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CNN Live At Daybreak
New Audio Tape From Osama Bin Laden Posted on Web Site; Latest Developments in Controversy Over Lack of Armor for Troops in Iraq
Aired December 16, 2004 - 06:00 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.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
We do have a bit of breaking news to tell you about.
An audiotape supposedly made by Osama bin Laden has turned up on a Web site. In it, he describes an attack in Saudi Arabia that happened back on December 6, when the U.S. consulate was attacked in Jeddah.
Oh the phone right now, we have our own Nic Robertson to tell us more about this purported audiotape -- Nic, what can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the tape has only just been posted. One media company did report that it makes reference to June the 6th. However, our experts who are listening to the tape say that they do believe that it is Osama bin Laden, but that the message is about an hour or so long and so far our experts have not been able to find that section on the tape that makes a reference to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah just over a week ago.
But what we do know, that this does appear to be Osama bin Laden and he is talking about Saudi Arabia and he is putting the violence inside Saudi Arabia, the al Qaeda actions inside Saudi Arabia, he is putting that in the context of the global Jihad against the United States. And he also goes on to say that the problems within the country at the moment are the problems made by the royal family. He says that there are millions of poor people inside Saudi Arabia, whereas at the same time, millions of Saudi riyals, the currency there, are pouring into the pockets of a handful of royals. But really we have to hear more of what's on this audio recording. It is, it appears to be about an hour and a quarter long. It was posted and we got a copy of it, perhaps in the last half an hour or so. So you can see that we're still just getting to grips with it at this time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Tell us a bit more about the Web site and why we haven't seen it on Arab television, because it usually goes there, too.
ROBERTSON: An audiotape, we have had these audio recordings posted on the Web sites in the past. Perhaps this is an indication of al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden trying to cover his footsteps, if you will. We certainly know there's a lot of attention that's been placed on Al Jazeera, who's received recently videotapes of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman el-Zawahiri. So a lot of attention focused on the videotape trail leading to Al Jazeera. Perhaps there's a degree of anonymity here, posting this on this Jihadi related Web site.
These Web sites often post material like this. The material or the site disappears, comes down, and it reappears on another al Qaeda related Web site. And that appears to be exactly what's happening this day -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, we'll let you get back to trying to translate more of this tape.
Nic Robertson reporting live for us from London this morning.
More harsh words this morning for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This time those words are contained in a letter written by Republican Susan Collins of Maine. In that strongly worded letter, Collins says Rumsfeld's remark last week about the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq is troubling. Collins writes: "The Pentagon has received only 5,910 of the 8,105 of factory armored Humvees commanders say they need. Why was this request not placed earlier to increase fully armored Humvee production from 450 to 550 a month at a time when many of us brought to the Pentagon's attention the shortages relayed to us by our constituent troops and their families?"
Collins serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, by the way, with Republican John McCain, who's also been sharply critic of Donald Rumsfeld.
And since Rumsfeld's grilling on the issue of armor by a soldier last week, Washington has been scrambling to do a little damage control.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has a progress report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By shifting funds around and accelerating some production lines, the Army hopes it now has a handle on the armor crisis. But officials are warning it will still take months to have a completed armored fleet of trucks and Humvees operating inside Iraq.
BRIG. GEN. JEFFREY SORENSON, U.S. ARMY: This is not Wal-Mart. As we've gone through, this is a very detailed process in terms of trying to get this capability.
STARR: The current plan, to spend $4.1 billion over the next six to eight months to finish armoring 32,000 vehicles needed in the theater. Officials insist they are working as fast as they can. For example, even if they manufactured armored bolt on plates faster, workers can only install them so fast. SORENSON: If we can get some of these vehicles sooner there to theater, whether it's a day, a week or two weeks, any additional more capability that we can get there will save more lives.
STARR: The Army says they are getting all the money they need.
SORENSON: Money has not been an object. Anytime we've asked for money from either, the Department of Defense, the Army or the Hill, it has not been an issue.
STARR: But almost two years after the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon now says just 60 percent of the vehicles in the country are armored. And an acknowledgement from a senior officer again that it is tough to counter the changing tactics of the insurgents' roadside bombs.
LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, CENTCOM DEPUTY COMMANDER: They may use doorbells today to blow these things up. They may use remote controls from toys tomorrow. And as we adapt, they adapt. And we have been hoping that our technology would be more effective than it has been.
STARR (on camera): The hope now, 98 percent of the Humvees will be armored by March. The truck fleet will be protected by early summer. But military officials are strongly emphasizing that there is no silver bullet against the changing tactics of the insurgency.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Not enough armor, some say not enough soldiers to fight on the ground. Tours of duty are being extended. And maybe, just maybe the answer is women fighting hand to hand right along beside the men.
Live to Chicago to talk about this, and General David Grange.
Good morning, General Grange.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: You know, the "Washington Times" had an interesting article saying the Army may be moving toward eliminating the collocation policy. So put that into English for us.
GRANGE: Well, that's just where you have female soldiers operating side by side with male, males in certain units. And basically what it set up was that women would not be in units that were in direct land combat, which I don't really think is the issue, because everybody is in combat today because there's no front lines.
COSTELLO: So, why is the Army denying this report? Because some say the Army is denying it and some say those denials are disingenuous. But why not openly explore the idea of using women in direct combat? GRANGE: Here's the real issue. Where the issues are coming up right now is that women are in what they call forward support companies. They're maintenance companies that keep fighting units operating. And they serve certain -- these units serve certain combat units in very close proximity to those combat units, like armored tank units, infantry units. And the new organization the Army is going to has those units supporting closer than they have before.
But they're not really putting women in front line combat units. The issue is not putting women in harm's way. The issue is do you want, I think, anyway, women to be in these infantry Army units, which is really a miserable, rotten life. I can attest to that. And it's -- you just don't have time in those kind of operations to be concerned about separate facilities or some of the other issues that you have on, even on strength, that these units deal with.
It has nothing to do with putting a woman in harm's way.
COSTELLO: But women already are in harm's way. That's the rub, isn't it?
GRANGE: No, that's right. They are in harm's way and that -- so that's not the issue. The issue is you should not fill up combat units with females like infantry units living in a foxhole like the men do. You cannot go on house to house, street to street fighting. There's no time to where we go OK, we're going to have these kind of facilities for females, these for men. I'm talking about restroom facilities, the concern about carrying a hundred pounds when dashing across the street.
Yes, there are some females that can do that. But by and large, my experience in units are they cannot. My unit had 10 percent females. And in most cases, they cannot do some of the physical things that the men can do in those units. So it's not so much that they...
COSTELLO: Just because of their...
GRANGE: ... they have the opportunity to die. It's just that it's hard to operate.
COSTELLO: Because they don't have enough upper body strength.
GRANGE: It's the upper body strength.
COSTELLO: And I have heard that argument before.
GRANGE: And it's also just, you know, I mean think about it. Do you want to be in a foxhole? Most of the females I know in the military don't want to be in a foxhole with a grungy guy after two weeks in fighting. It just doesn't work out very well.
COSTELLO: Yes, but if you're short on troops that have to fight that way, then, you know, there's another pool to draw from.
GRANGE: Well, you know, there's -- I'll tell you what. I had some great female soldiers and a lot of the positions they were in, they ran much better than the guys. But in these infantry units, these armored units that are not -- where you don't go back to base camps, where you're just living in fifth for, you know, a month at a time and that, it's just not a good place to do it. It just causes more concern than it does operating.
If they need more troops, they need to recruit more troops.
COSTELLO: Oh, well...
GRANGE: The answer is not to try to switch out some of the physiological issues that are in combat today and try to pay for it...
COSTELLO: See, it would be interesting to talk to a female military officer about this, and maybe we will in the future on DAYBREAK, just to see if she has a different spin on it.
GRANGE: Well, you know, I talked to my wife about this last night, who used to be a military officer, a paratrooper.
COSTELLO: Oh, I wish that could have been on.
GRANGE: And she says why would a woman want to do that?
COSTELLO: Well, I don't know, it could be an interesting debate at some point down the line.
GRANGE: Sure.
COSTELLO: General David Grange, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
GRANGE: All right.
COSTELLO: Some big changes are being promoted at a White House economic conference that wraps up later today. The summit is pushing President Bush's second term domestic agenda. High on the agenda is Social Security reform. The president is pushing his proposal to create private retirement accounts.
Vice President Dick Cheney kicked off the summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will have an honest, straightforward and realistic discussion about the future of the Social Security system. The system has been in steady service, uninterrupted, for nearly 70 years. And Social Security is strong for today's senior citizens. But younger workers are understandably concerned about whether Social Security will be around when they need it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The president will make closing remarks at that conference this afternoon. CNN will bring that to you live at 1:30 Eastern.
A huge merger in the medical world to tell you about just ahead.
And we'll follow-up on that tense stand-off we carried live on DAYBREAK. How did that bus hijacking in Greece finally end?
Plus, the iPod craze brims over. Will Santa's sleigh be delayed?
But first, welcome a Stone or Beatle into your home? A small piece of rock history could be yours.
Here's what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone.
I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
A big health care deal to tell you about. Johnson & Johnson purchasing Guidant for over $25 billion. This is a deal that has been rumored for months and now it is official. And the deal could make Johnson & Johnson a very powerful player in heart devices. Guidant makes pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators and analysts say this is the key business J&J wanted to acquire.
Johnson & Johnson could, though, face regulatory scrutiny, particularly because of Guidant's stent business. Stents are tiny wires. They're made of mesh and they're used to prop open arteries to prevent them from clogging.
So, merger mania has been hitting Wall Street.
Meanwhile, though, futures are looking flat for today's session so far.
One stock to watch is Bed, Bath & Beyond, the home goods retailer, reporting profits up 21 percent in the recent third quarter. They also say they have over a billion dollars in cash on hand and they're going to use that money to invest it back in the business.
And that is the latest business news.
DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was the situation that never materialized during the Olympics, but the specially trained police force in Athens, Greece was well prepared to handle a hostage drama that played out on a city bus.
CNN's Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, has more on the lengthy stand-off.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the bloodless end that Greek officials had hoped for throughout the day. More than 18 hours after storming the bus with 24 passengers on board, the two gunmen released the last of their hostages, tossed out their guns and surrendered.
GEORGE VOULGARAKIS, PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This was the most complicated case we had to handle. But we had a positive outcome due to our professionalism and coordination.
VINCI: The gunmen were identified as 24-year-old Albanian nationals. They had demanded a $1.3 million ransom in exchange for the release of the hostages. They also wanted a safe passage to Athens airport and a flight to Russia. Their main motive, according to officials, was money.
CHIEF GEORGE ANGELAKOS, ATHENS, GREECE POLICE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): They claimed otherwise, but ultimately their goal was to get the money and go to alba.
VINCI: The drama had Greeks glued to their television sets, watching the gunmen gradually release hostage after hostage. None was harmed. Then, in the early evening, a chilling ultimatum. One hijacker, identifying himself as Hassan, told a local TV station that authorities had until 8:00 a.m. Thursday to pay the ransom or he would blow up the bus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I'm going to wait until 8:00 in the morning tomorrow, when the banks open, to wait for the money and a driver.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Up until now you have let off quite a few people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, but I'm not going to let any more go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Why won't you let any more go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I'm not letting any others. I'm off. Bye. I'm not letting any more go.
VINCI: But it was a bluff. Officials say the hijackers did not have explosives or other means to blow up the bus.
(on camera): This is the kind of scenario police officials here had prepared for ahead of the Summer Olympics. Thousands of special forces had been trained and equipped to deal with these kind of situations. In this case, police officials ruled out immediately international terrorism, but this bus hijacking serves as a reminder that some forms of transportation remain vulnerable to attack.
Alessio Vinci, CNN,
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Are you putting your holiday shopping purchases on plastic? We'll tell you what kind of rewards you can expect from your credit card company this year. Rewards, you say? Maybe.
You say you're a Beatles fan, but will you pay big bucks for mementos of the Fab Four? A really cool auction to tell you about next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We know it's only rock and roll, but we know you like it. The question is how much are you willing to pay to own a bit of Rolling Stone? How about half a million bucks for George Harrison's guitar? That price will leave you gently weeping. You have a chance to bid on that and more. The auction houses Christy's and Julien's are holding an auction here in New York City.
And to talk about it, Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien Auctions.
Good morning.
DARREN JULIEN, PRESIDENT, JULIEN'S AUCTIONS: Good morning.
Good morning.
COSTELLO: All right, let's talk about George Harrison's guitar.
JULIEN: OK.
COSTELLO: Half a million dollars. Is that the starting bid?
JULIEN: It's actually the estimate. It's half a million and up. And -- but what you've got to realize is that there's a guitar of George's that sold last year that he played for one year. It sold for $440,000. So this guitar he played from '66 through '69, far more significant. And...
COSTELLO: So he played it often and played some hits and...
JULIEN: Yes, he played it in "The Revolver" recording sessions. He also played it to promote "Paperback Writer," the film, and "Rain," that the Beatles did. And in 1969, John Lennon played it in their "White" album sessions.
COSTELLO: Oh, that is so cool.
JULIEN: So.
COSTELLO: So what kind of people bid for these things?
JULIEN: You know, it's funny, it's a lot of fans and a lot of collectors, obviously. But also people now consider it an investment. It's a fun way to collect and diversify your funds. You can hold onto the item for 10 years, enjoy it, and then sell it for a profit. COSTELLO: OK, that's...
JULIEN: Unlike a lot of stocks.
COSTELLO: You've got that right.
Let's talk about the next guitar on the auction block. This is Keith Richards and this has some special significance.
What is it?
JULIEN: Yes, well, it's the first guitar that he played. It was the guitar he played on "The Ed Sullivan Show." And it's his primary guitar through the '60s. And this guitar, you know, you say it's -- it was half a million dollars, well, the guitar itself is worth $300,000.
COSTELLO: Wow!
JULIEN: So it's not only the most significant guitar of Keith Richards' career as a Rolling Stone, but it has value as a guitar. It's a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, which is very rare.
COSTELLO: So where did you get it? Can I ask?
JULIEN: Actually, there's a whole history of it. It's -- it came out of London and in 1973, the Stones' management had allowed it to be given away to another artist on the Atlantic Record label. And so it's just processed hands. One gentleman in Europe had owned it for 30 years. So it's just now being sold.
COSTELLO: Oh, and it came into your hands. And I'll bet you're really happy.
JULIEN: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: This other item is just kind of strange to me. It's Elton John's credit card and it is expired.
JULIEN: Yes, fortunately.
COSTELLO: I cannot believe somebody would pay big bucks for this.
JULIEN: Yes...
COSTELLO: And that picture of Elton John looks like it's from 1972.
JULIEN: Well, you know, credit cards typically have been sold and they do very well, because it's a personal item that the celebrity had in their wallet and they carried with them. And this, in this case, it has Elton's photograph. So it further verifies the authenticity.
COSTELLO: That is so funny. And the final item that I'd like to talk about this morning is also kind of strange, Britney Spears, her book report is for sale.
JULIEN: Absolutely. And people ask us where we got that. But originally she sold it in a charity auction to benefit her foundation, the Britney Spears Foundation. And it went to a collector.
Now, that collector is now selling it. So...
COSTELLO: Oh.
JULIEN: But it's interesting that she gave it up because it has notes from the teacher saying that her proofread is messy. So why she chose that one, we thought she would have chose one with an A.
COSTELLO: What's the subject? What's the subject of the book report?
JULIEN: It's about her brother. It's called "Raymond's Run." And he's not quite right and she's OK with it. And that's basically what it says. It's a one page book report that she did approximately when she was eight, nine years old.
COSTELLO: He's not quite right.
JULIEN: Exactly.
COSTELLO: But he's OK.
JULIEN: You got it.
COSTELLO: Darren Julien, thanks for coming in and seeing us on DAYBREAK this morning.
JULIEN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: And the auction is Friday, by the way.
JULIEN: Friday, yes. 10:00.
COSTELLO: OK.
Some credit cards promise rewards. Are they worth it at all? We'll tell you about that with J.J. Ramberg.
Plus, that girl, Marlo Thomas, tells us how we can give thanks all year long and not just during the holidays.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Thank you for waking up with us.
I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.
We are following breaking news right now. A new audiotape has been posted on an Islamic Web site and experts say it sounds a lot like Osama bin Laden. Much of the tape is devoted to criticism of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. There is no specific date reference on that tape, that we can find, anyway.
Also, the controversy over the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq may just take time to resolve. The Pentagon says 98 percent of Army Humvees will have proper armor by March.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell and his likely successor today. Critics have called for Annan's resignation following allegations of corruption in the U.N. Oil For Food Program.
And the American Medical Association is addressing the dangers posed by teenagers to alcopops. The sweet flavored malt beverages are blamed for a jump in under aged drinking. One new poll found the average age of a girl's first drink is now 13, and that girls report drinking more often than boys.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: 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 Schuster is at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
He has more for us now -- good morning.
HENRY SCHUSTER, CNN EXECUTIVE 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 it and what we don't know about it. We know that the tape forces 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 in 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 to 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.
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Aired December 16, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
We do have a bit of breaking news to tell you about.
An audiotape supposedly made by Osama bin Laden has turned up on a Web site. In it, he describes an attack in Saudi Arabia that happened back on December 6, when the U.S. consulate was attacked in Jeddah.
Oh the phone right now, we have our own Nic Robertson to tell us more about this purported audiotape -- Nic, what can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the tape has only just been posted. One media company did report that it makes reference to June the 6th. However, our experts who are listening to the tape say that they do believe that it is Osama bin Laden, but that the message is about an hour or so long and so far our experts have not been able to find that section on the tape that makes a reference to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah just over a week ago.
But what we do know, that this does appear to be Osama bin Laden and he is talking about Saudi Arabia and he is putting the violence inside Saudi Arabia, the al Qaeda actions inside Saudi Arabia, he is putting that in the context of the global Jihad against the United States. And he also goes on to say that the problems within the country at the moment are the problems made by the royal family. He says that there are millions of poor people inside Saudi Arabia, whereas at the same time, millions of Saudi riyals, the currency there, are pouring into the pockets of a handful of royals. But really we have to hear more of what's on this audio recording. It is, it appears to be about an hour and a quarter long. It was posted and we got a copy of it, perhaps in the last half an hour or so. So you can see that we're still just getting to grips with it at this time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Tell us a bit more about the Web site and why we haven't seen it on Arab television, because it usually goes there, too.
ROBERTSON: An audiotape, we have had these audio recordings posted on the Web sites in the past. Perhaps this is an indication of al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden trying to cover his footsteps, if you will. We certainly know there's a lot of attention that's been placed on Al Jazeera, who's received recently videotapes of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman el-Zawahiri. So a lot of attention focused on the videotape trail leading to Al Jazeera. Perhaps there's a degree of anonymity here, posting this on this Jihadi related Web site.
These Web sites often post material like this. The material or the site disappears, comes down, and it reappears on another al Qaeda related Web site. And that appears to be exactly what's happening this day -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, we'll let you get back to trying to translate more of this tape.
Nic Robertson reporting live for us from London this morning.
More harsh words this morning for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This time those words are contained in a letter written by Republican Susan Collins of Maine. In that strongly worded letter, Collins says Rumsfeld's remark last week about the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq is troubling. Collins writes: "The Pentagon has received only 5,910 of the 8,105 of factory armored Humvees commanders say they need. Why was this request not placed earlier to increase fully armored Humvee production from 450 to 550 a month at a time when many of us brought to the Pentagon's attention the shortages relayed to us by our constituent troops and their families?"
Collins serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, by the way, with Republican John McCain, who's also been sharply critic of Donald Rumsfeld.
And since Rumsfeld's grilling on the issue of armor by a soldier last week, Washington has been scrambling to do a little damage control.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has a progress report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By shifting funds around and accelerating some production lines, the Army hopes it now has a handle on the armor crisis. But officials are warning it will still take months to have a completed armored fleet of trucks and Humvees operating inside Iraq.
BRIG. GEN. JEFFREY SORENSON, U.S. ARMY: This is not Wal-Mart. As we've gone through, this is a very detailed process in terms of trying to get this capability.
STARR: The current plan, to spend $4.1 billion over the next six to eight months to finish armoring 32,000 vehicles needed in the theater. Officials insist they are working as fast as they can. For example, even if they manufactured armored bolt on plates faster, workers can only install them so fast. SORENSON: If we can get some of these vehicles sooner there to theater, whether it's a day, a week or two weeks, any additional more capability that we can get there will save more lives.
STARR: The Army says they are getting all the money they need.
SORENSON: Money has not been an object. Anytime we've asked for money from either, the Department of Defense, the Army or the Hill, it has not been an issue.
STARR: But almost two years after the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon now says just 60 percent of the vehicles in the country are armored. And an acknowledgement from a senior officer again that it is tough to counter the changing tactics of the insurgents' roadside bombs.
LT. GEN. LANCE SMITH, CENTCOM DEPUTY COMMANDER: They may use doorbells today to blow these things up. They may use remote controls from toys tomorrow. And as we adapt, they adapt. And we have been hoping that our technology would be more effective than it has been.
STARR (on camera): The hope now, 98 percent of the Humvees will be armored by March. The truck fleet will be protected by early summer. But military officials are strongly emphasizing that there is no silver bullet against the changing tactics of the insurgency.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Not enough armor, some say not enough soldiers to fight on the ground. Tours of duty are being extended. And maybe, just maybe the answer is women fighting hand to hand right along beside the men.
Live to Chicago to talk about this, and General David Grange.
Good morning, General Grange.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: You know, the "Washington Times" had an interesting article saying the Army may be moving toward eliminating the collocation policy. So put that into English for us.
GRANGE: Well, that's just where you have female soldiers operating side by side with male, males in certain units. And basically what it set up was that women would not be in units that were in direct land combat, which I don't really think is the issue, because everybody is in combat today because there's no front lines.
COSTELLO: So, why is the Army denying this report? Because some say the Army is denying it and some say those denials are disingenuous. But why not openly explore the idea of using women in direct combat? GRANGE: Here's the real issue. Where the issues are coming up right now is that women are in what they call forward support companies. They're maintenance companies that keep fighting units operating. And they serve certain -- these units serve certain combat units in very close proximity to those combat units, like armored tank units, infantry units. And the new organization the Army is going to has those units supporting closer than they have before.
But they're not really putting women in front line combat units. The issue is not putting women in harm's way. The issue is do you want, I think, anyway, women to be in these infantry Army units, which is really a miserable, rotten life. I can attest to that. And it's -- you just don't have time in those kind of operations to be concerned about separate facilities or some of the other issues that you have on, even on strength, that these units deal with.
It has nothing to do with putting a woman in harm's way.
COSTELLO: But women already are in harm's way. That's the rub, isn't it?
GRANGE: No, that's right. They are in harm's way and that -- so that's not the issue. The issue is you should not fill up combat units with females like infantry units living in a foxhole like the men do. You cannot go on house to house, street to street fighting. There's no time to where we go OK, we're going to have these kind of facilities for females, these for men. I'm talking about restroom facilities, the concern about carrying a hundred pounds when dashing across the street.
Yes, there are some females that can do that. But by and large, my experience in units are they cannot. My unit had 10 percent females. And in most cases, they cannot do some of the physical things that the men can do in those units. So it's not so much that they...
COSTELLO: Just because of their...
GRANGE: ... they have the opportunity to die. It's just that it's hard to operate.
COSTELLO: Because they don't have enough upper body strength.
GRANGE: It's the upper body strength.
COSTELLO: And I have heard that argument before.
GRANGE: And it's also just, you know, I mean think about it. Do you want to be in a foxhole? Most of the females I know in the military don't want to be in a foxhole with a grungy guy after two weeks in fighting. It just doesn't work out very well.
COSTELLO: Yes, but if you're short on troops that have to fight that way, then, you know, there's another pool to draw from.
GRANGE: Well, you know, there's -- I'll tell you what. I had some great female soldiers and a lot of the positions they were in, they ran much better than the guys. But in these infantry units, these armored units that are not -- where you don't go back to base camps, where you're just living in fifth for, you know, a month at a time and that, it's just not a good place to do it. It just causes more concern than it does operating.
If they need more troops, they need to recruit more troops.
COSTELLO: Oh, well...
GRANGE: The answer is not to try to switch out some of the physiological issues that are in combat today and try to pay for it...
COSTELLO: See, it would be interesting to talk to a female military officer about this, and maybe we will in the future on DAYBREAK, just to see if she has a different spin on it.
GRANGE: Well, you know, I talked to my wife about this last night, who used to be a military officer, a paratrooper.
COSTELLO: Oh, I wish that could have been on.
GRANGE: And she says why would a woman want to do that?
COSTELLO: Well, I don't know, it could be an interesting debate at some point down the line.
GRANGE: Sure.
COSTELLO: General David Grange, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
GRANGE: All right.
COSTELLO: Some big changes are being promoted at a White House economic conference that wraps up later today. The summit is pushing President Bush's second term domestic agenda. High on the agenda is Social Security reform. The president is pushing his proposal to create private retirement accounts.
Vice President Dick Cheney kicked off the summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will have an honest, straightforward and realistic discussion about the future of the Social Security system. The system has been in steady service, uninterrupted, for nearly 70 years. And Social Security is strong for today's senior citizens. But younger workers are understandably concerned about whether Social Security will be around when they need it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The president will make closing remarks at that conference this afternoon. CNN will bring that to you live at 1:30 Eastern.
A huge merger in the medical world to tell you about just ahead.
And we'll follow-up on that tense stand-off we carried live on DAYBREAK. How did that bus hijacking in Greece finally end?
Plus, the iPod craze brims over. Will Santa's sleigh be delayed?
But first, welcome a Stone or Beatle into your home? A small piece of rock history could be yours.
Here's what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone.
I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
A big health care deal to tell you about. Johnson & Johnson purchasing Guidant for over $25 billion. This is a deal that has been rumored for months and now it is official. And the deal could make Johnson & Johnson a very powerful player in heart devices. Guidant makes pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators and analysts say this is the key business J&J wanted to acquire.
Johnson & Johnson could, though, face regulatory scrutiny, particularly because of Guidant's stent business. Stents are tiny wires. They're made of mesh and they're used to prop open arteries to prevent them from clogging.
So, merger mania has been hitting Wall Street.
Meanwhile, though, futures are looking flat for today's session so far.
One stock to watch is Bed, Bath & Beyond, the home goods retailer, reporting profits up 21 percent in the recent third quarter. They also say they have over a billion dollars in cash on hand and they're going to use that money to invest it back in the business.
And that is the latest business news.
DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was the situation that never materialized during the Olympics, but the specially trained police force in Athens, Greece was well prepared to handle a hostage drama that played out on a city bus.
CNN's Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, has more on the lengthy stand-off.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the bloodless end that Greek officials had hoped for throughout the day. More than 18 hours after storming the bus with 24 passengers on board, the two gunmen released the last of their hostages, tossed out their guns and surrendered.
GEORGE VOULGARAKIS, PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This was the most complicated case we had to handle. But we had a positive outcome due to our professionalism and coordination.
VINCI: The gunmen were identified as 24-year-old Albanian nationals. They had demanded a $1.3 million ransom in exchange for the release of the hostages. They also wanted a safe passage to Athens airport and a flight to Russia. Their main motive, according to officials, was money.
CHIEF GEORGE ANGELAKOS, ATHENS, GREECE POLICE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): They claimed otherwise, but ultimately their goal was to get the money and go to alba.
VINCI: The drama had Greeks glued to their television sets, watching the gunmen gradually release hostage after hostage. None was harmed. Then, in the early evening, a chilling ultimatum. One hijacker, identifying himself as Hassan, told a local TV station that authorities had until 8:00 a.m. Thursday to pay the ransom or he would blow up the bus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I'm going to wait until 8:00 in the morning tomorrow, when the banks open, to wait for the money and a driver.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Up until now you have let off quite a few people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, but I'm not going to let any more go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Why won't you let any more go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I'm not letting any others. I'm off. Bye. I'm not letting any more go.
VINCI: But it was a bluff. Officials say the hijackers did not have explosives or other means to blow up the bus.
(on camera): This is the kind of scenario police officials here had prepared for ahead of the Summer Olympics. Thousands of special forces had been trained and equipped to deal with these kind of situations. In this case, police officials ruled out immediately international terrorism, but this bus hijacking serves as a reminder that some forms of transportation remain vulnerable to attack.
Alessio Vinci, CNN,
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Are you putting your holiday shopping purchases on plastic? We'll tell you what kind of rewards you can expect from your credit card company this year. Rewards, you say? Maybe.
You say you're a Beatles fan, but will you pay big bucks for mementos of the Fab Four? A really cool auction to tell you about next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We know it's only rock and roll, but we know you like it. The question is how much are you willing to pay to own a bit of Rolling Stone? How about half a million bucks for George Harrison's guitar? That price will leave you gently weeping. You have a chance to bid on that and more. The auction houses Christy's and Julien's are holding an auction here in New York City.
And to talk about it, Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien Auctions.
Good morning.
DARREN JULIEN, PRESIDENT, JULIEN'S AUCTIONS: Good morning.
Good morning.
COSTELLO: All right, let's talk about George Harrison's guitar.
JULIEN: OK.
COSTELLO: Half a million dollars. Is that the starting bid?
JULIEN: It's actually the estimate. It's half a million and up. And -- but what you've got to realize is that there's a guitar of George's that sold last year that he played for one year. It sold for $440,000. So this guitar he played from '66 through '69, far more significant. And...
COSTELLO: So he played it often and played some hits and...
JULIEN: Yes, he played it in "The Revolver" recording sessions. He also played it to promote "Paperback Writer," the film, and "Rain," that the Beatles did. And in 1969, John Lennon played it in their "White" album sessions.
COSTELLO: Oh, that is so cool.
JULIEN: So.
COSTELLO: So what kind of people bid for these things?
JULIEN: You know, it's funny, it's a lot of fans and a lot of collectors, obviously. But also people now consider it an investment. It's a fun way to collect and diversify your funds. You can hold onto the item for 10 years, enjoy it, and then sell it for a profit. COSTELLO: OK, that's...
JULIEN: Unlike a lot of stocks.
COSTELLO: You've got that right.
Let's talk about the next guitar on the auction block. This is Keith Richards and this has some special significance.
What is it?
JULIEN: Yes, well, it's the first guitar that he played. It was the guitar he played on "The Ed Sullivan Show." And it's his primary guitar through the '60s. And this guitar, you know, you say it's -- it was half a million dollars, well, the guitar itself is worth $300,000.
COSTELLO: Wow!
JULIEN: So it's not only the most significant guitar of Keith Richards' career as a Rolling Stone, but it has value as a guitar. It's a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, which is very rare.
COSTELLO: So where did you get it? Can I ask?
JULIEN: Actually, there's a whole history of it. It's -- it came out of London and in 1973, the Stones' management had allowed it to be given away to another artist on the Atlantic Record label. And so it's just processed hands. One gentleman in Europe had owned it for 30 years. So it's just now being sold.
COSTELLO: Oh, and it came into your hands. And I'll bet you're really happy.
JULIEN: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: This other item is just kind of strange to me. It's Elton John's credit card and it is expired.
JULIEN: Yes, fortunately.
COSTELLO: I cannot believe somebody would pay big bucks for this.
JULIEN: Yes...
COSTELLO: And that picture of Elton John looks like it's from 1972.
JULIEN: Well, you know, credit cards typically have been sold and they do very well, because it's a personal item that the celebrity had in their wallet and they carried with them. And this, in this case, it has Elton's photograph. So it further verifies the authenticity.
COSTELLO: That is so funny. And the final item that I'd like to talk about this morning is also kind of strange, Britney Spears, her book report is for sale.
JULIEN: Absolutely. And people ask us where we got that. But originally she sold it in a charity auction to benefit her foundation, the Britney Spears Foundation. And it went to a collector.
Now, that collector is now selling it. So...
COSTELLO: Oh.
JULIEN: But it's interesting that she gave it up because it has notes from the teacher saying that her proofread is messy. So why she chose that one, we thought she would have chose one with an A.
COSTELLO: What's the subject? What's the subject of the book report?
JULIEN: It's about her brother. It's called "Raymond's Run." And he's not quite right and she's OK with it. And that's basically what it says. It's a one page book report that she did approximately when she was eight, nine years old.
COSTELLO: He's not quite right.
JULIEN: Exactly.
COSTELLO: But he's OK.
JULIEN: You got it.
COSTELLO: Darren Julien, thanks for coming in and seeing us on DAYBREAK this morning.
JULIEN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: And the auction is Friday, by the way.
JULIEN: Friday, yes. 10:00.
COSTELLO: OK.
Some credit cards promise rewards. Are they worth it at all? We'll tell you about that with J.J. Ramberg.
Plus, that girl, Marlo Thomas, tells us how we can give thanks all year long and not just during the holidays.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Thank you for waking up with us.
I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.
We are following breaking news right now. A new audiotape has been posted on an Islamic Web site and experts say it sounds a lot like Osama bin Laden. Much of the tape is devoted to criticism of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. There is no specific date reference on that tape, that we can find, anyway.
Also, the controversy over the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq may just take time to resolve. The Pentagon says 98 percent of Army Humvees will have proper armor by March.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell and his likely successor today. Critics have called for Annan's resignation following allegations of corruption in the U.N. Oil For Food Program.
And the American Medical Association is addressing the dangers posed by teenagers to alcopops. The sweet flavored malt beverages are blamed for a jump in under aged drinking. One new poll found the average age of a girl's first drink is now 13, and that girls report drinking more often than boys.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: 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 Schuster is at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
He has more for us now -- good morning.
HENRY SCHUSTER, CNN EXECUTIVE 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 it and what we don't know about it. We know that the tape forces 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 in 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 to 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.
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