David Clinch.

MYERS: Sorry.

COSTELLO: It actually brings us to our e-mail Question of the Morning.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Airport x-rays, extra protection or a privacy invasion? And we're talking about the extreme, that is like seeing through your clothes to see if you have anything at all on you.

MYERS: Well, you see through the clothes, but you also see through the person, you know? It's not like you're -- it's not like x-ray vision like Superman.

COSTELLO: Well, but it doesn't see through as far -- you don't see bones there. I mean you do see the image of a body that has no clothes on.

MYERS: But you also would see anything that that person might have under his clothes.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

So would you do it? Would you volunteer to do it?

MYERS: Sure.

COSTELLO: I would, too.

MYERS: Sure. I mean unless it -- unless they found out that those x-rays were bad for you. I mean you don't really want it, you know...

COSTELLO: See.

MYERS: You know?

COSTELLO: See. That's another sticking point.

MYERS: Well, sure.

COSTELLO: I must admit, though, is when they pat you down, that is uncomfortable, especially when, you know, you're out in the middle of the airport. It's just, it's uncomfortable to me. I mean I always do it, of course, and I understand why they do it, but it's uncomfortable.

MYERS: The key is to take off your shoes. Most people don't realize that there's a metal plate in the bottom of your shoes and when you go through you're going to beep.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MYERS: So, yes.

COSTELLO: Daybreak@cnn.com. Daybreak@cnn.com.

MYERS: Let's get a break from all this.

COSTELLO: OK.

MYERS: "Late Night Laughs" last night.

Jay Leno had some stuff. You know, the Princeton Review? They do the SAT stuff. Here are some of the responses they had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": This is a personal favorite of mine, this one here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes?

LENO: This next one. This is a rather lengthy one, because this student wrote on it about the cause of the Great Depression. You all know the Great De -- what caused the Great Depression? This is a typical essay question. "The Great Depression was caused by the invention of credit cards. They said that everyone in America got a credit card at the same time without really knowing how they worked and then they all got the bill at the same time and no one was able to pay it. This sent America into the economic downward spiral that caused the Great Depression."

You see? You see what I'm saying?

Isn't it amazing they can come up with a sentence the economic downward spiral? I mean the Princeton people can help this.

OK, this is another law student. This young woman was writing about privacy laws, privacy laws, an essay about privacy laws. She says, "Michael Jackson, a global superstar, once had privacy, but along with his skin pigment, it vanished."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: I guess he can get away with that because it's so late in the day.

COSTELLO: Those poor kids are not going to make it. They're not going to make it. They/'re going to take their SATs and...

MYERS: I'M pretty sure they're getting 800, because I think that's the minimum score.

COSTELLO: I think that's the highest.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: Oh, we're going to a break now.

I was just thinking about the essays.

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

They were hitting all the right notes last night in Nashville. Just ahead, we'll tell you who made the A-list at the Country Music Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE KANTRA, SENIOR TECHNOLOGY EDITOR, "POPULAR SCIENCE": Gadgets is an area that everybody wants to see what is hot, what's new, something that they can store in their pocket. We felt that XM SkyFi 2 really fulfilled that by enabling you for the first time to be able to pause and rewind live satellite radio. So if you just missed the best part of the traffic because your kids were screaming in the back seat, you just rewind it and you can find out if that bridge or tunnel has a lot of traffic.

Nintendo's DS really fulfills the whole idea of gadgets and that must have item by giving you two screens, both of which are touch screens; first, to be able to give you more information; and, second, to give you a whole new way of interacting with games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 10, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
It is Wednesday, November 10.

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

Now in the news -- word in from Iraq this morning, gunmen have kidnapped three members of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's family. The government says Allawi's first cousin, the cousin's wife and another relative were taken from their Baghdad home on Tuesday.

Yasser Arafat remains gravely ill at this hour and Palestinian officials are making plans for his funeral service and burial even though they have not confirmed his status yet. Sources tell CNN a funeral could be held in Egypt on Friday. Plans call for a West Bank burial.

The State Department's second in command is in Afghanistan this morning. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage praised the nation's recent presidential election, but he suggests next year's parliamentary elections may be tougher to handle.

Starting over, that's what the jury in Scott Peterson's California murder trial is doing this morning. The judge has dismissed juror number seven, identified as Fran Gorman. The jury is restarting deliberations with an alternate.

To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: A distributing situation in Iraq to tell you about. There has been another kidnapping, this time targeting the family of the Interim Iraqi Prime Minister.

Our Ayman Mohyeldin is in Baghdad with the latest -- tell us what happened.

AYMAN MOHYELDIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

No official word yet from the prime minister's office here in Iraq exactly what happened, but sources close to the family have told CNN that an early morning raid at the house of the prime minister's cousin is where the kidnapping took place.

Apparently Tuesday early morning, gunmen raided the house of first cousin Ghazi Allawi. They kidnapped the prime minister's first cousin, the cousin's wife and a third relative unknown at this time. The raid happened at gunpoint and, again, the details right now are not clear exactly what the demands are. They have not been, we are told, have not been contacted. The prime minister's office has not been contacted by the kidnappers. We don't know if the motive behind this was political or financial and so the details are still coming in at this time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Do we know if the house was guarded?

MOHYELDIN: To be honest with you, the details of the house sometimes are unclear. We know that there were security guards at the house. However, we don't know if they were present at the time of the kidnapping, if there was an exchange of fire, if there was any type of fire that was put up. We don't know the details to which members of the Iraqi government are protected. There's all sorts of security around the principals of the interim government but we don't know to what extent security is provided for their family.

COSTELLO: Is Prime Minister Allawi expected to talk about this at any point this morning or this afternoon for you?

MOHYELDIN: Well, the official word out of the prime minister's office CNN was told was that we can expect a spokesperson to be making a statement -- we're not sure if it will be written or taped -- within the hour. The details, again, the prime minister's office has not confirmed this. The source on this was a former aide to the prime minister, a former spokesman, a current adviser to the prime minister.

The official word out of the prime minister's office right now is no comment. So we are anticipating any word that may come out of that from the prime minister's office.

COSTELLO: Ayman Mohyeldin reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Thanks so much.

Switching to another developing story this hour, any time now a top Islamic cleric is expected to arrive at Yasser Arafat's bedside at a French hospital.

For the latest on that, let's head to Paris and CNN's Jim Bittermann -- hello, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.

We talked a short while ago with Leila Shahid, who is the Palestinian representative here in France. And she says there has basically been no change in Yasser Arafat's condition overnight, that he remains in a deeper coma, that he still is critical -- critically ill, but there are still signs of brain function, although his kidneys and lungs are weak. She denied that Islamic cleric, Taisser al-Tamimi, who may show up here at any moment now at the hospital, she denied that he is coming here to authorize the removal of life support equipment. She said rather that he is a friend of Arafat's and he is here to offer religious support in what could be, as she put it, Arafat's final hours.

They are, of course, nonetheless, making plans here for after Arafat's death. They say that his body will be taken to a brief ceremony here in Paris and then to a military airport where a French military jet will fly Yasser Arafat back home to the Middle East -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A question for you about yesterday. Suha Arafat wasn't exactly thrilled to allow Palestinian leaders in to see her husband.

How did that all go down?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think the tone changed when they got here. They said that she was quite emotional, that she was in tears, in fact, when they arrived, but that she embraced them all and then, in fact, did authorize, as French law demands and she, as the closest relative, she was the only one who could authorize any of them to actually see Yasser Arafat.

She did authorize Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei to go in and see Arafat lying in the bed. So something definitely changed in her tone, because this was the same delegation that she accused just 36 hours before of trying to bury her husband alive.

So whatever happened, whether it was a question of emotions, the earlier outburst was a question of emotions or what, but there seems to be a reconciliation there between her and the top Palestinian leadership -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Bittermann live in Paris.

Thank you.

Back in the West Bank, top Palestinian officials are talking about the future.

Let's head live now to Ramallah and CNN's Michael Holmes -- hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you, Carol.

Yes, we'll get to those Palestinian meetings in a minute.

I can tell you, however, we do have news from the Israeli side. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, met with security and military officials a few hours ago and then went into a cabinet meeting. We've been told as a result of that meeting that the Israeli government has officially approved Ramallah as the final resting place of the Palestinian leader should he die. A couple of points from that meeting. The security for the Ramallah area will be the responsibility of the Palestinians. There will be increased security in Jerusalem. That will be handled, of course, by the Israelis. We are being told that Israelis will be allowed to attend the funeral here in the West Bank -- the burial, rather, here in the West Bank should they choose to do so. Let's remember, there are many Arab-Israelis living in Israel proper. However, no Gaza residents will be allowed to travel here for the burial unless they are VIPs.

Now, this, as I said, there's a couple of meetings going on here in Ramallah at the Palestinian Authority headquarters behind me, Carol. While officials say Yasser Arafat is still alive and it is a little unseemly to be talking about his funeral and burial, arrangements necessarily are having to be made.

Yasser Arafat is likely to have a funeral in Cairo, Egypt. That's likely to take place Friday, of course, dependent on if and when he does pass away. That same day his body would be flown by helicopter here to Ramallah, in fact, to the Palestinian Authority headquarters behind me, the Muqata, where he would be laid to rest -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And will he be laid to rest there permanently? Because there was some talk earlier that his body would be moved then to Jerusalem if Israel allowed that?

HOLMES: It's a very difficult question. Israel has essentially said no to Jerusalem, it's just not going to happen. They wanted the Palestinian leader buried in Gaza. That did not suit the Palestinians. Ramallah is a compromise.

Now, it's difficult under Islamic law. It's not easy, if you like, to have somebody reburied somewhere else. But we're being told by a couple of Palestinian officials that if somebody declares that they wish to be buried somewhere, in this case Yasser Arafat has said he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, it is technically possible under Islamic law to rebury him at some later date. Whether that's likely to happen or not, it's probably problematic.

Here is a symbolic home of Yasser Arafat, particularly in the last three years, where he's been a virtual prisoner at the Palestinian Authority headquarters and it does seem to be the likely final resting place -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Michael Holmes reporting live from Ramallah this morning.

Thank you.

The battle of Falluja not letting up and U.S. forces say they're gaining ground, taking about 70 percent of the insurgent stronghold.

Our Jane Arraf embedded with some U.S. Marines. She bring us the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Army is continuing search and attack operations in its sector of Falluja. That sector is the eastern part of the city, thought to be a stronghold particularly of foreign fighters. And what they're encountering are still pockets of resistance.

You can hear behind us artillery and machine guns being fired at some of those pockets. Rocket propelled grenades landed here a short while ago. But they are not finding resistance fighters or terrorists, in their minds, in any large numbers, not in the way they had expected to find them, not making their last stand against American forces.

Major John Reynolds from Task Force 22 from the 1st Infantry Division says he believes it may have been the pre-battle attacks that have softened that resistance.

MAJOR JOHN REYNOLDS, 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION: The battle has been going really well. It is almost a textbook answer to how we do operations when we go against an enemy that we considered their strong point in the city. The breach went well. We had the Army engineers' equipment out there. We assaulted through the breach and we're clearing the enemy within our area of operation.

ARRAF: The Army is continuing to clear roads, as well, through its sector. It says it has seen no civilians. Some of those civilians, it's believed, have been forced out of these areas, particularly the industrial area so insurgents could lay improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs and booby-trapped streets.

In other areas of the city, there is a large civilian population. No clear indication of how they are faring yet. But this battle is expected to go on with these pockets of fighters still continuing to fight. Some of those have tried to flee the city and may have been able to. Others are believed to have been forced into the center.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We'll get the view from the Pentagon on this offensive in Falluja. Kathleen Koch will join us live from Washington.

John Ashcroft is out as attorney general, and he isn't the only cabinet member that won't be around for a second Bush administration. Ashcroft was the architect behind changes in the Justice Department which moved its focus to anti-terrorism activities. His resignation letter was dated November 2, which was Election Day. In that handwritten letter, Afghanistan said, "The Justice Department will be better served by new leadership and fresh inspiration."

Also resigning from the cabinet, Commerce Secretary Don Evans. Evans is an old friend of President Bush dating back to their days as oil men in Texas. In his letter, he told the president he was ready to go home. Evans will stay on until a replacement is named. Back to John Ashcroft for a bit. He'll also stay on until his replacement is named. Some of those on a potential short list of successors are Ashcroft's former deputy, Larry Thompson; former Montana Governor Mark Racicot; and current White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ALLEN, "WASHINGTON POST": Your viewers saw today General Ashcroft is stepping down. He's likely to be replaced by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzalez. He was a possible Supreme Court pick that would be maybe more confirmable, maybe more acceptable to Democrats. The fact that they're putting him in the attorney general is an indication they plan to go with strong, unyielding conservatives as their nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The 49-year-old Gonzalez is a former Texas secretary of state and state supreme court justice. He would be the nation's first Hispanic attorney general.

How does a young man go from a California environmentalist to an al Qaeda operative? At 18 minutes past the hour, we'll tell you what intelligence sources have learned about the man who calls himself Azzam "The American."

At 36 minutes past, we'll take you live to Cairo, where plans are moving forward for an official good-bye to Yasser Arafat.

And at 54 minutes past, our Starving For Perfection series examines a woman's pressure to stay thin even in the face of pregnancy.

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

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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 5:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Three members of the Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's family are missing this morning. They were taken away at gunpoint as they left their Baghdad home. Iraqi authorities have not received any demands from the kidnappers.

Evacuations now under way in the Ivory Coast due to rising anti- foreigner violence in the country's largest city. Thousands of Western nationals and other foreigners will be taken out of the country by the United Nations. In money news, confidence over the winter supply led oil prices to fall in overnight trading. The price per barrel is now down to $47.28. That's down nearly $8 a barrel in the past three weeks.

In culture, Kenny Chesney was the big winner at last night's Country Music Awards. Chesney grabbed the award for entertainer of the year and best album. Martina McBride won best female vocalist for the third year in a row.

In sports, Miami Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt calls it quits. Oh, you expected that to come, didn't you? The team has the worst record in football. The Dolphins are one and eight, their worst start since 1967 -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, but, Carol, in 1972 they went undefeated.

COSTELLO: Yes, it was a, and, you know, he's really not to blame for all of the Dolphins' problems, either, so.

MYERS: It's really just a rebuilding year, as we like to say.

COSTELLO: It's a Ricky Williams dissing year for the Miami Dolphins.

MYERS: Well, yes, he owes them all that money.

COSTELLO: Well, he was a good player and he just simply retired and left them in the lurch.

MYERS: And just in case you're from Toledo, the University of Toledo beat Northern Illinois yesterday 31-17, Carol, in college football. I just want to throw that in.

COSTELLO: Oh, my microphone was off. I was going whoo.

MYERS: I'm sorry.

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COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

An American has been identified as the voice behind a recent al Qaeda terror tape and he is not a newcomer to the terrorist scene.

David Ensor has all the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the videotape, obtained in Pakistan in late October by ABC News, a young man identified a Azzam "The American," his face concealed, threatened more terrorism against the United States.

AZZAM "THE AMERICAN": The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11.

ADAM GADAHN: What about the garbage problem at the Grand Canyon?

ENSOR: Now U.S. intelligence officials say they believe that voice is probably the same as this one, the voice of Adam Gadahn of Riverside County in southern California, who appeared years ago as a teenager along with his father discussing environmental issues at a news conference.

GADAHN: How does this, the garbage project, help the future of the earth?

ENSOR: Gadahn, born in 1978 as Adam Perlman, has been on an FBI list since May of suspects wanted for possible involvement in terrorist threats.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Adam Gadahn is a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam, who associated with Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan and he attended the training camps in Afghanistan. He is known to have performed translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: He's somebody that the FBI regards as one of the seven people they'd most like to find. One or two of those people have been found in Pakistan since, but Gadahn obviously remains at liberty.

ENSOR (on camera): Officials note that Gadahn's voice also appears to be on another al Qaeda tape released earlier. U.S. officials say his family are under loose surveillance in case he tries to contact them.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And stay with us.

Next on DAYBREAK, see or be seen -- security measures in the U.K. have travelers seeing red. We'll have the naked truth ahead.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.

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COSTELLO: Airport security in Britain is getting a second look thanks to a new x-ray system. It's able to look through a person's clothes to see if there are any dangerous objects being carried onto the planes. Now, passengers are picked at random and are asked to volunteer for these scans. But a British civil rights group calls is an invasion of privacy. And here's why.

The new x-ray machines can see through your clothes. It projects sort of a naked image on the x-ray screen. And that's at Heathrow Airport. And they're going to test it out for four months.

You know, David Clinch, our international editor, is over in London right now and he went through the airport. He says they didn't ask him to volunteer, but that he wouldn't mind it at all.

MYERS: That tells you something about him, doesn't it?

COSTELLO: We always knew. No, I'm just kidding. Poor David Clinch.

MYERS: Sorry.

COSTELLO: It actually brings us to our e-mail Question of the Morning.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Airport x-rays, extra protection or a privacy invasion? And we're talking about the extreme, that is like seeing through your clothes to see if you have anything at all on you.

MYERS: Well, you see through the clothes, but you also see through the person, you know? It's not like you're -- it's not like x-ray vision like Superman.

COSTELLO: Well, but it doesn't see through as far -- you don't see bones there. I mean you do see the image of a body that has no clothes on.

MYERS: But you also would see anything that that person might have under his clothes.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

So would you do it? Would you volunteer to do it?

MYERS: Sure.

COSTELLO: I would, too.

MYERS: Sure. I mean unless it -- unless they found out that those x-rays were bad for you. I mean you don't really want it, you know...

COSTELLO: See.

MYERS: You know?

COSTELLO: See. That's another sticking point.

MYERS: Well, sure.

COSTELLO: I must admit, though, is when they pat you down, that is uncomfortable, especially when, you know, you're out in the middle of the airport. It's just, it's uncomfortable to me. I mean I always do it, of course, and I understand why they do it, but it's uncomfortable.

MYERS: The key is to take off your shoes. Most people don't realize that there's a metal plate in the bottom of your shoes and when you go through you're going to beep.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MYERS: So, yes.

COSTELLO: Daybreak@cnn.com. Daybreak@cnn.com.

MYERS: Let's get a break from all this.

COSTELLO: OK.

MYERS: "Late Night Laughs" last night.

Jay Leno had some stuff. You know, the Princeton Review? They do the SAT stuff. Here are some of the responses they had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": This is a personal favorite of mine, this one here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes?

LENO: This next one. This is a rather lengthy one, because this student wrote on it about the cause of the Great Depression. You all know the Great De -- what caused the Great Depression? This is a typical essay question. "The Great Depression was caused by the invention of credit cards. They said that everyone in America got a credit card at the same time without really knowing how they worked and then they all got the bill at the same time and no one was able to pay it. This sent America into the economic downward spiral that caused the Great Depression."

You see? You see what I'm saying?

Isn't it amazing they can come up with a sentence the economic downward spiral? I mean the Princeton people can help this.

OK, this is another law student. This young woman was writing about privacy laws, privacy laws, an essay about privacy laws. She says, "Michael Jackson, a global superstar, once had privacy, but along with his skin pigment, it vanished."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: I guess he can get away with that because it's so late in the day.

COSTELLO: Those poor kids are not going to make it. They're not going to make it. They/'re going to take their SATs and...

MYERS: I'M pretty sure they're getting 800, because I think that's the minimum score.

COSTELLO: I think that's the highest.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: Oh, we're going to a break now.

I was just thinking about the essays.

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

They were hitting all the right notes last night in Nashville. Just ahead, we'll tell you who made the A-list at the Country Music Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE KANTRA, SENIOR TECHNOLOGY EDITOR, "POPULAR SCIENCE": Gadgets is an area that everybody wants to see what is hot, what's new, something that they can store in their pocket. We felt that XM SkyFi 2 really fulfilled that by enabling you for the first time to be able to pause and rewind live satellite radio. So if you just missed the best part of the traffic because your kids were screaming in the back seat, you just rewind it and you can find out if that bridge or tunnel has a lot of traffic.

Nintendo's DS really fulfills the whole idea of gadgets and that must have item by giving you two screens, both of which are touch screens; first, to be able to give you more information; and, second, to give you a whole new way of interacting with games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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