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CNN Live At Daybreak
FBI Cracks Major Weapons Smuggling Ring; In Baghdad, Members of National Parliament Hear Explosions Near Meeting Hall
Aired March 16, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, right live to Iraq. It is a new day there, but with some old fears. We'll tell you what's happening here when that man comes back to the podium.
Plus sarin gas, anthrax, poisoned food supplies -- it's not Iraq, it's America and the potential for terrorism here.
And -- see the big dog run? No, you don't. These are not dogs, at least in Kansas.
It's Wednesday, March 16. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, word just coming in to us right now, members of OPEC have agreed to immediately increase oil production quotas by half a million barrels a day. That step is an effort to hold down oil prices worldwide.
Here in the United States, as you well know, the price of gas is near record highs.
Secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is leaving this hour for Islamabad. It's late afternoon there, now. Rice has been in India, where she praised leaders there for moving to end disagreements with Pakistan. She also pledged to increase defense cooperation with India.
Joint chiefs chairman, General Richard Myers, says the Pentagon is considering establishing long-term military bases in Afghanistan as part of a repositioning of U.S. forces worldwide.
And Gerry Adams, the leader of IRA's Sinn Fein, is condemning the killing of a Northern Ireland man. Adams says the killers are rogue members of the Irish Republican Army.
And Scott Peterson learns today if he'll get the death penalty for killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. The jury that convicted him in November recommended he be put to death.
And congress takes on the issue of steroids in baseball tomorrow; but today, XM satellite radio is talking steroids, holding a town hall forum with Jose Canseco, his attorney and the U.S. surgeon general.
To the forecast center now and Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. How are you this morning?
COSTELLO: I'm awake.
MYERS: String in a couple of nice days up there in the Northeast, together: 37 in Washington, D.C.; 45 in Atlanta right now; 33 in New York City. At least it's above freezing there. The winds have really died off.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Carol?
COSTELLO: Four days until Spring.
MYERS: That's right.
COSTELLO: We're keeping count. I can't wait. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about this now, a suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi army checkpoint in Baquba today, killing at least two Iraqi soldiers.
And in Baghdad, members of the new, national parliament could hear explosions near their meeting hall just about 90 minutes ago. U.S. helicopter gunships are flying over the convention center.
Let's head live now to Aneesh Raman. He's at the first meeting of the assembly, and this is nothing but good news coming out of Iraq this morning.
Good morning, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.
Another seminal moment for Iraq in this, the final process toward a permanent democracy. No names put forward this morning for those key, top positions: president, prime minister, any of the key cabinet positions. The reason is that no deal has been finalized between the two main, political factions, the Kurdish Alliance and Shiite-backed United Iraqi Alliance.
So what that means, Carol, is that this body is largely ceremonial for the moment. This day extremely ceremonial: the anniversary of Halabja, the gassing of the Kurds 17 years ago by Saddam; now seeing the first, official parliament and assembly taking shape.
As it goes forward, we're awaiting for the 275 members to be sworn in. But Carol, the day began with a number of explosions here in the green zone, a stark reminder of the work that is yet to be done -- Carol? COSTELLO: Aneesh, just to clarify, will they eventually elect a prime minister and a president today?
RAMAN: It's unlikely, we're hearing from all sides, that they will put forth names today, perhaps not even tomorrow. The negotiations that have been taking days were, by all accounts, hopeful to end today.
That has not happened, so it could be a matter of days before those names are put forth. The only time you have, Carol, that exists in the transitional law is two weeks between which the president, sorry, of the national -- of the country -- is put forth and the naming of the prime minister.
That's the only time constraint.
COSTELLO: And once the president and prime minister are named, then they can go on with the new, permanent constitution, right?
RAMAN: Yes, the permanent constitution, on one hand, and really governing a country that has such critical, immediate needs on the other: violence that is still taking place by insurgents; basic necessities -- electricity, water need to be getting to the people.
So they really have a huge task ahead of them. We've seen a bit of a transition today from the interim to the now transitional government. But as they draft that constitution, they have to keep this country going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Anesh RAMAN reporting live from Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
The possibilities are frightening, an upcoming report from the homeland security department details some terrorist attack scenarios. According to the "New York Times," the report is aimed at getting state and local officials to the beef up security.
So here are some of the scenarios that involve massive casualties. The are just what-ifs. This is a reminder.
What if terrorists release sarin gas into the ventilation systems of three big office buildings? The report says that would kill 6,000 people.
Another what-if, if a chlorine gas storage tank were to be blown up, that could result in 17,500 deaths.
The report also says the U.S. food supply could be a potential target. Three hundred people could be killed if terrorists use liquid anthrax to taint ground beef and orange juice.
Again, scenarios, no evidence these things are actually in the planning process by any terrorist group.
CNN is digging deeper into the life of Brian Nichols, he's the suspect in the Atlanta shooting rampage. Our Larry King spoke exclusively with Nichols' brother. He describes his sibling as the stable one who excelled both intellectually and athletically.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK NICHOLS, BROTHER OF BRIAN NICHOLS: My brother isn't a monster like he's been portrayed to be. He may be a big person, as far as physically, but he's gentle. He's laid back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll bring you more of that CNN exclusive interview with Brian Nichols' brother later this hour when we take you "Beyond the Sound Byte."
In other news across America this morning, talk about a full house. More than 71 illegal immigrants were found in a house north of Scottsdale, Arizona. Authorities had to use passenger buses to haul them all away.
An immigration official says five suspected smugglers are among those taken into custody.
A couple in Kentucky says it was a last resort deal. The needed money, so they allegedly sold the woman's baby for $5,000. They stocked up on clothes, food. They even bought a car.
The baby is only a couple of months old. And the man says they had every intention of getting her back. They have not been charged, but an investigation is ongoing.
Near Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a deadly shooting incident has left three men dead and a fourth critically wounded. Police say a man fired on the men's car with an automatic assault rifle from the sun roof of a Jaguar.
And talk about being in a hot spot, this robbery suspect -- he's the man lying down -- he's going to be lying down in just a minute. He was arrested on this hot tile roof after allegedly trying to get inside of a home in Miami, Florida.
I wonder if we can call him a suspected cat burglar.
Federal authorities in New York City say they have cracked a major weapons smuggling ring. They have arrested 18 men, accusing them of conspiring to sell military-grade arms to terrorists.
CNN's Mary Snow has all the details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was here in a modest, Manhattan hotel where the FBI arrested the alleged ring leaders and says it foiled a plot to import Russian-style military weapons into the United States. Rocket propelled grenade launchers and shoulder-fired surface to air missiles were on a list of weapons that the defendants allegedly talked about with a paid FBI informant.
According to a criminal complaint, the would-be sellers claimed ties to ex-KGB officials and spoke in code, referring to RPGs as flyers and machine guns as puppies.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTY.: It appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry through contacts they had developed in Eastern European military circles. We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.
SNOW: The arrests culminated a year long investigation, using the informant posing as an arms broker for unspecified terrorists.
The suspects were here illegally, mainly from Armenia, Russia and the Republic of Georgia.
Prosecutors say the alleged mastermind, 26-year-old Artur Solomonyan, once hinted at something bigger.
KELLEY: The defendant, Solomonyan, suggested to the confidential informant that he could obtain enriched uranium for possible use by terrorists in the subway system. There was never, however, any such uranium.
SNOW: And the uranium was never discussed again in 15,000 wire tapped phone calls, nor did any of the big weapons make it into the U.S.
The charges say only eight machine guns were delivered to New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. But law enforcement officials believe they cracked a potential overseas weapons pipeline.
ANDREW ARENA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: These defendants may not have been terrorists, themselves, but they've shown a transparence, willingness to do anything with anybody so long as it generates income for their organization.
SNOW: The FBI says the complaint reads like a Hollywood script with secret meetings at New York hotels and restaurants, even inside the sauna and hot tub of a Brooklyn spa.
The story ends with the informant promising to deliver green cards to the ring leaders so they can travel to pick up weapons.
(on camera) Ten of the suspects were arrested here in New York, and they had their first court appearance. The attorney for the alleged ringleader says this is his client's first arrest and that he plans on putting forth an aggressive defense.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: A lot more ahead on DAYBREAK this hour.
Urgent testing in the nation's capital following an anthrax scare, but is it a false alarm? We'll find out more.
Also, the tide may be turning in the Michael Jackson trial, but which way? We'll talk to an observer.
And think cooking dinner for your kids is tough? Well, you ain't seen nothing, yet. How about having a million mouths to feed?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning, March 16.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The international markets mixed today. Tokyo's Nikkei is up 52 points. The London Footsie is down 30.5. And the German DAC is up just over 11 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports -- it's 05:14 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Condoleezza Rice due to arrive in Pakistan's capital in just over an hour. The secretary of state started the day in India, the first leg of a of six-day tour of Asia.
More than 100 U.S. bank accounts, a Senate panel says that's what Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and his associates used to hide funds. That's a much wider network of accounts than U.S. officials previously knew about.
In money news, Alan Greenspan says congress isn't being clear with you when it comes to social security and Medicare. He tells a Senate panel that cuts in future benefits almost surely lay ahead.
In culture, family-friendly films are raking it in. For the first time in two decades, PG-rated films like "Shrek 2" have taken in more money the United States in ticket sales than R-rated movies.
In sports, the NFL is looking into holding the first regular season game outside of the United States. The October 2 game would be in Mexico City between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers.
They want to find a brand, new audience, Chad.
MYERS: I guess everybody is trying to get that little international flavor going.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Hey, Mr. NASCAR?
MYERS: Hey, yes?
COSTELLO: Stick around because I want you to explain this for folks.
MYERS: What's that?
COSTELLO: Cheating at NASCAR.
MYERS: We talked about this on Monday.
COSTELLO: Well, we have specifics, now.
MYERS: Right, we have the penalties.
COSTELLO: Yes. We're going to put the graphic up right now.
The crew chief for driver Kevin Harvick -- that's him during practice last month in Orlando.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: What is he accused of doing?
MYERS: Todd Barrier, what he did was he put either a device or a fake looking fuel cell to make the car look like it had a full tank of gas when, in fact, it only had five gallons.
You have to qualify on a full tank. If it only has five gallons, the car is lighter, and so therefore the car will go faster. And it did. It actually qualified fourth.
Because he qualified fourth, they inspected the car and found this illegal thing that takes 15 gallons of gas out of the car.
COSTELLO: Wow. That's just out and out cheating.
MYERS: Very, very bad right there for NASCAR. This guy was not nearly fined, suspended or anything enough in my opinion.
COSTELLO: $25,000.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: That was the fine.
MYERS: Twenty five points and also four weeks that he is suspended.
He could have had his hard card removed for the rest of the season. He could have been kicked out for the rest of the season. In my opinion, that would not have been too severe, certainly 25 points not nearly severe enough.
It should have been 100. It should have taken almost every point that he got in that race out of there. And I say that only because Jimmy Johnson and Kyle Busch had tiny, little infractions, and they got 25 points, $25,000, and their crew chiefs were removed for two weeks.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MYERS: So, it's like, come on. The crime -- the penalty has to fit the crime here. And clearly, intentional cheating is something different than your car being a little too low at the end of the race because it's been going around for 400 miles.
COSTELLO: I would have to agree with you, but I'm no expert.
MYERS: Well, that's just my two cents.
COSTELLO: OK.
Hey, we're going to talk about 90 minutes of exercise a day now.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Brace yourself.
MYERS: I get that right here.
COSTELLO: Exactly, running up and down the steps.
Ninety minutes of exercise a day -- new government guidelines are coming out, and it looks like we need less time on the couch and more time on the treadmill.
Here's what the researchers had to say. Are you ready?
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: Get your notebooks out.
People need 30 minutes of physical activity on most days to ward off chronic disease, 30 minutes every day.
To prevent unhealthy weight gain, people should spend 60 minutes on physical activity most days.
And get this, previously overweight people who have lost weight may need 60 to 90 minutes of exercise every single day to keep the weight off.
Panel members who helped come up with the guidelines say, don't panic. They say at least 30 minutes of moderate, physical activity on most days is doable and can lead to weight loss.
But you know, our question is this, Chad. Are they crazy? Do they really think this is realistic?
Would you do 90 minutes of exercise a day? MYERS: I'm waiting for the tape worm pill that I'll be able to take it, and then it will take the pounds off me, and then I can take another pill to kill it, and then I'm back to where I need.
COSTELLO: Wouldn't that be great?
Well, you know they just came out with new food guidelines that are quite confusing as well. So, is all this realistic, or is it just too confusing?
Let us know what you think. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, is a Greyhound a dog? Of course it is, as long as it doesn't live in Kansas.
In Kansas, they say a Greyhound ain't a dog. We'll explain.
And sticking with our animal theme, we'll meet a new breed of shrimp.
I don't think a shrimp is an animal. But anyway, this shrimp was born in the most unlikely of places.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You know, we were talking about songs sticking in your head.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We decided to provide one for you this morning.
MYERS: Thank you. I appreciate that now.
COSTELLO: Time for some late night laughs, Chad.
MYERS: I'm ready.
COSTELLO: An ex-president and an ex-convict easy targets for David Letterman. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN" HOST: If I looked tired, if I looked exhausted, there's a good reason for it. I don't get any sleep anymore. I haven't had any sleep in about a week.
Here is the problem, every time I roll over, I hurt my leg of Martha's electronic ankle bracelet.
(LAUGHTER) LETTERMAN: And good news, President Clinton is back at his home in Chappaqua and recovering from surgery. You know six months ago he had the four bypass surgery thing -- what do you call it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quadruple bypass.
LETTERMAN: Quadruple bypass surgery. And now they had to go back in because he had some problems. When he's home, everything is fine. And it's interesting when you think about it. He had to have all this work done on his heart, I mean who would have thought that, that would be the first organ to give out?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: What other organ is he talking about?
MYERS: Excuse me, Carol. Move on. Let's go back to NASCAR before you get yourself in trouble.
COSTELLO: I just had to say it.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener's" now, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Say goodbye to the Sand Dollar, the Harbour seal found injured and malnourished on the Virginia Beach coast a couple of months ago has been returned to the ocean.
The seal, nicknamed Sand Dollar (ph), just like the shellfish found on the sand, was given a clean bill of health after some loving care at Baltimore's National Aquarium. So, Sand Dollar is doing fine, today.
MYERS: And a tracking device.
COSTELLO: Stay with us on this one, OK.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: A new species of fresh water shrimp has been found, of all places, in Idaho on a training area for the National Guard. It was found in 1996 but wasn't identified as a new species until recently.
Look at that thing.
MYERS: It's a sea monkey.
COSTELLO: It looks gross.
MYERS: Remember those sea monkeys.
COSTELLO: I know. I was going to say, don't even think about broiled shrimp.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: There's not much meat on this creature. It's kind of hard to fit on a barbecue skewer, so he will swim on, or she.
Hockey fans are feeling kind of blue with no play this season, so why not blue ice. The Buffalo Sabres are using Rochester, their minor league farm club, to experiment with the blue colored ice at its arena.
And in case you're wondering, the blue lines are colored orange.
MYERS: Whatever. There's only blue ice from one place, and that's out of an airplane.
COSTELLO: All right.
And for all of you Irish out there, a shamrock.
MYERS: Oh yes, it's tomorrow.
COSTELLO: This is Bill McClanahan. Now there's an Irish name. He's been working on the shamrock for several days now. It will go on a Saint Patrick's float for the parade in Kansas City, tomorrow.
The McClanahan clan -- McClanahan clan, that's fun to say -- it won the grand prize last year and hope to do it again this year.
MYERS: Set them up a pint.
COSTELLO: Yes. Do you have any e-mails, yet, for our question about the new exercise guidelines from the government?
MYERS: I have one here from Juliet (ph). I don't know about the exercise thing, but you guys can't seem to get the theme from banana splits out of my head.
COSTELLO: See, people are still reeling from that segment yesterday.
MYERS: From yesterday.
COSTELLO: Do you have another one?
MYERS: You're funny already this morning. See if this makes you laugh. Ashley is only getting $10,000 for turning Nichols in. What's up with that?
And what was up with that cat burglar comment that you made?
COSTELLO: I don't know. I was trying to be funny. It didn't go over.
But a word about Ashley Smith -- that's what he's talking about. She's going to get the whole reward. MYERS: She will.
COSTELLO: It's just that they have the $10,000 ready to go now.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But Governor Barnes of Georgia is going to award her the entire $60,000.00 reward for turning in that Nichols guy.
MYERS: Right. And let's hope if she wants to, she can get a book deal. She can get whatever she wants out of that...
COSTELLO: I'm sure she will.
MYERS: ... because she deserves it. She really does.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
Going back to the exercise question, though.
MYERS: Yes, I didn't get any answers on that one.
COSTELLO: Actually, I did. This is from Kevin.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank goodness for Kevin.
Sixty to 90 minutes of exercise every day? Wow, were the panel members who came up with these recommendations retired or non-working people? I can barely get 30 minutes three times weekly.
Did this panel give recommendations for accomplishing exercising 60 to 90 minutes a day? I think all employers should allow an additional 30 minutes for exercise in addition to your 30-minute meal break.
Now Kevin, that is a good idea.
MYERS: Maybe yard work counts.
COSTELLO: Yes, maybe it does. You don't have to do it all at once, I guess. You can spread out the 90 minutes over the whole day.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Whatever.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
A world famous star in a world of trouble, we go across the pond for British reaction to Michael Jackson's child molestation trial.
See what the Brits think ahead on DAYBREAK for this Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 16, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, right live to Iraq. It is a new day there, but with some old fears. We'll tell you what's happening here when that man comes back to the podium.
Plus sarin gas, anthrax, poisoned food supplies -- it's not Iraq, it's America and the potential for terrorism here.
And -- see the big dog run? No, you don't. These are not dogs, at least in Kansas.
It's Wednesday, March 16. This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, word just coming in to us right now, members of OPEC have agreed to immediately increase oil production quotas by half a million barrels a day. That step is an effort to hold down oil prices worldwide.
Here in the United States, as you well know, the price of gas is near record highs.
Secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is leaving this hour for Islamabad. It's late afternoon there, now. Rice has been in India, where she praised leaders there for moving to end disagreements with Pakistan. She also pledged to increase defense cooperation with India.
Joint chiefs chairman, General Richard Myers, says the Pentagon is considering establishing long-term military bases in Afghanistan as part of a repositioning of U.S. forces worldwide.
And Gerry Adams, the leader of IRA's Sinn Fein, is condemning the killing of a Northern Ireland man. Adams says the killers are rogue members of the Irish Republican Army.
And Scott Peterson learns today if he'll get the death penalty for killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. The jury that convicted him in November recommended he be put to death.
And congress takes on the issue of steroids in baseball tomorrow; but today, XM satellite radio is talking steroids, holding a town hall forum with Jose Canseco, his attorney and the U.S. surgeon general.
To the forecast center now and Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. How are you this morning?
COSTELLO: I'm awake.
MYERS: String in a couple of nice days up there in the Northeast, together: 37 in Washington, D.C.; 45 in Atlanta right now; 33 in New York City. At least it's above freezing there. The winds have really died off.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Carol?
COSTELLO: Four days until Spring.
MYERS: That's right.
COSTELLO: We're keeping count. I can't wait. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about this now, a suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi army checkpoint in Baquba today, killing at least two Iraqi soldiers.
And in Baghdad, members of the new, national parliament could hear explosions near their meeting hall just about 90 minutes ago. U.S. helicopter gunships are flying over the convention center.
Let's head live now to Aneesh Raman. He's at the first meeting of the assembly, and this is nothing but good news coming out of Iraq this morning.
Good morning, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.
Another seminal moment for Iraq in this, the final process toward a permanent democracy. No names put forward this morning for those key, top positions: president, prime minister, any of the key cabinet positions. The reason is that no deal has been finalized between the two main, political factions, the Kurdish Alliance and Shiite-backed United Iraqi Alliance.
So what that means, Carol, is that this body is largely ceremonial for the moment. This day extremely ceremonial: the anniversary of Halabja, the gassing of the Kurds 17 years ago by Saddam; now seeing the first, official parliament and assembly taking shape.
As it goes forward, we're awaiting for the 275 members to be sworn in. But Carol, the day began with a number of explosions here in the green zone, a stark reminder of the work that is yet to be done -- Carol? COSTELLO: Aneesh, just to clarify, will they eventually elect a prime minister and a president today?
RAMAN: It's unlikely, we're hearing from all sides, that they will put forth names today, perhaps not even tomorrow. The negotiations that have been taking days were, by all accounts, hopeful to end today.
That has not happened, so it could be a matter of days before those names are put forth. The only time you have, Carol, that exists in the transitional law is two weeks between which the president, sorry, of the national -- of the country -- is put forth and the naming of the prime minister.
That's the only time constraint.
COSTELLO: And once the president and prime minister are named, then they can go on with the new, permanent constitution, right?
RAMAN: Yes, the permanent constitution, on one hand, and really governing a country that has such critical, immediate needs on the other: violence that is still taking place by insurgents; basic necessities -- electricity, water need to be getting to the people.
So they really have a huge task ahead of them. We've seen a bit of a transition today from the interim to the now transitional government. But as they draft that constitution, they have to keep this country going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Anesh RAMAN reporting live from Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
The possibilities are frightening, an upcoming report from the homeland security department details some terrorist attack scenarios. According to the "New York Times," the report is aimed at getting state and local officials to the beef up security.
So here are some of the scenarios that involve massive casualties. The are just what-ifs. This is a reminder.
What if terrorists release sarin gas into the ventilation systems of three big office buildings? The report says that would kill 6,000 people.
Another what-if, if a chlorine gas storage tank were to be blown up, that could result in 17,500 deaths.
The report also says the U.S. food supply could be a potential target. Three hundred people could be killed if terrorists use liquid anthrax to taint ground beef and orange juice.
Again, scenarios, no evidence these things are actually in the planning process by any terrorist group.
CNN is digging deeper into the life of Brian Nichols, he's the suspect in the Atlanta shooting rampage. Our Larry King spoke exclusively with Nichols' brother. He describes his sibling as the stable one who excelled both intellectually and athletically.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK NICHOLS, BROTHER OF BRIAN NICHOLS: My brother isn't a monster like he's been portrayed to be. He may be a big person, as far as physically, but he's gentle. He's laid back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll bring you more of that CNN exclusive interview with Brian Nichols' brother later this hour when we take you "Beyond the Sound Byte."
In other news across America this morning, talk about a full house. More than 71 illegal immigrants were found in a house north of Scottsdale, Arizona. Authorities had to use passenger buses to haul them all away.
An immigration official says five suspected smugglers are among those taken into custody.
A couple in Kentucky says it was a last resort deal. The needed money, so they allegedly sold the woman's baby for $5,000. They stocked up on clothes, food. They even bought a car.
The baby is only a couple of months old. And the man says they had every intention of getting her back. They have not been charged, but an investigation is ongoing.
Near Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a deadly shooting incident has left three men dead and a fourth critically wounded. Police say a man fired on the men's car with an automatic assault rifle from the sun roof of a Jaguar.
And talk about being in a hot spot, this robbery suspect -- he's the man lying down -- he's going to be lying down in just a minute. He was arrested on this hot tile roof after allegedly trying to get inside of a home in Miami, Florida.
I wonder if we can call him a suspected cat burglar.
Federal authorities in New York City say they have cracked a major weapons smuggling ring. They have arrested 18 men, accusing them of conspiring to sell military-grade arms to terrorists.
CNN's Mary Snow has all the details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was here in a modest, Manhattan hotel where the FBI arrested the alleged ring leaders and says it foiled a plot to import Russian-style military weapons into the United States. Rocket propelled grenade launchers and shoulder-fired surface to air missiles were on a list of weapons that the defendants allegedly talked about with a paid FBI informant.
According to a criminal complaint, the would-be sellers claimed ties to ex-KGB officials and spoke in code, referring to RPGs as flyers and machine guns as puppies.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTY.: It appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry through contacts they had developed in Eastern European military circles. We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.
SNOW: The arrests culminated a year long investigation, using the informant posing as an arms broker for unspecified terrorists.
The suspects were here illegally, mainly from Armenia, Russia and the Republic of Georgia.
Prosecutors say the alleged mastermind, 26-year-old Artur Solomonyan, once hinted at something bigger.
KELLEY: The defendant, Solomonyan, suggested to the confidential informant that he could obtain enriched uranium for possible use by terrorists in the subway system. There was never, however, any such uranium.
SNOW: And the uranium was never discussed again in 15,000 wire tapped phone calls, nor did any of the big weapons make it into the U.S.
The charges say only eight machine guns were delivered to New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. But law enforcement officials believe they cracked a potential overseas weapons pipeline.
ANDREW ARENA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: These defendants may not have been terrorists, themselves, but they've shown a transparence, willingness to do anything with anybody so long as it generates income for their organization.
SNOW: The FBI says the complaint reads like a Hollywood script with secret meetings at New York hotels and restaurants, even inside the sauna and hot tub of a Brooklyn spa.
The story ends with the informant promising to deliver green cards to the ring leaders so they can travel to pick up weapons.
(on camera) Ten of the suspects were arrested here in New York, and they had their first court appearance. The attorney for the alleged ringleader says this is his client's first arrest and that he plans on putting forth an aggressive defense.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: A lot more ahead on DAYBREAK this hour.
Urgent testing in the nation's capital following an anthrax scare, but is it a false alarm? We'll find out more.
Also, the tide may be turning in the Michael Jackson trial, but which way? We'll talk to an observer.
And think cooking dinner for your kids is tough? Well, you ain't seen nothing, yet. How about having a million mouths to feed?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning, March 16.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The international markets mixed today. Tokyo's Nikkei is up 52 points. The London Footsie is down 30.5. And the German DAC is up just over 11 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports -- it's 05:14 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Condoleezza Rice due to arrive in Pakistan's capital in just over an hour. The secretary of state started the day in India, the first leg of a of six-day tour of Asia.
More than 100 U.S. bank accounts, a Senate panel says that's what Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and his associates used to hide funds. That's a much wider network of accounts than U.S. officials previously knew about.
In money news, Alan Greenspan says congress isn't being clear with you when it comes to social security and Medicare. He tells a Senate panel that cuts in future benefits almost surely lay ahead.
In culture, family-friendly films are raking it in. For the first time in two decades, PG-rated films like "Shrek 2" have taken in more money the United States in ticket sales than R-rated movies.
In sports, the NFL is looking into holding the first regular season game outside of the United States. The October 2 game would be in Mexico City between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers.
They want to find a brand, new audience, Chad.
MYERS: I guess everybody is trying to get that little international flavor going.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Hey, Mr. NASCAR?
MYERS: Hey, yes?
COSTELLO: Stick around because I want you to explain this for folks.
MYERS: What's that?
COSTELLO: Cheating at NASCAR.
MYERS: We talked about this on Monday.
COSTELLO: Well, we have specifics, now.
MYERS: Right, we have the penalties.
COSTELLO: Yes. We're going to put the graphic up right now.
The crew chief for driver Kevin Harvick -- that's him during practice last month in Orlando.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: What is he accused of doing?
MYERS: Todd Barrier, what he did was he put either a device or a fake looking fuel cell to make the car look like it had a full tank of gas when, in fact, it only had five gallons.
You have to qualify on a full tank. If it only has five gallons, the car is lighter, and so therefore the car will go faster. And it did. It actually qualified fourth.
Because he qualified fourth, they inspected the car and found this illegal thing that takes 15 gallons of gas out of the car.
COSTELLO: Wow. That's just out and out cheating.
MYERS: Very, very bad right there for NASCAR. This guy was not nearly fined, suspended or anything enough in my opinion.
COSTELLO: $25,000.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: That was the fine.
MYERS: Twenty five points and also four weeks that he is suspended.
He could have had his hard card removed for the rest of the season. He could have been kicked out for the rest of the season. In my opinion, that would not have been too severe, certainly 25 points not nearly severe enough.
It should have been 100. It should have taken almost every point that he got in that race out of there. And I say that only because Jimmy Johnson and Kyle Busch had tiny, little infractions, and they got 25 points, $25,000, and their crew chiefs were removed for two weeks.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MYERS: So, it's like, come on. The crime -- the penalty has to fit the crime here. And clearly, intentional cheating is something different than your car being a little too low at the end of the race because it's been going around for 400 miles.
COSTELLO: I would have to agree with you, but I'm no expert.
MYERS: Well, that's just my two cents.
COSTELLO: OK.
Hey, we're going to talk about 90 minutes of exercise a day now.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Brace yourself.
MYERS: I get that right here.
COSTELLO: Exactly, running up and down the steps.
Ninety minutes of exercise a day -- new government guidelines are coming out, and it looks like we need less time on the couch and more time on the treadmill.
Here's what the researchers had to say. Are you ready?
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: Get your notebooks out.
People need 30 minutes of physical activity on most days to ward off chronic disease, 30 minutes every day.
To prevent unhealthy weight gain, people should spend 60 minutes on physical activity most days.
And get this, previously overweight people who have lost weight may need 60 to 90 minutes of exercise every single day to keep the weight off.
Panel members who helped come up with the guidelines say, don't panic. They say at least 30 minutes of moderate, physical activity on most days is doable and can lead to weight loss.
But you know, our question is this, Chad. Are they crazy? Do they really think this is realistic?
Would you do 90 minutes of exercise a day? MYERS: I'm waiting for the tape worm pill that I'll be able to take it, and then it will take the pounds off me, and then I can take another pill to kill it, and then I'm back to where I need.
COSTELLO: Wouldn't that be great?
Well, you know they just came out with new food guidelines that are quite confusing as well. So, is all this realistic, or is it just too confusing?
Let us know what you think. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, is a Greyhound a dog? Of course it is, as long as it doesn't live in Kansas.
In Kansas, they say a Greyhound ain't a dog. We'll explain.
And sticking with our animal theme, we'll meet a new breed of shrimp.
I don't think a shrimp is an animal. But anyway, this shrimp was born in the most unlikely of places.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You know, we were talking about songs sticking in your head.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We decided to provide one for you this morning.
MYERS: Thank you. I appreciate that now.
COSTELLO: Time for some late night laughs, Chad.
MYERS: I'm ready.
COSTELLO: An ex-president and an ex-convict easy targets for David Letterman. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN" HOST: If I looked tired, if I looked exhausted, there's a good reason for it. I don't get any sleep anymore. I haven't had any sleep in about a week.
Here is the problem, every time I roll over, I hurt my leg of Martha's electronic ankle bracelet.
(LAUGHTER) LETTERMAN: And good news, President Clinton is back at his home in Chappaqua and recovering from surgery. You know six months ago he had the four bypass surgery thing -- what do you call it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quadruple bypass.
LETTERMAN: Quadruple bypass surgery. And now they had to go back in because he had some problems. When he's home, everything is fine. And it's interesting when you think about it. He had to have all this work done on his heart, I mean who would have thought that, that would be the first organ to give out?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: What other organ is he talking about?
MYERS: Excuse me, Carol. Move on. Let's go back to NASCAR before you get yourself in trouble.
COSTELLO: I just had to say it.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener's" now, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Say goodbye to the Sand Dollar, the Harbour seal found injured and malnourished on the Virginia Beach coast a couple of months ago has been returned to the ocean.
The seal, nicknamed Sand Dollar (ph), just like the shellfish found on the sand, was given a clean bill of health after some loving care at Baltimore's National Aquarium. So, Sand Dollar is doing fine, today.
MYERS: And a tracking device.
COSTELLO: Stay with us on this one, OK.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: A new species of fresh water shrimp has been found, of all places, in Idaho on a training area for the National Guard. It was found in 1996 but wasn't identified as a new species until recently.
Look at that thing.
MYERS: It's a sea monkey.
COSTELLO: It looks gross.
MYERS: Remember those sea monkeys.
COSTELLO: I know. I was going to say, don't even think about broiled shrimp.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: There's not much meat on this creature. It's kind of hard to fit on a barbecue skewer, so he will swim on, or she.
Hockey fans are feeling kind of blue with no play this season, so why not blue ice. The Buffalo Sabres are using Rochester, their minor league farm club, to experiment with the blue colored ice at its arena.
And in case you're wondering, the blue lines are colored orange.
MYERS: Whatever. There's only blue ice from one place, and that's out of an airplane.
COSTELLO: All right.
And for all of you Irish out there, a shamrock.
MYERS: Oh yes, it's tomorrow.
COSTELLO: This is Bill McClanahan. Now there's an Irish name. He's been working on the shamrock for several days now. It will go on a Saint Patrick's float for the parade in Kansas City, tomorrow.
The McClanahan clan -- McClanahan clan, that's fun to say -- it won the grand prize last year and hope to do it again this year.
MYERS: Set them up a pint.
COSTELLO: Yes. Do you have any e-mails, yet, for our question about the new exercise guidelines from the government?
MYERS: I have one here from Juliet (ph). I don't know about the exercise thing, but you guys can't seem to get the theme from banana splits out of my head.
COSTELLO: See, people are still reeling from that segment yesterday.
MYERS: From yesterday.
COSTELLO: Do you have another one?
MYERS: You're funny already this morning. See if this makes you laugh. Ashley is only getting $10,000 for turning Nichols in. What's up with that?
And what was up with that cat burglar comment that you made?
COSTELLO: I don't know. I was trying to be funny. It didn't go over.
But a word about Ashley Smith -- that's what he's talking about. She's going to get the whole reward. MYERS: She will.
COSTELLO: It's just that they have the $10,000 ready to go now.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: But Governor Barnes of Georgia is going to award her the entire $60,000.00 reward for turning in that Nichols guy.
MYERS: Right. And let's hope if she wants to, she can get a book deal. She can get whatever she wants out of that...
COSTELLO: I'm sure she will.
MYERS: ... because she deserves it. She really does.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
Going back to the exercise question, though.
MYERS: Yes, I didn't get any answers on that one.
COSTELLO: Actually, I did. This is from Kevin.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank goodness for Kevin.
Sixty to 90 minutes of exercise every day? Wow, were the panel members who came up with these recommendations retired or non-working people? I can barely get 30 minutes three times weekly.
Did this panel give recommendations for accomplishing exercising 60 to 90 minutes a day? I think all employers should allow an additional 30 minutes for exercise in addition to your 30-minute meal break.
Now Kevin, that is a good idea.
MYERS: Maybe yard work counts.
COSTELLO: Yes, maybe it does. You don't have to do it all at once, I guess. You can spread out the 90 minutes over the whole day.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Whatever.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.
A world famous star in a world of trouble, we go across the pond for British reaction to Michael Jackson's child molestation trial.
See what the Brits think ahead on DAYBREAK for this Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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