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Internal Criticism Rises Against Rumsfeld; Hussein Prepares for Pre-Trial Hearings

Aired December 17, 2004 - 05:30   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Some prominent Senate Republicans have joined a chorus of criticism of Donald Rumsfeld. That criticism is being heard up the street at the White House. But the Defense secretary still has to have the full support of the only person that counts. More details now from our Senior White House Correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Defending the defense secretary is, of late, a staple theme at the White House briefing.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that Secretary Rumsfeld continues to do a great job while we're at war. We're a nation at war.

KING: No leading Republican lawmakers have demanded Rumsfeld's resignation, but a growing number are making clear they don't share the president's confidence in the defense secretary.

At home, in Mississippi, GOP Senator Trent Lott said of Rumsfeld, "I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers. I'm not calling for his resignation," Lott went on to say, "but I think we do need a change at some point."

Secretary Rumsfeld angered critics last week with his answer to a soldier in Kuwait who complained about a lack of armored vehicles in Iraq.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY, U.S. DEFENSE DEPT.: You go to war with the army you have.

KING: Already a Rumsfeld critic, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, fired off a letter to the secretary late Wednesday, noting the Pentagon asked a supplier to speed up production of armored HUMVEES apparently only after the soldier complained.

"Why was this request not placed earlier?" Senator Collins asked. Promising the issue would be a major focus when Congress returns in January.

Earlier this week Senator John McCain said he had no confidence in Rumsfeld. And Republican colleague, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also took aim. SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, (R) NEBRASKA: We didn't go into Iraq with enough troops. He's dismissed his general officers, he's dismissed all outside influence.

KING: One key congressional supporter suggest Rumsfeld's style is more an issue with the senators than his performance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think a lot of those folks want to be paid attention to. They're used to people listening to them at great length. And I think that sometimes the Senate thinks that the secretary has given them short-shrift.

KING: One senior White House official called the complaint, Washington chatter, mostly from long-time Rumsfeld critics. Senior Bush aides also saying showing any displeasure now would be tantamount to embracing Rumsfeld's critics and acknowledging major mistakes in Iraq.

(on camera): So, while the president is well aware of all this Republican grumbling senior aides say he tells them to make clear he thinks the secretary is doing a great job at a difficult time and that he has no second thoughts, at all, about asking him to say on into the second term -- John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: An interesting update on Saddam Hussein this morning. He met with one of his defense attorneys. And he does have a team of defense attorneys. It is the first such meeting since the former Iraqi president was captured a year ago. CNN's Kyra Phillips interviewed another member of Saddam's defense team. Wait until you hear what he has to say. So, let's go "Beyond The Soundbite" as Kyra asks attorney Issam Ghazzawi how Saddam will plead to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISSAM GHAZZAWI, SADDAM HUSSEIN ATTORNEY: Of course, he's not guilty. And nobody has the right to get him to trial. He's still the president, the legitimate president of Iraq.

You will ask why? Because, first of all, the aggression against Iraq, from the United States government, is illegal. It is an illegal war. Because they were not retaliating for an attack from Iraqis, on the soil of America.

Second of all, they didn't have the permission of the United Nations Security Council under (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to attack Iraq, which would have been legitimate, at that point. But they made a flagrant war of aggression against Iraq. And occupiers don't have the right to make any laws, to designate any judge, whatsoever his rank is, or to change or touch the constitution of the country they are occupying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: There you have it. The Iraqi special tribunal is preparing for pre-trial hearings for Saddam Hussein and 11 of his former top lieutenants.

Out to Maryland now, police there have arrested a man they say is involved in the fires that destroyed 10 homes and damaged 30 others. The suspect is a security guard who was responsible for watching over the subdivision of upscale homes that were under construction. Let's get more on the case from Jan Fox, with out Washington affiliate, WUSA. She's live in Greenbelt, Maryland, this morning.

Good morning, Jan.

JAN FOX, REPORTER, WUSA WASHINGTON: Good morning to you, Carol.

We're just a few miles from Charles County, but this is where the suspect will appear in court later today. This is the first arrest in one of the country's biggest arsons, but it may not be the last.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speed, did you light the fires?

FOX (voice over): It was a subdued Aaron Speed, handcuffed, taken from the Charles County Sheriff's Department last night. The 21-year-old security guard is charged with arson, the largest arson in Maryland history.

They say he is responsible for trying to touch more than 30 homes; 20 of them went up in flames. Residents are relieved to hear of an arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I can sleep. I was sleeping one- eye open.

AARON SPEED, ARSON SUSPECT: Get that camera out of my face. You stick it in my face again, ya'll gonna have a lawsuit.

FOX: Earlier in the day, Speed stood on his parents Waldorf lawn, furious about a search warrant executed by investigators just hours before.

SPEED: Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing willingly, to prove to them I am innocent. I'm taking a polygraph today that will show them I'm innocent. After this its done and over with.

FOX: Speed will appear before a federal magistrate later this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: Early on investigators suspected that an arson of this magnitude might be done by eco-terrorists, people who are irritated because this development threatened a nearby bog. But now that security guard will be charged with arson later today. His possible motive, a hate crime, because all of the new residents in this pricey development are African-American.

Carol, back to you. COSTELLO: So what evidence do they have against this guy, Jan. Did they search his home? Did they find something?

FOX: They searched his parents home and obviously they found enough to charge him with this arson. They say that also there are some accelerants, two accelerants were used and there was some devices that were quite crude, that did not light in 10 of the homes. We're not sure exactly what of that, they found in the home. They also towed a way a car.

COSTELLO: Jan Fox, live in Greenbelt, Maryland. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We want to share more details with you about the investigation and the suspect, Aaron Speed.

Speed's wife gave birth to twin boys earlier this year, but one died from intestinal complications.

Police say because of the large scale of the crime, they believe that at least two people are behind the fires. Of course, they are still looking for another suspect then.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is on a crusade. He's proposing to make it a misdemeanor to sell or rent violent or sexually video games to minors. Under his legislation punishment to retailers could be up to a year in the pokey. Other states have tried it, but with little success.

Pasco County, Florida is banning Christmas trees in public buildings. The county attorney decided they are religious symbols. And of course, people are complaining a lot about it. One of them, Mary Jane Graham (ph), says she's never read about a Christmas tree in the Bible.

In Atlanta, it's a hip-hop Christmas for more than 1,000 children. Nelly and his producer, Jermain Dupri, hosted Atlanta's biggest Christmas party. The rap artist said they spent about $10,000 to hand out over 3,000 toys.

Several prescription medicines have serious side effects. Still to come this morning, we take a look a drug safety.

Plus, does Mary Poppins break a leg on the London stage. We're shown the dark side of Mary Poppins, next. But first here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports, it is 5:42 Eastern. Here's what is all new this morning.

A security guard says he is Not responsible for a series of fires at a Maryland housing development. Aaron Speed is scheduled to appear in court today on arson charges. Federal investigators are still looking for others who may have been involved in destroying at least 10 homes.

The intelligence reform bill expected to get the president's signature today. Among the provisions of the bill, are a new director of national intelligence and an increase in the number of border security agents.

In money news, all of those Salvation Army bell-ringing volunteers are getting some help. Retail giant Wal-Mart says it will match up to $1 million in donations to the Salvation Army.

In culture, The Donald has made his decision, lawyer and tycoon wanna-be Jennifer Mazzie (ph), gets the boot on "The Apprentice". And West Point grad Kelly Perdew gets the job.

In sports, Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odem were hot last night, leading the LA Lakers to a 115/99 win over the Sacramento Kings. It was the Kings third loss in 17 games.

To the Forecast Center and Chad.

You know, Shaq and Kobe, compete against one another Saturday. That should be interesting, don't you think?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I have a couple words for that.

COSTELLO: What?

MYERS: We want hockey, we want hockey.

COSTELLO: Hockey's dead now, Chad.

MYERS: Afraid it is.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

COSTELLO: Super-calafragilistic-expeal-adocious (ph). Translation? Mary Poppins is back. The flying nanny is back, sans Julie Andrews. There will be no sweet singing nanny in this production. No, on stage in London, will be a darker, moodier Mary. In fact, she is so dark, children under seven will not be allowed in the theater. So, let's head live to London and "Time" magazine theater critic James Inverne.

Who knew that Mary had a dark side?

JAMES INVERNE, THEATER CRITIC, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, anyone who read the books.

I should just slightly correct you, though, Carol. Under sevens are advised not to come, under threes are actually banned.

COSTELLO: Oh, OK.

INVERNE: Ha-ha, although (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I think they're being a little over-cautious here. There's one sequence where the children are in the nursery and all the toys come to life and put them on trial and in fact pretend to shoot them, just so the kids can learn their lesson. And that a little scary for younger kids.

But I'd have thought, if you're over five, you can probably handle it. Especially, if you've seen some of the stuff on TV these days.

But as I say, anyone who has read the books will know that Mary Poppins can -- as I wrote in "Time" and I looked forward to get many letters of complaints from Mary Poppins fans -- that Mary can actually be a bit of a bitch from time to time.

She takes the kids on these wonderful adventures and at the end of it, when they're back in reality, she denies they ever happened. So, you can imagine these kids sort of trembling in their beds at night, going I'm sure that's what happened. And anyway she is extremely fierce and Travers (ph) writes, "her very apron crackled with anger."

They've toned that down for the show, but on the other hand this isn't the sweetness and light, peaches and ice cream Mary that you got from Julie Andrews.

COSTELLO: No, it sounds fascinating. It looks like quite a spectacle. But why bring Mary Poppins back to the theater? I mean, are people really interested in that now?

INVERNE: Well, I think people are always interested in a great show. And certainly the West End needs a few, after, you know, some high profile shows which haven't done so well in the last few years.

But, in fact, this is story which has been ongoing for several decades. The original ideas for a musical came from Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke themselves, on a radio broadcast. And someone say, hey, this would make a great stage show. But it was never taken up, partly because Pamela Travers, who wrote the books, hated the film. Because she always thought her stories were very dark and Freudian, and were as much for adults as for children.

And the film, to be fair, although fantastic animation and the blend with live action, is actually pretty paper thin in terms of story. But Cameron McIntosh, the great Ubar (ph) producer of the West End, who did "Phantom of the Opera" and "Saigon", and so on and so on and so on, almost every show you've ever heard of. Apart from the ones which Disney did, which he's joined forces with them for this.

He approached Travers (ph) and said I want to do a show and this was about 10 years ago, when she was 93, or something. And she said, she said, yes, fine. But you have to bring in some British writers. And so it has taken them 10 years to bring it to the stage. He's a man who takes his time. I'm not sure if Mary Poppins would have approved, given her catch-phrase is spit-spot.

COSTELLO: I have to admit, though ...

INVERNE: But, brought ...

COSTELLO: ...with the darker theme.

INVERNE: Yes.

COSTELLO: You know, going along those lines. Will the songs be there, like "Super-Calafragilistic-Expeal-Adocious" (ph) and "A Spoonful of Sugar"?

INVERNE: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: Yes?

INVERNE: Yes, they're all there. They're just not necessarily there in the same context. They've brought in a wonderful songwriting team, Stiles and Drew, who've added something like six new songs. Wonderful, hum-able new songs. If it wasn't still relatively early in the morning I'd sing them for you.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: Oh, good. Hey, can you translate? Super- Calafragilistic-Expeal-Adocious, for us? What exactly does that mean?

INVERNE: It means, the journalists can't spell, most of the time.

But, actually, in the show they give quite a good context for that. They all go along to this shop, because a crowd has run out of conversations. The go along to this lady who sells conversation. But she's out of conversation, she's only go some random letters left. And the letters, guess what, spell, Super-Calafragilistic-Expeal- Adocious.

COSTELLO: Oh.

INVERNE: There is this huge production number.

COSTELLO: Well, it sounds fabulous. And of course, most of us can't afford go to over to London to see it, but I guess, in two years it will come to New York, if its successful, right?

INVERNE: Yes, unless you have a magic umbrella. That works for some people I hear.

COSTELLO: OK.

INVERNE: And it's worth -- you know, open your umbrella and see what happens because it's a fantastic show. You really -- I don't know about flying umbrellas, but you walk out feeling sort of 10 feet off the ground. It's that good.

COSTELLO: Well, is sounds terrific. James Inverne, "Time" magazine theater critic. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We're going to take a short break, we'll be back with much more. You stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Gorgeous shot for you this morning. Good morning to you.

A question: Why do some prescription drugs remain on the market long after the drug companies report debilitating or even fatal side effects? Our Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen asks that question and she got some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tillman and Mary Harris were married for 47 years, raised a daughter, had grandchildren.

MARY HARRIS, VICTIM'S WIFE: Oh, I miss him terribly. Wish he were here.

COHEN: Tillman Harris isn't here because after taking a cholesterol lower drug called Baycol, he developed an unusual muscle wasting condition called Rhabdomyolysis. He became so weak his wife and daughter rushed him to the hospital where he died 10 days later.

Six months after his death Bayer pulled Baycol off the market. At that point, 31 people taking the drug had died of Rhabdomyolysis. And now the question is, could Bayer have prevented those deaths?

Tillman Harris died in February 2001. In March 2000, nearly a year earlier, an internal Bayer memo that was quoted in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" this month, stated, "Baycol substantially elevates the risk for Rhabdomyolysis compared with other cholesterol-lowering drugs."

Doctor Jerry Avorn is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the author of the book, "Powerful Medicines".

DR. JERRY AVORN: Baycol is one of several drugs that we are asking ourselves, how in the world did this drug stay on the market as long as it did.

COHEN: The answer, he and other say, is complicated. When drug companies hear of serious side-effects they have to, by law, report them to the Food and Drug Administration. But connecting the dots and analyzing the data is time consuming.

AVORN: They haven't had the person power to receive and deal with all of these thousands and thousands of spontaneous reports that the companies send in.

COHEN: If the drug company finds a side effect before a drug goes on the market, it legally has to show that study to the FDA, but the law prevents the FDA from making those studies public. Drug companies say the studies contain trade secrets.

Pharmaceutical companies say they reliably report side effects both before and after a drug is put on the market.

ALAN GOLDHAMMER, ASSOCIATE V.P., PHRMA: These are significant reporting requirements that companies engage on, on an ongoing basis.

COHEN: Concerning Baycol, Bayer says it "kept the FDA fully informed about all the pertinent safety information including adverse event reports....when Bayer became aware of an increased rate of reports of Rhabdomyolysis...it took appropriate action."

But the Harris family is left wondering, what if Bayer, what if the FDA, had taken quicker action before there were 31 deaths.

ROSE OGBURN, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: Somewhere in between the one and the 31 there were probably people who wouldn't have passed away.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story, head to our web site, CNN.com/health.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, will D.C. get a professional baseball team? And who will pay for it. We'll hear from Charlie Broughtman (ph), the announcer of the former Washington Senators. We're also soliciting your e-mail this morning on who should pay for the stadium.

And eight days until Christmas. Is your shopping done? If you wait any longer, you will pay more, a lot more. We'll tell you how much in the next hour.

This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: You know, Washington, D.C. is supposed to get a professional baseball team, but there's a snag now. Who's going to pay for it? Baseball says it should be taxpayer funded. The city council says, not so fast. So, the deal may be dead. So, we're asking you this question this question this morning: Who should pay for pro-sports venues?

And, oh, we've been getting and earful this morning, Chad.

MYERS: A random list of answers, Carol.

From Phil in Columbus, Ohio, "I think if the players want to make millions, and they want a decent place to play, then they should pay to build it."

COSTELLO: Oh, this is my favorite, this is from Myra. "Just put a tax on steroids, that would pay for the stadium." (LAUGHTER)

MYERS: That was short and sweet. From Canon, Illinois, "Hey, we pumped billions of dollars into Iraq. It seems to me that the people of Iraq can give us a half a billion dollars to build us a" -- ah, "liberating their country, should build us a stadium with a half a billion of their oil money."

COSTELLO: Interesting.

MYERS: Easy for me to say.

COSTELLO: I love this one, too. "Let's see, 35 bucks per ticket, 10 bucks for parking, 18 bucks for two hotdogs, and two cokes, $6.25 for a beer, 4 bucks for peanuts, 81 home games a year. It seems that I'm already paying for the new stadium for my Marlins. And they call it a game."

MYERS: Exactly.

James in Minnesota thinks that "Everybody should pay, the owners, players and fans. And also the city should pay because the city is going to get a lot of revenue from the games as well."

COSTELLO: We're going to read more of your e-mails in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

Because straight ahead on DAYBREAK, too, a security guard is charged with setting a $10-million fire. We're going to tell you more about that, too. The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired December 17, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Some prominent Senate Republicans have joined a chorus of criticism of Donald Rumsfeld. That criticism is being heard up the street at the White House. But the Defense secretary still has to have the full support of the only person that counts. More details now from our Senior White House Correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Defending the defense secretary is, of late, a staple theme at the White House briefing.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that Secretary Rumsfeld continues to do a great job while we're at war. We're a nation at war.

KING: No leading Republican lawmakers have demanded Rumsfeld's resignation, but a growing number are making clear they don't share the president's confidence in the defense secretary.

At home, in Mississippi, GOP Senator Trent Lott said of Rumsfeld, "I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers. I'm not calling for his resignation," Lott went on to say, "but I think we do need a change at some point."

Secretary Rumsfeld angered critics last week with his answer to a soldier in Kuwait who complained about a lack of armored vehicles in Iraq.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY, U.S. DEFENSE DEPT.: You go to war with the army you have.

KING: Already a Rumsfeld critic, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, fired off a letter to the secretary late Wednesday, noting the Pentagon asked a supplier to speed up production of armored HUMVEES apparently only after the soldier complained.

"Why was this request not placed earlier?" Senator Collins asked. Promising the issue would be a major focus when Congress returns in January.

Earlier this week Senator John McCain said he had no confidence in Rumsfeld. And Republican colleague, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also took aim. SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, (R) NEBRASKA: We didn't go into Iraq with enough troops. He's dismissed his general officers, he's dismissed all outside influence.

KING: One key congressional supporter suggest Rumsfeld's style is more an issue with the senators than his performance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think a lot of those folks want to be paid attention to. They're used to people listening to them at great length. And I think that sometimes the Senate thinks that the secretary has given them short-shrift.

KING: One senior White House official called the complaint, Washington chatter, mostly from long-time Rumsfeld critics. Senior Bush aides also saying showing any displeasure now would be tantamount to embracing Rumsfeld's critics and acknowledging major mistakes in Iraq.

(on camera): So, while the president is well aware of all this Republican grumbling senior aides say he tells them to make clear he thinks the secretary is doing a great job at a difficult time and that he has no second thoughts, at all, about asking him to say on into the second term -- John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: An interesting update on Saddam Hussein this morning. He met with one of his defense attorneys. And he does have a team of defense attorneys. It is the first such meeting since the former Iraqi president was captured a year ago. CNN's Kyra Phillips interviewed another member of Saddam's defense team. Wait until you hear what he has to say. So, let's go "Beyond The Soundbite" as Kyra asks attorney Issam Ghazzawi how Saddam will plead to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISSAM GHAZZAWI, SADDAM HUSSEIN ATTORNEY: Of course, he's not guilty. And nobody has the right to get him to trial. He's still the president, the legitimate president of Iraq.

You will ask why? Because, first of all, the aggression against Iraq, from the United States government, is illegal. It is an illegal war. Because they were not retaliating for an attack from Iraqis, on the soil of America.

Second of all, they didn't have the permission of the United Nations Security Council under (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to attack Iraq, which would have been legitimate, at that point. But they made a flagrant war of aggression against Iraq. And occupiers don't have the right to make any laws, to designate any judge, whatsoever his rank is, or to change or touch the constitution of the country they are occupying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: There you have it. The Iraqi special tribunal is preparing for pre-trial hearings for Saddam Hussein and 11 of his former top lieutenants.

Out to Maryland now, police there have arrested a man they say is involved in the fires that destroyed 10 homes and damaged 30 others. The suspect is a security guard who was responsible for watching over the subdivision of upscale homes that were under construction. Let's get more on the case from Jan Fox, with out Washington affiliate, WUSA. She's live in Greenbelt, Maryland, this morning.

Good morning, Jan.

JAN FOX, REPORTER, WUSA WASHINGTON: Good morning to you, Carol.

We're just a few miles from Charles County, but this is where the suspect will appear in court later today. This is the first arrest in one of the country's biggest arsons, but it may not be the last.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speed, did you light the fires?

FOX (voice over): It was a subdued Aaron Speed, handcuffed, taken from the Charles County Sheriff's Department last night. The 21-year-old security guard is charged with arson, the largest arson in Maryland history.

They say he is responsible for trying to touch more than 30 homes; 20 of them went up in flames. Residents are relieved to hear of an arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I can sleep. I was sleeping one- eye open.

AARON SPEED, ARSON SUSPECT: Get that camera out of my face. You stick it in my face again, ya'll gonna have a lawsuit.

FOX: Earlier in the day, Speed stood on his parents Waldorf lawn, furious about a search warrant executed by investigators just hours before.

SPEED: Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing willingly, to prove to them I am innocent. I'm taking a polygraph today that will show them I'm innocent. After this its done and over with.

FOX: Speed will appear before a federal magistrate later this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: Early on investigators suspected that an arson of this magnitude might be done by eco-terrorists, people who are irritated because this development threatened a nearby bog. But now that security guard will be charged with arson later today. His possible motive, a hate crime, because all of the new residents in this pricey development are African-American.

Carol, back to you. COSTELLO: So what evidence do they have against this guy, Jan. Did they search his home? Did they find something?

FOX: They searched his parents home and obviously they found enough to charge him with this arson. They say that also there are some accelerants, two accelerants were used and there was some devices that were quite crude, that did not light in 10 of the homes. We're not sure exactly what of that, they found in the home. They also towed a way a car.

COSTELLO: Jan Fox, live in Greenbelt, Maryland. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We want to share more details with you about the investigation and the suspect, Aaron Speed.

Speed's wife gave birth to twin boys earlier this year, but one died from intestinal complications.

Police say because of the large scale of the crime, they believe that at least two people are behind the fires. Of course, they are still looking for another suspect then.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is on a crusade. He's proposing to make it a misdemeanor to sell or rent violent or sexually video games to minors. Under his legislation punishment to retailers could be up to a year in the pokey. Other states have tried it, but with little success.

Pasco County, Florida is banning Christmas trees in public buildings. The county attorney decided they are religious symbols. And of course, people are complaining a lot about it. One of them, Mary Jane Graham (ph), says she's never read about a Christmas tree in the Bible.

In Atlanta, it's a hip-hop Christmas for more than 1,000 children. Nelly and his producer, Jermain Dupri, hosted Atlanta's biggest Christmas party. The rap artist said they spent about $10,000 to hand out over 3,000 toys.

Several prescription medicines have serious side effects. Still to come this morning, we take a look a drug safety.

Plus, does Mary Poppins break a leg on the London stage. We're shown the dark side of Mary Poppins, next. But first here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports, it is 5:42 Eastern. Here's what is all new this morning.

A security guard says he is Not responsible for a series of fires at a Maryland housing development. Aaron Speed is scheduled to appear in court today on arson charges. Federal investigators are still looking for others who may have been involved in destroying at least 10 homes.

The intelligence reform bill expected to get the president's signature today. Among the provisions of the bill, are a new director of national intelligence and an increase in the number of border security agents.

In money news, all of those Salvation Army bell-ringing volunteers are getting some help. Retail giant Wal-Mart says it will match up to $1 million in donations to the Salvation Army.

In culture, The Donald has made his decision, lawyer and tycoon wanna-be Jennifer Mazzie (ph), gets the boot on "The Apprentice". And West Point grad Kelly Perdew gets the job.

In sports, Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odem were hot last night, leading the LA Lakers to a 115/99 win over the Sacramento Kings. It was the Kings third loss in 17 games.

To the Forecast Center and Chad.

You know, Shaq and Kobe, compete against one another Saturday. That should be interesting, don't you think?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I have a couple words for that.

COSTELLO: What?

MYERS: We want hockey, we want hockey.

COSTELLO: Hockey's dead now, Chad.

MYERS: Afraid it is.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

COSTELLO: Super-calafragilistic-expeal-adocious (ph). Translation? Mary Poppins is back. The flying nanny is back, sans Julie Andrews. There will be no sweet singing nanny in this production. No, on stage in London, will be a darker, moodier Mary. In fact, she is so dark, children under seven will not be allowed in the theater. So, let's head live to London and "Time" magazine theater critic James Inverne.

Who knew that Mary had a dark side?

JAMES INVERNE, THEATER CRITIC, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, anyone who read the books.

I should just slightly correct you, though, Carol. Under sevens are advised not to come, under threes are actually banned.

COSTELLO: Oh, OK.

INVERNE: Ha-ha, although (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I think they're being a little over-cautious here. There's one sequence where the children are in the nursery and all the toys come to life and put them on trial and in fact pretend to shoot them, just so the kids can learn their lesson. And that a little scary for younger kids.

But I'd have thought, if you're over five, you can probably handle it. Especially, if you've seen some of the stuff on TV these days.

But as I say, anyone who has read the books will know that Mary Poppins can -- as I wrote in "Time" and I looked forward to get many letters of complaints from Mary Poppins fans -- that Mary can actually be a bit of a bitch from time to time.

She takes the kids on these wonderful adventures and at the end of it, when they're back in reality, she denies they ever happened. So, you can imagine these kids sort of trembling in their beds at night, going I'm sure that's what happened. And anyway she is extremely fierce and Travers (ph) writes, "her very apron crackled with anger."

They've toned that down for the show, but on the other hand this isn't the sweetness and light, peaches and ice cream Mary that you got from Julie Andrews.

COSTELLO: No, it sounds fascinating. It looks like quite a spectacle. But why bring Mary Poppins back to the theater? I mean, are people really interested in that now?

INVERNE: Well, I think people are always interested in a great show. And certainly the West End needs a few, after, you know, some high profile shows which haven't done so well in the last few years.

But, in fact, this is story which has been ongoing for several decades. The original ideas for a musical came from Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke themselves, on a radio broadcast. And someone say, hey, this would make a great stage show. But it was never taken up, partly because Pamela Travers, who wrote the books, hated the film. Because she always thought her stories were very dark and Freudian, and were as much for adults as for children.

And the film, to be fair, although fantastic animation and the blend with live action, is actually pretty paper thin in terms of story. But Cameron McIntosh, the great Ubar (ph) producer of the West End, who did "Phantom of the Opera" and "Saigon", and so on and so on and so on, almost every show you've ever heard of. Apart from the ones which Disney did, which he's joined forces with them for this.

He approached Travers (ph) and said I want to do a show and this was about 10 years ago, when she was 93, or something. And she said, she said, yes, fine. But you have to bring in some British writers. And so it has taken them 10 years to bring it to the stage. He's a man who takes his time. I'm not sure if Mary Poppins would have approved, given her catch-phrase is spit-spot.

COSTELLO: I have to admit, though ...

INVERNE: But, brought ...

COSTELLO: ...with the darker theme.

INVERNE: Yes.

COSTELLO: You know, going along those lines. Will the songs be there, like "Super-Calafragilistic-Expeal-Adocious" (ph) and "A Spoonful of Sugar"?

INVERNE: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: Yes?

INVERNE: Yes, they're all there. They're just not necessarily there in the same context. They've brought in a wonderful songwriting team, Stiles and Drew, who've added something like six new songs. Wonderful, hum-able new songs. If it wasn't still relatively early in the morning I'd sing them for you.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: Oh, good. Hey, can you translate? Super- Calafragilistic-Expeal-Adocious, for us? What exactly does that mean?

INVERNE: It means, the journalists can't spell, most of the time.

But, actually, in the show they give quite a good context for that. They all go along to this shop, because a crowd has run out of conversations. The go along to this lady who sells conversation. But she's out of conversation, she's only go some random letters left. And the letters, guess what, spell, Super-Calafragilistic-Expeal- Adocious.

COSTELLO: Oh.

INVERNE: There is this huge production number.

COSTELLO: Well, it sounds fabulous. And of course, most of us can't afford go to over to London to see it, but I guess, in two years it will come to New York, if its successful, right?

INVERNE: Yes, unless you have a magic umbrella. That works for some people I hear.

COSTELLO: OK.

INVERNE: And it's worth -- you know, open your umbrella and see what happens because it's a fantastic show. You really -- I don't know about flying umbrellas, but you walk out feeling sort of 10 feet off the ground. It's that good.

COSTELLO: Well, is sounds terrific. James Inverne, "Time" magazine theater critic. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We're going to take a short break, we'll be back with much more. You stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Gorgeous shot for you this morning. Good morning to you.

A question: Why do some prescription drugs remain on the market long after the drug companies report debilitating or even fatal side effects? Our Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen asks that question and she got some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tillman and Mary Harris were married for 47 years, raised a daughter, had grandchildren.

MARY HARRIS, VICTIM'S WIFE: Oh, I miss him terribly. Wish he were here.

COHEN: Tillman Harris isn't here because after taking a cholesterol lower drug called Baycol, he developed an unusual muscle wasting condition called Rhabdomyolysis. He became so weak his wife and daughter rushed him to the hospital where he died 10 days later.

Six months after his death Bayer pulled Baycol off the market. At that point, 31 people taking the drug had died of Rhabdomyolysis. And now the question is, could Bayer have prevented those deaths?

Tillman Harris died in February 2001. In March 2000, nearly a year earlier, an internal Bayer memo that was quoted in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" this month, stated, "Baycol substantially elevates the risk for Rhabdomyolysis compared with other cholesterol-lowering drugs."

Doctor Jerry Avorn is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the author of the book, "Powerful Medicines".

DR. JERRY AVORN: Baycol is one of several drugs that we are asking ourselves, how in the world did this drug stay on the market as long as it did.

COHEN: The answer, he and other say, is complicated. When drug companies hear of serious side-effects they have to, by law, report them to the Food and Drug Administration. But connecting the dots and analyzing the data is time consuming.

AVORN: They haven't had the person power to receive and deal with all of these thousands and thousands of spontaneous reports that the companies send in.

COHEN: If the drug company finds a side effect before a drug goes on the market, it legally has to show that study to the FDA, but the law prevents the FDA from making those studies public. Drug companies say the studies contain trade secrets.

Pharmaceutical companies say they reliably report side effects both before and after a drug is put on the market.

ALAN GOLDHAMMER, ASSOCIATE V.P., PHRMA: These are significant reporting requirements that companies engage on, on an ongoing basis.

COHEN: Concerning Baycol, Bayer says it "kept the FDA fully informed about all the pertinent safety information including adverse event reports....when Bayer became aware of an increased rate of reports of Rhabdomyolysis...it took appropriate action."

But the Harris family is left wondering, what if Bayer, what if the FDA, had taken quicker action before there were 31 deaths.

ROSE OGBURN, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: Somewhere in between the one and the 31 there were probably people who wouldn't have passed away.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story, head to our web site, CNN.com/health.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, will D.C. get a professional baseball team? And who will pay for it. We'll hear from Charlie Broughtman (ph), the announcer of the former Washington Senators. We're also soliciting your e-mail this morning on who should pay for the stadium.

And eight days until Christmas. Is your shopping done? If you wait any longer, you will pay more, a lot more. We'll tell you how much in the next hour.

This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: You know, Washington, D.C. is supposed to get a professional baseball team, but there's a snag now. Who's going to pay for it? Baseball says it should be taxpayer funded. The city council says, not so fast. So, the deal may be dead. So, we're asking you this question this question this morning: Who should pay for pro-sports venues?

And, oh, we've been getting and earful this morning, Chad.

MYERS: A random list of answers, Carol.

From Phil in Columbus, Ohio, "I think if the players want to make millions, and they want a decent place to play, then they should pay to build it."

COSTELLO: Oh, this is my favorite, this is from Myra. "Just put a tax on steroids, that would pay for the stadium." (LAUGHTER)

MYERS: That was short and sweet. From Canon, Illinois, "Hey, we pumped billions of dollars into Iraq. It seems to me that the people of Iraq can give us a half a billion dollars to build us a" -- ah, "liberating their country, should build us a stadium with a half a billion of their oil money."

COSTELLO: Interesting.

MYERS: Easy for me to say.

COSTELLO: I love this one, too. "Let's see, 35 bucks per ticket, 10 bucks for parking, 18 bucks for two hotdogs, and two cokes, $6.25 for a beer, 4 bucks for peanuts, 81 home games a year. It seems that I'm already paying for the new stadium for my Marlins. And they call it a game."

MYERS: Exactly.

James in Minnesota thinks that "Everybody should pay, the owners, players and fans. And also the city should pay because the city is going to get a lot of revenue from the games as well."

COSTELLO: We're going to read more of your e-mails in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

Because straight ahead on DAYBREAK, too, a security guard is charged with setting a $10-million fire. We're going to tell you more about that, too. The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

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