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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush's Plans for Social Security Reform; Failure of Latest Missile-Defense System Test
Aired December 16, 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: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, President Bush says we have an economic problem and he says he's got the solution. But not everyone in Washington is on board.
Plus, a package found in a park in Wichita, Kansas -- is a serial killer resurfacing after 25 years of silence?
And kowabunga, dude! On Hawaii's north shore, riding monster waves -- the thrills, the adrenaline rush, the dangers. Welcome aboard.
It is Thursday, December 16.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, President Bush is talking up changes in the Social Security system at a conference on the economy. He's laying the groundwork for his plan to create private retirement accounts for younger Americans.
An assassination today in Baghdad. Gunmen kill a senior Iraqi communications ministry official and one of his bodyguards in a drive- by shooting.
In Kuwait, the U.S. Embassy is warning Americans of possible terrorist attacks. It's urging them to keep a low profile and their eyes and ears open for danger.
And a similar terrorist warning in Indonesia. The government orders a security crackdown after Australia, Britain and New Zealand warn that terrorists are planning an attack against Western targets before Christmastime.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, you have poinsettias and ferns and things back behind you. It's very nice.
COSTELLO: Can you tell I'm in a different studio?
MYERS: Not from that little shot, no.
COSTELLO: Well, they booted us out of our new studio because they're making some adjustments.
MYERS: Oh, great.
COSTELLO: So now I'm just floating around the Time Warner Center.
MYERS: Well, will you be in Anderson Cooper's set? Because I like that one.
COSTELLO: Oh, are you kidding? Are you kidding? No, I'm actually on the Lou Dobbs set. But we've disguised it.
MYERS: Oh. Well, it looks good. It looks good on you, though. We'll see more of it in a little bit. Good I like it. It's a little softer, actually. A little softer feel for the morning show.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: You know, something else you should keep an eye on are those waves in Hawaii, because we're going to go there live in, oh, I don't know, 40 minutes or so.
MYERS: Great.
COSTELLO: Fifty foot waves, Chad.
MYERS: All part of the storm that went through Taiwan and went on up toward Japan then made a big right hand turn and slammed the West Coast late last week. Well, the waves take a while to get there. Look at this. You know, they dragged these guys out with jet skis and put them out there in the middle of these huge, huge waves. And waves like this like back in '94. They had huge surfing competitions. I know they're planning that again. But you're not going to get me anywhere near the beach -- Carol.
COSTELLO: No, they're -- I think they've already done it.
MYERS: Oh did they? OK.
COSTELLO: But we're going to talk to someone live from Oahu so.
MYERS: Can I go?
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: I'll report.
COSTELLO: You can talk to them on the phone with me, though.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Barely a month after his reelection, President Bush believes he's got public backing for several economic steps. Tops among them, reforming Social Security.
Dana Bash has more for you on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even with the Italian prime minister, the president talks up a top domestic priority, reforming Social Security, saying his reelection should quiet critics of his plan to create private retirement accounts for younger Americans.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the 2000 campaign and in the 2004 campaign, I took the message to them. They realized, like I realized, now is the time to deal with the problem.
BASH: The White House is putting on a carefully orchestrated invitation only summit for policy and business leaders to talk up the economy.
LARRY MOCHA, PRESIDENT, AIR POWER SYSTEMS: This past year we've had one of the most successful years we've had since the '90s.
BASH: No new policy ideas here. It's the start of a P.R. campaign for everything from the vague Bush vow to reform the tax code to the more immediate promise to curb lawsuits.
BUSH: We expect the House and the Senate to pass meaningful liability reform on asbestos, on class action and medical liability.
BASH: But it's tackling Social Security that's been stirring up the most emotion. The president insists he wants to reach across party lines.
BUSH: We have a problem. Let's work together to deal with it.
BASH: But many Democrats disagree with Mr. Bush on the scope of the problem, pointing to these figures. Social Security's trustees estimate the program won't go broke until 2042. And even then they say recipients still get 73 percent of their benefits.
PETER ORZAG, FORMER CLINTON ECONOMIC ADVISOR: The administration is talking up the problem or exaggerating the problem in order to build its case for private accounts. But exaggerating the size of the problem is not the way to get reform.
BASH: The White House has yet to unveil specifics on private accounts, but admits it will have to borrow to pay for it. That, some insist, jeopardizes the president's promise to cut the deficit in half in five years.
And what about the $55 billion trade deficit? For that, Mr. Bush did offer a solution.
BUSH: That's easy to resolve. People can buy more United States products if they're worried about the trade deficit. BASH (on camera): Beyond that quip in the Oval Office, there was no discussion at this summit about shrinking the trade deficit, nor was there talk of exactly how to cut the federal deficit in half. Many look at his ambitious agenda, things like reforming Social Security and making tax cuts permanent, and wonder exactly how he's going to reach that goal.
Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And just so you know, the president will make closing remarks at that conference this afternoon at 1:30 Eastern. CNN, of course, will bring that to you live.
But we want to talk about this this morning. We want your input. President Bush's plan for Social Security does bring us to our DAYBREAK E-Mail Question of the Morning. Do you expect to receive Social Security payments when you retire? E-mail us your opinions on that. Daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Another Republican lawmaker is adding her complaints to the increasing criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In a strongly worded letter, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine says Rumsfeld's remark about the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq is troubling. Collins writes, and I'm quoting here from her letter: "The Department of Defense still has been unable to ensure that our the president have the equipment they need to perform as safely as possible."
Collins serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Republican John McCain, who has also been sharply critical of Donald Rumsfeld.
Ongoing investigations into Iraq's Oil For Food Program include a number of U.S. companies. Federal prosecutors and regulators are looking closely at deals by Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco. Both companies bought millions of barrels of oil from Iraq in the 1990s. The Oil For Food Program was meant to supply food and medicine to Iraqis while the country was under heavy U.N. sanctions after the invasion of Kuwait. It's believed Saddam Hussein illegally siphoned billions of dollars away from the program.
A proposed missile defense shield seems to have some holes in it. In fact, yesterday's test of the multi-billion dollar system failed to even get off the ground.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has more on this lack of firepower.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, mark.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Though not all past tests have hit their target, at least the rockets got off the ground. Not this time. The first test in nearly two years of the multibillion dollar missile defense system failed because the interceptor missile on the Marshall Islands shut down due, officials say, to an unknown anomaly in its system.
PHILLIP COYLE, CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION: It took them two years to prepare for this test and to have it fail the way it did, where the interceptor didn't even get off the ground, is a big setback.
BAKER SPRING, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, I wouldn't consider it a failure. I consider it sort of a non-test.
ENSOR: The setback came 16 minutes after a mock warhead was successfully launched from Kodiak, Alaska as the target for the interceptor that never flew. The Pentagon spent about $3.3 billion this year alone on ground-based national missile defense. Critics call it a waste of taxpayer dollars. They say even if the latest test had been successful, it would not have proven the system can work because the conditions were not realistic.
COYLE: You have information, the defender has information that no enemy would ever give us, including on the reentry vehicle, the target reentry vehicle, a beacon that is saying "Here I am. Here I am."
ENSOR: But proponents argue with North Korea developing nuclear weapons and missiles, the best course is to deploy a system and then work out the kinks.
SPRING: I believe that something is better than nothing.
ENSOR (on camera): President Bush once declared that he intended to have a limited system operational by the end of this year. There are interceptor missiles in Alaska and California, but this latest test suggests they may not be ready for prime time.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In news across America this morning, Michael Jackson's attorneys call prosecution efforts vindictive and they're again asking the court to drop all charges. Jackson's child molestation trial is set to begin on January 31. In a separate court filing, Jackson's ex- wife Debbie Rowe filed for visitation rights with their two children.
The judge in the Robert Blake case has decided to allow portions of Blake's jailhouse interviews to be used in court. In them, Blake refers to his wife's family as piranhas and monsters. Blake is accused of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Monday.
More than 570 recently discovered absentee ballots will be hand counted in the Washington governor's race. The Republican, Dino Rossi, originally won the election by 261 votes, but a machine recount dropped that margin to just 42 votes. The state hopes to finish a hand recount by the middle of next week.
After three decades, are Kansas police finally closing in on a killer? At 12 minutes past the hour, we'll take a look at the game of cat and mouse being played by the BTK killer.
At 29 minutes after, a training exercise earns New Jersey airport screeners an F, as in Frank, for failure.
And a big chunk of ice is causing big problems for thousands of penguin chicks. That's ahead at 41 minutes past.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: BTK -- the initials stand for blind, torture, kill. The BTK serial killer has been on the loose in Kansas since 1974. Police believe at least eight unsolved murders are the work of the BTK killer and some possible new evidence in the case has investigators working overtime.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wichita, Kansas police believe the BTK killer left a small package of clues in this park. Investigators have asked the news media to hide the identity of the man who stumbled across the package.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know what it was because it was wrapped in rubber bands. So I just held onto it and I went on to the house. And I set there on the table and looked at it for a while.
LAVANDERA: He opened it, saw what was inside, and gave it to a local TV station that had recently received a letter from the BTK killer. Police say the package contained two new details -- the driver's license of Nancy Fox -- police believe she was murdered by the BTK killer in 1977 -- and there was a wrapped metallic object.
But some of the items in the package police have seen before. One sheet was titled, "The BTK Story," listing 13 chapters. But this time, the last chapter, titled, "Will There Be More?" was revealed. Another sheet included a word puzzle with scrambled words like "old," "help," and "fake I.D.." There were also two photocopied I.D.s of a telephone company worker and a Wichita school district employee. The puzzle and the I.D.s were copies of papers police received earlier this year.
Authorities suspect the killer might have approached his victims by impersonating other people.
LT. KEN LANDWEHR, LEAD INVESTIGATOR, WICHITA POLICE: We truly feel that he is trying to communicate with us. This is one of the most challenging cases that I have ever been involved with. LAVANDERA: To help track down this killer, we have recently learned that police and reporters are also being investigated. Some have agreed to provide DNA samples.
The BTK killer has been connected to eight murders between 1974 and 1986. But why he's coming out of the darkness now to send police clues is another chapter of this mysterious story.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is -- there's the clock, I found it -- 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Social Security will take center stage during President Bush's economic conference today. Business leaders and economists will weigh in with their thoughts on the partial privatization of Social Security.
That Greek bus hijacking we were telling you about 24 hours ago may have been motivated by money. At one point, the two hostage takers asked for $1 million in ransom. The gunmen surrendered peacefully after releasing all of the hostages.
In money news, the merger between health care giant Johnson & Johnson, oh, it could be worth about $24 billion. Guidant develops and builds pacemakers and other cardiovascular devices. The deal still has to be approved by shareholders and regulators.
In culture, legendary rock group Queen is planning to tour next year. The front man, Freddy Mercury, who died back in '91, will be replaced by a man named Paul Rogers. Rogers was the lead singer for Bad Company, Free and The Firm.
In sports, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones has filed a $25 million defamation suit against the founder of BALCO. Victor Conte recently said that Jones used steroids before the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.
To the forecast center and Chad.
MYERS: You wonder if she just wouldn't like that to just go away. But now she's bringing it back up again. I don't know.
Here you go, Carol...
COSTELLO: Well, she's in trouble.
MYERS: She is, and now she's fighting back, and good for her.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
The bounty on the head of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi stands at about $25 million and still U.S. troops cannot find the most wanted man in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi leads an al Qaeda splinter group that has claimed responsibility for a bunch of attacks on U.S. troops, Iraqi security forces and, of course, the beheadings of a number of hostages.
So let's go beyond the sound bite now to hear a top general explain why the militant remains so well hidden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, U.S. DEPUTY CENTCOM COMMANDER: I believe he's still operating within Iraq.
QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) where at this point?
SMITH: You know, Baghdad would be the most likely area, but no, these guys are getting very, very good at concealing or making it difficult for us to track them. And so what we use, for the most part, is human intelligence. And that's difficult because sometimes it's, it ages and it -- sometimes it's rumor. Sometimes somebody's trying to get money or get attention and you're never sure what their reason is for telling you stuff.
But he can operate pretty safely, we think, in some areas of Baghdad. There are those that would hide him and those that would passively allow him to operate, you know? And you could find him someplace else tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Al-Zarqawi had been based in Falluja before a major offensive by U.S. troops in November drove out many insurgents.
Turning back to the White House conference on the economy and concerns over the financial stability of Social Security, business leaders at that gathering this morning will take a look at how to fix the financial shortfall in the Social Security program. The president is laying the groundwork for creating private retirement accounts. That, of course, brings us to our E-Mail Question of the Morning. Do you think you'll receive Social Security benefits when you retire? Our address, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
A test of security at one of the nation's busiest airports. Officials plant a fake bomb to see if it can be found. That's where the story begins. Oh, wait until you find out what happened next.
And an iceberg breaking apart in the Antarctic. A huge iceberg that could leave hundreds of penguins without food. We'll tell you why that's important to global warming later and we'll talk to that expert. He's in the Antarctic right now.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday, December 16.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: And we do have breaking news to tell you about right now. We understand, and this is reported from Reuters, but CNN has confirmed it. An audio recording purportedly by Osama bin Laden in which he mentions the December 6 attack in Saudi Arabia was posted on the Internet on Thursday. You can hear his voice on the Internet, supposedly.
Now, this recording, in which bin Laden blesses a group of Saudi militants who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah suggests the al Qaeda leader remains alive. We don't know much more about this, other than what I've just told you, but we're efforting Nic Robertson from Iraq. And, of course, Henry Schuster, he knows a lot about this, he's on the staff of CNN.
But, again, an audio recording on the Internet reportedly by Osama bin Laden.
We'll tell you more when we learn more later.
Time to check our out Web clicks this morning, what stories are getting your attention on our Web site, cnn.com.
So let's go there right now.
Chad -- are you with me?
MYERS: Certainly. I'm standing right here -- Carol.
COSTELLO: This New Jersey casino, I just can't even believe this.
MYERS: Yes. Did you...
COSTELLO: Why?
MYERS: Well, I guess it's easy if you're surveying all these guys playing poker or craps or whatever to also survey other things like women in low cut dresses.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. This happened at Caesar's Atlantic City Casino.
MYERS: Allegedly.
COSTELLO: Allegedly -- no.
MYERS: No?
COSTELLO: They're going to be fined $80,000.
MYERS: Oh, oh, oh, OK.
COSTELLO: They have the recordings. Apparently the camera, the security cameras were pointed down women's blouses.
MYERS: And you know how they got busted? COSTELLO: How?
MYERS: Because the two female officers that complained about these guys looking down the blouses got fired. So they filed a complaint.
COSTELLO: So we're not talking brain surgeons here.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: OK.
The second most clicked on story on cnn.com is about this worm that is spreading through people's e-mail boxes.
MYERS: Yes, happy holly days. And then the reline, the reason line is Merry Christmas. If you see that, someone you don't know, don't open it.
COSTELLO: Exactly. And happy holly days, just, by the way, it's holly days.
MYERS: Holly days.
COSTELLO: H-O-L-L-Y D-A-Y-S. So if you see that in your e-mail box, do not open it, for God's sake.
MYERS: It infected an awful lot of people in Europe already. But the Symantecs and Nortons of the world have already picked it up for the U.S. If you don't have that kind of protection on your computer, be very careful of the what you open today.
COSTELLO: Good advice.
And the third most clicked on story is the Expos. They may not have a home because...
MYERS: Oh, my.
COSTELLO: Because as we told you yesterday, Washington, the city council there decided the taxpayers really didn't want to foot the $500 million it would cost to like build a new stadium. So they want some of that money to come from private sources. The Expos say hey, you broke the deal. That's Mayor Anthony Williams, by the way, the D.C. mayor, who's very angry because he said the city council broke the deal, too.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: So the Expos right now have no home.
MYERS: Yes, they're looking at Paducah. No, no, I'm just kidding. It's not quite, it's not quite a big enough city, I suppose.
COSTELLO: That was insane.
All right, thank you, Chad.
MYERS: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: I couldn't hear the last part of what you said because I understand that we have Henry Schuster on the phone. He's an expert on all terror related things here at CNN.
We want to talk some more about this Osama bin Laden tape that's posted on the Internet right now -- Henry, can you hear me?
HENRY SCHUSTER, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Yes, I can.
Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: What can you tell us about this?
SCHUSTER: Well, the tape appeared just a couple of hours ago on various Islamic Web sites around the world. It certainly sounds like Osama bin Laden, but it's a very poor recording. We're working our way through it now and hopefully within the next hour we'll have a full translation for you.
But at the very top of the tape, bin Laden seems to be, or whoever is on the tape, seems to be focusing on Saudi Arabia. We're still waiting, as we go through the translation, for a specific reference to see if he's referring to last week's attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.
But at the very top he does say that the cause of instability in Saudi Arabia is due to the regime there and not to the actions of the jihadis. So obviously he does seem to be focusing on Saudi Arabia in the tape. But as I said, we will have a fuller translation for you within the hour and I know Nic Robertson is standing by in London, who has just been back from Jeddah. And he'll be able to talk about this. And we'll get more details to you.
COSTELLO: Tell us about this Web site that it appeared on.
SCHUSTER: Well, this Web site is one of the common places that you'll first find news both from Iraqi Jihadi groups as well as from al Qaeda. They post to this Web site, or their sympathizers post to this Web site. I mean if you asked them, they would say they're not an official Web site of either of these groups, yet what they do is they attract people. So a lot of people, a lot of supporters monitor this group. Needless to say, journalists and governments monitor this Web site, as well. And when something like this comes up, what will happen is the message will be posted and then instantly links will be posted to all sorts of other bulletin boards and forums and Web sites around the world and people will start going to it.
The first place we checked, when we clicked on a link to it, it was already -- it had already been knocked off there.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, and what else is interesting is that this showed up on a Web site. Usually it goes to Arab television. SCHUSTER: Well, it's been doing a mixture of both recently. The videotapes went to Al Jazeera but at least once in the past year an audio message was posted directly to the Web site.
And, Carol, if you think about it, even Al Jazeera recently has been editing the messages that appear. For instance, if they get a 20 minute audiotape, you might hear only about two or three minutes of this. So if they can post it to a Web site, then obviously they would probably prefer that, because that way they get the full message out.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
We'll let you get back to the translation.
Henry Schuster joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
We'll have much more on this supposed Osama bin Laden audiotape posted on the Web when DAYBREAK returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, a bit of breaking news to tell you about.
Apparently an audiotape made by Osama bin Laden, at least we think so, appears on a Web site. We don't know much more about it, but he does mention a recent attack in Saudi Arabia on the U.S. consulate.
When we get more information on this, we'll pass it along to you.
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Aired December 16, 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: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, President Bush says we have an economic problem and he says he's got the solution. But not everyone in Washington is on board.
Plus, a package found in a park in Wichita, Kansas -- is a serial killer resurfacing after 25 years of silence?
And kowabunga, dude! On Hawaii's north shore, riding monster waves -- the thrills, the adrenaline rush, the dangers. Welcome aboard.
It is Thursday, December 16.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, President Bush is talking up changes in the Social Security system at a conference on the economy. He's laying the groundwork for his plan to create private retirement accounts for younger Americans.
An assassination today in Baghdad. Gunmen kill a senior Iraqi communications ministry official and one of his bodyguards in a drive- by shooting.
In Kuwait, the U.S. Embassy is warning Americans of possible terrorist attacks. It's urging them to keep a low profile and their eyes and ears open for danger.
And a similar terrorist warning in Indonesia. The government orders a security crackdown after Australia, Britain and New Zealand warn that terrorists are planning an attack against Western targets before Christmastime.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, you have poinsettias and ferns and things back behind you. It's very nice.
COSTELLO: Can you tell I'm in a different studio?
MYERS: Not from that little shot, no.
COSTELLO: Well, they booted us out of our new studio because they're making some adjustments.
MYERS: Oh, great.
COSTELLO: So now I'm just floating around the Time Warner Center.
MYERS: Well, will you be in Anderson Cooper's set? Because I like that one.
COSTELLO: Oh, are you kidding? Are you kidding? No, I'm actually on the Lou Dobbs set. But we've disguised it.
MYERS: Oh. Well, it looks good. It looks good on you, though. We'll see more of it in a little bit. Good I like it. It's a little softer, actually. A little softer feel for the morning show.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: You know, something else you should keep an eye on are those waves in Hawaii, because we're going to go there live in, oh, I don't know, 40 minutes or so.
MYERS: Great.
COSTELLO: Fifty foot waves, Chad.
MYERS: All part of the storm that went through Taiwan and went on up toward Japan then made a big right hand turn and slammed the West Coast late last week. Well, the waves take a while to get there. Look at this. You know, they dragged these guys out with jet skis and put them out there in the middle of these huge, huge waves. And waves like this like back in '94. They had huge surfing competitions. I know they're planning that again. But you're not going to get me anywhere near the beach -- Carol.
COSTELLO: No, they're -- I think they've already done it.
MYERS: Oh did they? OK.
COSTELLO: But we're going to talk to someone live from Oahu so.
MYERS: Can I go?
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: I'll report.
COSTELLO: You can talk to them on the phone with me, though.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Barely a month after his reelection, President Bush believes he's got public backing for several economic steps. Tops among them, reforming Social Security.
Dana Bash has more for you on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even with the Italian prime minister, the president talks up a top domestic priority, reforming Social Security, saying his reelection should quiet critics of his plan to create private retirement accounts for younger Americans.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the 2000 campaign and in the 2004 campaign, I took the message to them. They realized, like I realized, now is the time to deal with the problem.
BASH: The White House is putting on a carefully orchestrated invitation only summit for policy and business leaders to talk up the economy.
LARRY MOCHA, PRESIDENT, AIR POWER SYSTEMS: This past year we've had one of the most successful years we've had since the '90s.
BASH: No new policy ideas here. It's the start of a P.R. campaign for everything from the vague Bush vow to reform the tax code to the more immediate promise to curb lawsuits.
BUSH: We expect the House and the Senate to pass meaningful liability reform on asbestos, on class action and medical liability.
BASH: But it's tackling Social Security that's been stirring up the most emotion. The president insists he wants to reach across party lines.
BUSH: We have a problem. Let's work together to deal with it.
BASH: But many Democrats disagree with Mr. Bush on the scope of the problem, pointing to these figures. Social Security's trustees estimate the program won't go broke until 2042. And even then they say recipients still get 73 percent of their benefits.
PETER ORZAG, FORMER CLINTON ECONOMIC ADVISOR: The administration is talking up the problem or exaggerating the problem in order to build its case for private accounts. But exaggerating the size of the problem is not the way to get reform.
BASH: The White House has yet to unveil specifics on private accounts, but admits it will have to borrow to pay for it. That, some insist, jeopardizes the president's promise to cut the deficit in half in five years.
And what about the $55 billion trade deficit? For that, Mr. Bush did offer a solution.
BUSH: That's easy to resolve. People can buy more United States products if they're worried about the trade deficit. BASH (on camera): Beyond that quip in the Oval Office, there was no discussion at this summit about shrinking the trade deficit, nor was there talk of exactly how to cut the federal deficit in half. Many look at his ambitious agenda, things like reforming Social Security and making tax cuts permanent, and wonder exactly how he's going to reach that goal.
Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And just so you know, the president will make closing remarks at that conference this afternoon at 1:30 Eastern. CNN, of course, will bring that to you live.
But we want to talk about this this morning. We want your input. President Bush's plan for Social Security does bring us to our DAYBREAK E-Mail Question of the Morning. Do you expect to receive Social Security payments when you retire? E-mail us your opinions on that. Daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
Another Republican lawmaker is adding her complaints to the increasing criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In a strongly worded letter, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine says Rumsfeld's remark about the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq is troubling. Collins writes, and I'm quoting here from her letter: "The Department of Defense still has been unable to ensure that our the president have the equipment they need to perform as safely as possible."
Collins serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Republican John McCain, who has also been sharply critical of Donald Rumsfeld.
Ongoing investigations into Iraq's Oil For Food Program include a number of U.S. companies. Federal prosecutors and regulators are looking closely at deals by Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco. Both companies bought millions of barrels of oil from Iraq in the 1990s. The Oil For Food Program was meant to supply food and medicine to Iraqis while the country was under heavy U.N. sanctions after the invasion of Kuwait. It's believed Saddam Hussein illegally siphoned billions of dollars away from the program.
A proposed missile defense shield seems to have some holes in it. In fact, yesterday's test of the multi-billion dollar system failed to even get off the ground.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has more on this lack of firepower.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, mark.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Though not all past tests have hit their target, at least the rockets got off the ground. Not this time. The first test in nearly two years of the multibillion dollar missile defense system failed because the interceptor missile on the Marshall Islands shut down due, officials say, to an unknown anomaly in its system.
PHILLIP COYLE, CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION: It took them two years to prepare for this test and to have it fail the way it did, where the interceptor didn't even get off the ground, is a big setback.
BAKER SPRING, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, I wouldn't consider it a failure. I consider it sort of a non-test.
ENSOR: The setback came 16 minutes after a mock warhead was successfully launched from Kodiak, Alaska as the target for the interceptor that never flew. The Pentagon spent about $3.3 billion this year alone on ground-based national missile defense. Critics call it a waste of taxpayer dollars. They say even if the latest test had been successful, it would not have proven the system can work because the conditions were not realistic.
COYLE: You have information, the defender has information that no enemy would ever give us, including on the reentry vehicle, the target reentry vehicle, a beacon that is saying "Here I am. Here I am."
ENSOR: But proponents argue with North Korea developing nuclear weapons and missiles, the best course is to deploy a system and then work out the kinks.
SPRING: I believe that something is better than nothing.
ENSOR (on camera): President Bush once declared that he intended to have a limited system operational by the end of this year. There are interceptor missiles in Alaska and California, but this latest test suggests they may not be ready for prime time.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In news across America this morning, Michael Jackson's attorneys call prosecution efforts vindictive and they're again asking the court to drop all charges. Jackson's child molestation trial is set to begin on January 31. In a separate court filing, Jackson's ex- wife Debbie Rowe filed for visitation rights with their two children.
The judge in the Robert Blake case has decided to allow portions of Blake's jailhouse interviews to be used in court. In them, Blake refers to his wife's family as piranhas and monsters. Blake is accused of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Monday.
More than 570 recently discovered absentee ballots will be hand counted in the Washington governor's race. The Republican, Dino Rossi, originally won the election by 261 votes, but a machine recount dropped that margin to just 42 votes. The state hopes to finish a hand recount by the middle of next week.
After three decades, are Kansas police finally closing in on a killer? At 12 minutes past the hour, we'll take a look at the game of cat and mouse being played by the BTK killer.
At 29 minutes after, a training exercise earns New Jersey airport screeners an F, as in Frank, for failure.
And a big chunk of ice is causing big problems for thousands of penguin chicks. That's ahead at 41 minutes past.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: BTK -- the initials stand for blind, torture, kill. The BTK serial killer has been on the loose in Kansas since 1974. Police believe at least eight unsolved murders are the work of the BTK killer and some possible new evidence in the case has investigators working overtime.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wichita, Kansas police believe the BTK killer left a small package of clues in this park. Investigators have asked the news media to hide the identity of the man who stumbled across the package.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know what it was because it was wrapped in rubber bands. So I just held onto it and I went on to the house. And I set there on the table and looked at it for a while.
LAVANDERA: He opened it, saw what was inside, and gave it to a local TV station that had recently received a letter from the BTK killer. Police say the package contained two new details -- the driver's license of Nancy Fox -- police believe she was murdered by the BTK killer in 1977 -- and there was a wrapped metallic object.
But some of the items in the package police have seen before. One sheet was titled, "The BTK Story," listing 13 chapters. But this time, the last chapter, titled, "Will There Be More?" was revealed. Another sheet included a word puzzle with scrambled words like "old," "help," and "fake I.D.." There were also two photocopied I.D.s of a telephone company worker and a Wichita school district employee. The puzzle and the I.D.s were copies of papers police received earlier this year.
Authorities suspect the killer might have approached his victims by impersonating other people.
LT. KEN LANDWEHR, LEAD INVESTIGATOR, WICHITA POLICE: We truly feel that he is trying to communicate with us. This is one of the most challenging cases that I have ever been involved with. LAVANDERA: To help track down this killer, we have recently learned that police and reporters are also being investigated. Some have agreed to provide DNA samples.
The BTK killer has been connected to eight murders between 1974 and 1986. But why he's coming out of the darkness now to send police clues is another chapter of this mysterious story.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is -- there's the clock, I found it -- 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Social Security will take center stage during President Bush's economic conference today. Business leaders and economists will weigh in with their thoughts on the partial privatization of Social Security.
That Greek bus hijacking we were telling you about 24 hours ago may have been motivated by money. At one point, the two hostage takers asked for $1 million in ransom. The gunmen surrendered peacefully after releasing all of the hostages.
In money news, the merger between health care giant Johnson & Johnson, oh, it could be worth about $24 billion. Guidant develops and builds pacemakers and other cardiovascular devices. The deal still has to be approved by shareholders and regulators.
In culture, legendary rock group Queen is planning to tour next year. The front man, Freddy Mercury, who died back in '91, will be replaced by a man named Paul Rogers. Rogers was the lead singer for Bad Company, Free and The Firm.
In sports, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones has filed a $25 million defamation suit against the founder of BALCO. Victor Conte recently said that Jones used steroids before the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.
To the forecast center and Chad.
MYERS: You wonder if she just wouldn't like that to just go away. But now she's bringing it back up again. I don't know.
Here you go, Carol...
COSTELLO: Well, she's in trouble.
MYERS: She is, and now she's fighting back, and good for her.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
The bounty on the head of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi stands at about $25 million and still U.S. troops cannot find the most wanted man in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi leads an al Qaeda splinter group that has claimed responsibility for a bunch of attacks on U.S. troops, Iraqi security forces and, of course, the beheadings of a number of hostages.
So let's go beyond the sound bite now to hear a top general explain why the militant remains so well hidden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, U.S. DEPUTY CENTCOM COMMANDER: I believe he's still operating within Iraq.
QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) where at this point?
SMITH: You know, Baghdad would be the most likely area, but no, these guys are getting very, very good at concealing or making it difficult for us to track them. And so what we use, for the most part, is human intelligence. And that's difficult because sometimes it's, it ages and it -- sometimes it's rumor. Sometimes somebody's trying to get money or get attention and you're never sure what their reason is for telling you stuff.
But he can operate pretty safely, we think, in some areas of Baghdad. There are those that would hide him and those that would passively allow him to operate, you know? And you could find him someplace else tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Al-Zarqawi had been based in Falluja before a major offensive by U.S. troops in November drove out many insurgents.
Turning back to the White House conference on the economy and concerns over the financial stability of Social Security, business leaders at that gathering this morning will take a look at how to fix the financial shortfall in the Social Security program. The president is laying the groundwork for creating private retirement accounts. That, of course, brings us to our E-Mail Question of the Morning. Do you think you'll receive Social Security benefits when you retire? Our address, daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
A test of security at one of the nation's busiest airports. Officials plant a fake bomb to see if it can be found. That's where the story begins. Oh, wait until you find out what happened next.
And an iceberg breaking apart in the Antarctic. A huge iceberg that could leave hundreds of penguins without food. We'll tell you why that's important to global warming later and we'll talk to that expert. He's in the Antarctic right now.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday, December 16.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: And we do have breaking news to tell you about right now. We understand, and this is reported from Reuters, but CNN has confirmed it. An audio recording purportedly by Osama bin Laden in which he mentions the December 6 attack in Saudi Arabia was posted on the Internet on Thursday. You can hear his voice on the Internet, supposedly.
Now, this recording, in which bin Laden blesses a group of Saudi militants who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah suggests the al Qaeda leader remains alive. We don't know much more about this, other than what I've just told you, but we're efforting Nic Robertson from Iraq. And, of course, Henry Schuster, he knows a lot about this, he's on the staff of CNN.
But, again, an audio recording on the Internet reportedly by Osama bin Laden.
We'll tell you more when we learn more later.
Time to check our out Web clicks this morning, what stories are getting your attention on our Web site, cnn.com.
So let's go there right now.
Chad -- are you with me?
MYERS: Certainly. I'm standing right here -- Carol.
COSTELLO: This New Jersey casino, I just can't even believe this.
MYERS: Yes. Did you...
COSTELLO: Why?
MYERS: Well, I guess it's easy if you're surveying all these guys playing poker or craps or whatever to also survey other things like women in low cut dresses.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. This happened at Caesar's Atlantic City Casino.
MYERS: Allegedly.
COSTELLO: Allegedly -- no.
MYERS: No?
COSTELLO: They're going to be fined $80,000.
MYERS: Oh, oh, oh, OK.
COSTELLO: They have the recordings. Apparently the camera, the security cameras were pointed down women's blouses.
MYERS: And you know how they got busted? COSTELLO: How?
MYERS: Because the two female officers that complained about these guys looking down the blouses got fired. So they filed a complaint.
COSTELLO: So we're not talking brain surgeons here.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: OK.
The second most clicked on story on cnn.com is about this worm that is spreading through people's e-mail boxes.
MYERS: Yes, happy holly days. And then the reline, the reason line is Merry Christmas. If you see that, someone you don't know, don't open it.
COSTELLO: Exactly. And happy holly days, just, by the way, it's holly days.
MYERS: Holly days.
COSTELLO: H-O-L-L-Y D-A-Y-S. So if you see that in your e-mail box, do not open it, for God's sake.
MYERS: It infected an awful lot of people in Europe already. But the Symantecs and Nortons of the world have already picked it up for the U.S. If you don't have that kind of protection on your computer, be very careful of the what you open today.
COSTELLO: Good advice.
And the third most clicked on story is the Expos. They may not have a home because...
MYERS: Oh, my.
COSTELLO: Because as we told you yesterday, Washington, the city council there decided the taxpayers really didn't want to foot the $500 million it would cost to like build a new stadium. So they want some of that money to come from private sources. The Expos say hey, you broke the deal. That's Mayor Anthony Williams, by the way, the D.C. mayor, who's very angry because he said the city council broke the deal, too.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: So the Expos right now have no home.
MYERS: Yes, they're looking at Paducah. No, no, I'm just kidding. It's not quite, it's not quite a big enough city, I suppose.
COSTELLO: That was insane.
All right, thank you, Chad.
MYERS: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: I couldn't hear the last part of what you said because I understand that we have Henry Schuster on the phone. He's an expert on all terror related things here at CNN.
We want to talk some more about this Osama bin Laden tape that's posted on the Internet right now -- Henry, can you hear me?
HENRY SCHUSTER, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Yes, I can.
Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: What can you tell us about this?
SCHUSTER: Well, the tape appeared just a couple of hours ago on various Islamic Web sites around the world. It certainly sounds like Osama bin Laden, but it's a very poor recording. We're working our way through it now and hopefully within the next hour we'll have a full translation for you.
But at the very top of the tape, bin Laden seems to be, or whoever is on the tape, seems to be focusing on Saudi Arabia. We're still waiting, as we go through the translation, for a specific reference to see if he's referring to last week's attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.
But at the very top he does say that the cause of instability in Saudi Arabia is due to the regime there and not to the actions of the jihadis. So obviously he does seem to be focusing on Saudi Arabia in the tape. But as I said, we will have a fuller translation for you within the hour and I know Nic Robertson is standing by in London, who has just been back from Jeddah. And he'll be able to talk about this. And we'll get more details to you.
COSTELLO: Tell us about this Web site that it appeared on.
SCHUSTER: Well, this Web site is one of the common places that you'll first find news both from Iraqi Jihadi groups as well as from al Qaeda. They post to this Web site, or their sympathizers post to this Web site. I mean if you asked them, they would say they're not an official Web site of either of these groups, yet what they do is they attract people. So a lot of people, a lot of supporters monitor this group. Needless to say, journalists and governments monitor this Web site, as well. And when something like this comes up, what will happen is the message will be posted and then instantly links will be posted to all sorts of other bulletin boards and forums and Web sites around the world and people will start going to it.
The first place we checked, when we clicked on a link to it, it was already -- it had already been knocked off there.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, and what else is interesting is that this showed up on a Web site. Usually it goes to Arab television. SCHUSTER: Well, it's been doing a mixture of both recently. The videotapes went to Al Jazeera but at least once in the past year an audio message was posted directly to the Web site.
And, Carol, if you think about it, even Al Jazeera recently has been editing the messages that appear. For instance, if they get a 20 minute audiotape, you might hear only about two or three minutes of this. So if they can post it to a Web site, then obviously they would probably prefer that, because that way they get the full message out.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
We'll let you get back to the translation.
Henry Schuster joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
We'll have much more on this supposed Osama bin Laden audiotape posted on the Web when DAYBREAK returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, a bit of breaking news to tell you about.
Apparently an audiotape made by Osama bin Laden, at least we think so, appears on a Web site. We don't know much more about it, but he does mention a recent attack in Saudi Arabia on the U.S. consulate.
When we get more information on this, we'll pass it along to you.
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