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CNN Live At Daybreak

'Coffey Talk'; Abortion Debate; Condoleezza Rice Press Conference

Aired February 07, 2005 - 06:28   ET

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


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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announces the United States will give $40 million to the Palestinians over the next 90 days. Meeting in Ramallah with the Palestinian leader, Rice said the 40 million is the first installment on $350 million President Bush promised the Palestinians earlier.

A foreign ministry official in Bern, Switzerland, confirms that a hostage standoff there has ended. State Radio reports three hostage- takers left the Spanish consulate. All of the staff members are safe.

A deadly morning for police in Iraq. More then two dozen officers and recruits have been killed in two separate attacks. Mortars struck a police station in Mosul, and a car bomb went off at a police station in Baquba.

And the Associated Press says President Bush is sending Congress a $2.5 trillion budget plan today. The plan slashes or kills 150 domestic programs, but it does not include the cost of the Iraq war.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Michael Jackson speaks, but he doesn't have very much to say. And this morning we must tell you there's been a delay in the jury selection process. Lawyers from both sides were supposed to question potential jurors today, but that's now been postponed until next week, because the sister of Jackson's lead attorney has died.

Our legal analyst, Kendall Coffey, is here to talk more about this.

Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: This is just going to be a slight delay.

COFFEY: Yes, just a slight delay. And certainly there is no momentum being generated, so it's not going to basically affect either side. The only interesting question is now that you're one of the 250 people who might be a Michael Jackson juror, are you paying a little more attention to some of the buzz that's out there in the media, some of the buzz that's out there in the community?

COSTELLO: Oh, exactly. And I wanted to ask you about that. Let me ask you this question first before we get into that, the questionnaires that the jurors -- the potential jurors will have to fill out. I know that some members of the media are trying to get a hold of the completed questionnaires, so they can find out more about the jury pool. They're going to ask a judge for that. Will he say yes?

COFFEY: Well, they had trouble getting those until the jury selection process is actually completed. The one thing we do know is the questionnaires are getting a lot shorter. In O.J.'s trial, it was 79 pages, in Peterson's, 23. This is a seven-page questionnaire. And I think the judge is going to rely much more on the individual questioning from lawyers rather than the actual written answers by the jurors themselves.

COSTELLO: All right, let's talk about what the potential jurors might see as far as buzz is concerned. We know that Geraldo Rivera interviewed Michael Jackson. It was a very softball interview. Michael Jackson didn't really say very much except that he really loved children and that he has a religious bent now. Do you think that those potential jurors watched that interview?

COFFEY: They're not supposed to, but didn't their friends and family? And while Michael Jackson didn't exactly come off as central casting for a normal, innocent kind of guy, compared to, say, dangling a baby over a balcony, he looked a little more human, a little less strange.

The one downside to him, Carol, is when he goes on TV like that, if he is willing to speak to Geraldo, why, the jurors might be thinking, won't he get on the stand and testify in front of them with so much at stake?

So, I think the one thing this kind of interview does is maybe puts a little more pressure on Michael Jackson to have to take the stand during the trial.

COSTELLO: Well, the other thing that I noticed since I watched the interview is you really wanted the reporter to ask tougher questions. Might the jurors be thinking the same thing?

COFFEY: They're going to think it was scripted, and that Michael Jackson had planned out and rehearsed everything he was going to say. Especially when somebody that controversial is involved in something this incredibly intense, there's certainly an expectation that some tough questions get asked.

COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey live in Miami this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.

There is a new tactic in the emotionally-charged issue of abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers often financed by churches and religious groups are offering pregnant women sonograms in an effort to turn them away from abortion. Critics say their efforts are coercive. We're going to hear from both sides this morning.

First, let's talk to Pamela Palumbo, the executive director of the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center, and Andrea Brown, who decided against abortion after having a sonogram at that clinic.

Welcome to you both.

PAMELA PALUMBO, BOWIE CROFTON PREGNANCY CENTER: Good morning. Thank you.

ANDREA BROWN, CLINIC PATIENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Pamela, let's start with you. Where did this idea come from?

PALUMBO: Well, it started in California. There were lawsuits against pregnancy centers saying that they couldn't perform pregnancy tests without being medical clinics. So, they went ahead and became medical clinics. And when they did, they added ultrasound as one of the services. And it pretty much spread across the United States from there, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, do you do other medical procedures besides give women sonograms in your clinic?

PALUMBO: We do pregnancy testing. We also do STD education and are preparing to do STD testing. Many of our centers across the United States do STD testing, and some of them also do prenatal care as well.

COSTELLO: Andrea, you called this clinic about an abortion. What did they tell you?

BROWN: Well, when I initially called, I was told that they did not do abortions. And I was just asked if I wanted to come in to speak with a counselor. And being that I was battling with the decision of having an abortion, I thought that that would be a good idea. And then, they had offered me to come in to have a sonogram, so I could see if my pregnancy was actually viable. And so that's when I made the choice to come in to see, in fact, if I had a chance in my pregnancy.

COSTELLO: How far along were you?

BROWN: I was about six weeks when I had called.

COSTELLO: And so, when you saw the sonogram, your reaction?

BROWN: When I saw the sonogram, the nurse was pointing out exactly what I was seeing, the images that I was seeing on the screen. And she was able to point out the heartbeat. And that was something I wasn't aware that a heartbeat could be detected at six and a half weeks. And when I saw the heartbeat that's what changed my mind.

COSTELLO: Andrea, did the counselors that you talked to there offer abortion as an option? Did they -- you know, did they offer you what would happen -- did they offer you advice as to what would happen after your pregnancy, like birth control, et cetera?

BROWN: Well, I was able to speak with my counselor, Sharon Green (ph), who is an excellent counselor. And she just basically listened as I discussed and aired my views and my concerns about abortion. And she did not offer the option of abortion, but she was offering the alternatives to abortion. And that's what she was offering at the time when I came in.

COSTELLO: Pamela, one of the criticisms of clinics like yours is, first of all, they're really not clinics. And sometimes they present information that just isn't true. For example, in one of your brochures, you link abortion procedures to cancer. And most experts say that's not true.

PALUMBO: Well, actually with the breast cancer link to abortion, approximately 26 out of the 38 studies have linked abortion as an indicator that you could be more susceptible to breast cancer. And even if the chances were one in a million, we'd want women to know, so that they could check out and make sure just as if it was running in your family.

However, we are a medical clinic. We have licensed personnel. We have a volunteer medical director. We have nurses on staff. And we give medically accurate information, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks to you both for joining DAYBREAK this morning. Pamela Palumbo, the executive director of the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center, and Andrea Brown.

Joining us now with the other side of this issue, Karen Pearl, who is the president of Planned Parenthood.

Welcome to DAYBREAK. Thank you for joining us.

KAREN PEARL, PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: It's nice to be here.

COSTELLO: Well, you listened to that. What are your thoughts?

PEARL: My thoughts really are that what they're talking about there is continuing the fact that they are not medical facilities; that they are, in fact, giving out deceptive information that can be really dangerous to people.

COSTELLO: Well, what kind of deceptive information? Because what's really wrong with showing a woman a sonogram?

PEARL: Well, that's not so much what's deceptive. What's wrong about it is when it's not used for a medical purpose. And at Planned Parenthood, we really do believe that women have the right to make their decisions, and that they can be trusted to make good decisions. But to do that, they need accurate and medically competent information about all of their options when faced with pregnancy, not just the options that are predetermined from an ideological basis.

COSTELLO: But, again, like, these clinics are being funded partly by religious organizations. Correct? They don't really counsel abortion as an option. And is that your primary objection?

PEARL: My primary objection is that women need accurate, honest information when faced with any kind of decision, but most especially when faced with a pregnancy and when they're in the throes of trying to make a decision. And so, we need to make sure that women learn about everything that is available to them -- carrying to term and parenting, adoption and abortion -- because then women can be trusted to make the right decision.

COSTELLO: Well, at Planned Parenthood clinics, do they offer women sonograms?

PEARL: That is done on an individual basis. If a woman wants that, it can be done. But that sonogram is really the coercive part of all of this. If a sonogram should be used, it should be used when a woman has made a decision and is part of good, solid prenatal care, which many Planned Parenthoods offer to their patients who decide that they want to carry their pregnancies to term.

COSTELLO: But these clinics that are doing this say that this is working, this changes women's minds. And it's no longer really politically-correct to come out and say that you're pro-abortion anymore. Even long-time supporters aren't as vocal, like Hillary Clinton. They say abortion should be very rare. So, really, are they winning?

PEARL: I would say no. What Planned Parenthood does is do more to prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion than any other provider in this country. And so, when we want to talk about abortion perhaps being more rare, we must provide women with the information they need to prevent unintended pregnancy and to have contraception. And these fake medical centers, these crisis pregnancy centers, don't do that. They don't promote contraception and prevention.

COSTELLO: Karen Pearl, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.

PEARL: Thank you. Good to be here.

COSTELLO: We have to go to a breaking news event right now, to be honest with you, Tel Aviv in Israel. Condoleezza Rice, the new secretary of state is leaving Israel right now after meeting with Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon.

Let's listen to what she has to say.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I want to commend President Mubarak for the active leadership role that the government of Egypt is playing. I also want to express the United States' appreciation for the constructive efforts of the Jordanian government.

There is much that remains to be done by both sides, and the United States will do everything that we can to help. I am pleased to announce the naming of U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Ward as senior U.S. security coordinator to assist the Palestinian Authority to consolidate and expand their recent efforts on security and encourage resumption of Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, including, if necessary, through the Trilateral Security Committee.

General Ward will also work with Egypt, Jordan and others to coordinate assistance to the P.A. as it rebuilds its security capacity to end violence and terror and restore law and order. General Ward will travel to the region to make an initial assessment in the next few weeks.

The United States is also significantly increasing our assistance program to help revive a sense of economic hope for the Palestinians. Last week, President Bush declared our intent to provide $350 million in the coming year to support Palestinian reform.

I'm also announcing today, as I just said in Ramallah, that we will provide $40 million over the next 90 days in a quick action program to make an immediate positive impact on the lives of Palestinians through, for example, job creation, private-sector development and infrastructure construction.

The international community will continue to play a key role in supporting Israeli and Palestinian efforts. We want to work with others, in particular the Gulf Arab states who have made financial commitments to the Palestinians. We urge them to help all strengthen the Palestinian Authority at this crucial point.

Other nations in the region, and beyond of course, have a wider responsibility to support peace and reconciliation, to turn away from incitement and, above all, never to support or give safe haven to terrorist groups.

We look forward to the meeting on support for the Palestinian Authority that will be hosted by Prime Minister Blair in London on March 1 as another valuable opportunity for progress. We anticipate that it will be preceded by a meeting of the quartet, possibly at principal's level.

As the president has said, the goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is within reach. America is determined to do its utmost to help achieve that goal, but much work lies ahead.

I conveyed invitations from President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas for meetings with him in the spring. And each has accepted. King Abdullah of Jordan will also visit the United States in March. We will be continuing close consultations with our Egyptian colleagues in the coming weeks.

All of these opportunities will allow us to look closely and intensively at how we can help both sides to meet their commitment and obligations to advance the cause of peace.

All right. Richard, despite his cell phone violation, gets to...

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, you said repeatedly this is a time of great optimism. We've had other times of great optimism in dealing with this issue. What makes you think that this is different?

RICE: We have had other times of great optimism, and it is, in fact, a lesson that times of great optimism can slip away unless all parties are prepared to really carry through on their responsibilities.

I do think that some of the fundamentals that the president addressed when he made his speech in June, 2002, are now coming into place. The emergence of a new Palestinian leadership that has been forthright in saying that this is a conflict that has to be resolved through negotiation and not by violence. And that has said that it wishes to have one authority, one law and one gun. And so that is one new factor.

Secondly, the decision of the Israelis to withdraw from the Gaza and from four settlements in the West Bank will, after all, constitute, despite all of the peace plans that have been out there, all of the envoys who have been here, the first time that there has been a significant return of territory to the Palestinians since 1967.

And so, this is a time in which we expect that we have opportunities for peace. It does not guarantee that there will be the positive outcome for which we all hope. That is what the parties have to work toward. But there are some fundamental differences now than in the past.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, there have been in the past years many envoys, many security coordinators, including this administration. Can you give us a sense of how empowered General Ward will be? Will he be able to point the finger of blame if that's needed? Will he be able to break deadlocks? Will he have a direct hotline to you and the president? Thank you.

RICE: Thank you. Well, certainly General Ward will have direct contact with me in Washington. And I'm certain that the president will be most happy to talk with him whenever needed, too, because this is an important effort on behalf of security. We've always said that security is the foundation on which we need to move forward.

In terms of his activities, among them will be monitoring. And we are very clear that the parties need to live up to their obligations, that there are going to be specific things that the parties need to do, and we will not hesitate to say to the parties when those obligations are not being met. That's part of our role.

But it is really in the context of helping the parties and supporting their efforts that General Ward's appointment needs to be understood.

It's very important that the United States not somehow supplant the bilateral security discussions and cooperation that the Israelis and the Palestinians are involved in. They're doing a lot on their own now. They're going to do even more, I believe in the future.

And the United States does not have to be party to everything that goes on. In fact, it is a good thing when the parties can resolve problems on their own.

QUESTION: Secretary Rice, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The question about the part that General Ward will play in the -- the role he will be playing, is that restricted only to security? Or will he have other tasks in the political arena? This is one question. And the other one, what is your impression of the performance of the Palestinians, not only the willingness, but the ability to take control of the area and really do in the long run what they took upon themselves to do?

RICE: General Ward's mandate is on security. We are looking at what else we need to do, for instance, on reconstruction and development. Of course, on the political side, the quartet will continue to meet. And we do have ahead of us the road map. So, there is plenty of attention to the political side, and we'll continue to give that attention from Washington and, of course, with our people here in the field.

But General Ward's mandate is on security, which, after all, really has to get established and has to be moving forward in order for us to make progress.

In terms of what the Palestinians have already done, in a very short time we've seen things that we have not seen before: some efforts to unify the security forces, efforts to get people off the streets with weapons, the efforts to deploy security forces into areas that were problematic from the point of view of the firing of Qassam rockets.

There is obviously more to do. The forces need to be really active in fighting terrorism, really active in fighting the infrastructure so that terrorist acts cannot continue. But I think it is an encouraging start, and I'm sure that the prime minister and President Abbas will have further discussions. But I really do think it's a very encouraging start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll go to Steve Weisman (ph), please.

QUESTION: Thank you. Madam Secretary, you've been specific about the job of the security coordinator. But if you don't mind, I wonder if you could be a little bit more specific on whether the coordinator will monitor on the Israeli side as well the possible pullout of forces from population centers, the lifting of checkpoints and roadblocks, those security matters, and even the settlement outposts, which I believe Ambassador Wolfe monitored previously.

And on the Palestinian side, what specifically will he be monitoring? Will it be the effectiveness of the cease-fire? Will it be the consolidation of the forces? Will he report to you on how that's going? Thanks. RICE: Thank you. Steve, I expect that what we will do is we will now sit down and we will look at what steps the parties intend to take and where they need help in monitoring. For instance, obviously there will be some connection between what the Palestinians are able to do with their security forces and Israeli withdrawal from the cities that they're talking about withdrawing from.

And just as John Wolf was helpful in that process back at the time of the Aqaba period, I think so General Ward will be helpful in making certain that the parties understand each other if necessary, making certain that we understand what the parties are doing to live up to their obligations so that those can be raised at appropriate political levels.

I don't really want to get beyond that at this point, because the security program of the two parties is really just beginning to evolve. But there is no doubt that a function that is both helping the Palestinians to -- and I think we shouldn't underestimate how important that element of it is.

The Palestinians will be the first to tell you they need help with training their security forces, equipping their security forces, unifying their security forces. The president was saying to me today that their security forces are of variable quality in different parts of the territories. Let's not underestimate the importance of doing that part, because ultimately it is the Palestinian security forces that can make the difference in the security environment.

And so, that is an awfully big part of what he will need to do. But we also expect that he will play a monitoring role to help both sides in understanding what has happened and what more they need to do.

I want to reemphasize, though. I know I sound a bit like a broken record. But the parties are showing a capability to make progress on their own. This is a good thing.

The United States does not feel that it is necessary to intervene simply for the sake of intervening. The bilateral security cooperation is more important than anything that we could do trilaterally, because, of course, it builds confidence and trust among the parties, too. But if we need a trilateral mechanism, we'll be prepared to use one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to the gentlemen in the middle.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, what is your opinion -- your government's opinion about the possible referendum in Israel of the disengagement, a possibility that has been raised in the past few days?

And the other issue, it appears that the outpost issue, which has been discussed pretty much between your government and Israel, and there was supposed to be also a monitoring team over a settlement freeze. This whole thing just disappeared from the screen. Do you accept the Israeli position that the outposts should be dealt with only after the withdrawal from Gaza?

RICE: Well, I don't know of any Israeli position that the outposts would be dealt with after the withdrawal from Gaza. That's not our understanding. Our understanding is that the commitments on the dismantlement of outposts stand, that it is important that those commitments be honored. And, in fact, I've said that today.

We've also made clear that we believe that the expansion of settlements so that it looks as if there is somehow a continued effort to create facts on the ground that we do not support that.

We're continuing to work with the Israelis on these issues. But we do have a new opportunity to do something really quite dramatic, thanks to the Israeli decision to withdraw from the Gaza and from the West Bank. I just can't emphasize enough how historic a decision that is, how fundamental a decision that is.

But with all of the going back and forth that we've done over the last 30-plus years, the return of territory is a major step forward. And we shouldn't lose sight of that in looking at all of the other issues, as important as they are, that we still have on the table.

As to the referendum, this is a democratic country. It will have to make its own decisions about that. Our hope is that whatever happens that there will be no delay in the disengagement plan and the withdrawal from the Gaza, because the United States has made very clear that we believe very strongly that this is a very positive step. And that any discussion that the United States has had, assurances that we have given and talked about, are in the context of that withdrawal.

Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: And you've been listening to a news conference, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Tel Aviv. She is off to Rome now. When she gets there, of course we'll have more coverage of her travels on CNN throughout the day.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to talk Super Bowl now with Paul Attner from the "Sporting News." He joins us live on the line right now.

Good morning. Are you still in Jacksonville?

PAUL ATTNER, "SPORTING NEWS": Yes, I'm still in Jacksonville and still kind of recovering from the game. You know, it ended a few hours, really.

COSTELLO: Oh, really? So, you were partying. ATTNER: No, I was working. I was working. We have late deadlines in this morning news.

COSTELLO: I know. And I apologize for saying that I do. You have to feel kind of sorry for Philadelphia, because at the beginning of the game it looked as if they were going to do quite well.

ATTNER: Oh, no, they played -- Philadelphia is an excellent team. They played an excellent game. They're just not quite good enough yet to beat the Patriots. But by no means, you know, did they embarrass themselves. And my feeling is, you know, we may see these two teams playing each other next year. I mean, they're very good, and there's no reason why, I don't think, they could have a rematch in a year.

COSTELLO: OK. So, the Patriots, is it safe to say that this team is a dynasty?

ATTNER: Well, I don't like that word. I don't know quite what the definition of dynasty is. But they certainly are the dominant team of this era. They join a lot of other dominant teams. Each decade seems to have one. The Cowboys was that team in the '90s. And I think now we have our new Cowboys here. I mean, they're the best team, three of the last four Super Bowls. I mean, you know, there's not much more proof you need than that to say they are the best.

COSTELLO: It's funny that you say they're the new Cowboys, because a guy named Deion is the MVP. He caught 11 passes in this game.

ATTNER: That's right. You know, he doesn't talk as good a talk as the other Deion. But Deion Branch is a great example of what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Patriots, you know, not a household name. But, you know, when needed yesterday, he just stepped up to his job, 11 catches. He tied the Super Bowl record. And, you know, the Eagles really couldn't do anything to stop them.

COSTELLO: Not at all. Hey, Chad Myers is going to join in. He's gotten some interesting e-mails from our viewers, so we want to run some by you.

Go ahead -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. A lot of folks obviously are thinking about the Janet Jackson thing last year.

Now, from Richard from Alabama says: "I find it very ironic that nobody is complaining about the halftime show. Paul McCartney sang about drugs, sex, homosexuality and death. It wasn't family- friendly."

I didn't get all of that, but OK.

COSTELLO: Hey, Paul, do you want to comment on that, the halftime show? ATTNER: Hey, the Beatles seem to have been able to last for an awful long time doing what they do. So, I was very fine with that show last night.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Well, listen to this one from Cassia (ph). She says: "Finally, a great halftime show, words you can understand, actual talent on stage, singer actually singing. Everyone at the party that I was at thought it was the best halftime show in years. And let's face it, Paul McCartney is from the same generation as the people who can afford the tickets to the game."

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: That's right. Paul Attner from the "Sporting News" joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you.

We've got to go. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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Aired February 7, 2005 - 06:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announces the United States will give $40 million to the Palestinians over the next 90 days. Meeting in Ramallah with the Palestinian leader, Rice said the 40 million is the first installment on $350 million President Bush promised the Palestinians earlier.

A foreign ministry official in Bern, Switzerland, confirms that a hostage standoff there has ended. State Radio reports three hostage- takers left the Spanish consulate. All of the staff members are safe.

A deadly morning for police in Iraq. More then two dozen officers and recruits have been killed in two separate attacks. Mortars struck a police station in Mosul, and a car bomb went off at a police station in Baquba.

And the Associated Press says President Bush is sending Congress a $2.5 trillion budget plan today. The plan slashes or kills 150 domestic programs, but it does not include the cost of the Iraq war.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Michael Jackson speaks, but he doesn't have very much to say. And this morning we must tell you there's been a delay in the jury selection process. Lawyers from both sides were supposed to question potential jurors today, but that's now been postponed until next week, because the sister of Jackson's lead attorney has died.

Our legal analyst, Kendall Coffey, is here to talk more about this.

Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: This is just going to be a slight delay.

COFFEY: Yes, just a slight delay. And certainly there is no momentum being generated, so it's not going to basically affect either side. The only interesting question is now that you're one of the 250 people who might be a Michael Jackson juror, are you paying a little more attention to some of the buzz that's out there in the media, some of the buzz that's out there in the community?

COSTELLO: Oh, exactly. And I wanted to ask you about that. Let me ask you this question first before we get into that, the questionnaires that the jurors -- the potential jurors will have to fill out. I know that some members of the media are trying to get a hold of the completed questionnaires, so they can find out more about the jury pool. They're going to ask a judge for that. Will he say yes?

COFFEY: Well, they had trouble getting those until the jury selection process is actually completed. The one thing we do know is the questionnaires are getting a lot shorter. In O.J.'s trial, it was 79 pages, in Peterson's, 23. This is a seven-page questionnaire. And I think the judge is going to rely much more on the individual questioning from lawyers rather than the actual written answers by the jurors themselves.

COSTELLO: All right, let's talk about what the potential jurors might see as far as buzz is concerned. We know that Geraldo Rivera interviewed Michael Jackson. It was a very softball interview. Michael Jackson didn't really say very much except that he really loved children and that he has a religious bent now. Do you think that those potential jurors watched that interview?

COFFEY: They're not supposed to, but didn't their friends and family? And while Michael Jackson didn't exactly come off as central casting for a normal, innocent kind of guy, compared to, say, dangling a baby over a balcony, he looked a little more human, a little less strange.

The one downside to him, Carol, is when he goes on TV like that, if he is willing to speak to Geraldo, why, the jurors might be thinking, won't he get on the stand and testify in front of them with so much at stake?

So, I think the one thing this kind of interview does is maybe puts a little more pressure on Michael Jackson to have to take the stand during the trial.

COSTELLO: Well, the other thing that I noticed since I watched the interview is you really wanted the reporter to ask tougher questions. Might the jurors be thinking the same thing?

COFFEY: They're going to think it was scripted, and that Michael Jackson had planned out and rehearsed everything he was going to say. Especially when somebody that controversial is involved in something this incredibly intense, there's certainly an expectation that some tough questions get asked.

COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey live in Miami this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.

There is a new tactic in the emotionally-charged issue of abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers often financed by churches and religious groups are offering pregnant women sonograms in an effort to turn them away from abortion. Critics say their efforts are coercive. We're going to hear from both sides this morning.

First, let's talk to Pamela Palumbo, the executive director of the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center, and Andrea Brown, who decided against abortion after having a sonogram at that clinic.

Welcome to you both.

PAMELA PALUMBO, BOWIE CROFTON PREGNANCY CENTER: Good morning. Thank you.

ANDREA BROWN, CLINIC PATIENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Pamela, let's start with you. Where did this idea come from?

PALUMBO: Well, it started in California. There were lawsuits against pregnancy centers saying that they couldn't perform pregnancy tests without being medical clinics. So, they went ahead and became medical clinics. And when they did, they added ultrasound as one of the services. And it pretty much spread across the United States from there, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, do you do other medical procedures besides give women sonograms in your clinic?

PALUMBO: We do pregnancy testing. We also do STD education and are preparing to do STD testing. Many of our centers across the United States do STD testing, and some of them also do prenatal care as well.

COSTELLO: Andrea, you called this clinic about an abortion. What did they tell you?

BROWN: Well, when I initially called, I was told that they did not do abortions. And I was just asked if I wanted to come in to speak with a counselor. And being that I was battling with the decision of having an abortion, I thought that that would be a good idea. And then, they had offered me to come in to have a sonogram, so I could see if my pregnancy was actually viable. And so that's when I made the choice to come in to see, in fact, if I had a chance in my pregnancy.

COSTELLO: How far along were you?

BROWN: I was about six weeks when I had called.

COSTELLO: And so, when you saw the sonogram, your reaction?

BROWN: When I saw the sonogram, the nurse was pointing out exactly what I was seeing, the images that I was seeing on the screen. And she was able to point out the heartbeat. And that was something I wasn't aware that a heartbeat could be detected at six and a half weeks. And when I saw the heartbeat that's what changed my mind.

COSTELLO: Andrea, did the counselors that you talked to there offer abortion as an option? Did they -- you know, did they offer you what would happen -- did they offer you advice as to what would happen after your pregnancy, like birth control, et cetera?

BROWN: Well, I was able to speak with my counselor, Sharon Green (ph), who is an excellent counselor. And she just basically listened as I discussed and aired my views and my concerns about abortion. And she did not offer the option of abortion, but she was offering the alternatives to abortion. And that's what she was offering at the time when I came in.

COSTELLO: Pamela, one of the criticisms of clinics like yours is, first of all, they're really not clinics. And sometimes they present information that just isn't true. For example, in one of your brochures, you link abortion procedures to cancer. And most experts say that's not true.

PALUMBO: Well, actually with the breast cancer link to abortion, approximately 26 out of the 38 studies have linked abortion as an indicator that you could be more susceptible to breast cancer. And even if the chances were one in a million, we'd want women to know, so that they could check out and make sure just as if it was running in your family.

However, we are a medical clinic. We have licensed personnel. We have a volunteer medical director. We have nurses on staff. And we give medically accurate information, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks to you both for joining DAYBREAK this morning. Pamela Palumbo, the executive director of the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center, and Andrea Brown.

Joining us now with the other side of this issue, Karen Pearl, who is the president of Planned Parenthood.

Welcome to DAYBREAK. Thank you for joining us.

KAREN PEARL, PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: It's nice to be here.

COSTELLO: Well, you listened to that. What are your thoughts?

PEARL: My thoughts really are that what they're talking about there is continuing the fact that they are not medical facilities; that they are, in fact, giving out deceptive information that can be really dangerous to people.

COSTELLO: Well, what kind of deceptive information? Because what's really wrong with showing a woman a sonogram?

PEARL: Well, that's not so much what's deceptive. What's wrong about it is when it's not used for a medical purpose. And at Planned Parenthood, we really do believe that women have the right to make their decisions, and that they can be trusted to make good decisions. But to do that, they need accurate and medically competent information about all of their options when faced with pregnancy, not just the options that are predetermined from an ideological basis.

COSTELLO: But, again, like, these clinics are being funded partly by religious organizations. Correct? They don't really counsel abortion as an option. And is that your primary objection?

PEARL: My primary objection is that women need accurate, honest information when faced with any kind of decision, but most especially when faced with a pregnancy and when they're in the throes of trying to make a decision. And so, we need to make sure that women learn about everything that is available to them -- carrying to term and parenting, adoption and abortion -- because then women can be trusted to make the right decision.

COSTELLO: Well, at Planned Parenthood clinics, do they offer women sonograms?

PEARL: That is done on an individual basis. If a woman wants that, it can be done. But that sonogram is really the coercive part of all of this. If a sonogram should be used, it should be used when a woman has made a decision and is part of good, solid prenatal care, which many Planned Parenthoods offer to their patients who decide that they want to carry their pregnancies to term.

COSTELLO: But these clinics that are doing this say that this is working, this changes women's minds. And it's no longer really politically-correct to come out and say that you're pro-abortion anymore. Even long-time supporters aren't as vocal, like Hillary Clinton. They say abortion should be very rare. So, really, are they winning?

PEARL: I would say no. What Planned Parenthood does is do more to prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion than any other provider in this country. And so, when we want to talk about abortion perhaps being more rare, we must provide women with the information they need to prevent unintended pregnancy and to have contraception. And these fake medical centers, these crisis pregnancy centers, don't do that. They don't promote contraception and prevention.

COSTELLO: Karen Pearl, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.

PEARL: Thank you. Good to be here.

COSTELLO: We have to go to a breaking news event right now, to be honest with you, Tel Aviv in Israel. Condoleezza Rice, the new secretary of state is leaving Israel right now after meeting with Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon.

Let's listen to what she has to say.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I want to commend President Mubarak for the active leadership role that the government of Egypt is playing. I also want to express the United States' appreciation for the constructive efforts of the Jordanian government.

There is much that remains to be done by both sides, and the United States will do everything that we can to help. I am pleased to announce the naming of U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Ward as senior U.S. security coordinator to assist the Palestinian Authority to consolidate and expand their recent efforts on security and encourage resumption of Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, including, if necessary, through the Trilateral Security Committee.

General Ward will also work with Egypt, Jordan and others to coordinate assistance to the P.A. as it rebuilds its security capacity to end violence and terror and restore law and order. General Ward will travel to the region to make an initial assessment in the next few weeks.

The United States is also significantly increasing our assistance program to help revive a sense of economic hope for the Palestinians. Last week, President Bush declared our intent to provide $350 million in the coming year to support Palestinian reform.

I'm also announcing today, as I just said in Ramallah, that we will provide $40 million over the next 90 days in a quick action program to make an immediate positive impact on the lives of Palestinians through, for example, job creation, private-sector development and infrastructure construction.

The international community will continue to play a key role in supporting Israeli and Palestinian efforts. We want to work with others, in particular the Gulf Arab states who have made financial commitments to the Palestinians. We urge them to help all strengthen the Palestinian Authority at this crucial point.

Other nations in the region, and beyond of course, have a wider responsibility to support peace and reconciliation, to turn away from incitement and, above all, never to support or give safe haven to terrorist groups.

We look forward to the meeting on support for the Palestinian Authority that will be hosted by Prime Minister Blair in London on March 1 as another valuable opportunity for progress. We anticipate that it will be preceded by a meeting of the quartet, possibly at principal's level.

As the president has said, the goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is within reach. America is determined to do its utmost to help achieve that goal, but much work lies ahead.

I conveyed invitations from President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas for meetings with him in the spring. And each has accepted. King Abdullah of Jordan will also visit the United States in March. We will be continuing close consultations with our Egyptian colleagues in the coming weeks.

All of these opportunities will allow us to look closely and intensively at how we can help both sides to meet their commitment and obligations to advance the cause of peace.

All right. Richard, despite his cell phone violation, gets to...

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, you said repeatedly this is a time of great optimism. We've had other times of great optimism in dealing with this issue. What makes you think that this is different?

RICE: We have had other times of great optimism, and it is, in fact, a lesson that times of great optimism can slip away unless all parties are prepared to really carry through on their responsibilities.

I do think that some of the fundamentals that the president addressed when he made his speech in June, 2002, are now coming into place. The emergence of a new Palestinian leadership that has been forthright in saying that this is a conflict that has to be resolved through negotiation and not by violence. And that has said that it wishes to have one authority, one law and one gun. And so that is one new factor.

Secondly, the decision of the Israelis to withdraw from the Gaza and from four settlements in the West Bank will, after all, constitute, despite all of the peace plans that have been out there, all of the envoys who have been here, the first time that there has been a significant return of territory to the Palestinians since 1967.

And so, this is a time in which we expect that we have opportunities for peace. It does not guarantee that there will be the positive outcome for which we all hope. That is what the parties have to work toward. But there are some fundamental differences now than in the past.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, there have been in the past years many envoys, many security coordinators, including this administration. Can you give us a sense of how empowered General Ward will be? Will he be able to point the finger of blame if that's needed? Will he be able to break deadlocks? Will he have a direct hotline to you and the president? Thank you.

RICE: Thank you. Well, certainly General Ward will have direct contact with me in Washington. And I'm certain that the president will be most happy to talk with him whenever needed, too, because this is an important effort on behalf of security. We've always said that security is the foundation on which we need to move forward.

In terms of his activities, among them will be monitoring. And we are very clear that the parties need to live up to their obligations, that there are going to be specific things that the parties need to do, and we will not hesitate to say to the parties when those obligations are not being met. That's part of our role.

But it is really in the context of helping the parties and supporting their efforts that General Ward's appointment needs to be understood.

It's very important that the United States not somehow supplant the bilateral security discussions and cooperation that the Israelis and the Palestinians are involved in. They're doing a lot on their own now. They're going to do even more, I believe in the future.

And the United States does not have to be party to everything that goes on. In fact, it is a good thing when the parties can resolve problems on their own.

QUESTION: Secretary Rice, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The question about the part that General Ward will play in the -- the role he will be playing, is that restricted only to security? Or will he have other tasks in the political arena? This is one question. And the other one, what is your impression of the performance of the Palestinians, not only the willingness, but the ability to take control of the area and really do in the long run what they took upon themselves to do?

RICE: General Ward's mandate is on security. We are looking at what else we need to do, for instance, on reconstruction and development. Of course, on the political side, the quartet will continue to meet. And we do have ahead of us the road map. So, there is plenty of attention to the political side, and we'll continue to give that attention from Washington and, of course, with our people here in the field.

But General Ward's mandate is on security, which, after all, really has to get established and has to be moving forward in order for us to make progress.

In terms of what the Palestinians have already done, in a very short time we've seen things that we have not seen before: some efforts to unify the security forces, efforts to get people off the streets with weapons, the efforts to deploy security forces into areas that were problematic from the point of view of the firing of Qassam rockets.

There is obviously more to do. The forces need to be really active in fighting terrorism, really active in fighting the infrastructure so that terrorist acts cannot continue. But I think it is an encouraging start, and I'm sure that the prime minister and President Abbas will have further discussions. But I really do think it's a very encouraging start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll go to Steve Weisman (ph), please.

QUESTION: Thank you. Madam Secretary, you've been specific about the job of the security coordinator. But if you don't mind, I wonder if you could be a little bit more specific on whether the coordinator will monitor on the Israeli side as well the possible pullout of forces from population centers, the lifting of checkpoints and roadblocks, those security matters, and even the settlement outposts, which I believe Ambassador Wolfe monitored previously.

And on the Palestinian side, what specifically will he be monitoring? Will it be the effectiveness of the cease-fire? Will it be the consolidation of the forces? Will he report to you on how that's going? Thanks. RICE: Thank you. Steve, I expect that what we will do is we will now sit down and we will look at what steps the parties intend to take and where they need help in monitoring. For instance, obviously there will be some connection between what the Palestinians are able to do with their security forces and Israeli withdrawal from the cities that they're talking about withdrawing from.

And just as John Wolf was helpful in that process back at the time of the Aqaba period, I think so General Ward will be helpful in making certain that the parties understand each other if necessary, making certain that we understand what the parties are doing to live up to their obligations so that those can be raised at appropriate political levels.

I don't really want to get beyond that at this point, because the security program of the two parties is really just beginning to evolve. But there is no doubt that a function that is both helping the Palestinians to -- and I think we shouldn't underestimate how important that element of it is.

The Palestinians will be the first to tell you they need help with training their security forces, equipping their security forces, unifying their security forces. The president was saying to me today that their security forces are of variable quality in different parts of the territories. Let's not underestimate the importance of doing that part, because ultimately it is the Palestinian security forces that can make the difference in the security environment.

And so, that is an awfully big part of what he will need to do. But we also expect that he will play a monitoring role to help both sides in understanding what has happened and what more they need to do.

I want to reemphasize, though. I know I sound a bit like a broken record. But the parties are showing a capability to make progress on their own. This is a good thing.

The United States does not feel that it is necessary to intervene simply for the sake of intervening. The bilateral security cooperation is more important than anything that we could do trilaterally, because, of course, it builds confidence and trust among the parties, too. But if we need a trilateral mechanism, we'll be prepared to use one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to the gentlemen in the middle.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, what is your opinion -- your government's opinion about the possible referendum in Israel of the disengagement, a possibility that has been raised in the past few days?

And the other issue, it appears that the outpost issue, which has been discussed pretty much between your government and Israel, and there was supposed to be also a monitoring team over a settlement freeze. This whole thing just disappeared from the screen. Do you accept the Israeli position that the outposts should be dealt with only after the withdrawal from Gaza?

RICE: Well, I don't know of any Israeli position that the outposts would be dealt with after the withdrawal from Gaza. That's not our understanding. Our understanding is that the commitments on the dismantlement of outposts stand, that it is important that those commitments be honored. And, in fact, I've said that today.

We've also made clear that we believe that the expansion of settlements so that it looks as if there is somehow a continued effort to create facts on the ground that we do not support that.

We're continuing to work with the Israelis on these issues. But we do have a new opportunity to do something really quite dramatic, thanks to the Israeli decision to withdraw from the Gaza and from the West Bank. I just can't emphasize enough how historic a decision that is, how fundamental a decision that is.

But with all of the going back and forth that we've done over the last 30-plus years, the return of territory is a major step forward. And we shouldn't lose sight of that in looking at all of the other issues, as important as they are, that we still have on the table.

As to the referendum, this is a democratic country. It will have to make its own decisions about that. Our hope is that whatever happens that there will be no delay in the disengagement plan and the withdrawal from the Gaza, because the United States has made very clear that we believe very strongly that this is a very positive step. And that any discussion that the United States has had, assurances that we have given and talked about, are in the context of that withdrawal.

Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: And you've been listening to a news conference, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Tel Aviv. She is off to Rome now. When she gets there, of course we'll have more coverage of her travels on CNN throughout the day.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to talk Super Bowl now with Paul Attner from the "Sporting News." He joins us live on the line right now.

Good morning. Are you still in Jacksonville?

PAUL ATTNER, "SPORTING NEWS": Yes, I'm still in Jacksonville and still kind of recovering from the game. You know, it ended a few hours, really.

COSTELLO: Oh, really? So, you were partying. ATTNER: No, I was working. I was working. We have late deadlines in this morning news.

COSTELLO: I know. And I apologize for saying that I do. You have to feel kind of sorry for Philadelphia, because at the beginning of the game it looked as if they were going to do quite well.

ATTNER: Oh, no, they played -- Philadelphia is an excellent team. They played an excellent game. They're just not quite good enough yet to beat the Patriots. But by no means, you know, did they embarrass themselves. And my feeling is, you know, we may see these two teams playing each other next year. I mean, they're very good, and there's no reason why, I don't think, they could have a rematch in a year.

COSTELLO: OK. So, the Patriots, is it safe to say that this team is a dynasty?

ATTNER: Well, I don't like that word. I don't know quite what the definition of dynasty is. But they certainly are the dominant team of this era. They join a lot of other dominant teams. Each decade seems to have one. The Cowboys was that team in the '90s. And I think now we have our new Cowboys here. I mean, they're the best team, three of the last four Super Bowls. I mean, you know, there's not much more proof you need than that to say they are the best.

COSTELLO: It's funny that you say they're the new Cowboys, because a guy named Deion is the MVP. He caught 11 passes in this game.

ATTNER: That's right. You know, he doesn't talk as good a talk as the other Deion. But Deion Branch is a great example of what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Patriots, you know, not a household name. But, you know, when needed yesterday, he just stepped up to his job, 11 catches. He tied the Super Bowl record. And, you know, the Eagles really couldn't do anything to stop them.

COSTELLO: Not at all. Hey, Chad Myers is going to join in. He's gotten some interesting e-mails from our viewers, so we want to run some by you.

Go ahead -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. A lot of folks obviously are thinking about the Janet Jackson thing last year.

Now, from Richard from Alabama says: "I find it very ironic that nobody is complaining about the halftime show. Paul McCartney sang about drugs, sex, homosexuality and death. It wasn't family- friendly."

I didn't get all of that, but OK.

COSTELLO: Hey, Paul, do you want to comment on that, the halftime show? ATTNER: Hey, the Beatles seem to have been able to last for an awful long time doing what they do. So, I was very fine with that show last night.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Well, listen to this one from Cassia (ph). She says: "Finally, a great halftime show, words you can understand, actual talent on stage, singer actually singing. Everyone at the party that I was at thought it was the best halftime show in years. And let's face it, Paul McCartney is from the same generation as the people who can afford the tickets to the game."

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: That's right. Paul Attner from the "Sporting News" joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you.

We've got to go. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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