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CNN Live At Daybreak

Martha Stewart Leaves Her Prison Days Behind Her; Amending the Scholastic Aptitude Test

Aired March 04, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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


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


KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martha Stewart leaves her prison days behind her. But the homemaking guru isn't done serving her sentence.
And amending the Scholastic Aptitude Test. You know it as the SAT. Those annoying analogies go away, replaced with a little controversy.

And later, the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the witness stand. Today, we'll find out how damaging her testimony has been so far.

It is Friday and you are watching DAYBREAK.

Good Friday morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, she's out. Martha Stewart arrived at her New York estate about three hours ago. You are looking now at live pictures of her estate in Bedford, New York. She will begin serving five months under house arrest after serving five months behind bars for lying about a stock sale. We will have live reports in just two minutes.

Canine search teams plan to stop looking for a missing Florida girl today. Nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford disappeared from her home more than a week ago. Authorities say there are no named suspects or strong leads.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is reportedly warning the U.S. not to be aggressive. The Dow Jones News Wire says Chavez will cut oil supplies to the U.S. if Washington tries to "hurt Venezuela." Last month, Chavez accused the U.S. of trying to assassinate him. The State Department called the allegation "ridiculous."

And President Bush is heading on the road again. He is pushing his Social Security plan in a 60 city, 60 day blitz. The president will be in New Jersey this morning and at the University of Notre Dame this afternoon.

To the Weather Center now again -- and hello to Chad.

Chad, did you ever notice on Friday, everyone seems to have a really big smile on their face? CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's the added coffee.

WALLACE: I think so. You think?

MYERS: Good morning, Kelly.

WALLACE: Good morning.

MYERS: Yes, I'm still on my second cup or so here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, day one of Martha Stewart's new life is our top story. The domestic diva is enjoying the comforts of her home this morning, after being released from a West Virginia prison just after midnight.

We have two live reports.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is at the West Virginia airport where Stewart boarded a private jet home.

And CNN's Allan Chernoff is at Stewart's Bedford, New York estate.

We begin with you, Deb.

It was quick but dramatic, right?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely quick and definitely dramatic. And, boy, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday at this hour, Martha Stewart was getting up to begin her final day of prison duties. Today, she's back on her own schedule. She can sleep late if she so chooses. Martha Stewart leaving prison yesterday at about 12:30 in the morning. She did not linger. She did not spend one moment more than she had to.

She arrived directly at the airport. And then came the million dollar moment that you referred to -- the smile, the wave, the bounce in her step. She even spontaneously kissed one man waiting just at the bottom of the steps, who seemed to be a part of the crew, after she apparently recognized him.

She did bring with her only a few belongings, really, a box, which seemed to be sort of one of the boxes that you carry paper in, and also a small black duffle bag.

She has vowed to remember the women she met here. She put a posting on her Web site that reads: "You can be sure that I will never forget the friends that I met here, all they have done to help me over these five months, their children and the stories they have told me."

And then she settled in for the hour long plane ride home, saying also, it would be good to be back home -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Deborah Feyerick reporting throughout the evening for us from West Virginia.

Thanks so much, Deborah.

We'll talk to you in a little bit.

Business wise, Martha Stewart is better off now than when she entered prison. You may wonder how.

Well, CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us from outside Stewart's estate in Bedford, New York -- and Allan, what is the scene like there now?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now quiet, of course. The sun just rising. But it was 2:00 in the morning when Martha Stewart arrived at Westchester Airport, not far from here. A half hour later, her convoy of three cars was driving up a dirt road right nearby here. And shortly thereafter Martha Stewart finally was back home after five months in prison.

Now, of course, she has five more months of home confinement. And she's got an estate here that runs 153-acres. That's larger than the Alderson Prison in West Virginia. But she's not going to be permitted to roam around on that estate. She actually will be restricted to her residence there and by Sunday night she has to meet with her probation officer. She's going to have an ankle bracelet that will be affixed to her. It will be connected via radio waves to a transmitter in her home, which will be hooked up to a phone line. If she leaves the home, the probation officer will know about it.

Now, Martha Stewart will be permitted out of the house 48 hours a week. She'll be allowed to visit doctors, shop for groceries, go to church and go to the office if she so desires. She certainly does have plenty of work. Martha Stewart, of course, a very busy person. She plans to write a column for her magazine. She plans two television shows, "The Apprentice," her own version of it; and also a new syndicated program that will premier in the fall.

So Martha Stewart certainly has plenty on her plate. She'll be busy. But right now certainly catching up on her sleep -- Kelly, back to you.

WALLACE: And, Allan, I know you've been talking to some of the leaders of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. I know they're very excited.

What kind of role do they see her playing in the company now that she's out of prison?

CHERNOFF: Right. Kelly, as you know, Martha Stewart is the founder of the company and the former chairman and chief executive. Right now she does not have an executive role at the company. But they plan to have her very involved in the company. Martha Stewart has been basically the creative force. She has approved all the major projects there. And they are looking for creative input from Martha Stewart. They want to show her the new products that are coming out. The company has a new line of bedding, new ready-to-assemble furniture that is going to be sold at Kmart. They have another new furniture line coming out, a baking book coming out later this year, lots of new projects.

And, Kelly, they also are looking into greatly expanding. They are considering, according to the chief executive, considering going into the food business, prepared foods, perhaps frozen foods. They are also thinking of a variety of new ways to deliver their content, over the Internet; also, they plan to package Martha Stewart's TV programs into DVDs, into videos.

So lots of projects at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart is going to have plenty to occupy herself with.

WALLACE: And, Allan, lots of smiles, I'm sure, at the company. That stock price has been going only in one direction, it seems, for most of the time that she was in jail, right?

CHERNOFF: Yes. During the time she was in jail, the stock price actually doubled. So she has come out of jail, believe it or not, worth about $500 million more than she did when she entered jail. So once again, Martha Stewart is a billionaire.

One note to that, Kelly, though, very interesting, yesterday the stock price rose, but that was the first increase in six days. For five days, the stock price actually took a little bit of a hit. On Wall Street, there's a thing such as buying on the news and then selling right afterward. And it seems that may have happened here. So some people perhaps lightening up on the stock -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Right, I know. A lot of analysts thinking that that stock price might come down in the weeks and months ahead.

Allan, thanks so much.

Allan Chernoff reporting live from Bedford, New York for us this morning.

More "News Across America" now.

Two painters were left dangling 10 floors above a downtown Los Angeles street after their scaffolding broke. It took rescuers about 40 minutes to pull them through a window. Luckily, they were both wearing their safety harnesses. Neither was seriously injured.

Texas Border Patrol agents successfully delivered a baby after picking up the immigrant mother. The 27-year-old woman was just six months pregnant. Authorities say the woman had been abandoned by an immigrant smuggler because she couldn't keep up. The baby is in intensive care at a Corpus Christi hospital.

And a special memorial exhibit has opened at Syracuse University. The exhibit, called "Faces of the Fallen," features pictures of more than 1,400 American soldiers killed in Iraq. Creators of the show intend to eventually send the original portraits of the soldiers to their families.

Well, life in a fish bowl -- Martha Stewart, as you know, is out of prison and ready to entertain you. But can she whip up a recipe for TV ratings success?

And aptitude versus attitude -- new changes on the SAT. Will it help or hurt your college bound child?

And the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser prepares for a second day of testimony. We'll have a live report on the latest courtroom testimony.

But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Friday morning, March 4.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Still to come, keeping up with the times. The SAT gets a dramatic change. Is it the right answer for students to show what they know? Decide for yourself straight ahead.

DAYBREAK will be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Welcome back.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's about 13 minutes after the hour and here's what is new this morning.

Martha Stewart is back at her estate in Bedford, New York this morning. She was released from a West Virginia prison just after midnight. Stewart will spend the next five months in home confinement.

President Bush travels to Indiana and New Jersey today. His trip kicks off a two month P.R. blitz to sell his proposal to overhaul Social Security. Recent polls show public support for his plan for private retirement accounts is falling.

In money, two Boston companies have offered to buy out the shuttered National Hockey League for more than $3 billion. But it's unlikely the League's 30 owners would agree to the sale.

In culture, Tim McGraw leads the way to the Academy of Country Music Awards. McGraw received six nominations for the 40th annual awards, including entertainer of the year. Winners will be announced May 17.

In sports, Shaquille O'Neal led his "Miami Heat" to a big win over the New Jersey Nets in his first game back from injury. Shaq had missed three games with a sprained knee. Also, Alonzo Mourning made his season debut with Miami.

To Chad now in the Weather Center.

Somehow, though, Shaq gets all the attention, right -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, I guess so. You know, he just -- have dominates in there somehow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, we've been talking about it all morning -- Martha Stewart. She is not only on TV for being out of prison, but she'll be on air at least twice as much as before.

Joining us now, Tom O'Neil from "In Touch Weekly" magazine.

Tom, great to see you.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": The same here, Kelly.

WALLACE: We must begin with controversy, controversy, controversy. "Newsweek" magazine, we want our viewers to look at this cover. It is Martha's head but on the body of a model. Many people criticizing this, saying this is not the way it should be. It makes people think that's the real Martha, looking svelte and trim and lean and mean.

What do you think?

O'NEIL: I think it's the biggest non-scandal. Working in the business, it's very hard, I can tell you, to try to put a cover out. To believe that that cover is real, you would have to believe that somehow "Newsweek" got into this jail in West Virginia, got Martha to pose with this curtain. Except we know that the media has not been allowed anywhere near her.

So, on one hand, we know that logic tells us this can't be true. And inside the magazine, they do fess up on the photo credits page.

Why people are upset about this is it's part of another trend, where a lot of magazines have actually been taking the head of Julia Roberts or Cher and grafting it onto the body of a younger, slimmer star.

WALLACE: Yes, making it seem that when you looked at "Newsweek" magazine -- I don't know about you, but when you look at it, your just first sense is you think it's real.

Didn't you?

O'NEIL: Yes, they've done such a good job. Yes. They probably should have gone the other way, since they were doing a concept cover. They probably should have exaggerated the slimness, exaggerated the whole setup, and it might have even been funnier.

WALLACE: Let's talk about expectations, and they are big, for Martha when it comes to entertainment. Not one, but two TV shows. The one that's getting a lot of attention, Mark Burnett of, we know, "The Apprentice" fame. He is going to have Martha do her own version of "The Apprentice."

Can she deliver? Can she be as funny and as likable as Donald Trump?

O'NEIL: I think she can do a lot of that. I think what was very telling about the statement she released this morning was how much she has learned in jail. And for, you know, haughty Martha to admit that there was some humbling that went on here is interesting and we're going to see evidence of that.

The question is will the audience buy this, because the setup of "The Apprentice" is that we, as the contestants, are aspiring to the greatness of, and the achievement of the hose.

Well, Martha got there the crooked way, to some extent. We believe that she didn't quite play by the rules. So the whole set up of the show, I'm not sure quite works. She's opening herself up to a lot of criticism.

WALLACE: Also, she's going to do sort of a form of her "Martha Stewart Living" show, but it'll be a daytime show, but live, in front of a studio audience.

I mean will her personality translate into success? Because you know live television, what you see is what you get.

O'NEIL: Right, right.

WALLACE: You can't hide away from anything.

O'NEIL: Right. And she -- Martha has never been warm and fuzzy. And Ellen DeGeneres, who has prospered during the day in a similar kind of live audience show, is, and can pull it off. There will be talk show elements to this program that we're talking about, plus the domestic diva how to elements. This is going to be a chore. As the producers say, they're selling good cop/bad cop -- good Martha during the day, bad Martha by night.

WALLACE: We'll see how it sells.

All right, Tom O'Neil, "In Touch Weekly" magazine, just back from great work at the Oscars.

O'NEIL: Oh, thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Great to see you.

Well, it's been more around -- excuse me -- more than 70 years. Now the Scholastic Aptitude Test is being updated again. But will the new changes benefit students?

You decide, straight ahead on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone. I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.

As we've been reporting, Martha Stewart has left the building, left federal prison, that is. And she's a good deal richer than when she went in five months ago.

When she reported to prison on October 8, her company's stock, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, was about $16 a share. Well, after a 6 percent gain yesterday, that stock is now worth $34 a share, meaning the value of her holdings has more than doubled, to over $1 billion while she served her sentence.

But going back three years, you can see, the stock has fallen sharply when her name surfaced as part of the Imclone stock scandal. Investors who have been buying the stock recently are encouraged by deals she's made in prison, including two television shows, hosting two television programs. Martha Stewart Living will certainly be a stock to watch today.

That said, early market indications looking pretty flat for this Friday's session. It's been a choppy week -- up one day, down the next. Pretty much everyone on Wall Street focusing on the big February jobs report coming out an hour before the market open. And that will certainly give us some direction for this trading session.

And that is the latest from the Nasdaq.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back.

Yale getting into the pre-education business. The Ivy League school is hoping to attract more students with its new tuition rules. Families that make less than $45,000 a year won't pay for schooling. The change mirrors similar rules at other schools, like rival Harvard, which saw a big boost in applications.

Well, all morning we've been telling you about new changes to the SAT. You remember those number two pencils and hours and hours of studying.

Well, this year the Scholastic Aptitude Test adds an essay question.

Former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board that produces the test.

Welcome, Governor.

Thanks for being here.

GASTON CAPERTON, COLLEGE BOARD PRESIDENT, FORMER WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Good morning, Kelly.

How are you today?

WALLACE: Great.

First, why the changes? I mean it's the cover of the "New York Times," getting all kinds of attention.

Why the changes? Why the essay question?

CAPERTON: Well, the SAT has been really the test that we've known for years and years. And the reason that it has lasted so long and been so important in the transition to college is because it's a great test and you have to change anything that's good to continue to make it better.

So this, we wanted to do everything we could to continue to make the test the best test in the world.

WALLACE: Why the essay question, though? Why the addition of testing students on their writing and writing sample?

CAPERTON: Writing is so critical to the education process. And when we talked to deans of law schools, when we talked to businesspeople, we did a survey of the Business Roundtable, everybody you talk to said students don't know how to write today. And writing is so critical, no matter what your job is. Even in you who are in the communications business, most of it is written before it's spoken. And the ability to gather your thoughts, to articulate them in a smart way, is critical to everybody's job. So we think it's a very important thing that we've added.

WALLACE: We want our viewers to see sort of a sample question of what students starting on Saturday, March 12, could see. What they're going to be given is an excerpt. And take a look at this.

The students in the sample were told this excerpt: "People who like to think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic tend to take it for granted that human nature is selfish and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest may survive."

It goes on to say, "The fittest are those people who can bring to the struggle superior force, superior cunning and superior ruthlessness."

And then you would have 25 minutes to write an essay on do people have to be highly competitive in order to succeed?

Many of my colleagues, we looked at it and thought that's very difficult.

CAPERTON: It is. It is. But what we're looking for is a person taking a position. It's how they form their argument or their position. It's the way they form their sentences and their paragraphs and the logic that develops. It's all those things that you have to do when you're in college and you are asked an essay question. And it's not right in the -- we're not looking for the person who's going to win the next Pulitzer Prize. We're looking for a person who can organize their thoughts in a logical, effective way and communicate effectively.

WALLACE: You know there's been some controversy. And some critics say that this test, especially the essay question, will negatively affect students coming from weaker schools.

What do you say to that?

CAPERTON: Well, we've done a lot of testing and that does not prove to be true. And I think that this -- that any student who comes from a weaker school is not going to do as well on the SAT, nor is any student who hasn't studied hard is going to do as well on the SAT. And the real injustice we have in the American school system is we don't have everybody having the opportunity to go to a good school. And it's something that we worked -- are working on very hard.

I've just come from the National Governors Association meeting on how to make high schools better, and that's the whole fight that we have ahead of us, is to make all of these schools good.

WALLACE: I wish we had more time.

You know, there's a lot of anxiety with juniors across the country right now, but they will take the new test.

Governor Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, thanks for being here and sharing your thoughts.

CAPERTON: Thank you so much.

WALLACE: We appreciate it.

And we'll watch and look at the story in the weeks ahead.

CAPERTON: Thank you.

WALLACE: Thanks again.

Well, from obscurity to the glaring spotlight -- the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser is set to tell more of what she saw at Neverland. Ahead, a live report as the first week of testimony is almost history.

But first, a live look at Martha Stewart's house in Bedford, New York. That is where she is going to be getting five months of house arrest.

This is DAYBREAK for a Friday morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired March 4, 2005 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martha Stewart leaves her prison days behind her. But the homemaking guru isn't done serving her sentence.
And amending the Scholastic Aptitude Test. You know it as the SAT. Those annoying analogies go away, replaced with a little controversy.

And later, the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the witness stand. Today, we'll find out how damaging her testimony has been so far.

It is Friday and you are watching DAYBREAK.

Good Friday morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, she's out. Martha Stewart arrived at her New York estate about three hours ago. You are looking now at live pictures of her estate in Bedford, New York. She will begin serving five months under house arrest after serving five months behind bars for lying about a stock sale. We will have live reports in just two minutes.

Canine search teams plan to stop looking for a missing Florida girl today. Nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford disappeared from her home more than a week ago. Authorities say there are no named suspects or strong leads.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is reportedly warning the U.S. not to be aggressive. The Dow Jones News Wire says Chavez will cut oil supplies to the U.S. if Washington tries to "hurt Venezuela." Last month, Chavez accused the U.S. of trying to assassinate him. The State Department called the allegation "ridiculous."

And President Bush is heading on the road again. He is pushing his Social Security plan in a 60 city, 60 day blitz. The president will be in New Jersey this morning and at the University of Notre Dame this afternoon.

To the Weather Center now again -- and hello to Chad.

Chad, did you ever notice on Friday, everyone seems to have a really big smile on their face? CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's the added coffee.

WALLACE: I think so. You think?

MYERS: Good morning, Kelly.

WALLACE: Good morning.

MYERS: Yes, I'm still on my second cup or so here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, day one of Martha Stewart's new life is our top story. The domestic diva is enjoying the comforts of her home this morning, after being released from a West Virginia prison just after midnight.

We have two live reports.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is at the West Virginia airport where Stewart boarded a private jet home.

And CNN's Allan Chernoff is at Stewart's Bedford, New York estate.

We begin with you, Deb.

It was quick but dramatic, right?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely quick and definitely dramatic. And, boy, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday at this hour, Martha Stewart was getting up to begin her final day of prison duties. Today, she's back on her own schedule. She can sleep late if she so chooses. Martha Stewart leaving prison yesterday at about 12:30 in the morning. She did not linger. She did not spend one moment more than she had to.

She arrived directly at the airport. And then came the million dollar moment that you referred to -- the smile, the wave, the bounce in her step. She even spontaneously kissed one man waiting just at the bottom of the steps, who seemed to be a part of the crew, after she apparently recognized him.

She did bring with her only a few belongings, really, a box, which seemed to be sort of one of the boxes that you carry paper in, and also a small black duffle bag.

She has vowed to remember the women she met here. She put a posting on her Web site that reads: "You can be sure that I will never forget the friends that I met here, all they have done to help me over these five months, their children and the stories they have told me."

And then she settled in for the hour long plane ride home, saying also, it would be good to be back home -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Deborah Feyerick reporting throughout the evening for us from West Virginia.

Thanks so much, Deborah.

We'll talk to you in a little bit.

Business wise, Martha Stewart is better off now than when she entered prison. You may wonder how.

Well, CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us from outside Stewart's estate in Bedford, New York -- and Allan, what is the scene like there now?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now quiet, of course. The sun just rising. But it was 2:00 in the morning when Martha Stewart arrived at Westchester Airport, not far from here. A half hour later, her convoy of three cars was driving up a dirt road right nearby here. And shortly thereafter Martha Stewart finally was back home after five months in prison.

Now, of course, she has five more months of home confinement. And she's got an estate here that runs 153-acres. That's larger than the Alderson Prison in West Virginia. But she's not going to be permitted to roam around on that estate. She actually will be restricted to her residence there and by Sunday night she has to meet with her probation officer. She's going to have an ankle bracelet that will be affixed to her. It will be connected via radio waves to a transmitter in her home, which will be hooked up to a phone line. If she leaves the home, the probation officer will know about it.

Now, Martha Stewart will be permitted out of the house 48 hours a week. She'll be allowed to visit doctors, shop for groceries, go to church and go to the office if she so desires. She certainly does have plenty of work. Martha Stewart, of course, a very busy person. She plans to write a column for her magazine. She plans two television shows, "The Apprentice," her own version of it; and also a new syndicated program that will premier in the fall.

So Martha Stewart certainly has plenty on her plate. She'll be busy. But right now certainly catching up on her sleep -- Kelly, back to you.

WALLACE: And, Allan, I know you've been talking to some of the leaders of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. I know they're very excited.

What kind of role do they see her playing in the company now that she's out of prison?

CHERNOFF: Right. Kelly, as you know, Martha Stewart is the founder of the company and the former chairman and chief executive. Right now she does not have an executive role at the company. But they plan to have her very involved in the company. Martha Stewart has been basically the creative force. She has approved all the major projects there. And they are looking for creative input from Martha Stewart. They want to show her the new products that are coming out. The company has a new line of bedding, new ready-to-assemble furniture that is going to be sold at Kmart. They have another new furniture line coming out, a baking book coming out later this year, lots of new projects.

And, Kelly, they also are looking into greatly expanding. They are considering, according to the chief executive, considering going into the food business, prepared foods, perhaps frozen foods. They are also thinking of a variety of new ways to deliver their content, over the Internet; also, they plan to package Martha Stewart's TV programs into DVDs, into videos.

So lots of projects at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart is going to have plenty to occupy herself with.

WALLACE: And, Allan, lots of smiles, I'm sure, at the company. That stock price has been going only in one direction, it seems, for most of the time that she was in jail, right?

CHERNOFF: Yes. During the time she was in jail, the stock price actually doubled. So she has come out of jail, believe it or not, worth about $500 million more than she did when she entered jail. So once again, Martha Stewart is a billionaire.

One note to that, Kelly, though, very interesting, yesterday the stock price rose, but that was the first increase in six days. For five days, the stock price actually took a little bit of a hit. On Wall Street, there's a thing such as buying on the news and then selling right afterward. And it seems that may have happened here. So some people perhaps lightening up on the stock -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Right, I know. A lot of analysts thinking that that stock price might come down in the weeks and months ahead.

Allan, thanks so much.

Allan Chernoff reporting live from Bedford, New York for us this morning.

More "News Across America" now.

Two painters were left dangling 10 floors above a downtown Los Angeles street after their scaffolding broke. It took rescuers about 40 minutes to pull them through a window. Luckily, they were both wearing their safety harnesses. Neither was seriously injured.

Texas Border Patrol agents successfully delivered a baby after picking up the immigrant mother. The 27-year-old woman was just six months pregnant. Authorities say the woman had been abandoned by an immigrant smuggler because she couldn't keep up. The baby is in intensive care at a Corpus Christi hospital.

And a special memorial exhibit has opened at Syracuse University. The exhibit, called "Faces of the Fallen," features pictures of more than 1,400 American soldiers killed in Iraq. Creators of the show intend to eventually send the original portraits of the soldiers to their families.

Well, life in a fish bowl -- Martha Stewart, as you know, is out of prison and ready to entertain you. But can she whip up a recipe for TV ratings success?

And aptitude versus attitude -- new changes on the SAT. Will it help or hurt your college bound child?

And the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser prepares for a second day of testimony. We'll have a live report on the latest courtroom testimony.

But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Friday morning, March 4.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Still to come, keeping up with the times. The SAT gets a dramatic change. Is it the right answer for students to show what they know? Decide for yourself straight ahead.

DAYBREAK will be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Welcome back.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's about 13 minutes after the hour and here's what is new this morning.

Martha Stewart is back at her estate in Bedford, New York this morning. She was released from a West Virginia prison just after midnight. Stewart will spend the next five months in home confinement.

President Bush travels to Indiana and New Jersey today. His trip kicks off a two month P.R. blitz to sell his proposal to overhaul Social Security. Recent polls show public support for his plan for private retirement accounts is falling.

In money, two Boston companies have offered to buy out the shuttered National Hockey League for more than $3 billion. But it's unlikely the League's 30 owners would agree to the sale.

In culture, Tim McGraw leads the way to the Academy of Country Music Awards. McGraw received six nominations for the 40th annual awards, including entertainer of the year. Winners will be announced May 17.

In sports, Shaquille O'Neal led his "Miami Heat" to a big win over the New Jersey Nets in his first game back from injury. Shaq had missed three games with a sprained knee. Also, Alonzo Mourning made his season debut with Miami.

To Chad now in the Weather Center.

Somehow, though, Shaq gets all the attention, right -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, I guess so. You know, he just -- have dominates in there somehow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, we've been talking about it all morning -- Martha Stewart. She is not only on TV for being out of prison, but she'll be on air at least twice as much as before.

Joining us now, Tom O'Neil from "In Touch Weekly" magazine.

Tom, great to see you.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": The same here, Kelly.

WALLACE: We must begin with controversy, controversy, controversy. "Newsweek" magazine, we want our viewers to look at this cover. It is Martha's head but on the body of a model. Many people criticizing this, saying this is not the way it should be. It makes people think that's the real Martha, looking svelte and trim and lean and mean.

What do you think?

O'NEIL: I think it's the biggest non-scandal. Working in the business, it's very hard, I can tell you, to try to put a cover out. To believe that that cover is real, you would have to believe that somehow "Newsweek" got into this jail in West Virginia, got Martha to pose with this curtain. Except we know that the media has not been allowed anywhere near her.

So, on one hand, we know that logic tells us this can't be true. And inside the magazine, they do fess up on the photo credits page.

Why people are upset about this is it's part of another trend, where a lot of magazines have actually been taking the head of Julia Roberts or Cher and grafting it onto the body of a younger, slimmer star.

WALLACE: Yes, making it seem that when you looked at "Newsweek" magazine -- I don't know about you, but when you look at it, your just first sense is you think it's real.

Didn't you?

O'NEIL: Yes, they've done such a good job. Yes. They probably should have gone the other way, since they were doing a concept cover. They probably should have exaggerated the slimness, exaggerated the whole setup, and it might have even been funnier.

WALLACE: Let's talk about expectations, and they are big, for Martha when it comes to entertainment. Not one, but two TV shows. The one that's getting a lot of attention, Mark Burnett of, we know, "The Apprentice" fame. He is going to have Martha do her own version of "The Apprentice."

Can she deliver? Can she be as funny and as likable as Donald Trump?

O'NEIL: I think she can do a lot of that. I think what was very telling about the statement she released this morning was how much she has learned in jail. And for, you know, haughty Martha to admit that there was some humbling that went on here is interesting and we're going to see evidence of that.

The question is will the audience buy this, because the setup of "The Apprentice" is that we, as the contestants, are aspiring to the greatness of, and the achievement of the hose.

Well, Martha got there the crooked way, to some extent. We believe that she didn't quite play by the rules. So the whole set up of the show, I'm not sure quite works. She's opening herself up to a lot of criticism.

WALLACE: Also, she's going to do sort of a form of her "Martha Stewart Living" show, but it'll be a daytime show, but live, in front of a studio audience.

I mean will her personality translate into success? Because you know live television, what you see is what you get.

O'NEIL: Right, right.

WALLACE: You can't hide away from anything.

O'NEIL: Right. And she -- Martha has never been warm and fuzzy. And Ellen DeGeneres, who has prospered during the day in a similar kind of live audience show, is, and can pull it off. There will be talk show elements to this program that we're talking about, plus the domestic diva how to elements. This is going to be a chore. As the producers say, they're selling good cop/bad cop -- good Martha during the day, bad Martha by night.

WALLACE: We'll see how it sells.

All right, Tom O'Neil, "In Touch Weekly" magazine, just back from great work at the Oscars.

O'NEIL: Oh, thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Great to see you.

Well, it's been more around -- excuse me -- more than 70 years. Now the Scholastic Aptitude Test is being updated again. But will the new changes benefit students?

You decide, straight ahead on DAYBREAK.

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CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone. I'm Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.

As we've been reporting, Martha Stewart has left the building, left federal prison, that is. And she's a good deal richer than when she went in five months ago.

When she reported to prison on October 8, her company's stock, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, was about $16 a share. Well, after a 6 percent gain yesterday, that stock is now worth $34 a share, meaning the value of her holdings has more than doubled, to over $1 billion while she served her sentence.

But going back three years, you can see, the stock has fallen sharply when her name surfaced as part of the Imclone stock scandal. Investors who have been buying the stock recently are encouraged by deals she's made in prison, including two television shows, hosting two television programs. Martha Stewart Living will certainly be a stock to watch today.

That said, early market indications looking pretty flat for this Friday's session. It's been a choppy week -- up one day, down the next. Pretty much everyone on Wall Street focusing on the big February jobs report coming out an hour before the market open. And that will certainly give us some direction for this trading session.

And that is the latest from the Nasdaq.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

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WALLACE: And welcome back.

Yale getting into the pre-education business. The Ivy League school is hoping to attract more students with its new tuition rules. Families that make less than $45,000 a year won't pay for schooling. The change mirrors similar rules at other schools, like rival Harvard, which saw a big boost in applications.

Well, all morning we've been telling you about new changes to the SAT. You remember those number two pencils and hours and hours of studying.

Well, this year the Scholastic Aptitude Test adds an essay question.

Former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board that produces the test.

Welcome, Governor.

Thanks for being here.

GASTON CAPERTON, COLLEGE BOARD PRESIDENT, FORMER WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Good morning, Kelly.

How are you today?

WALLACE: Great.

First, why the changes? I mean it's the cover of the "New York Times," getting all kinds of attention.

Why the changes? Why the essay question?

CAPERTON: Well, the SAT has been really the test that we've known for years and years. And the reason that it has lasted so long and been so important in the transition to college is because it's a great test and you have to change anything that's good to continue to make it better.

So this, we wanted to do everything we could to continue to make the test the best test in the world.

WALLACE: Why the essay question, though? Why the addition of testing students on their writing and writing sample?

CAPERTON: Writing is so critical to the education process. And when we talked to deans of law schools, when we talked to businesspeople, we did a survey of the Business Roundtable, everybody you talk to said students don't know how to write today. And writing is so critical, no matter what your job is. Even in you who are in the communications business, most of it is written before it's spoken. And the ability to gather your thoughts, to articulate them in a smart way, is critical to everybody's job. So we think it's a very important thing that we've added.

WALLACE: We want our viewers to see sort of a sample question of what students starting on Saturday, March 12, could see. What they're going to be given is an excerpt. And take a look at this.

The students in the sample were told this excerpt: "People who like to think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic tend to take it for granted that human nature is selfish and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest may survive."

It goes on to say, "The fittest are those people who can bring to the struggle superior force, superior cunning and superior ruthlessness."

And then you would have 25 minutes to write an essay on do people have to be highly competitive in order to succeed?

Many of my colleagues, we looked at it and thought that's very difficult.

CAPERTON: It is. It is. But what we're looking for is a person taking a position. It's how they form their argument or their position. It's the way they form their sentences and their paragraphs and the logic that develops. It's all those things that you have to do when you're in college and you are asked an essay question. And it's not right in the -- we're not looking for the person who's going to win the next Pulitzer Prize. We're looking for a person who can organize their thoughts in a logical, effective way and communicate effectively.

WALLACE: You know there's been some controversy. And some critics say that this test, especially the essay question, will negatively affect students coming from weaker schools.

What do you say to that?

CAPERTON: Well, we've done a lot of testing and that does not prove to be true. And I think that this -- that any student who comes from a weaker school is not going to do as well on the SAT, nor is any student who hasn't studied hard is going to do as well on the SAT. And the real injustice we have in the American school system is we don't have everybody having the opportunity to go to a good school. And it's something that we worked -- are working on very hard.

I've just come from the National Governors Association meeting on how to make high schools better, and that's the whole fight that we have ahead of us, is to make all of these schools good.

WALLACE: I wish we had more time.

You know, there's a lot of anxiety with juniors across the country right now, but they will take the new test.

Governor Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, thanks for being here and sharing your thoughts.

CAPERTON: Thank you so much.

WALLACE: We appreciate it.

And we'll watch and look at the story in the weeks ahead.

CAPERTON: Thank you.

WALLACE: Thanks again.

Well, from obscurity to the glaring spotlight -- the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser is set to tell more of what she saw at Neverland. Ahead, a live report as the first week of testimony is almost history.

But first, a live look at Martha Stewart's house in Bedford, New York. That is where she is going to be getting five months of house arrest.

This is DAYBREAK for a Friday morning.

We'll be right back.

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