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CNN Live At Daybreak

Breaking News: Osama bin Laden Tape?; President Bush's Economic Agenda; 'Hot Topics'; Britain's Detainee Decision

Aired December 16, 2004 - 06:28   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: Let's get right to that breaking news now. Within the hour, an audiotape was posted on an Islamic Web site. It's said to be from terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
CNN investigative producer Henry Shuster is at the CNN center in Atlanta. He has more for us now.

Good morning.

HENRY SHUSTER, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: Good morning, Carol.

The tape appeared about an hour ago, as you said, on Islamic Web sites. There are some things we know about and what we don't know about.

We know that the tape focuses on Saudi Arabia. In it, Osama bin Laden, who is a native of Saudi Arabia, has some harsh words for the regime in Saudi Arabia. He says that the instability inside Saudi Arabia is due to the royal family and not to the militants there.

What we have not heard yet, as we've been listening through this tape -- and it's a very long tape; it's well more than an hour -- is whether it has any references to last week's attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. That's an attack where five embassy employees were killed and four of the terrorists who stormed the compound were killed.

We're listening to it. So far, what we've heard are references to the royal family, attacking them for corruption, saying that millions are living in poverty in Saudi Arabia, while millions of riyals -- that's the Saudi currency -- are going into the hands of the royal family.

Bin Laden also says that the struggle in Saudi Arabia, while it may appear as an internal political struggle, is also an important part of the worldwide struggle between Islamists and unbelievers.

But, again, we have not heard any specific references to the Jeddah attack in here. That's obviously what we're looking for.

Now, as you may remember, right on the eve of the U.S. elections, we had the videotape from Osama bin Laden, and that clearly had some date markers in it that let us know he was alive. And we actually saw him.

This audiotape, as yet, we can't tell when it was made, whether somebody decided it would be a good idea to put it out now even though it might be older, or whether it was made after the attack.

COSTELLO: Well, Henry, tell us about the quality of this audiotape. And why were -- I guess we're not certain yet. But, I mean, is it Osama bin Laden? Do we know that for sure?

SHUSTER: Well, we...

COSTELLO: Can we?

SHUSTER: There are ways of verifying it. Obviously, the CIA will listen to it later today and try to verify it. We have a number of people on our staff and people who have listened to the tape who have listened to hundreds of hours of bin Laden audiotapes and videotapes, and they are pretty good at recognizing his voice. As well, we'll be talking to other people that we know who were friends of Osama bin Laden and ask them to listen to it and see if they can verify it for us as well.

The one thing to point out is that this is a very, very bad audio recording. The audio is muddy. It's just not easy to listen to. But from what we've heard, it sounds like him. The rhetoric sounds like him as well.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, in comparison with the quality of the other audiotapes that he supposedly put out, how does this compare?

SHUSTER: It's worse.

COSTELLO: I don't know if that tells us anything at all about where he is and where he's hiding or...

SHUSTER: Well, and that's...

COSTELLO: Are things getting more difficult for him?

SHUSTER: That's a fair question. I mean, I think one of the more interesting things is that this audiotape went directly to a Web site. Now, some of the previous audiotapes and the most recent videotape went to Al Jazeera or other Arab networks. But they don't play those usually in their entirety.

What we saw recently with the most recent videotape from bin Laden is that a couple of days after it appeared on Al Jazeera, a version of it appeared on the Internet in full. And the audiotape here appeared in full in an hour and 18 minutes.

It's fair to say that is this tape had been handed to someplace like Al Jazeera, you might have heard maybe one minute of sound byte or two minutes of sound byte, and obviously they're interested in getting their message out, you know, for propaganda purposes. They're interested in getting their message out and hearing -- having people hear it in its entirety.

COSTELLO: Henry Shuster live from Atlanta. Thanks for filling us in. I'm sure we'll hear much more about this in the minutes and hours to come on CNN. Social Security is tops on the agenda today at President Bush's economic summit. And what is laid out today could affect your retirement in a big way. Would you like to invest your own Social Security money or at least part of it?

CNN's Kathleen Hayes runs down the president's economic agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush came out swinging on day one of his economic summit, kicking off an aggressive PR campaign to sell his ambitious second-term agenda to the American public.

At a morning press conference the president was adamant. Any plan to reform Social Security must allow workers to start investing some of their own retirement money in the markets.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe one way to help make sure the system meets the needs of a younger generation is to allow younger workers to take some of their own taxes and invest in a personal savings account under certain conditions.

HAYS: Vice President Dick Cheney kicked off the summit, saying that Congress must make the tax cuts of Bush's first four years in office permanent. Not to do so would damage the U.S. economy.

And the president is dead-set on simplifying the mammoth U.S. tax code so that small businesses can file more cheaply and easily, and even average Americans can do their own taxes.

In an afternoon appearance, the president was passionate on the need to reform the nation's legal system, because he believes it's crippling businesses of all sizes and especially driving up the cost of medical care.

BUSH: I intend to take a legislative package to Congress, which says we expect the House and the Senate to pass meaningful liability reform on asbestos, on class-action and medical liability.

HAYS: No naysayers at the summit. The panelists selected all shared the president's vision, but Democrats were quick to take shots at the president's agenda, starting with Social Security.

GENE SPERLING, FORMER CLINTON ADVISER: And what really upsets me is that President Bush calls for this more risk in Social Security and pretends that individual accounts is what is going to make Social Security solvent.

HAYS (on camera): Other powerful groups are also lining up to oppose Bush's plan to set up private Social Security accounts, like the AARP, which represents millions of retired Americans, and organized labor, headed up by the AFL-CIO.

Kathleen Hays, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: You know, our e-mail question to you this morning was about Social Security. Most of you said things like this: "Social Security. What's that? At 30, I've long kissed that idea good-bye. We sure will have one heck of a home security team, though."

We got a lot of e-mails just like that.

But are we being too pessimistic?

Let's head live to Washington and our political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You know, I most people do believe that Social Security won't exist anyway.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, there is a lot of concern about that. There is a poll out this morning, NBC/"Wall Street Journal," reaffirming that there is reason to be concerned to a point. The Social Security actuaries, the people who are paid to look at this way into the future, say there is a shortfall over the next 75 years of about $3.7 trillion, a large amount of money.

On the other hand, there are many analysts who argue that you can close that shortfall with relatively bearable changes in the system, taxes, changes in retirement ages. But the administration believes more fundamental changes are needed. The president, as the report said, wants individual accounts as part of that, and that's the debate where we begin the year in Washington.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about those individual accounts, because this is from Carolyn. And she writes: "I am terrified if Bush is able to privatize Social Security, because I think most people won't invest wisely. Just look at the number of people who withdraw their 401(k)s to invest in a house and such."

BROWNSTEIN: Well, this is -- I mean, that is really part of the concern. The question is: What is Social Security designed to do? Is it designed to help people invest and create ownership, as the president says? Or is it designed to provide a guaranteed safety net of retirement?

The part that most people don't understand is that almost any plan to create individual accounts, as the president is proposing, reduces, some significantly reduce, the guaranteed benefit under Social Security. The idea is that the individual account, what you earn in that would help you make up for a reduced guaranteed benefit.

And, Carol, it's that reduced guaranteed benefit, not the individual account, that ultimately closes the financing gap that we were talking about.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's so controversial, though. And the president says he wants to reach across party lines to get this thing done. Is it possible that we'll see part of the president's plan being put into action anytime soon?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, that will be a key question, whether he can get any Democrats to come along with him in the Senate. As you know, you need 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster. The Republicans have 55 votes. And it's not clear that all of them will vote for a Social Security reform plan that includes the private accounts, in part because any plan like that would require massive borrowing over the next several decades. And some Republicans may resist adding that much to the national debt.

Now, the big question then will be: Can he get any Democrats? It's not going to be easy. Democrats are very reluctant to have a plan that diverts part of the payroll tax into these individual accounts, fearing that it would endanger the fundamental safety net that Social Security provides.

Whether -- this will be, I think, the biggest test we have seen of whether the president can reach across party lines, which has not always been his strength. He's been more effective at consolidating the Republican base in general.

COSTELLO: All right, Ron Brownstein reporting live from Washington -- analyzing, things, I should say, for us from Washington. Thank you, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Sure.

COSTELLO: "CNN Security Watch" continues this morning, and Soledad O'Brien joins us from her office here in New York on the set of "AMERICAN MORNING" to tell us what's ahead on her show.

Good morning -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning to you, Carol.

In fact, yes, we're very busy on this, this morning. We're going to talk this morning with Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. As you well know, he has been very critical of what's going on in Washington, D.C. He says, in fact, that the alert system is confusing.

Well, this morning, he's going to tell us about his plan. Essentially, it's having people on the front lines, the EMS guy, the guy who reads your meter, being sources of information. Is that spying on people? We're going to ask him.

We're also going to ask him about the fact that his state is among the worst-ranked when it comes to preparations for bioterrorism. Shouldn't he be putting his thoughts and his money into that? That's all ahead this morning when we talk with Governor Mitt Romney from Massachusetts.

Back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Soledad. We'll see you in 20 minutes. Britain's highest court has issued an important ruling in the war on terror. Unlike the United States, the court says the British government cannot detain terror suspects indefinitely without trial.

For more on the impact of this ruling, let's head live to London and CNN's Diana Muriel.

Hello -- Diana.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Well, it's being seen here in Britain as an historic ruling. The ruling was by nine law lords sitting in the House of Lords this Thursday morning, who ruled 8-1 against the government, upholding an appeal that had been brought by nine prisoners being held in Belmarsh Prison in East London. It's been dubbed the British equivalent of Guantanamo Bay.

They were appealing against a piece of legislation that was brought in by the British government in response to the September 11 attacks. It was brought in on the 14th of November, 2001.

And a section within that act made a provision that it was possible to indefinitely detain foreign nationals suspected of terrorism without trial.

Now, the law lords had found that is illegal; illegal on two counts. First of all that it was not legal for the British government to step outside the European Convention on Human Rights by declaring a technical state of emergency in the aftermath of September 11, and by way of doing that sidestepping the right to a fair trial. And that it was also illegal to single out foreign nationals as opposed to British nationals for this kind of treatment.

The British government has several options to it now. It may just decide to ignore it, although that is very unlikely. It is likely that they will have to change the legislation here in Britain -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel reporting live from London this morning. Thank you.

Does Santa have an iPod on his list for someone in your house? Well, naughty or nice may not matter this year. Could there be a shortage? We'll tell you in our business buzz.

And the real awards for swiping plastic during that last-minute shopping trip.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: That sounds nice, because, frankly, we needed to slow down a bit on DAYBREAK this morning. A lot has been happening. But now, it's time for a little business buzz.

If you're among the millions hoping to buy an iPod for someone on your list this holiday season, that's what I want for Christmas, Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well...

COSTELLO: I can't believe there could be a shortage.

LEE: Hopefully, your husband has done his shopping already, Carol, because a lot of the stores have had a hard time keeping iPods in stock.

This is what "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting today, saying Target stores are out of iPods. Amazom.com is out of stock. Also, Best Buy's Web site is sold out of some models, although the company says that most of its stores have at least one iPod in stock. I don't know how long that's going to last.

The iPod really helped to remake Apple. The stock has more than tripled over the past year. It used to be a $20 stock. Now it trades at the $65 level. In fact, Apple says that the company now sells more iPods than it does computers. And analysts say it's really had a halo effect around the company. People like the iPods. They see how cool they are. And that really has helped to make Apple's other products look better.

So, we'll keep an eye on Apple shares today, but hopefully not too many people will be disappointed with that lack of an iPod under the tree. I guess you can always write an IOU, Carol, and maybe get one in January of February.

COSTELLO: It's just not the same. It's not the same. A quick look at the futures.

LEE: Yes. Futures are actually looking pretty flat this morning. We did see things turn around a little bit yesterday, ending slightly in the positive column at the close, despite a high increase in oil prices. Today, we're keeping an eye on FedEx, coming out with profits this morning. And this is going to be an important stock to watch, because obviously FedEx success gives us a gauge of how the holiday shipping and holiday shopping season is shaping up.

That's the latest.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq Marketsite this morning.

You've heard this before. The more you spend, the more you save. It makes no sense at all, does it? Three out of four credit cards these days offer rewards for plastic purchases.

DAYBREAK contributor J.J. Ramberg is here to tell us if there really are any rewards attached to these offers.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: There are rewards. They're just kind of small, if that's what you mean by rewards.

But there are so many credit cards now. There are some for airplane miles. They're still obviously the most popular ones. But you can get miles for coffees at Starbucks. You can get miles to pay for your mortgage in places.

But you have to spend so much money until you can actually reap the benefits of those rewards. So, just take a look at three examples here right now.

If you spend $700, this is what you get. At Starbucks, you get two lattes. That's not much.

COSTELLO: That's about seven bucks, though.

RAMBERG: Right, exactly. Two lattes. At Toys R Us, they have a rebate program, so you get $35 cash back that you can spend there. And then at Chase, if you spend on their card, you get mortgage bucks so you can pay for a part of your mortgage. This is how much you get to pay for your mortgage: $5.83.

COSTELLO: It's not big. You know, it's funny you say that, because whenever I call to cancel a credit card -- because you know I hate credit cards. So, I call to cancel, and they're always trying to, like, tempt me to stay by offering me more rewards.

RAMBERG: Right. You're like, oh, good, I can buy stamps.

COSTELLO: And they don't make it easy for you either. You have to call, set the thing up, and then you have to go to the place and, you know, where the rewards are to get the item.

RAMBERG: Exactly. And the other thing you need to watch out for is sometimes you're paying more for these cards. So, for some cards that say the annual fee is $50, in order to pay back that fee you actually have to reap a lot of rewards in order to break even. You have to be careful of that.

Other things you should just look out for when you're looking into this are the payments. If you pay -- all right, if you pay late for some of these cards, oftentimes they will just cancel out the rewards for that month.

COSTELLO: So, you won't get your $3.50 latte from Starbucks?

RAMBERG: Not that time. You're going to have to beg for it somewhere else.

COSTELLO: J.J. Ramberg, thanks so much for telling us the true story behind those rewards.

Let's head to "AMERICAN MORNING" one more time and check in with Miles O'Brien, who is in for Bill Hemmer, who is probably traveling back from Japan.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think he's on a plane right now. And he might be watching. I don't know. You know, I was on a plane the other day, and you could actually watch CNN. Have you done that?

COSTELLO: No. I like to get away from work when I'm away.

M. O'BRIEN: No, it's free. It was right there in the seat in front of me. And I think I was watching you. It was great.

COSTELLO: Oh, then that's OK.

M. O'BRIEN: It was fantastic. You know, you just can't get away from CNN wherever you may be. So, Bill, if you're watching, here's what's on the show this morning.

Track superstar Marion Jones is suing Victor Conte, the BALCO chief who says he gave her steroids. She says her good name has been defamed, and she wants $25 million. She has always denied taking steroids. Her attorneys will be with us. All that and much more ahead on this "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol, are you a fan of baseball?

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And you're from D.C., right?

COSTELLO: I lived there for 10 years, and I heard about the Expo saga. Now they may not go there.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it sounds like it, and I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for long-suffering D.C. baseball fans.

COSTELLO: But, you know what? They want the taxpayers to foot this humongous bill for a stadium, and I just don't think that's very fair. It will be interesting...

M. O'BRIEN: I do agree. I do agree with that. I don't think that it should be the taxpayers footing the bill. Nevertheless, I'm still sorry, because no baseball.

COSTELLO: I know. I know. But somehow there's some justice in there. But we're going to explore that...

M. O'BRIEN: There's a word for it all...

COSTELLO: We're going to explore that...

M. O'BRIEN: It's extortion is what it is.

COSTELLO: Exactly. We're going to explore that issue tomorrow on DAYBREAK when we have a very special guest from Washington, D.C. who will be here with us. So, of course, you'll be watching tomorrow morning.

M. O'BRIEN: That is like an embedded re-tease, a tease (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for you. COSTELLO: I love that. Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: When we come back, a very special guest with an inspiration for all of us this holiday season, Marlo Thomas, author of "Thanks & Giving." She'll be with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Many of us who are female that is will always have a special place in our hearts for Marlo Thomas. She's with us this morning.

And we're sorry, Marlo, but we found this video, the open to "That Girl." And we just had to -- is that cool or what? We just had fun remembering what a great show that was.

MARLO THOMAS, PRODUCER, "THANKS & GIVING": Thank you.

COSTELLO: And I'm telling you, it was such a big impact on my life and career.

THOMAS: Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: Oh, but you've done so much more since 1966, that's for sure. For example, you've produced a new collection of stories, songs and poems on the thanks and giving theme created by everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to Donald Trump.

And, Marlo Thomas, we can see her now. She's joining us this morning to tell us more about this special project.

Good morning.

THOMAS: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about...

THOMAS: Yes, I'm very excited about the project. It's called "Thanks & Giving: All Year Long." So, it's not a Thanksgiving book. And it has Christmas stories in it. It has a story about Aladdin in it and mean little girls and stingy little boys, and also people who learn to share. And it's a wonderful book and CD. It's very much in the spirit of "Free to be You and Me."

In fact, I've already been receiving letters from teachers, telling me that kids are loving it at school. And it's for kids and their parents and kids and their teachers to talk about all of these things about what it's like to be part of a community that the Sheryl Crow song. It's called "All Kinds of People," it takes all kinds of people to make a world. And it talks about all of the differences and all of the different people there are, and why that's good for us.

And Jimmy Buffett sings a wonderful song called "Attitude to Gratitude." I really wanted him on the album. I was excited to get him. Of course, Billy Crystal, and Sarah Jessica Parker does a wonderful story about a little girl who thinks she's just has nothing in the world, and then we find out that she can dance, and she's got a real gift to give. And Jennifer Aniston, of course, and Faith Hill...

COSTELLO: Wow! A lot of people are on board.

THOMAS: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: But tell us the end result of this book, because it...

THOMAS: Well, the money all goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And it's a part of a big campaign called the Thanks and Giving Campaign, where we really talk about and try to remind ourselves to give thanks for the children in our lives who are healthy and to give to the kids who are not, so that one day all kids can be healthy.

And we are in the campaign now. I think you've probably seen our PSAs on television with Sarah Jessica and Robin Williams and Ray Romano and Will Smith and Antonio Banderas and...

COSTELLO: How do you get all of these people on board? That's pretty amazing.

THOMAS: Well, they're good people, you know. Not everybody says yes. Just the good guys say yes. So, when you see all of the names on this book and on the CD, those are all of the good guys. And they've been helping me with St. Jude for a long time now. They've all done different -- they've come to the galas or they've entertained. Robin Williams and Ray Romano have done a lot of benefits for us.

You know, it costs $1 million a day at St. Jude, because my father made a promise that no child would ever be turned away for a family's inability to pay. And that means that we pay for the travel and the hotel and the lodging, the food, the treatment -- everything. And a lot of these parents would never be able to afford this kind of treatment.

And what we're proud of at St. Jude is that everybody gets the same treatment. Whether you're rich or you're poor or in between, you get the exact same treatment.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's just..

THOMAS: And we know that's not true everywhere.

COSTELLO: That's just terrific that you're also carrying on the tradition of your father, who you must miss very much at this time of year.

THOMAS: I do miss him. But, you know, this brings me closer to him. My sister and brother and I talk all the time about the fact that working with St. Jude really does keep our dad alive, because it's all about his spirit, you know. And he made so many promises that we want to keep and that we do keep, like that no child would ever been turned away for the family's inability to pay, and that all of the scientific research that we do is shared immediately with the worldwide community.

And it's exciting because, you know, there are a lot of terrific hospitals in this country, and we collaborate with all of them. But St. Jude is different. It's a research center and a treatment center.

And so, what we're doing down there really benefits the kids in every community in this country.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's terrific.

THOMAS: And so that's why we're having a national effort.

COSTELLO: Well, it's terrific. Thank you, Marlo Thomas, for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

THOMAS: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: And the book and the CD are in bookstores now, because I've seen it.

THOMAS: And you can also go to Thanks&Giving.com on our Web site and learn more about St. Jude and buy the book and record.

COSTELLO: I should have known there would be a Web site. Thank you. Marlo Thomas, have a great day.

THOMAS: Thanks.

COSTELLO: The morning headlines in two minutes, but first this is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time to take a look at the headlines this morning. We have a few newspapers here.

And, Chad...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

COSTELLO: You probably haven't seen this yet. But this is the front page of the "New York Post." Look at the pedestrian.

MYERS: Oh.

COSTELLO: Isn't that a great picture? The pedestrian is OK. He's in the hospital right now. But this van just ran over him as he was crossing the street. There was, like, a 20-minute rescue under way. Thousands of people were lining the street, but I thought that was a really bizarre picture.

MYERS: You know, everybody walks in New York, and it is a little scary, especially people making the right on red, because it's the only time you get to go. It's when you get to walk, and it's when... COSTELLO: That's exactly...

MYERS: ... everybody wants to turn.

COSTELLO: That's exactly what happened.

MYERS: Be careful.

COSTELLO: And this in "The Washington Post," baseball rejecting council's changes and financing plan for D.C. stadium.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: So baseball says, hey, you broke the deal, because you want some private funding for the stadium. That wasn't the deal. The taxpayers were to foot the whole $400 million deal for the stadium. So baseball said good-bye.

MYERS: Yes. The mayor is very disappointed in the whole thing, but, you know, we'll see. It doesn't look good right now for D.C. to get that team. They have to come together.

COSTELLO: Yes. As a matter of fact, on Friday on DAYBREAK, we'll ask this question: Will the big leagues ever play ball in the nation's capital?

And what about other cities asking taxpayers to foot the bill for the new stadium, as you were saying, Chad? Then we'll have a spotlight Adam Sandler in a role that requires his serious aside. We'll preview the new movie, "Spanglish," just in time for your weekend trip to the theaters. So, hopefully, you'll join us tomorrow.

That does it for us for today. I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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Aired December 16, 2004 - 06:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to that breaking news now. Within the hour, an audiotape was posted on an Islamic Web site. It's said to be from terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
CNN investigative producer Henry Shuster is at the CNN center in Atlanta. He has more for us now.

Good morning.

HENRY SHUSTER, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: Good morning, Carol.

The tape appeared about an hour ago, as you said, on Islamic Web sites. There are some things we know about and what we don't know about.

We know that the tape focuses on Saudi Arabia. In it, Osama bin Laden, who is a native of Saudi Arabia, has some harsh words for the regime in Saudi Arabia. He says that the instability inside Saudi Arabia is due to the royal family and not to the militants there.

What we have not heard yet, as we've been listening through this tape -- and it's a very long tape; it's well more than an hour -- is whether it has any references to last week's attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. That's an attack where five embassy employees were killed and four of the terrorists who stormed the compound were killed.

We're listening to it. So far, what we've heard are references to the royal family, attacking them for corruption, saying that millions are living in poverty in Saudi Arabia, while millions of riyals -- that's the Saudi currency -- are going into the hands of the royal family.

Bin Laden also says that the struggle in Saudi Arabia, while it may appear as an internal political struggle, is also an important part of the worldwide struggle between Islamists and unbelievers.

But, again, we have not heard any specific references to the Jeddah attack in here. That's obviously what we're looking for.

Now, as you may remember, right on the eve of the U.S. elections, we had the videotape from Osama bin Laden, and that clearly had some date markers in it that let us know he was alive. And we actually saw him.

This audiotape, as yet, we can't tell when it was made, whether somebody decided it would be a good idea to put it out now even though it might be older, or whether it was made after the attack.

COSTELLO: Well, Henry, tell us about the quality of this audiotape. And why were -- I guess we're not certain yet. But, I mean, is it Osama bin Laden? Do we know that for sure?

SHUSTER: Well, we...

COSTELLO: Can we?

SHUSTER: There are ways of verifying it. Obviously, the CIA will listen to it later today and try to verify it. We have a number of people on our staff and people who have listened to the tape who have listened to hundreds of hours of bin Laden audiotapes and videotapes, and they are pretty good at recognizing his voice. As well, we'll be talking to other people that we know who were friends of Osama bin Laden and ask them to listen to it and see if they can verify it for us as well.

The one thing to point out is that this is a very, very bad audio recording. The audio is muddy. It's just not easy to listen to. But from what we've heard, it sounds like him. The rhetoric sounds like him as well.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, in comparison with the quality of the other audiotapes that he supposedly put out, how does this compare?

SHUSTER: It's worse.

COSTELLO: I don't know if that tells us anything at all about where he is and where he's hiding or...

SHUSTER: Well, and that's...

COSTELLO: Are things getting more difficult for him?

SHUSTER: That's a fair question. I mean, I think one of the more interesting things is that this audiotape went directly to a Web site. Now, some of the previous audiotapes and the most recent videotape went to Al Jazeera or other Arab networks. But they don't play those usually in their entirety.

What we saw recently with the most recent videotape from bin Laden is that a couple of days after it appeared on Al Jazeera, a version of it appeared on the Internet in full. And the audiotape here appeared in full in an hour and 18 minutes.

It's fair to say that is this tape had been handed to someplace like Al Jazeera, you might have heard maybe one minute of sound byte or two minutes of sound byte, and obviously they're interested in getting their message out, you know, for propaganda purposes. They're interested in getting their message out and hearing -- having people hear it in its entirety.

COSTELLO: Henry Shuster live from Atlanta. Thanks for filling us in. I'm sure we'll hear much more about this in the minutes and hours to come on CNN. Social Security is tops on the agenda today at President Bush's economic summit. And what is laid out today could affect your retirement in a big way. Would you like to invest your own Social Security money or at least part of it?

CNN's Kathleen Hayes runs down the president's economic agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush came out swinging on day one of his economic summit, kicking off an aggressive PR campaign to sell his ambitious second-term agenda to the American public.

At a morning press conference the president was adamant. Any plan to reform Social Security must allow workers to start investing some of their own retirement money in the markets.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe one way to help make sure the system meets the needs of a younger generation is to allow younger workers to take some of their own taxes and invest in a personal savings account under certain conditions.

HAYS: Vice President Dick Cheney kicked off the summit, saying that Congress must make the tax cuts of Bush's first four years in office permanent. Not to do so would damage the U.S. economy.

And the president is dead-set on simplifying the mammoth U.S. tax code so that small businesses can file more cheaply and easily, and even average Americans can do their own taxes.

In an afternoon appearance, the president was passionate on the need to reform the nation's legal system, because he believes it's crippling businesses of all sizes and especially driving up the cost of medical care.

BUSH: I intend to take a legislative package to Congress, which says we expect the House and the Senate to pass meaningful liability reform on asbestos, on class-action and medical liability.

HAYS: No naysayers at the summit. The panelists selected all shared the president's vision, but Democrats were quick to take shots at the president's agenda, starting with Social Security.

GENE SPERLING, FORMER CLINTON ADVISER: And what really upsets me is that President Bush calls for this more risk in Social Security and pretends that individual accounts is what is going to make Social Security solvent.

HAYS (on camera): Other powerful groups are also lining up to oppose Bush's plan to set up private Social Security accounts, like the AARP, which represents millions of retired Americans, and organized labor, headed up by the AFL-CIO.

Kathleen Hays, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: You know, our e-mail question to you this morning was about Social Security. Most of you said things like this: "Social Security. What's that? At 30, I've long kissed that idea good-bye. We sure will have one heck of a home security team, though."

We got a lot of e-mails just like that.

But are we being too pessimistic?

Let's head live to Washington and our political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You know, I most people do believe that Social Security won't exist anyway.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, there is a lot of concern about that. There is a poll out this morning, NBC/"Wall Street Journal," reaffirming that there is reason to be concerned to a point. The Social Security actuaries, the people who are paid to look at this way into the future, say there is a shortfall over the next 75 years of about $3.7 trillion, a large amount of money.

On the other hand, there are many analysts who argue that you can close that shortfall with relatively bearable changes in the system, taxes, changes in retirement ages. But the administration believes more fundamental changes are needed. The president, as the report said, wants individual accounts as part of that, and that's the debate where we begin the year in Washington.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about those individual accounts, because this is from Carolyn. And she writes: "I am terrified if Bush is able to privatize Social Security, because I think most people won't invest wisely. Just look at the number of people who withdraw their 401(k)s to invest in a house and such."

BROWNSTEIN: Well, this is -- I mean, that is really part of the concern. The question is: What is Social Security designed to do? Is it designed to help people invest and create ownership, as the president says? Or is it designed to provide a guaranteed safety net of retirement?

The part that most people don't understand is that almost any plan to create individual accounts, as the president is proposing, reduces, some significantly reduce, the guaranteed benefit under Social Security. The idea is that the individual account, what you earn in that would help you make up for a reduced guaranteed benefit.

And, Carol, it's that reduced guaranteed benefit, not the individual account, that ultimately closes the financing gap that we were talking about.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's so controversial, though. And the president says he wants to reach across party lines to get this thing done. Is it possible that we'll see part of the president's plan being put into action anytime soon?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, that will be a key question, whether he can get any Democrats to come along with him in the Senate. As you know, you need 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster. The Republicans have 55 votes. And it's not clear that all of them will vote for a Social Security reform plan that includes the private accounts, in part because any plan like that would require massive borrowing over the next several decades. And some Republicans may resist adding that much to the national debt.

Now, the big question then will be: Can he get any Democrats? It's not going to be easy. Democrats are very reluctant to have a plan that diverts part of the payroll tax into these individual accounts, fearing that it would endanger the fundamental safety net that Social Security provides.

Whether -- this will be, I think, the biggest test we have seen of whether the president can reach across party lines, which has not always been his strength. He's been more effective at consolidating the Republican base in general.

COSTELLO: All right, Ron Brownstein reporting live from Washington -- analyzing, things, I should say, for us from Washington. Thank you, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Sure.

COSTELLO: "CNN Security Watch" continues this morning, and Soledad O'Brien joins us from her office here in New York on the set of "AMERICAN MORNING" to tell us what's ahead on her show.

Good morning -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning to you, Carol.

In fact, yes, we're very busy on this, this morning. We're going to talk this morning with Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. As you well know, he has been very critical of what's going on in Washington, D.C. He says, in fact, that the alert system is confusing.

Well, this morning, he's going to tell us about his plan. Essentially, it's having people on the front lines, the EMS guy, the guy who reads your meter, being sources of information. Is that spying on people? We're going to ask him.

We're also going to ask him about the fact that his state is among the worst-ranked when it comes to preparations for bioterrorism. Shouldn't he be putting his thoughts and his money into that? That's all ahead this morning when we talk with Governor Mitt Romney from Massachusetts.

Back to you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Soledad. We'll see you in 20 minutes. Britain's highest court has issued an important ruling in the war on terror. Unlike the United States, the court says the British government cannot detain terror suspects indefinitely without trial.

For more on the impact of this ruling, let's head live to London and CNN's Diana Muriel.

Hello -- Diana.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Well, it's being seen here in Britain as an historic ruling. The ruling was by nine law lords sitting in the House of Lords this Thursday morning, who ruled 8-1 against the government, upholding an appeal that had been brought by nine prisoners being held in Belmarsh Prison in East London. It's been dubbed the British equivalent of Guantanamo Bay.

They were appealing against a piece of legislation that was brought in by the British government in response to the September 11 attacks. It was brought in on the 14th of November, 2001.

And a section within that act made a provision that it was possible to indefinitely detain foreign nationals suspected of terrorism without trial.

Now, the law lords had found that is illegal; illegal on two counts. First of all that it was not legal for the British government to step outside the European Convention on Human Rights by declaring a technical state of emergency in the aftermath of September 11, and by way of doing that sidestepping the right to a fair trial. And that it was also illegal to single out foreign nationals as opposed to British nationals for this kind of treatment.

The British government has several options to it now. It may just decide to ignore it, although that is very unlikely. It is likely that they will have to change the legislation here in Britain -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Diana Muriel reporting live from London this morning. Thank you.

Does Santa have an iPod on his list for someone in your house? Well, naughty or nice may not matter this year. Could there be a shortage? We'll tell you in our business buzz.

And the real awards for swiping plastic during that last-minute shopping trip.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: That sounds nice, because, frankly, we needed to slow down a bit on DAYBREAK this morning. A lot has been happening. But now, it's time for a little business buzz.

If you're among the millions hoping to buy an iPod for someone on your list this holiday season, that's what I want for Christmas, Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well...

COSTELLO: I can't believe there could be a shortage.

LEE: Hopefully, your husband has done his shopping already, Carol, because a lot of the stores have had a hard time keeping iPods in stock.

This is what "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting today, saying Target stores are out of iPods. Amazom.com is out of stock. Also, Best Buy's Web site is sold out of some models, although the company says that most of its stores have at least one iPod in stock. I don't know how long that's going to last.

The iPod really helped to remake Apple. The stock has more than tripled over the past year. It used to be a $20 stock. Now it trades at the $65 level. In fact, Apple says that the company now sells more iPods than it does computers. And analysts say it's really had a halo effect around the company. People like the iPods. They see how cool they are. And that really has helped to make Apple's other products look better.

So, we'll keep an eye on Apple shares today, but hopefully not too many people will be disappointed with that lack of an iPod under the tree. I guess you can always write an IOU, Carol, and maybe get one in January of February.

COSTELLO: It's just not the same. It's not the same. A quick look at the futures.

LEE: Yes. Futures are actually looking pretty flat this morning. We did see things turn around a little bit yesterday, ending slightly in the positive column at the close, despite a high increase in oil prices. Today, we're keeping an eye on FedEx, coming out with profits this morning. And this is going to be an important stock to watch, because obviously FedEx success gives us a gauge of how the holiday shipping and holiday shopping season is shaping up.

That's the latest.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq Marketsite this morning.

You've heard this before. The more you spend, the more you save. It makes no sense at all, does it? Three out of four credit cards these days offer rewards for plastic purchases.

DAYBREAK contributor J.J. Ramberg is here to tell us if there really are any rewards attached to these offers.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: There are rewards. They're just kind of small, if that's what you mean by rewards.

But there are so many credit cards now. There are some for airplane miles. They're still obviously the most popular ones. But you can get miles for coffees at Starbucks. You can get miles to pay for your mortgage in places.

But you have to spend so much money until you can actually reap the benefits of those rewards. So, just take a look at three examples here right now.

If you spend $700, this is what you get. At Starbucks, you get two lattes. That's not much.

COSTELLO: That's about seven bucks, though.

RAMBERG: Right, exactly. Two lattes. At Toys R Us, they have a rebate program, so you get $35 cash back that you can spend there. And then at Chase, if you spend on their card, you get mortgage bucks so you can pay for a part of your mortgage. This is how much you get to pay for your mortgage: $5.83.

COSTELLO: It's not big. You know, it's funny you say that, because whenever I call to cancel a credit card -- because you know I hate credit cards. So, I call to cancel, and they're always trying to, like, tempt me to stay by offering me more rewards.

RAMBERG: Right. You're like, oh, good, I can buy stamps.

COSTELLO: And they don't make it easy for you either. You have to call, set the thing up, and then you have to go to the place and, you know, where the rewards are to get the item.

RAMBERG: Exactly. And the other thing you need to watch out for is sometimes you're paying more for these cards. So, for some cards that say the annual fee is $50, in order to pay back that fee you actually have to reap a lot of rewards in order to break even. You have to be careful of that.

Other things you should just look out for when you're looking into this are the payments. If you pay -- all right, if you pay late for some of these cards, oftentimes they will just cancel out the rewards for that month.

COSTELLO: So, you won't get your $3.50 latte from Starbucks?

RAMBERG: Not that time. You're going to have to beg for it somewhere else.

COSTELLO: J.J. Ramberg, thanks so much for telling us the true story behind those rewards.

Let's head to "AMERICAN MORNING" one more time and check in with Miles O'Brien, who is in for Bill Hemmer, who is probably traveling back from Japan.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think he's on a plane right now. And he might be watching. I don't know. You know, I was on a plane the other day, and you could actually watch CNN. Have you done that?

COSTELLO: No. I like to get away from work when I'm away.

M. O'BRIEN: No, it's free. It was right there in the seat in front of me. And I think I was watching you. It was great.

COSTELLO: Oh, then that's OK.

M. O'BRIEN: It was fantastic. You know, you just can't get away from CNN wherever you may be. So, Bill, if you're watching, here's what's on the show this morning.

Track superstar Marion Jones is suing Victor Conte, the BALCO chief who says he gave her steroids. She says her good name has been defamed, and she wants $25 million. She has always denied taking steroids. Her attorneys will be with us. All that and much more ahead on this "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol, are you a fan of baseball?

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And you're from D.C., right?

COSTELLO: I lived there for 10 years, and I heard about the Expo saga. Now they may not go there.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it sounds like it, and I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for long-suffering D.C. baseball fans.

COSTELLO: But, you know what? They want the taxpayers to foot this humongous bill for a stadium, and I just don't think that's very fair. It will be interesting...

M. O'BRIEN: I do agree. I do agree with that. I don't think that it should be the taxpayers footing the bill. Nevertheless, I'm still sorry, because no baseball.

COSTELLO: I know. I know. But somehow there's some justice in there. But we're going to explore that...

M. O'BRIEN: There's a word for it all...

COSTELLO: We're going to explore that...

M. O'BRIEN: It's extortion is what it is.

COSTELLO: Exactly. We're going to explore that issue tomorrow on DAYBREAK when we have a very special guest from Washington, D.C. who will be here with us. So, of course, you'll be watching tomorrow morning.

M. O'BRIEN: That is like an embedded re-tease, a tease (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for you. COSTELLO: I love that. Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: When we come back, a very special guest with an inspiration for all of us this holiday season, Marlo Thomas, author of "Thanks & Giving." She'll be with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Many of us who are female that is will always have a special place in our hearts for Marlo Thomas. She's with us this morning.

And we're sorry, Marlo, but we found this video, the open to "That Girl." And we just had to -- is that cool or what? We just had fun remembering what a great show that was.

MARLO THOMAS, PRODUCER, "THANKS & GIVING": Thank you.

COSTELLO: And I'm telling you, it was such a big impact on my life and career.

THOMAS: Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: Oh, but you've done so much more since 1966, that's for sure. For example, you've produced a new collection of stories, songs and poems on the thanks and giving theme created by everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to Donald Trump.

And, Marlo Thomas, we can see her now. She's joining us this morning to tell us more about this special project.

Good morning.

THOMAS: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about...

THOMAS: Yes, I'm very excited about the project. It's called "Thanks & Giving: All Year Long." So, it's not a Thanksgiving book. And it has Christmas stories in it. It has a story about Aladdin in it and mean little girls and stingy little boys, and also people who learn to share. And it's a wonderful book and CD. It's very much in the spirit of "Free to be You and Me."

In fact, I've already been receiving letters from teachers, telling me that kids are loving it at school. And it's for kids and their parents and kids and their teachers to talk about all of these things about what it's like to be part of a community that the Sheryl Crow song. It's called "All Kinds of People," it takes all kinds of people to make a world. And it talks about all of the differences and all of the different people there are, and why that's good for us.

And Jimmy Buffett sings a wonderful song called "Attitude to Gratitude." I really wanted him on the album. I was excited to get him. Of course, Billy Crystal, and Sarah Jessica Parker does a wonderful story about a little girl who thinks she's just has nothing in the world, and then we find out that she can dance, and she's got a real gift to give. And Jennifer Aniston, of course, and Faith Hill...

COSTELLO: Wow! A lot of people are on board.

THOMAS: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: But tell us the end result of this book, because it...

THOMAS: Well, the money all goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And it's a part of a big campaign called the Thanks and Giving Campaign, where we really talk about and try to remind ourselves to give thanks for the children in our lives who are healthy and to give to the kids who are not, so that one day all kids can be healthy.

And we are in the campaign now. I think you've probably seen our PSAs on television with Sarah Jessica and Robin Williams and Ray Romano and Will Smith and Antonio Banderas and...

COSTELLO: How do you get all of these people on board? That's pretty amazing.

THOMAS: Well, they're good people, you know. Not everybody says yes. Just the good guys say yes. So, when you see all of the names on this book and on the CD, those are all of the good guys. And they've been helping me with St. Jude for a long time now. They've all done different -- they've come to the galas or they've entertained. Robin Williams and Ray Romano have done a lot of benefits for us.

You know, it costs $1 million a day at St. Jude, because my father made a promise that no child would ever be turned away for a family's inability to pay. And that means that we pay for the travel and the hotel and the lodging, the food, the treatment -- everything. And a lot of these parents would never be able to afford this kind of treatment.

And what we're proud of at St. Jude is that everybody gets the same treatment. Whether you're rich or you're poor or in between, you get the exact same treatment.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's just..

THOMAS: And we know that's not true everywhere.

COSTELLO: That's just terrific that you're also carrying on the tradition of your father, who you must miss very much at this time of year.

THOMAS: I do miss him. But, you know, this brings me closer to him. My sister and brother and I talk all the time about the fact that working with St. Jude really does keep our dad alive, because it's all about his spirit, you know. And he made so many promises that we want to keep and that we do keep, like that no child would ever been turned away for the family's inability to pay, and that all of the scientific research that we do is shared immediately with the worldwide community.

And it's exciting because, you know, there are a lot of terrific hospitals in this country, and we collaborate with all of them. But St. Jude is different. It's a research center and a treatment center.

And so, what we're doing down there really benefits the kids in every community in this country.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's terrific.

THOMAS: And so that's why we're having a national effort.

COSTELLO: Well, it's terrific. Thank you, Marlo Thomas, for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

THOMAS: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: And the book and the CD are in bookstores now, because I've seen it.

THOMAS: And you can also go to Thanks&Giving.com on our Web site and learn more about St. Jude and buy the book and record.

COSTELLO: I should have known there would be a Web site. Thank you. Marlo Thomas, have a great day.

THOMAS: Thanks.

COSTELLO: The morning headlines in two minutes, but first this is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time to take a look at the headlines this morning. We have a few newspapers here.

And, Chad...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

COSTELLO: You probably haven't seen this yet. But this is the front page of the "New York Post." Look at the pedestrian.

MYERS: Oh.

COSTELLO: Isn't that a great picture? The pedestrian is OK. He's in the hospital right now. But this van just ran over him as he was crossing the street. There was, like, a 20-minute rescue under way. Thousands of people were lining the street, but I thought that was a really bizarre picture.

MYERS: You know, everybody walks in New York, and it is a little scary, especially people making the right on red, because it's the only time you get to go. It's when you get to walk, and it's when... COSTELLO: That's exactly...

MYERS: ... everybody wants to turn.

COSTELLO: That's exactly what happened.

MYERS: Be careful.

COSTELLO: And this in "The Washington Post," baseball rejecting council's changes and financing plan for D.C. stadium.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: So baseball says, hey, you broke the deal, because you want some private funding for the stadium. That wasn't the deal. The taxpayers were to foot the whole $400 million deal for the stadium. So baseball said good-bye.

MYERS: Yes. The mayor is very disappointed in the whole thing, but, you know, we'll see. It doesn't look good right now for D.C. to get that team. They have to come together.

COSTELLO: Yes. As a matter of fact, on Friday on DAYBREAK, we'll ask this question: Will the big leagues ever play ball in the nation's capital?

And what about other cities asking taxpayers to foot the bill for the new stadium, as you were saying, Chad? Then we'll have a spotlight Adam Sandler in a role that requires his serious aside. We'll preview the new movie, "Spanglish," just in time for your weekend trip to the theaters. So, hopefully, you'll join us tomorrow.

That does it for us for today. I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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