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CNN Live At Daybreak

Update on Michael Jackson Trial; New Developments in Deadly Shooting of Judge's Family

Aired March 02, 2005 - 06:30   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Jackson jurors see what's it like living with Michael Jackson, and the pop star weeps in court.
Also this half-hour, the search for answers after a Chicago judge's husband and mother are found shot to death.

It is Wednesday, March 2. You are watching 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."

A judge who was working with Iraq's war crimes tribunal has been gunned down. Sources say insurgents killed the judge and his son in northern Baghdad. The tribunal will try Saddam Hussein and others on charges of human rights abuses.

A vote on Social Security changes sought by President Bush may not come before next year. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist tells "The Washington Post" it's too early to tell when it will come to the Senate floor.

Will interest rates go up? Economists will look for a hint this morning. In about three and a half hours, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan visits Capitol Hill to give lawmakers his latest take on the economy.

And just a few hours ago, Steve Fossett successfully passed the halfway point in his journey around the world. He's expected to complete the solo nonstop flight sometime tomorrow. And I guess, Chad, he's somewhere over China now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you can actually go on to the Web site and take a look at it. We pointed that out yesterday. It was kind of neat. Those two big pods on the right side of the plane, those are actually where the gas is and where the fuel is, and he's sitting in this little, tiny spot in the middle and drinking his milkshakes. He's right there in that middle. It's almost like a glider with a small, little motor on the back.

You know, I will be impressed when someone can do that solar- powered, and they can actually fly around.

COSTELLO: Oh, wow! MYERS: The whole wing becomes a solar panel, and that solar panel moves some kind of an electric motor, and that electric motor can actually fly a plane around.

COSTELLO: Well, maybe that's next for Mr. Fossett. Who knows?

MYERS: If I could even fly across one state I'd be impressed.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the Michael Jackson trial now. Today is day three, and the first witness expected to take the stand is a media crisis manager, who helped Jackson face the fallout from a controversial documentary.

In the meantime, the Reverend Jesse Jackson is critical of the jury's racial makeup. He says Jackson may not get a fair trial. And he says he's not the only one worried about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: I've talked to Michael about it twice. He's very anxious about it. His lawyer seems to be listening to us about it, but Michael is quite anxious about it, because this trial is so public and it is so political. And so, every jury, every juror matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now back to that documentary we mentioned. The jury saw the documentary on Tuesday in court, and they heard from the man who made it, British journalist Martin Bashir.

For more on that, let's check in with CNN's Miguel Marquez. He is covering the trial for us in Santa Maria, California.

Was Michael Jackson really weeping in court?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was indeed during portions of that documentary. It was altogether sort of a bizarre situation, where you had Michael Jackson watching the documentary with Martin Bashir in the courtroom. During the part where Jackson is holding his baby out over an open window in Berlin, Germany, he began, what looked like, to weep. He grabbed a tissue and dabbed his eyes with it for about 10 minutes or so, and it seemed to be very difficult for him to watch it.

COSTELLO: So, Miguel...

MARQUEZ: That documentary...

COSTELLO: Miguel, how did the jury react to that?

MARQUEZ: Well, to that there wasn't any juror reaction. Most juror reaction throughout the documentary was the jurors themselves tapping. There was a lot of music in it. The jurors were tapping their feet. They seemed engaged in it. They were laughing. They were interested at all the same points that Jackson and his family, who was sitting in the gallery, seemed to be interested in it.

COSTELLO: So, Martin Bashir takes the stand to talk about this documentary. Did lawyers get anything damaging out of him? Because it sounds like the jurors were rather enjoying themselves.

MARQUEZ: Well, the prosecution certainly wanted to show the documentary, because it's their theory that once this documentary aired, it caused this crisis in the Jackson camp. And everything -- the molestations and the conspiracy to cover it all up -- occurred after that documentary aired, and all of this investigation started.

On the defense side, they questioned Bashir at length yesterday, but he had both the prosecution and lawyers from the media there objecting to it based on California's reporter shield law and the First Amendment. But the defense was fairly good at asking questions that they knew Bashir wouldn't answer, and it left the jurors, I think, at least questioning what Bashir's motives were in getting the interview to begin with .

COSTELLO: Interesting. Quickly, who takes the stand today?

MARQUEZ: On the stand today is a woman by the name of Ann Marie Kite. She is the PR specialist, the crisis management specialist you talked about. She started yesterday. She'll finish up today. And she is going to testify about the state of mind and the state of affairs that the Jackson camp was thrown into after the Martin Bashir documentary aired, both in London and then in the United States on ABC.

COSTELLO: Miguel Marquez reporting live from Santa Maria, California, this morning.

All right, we told you all about that controversial documentary the jury got to see. Does this hurt or help Michael Jackson's case? We want to explore that question further on "AMERICAN MORNING." Bill Hemmer is here with a preview.

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

There are precious few seats inside that courtroom for reporters. Jeff Toobin has one of those seats. He's back from California today, where he spent two days inside that case -- inside the courtroom. He'll give us a firsthand account of how the jury reacted, how Michael Jackson has now reacted to that documentary and the music that was played that you just mentioned, Carol. Also, we'll talk to him about what he thinks about the defense suggestion yesterday, the strong hit that Jackson could testify during that trial.

Jeff Toobin is in the house here on "AMERICAN MORNING." He'll be part of our three-hour program coming up at 7:00 Eastern Time.

Carol -- we'll see you then. COSTELLO: Oh, we'll be right here. Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: OK.

COSTELLO: Now to new developments in the killing of the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago. Police are following new leads this morning.

Let's head live to CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks in Atlanta.

The "Chicago Sun-Times" has a very interesting article this morning, Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: A very, very interesting article, Carol.

Well, it says that they're investigating a series of phone calls Sunday to the judge's home, and they believe the calls came from the Metropolitan Correctional Facility, where a white supremacist, Matt Hale, is being held.

Now, there was also a car down the street, the newspaper reports, that a church worker went up to the car, said something to two men with military-style haircuts, and the car drove away. Whether or not that has anything to do with these two murders, I'm sure they'll find out very shortly.

COSTELLO: And give folks a little history of this. The judge -- this is such a weird case, because it doesn't seem like she passed out a very harsh judgment against this guy, but he got so angry.

BROOKS: No, it was all over a copyright -- a trademark infringement case, where he operated a group called the World Church of the Creator. There was another religious group that wanted the same name, apparently had it before he did. But the judge fined him. He refused to get rid of the name. The judge fined him over $200,000.

And then there were some threats made against the judge. An undercover FBI agent was involved -- an undercover person for the FBI was involved in this. And the informant said that there were some threats being made. He went to trial, was found guilty of that. In fact, he was due to be sentenced in this case on threats against the judge on April 6. And now this happened.

COSTELLO: In other words, this Hale guy was going to hire someone to murder this judge.

BROOKS: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Now, the creepy thing that also happened was Mr. Hale's father sent along condolences to the judge's family for the killings of her husband and her mother.

BROOKS: And he's a retired police officer. Now, some people may ask, Carol, why didn't this judge have protection? Well, she did have some temporary protection by the United States Marshals Service at the time of the threat. But the United States has a special unit, the judiciary -- it's called the Judicial Security Division. They're the ones that come out, and they basically do all of the threat assessments should there be any threats, in appropriate communications, those kinds of things, against the judges. But if, in fact, this is found to be linked to her job as a jurist, it will be the first time in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service that a family of a federal judge has been killed.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Just a little bit about the crime scene itself. Was there any evidence that the house was broken into? Because from what I understand, one of the daughters went to the house in the afternoon. The father and grandmother were already dead in the basement. She didn't notice anything awry.

BROOKS: Well, apparently, we were hearing from news accounts yesterday from the "Chicago Tribune," apparently there had been a broken window. We have yet to independently confirm that.

But the judge came home apparently, and they found blood pooling behind a door in the basement. It's also reported in the "Chicago Sun-Times" today that both the mother of the judge, the 89-year-old woman, Ms. Grace, and her husband died of multiple gunshot wounds. And there were some .22-caliber shell casings found at the scene. But they're not saying exactly what they did find.

And also, the chief of detectives yesterday at a news conference spoke out and said that they should not just focus on Matt Hale.

COSTELLO: Well, with the new information coming to light today, perhaps they are today focusing on that, since those suspicious calls apparently came from the same prison where this Hale guy is being kept.

BROOKS: Exactly. And it shouldn't be too hard to run that down, especially at a federal corrections facility, Carol. They're not just allowed to run around the facility and make phone calls whenever they want to. In fact, there have been a number of cases in the past dealing with drug kingpins and organized crime, where they have made telephone calls and were running -- trying to at least keep their enterprise going from in prison. And they found about it, and they were given additional time. So, I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of this very quickly.

COSTELLO: I see a trip to Chicago in your future.

BROOKS: It could be.

COSTELLO: Mike Brooks reporting live from Atlanta this morning. Thank you.

BROOKS: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: A detailed account of a grisly attack in about 10 minutes. Hear from a man who escaped from the BTK killer.

And what happens to telemarketers that call people on the do-not- call list? We'll give you a clue. It's expensive.

Here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone. I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq Marketsite.

Craig's List, the online classified ad site, is going to be sending millions of ads into space on May 15. The company won an eBay auction over the weekend, paying $1,225 for the right to send a message into space.

Florida's Deep Space Communications Network, an audio and video production company, is going to transmit the postings at least one light year into space, using its satellite broadcasting gear. The ads are going to be accompanied by a videotaped greeting from Craig Newmark, who is the founder of Craig's List. And a television series is reportedly in discussion about the event, possibly called "List in Space."

So, that is the latest there.

Turning to stock market futures, it looks like we could see some selling at the 9:30 bell today; this, as market gains yesterday put the Dow once again close to a three and a half year high.

One retailing stock to watch this morning, Costco, out with profits and sales for the recent quarter. They did miss the Wall Street estimate on the bottom line by a penny a share, but sales gained 10 percent. Costco is just one of several retailers reporting profits this morning.

And that is the latest business news. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Suicide car bombers launched two separate attacks today in Baghdad. The first blast was near an Iraqi recruiting center. It killed six soldiers. About two hours later, another bomb attack targeted an Iraqi military convoy. Seven people died in that incident.

The 17-month-old grandson of golfing great Jack Nicklaus died shortly after being found in a hot tub. Police say the boy had been playing in the hot tub with his brother and his nanny. But when they left the area, the boy got back in the water. No charges have been filed. In money news, the world's largest automaker is about to hand out more pink slips. General Motors says it will lay off nearly 3,000 workers at its car assembly plant in Lancing, Michigan. GM plans to close the plant this spring.

In culture, Ellen DeGeneres is hoping to be in line to defend her daytime Emmy title when nominations are announced today. Ellen's show was named best daytime talker last year. The daytime Emmys air May 20.

In sports, the Oakland Raiders are expected to announce the Randy Moss trade today. The deal for the outspoken wide receiver was agreed to last week. But the official word had to wait until the free agent signing period this morning. So, Randy Moss, Oakland. It's going to be interesting team to watch this season, Chad.

MYERS: Congratulations.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Driving under the influence of your cell phone is a safety hazard, and many of us are guilty of it. Well, there's a new survey out this morning. It was done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It shows 8 percent of drivers, or 1.2 million people, were using cell phones during daylight hours last year. That's a 50 percent rise since 2002 and a 100-percent jump in four years.

Of course, as you know, some communities are restricting cell phone use while driving. Others are not.

It's a fine time to be calling. Straight ahead, what one company faces after allegedly calling people who are listed on the federal do- not-call list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: For some people, the arrest in the BTK serial killer case brings a sense of closure. For others, it just leads to more questions. Dennis Rader was charged with 10 counts of murder in his first court appearance in Wichita, Kansas. There he is. It's believed Kevin Bright's sister was strangled by Rader. Bright recounts the night in 1974 when his 21-year-old sister was attacked in their home.

He talked to our Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN BRIGHT, ATTACKED BY BTK KILLER: He came back in a few minutes and grabbed ahold of me, and he started strangling me again. And I fought him again, and he shot me the second time. And anyway, I played like I was dead, and he left again.

And then I looked around the room to see if there was any kind of weapon that I could use to, you know, use against him, and there wasn't anything there. And I just decided I'd, you know, go for help.

And so I was about 15 feet from the front door, and I got up and I went out the front door, and there's two guys across the street, two men. And one of them took me to the hospital, and the other one called the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: When asked if he thinks suspect Dennis Rader was the man who attacked him, Bright says he's not sure.

Wichita investigators do continue to search for evidence in the case of the BTK killer. Are any unsolved murders in the Wichita area during the late '70s linked to Dennis Rader? "AMERICAN MORNING's" Soledad O'Brien joins us now from right down the street with a look at what she's working on this morning.

Good morning -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

Yes, of course, that is the big question today. Also, we'll be talking with the district attorney, who is leading the BTK case, find out just how strong this evidence against the suspect is -- against Rader is. And could Rader be charged with even more killings? Also, some question as to whether Rader can get a fair trial, especially after a somewhat controversial remark by the police chief. We're going to check in with the D.A. a little bit later this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol -- we'll see you in just a few minutes at the top of the hour.

COSTELLO: A little controversial. He was angry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Soledad.

It is 6:55 Eastern. Here is what will be making news today.

The FCC has proposed a $770,000 fine, the biggest one yet, against a mortgage company accused of calling people with phone numbers on the national do-not-call list.

In Washington, Congress will honor the late baseball great Jackie Robinson with a congressional gold medal for his achievements as a civil rights pioneer.

In Los Angeles, the shiny exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall will lose some of its luster. A $90,000 project to cut down on the building's glare should please neighbors. They've long complained the heat produced by the reflection was driving up utility bills.

And forget Google for a moment. Remember when Yahoo! was the cool, new buzz word? Well, Yahoo! turns 10 years old today. The company is giving out coupons for free ice cream for all U.S. users who visit the home page today.

I guess they give you the coupon, huh? It doesn't come from a big hand. It comes from your computer.

This is DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We end this morning with the mug giveaway.

MYERS: Carol, and the ice cream giveaway. I just got my coupon. I went to Yahoo! and printed it out.

COSTELLO: Right.

MYERS: If you answered the questions from yesterday, here are the correct ones. Who called America's high schools obsolete? That was Bill Gates. And governors from how many states formed a coalition to improve high schools? That number was 13.

And the winner from Arkansas, Sheldon Richman, gets a brand-new CNN DAYBREAK coffee mug.

The questions for today. What movie trailer will air during an episode of the "OC?" And the mayor from what city wants to fine weather forecasters?

Carol, Daybreak@CNN.com.

COSTELLO: I'm loving that. Daybreak@CNN.com. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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


Aired March 2, 2005 - 06:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Jackson jurors see what's it like living with Michael Jackson, and the pop star weeps in court.
Also this half-hour, the search for answers after a Chicago judge's husband and mother are found shot to death.

It is Wednesday, March 2. You are watching 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."

A judge who was working with Iraq's war crimes tribunal has been gunned down. Sources say insurgents killed the judge and his son in northern Baghdad. The tribunal will try Saddam Hussein and others on charges of human rights abuses.

A vote on Social Security changes sought by President Bush may not come before next year. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist tells "The Washington Post" it's too early to tell when it will come to the Senate floor.

Will interest rates go up? Economists will look for a hint this morning. In about three and a half hours, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan visits Capitol Hill to give lawmakers his latest take on the economy.

And just a few hours ago, Steve Fossett successfully passed the halfway point in his journey around the world. He's expected to complete the solo nonstop flight sometime tomorrow. And I guess, Chad, he's somewhere over China now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you can actually go on to the Web site and take a look at it. We pointed that out yesterday. It was kind of neat. Those two big pods on the right side of the plane, those are actually where the gas is and where the fuel is, and he's sitting in this little, tiny spot in the middle and drinking his milkshakes. He's right there in that middle. It's almost like a glider with a small, little motor on the back.

You know, I will be impressed when someone can do that solar- powered, and they can actually fly around.

COSTELLO: Oh, wow! MYERS: The whole wing becomes a solar panel, and that solar panel moves some kind of an electric motor, and that electric motor can actually fly a plane around.

COSTELLO: Well, maybe that's next for Mr. Fossett. Who knows?

MYERS: If I could even fly across one state I'd be impressed.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the Michael Jackson trial now. Today is day three, and the first witness expected to take the stand is a media crisis manager, who helped Jackson face the fallout from a controversial documentary.

In the meantime, the Reverend Jesse Jackson is critical of the jury's racial makeup. He says Jackson may not get a fair trial. And he says he's not the only one worried about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: I've talked to Michael about it twice. He's very anxious about it. His lawyer seems to be listening to us about it, but Michael is quite anxious about it, because this trial is so public and it is so political. And so, every jury, every juror matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now back to that documentary we mentioned. The jury saw the documentary on Tuesday in court, and they heard from the man who made it, British journalist Martin Bashir.

For more on that, let's check in with CNN's Miguel Marquez. He is covering the trial for us in Santa Maria, California.

Was Michael Jackson really weeping in court?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was indeed during portions of that documentary. It was altogether sort of a bizarre situation, where you had Michael Jackson watching the documentary with Martin Bashir in the courtroom. During the part where Jackson is holding his baby out over an open window in Berlin, Germany, he began, what looked like, to weep. He grabbed a tissue and dabbed his eyes with it for about 10 minutes or so, and it seemed to be very difficult for him to watch it.

COSTELLO: So, Miguel...

MARQUEZ: That documentary...

COSTELLO: Miguel, how did the jury react to that?

MARQUEZ: Well, to that there wasn't any juror reaction. Most juror reaction throughout the documentary was the jurors themselves tapping. There was a lot of music in it. The jurors were tapping their feet. They seemed engaged in it. They were laughing. They were interested at all the same points that Jackson and his family, who was sitting in the gallery, seemed to be interested in it.

COSTELLO: So, Martin Bashir takes the stand to talk about this documentary. Did lawyers get anything damaging out of him? Because it sounds like the jurors were rather enjoying themselves.

MARQUEZ: Well, the prosecution certainly wanted to show the documentary, because it's their theory that once this documentary aired, it caused this crisis in the Jackson camp. And everything -- the molestations and the conspiracy to cover it all up -- occurred after that documentary aired, and all of this investigation started.

On the defense side, they questioned Bashir at length yesterday, but he had both the prosecution and lawyers from the media there objecting to it based on California's reporter shield law and the First Amendment. But the defense was fairly good at asking questions that they knew Bashir wouldn't answer, and it left the jurors, I think, at least questioning what Bashir's motives were in getting the interview to begin with .

COSTELLO: Interesting. Quickly, who takes the stand today?

MARQUEZ: On the stand today is a woman by the name of Ann Marie Kite. She is the PR specialist, the crisis management specialist you talked about. She started yesterday. She'll finish up today. And she is going to testify about the state of mind and the state of affairs that the Jackson camp was thrown into after the Martin Bashir documentary aired, both in London and then in the United States on ABC.

COSTELLO: Miguel Marquez reporting live from Santa Maria, California, this morning.

All right, we told you all about that controversial documentary the jury got to see. Does this hurt or help Michael Jackson's case? We want to explore that question further on "AMERICAN MORNING." Bill Hemmer is here with a preview.

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

There are precious few seats inside that courtroom for reporters. Jeff Toobin has one of those seats. He's back from California today, where he spent two days inside that case -- inside the courtroom. He'll give us a firsthand account of how the jury reacted, how Michael Jackson has now reacted to that documentary and the music that was played that you just mentioned, Carol. Also, we'll talk to him about what he thinks about the defense suggestion yesterday, the strong hit that Jackson could testify during that trial.

Jeff Toobin is in the house here on "AMERICAN MORNING." He'll be part of our three-hour program coming up at 7:00 Eastern Time.

Carol -- we'll see you then. COSTELLO: Oh, we'll be right here. Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: OK.

COSTELLO: Now to new developments in the killing of the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago. Police are following new leads this morning.

Let's head live to CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks in Atlanta.

The "Chicago Sun-Times" has a very interesting article this morning, Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: A very, very interesting article, Carol.

Well, it says that they're investigating a series of phone calls Sunday to the judge's home, and they believe the calls came from the Metropolitan Correctional Facility, where a white supremacist, Matt Hale, is being held.

Now, there was also a car down the street, the newspaper reports, that a church worker went up to the car, said something to two men with military-style haircuts, and the car drove away. Whether or not that has anything to do with these two murders, I'm sure they'll find out very shortly.

COSTELLO: And give folks a little history of this. The judge -- this is such a weird case, because it doesn't seem like she passed out a very harsh judgment against this guy, but he got so angry.

BROOKS: No, it was all over a copyright -- a trademark infringement case, where he operated a group called the World Church of the Creator. There was another religious group that wanted the same name, apparently had it before he did. But the judge fined him. He refused to get rid of the name. The judge fined him over $200,000.

And then there were some threats made against the judge. An undercover FBI agent was involved -- an undercover person for the FBI was involved in this. And the informant said that there were some threats being made. He went to trial, was found guilty of that. In fact, he was due to be sentenced in this case on threats against the judge on April 6. And now this happened.

COSTELLO: In other words, this Hale guy was going to hire someone to murder this judge.

BROOKS: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Now, the creepy thing that also happened was Mr. Hale's father sent along condolences to the judge's family for the killings of her husband and her mother.

BROOKS: And he's a retired police officer. Now, some people may ask, Carol, why didn't this judge have protection? Well, she did have some temporary protection by the United States Marshals Service at the time of the threat. But the United States has a special unit, the judiciary -- it's called the Judicial Security Division. They're the ones that come out, and they basically do all of the threat assessments should there be any threats, in appropriate communications, those kinds of things, against the judges. But if, in fact, this is found to be linked to her job as a jurist, it will be the first time in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service that a family of a federal judge has been killed.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Just a little bit about the crime scene itself. Was there any evidence that the house was broken into? Because from what I understand, one of the daughters went to the house in the afternoon. The father and grandmother were already dead in the basement. She didn't notice anything awry.

BROOKS: Well, apparently, we were hearing from news accounts yesterday from the "Chicago Tribune," apparently there had been a broken window. We have yet to independently confirm that.

But the judge came home apparently, and they found blood pooling behind a door in the basement. It's also reported in the "Chicago Sun-Times" today that both the mother of the judge, the 89-year-old woman, Ms. Grace, and her husband died of multiple gunshot wounds. And there were some .22-caliber shell casings found at the scene. But they're not saying exactly what they did find.

And also, the chief of detectives yesterday at a news conference spoke out and said that they should not just focus on Matt Hale.

COSTELLO: Well, with the new information coming to light today, perhaps they are today focusing on that, since those suspicious calls apparently came from the same prison where this Hale guy is being kept.

BROOKS: Exactly. And it shouldn't be too hard to run that down, especially at a federal corrections facility, Carol. They're not just allowed to run around the facility and make phone calls whenever they want to. In fact, there have been a number of cases in the past dealing with drug kingpins and organized crime, where they have made telephone calls and were running -- trying to at least keep their enterprise going from in prison. And they found about it, and they were given additional time. So, I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of this very quickly.

COSTELLO: I see a trip to Chicago in your future.

BROOKS: It could be.

COSTELLO: Mike Brooks reporting live from Atlanta this morning. Thank you.

BROOKS: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: A detailed account of a grisly attack in about 10 minutes. Hear from a man who escaped from the BTK killer.

And what happens to telemarketers that call people on the do-not- call list? We'll give you a clue. It's expensive.

Here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone. I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq Marketsite.

Craig's List, the online classified ad site, is going to be sending millions of ads into space on May 15. The company won an eBay auction over the weekend, paying $1,225 for the right to send a message into space.

Florida's Deep Space Communications Network, an audio and video production company, is going to transmit the postings at least one light year into space, using its satellite broadcasting gear. The ads are going to be accompanied by a videotaped greeting from Craig Newmark, who is the founder of Craig's List. And a television series is reportedly in discussion about the event, possibly called "List in Space."

So, that is the latest there.

Turning to stock market futures, it looks like we could see some selling at the 9:30 bell today; this, as market gains yesterday put the Dow once again close to a three and a half year high.

One retailing stock to watch this morning, Costco, out with profits and sales for the recent quarter. They did miss the Wall Street estimate on the bottom line by a penny a share, but sales gained 10 percent. Costco is just one of several retailers reporting profits this morning.

And that is the latest business news. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Suicide car bombers launched two separate attacks today in Baghdad. The first blast was near an Iraqi recruiting center. It killed six soldiers. About two hours later, another bomb attack targeted an Iraqi military convoy. Seven people died in that incident.

The 17-month-old grandson of golfing great Jack Nicklaus died shortly after being found in a hot tub. Police say the boy had been playing in the hot tub with his brother and his nanny. But when they left the area, the boy got back in the water. No charges have been filed. In money news, the world's largest automaker is about to hand out more pink slips. General Motors says it will lay off nearly 3,000 workers at its car assembly plant in Lancing, Michigan. GM plans to close the plant this spring.

In culture, Ellen DeGeneres is hoping to be in line to defend her daytime Emmy title when nominations are announced today. Ellen's show was named best daytime talker last year. The daytime Emmys air May 20.

In sports, the Oakland Raiders are expected to announce the Randy Moss trade today. The deal for the outspoken wide receiver was agreed to last week. But the official word had to wait until the free agent signing period this morning. So, Randy Moss, Oakland. It's going to be interesting team to watch this season, Chad.

MYERS: Congratulations.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Driving under the influence of your cell phone is a safety hazard, and many of us are guilty of it. Well, there's a new survey out this morning. It was done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It shows 8 percent of drivers, or 1.2 million people, were using cell phones during daylight hours last year. That's a 50 percent rise since 2002 and a 100-percent jump in four years.

Of course, as you know, some communities are restricting cell phone use while driving. Others are not.

It's a fine time to be calling. Straight ahead, what one company faces after allegedly calling people who are listed on the federal do- not-call list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: For some people, the arrest in the BTK serial killer case brings a sense of closure. For others, it just leads to more questions. Dennis Rader was charged with 10 counts of murder in his first court appearance in Wichita, Kansas. There he is. It's believed Kevin Bright's sister was strangled by Rader. Bright recounts the night in 1974 when his 21-year-old sister was attacked in their home.

He talked to our Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN BRIGHT, ATTACKED BY BTK KILLER: He came back in a few minutes and grabbed ahold of me, and he started strangling me again. And I fought him again, and he shot me the second time. And anyway, I played like I was dead, and he left again.

And then I looked around the room to see if there was any kind of weapon that I could use to, you know, use against him, and there wasn't anything there. And I just decided I'd, you know, go for help.

And so I was about 15 feet from the front door, and I got up and I went out the front door, and there's two guys across the street, two men. And one of them took me to the hospital, and the other one called the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: When asked if he thinks suspect Dennis Rader was the man who attacked him, Bright says he's not sure.

Wichita investigators do continue to search for evidence in the case of the BTK killer. Are any unsolved murders in the Wichita area during the late '70s linked to Dennis Rader? "AMERICAN MORNING's" Soledad O'Brien joins us now from right down the street with a look at what she's working on this morning.

Good morning -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

Yes, of course, that is the big question today. Also, we'll be talking with the district attorney, who is leading the BTK case, find out just how strong this evidence against the suspect is -- against Rader is. And could Rader be charged with even more killings? Also, some question as to whether Rader can get a fair trial, especially after a somewhat controversial remark by the police chief. We're going to check in with the D.A. a little bit later this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Carol -- we'll see you in just a few minutes at the top of the hour.

COSTELLO: A little controversial. He was angry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Soledad.

It is 6:55 Eastern. Here is what will be making news today.

The FCC has proposed a $770,000 fine, the biggest one yet, against a mortgage company accused of calling people with phone numbers on the national do-not-call list.

In Washington, Congress will honor the late baseball great Jackie Robinson with a congressional gold medal for his achievements as a civil rights pioneer.

In Los Angeles, the shiny exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall will lose some of its luster. A $90,000 project to cut down on the building's glare should please neighbors. They've long complained the heat produced by the reflection was driving up utility bills.

And forget Google for a moment. Remember when Yahoo! was the cool, new buzz word? Well, Yahoo! turns 10 years old today. The company is giving out coupons for free ice cream for all U.S. users who visit the home page today.

I guess they give you the coupon, huh? It doesn't come from a big hand. It comes from your computer.

This is DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We end this morning with the mug giveaway.

MYERS: Carol, and the ice cream giveaway. I just got my coupon. I went to Yahoo! and printed it out.

COSTELLO: Right.

MYERS: If you answered the questions from yesterday, here are the correct ones. Who called America's high schools obsolete? That was Bill Gates. And governors from how many states formed a coalition to improve high schools? That number was 13.

And the winner from Arkansas, Sheldon Richman, gets a brand-new CNN DAYBREAK coffee mug.

The questions for today. What movie trailer will air during an episode of the "OC?" And the mayor from what city wants to fine weather forecasters?

Carol, Daybreak@CNN.com.

COSTELLO: I'm loving that. Daybreak@CNN.com. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: 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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