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CNN Live At Daybreak
Rice Hearings to Begin; Airbus Unveils A380
Aired January 18, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a major political party in Baghdad is targeted. And in Mosul, the U.S. military goes after insurgents. We'll take you live to Iraq in just a few minutes.
Plus, going on right now, a giant in the sky. This is a live picture you're looking at from the south of France. European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is unveiling the largest airliner ever built. It's a monster. Our Richard Quest will join us live from France for more on that.
And CNN's "Defending America" series -- is the nation's largest subway system safe? We'll take a look at the half hour.
It is Tuesday, January 18.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, the office of one of Iraq's largest Shiite political parties is targeted by a suicide car bomber in Baghdad. An Iraqi guard who fired on the vehicle to stop it was killed. Seven other people were injured.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice moves into the spotlight this morning. Rice goes before a Senate committee four hours from now for a hearing on her nomination as secretary of state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is about to walk a political tightrope. He'll meet this morning with militants in Gaza to try to persuade them to stop their attacks on Israelis.
And the palm tree says Florida, but the temperature says something else. A hard freeze warning is out for most of north Florida. South Florida is under a wind chill advisory. Oh, you've got to be kidding -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's 51 in Miami right now.
COSTELLO: Oh!
MYERS: They don't know how to handle that, Carol. It is so cold down there, relatively. COSTELLO: Yes. It's 15 degrees here this morning.
MYERS: Take somebody from Grand Forks, North Dakota and put them in Key West and tell them it's cold and then they'll have a different opinion.
COSTELLO: Yes, cry me a river.
MYERS: Exactly.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is so cold this morning, I can't even describe it.
MYERS: It is winter. Winter. That's how you would describe it.
COSTELLO: Oh, right.
OK, thank you, Chad.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: More now on our top story, the Senate confirmation hearing on Condoleezza Rice. It's a rare chance for Democrats to grill one of President Bush's closest advisers.
And as CNN Congressional correspondent Ed Henry reports, Rice will be facing an all out blitz.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Condoleezza Rice is such a big football fan, she's toyed with the idea of some day becoming commissioner of the NFL. For now, she just wants to be secretary of state. And Rice's love of the gridiron may be good practice for her confirmation hearings.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: While they will try to play this bump and run, try to knock her off stride, ultimately they're going to be voting for her to be secretary of state.
HENRY: Democrats plan tough questions about Rice's time as national security adviser, from her handling of terror warnings before 9/11 to her role in faulty intelligence reports leading up to the war in Iraq. Democrats also say Rice may be too close to the president, unlike outgoing secretary of state, Colin Powell, who has been seen as a moderating influence in the cabinet.
SUSAN RICE, FORMER JOHN KERRY ADVISER: When you look at a secretary of defense who's been as forceful and effective as Donald Rumsfeld, for good or for ill, he's a tough customer. And she'll have to show whether she has the stuff to stand up and fight. HENRY: Republican Committee Chairman Richard Lugar also wants Rice to lay out her vision for the president's second term on hot spots like Iran, North Korea, HIV/AIDS in Africa and Mideast peace. Allies say Rice will preview the theme of President Bush's inaugural address -- spreading democracy around the world. And they say the personal story of Rice, who grew up in the segregated South, will help her carry that banner on the world stage.
ALLEN: As we try to advance freedom for all people in the world, regardless of their race or their gender or their ethnicity or religious beliefs, I think her own life experiences makes her an even stronger person to advocate the concepts of freedom.
HENRY (on camera): Among the Democrats grilling Dr. Rice will be Senator John Kerry. Despite the tough questions, leaders in both parties believe she will be easily confirmed.
Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: A little background now on Condi Rice. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954, she enrolled in the University of Denver at the age of 15. After a career as a political science preferring at Stanford, she went to work for the joint chiefs of staff.
In 1989, she was appointed special assistant to the president for national security affairs. And she's also a concert pianist. She's an avid football fan. She became the first female national security adviser under President Bush.
Once again, those Senate confirmation hearings begin at 9:00 Eastern this morning, 6:00 Pacific Time. CNN, of course, will bring it to you live.
Now for our look at "Defending America." Anyone who's flown recently has their own story about security.
But as our Deborah Feyerick reports, airport screeners have a few stories of their own to tell.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHAEL CASSAR, TSA SCREENER: And just separate your feet about shoulder's width.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years as a screener at New York's JFK Airport and Michael Cassar can't believe the things people still try to bring on an airplane.
CASSAR: Cuticle scissors and, you know, their kitchen scissors and their butcher knives. People have come through with chain saws.
FEYERICK (on camera): What reason does somebody give for carrying a chain saw onto an airplane?
CASSAR: They didn't know. They thought it was OK.
FEYERICK: To bring a chain saw? CASSAR: Yes. Yes, to bring a chain saw. And they say well, you know, it doesn't have any gas in it so, you know, I can't use it anyway.
FEYERICK (voice-over): TSA chiefs say airport screeners across the country find 175,000 knives, 2,000 plus rounds of live ammunition, 70 guns and hundreds of razor blades, swords and box cutters every month.
(on camera): So your role is not to gauge intent, is this somebody who's intent on doing something bad? It's just, it's an item that doesn't belong on the plane, out it goes?
CASSAR: Right. Right. We're not judging the individual, we're judging the items.
FEYERICK (voice-over): But not everyone sees it that way.
(on camera): Has anybody ever been a little bit hostile once they are made to surrender an item?
CASSAR: Yes, people do get annoyed. Unfortunately they think that, you know, we're doing this because, you know, we don't like them or they say well, I'm -- I don't look like a bad person. Why me?
FEYERICK: How do you deal with that?
CASSAR: Just try to remember that I could be in that position. I don't think anyone really wants to be touched by someone they know.
FEYERICK: There have been reports that TSA agents have been assaulted.
Does that concern you, that one day you're going to get a passenger who just doesn't agree with you?
CASSAR: There's always going to be that one person that you have to watch out for.
FEYERICK (voice-over): For Cassar...
CASSAR: Relax. Relax.
FEYERICK: ... it's figuring out the difference between who's uncooperative and who's dangerous.
(on camera): When you see those images of the 9/11 terrorists going through the detectors, that must have some impression on you as somebody who is now charged with making sure that never happens.
CASSAR: It does, because it makes you realize that the procedures are in place for a reason.
Yes, sir, I just have to pat down your upper body.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Cassar never thought he'd go into security. He had been a vice president at Citibank and was working for a non-profit group funding disease research. Then came 9/11. funding ran out. Cassar got laid off. The brand new Transportation Security Administration was hiring.
CASSAR: I really didn't approach it as well let me, you know, see what I can do to fight the evil.
Any other metals in your pockets, keys, coins, cell phone?
It actually came about as something that I said wow, this is really critical.
FEYERICK: Up until 9/11, companies that handled airport cleaning often also screened bags and passengers.
After 9/11...
CASSAR: We're going to have to check you, OK?
FEYERICK: ... the feds took over. Screeners now have to speak English, have the equivalent of a high school diploma and be U.S. citizens. Of the pre-9/11 screeners who reapplied for their old jobs, only 15 percent made the cut.
MARK HATFIELD, JR., PRESS DIRECTOR, TSA: The rate of interception has dramatically increased. The skill of the screeners has dramatically increased.
FEYERICK: Still, there are problems and even the TSA admits the system's not foolproof. Across the country, screeners miss one in four bogus bombs or weapons sent through as a test.
(on camera): Is one of your fears that something is going to slip through?
CASSAR: Absolutely. I mean that's the purpose that I'm here, to ensure that nothing does slip through. But we are all human.
FEYERICK (voice-over): To stay sharp...
CASSAR: Clear.
FEYERICK: Cassar switches tasks every half hour, as agency rules require. He admits there are days the work gets repetitive.
(on camera): At the end of the day, how do you gauge that you have done a good job?
CASSAR: Just from the fact that we know that no flights were delayed because of us, no one's really filed an official complaint against us. You felt safe and, you know, you always have that sixth sense, I think, I know that I did my job correctly. And when I wake up the next morning and you turn on the news and everything is fine, then you really know you did your job well that day.
OK, sir, you're all set. Enjoy your flight. FEYERICK (voice-over): Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And coming up later in this hour of DAYBREAK, we'll take a closer look at rail security. Is enough being done to keep millions of subway riders across America safe from attack? Be sure to stay tuned for that.
And be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. In News Across America now, police are still on the lookout for a fugitive couple who abducted their two children at gunpoint. Their 2- year-old son and 11-month-old daughter had been placed in foster care after police found a drug lab in the parents' home. Police believe the couple is being helped by family members and may be hiding in the mountains of Tennessee.
An Arizona prison is under lockdown after a fight turned into a stand-off with guards. Three guards were injured while trying to break up a brawl in a Tucson prison's dining hall. More than 40 inmates then barricaded themselves inside the hall. Police used a chemical agent to force them to surrender.
The Cobb County, Georgia School Board will appeal a judge's decision on evolution. The judge ruled last week that the school system must remove controversial stickers from biology textbooks. The stickers said that evolution is a theory, not a fact.
What's 90 feet tall, has two stories and can fly? Well, it's the super jumbo jet and it's being unveiled today by Europe's Airbus.
Our Richard Quest joins us now from the company's headquarters in Toulouse, France -- good morning, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Yes, here at Toulouse the leaders of France, Britain, Spain and Germany will lower a big curtain and behind that curtain will be a big plane. Well, a very big plane, frankly, the largest passenger plane in the world. The new super jumbo, better known or more formally known, I should say, as the A380.
This is what one of them looks like, behind me. It's a double- decker plane, two -- loads passengers on both the lower and the upper deck. And they say there'll even be bars and lounges in the basement beneath.
But, the question, of course, is what this means for Boeing. The 747, which, for the last 30 years has pretty much been unrivaled for big and long distance travel is now about to get its comeuppance.
The super jumbo has arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) QUEST (voice-over): Before the jets arrived, this was the golden age of flying, when crossing the world took days, not hours. It gave a certain comfort and style for those who could afford it.
Then arrived the jets and with them larger planes. And by 1969, it seemed, big had to be beautiful. The 747 was certainly big. Initially, passengers had been frightened, wondering if it was too big and heavy to fly. They soon grew to love the behemoth, which even had lounges and bars for its first class elite. And airlines clamored to buy, needing the extra seats for a boom in air travel.
Now, Airbus has outsized Boeing. The super jumbo, costing a quarter of a billion dollars each.
JOHN LEAHY, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR, AIRBUS: Passengers preferred, given a choice, to be on the 747 because it had more space. Airlines preferred the 747 because it had lower seat mile cost. Fast forward to 2005, 2006. We enter service. You've got a choice. You're going to go out to Hong Kong or Tokyo to do a story. You've got a choice of going on a 747 or that airplane. What are you going to do?
QUEST: Airbus says the plane is essential to make the best use of tight air space and crowded airports. So the 380 will find its home on congested routes such as London to Singapore, Sydney to Hong Kong. Boeing believes it's all a folly, that today's passengers want loads of possible flights, not just one big plane a day. And, anyway, most international routes can't fill 500 or more seats at a time.
Whoever's right, the arrival of the A380 sends the original jumbo jet on its way, not quite into retirement. There are many hundreds of them in the air with years still to fly. But the baton has been passed. The super jumbo is a plane coming to an airport near you.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
QUEST: And Boeing, of course, says that this super jumbo, while, yes, a technological achievement, frankly will be a commercial disaster.
You are now looking at live pictures of the unveiling ceremony taking place here at Toulouse. There will be speeches from Tony Blair, from Gerhardt Schroeder of Germany, Jacques Chirac of France and Zapatero of Spain, the four countries that have made or really pretty much put this to the test and brought this plane to fruition.
Carol, there's no doubt what is taking place today is a quantum leap change because, frankly, long distance, long haul air travel will not be the same, whatever anyone says, after this plane comes along.
COSTELLO: I'm just looking at pictures of the unveiling, Richard. That is a bizarre ceremony.
I have a couple of questions for you.
First of all, does anyone know how much it's going to cost to fly on this thing? And, secondly, are runways in other countries prepared to land this behemoth?
QUEST: No question. Lax, Kennedy, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, every major U.S. city that has international routes has had to accommodate it. Now, you can't lengthen the runways. That's too expensive. But you have had to widen the taxiways in case two of them pass. You've had to reconfigure terminals.
And remember one thing, they say there could be, you could get 850 people on that thing. Now, imagine two or three of them arriving at the same time at Kennedy Airport. Imagine trying to get your baggage as it all comes around the carousel. And those are the sorts of problems they've having to face.
The plane costs $250 million. How much that means in terms of passenger tickets, I suppose that depends on how many passengers you manage to squeeze in.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Richard Quest.
We'll check back with you because that ceremony looks, it looks really funky, actually. And as for the price of a ticket, nobody knows how much it's going to cost just yet.
QUEST: Carol...
COSTELLO: What?
QUEST: Carol, it's European. They do things like that in Europe, funky.
COSTELLO: Funky. They certainly do.
Thank you.
Richard Quest reporting live from Toulouse, France this morning.
Still to come on DAYBREAK this hour, a campus controversy. Harvard's president is in hot water over some, oh, you won't believe what he said. We'll tell you what he said and we'll find out what you think about it.
Also, a test of leadership. The newly elected Palestinian president tries to stop the bloodshed.
And a new aliment for a new age. You've heard of bad knees and sprained wrists, but what about Blackberry thumb? Yes, Blackberry thumb.
Now here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, January 18.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:20 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice are set to get underway this morning. The current national security adviser can expect some tough questioning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rice was chosen to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state.
The United Nations is calling on wealthy nations to increase their spending on poor countries. The U.N.'s Millennium Project suggests that doubling the amount invested could save the lives of millions of children over the next 10 years.
In money news, the president of Comair has decided to step down for what the company says are personal reasons. The move comes less than a month after the airline canceled all flights on Christmas due to a computer failure.
In culture, Moammar Qaddafi highlights this year's opera season in London. The opera, based on Qaddafi's life, features a rapper as the Libyan leader and a chorus of all female bodyguards. Remember, London also plays host to a very successful opera based on the life of Jerry Springer and his show.
In sports, the San Francisco 49ers are hoping family history can help. The team tapped Baltimore Ravens' defense coordinator Mike Nolan as their next head coach. Nolan's father coached the Niners for eight seasons in the late '60s and the early '70s. And as you know, Chad, the Niners had a dreadful season.
MYERS: Well, yes. They lost a few players, didn't they, Carol? They're going to have to do some things in the draft maybe.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Chad, a question?
MYERS: Yes, yes?
COSTELLO: Sally, your wife.
MYERS: Right?
COSTELLO: Is she good at math?
MYERS: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Good at science?
MYERS: She is a scientist.
COSTELLO: Yes, she is, as you are.
Listen to what the Harvard University president said. Listen, because this would make Sally very angry. He is under fire for a comment he made about women. At an economic conference on Friday, Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, suggested that innate differences between men and women might explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers. The "Boston Globe" reporting one MIT biologist, a female, walked out to protest his remarks. Five other participants in this conference said they were deeply offended.
Here's some more reaction around Harvard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a way, it's kind of, I mean I don't want to say he's being playful or he's being tricky, but I think he sees his, I think he sees that as his role, to kind of get people to kind of really push themselves on what their assumptions are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it was fair. I think it depends on the evidence he had. He had to have some evidence to just say something like that, because obviously that's going to upset a lot of people. But, no, I probably wouldn't have said it, because I don't have any evidence to that. My evidence points to the contrary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He cited no evidence, no evidence at all, Mr. Summers.
Summers told the "Boston Globe" he was discussing a hypothesis based on scholarly work, not expressing his own views. Hmm.
I want to bring Ali in on this.
You are kind of good at math.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A man. I mean, no, I've got to tell you, probably most women are better at math than I am. Larry Summers doesn't know how to escape a controversy sometimes.
Here's the Question of the Day. Are women innately weaker than men in math and science? So e-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. We're going to read your comments a little later.
This is not the first time Larry Summers has gotten himself into hot water about a comment that he's made. And I think that was very interesting and very telling, those comments that we had from students around there who, you know, not like the rest of us, sort of take a black and white view. They took a very sort of interesting view about why he might have said this, but that the evidence doesn't back it up. That's a fact. It doesn't back it up.
Is this nature versus nurture? Is this socialization versus science? It's not a new question.
COSTELLO: Well, Ali, Chad, this is the example he kind of presented to the group. He said that he raised two daughters. He tried to raise them non-gender specific, so he gave his daughter a truck, two trucks. And the daughter evidently named them Baby Truck and Mommy Truck. And he said that really proves that women somehow are not good at man things.
VELSHI: Groan
MYERS: Hmm. So the hypothesis is two children.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: Right.
VELSHI: What's calling up...
MYERS: Try -- how about some SAT scores next time, bud?
VELSHI: The sample size is a bit small, that's right.
MYERS: Yes.
VELSHI: I suspect we'll get a few e-mails on this one.
COSTELLO: Yes.
OK, the question again, are women innately weaker than men in math and science? Daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The attacks on security forces, election and administrative officials in Iraq not letting up.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Jeff Koinange for the latest from there -- hello, Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Carol.
And we're hearing this news just in a short while ago from Iraq's electoral commission, saying that the ministry of the interior here has just announced that all of Iraq's borders will be closed from January 29th until the 31st in what they're calling a security precaution for the period of the elections.
All this, Carol, on a day when yet another security bombing. In fact, we felt this right here in our offices here. The walls shook and the windows were rattling. It happened at the headquarters of the Shia main political party. And according to a spokesman for SCIRI, that's the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, a vehicle tried to force its way past the main checkpoint of the building, but guards opened fire on the vehicle, which detonated, killing one of the guards and injuring up to nine people, three of them Iraqi policemen.
Now, this is the second such attack on this party headquarters. The first one back on December 27th when a suicide bombing killed up to six and injured 33 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas heading to Gaza today. Cease-fire talks on the agenda.
Plus, doping allegations at the Australian Open. And this time it's focused on the reigning U.S. Open women's champ. That story is ahead.
And a reminder, our E-Mail Question of the Morning, are women innately weaker than men in math and science? We want to hear what you have to say about that. E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 18, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a major political party in Baghdad is targeted. And in Mosul, the U.S. military goes after insurgents. We'll take you live to Iraq in just a few minutes.
Plus, going on right now, a giant in the sky. This is a live picture you're looking at from the south of France. European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is unveiling the largest airliner ever built. It's a monster. Our Richard Quest will join us live from France for more on that.
And CNN's "Defending America" series -- is the nation's largest subway system safe? We'll take a look at the half hour.
It is Tuesday, January 18.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, the office of one of Iraq's largest Shiite political parties is targeted by a suicide car bomber in Baghdad. An Iraqi guard who fired on the vehicle to stop it was killed. Seven other people were injured.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice moves into the spotlight this morning. Rice goes before a Senate committee four hours from now for a hearing on her nomination as secretary of state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is about to walk a political tightrope. He'll meet this morning with militants in Gaza to try to persuade them to stop their attacks on Israelis.
And the palm tree says Florida, but the temperature says something else. A hard freeze warning is out for most of north Florida. South Florida is under a wind chill advisory. Oh, you've got to be kidding -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's 51 in Miami right now.
COSTELLO: Oh!
MYERS: They don't know how to handle that, Carol. It is so cold down there, relatively. COSTELLO: Yes. It's 15 degrees here this morning.
MYERS: Take somebody from Grand Forks, North Dakota and put them in Key West and tell them it's cold and then they'll have a different opinion.
COSTELLO: Yes, cry me a river.
MYERS: Exactly.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: It is so cold this morning, I can't even describe it.
MYERS: It is winter. Winter. That's how you would describe it.
COSTELLO: Oh, right.
OK, thank you, Chad.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: More now on our top story, the Senate confirmation hearing on Condoleezza Rice. It's a rare chance for Democrats to grill one of President Bush's closest advisers.
And as CNN Congressional correspondent Ed Henry reports, Rice will be facing an all out blitz.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Condoleezza Rice is such a big football fan, she's toyed with the idea of some day becoming commissioner of the NFL. For now, she just wants to be secretary of state. And Rice's love of the gridiron may be good practice for her confirmation hearings.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: While they will try to play this bump and run, try to knock her off stride, ultimately they're going to be voting for her to be secretary of state.
HENRY: Democrats plan tough questions about Rice's time as national security adviser, from her handling of terror warnings before 9/11 to her role in faulty intelligence reports leading up to the war in Iraq. Democrats also say Rice may be too close to the president, unlike outgoing secretary of state, Colin Powell, who has been seen as a moderating influence in the cabinet.
SUSAN RICE, FORMER JOHN KERRY ADVISER: When you look at a secretary of defense who's been as forceful and effective as Donald Rumsfeld, for good or for ill, he's a tough customer. And she'll have to show whether she has the stuff to stand up and fight. HENRY: Republican Committee Chairman Richard Lugar also wants Rice to lay out her vision for the president's second term on hot spots like Iran, North Korea, HIV/AIDS in Africa and Mideast peace. Allies say Rice will preview the theme of President Bush's inaugural address -- spreading democracy around the world. And they say the personal story of Rice, who grew up in the segregated South, will help her carry that banner on the world stage.
ALLEN: As we try to advance freedom for all people in the world, regardless of their race or their gender or their ethnicity or religious beliefs, I think her own life experiences makes her an even stronger person to advocate the concepts of freedom.
HENRY (on camera): Among the Democrats grilling Dr. Rice will be Senator John Kerry. Despite the tough questions, leaders in both parties believe she will be easily confirmed.
Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: A little background now on Condi Rice. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954, she enrolled in the University of Denver at the age of 15. After a career as a political science preferring at Stanford, she went to work for the joint chiefs of staff.
In 1989, she was appointed special assistant to the president for national security affairs. And she's also a concert pianist. She's an avid football fan. She became the first female national security adviser under President Bush.
Once again, those Senate confirmation hearings begin at 9:00 Eastern this morning, 6:00 Pacific Time. CNN, of course, will bring it to you live.
Now for our look at "Defending America." Anyone who's flown recently has their own story about security.
But as our Deborah Feyerick reports, airport screeners have a few stories of their own to tell.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHAEL CASSAR, TSA SCREENER: And just separate your feet about shoulder's width.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years as a screener at New York's JFK Airport and Michael Cassar can't believe the things people still try to bring on an airplane.
CASSAR: Cuticle scissors and, you know, their kitchen scissors and their butcher knives. People have come through with chain saws.
FEYERICK (on camera): What reason does somebody give for carrying a chain saw onto an airplane?
CASSAR: They didn't know. They thought it was OK.
FEYERICK: To bring a chain saw? CASSAR: Yes. Yes, to bring a chain saw. And they say well, you know, it doesn't have any gas in it so, you know, I can't use it anyway.
FEYERICK (voice-over): TSA chiefs say airport screeners across the country find 175,000 knives, 2,000 plus rounds of live ammunition, 70 guns and hundreds of razor blades, swords and box cutters every month.
(on camera): So your role is not to gauge intent, is this somebody who's intent on doing something bad? It's just, it's an item that doesn't belong on the plane, out it goes?
CASSAR: Right. Right. We're not judging the individual, we're judging the items.
FEYERICK (voice-over): But not everyone sees it that way.
(on camera): Has anybody ever been a little bit hostile once they are made to surrender an item?
CASSAR: Yes, people do get annoyed. Unfortunately they think that, you know, we're doing this because, you know, we don't like them or they say well, I'm -- I don't look like a bad person. Why me?
FEYERICK: How do you deal with that?
CASSAR: Just try to remember that I could be in that position. I don't think anyone really wants to be touched by someone they know.
FEYERICK: There have been reports that TSA agents have been assaulted.
Does that concern you, that one day you're going to get a passenger who just doesn't agree with you?
CASSAR: There's always going to be that one person that you have to watch out for.
FEYERICK (voice-over): For Cassar...
CASSAR: Relax. Relax.
FEYERICK: ... it's figuring out the difference between who's uncooperative and who's dangerous.
(on camera): When you see those images of the 9/11 terrorists going through the detectors, that must have some impression on you as somebody who is now charged with making sure that never happens.
CASSAR: It does, because it makes you realize that the procedures are in place for a reason.
Yes, sir, I just have to pat down your upper body.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Cassar never thought he'd go into security. He had been a vice president at Citibank and was working for a non-profit group funding disease research. Then came 9/11. funding ran out. Cassar got laid off. The brand new Transportation Security Administration was hiring.
CASSAR: I really didn't approach it as well let me, you know, see what I can do to fight the evil.
Any other metals in your pockets, keys, coins, cell phone?
It actually came about as something that I said wow, this is really critical.
FEYERICK: Up until 9/11, companies that handled airport cleaning often also screened bags and passengers.
After 9/11...
CASSAR: We're going to have to check you, OK?
FEYERICK: ... the feds took over. Screeners now have to speak English, have the equivalent of a high school diploma and be U.S. citizens. Of the pre-9/11 screeners who reapplied for their old jobs, only 15 percent made the cut.
MARK HATFIELD, JR., PRESS DIRECTOR, TSA: The rate of interception has dramatically increased. The skill of the screeners has dramatically increased.
FEYERICK: Still, there are problems and even the TSA admits the system's not foolproof. Across the country, screeners miss one in four bogus bombs or weapons sent through as a test.
(on camera): Is one of your fears that something is going to slip through?
CASSAR: Absolutely. I mean that's the purpose that I'm here, to ensure that nothing does slip through. But we are all human.
FEYERICK (voice-over): To stay sharp...
CASSAR: Clear.
FEYERICK: Cassar switches tasks every half hour, as agency rules require. He admits there are days the work gets repetitive.
(on camera): At the end of the day, how do you gauge that you have done a good job?
CASSAR: Just from the fact that we know that no flights were delayed because of us, no one's really filed an official complaint against us. You felt safe and, you know, you always have that sixth sense, I think, I know that I did my job correctly. And when I wake up the next morning and you turn on the news and everything is fine, then you really know you did your job well that day.
OK, sir, you're all set. Enjoy your flight. FEYERICK (voice-over): Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And coming up later in this hour of DAYBREAK, we'll take a closer look at rail security. Is enough being done to keep millions of subway riders across America safe from attack? Be sure to stay tuned for that.
And be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. In News Across America now, police are still on the lookout for a fugitive couple who abducted their two children at gunpoint. Their 2- year-old son and 11-month-old daughter had been placed in foster care after police found a drug lab in the parents' home. Police believe the couple is being helped by family members and may be hiding in the mountains of Tennessee.
An Arizona prison is under lockdown after a fight turned into a stand-off with guards. Three guards were injured while trying to break up a brawl in a Tucson prison's dining hall. More than 40 inmates then barricaded themselves inside the hall. Police used a chemical agent to force them to surrender.
The Cobb County, Georgia School Board will appeal a judge's decision on evolution. The judge ruled last week that the school system must remove controversial stickers from biology textbooks. The stickers said that evolution is a theory, not a fact.
What's 90 feet tall, has two stories and can fly? Well, it's the super jumbo jet and it's being unveiled today by Europe's Airbus.
Our Richard Quest joins us now from the company's headquarters in Toulouse, France -- good morning, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Yes, here at Toulouse the leaders of France, Britain, Spain and Germany will lower a big curtain and behind that curtain will be a big plane. Well, a very big plane, frankly, the largest passenger plane in the world. The new super jumbo, better known or more formally known, I should say, as the A380.
This is what one of them looks like, behind me. It's a double- decker plane, two -- loads passengers on both the lower and the upper deck. And they say there'll even be bars and lounges in the basement beneath.
But, the question, of course, is what this means for Boeing. The 747, which, for the last 30 years has pretty much been unrivaled for big and long distance travel is now about to get its comeuppance.
The super jumbo has arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) QUEST (voice-over): Before the jets arrived, this was the golden age of flying, when crossing the world took days, not hours. It gave a certain comfort and style for those who could afford it.
Then arrived the jets and with them larger planes. And by 1969, it seemed, big had to be beautiful. The 747 was certainly big. Initially, passengers had been frightened, wondering if it was too big and heavy to fly. They soon grew to love the behemoth, which even had lounges and bars for its first class elite. And airlines clamored to buy, needing the extra seats for a boom in air travel.
Now, Airbus has outsized Boeing. The super jumbo, costing a quarter of a billion dollars each.
JOHN LEAHY, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR, AIRBUS: Passengers preferred, given a choice, to be on the 747 because it had more space. Airlines preferred the 747 because it had lower seat mile cost. Fast forward to 2005, 2006. We enter service. You've got a choice. You're going to go out to Hong Kong or Tokyo to do a story. You've got a choice of going on a 747 or that airplane. What are you going to do?
QUEST: Airbus says the plane is essential to make the best use of tight air space and crowded airports. So the 380 will find its home on congested routes such as London to Singapore, Sydney to Hong Kong. Boeing believes it's all a folly, that today's passengers want loads of possible flights, not just one big plane a day. And, anyway, most international routes can't fill 500 or more seats at a time.
Whoever's right, the arrival of the A380 sends the original jumbo jet on its way, not quite into retirement. There are many hundreds of them in the air with years still to fly. But the baton has been passed. The super jumbo is a plane coming to an airport near you.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
QUEST: And Boeing, of course, says that this super jumbo, while, yes, a technological achievement, frankly will be a commercial disaster.
You are now looking at live pictures of the unveiling ceremony taking place here at Toulouse. There will be speeches from Tony Blair, from Gerhardt Schroeder of Germany, Jacques Chirac of France and Zapatero of Spain, the four countries that have made or really pretty much put this to the test and brought this plane to fruition.
Carol, there's no doubt what is taking place today is a quantum leap change because, frankly, long distance, long haul air travel will not be the same, whatever anyone says, after this plane comes along.
COSTELLO: I'm just looking at pictures of the unveiling, Richard. That is a bizarre ceremony.
I have a couple of questions for you.
First of all, does anyone know how much it's going to cost to fly on this thing? And, secondly, are runways in other countries prepared to land this behemoth?
QUEST: No question. Lax, Kennedy, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, every major U.S. city that has international routes has had to accommodate it. Now, you can't lengthen the runways. That's too expensive. But you have had to widen the taxiways in case two of them pass. You've had to reconfigure terminals.
And remember one thing, they say there could be, you could get 850 people on that thing. Now, imagine two or three of them arriving at the same time at Kennedy Airport. Imagine trying to get your baggage as it all comes around the carousel. And those are the sorts of problems they've having to face.
The plane costs $250 million. How much that means in terms of passenger tickets, I suppose that depends on how many passengers you manage to squeeze in.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Richard Quest.
We'll check back with you because that ceremony looks, it looks really funky, actually. And as for the price of a ticket, nobody knows how much it's going to cost just yet.
QUEST: Carol...
COSTELLO: What?
QUEST: Carol, it's European. They do things like that in Europe, funky.
COSTELLO: Funky. They certainly do.
Thank you.
Richard Quest reporting live from Toulouse, France this morning.
Still to come on DAYBREAK this hour, a campus controversy. Harvard's president is in hot water over some, oh, you won't believe what he said. We'll tell you what he said and we'll find out what you think about it.
Also, a test of leadership. The newly elected Palestinian president tries to stop the bloodshed.
And a new aliment for a new age. You've heard of bad knees and sprained wrists, but what about Blackberry thumb? Yes, Blackberry thumb.
Now here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, January 18.
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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:20 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice are set to get underway this morning. The current national security adviser can expect some tough questioning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rice was chosen to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state.
The United Nations is calling on wealthy nations to increase their spending on poor countries. The U.N.'s Millennium Project suggests that doubling the amount invested could save the lives of millions of children over the next 10 years.
In money news, the president of Comair has decided to step down for what the company says are personal reasons. The move comes less than a month after the airline canceled all flights on Christmas due to a computer failure.
In culture, Moammar Qaddafi highlights this year's opera season in London. The opera, based on Qaddafi's life, features a rapper as the Libyan leader and a chorus of all female bodyguards. Remember, London also plays host to a very successful opera based on the life of Jerry Springer and his show.
In sports, the San Francisco 49ers are hoping family history can help. The team tapped Baltimore Ravens' defense coordinator Mike Nolan as their next head coach. Nolan's father coached the Niners for eight seasons in the late '60s and the early '70s. And as you know, Chad, the Niners had a dreadful season.
MYERS: Well, yes. They lost a few players, didn't they, Carol? They're going to have to do some things in the draft maybe.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Chad, a question?
MYERS: Yes, yes?
COSTELLO: Sally, your wife.
MYERS: Right?
COSTELLO: Is she good at math?
MYERS: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Good at science?
MYERS: She is a scientist.
COSTELLO: Yes, she is, as you are.
Listen to what the Harvard University president said. Listen, because this would make Sally very angry. He is under fire for a comment he made about women. At an economic conference on Friday, Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, suggested that innate differences between men and women might explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers. The "Boston Globe" reporting one MIT biologist, a female, walked out to protest his remarks. Five other participants in this conference said they were deeply offended.
Here's some more reaction around Harvard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a way, it's kind of, I mean I don't want to say he's being playful or he's being tricky, but I think he sees his, I think he sees that as his role, to kind of get people to kind of really push themselves on what their assumptions are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it was fair. I think it depends on the evidence he had. He had to have some evidence to just say something like that, because obviously that's going to upset a lot of people. But, no, I probably wouldn't have said it, because I don't have any evidence to that. My evidence points to the contrary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He cited no evidence, no evidence at all, Mr. Summers.
Summers told the "Boston Globe" he was discussing a hypothesis based on scholarly work, not expressing his own views. Hmm.
I want to bring Ali in on this.
You are kind of good at math.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A man. I mean, no, I've got to tell you, probably most women are better at math than I am. Larry Summers doesn't know how to escape a controversy sometimes.
Here's the Question of the Day. Are women innately weaker than men in math and science? So e-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. We're going to read your comments a little later.
This is not the first time Larry Summers has gotten himself into hot water about a comment that he's made. And I think that was very interesting and very telling, those comments that we had from students around there who, you know, not like the rest of us, sort of take a black and white view. They took a very sort of interesting view about why he might have said this, but that the evidence doesn't back it up. That's a fact. It doesn't back it up.
Is this nature versus nurture? Is this socialization versus science? It's not a new question.
COSTELLO: Well, Ali, Chad, this is the example he kind of presented to the group. He said that he raised two daughters. He tried to raise them non-gender specific, so he gave his daughter a truck, two trucks. And the daughter evidently named them Baby Truck and Mommy Truck. And he said that really proves that women somehow are not good at man things.
VELSHI: Groan
MYERS: Hmm. So the hypothesis is two children.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: Right.
VELSHI: What's calling up...
MYERS: Try -- how about some SAT scores next time, bud?
VELSHI: The sample size is a bit small, that's right.
MYERS: Yes.
VELSHI: I suspect we'll get a few e-mails on this one.
COSTELLO: Yes.
OK, the question again, are women innately weaker than men in math and science? Daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
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COSTELLO: The attacks on security forces, election and administrative officials in Iraq not letting up.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Jeff Koinange for the latest from there -- hello, Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Carol.
And we're hearing this news just in a short while ago from Iraq's electoral commission, saying that the ministry of the interior here has just announced that all of Iraq's borders will be closed from January 29th until the 31st in what they're calling a security precaution for the period of the elections.
All this, Carol, on a day when yet another security bombing. In fact, we felt this right here in our offices here. The walls shook and the windows were rattling. It happened at the headquarters of the Shia main political party. And according to a spokesman for SCIRI, that's the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, a vehicle tried to force its way past the main checkpoint of the building, but guards opened fire on the vehicle, which detonated, killing one of the guards and injuring up to nine people, three of them Iraqi policemen.
Now, this is the second such attack on this party headquarters. The first one back on December 27th when a suicide bombing killed up to six and injured 33 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
Newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas heading to Gaza today. Cease-fire talks on the agenda.
Plus, doping allegations at the Australian Open. And this time it's focused on the reigning U.S. Open women's champ. That story is ahead.
And a reminder, our E-Mail Question of the Morning, are women innately weaker than men in math and science? We want to hear what you have to say about that. E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com. That's daybreak@cnn.com.
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