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CNN Live At Daybreak
Donald Rumsfeld Under Fire; Pentagon's Plans; Identity Theft
Aired December 20, 2004 - 06:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Lisa Montgomery of Melbourne, Kansas, makes her first appearance in federal court today. Montgomery is accused of killing a pregnant Missouri woman and taking her unborn child. The baby girl is hospitalized this morning. She's in good condition in Topeka.
In eastern Pennsylvania, volunteers are expected to resume their search this morning for a 9-year-old autistic boy. The child, wearing a shirt, jeans and slippers, has been missing since Saturday. And temperatures in the area are not expected to get above 20 degrees today.
Workers are now clearing away debris from the site of yesterday's suicide car bombing in the Iraqi city of Karbala. Sixteen people died when the car exploded near Karbala's bus station.
And the Postal Service is ready for the busiest mailing day of the year for cards and letters, most of them holiday greetings; 280 million postmarks will be applied today compared with 100 million on just any old day.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is getting hotter for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This time, the heat stems from condolence letters he did not sign. Did you hear about it? Well, you will. Still, the Bush administration says Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job.
CNN's Elaine Quijano has criticism from the right and the left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a time when many families are celebrating the holidays, the Stubenhofers of Springfield, Virginia, are in mourning. Their son, 30-year old Army Captain Mark Stubenhofer, was killed in Baghdad December 7, when his unit was attacked by small-arms fire.
SALLIE STUBENHOFER, SOLDIER'S MOTHER: He was sad about leaving his family. He knew he wasn't going to be there for the birth of his third child. But he went willingly, and so we also felt proud. QUIJANO: But the Stubenhofers were shocked to learn that until now, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had not personally signed each condolence letter to the families of the fallen. They are still waiting for their letters.
PATTY STUBENHOFER, SOLDIER'S WIFE: He can't take the time to, you know, write his name. It takes a matter of, you know, not even a minute. We have made a huge sacrifice, and, you know, the least he can do is sign his name.
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld's admission was made public in an article in the armed forces newspaper, "Stars and Stripes."
In a statement, the secretary said: "I wrote and approved the now more than 1,000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action. While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter."
That admission drew sharp rebukes from both his supporters and detractors.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R) NEBRASKA: This issue of a secretary of defense not personally signing these letters is just astounding to me. And it does reflect how out of touch they are and how dismissive they are.
REP. ROY BLUNT (R) MISSOURI: It was a mistake, and it's a mistake that he's now said he'll rectify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does show a little insensitivity on his part. It certainly needs to be corrected.
QUIJANO: The controversy capping off a week of criticism of Rumsfeld from prominent Republicans. Some Democrats, while critical of this and his leadership on Iraq, are stopping short of calling for his resignation.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D) MICHIGAN: Unless those policies change, which is a presidential decision, it's not going to help just simply to change the leadership in the Pentagon.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: If we don't have different policies, frankly, it will just be a game of musical chairs.
QUIJANO: And although White House officials aren't commenting specifically on the letter-signing, the White House continues to stand by the secretary.
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him.
QUIJANO (on camera): A senior Pentagon official says Secretary Rumsfeld does much of his outreach to troops and their families, out of public view, often visiting wounded soldiers and widows. This official emphasizing the reason Secretary Rumsfeld allowed a mechanical signature to be used was so the letters would reach families as quickly as possible.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE
COSTELLO: And, as Elaine mentioned, some lawmakers say the Pentagon needs to revamp its policies. And that's the angle we want to explore further this morning.
According to "The New York Times," the Pentagon is drawing up a plan that would give the military a more prominent role in intelligence-gathering. But wait. Isn't that what the CIA does?
Let's head live to Washington and our military intelligence, analyst, Ken Robinson.
Good morning -- Ken.
KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, I guess the first question is: Why? Why would the Pentagon do this?
ROBINSON: The Pentagon has always wanted to have the United States' eyes and ears on any target that it's going to go after. If a military operation is going to occur, they've always preferred to have those eyes be different systems that they control or from human intelligence that they own on the ground and not rely solely on forces that may be foreign or may be from a third country service.
COSTELLO: So, is this meant to help the CIA or to replace what the CIA is presently doing?
ROBINSON: Well, the Department of Defense already is involved in clandestine support to military operations. And those operations are coordinated very carefully with the CIA. And currently, the CIA chief of station and the director of central intelligence has had oversight when DOD U.S. forces are used in any military operation.
The change now appears to be that the DOD would have primacy, and that would be a change in practice that's occurred for the last 50 years.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the first thing that comes to mind, Ken, is this is just another turf war that has to be battled out by two different organizations.
ROBINSON: Well, I don't think it will be turf, Carol. I think that the president will have to settle this pretty quickly with an executive order, because nobody wants to repeat what has happened in the Department of Homeland Security. That department has still had a tough time trying to rein in all of the departments and agencies that it swallowed.
And now these 15 departments and agencies of the intelligence community, if there's not a clear line of control with budget and firing authority, this new director of national intelligence is going to be a paper tiger. Nobody wants that. The president doesn't want it, and he's going to have to show the other departments and agencies that this person has his full support.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, I was just going to bring up that new department, that new intelligence director. Why not wait until that person is named and is on the job before you begin changing the way intelligence is gathered?
ROBINSON: I think the reason is $40 billion. The Department of Defense controls an enormous amount of the budget of the intelligence community, and it's looking out for its interests and its concerns about the controls of satellites, the controls of imagery, the controls of tactical intelligence for war fighters on the ground. And so, each department is trying to position itself for success.
We've seen this happen many times. You know, the intelligence agencies in the '60s were -- the services were taking their intelligence assets, and it was put into the Defense Intelligence Agency in a hope to reorganize and make intelligence better. But all we saw happen was the intelligence services of each Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps simply replicated that which was taken away from them. And so, the fear is that might happen again.
And so, it's got to be done. It's got to be legislated. There's got to be an executive order. And it's got to be tightly controlled by the president.
COSTELLO: And whoever gets that job as intelligence director has one tough job. Ken Robinson, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You might not get all you pay for when you buy that eco-friendly car. We'll get a crash course in small car safety. That's coming your way in eight minutes.
And we'll also find out how the latest movies fared at the box office this weekend.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We hope to learn more today about that gruesome killing in Missouri of the young pregnant woman killed, her baby cut from her woman -- from her womb, rather. The woman charged with the crime is scheduled to appear before a federal judge later this morning.
CNN's Jonathan Freed has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lisa Montgomery is charged with kidnapping, resulting in death. Now, she is accused of strangling 23-year old Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting Stinnett's 8- month old fetus out of her womb.
Now, the murder happened on Thursday, but police say that the story started on Wednesday. Montgomery contacted Stinnett in a chat room, wanting to buy a dog -- Stinnett is a dog breeder and was breeding rat terriers -- ostensibly about buying a dog.
Now, police say Montgomery traveled 170 miles from Melvern, Kansas, to Stinnett's home in Skidmore, Missouri, on Thursday to inquire about a dog.
Now, Stinnett's mother found the body Thursday afternoon. Authorities believed, though, that the baby could still be alive, and that's when they launched that massive search that got all the attention.
Now, later that evening, just after midnight -- that would be early Friday morning -- an Amber Alert was activated. Now that resulted in a tip being given to police, which led them to the Internet trail, and that led to police staking out Montgomery's house and arresting her later on Friday with the baby.
Now, federal documents, Carol, reveal that Montgomery confessed to these crimes. And this was a very emotional time for everybody involved, in particular the sheriff up in Skidmore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very hard for me to accept this. You know, I have two children and grandchildren and cousins. And to come upon something like this, nobody here could ever perceive this ever taking place, to have a fetus taken out of someone's womb, and then doing an Amber Alert and trying to find a child. It's inconceivable.
FREED: Now, Carol, we are told by the U.S. attorney's office that because the crimes happened in Missouri, the trial is expected to happen in Missouri. It's just that she was caught in Kansas, Lisa Montgomery was. She is here in Kansas City, Kansas, at this detention center. Tomorrow morning's hearing, Carol, is going to determine whether this initial hearing actually happens in Missouri or happens here, at which point the public defender will enter into the picture.
And it's still not clear when the formal arraignment will happen, and that is when a plea of guilty or not guilty would be entered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, it's just a terrible story. And they're going to explore it more on "AMERICAN MORNING" in about 15 minutes. In fact, they're going to talk to the U.S. attorney from Missouri to find out -- well, to try to answer all of those questions that our reporter just posed to you. And that will be in 15 minutes. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with much more on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If you're burning up your credit cards in this week before Christmas, you might be in for a shock when the bill comes in January. And this year, an increasing number of Americans will get an added shock when they learn their identity has been stolen. But, there are some things you can do to protect yourself.
Our DAYBREAK contributor, Ali Velshi, is here to tell us.
What...
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: About burning the credit cards or about protecting yourself?
COSTELLO: I think we know all about the burning of the credit card part.
VELSHI: This is a serious problem. It starts with this idea of fishing. Crooks have gone phishing -- "ph" instead of an "f." This is the all too familiar e-mail that you get. It looks like it comes from a place like eBay or Citibank or so many other places. But it's actually a scam designed to get you to click on a link in the e-mail and give up lots of personal information.
Now, phishing is just one way that crooks use to get information on you. All they need is some basic stuff, often not more than a credit card number, your birth date and your social security number. Then they can go and open up accounts in your name, take out loans, go shopping, and send you the bill.
Or, they can change your address with your creditors. You won't get the bill. You won't find out that someone is pretending to be you. And this is how identity theft starts.
Now, your monetary losses, if you're a victim, are usually protected, but your credit is going to be ruined. And on average, it can take up to two years to fix it. The system is stacked against you. First of all, you're victimized by the crime. And then you're hit each and every time you try to use or get credit again, because you're going to have to tell the story and prove that you didn't ruin your credit.
Now, check your credit report frequently. You should be doing so at least once a year just to see if there are errors and things that look unusual. But take a look for accounts that you didn't open, unusual late payments, non-payments.
Order one credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. There are three of them, because they are independent of each other, and they don't carry the same information. You've got Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Now, by September of next year, Carol, every American will be entitled to a free credit report. Right now, some Americans still have to pay for it. It's about 10 bucks apiece on average. And I'm telling you, it is worth it.
If you find out that you're a victim, here is what you do. First of all, it's a crime. Call the police and get an identity theft alert. Then call the creditors. Follow up in writing. Always deal with creditors in writing. And then contact the three national credit reporting agencies. Tell them what's happened, and activate what's called a "fraud alert."
Now, the fraud alert legally obligates creditors to do some extra checking when anything to do with you or your social security number shows up. It buys you some time. It gives you 90 days, and it buys you some time to clear up your name.
You can also get records from any businesses that opened up accounts, you know, through fraud.
Now, use that fraud alert, the theft alert that you got from the police, to get a longer fraud alert with the credit bureaus. And that means the credit bureaus have to block out information pertaining to the fraud. So, it stops being associated with you. Seven years is how long they block it. This is...
COSTELLO: You know, this all sounds like very complicated and a pain, but...
VELSHI: And that's the point. It's a pain, and you've got to do it in writing. And it is kind of stacked against you.
And not only that, because of all of this, it makes it tougher for you to get credit. So, yes, it's a pain. And then you get stuck with it.
Now, the state of Ohio wants to help people out. They're going to issue identification cards to victims of identity theft that they can use.
COSTELLO: Really?
VELSHI: Yes. With creditors, with banks, with police until such time that people have...
COSTELLO: So, you give them your driver's license and say, oh, don't pay attention to that person.
VELSHI: Yes, don't pay attention to that; that's somebody else.
COSTELLO: Pay attention to this person.
VELSHI: But we don't all live in Ohio. I mean, we kind of need a federal law to deal with this. It's a big, big problem. And if you haven't been a victim of identity theft yet, don't sit around and wait for it. Use fraud alerts with the credit agencies. It tells you when somebody is trying to open an account or get credit in your name.
Be careful with your personal information on the Web or on the phone. Don't just give it out. Everybody is asking for it. Foil the dumpster divers. Use a shredder. I mean, it's a simple matter. But that's where so much of this information comes from.
Ease up on giving your social security number to everybody who asks for it. It's not for everybody. There are other ways to identify yourself.
And don't ever link to a Web site in an e-mail that asks for personal information. If it's a scam, it's going to take you to a Web site that looks legitimate. I can't tell the difference. It's very hard to do that.
Be vigilant. It's the information age. You can't hold it all too close to you, but this kind of stuff is dangerous, until we've got better ways to deal with it.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Ali. Thanks for the advice.
VELSHI: All right.
COSTELLO: We'll try to solve it. Wow!
Well, let's check in with Kelly Wallace for a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. Great to see you.
A special series starting today about people who have had a significant impact in the year 2004. We call it "They've Got the Goods."
And today, we'll hear from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. As you know, he made headlines by allowing gay marriage in San Francisco. But did it cost him his political future? And how did the issue he championed impact the presidential election? We'll find out what he says also about any aspirations beyond the mayor's office. That's coming up today on "AMERICAN MORNING" -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I will be there in about, oh, 10 minutes. Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: We look forward to seeing you here.
COSTELLO: It's been a rocky ride on Wall Street this year. Should we expect smooth sailing in 2005? We bring you New Year predictions after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's been a bumpy ride on Wall Street this year. Interest rates are slowly but surely rising and the jobless claims are growing. So, will the economy get better in the New Year?
Joining us is Daniel Franklin. He's the editorial director of the Economists Intelligence Union.
Good morning, Daniel.
DANIEL FRANKLIN, EDITOR/ECONOMIST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, you have some good news and bad news for us. What would you like to start with, the good news or the bad news?
FRANKLIN: Well, let's start with the good news. I think the good news is that it should be a decent year for the economy. It's obviously slowing down. Around the world, the economy grew at record rates last year, the fastest in over 20 years.
That's going to slow, but I think we're still looking at respectable growth of about 4 percent, and in the U.S. about 3 percent.
So, that shouldn't be too bad, although it is going to be -- it's going to feel like a slowdown, because, as you say, interest rates are rising.
COSTELLO: OK. Go on to the next bit of good news. This is by -- the second reason to cheer. Go on, tell us.
FRANKLIN: OK. Well, I think around the world, what I would say is it may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually going to be a safer world broadly than we've seen in many, many years. If you look at the number of deaths in conflict, the number of people dying in wars, it's actually going down. And it may not be the impression you have when you watch CNN or when you pick up your newspaper.
But many of the wars in Africa, for example, have been winding down or experiencing some sort of cease-fire. So, the number of people dying around the world is diminishing.
COSTELLO: Interesting. I'm sure many people are hoping for that. OK. Your next bit of good news concerns Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tell us about that.
FRANKLIN: Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an article in the publication that I edit called "The World in 2005," in which he forecasts a California comeback. Now, obviously Governor Schwarzenegger is a very upbeat sort of character.
But he is saying that he's really not -- a lot of the systems in California are into shape. It's now the sort of place that is good to invest in again. And he's saying that it's always been a state where dreams are made. It's a state for optimists. And he's predicting that people will come to see that and realize that again in 2005, and people will be talking about the California comeback.
COSTELLO: Interesting. OK. Let's go to the less cheery notes for 2005. Let's start with Iran. FRANKLIN: Well, I think there is a concern generally about nuclear proliferation that there will be the danger that nuclear weapons will be spreading around the world. And Iran is the place where that is most apparent.
But it's not just Iran. It's North Korea as well, of course. And I think there will be a nervousness in 2005 about whether Iran in particular can be kept under control.
COSTELLO: And on the less cheery notes, you're predicting not- so-good news for the Middle East, although there's a general thought that it's getting better now that Yasser Arafat is out of the picture.
FRANKLIN: Yes, I think the Middle East could really go either way. It's either going to be a lot better or a lot worse. It's not going to be one of those years where it sort of stumbles through.
But as you mentioned, Yasser Arafat's death, that paves the way for new Palestinian leadership. And on the Israeli side, there is Ariel Sharon's plan for a pullout from Gaza.
So, the landscape is changing, which is surely good news. The bad news is that if things go wrong, it could go very seriously wrong, and we could see a further descent into violence. But I think there are grounds for hope that things will change for the better.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll check back with you in December of 2005. Daniel Franklin from the Economists joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you.
Today's mug winner will be announced in two minutes. But first, this is DAYBREAK for a Monday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right, let's not waste any time. Let's get right to our mug quiz winner.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We found some more mugs. And so now, we're going to give them away.
The question from Friday: How much of Elvis' estate is going to be sold in a merger? The answer was 85 percent. And what is the new bonus for a National Guard member if he re-enlists or she re-enlists for the next six years? The answer: $15,000.
And our winner from just outside Pittsburgh, Lisa Curtis, from Jeannette, Pennsylvania.
COSTELLO: Congratulations. And, of course, the next mug quiz will take place on Wednesday.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: I wanted to point out one interesting story, Chad, in the "New York Post," because it's so bizarre. Take a look at this. It says, "Con job," and it's about a fake beggar on Fifth Avenue in front of the Louis Vuitton store. You can see her right here. She's wrapped in a dirty blanket.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: She collets, like, 18 bucks in 20 minutes.
MYERS: That was before the cold front.
COSTELLO: Two hundred bucks a day.
MYERS: I know. There won't be any fake beggars out there in the cold air today, I guarantee you that.
COSTELLO: I don't know. She might be out there, because she finds when it's colder people are more sympathetic.
"AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now. Thanks for joining us.
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Aired December 20, 2004 - 06:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Lisa Montgomery of Melbourne, Kansas, makes her first appearance in federal court today. Montgomery is accused of killing a pregnant Missouri woman and taking her unborn child. The baby girl is hospitalized this morning. She's in good condition in Topeka.
In eastern Pennsylvania, volunteers are expected to resume their search this morning for a 9-year-old autistic boy. The child, wearing a shirt, jeans and slippers, has been missing since Saturday. And temperatures in the area are not expected to get above 20 degrees today.
Workers are now clearing away debris from the site of yesterday's suicide car bombing in the Iraqi city of Karbala. Sixteen people died when the car exploded near Karbala's bus station.
And the Postal Service is ready for the busiest mailing day of the year for cards and letters, most of them holiday greetings; 280 million postmarks will be applied today compared with 100 million on just any old day.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is getting hotter for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This time, the heat stems from condolence letters he did not sign. Did you hear about it? Well, you will. Still, the Bush administration says Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job.
CNN's Elaine Quijano has criticism from the right and the left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a time when many families are celebrating the holidays, the Stubenhofers of Springfield, Virginia, are in mourning. Their son, 30-year old Army Captain Mark Stubenhofer, was killed in Baghdad December 7, when his unit was attacked by small-arms fire.
SALLIE STUBENHOFER, SOLDIER'S MOTHER: He was sad about leaving his family. He knew he wasn't going to be there for the birth of his third child. But he went willingly, and so we also felt proud. QUIJANO: But the Stubenhofers were shocked to learn that until now, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had not personally signed each condolence letter to the families of the fallen. They are still waiting for their letters.
PATTY STUBENHOFER, SOLDIER'S WIFE: He can't take the time to, you know, write his name. It takes a matter of, you know, not even a minute. We have made a huge sacrifice, and, you know, the least he can do is sign his name.
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld's admission was made public in an article in the armed forces newspaper, "Stars and Stripes."
In a statement, the secretary said: "I wrote and approved the now more than 1,000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action. While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter."
That admission drew sharp rebukes from both his supporters and detractors.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R) NEBRASKA: This issue of a secretary of defense not personally signing these letters is just astounding to me. And it does reflect how out of touch they are and how dismissive they are.
REP. ROY BLUNT (R) MISSOURI: It was a mistake, and it's a mistake that he's now said he'll rectify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does show a little insensitivity on his part. It certainly needs to be corrected.
QUIJANO: The controversy capping off a week of criticism of Rumsfeld from prominent Republicans. Some Democrats, while critical of this and his leadership on Iraq, are stopping short of calling for his resignation.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D) MICHIGAN: Unless those policies change, which is a presidential decision, it's not going to help just simply to change the leadership in the Pentagon.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: If we don't have different policies, frankly, it will just be a game of musical chairs.
QUIJANO: And although White House officials aren't commenting specifically on the letter-signing, the White House continues to stand by the secretary.
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him.
QUIJANO (on camera): A senior Pentagon official says Secretary Rumsfeld does much of his outreach to troops and their families, out of public view, often visiting wounded soldiers and widows. This official emphasizing the reason Secretary Rumsfeld allowed a mechanical signature to be used was so the letters would reach families as quickly as possible.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE
COSTELLO: And, as Elaine mentioned, some lawmakers say the Pentagon needs to revamp its policies. And that's the angle we want to explore further this morning.
According to "The New York Times," the Pentagon is drawing up a plan that would give the military a more prominent role in intelligence-gathering. But wait. Isn't that what the CIA does?
Let's head live to Washington and our military intelligence, analyst, Ken Robinson.
Good morning -- Ken.
KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, I guess the first question is: Why? Why would the Pentagon do this?
ROBINSON: The Pentagon has always wanted to have the United States' eyes and ears on any target that it's going to go after. If a military operation is going to occur, they've always preferred to have those eyes be different systems that they control or from human intelligence that they own on the ground and not rely solely on forces that may be foreign or may be from a third country service.
COSTELLO: So, is this meant to help the CIA or to replace what the CIA is presently doing?
ROBINSON: Well, the Department of Defense already is involved in clandestine support to military operations. And those operations are coordinated very carefully with the CIA. And currently, the CIA chief of station and the director of central intelligence has had oversight when DOD U.S. forces are used in any military operation.
The change now appears to be that the DOD would have primacy, and that would be a change in practice that's occurred for the last 50 years.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the first thing that comes to mind, Ken, is this is just another turf war that has to be battled out by two different organizations.
ROBINSON: Well, I don't think it will be turf, Carol. I think that the president will have to settle this pretty quickly with an executive order, because nobody wants to repeat what has happened in the Department of Homeland Security. That department has still had a tough time trying to rein in all of the departments and agencies that it swallowed.
And now these 15 departments and agencies of the intelligence community, if there's not a clear line of control with budget and firing authority, this new director of national intelligence is going to be a paper tiger. Nobody wants that. The president doesn't want it, and he's going to have to show the other departments and agencies that this person has his full support.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, I was just going to bring up that new department, that new intelligence director. Why not wait until that person is named and is on the job before you begin changing the way intelligence is gathered?
ROBINSON: I think the reason is $40 billion. The Department of Defense controls an enormous amount of the budget of the intelligence community, and it's looking out for its interests and its concerns about the controls of satellites, the controls of imagery, the controls of tactical intelligence for war fighters on the ground. And so, each department is trying to position itself for success.
We've seen this happen many times. You know, the intelligence agencies in the '60s were -- the services were taking their intelligence assets, and it was put into the Defense Intelligence Agency in a hope to reorganize and make intelligence better. But all we saw happen was the intelligence services of each Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps simply replicated that which was taken away from them. And so, the fear is that might happen again.
And so, it's got to be done. It's got to be legislated. There's got to be an executive order. And it's got to be tightly controlled by the president.
COSTELLO: And whoever gets that job as intelligence director has one tough job. Ken Robinson, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You might not get all you pay for when you buy that eco-friendly car. We'll get a crash course in small car safety. That's coming your way in eight minutes.
And we'll also find out how the latest movies fared at the box office this weekend.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We hope to learn more today about that gruesome killing in Missouri of the young pregnant woman killed, her baby cut from her woman -- from her womb, rather. The woman charged with the crime is scheduled to appear before a federal judge later this morning.
CNN's Jonathan Freed has more for you.
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JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lisa Montgomery is charged with kidnapping, resulting in death. Now, she is accused of strangling 23-year old Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting Stinnett's 8- month old fetus out of her womb.
Now, the murder happened on Thursday, but police say that the story started on Wednesday. Montgomery contacted Stinnett in a chat room, wanting to buy a dog -- Stinnett is a dog breeder and was breeding rat terriers -- ostensibly about buying a dog.
Now, police say Montgomery traveled 170 miles from Melvern, Kansas, to Stinnett's home in Skidmore, Missouri, on Thursday to inquire about a dog.
Now, Stinnett's mother found the body Thursday afternoon. Authorities believed, though, that the baby could still be alive, and that's when they launched that massive search that got all the attention.
Now, later that evening, just after midnight -- that would be early Friday morning -- an Amber Alert was activated. Now that resulted in a tip being given to police, which led them to the Internet trail, and that led to police staking out Montgomery's house and arresting her later on Friday with the baby.
Now, federal documents, Carol, reveal that Montgomery confessed to these crimes. And this was a very emotional time for everybody involved, in particular the sheriff up in Skidmore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very hard for me to accept this. You know, I have two children and grandchildren and cousins. And to come upon something like this, nobody here could ever perceive this ever taking place, to have a fetus taken out of someone's womb, and then doing an Amber Alert and trying to find a child. It's inconceivable.
FREED: Now, Carol, we are told by the U.S. attorney's office that because the crimes happened in Missouri, the trial is expected to happen in Missouri. It's just that she was caught in Kansas, Lisa Montgomery was. She is here in Kansas City, Kansas, at this detention center. Tomorrow morning's hearing, Carol, is going to determine whether this initial hearing actually happens in Missouri or happens here, at which point the public defender will enter into the picture.
And it's still not clear when the formal arraignment will happen, and that is when a plea of guilty or not guilty would be entered.
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COSTELLO: Oh, it's just a terrible story. And they're going to explore it more on "AMERICAN MORNING" in about 15 minutes. In fact, they're going to talk to the U.S. attorney from Missouri to find out -- well, to try to answer all of those questions that our reporter just posed to you. And that will be in 15 minutes. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with much more on DAYBREAK.
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COSTELLO: If you're burning up your credit cards in this week before Christmas, you might be in for a shock when the bill comes in January. And this year, an increasing number of Americans will get an added shock when they learn their identity has been stolen. But, there are some things you can do to protect yourself.
Our DAYBREAK contributor, Ali Velshi, is here to tell us.
What...
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: About burning the credit cards or about protecting yourself?
COSTELLO: I think we know all about the burning of the credit card part.
VELSHI: This is a serious problem. It starts with this idea of fishing. Crooks have gone phishing -- "ph" instead of an "f." This is the all too familiar e-mail that you get. It looks like it comes from a place like eBay or Citibank or so many other places. But it's actually a scam designed to get you to click on a link in the e-mail and give up lots of personal information.
Now, phishing is just one way that crooks use to get information on you. All they need is some basic stuff, often not more than a credit card number, your birth date and your social security number. Then they can go and open up accounts in your name, take out loans, go shopping, and send you the bill.
Or, they can change your address with your creditors. You won't get the bill. You won't find out that someone is pretending to be you. And this is how identity theft starts.
Now, your monetary losses, if you're a victim, are usually protected, but your credit is going to be ruined. And on average, it can take up to two years to fix it. The system is stacked against you. First of all, you're victimized by the crime. And then you're hit each and every time you try to use or get credit again, because you're going to have to tell the story and prove that you didn't ruin your credit.
Now, check your credit report frequently. You should be doing so at least once a year just to see if there are errors and things that look unusual. But take a look for accounts that you didn't open, unusual late payments, non-payments.
Order one credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. There are three of them, because they are independent of each other, and they don't carry the same information. You've got Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Now, by September of next year, Carol, every American will be entitled to a free credit report. Right now, some Americans still have to pay for it. It's about 10 bucks apiece on average. And I'm telling you, it is worth it.
If you find out that you're a victim, here is what you do. First of all, it's a crime. Call the police and get an identity theft alert. Then call the creditors. Follow up in writing. Always deal with creditors in writing. And then contact the three national credit reporting agencies. Tell them what's happened, and activate what's called a "fraud alert."
Now, the fraud alert legally obligates creditors to do some extra checking when anything to do with you or your social security number shows up. It buys you some time. It gives you 90 days, and it buys you some time to clear up your name.
You can also get records from any businesses that opened up accounts, you know, through fraud.
Now, use that fraud alert, the theft alert that you got from the police, to get a longer fraud alert with the credit bureaus. And that means the credit bureaus have to block out information pertaining to the fraud. So, it stops being associated with you. Seven years is how long they block it. This is...
COSTELLO: You know, this all sounds like very complicated and a pain, but...
VELSHI: And that's the point. It's a pain, and you've got to do it in writing. And it is kind of stacked against you.
And not only that, because of all of this, it makes it tougher for you to get credit. So, yes, it's a pain. And then you get stuck with it.
Now, the state of Ohio wants to help people out. They're going to issue identification cards to victims of identity theft that they can use.
COSTELLO: Really?
VELSHI: Yes. With creditors, with banks, with police until such time that people have...
COSTELLO: So, you give them your driver's license and say, oh, don't pay attention to that person.
VELSHI: Yes, don't pay attention to that; that's somebody else.
COSTELLO: Pay attention to this person.
VELSHI: But we don't all live in Ohio. I mean, we kind of need a federal law to deal with this. It's a big, big problem. And if you haven't been a victim of identity theft yet, don't sit around and wait for it. Use fraud alerts with the credit agencies. It tells you when somebody is trying to open an account or get credit in your name.
Be careful with your personal information on the Web or on the phone. Don't just give it out. Everybody is asking for it. Foil the dumpster divers. Use a shredder. I mean, it's a simple matter. But that's where so much of this information comes from.
Ease up on giving your social security number to everybody who asks for it. It's not for everybody. There are other ways to identify yourself.
And don't ever link to a Web site in an e-mail that asks for personal information. If it's a scam, it's going to take you to a Web site that looks legitimate. I can't tell the difference. It's very hard to do that.
Be vigilant. It's the information age. You can't hold it all too close to you, but this kind of stuff is dangerous, until we've got better ways to deal with it.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Ali. Thanks for the advice.
VELSHI: All right.
COSTELLO: We'll try to solve it. Wow!
Well, let's check in with Kelly Wallace for a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. Great to see you.
A special series starting today about people who have had a significant impact in the year 2004. We call it "They've Got the Goods."
And today, we'll hear from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. As you know, he made headlines by allowing gay marriage in San Francisco. But did it cost him his political future? And how did the issue he championed impact the presidential election? We'll find out what he says also about any aspirations beyond the mayor's office. That's coming up today on "AMERICAN MORNING" -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I will be there in about, oh, 10 minutes. Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: We look forward to seeing you here.
COSTELLO: It's been a rocky ride on Wall Street this year. Should we expect smooth sailing in 2005? We bring you New Year predictions after this break.
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COSTELLO: It's been a bumpy ride on Wall Street this year. Interest rates are slowly but surely rising and the jobless claims are growing. So, will the economy get better in the New Year?
Joining us is Daniel Franklin. He's the editorial director of the Economists Intelligence Union.
Good morning, Daniel.
DANIEL FRANKLIN, EDITOR/ECONOMIST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, you have some good news and bad news for us. What would you like to start with, the good news or the bad news?
FRANKLIN: Well, let's start with the good news. I think the good news is that it should be a decent year for the economy. It's obviously slowing down. Around the world, the economy grew at record rates last year, the fastest in over 20 years.
That's going to slow, but I think we're still looking at respectable growth of about 4 percent, and in the U.S. about 3 percent.
So, that shouldn't be too bad, although it is going to be -- it's going to feel like a slowdown, because, as you say, interest rates are rising.
COSTELLO: OK. Go on to the next bit of good news. This is by -- the second reason to cheer. Go on, tell us.
FRANKLIN: OK. Well, I think around the world, what I would say is it may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually going to be a safer world broadly than we've seen in many, many years. If you look at the number of deaths in conflict, the number of people dying in wars, it's actually going down. And it may not be the impression you have when you watch CNN or when you pick up your newspaper.
But many of the wars in Africa, for example, have been winding down or experiencing some sort of cease-fire. So, the number of people dying around the world is diminishing.
COSTELLO: Interesting. I'm sure many people are hoping for that. OK. Your next bit of good news concerns Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tell us about that.
FRANKLIN: Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an article in the publication that I edit called "The World in 2005," in which he forecasts a California comeback. Now, obviously Governor Schwarzenegger is a very upbeat sort of character.
But he is saying that he's really not -- a lot of the systems in California are into shape. It's now the sort of place that is good to invest in again. And he's saying that it's always been a state where dreams are made. It's a state for optimists. And he's predicting that people will come to see that and realize that again in 2005, and people will be talking about the California comeback.
COSTELLO: Interesting. OK. Let's go to the less cheery notes for 2005. Let's start with Iran. FRANKLIN: Well, I think there is a concern generally about nuclear proliferation that there will be the danger that nuclear weapons will be spreading around the world. And Iran is the place where that is most apparent.
But it's not just Iran. It's North Korea as well, of course. And I think there will be a nervousness in 2005 about whether Iran in particular can be kept under control.
COSTELLO: And on the less cheery notes, you're predicting not- so-good news for the Middle East, although there's a general thought that it's getting better now that Yasser Arafat is out of the picture.
FRANKLIN: Yes, I think the Middle East could really go either way. It's either going to be a lot better or a lot worse. It's not going to be one of those years where it sort of stumbles through.
But as you mentioned, Yasser Arafat's death, that paves the way for new Palestinian leadership. And on the Israeli side, there is Ariel Sharon's plan for a pullout from Gaza.
So, the landscape is changing, which is surely good news. The bad news is that if things go wrong, it could go very seriously wrong, and we could see a further descent into violence. But I think there are grounds for hope that things will change for the better.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll check back with you in December of 2005. Daniel Franklin from the Economists joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you.
Today's mug winner will be announced in two minutes. But first, this is DAYBREAK for a Monday morning.
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COSTELLO: All right, let's not waste any time. Let's get right to our mug quiz winner.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We found some more mugs. And so now, we're going to give them away.
The question from Friday: How much of Elvis' estate is going to be sold in a merger? The answer was 85 percent. And what is the new bonus for a National Guard member if he re-enlists or she re-enlists for the next six years? The answer: $15,000.
And our winner from just outside Pittsburgh, Lisa Curtis, from Jeannette, Pennsylvania.
COSTELLO: Congratulations. And, of course, the next mug quiz will take place on Wednesday.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: I wanted to point out one interesting story, Chad, in the "New York Post," because it's so bizarre. Take a look at this. It says, "Con job," and it's about a fake beggar on Fifth Avenue in front of the Louis Vuitton store. You can see her right here. She's wrapped in a dirty blanket.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: She collets, like, 18 bucks in 20 minutes.
MYERS: That was before the cold front.
COSTELLO: Two hundred bucks a day.
MYERS: I know. There won't be any fake beggars out there in the cold air today, I guarantee you that.
COSTELLO: I don't know. She might be out there, because she finds when it's colder people are more sympathetic.
"AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now. Thanks for joining us.
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