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CNN Live At Daybreak
Previewing Congressional Hearings on Steroid Use in Major League Baseball; Latest Developments in Disappearance of Jessica Lunsford
Aired March 17, 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The search is on for a convicted sex offender. Police identify him as a person of interest in the search for a missing 9-year-old Florida girl.
She's done her time, but she still wants to clear her name. It is back to court today for Martha Stewart's lawyers.
And fantasy baseball players, get ready to make those dreams a reality.
It is Thursday, March 17.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
You're 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, baseball and steroids are in the spotlight on Capitol Hill today. A House committee is looking into the sports drug policy and already the two most influential members of the panel say baseball is behind in the count.
A memorial service is being held this afternoon in an Atlanta suburb for Fulton County Judge Rowland Barnes. Barnes is one of four people gunned down in a shooting spree that began in his courtroom last week.
She's already done her time. Now, Martha Stewart's appealing her conviction. Her lawyers will make their case today, but a ruling isn't expected for a couple of months. In the meantime, she's getting some money back for her legal bills. We'll have details for you live at the half hour.
And are you wearing your green? That's right, it is Saint Patrick's Day. You'll see parades and parties and shamrocks in a lot of places today. It's a holiday, even if you're not Irish.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
A little bit of green and some blue on the weather map today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: First, Congress asked them to talk. And then they sent subpoenas. And in about four hours, some big names in major league baseball will face questions on steroid use. Among those on the list, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco.
Let's head live to our Ed Henry in Washington.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, what can we expect first up when these hearings begin?
HENRY: Well, there are going to be several panels. The players actually are not until the third panel of witnesses. So this is going to go on for a while and I think the high drama really will be when the players come out and they're asked about how widespread steroid use is in Major League Baseball. And secondly, I think the members of Congress want to find out if baseball officials think they have a testing program in place that's working.
Other experts have come forward to say that it's very easy to get around these tests, for the players to, the drug tests, and I think they're going to want to find out how effective is this program.
COSTELLO: Well, I did find it interesting that Congress wrote a letter to Bud Selig and then it sent that letter to the media. I just found that interesting.
Why did they do that?
HENRY: Well, it's certainly getting a lot of media attention, clearly, because this is something that's going to grab a lot of headlines. And there have been a lot of allegations of grandstanding here and you're going to see a lot more of that today once the cameras go on.
Now, what the law makers say is they believe there's a public health crisis out there. There's a new government report out this week saying that over a million kids have tried steroids. A lot of these law makers believe that because these major league ball players are role models, the kids are trying steroids because they see it working for some of baseball's biggest stars.
COSTELLO: And most people like are with that part of the story. I wanted to ask you this, too. So when Mark McGwire sits in the hot seat, will he be asked specifically, "Did you take steroids?"
HENRY: Well, the law makers have been very careful not to give us an exact play book from what they're going to ask. But I bet that is going to come up because we've already gotten an early peek at some of the other players' opening statements. And, for example, Rafael Palmeiro, at the beginning of his statement, will say very clearly under oath that he has never used steroids. And he will emphasize, again, never. And I think that's going to beg the question: even if the law makers don't ask it at the beginning, it's going to beg the question for the other players to come clean on that very question.
Mark McGwire and others will be under oath. They're going to have to tell the truth. And if they're asked a tough question like that and they don't want to answer it, they might have to take the Fifth Amendment. That obviously is going to be a very difficult decision for them to make.
But Jose Canseco's lawyer has already said he will take the Fifth, probably, if he's asked certain questions about whether he took steroids, because he does not want to self-incriminate himself.
COSTELLO: Ed Henry live from Washington this morning.
Thank you.
Talk about drama, he scowled, then smiled and then he broke down sobbing. And why not? Actor Robert Blake is free to go on what he calls cowboying. He's going to party now. As the verdict of not guilty was read in Los Angeles, you could see the relief on Blake's face. Jurors said they just didn't buy the prosecution's story that Blake killed Bonny Lee Bakley nearly four years ago.
After the verdict, which took jurors more than a week to reach, Blake bent down and cut of his electronic monitoring ankle device and then handed it to his lawyer and then gave him a hug, you see.
Blake said he'd had other things to worry about besides the jury's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: I wasn't concentrating on the verdict. I was concentrating on my grandbaby being born healthy and strong. If that sounds crazy, people have always said I'm crazy. And that's all right, just so I ain't a fool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Blake added his defense had cost him a fortune and now he's looking for a job.
Harsh words in another California courtroom as the judge sentences Scott Peterson to death for murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner. Laci's father told Peterson he would "burn in hell" for what he'd done. And Laci's mother sobbed as she told Peterson, "We had to bury Laci without her arms to hold her baby and without her head."
The jurors in the case had no kind words for Peterson, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RICHELLE NICE, PETERSON TRIAL JUROR: He is a jerk. And I have one comment for Scott -- you look somebody in the face when they're talking to you.
MICHAEL BELMESSIERI: Guess what, Scotty?
NICE: San Quentin is your new home.
BELMESSIERI: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Scott Peterson was given a chance to speak during his sentencing, but he declined.
The search is still on for that person of interest and Jessica Lunsford is still missing. The 9-year-old disappeared from her bed in Homosassa Florida on February 23. This morning, police have a possible lead, that person of interest, a registered sex offender.
Sara Dorsey is live in Florida this morning.
It's been a day since police released the man's picture.
Any luck?
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No luck yet, Carol. Investigators still want to question 46-year-old John Couey. He is a convicted sex offender with an extensive rap sheet and he was living within eye-shot of the home where Jessica was last seen.
Couey's criminal record includes 24 arrests over three decades on charges ranging from burglary to indecent exposure. He also pleaded guilty to fondling a child in 1991.
The sheriff's office got word that Couey was heading to Savannah, Georgia. They tipped off police there and Couey was located at a Salvation Army shelter and questioned by officials. But he was allowed to go free because Savannah police had no jurisdiction, and now nobody can find him.
Couey is not being called a suspect, but authorities say his name has come up more than once in this investigation, and they just want to get a hold of him and talk to him. Plus, a few other interesting things. When he left town, he told some people that police would be looking for him. A family member also bought Couey that bus ticket to Savannah under a different name, on purpose, and his family members, when police came knocking on that door near the Lunsfords, they lied and said Couey had never been staying there.
So, Carol, as you can see, things are becoming more interesting here in this city.
COSTELLO: But do we know of any direct contact before Couey and the family, the Lunsfords? DORSEY: No. In fact, whenever the sheriff first came out saying he was going to be releasing a name, he said this man would fall into one of four circles, either family, social, school or church. And it looks like he doesn't fall into any of those. He was just a sex offender staying with a family member. The only real connection is the proximity to this house. But the Lunsford family says they have never seen this man before.
COSTELLO: Sara Dorsey live in Florida this morning.
Thank you.
Other stories across America this Thursday, the former caretaker of Rilya Wilson has now been charged with murdering the 4-year-old. You may remember, Rilya is the little girl who was missing for two years before Florida child welfare workers knew anything was wrong. Now investigators say Geralyn Graham, the woman who was supposed to take care of the girl, has confessed to killing her. Graham's attorney denies the charges.
The U.S. Congress is intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman. A state court has ordered Schiavo's breathing tube removed tomorrow afternoon. But the U.S. House has approved a Republican bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the case. The Senate will take up a different measure today.
And the Senate votes to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's a big victory for President Bush, who says it will make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. Critics say it'll damage one of the country's few remaining untouched wilderness areas and won't provide enough oil anyway.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, the latest in spyware available to you. See what your neighbors could be up to right now.
And Sales 'R Us -- a major announcement from the world of toy stores.
And as Martha Stewart heads into a courtroom today, hear the latest on who's picking up the tab for her legal bills. It isn't her.
Also ahead, what's your fantasy job? You know, there's a lot of negative news about baseball today, but we'll take time out to talk about a fun job opening for one fan of America's pastime.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Still to come, how well do you know baseball? What about your writing skills? We'll tell you about a high-profile job opening that you could win.
And feel like someone's watching you? If the answer is no, stick around to see the latest spyware available to just about anyone. We'll be back in one minute.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Baseball was in the House, the House of Representatives, that is. A Congressional committee will hear testimony today from execs and players about the use of steroids in major league baseball. The lineup includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
The FCC gets a new chairman today. His name is Kevin Martin. President Bush's pick is already serving as FCC commissioner. He replaces Michael Powell, who has already stepped down, and he's expected to crack down even further on broadcast indecency.
In money news, President Bush is calling on Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. The nomination must be approved by the board of the Bank. Initial reaction from Europe is cautious but supportive of Wolfowitz.
And in culture, oh, yes, country music is picking its favorite music videos. Newcomer Gretchen Wilson is among them. Her videos "When I Think About Cheating" and mega hit "Redneck Woman" are both up for CMT Video Awards.
And in sports, the office pools are set and the play starts today. It is round one of the NCAA basketball tournament. The country's number one team, Illinois, goes up against Cinderella hopeful, Fairleigh Dickinson -- Chad.
Quit laughing whenever I say that, Chad.
MYERS: It just could be -- it could be a little bit lopsided, Carol. But, you know what? That's why they play the game and that's why they call it the big dance, because...
COSTELLO: Illinois is favored by 26 1/2 points.
MYERS: You know, though, I have Wake Forest, Illinois, Kansas and Duke in my final four. So we'll see how that goes. So we'll see in a couple of weeks, probably, I think.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Jeffrey the Giraffe has a new boss this morning. After weeks of bidding, Toys 'R Us has been sold.
Chris Huntington has all the details for us.
Good morning.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you may like toys, but probably not as much as some of the most sophisticated investors on Wall Street. We're talking about Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. This is really the New York Yankees of super duper buyout firms on Wall Street putting together a group that includes Bain Capital and a big real estate firm named Vornado. These are not household names, but I'll explain why they're important in a sec.
$5.7 billion to buy Toys 'R Us, which includes the toy store chain and also Babies 'R Us. The story behind the sale is that the toy part of the business has really been struggling and the company wanted to try and just spin off the toy business and keep the baby business. Finally, they had to throw everything into the pot.
The deal has been put together. The reason some of these names are important is Vornado is a huge, huge real estate developer and many of the store locations, the toy store locations, are actually worth more for their underlying real estate value than the actual stores. So, hence you get a big real estate developer involved and you may see some of these Toys 'R Us stores go out of business and redeveloped into something else.
There are about 685 Toys 'R Us toy stores in the United States.
COSTELLO: Isn't Wal-Mart involved in some way?
HUNTINGTON: The big W -- you know, of course -- anybody who, frankly, lives in North America, knows what Wal-Mart offers and can do. And Wal-Mart is selling toys. And it's really pinching out Toys 'R Us. So that's the main reason that the toy business -- and, frankly, look for Wal-Mart to get into the baby business, too. I mean they can -- there's no reason they couldn't get into anything they want to.
But it's the toy business that was suffering, 685 toy stores in the U.S. Some of those may be flipped into something else.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
HUNTINGTON: The baby stores, for now -- a little more than 200 of them -- seem to be doing well, and that's probably what the company will focus on, is trying to keep those businesses going.
COSTELLO: Chris Huntington, many thanks to you.
HUNTINGTON: All right.
COSTELLO: When we come back, it is a fan's fantasy -- pick players, make deals and actually run a Major League ball club. Does it sound like the job for you? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity next.
And Sony tries to take a bite out of the Apple. Trust me, this isn't your big hair and legwarmers 1980s Walkman. We'll show you more when DAYBREAK continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You can take your fantasy baseball team to a whole new level and land in the front office. Yahoo! Sports is teaming up to offer one lucky fantasy baseball player the chance of a lifetime, a real life job with the San Francisco Giants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENCE M. BAER, COO, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: Well, you know what? We've had a partnership with Yahoo!, the Giants have, for several years. And we decided for the fantasy games, let's do the ultimate fantasy and allow a player, a lucky winner, to actually get a front office job with the San Francisco Giants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CASTLE ROCK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forget that, he's a ball player.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAER: The code name for this project, as we were working on it before we released it, was Project Costanza. But it had a little bit of that, and a little bit of that influence, too. But, you know, this person could actually, you know, after a year -- it's a one-year guaranteed employment -- this person could actually end up, you know, with a career in sports. Who knows?
What they do is they go to sports.yahoo.com. They register. You have to write an essay and we select 12 finalists. Everybody says well, you've got to know somebody to be in sports. Well, you don't have to know anybody, you just have to compete. You have to be one of the 12 finalists.
And then starting May 1, you compete in the fantasy league and your team, if you pick the team that wins, that prevails over the other 11, then you get to have a full-time job with the Giants.
You come on out to San Francisco. We'll pay you a salary. You get a signing bonus. And then you get to, you know, ply your trade and actually do real-life rotisserie. You come into our offices. We have boards that show all the players on all the various teams. And if you think you can come up with a good trade or a good signing, you can have a direct channel to the general manager.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Interesting, isn't it?
The winner of the front office job will be announced in October. Now, of course, we couldn't let the executive V.P. of Barry Bonds' team get away without asking him about the testimony going on today in Washington. As you know, in about four hours, a Congressional committee will hear testimony from execs and players about the use of steroids in major league baseball.
Baer says the Giants are taking a zero tolerance policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAER: Baseball has adopted a policy going forward. The policy has already demonstrated that it's effective. We've moved from 5 to 7 percent, to 1 to 2 percent positive testing. Any, if one player is -- tests positive, that's too many. That's not acceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Of course, all of those questions will be asked again in Congress. And, of course, CNN will follow those Congressional hearings all day.
As we've mentioned, the lineup to testify includes some heavy hitters -- Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds not on the list.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, forget James Bond. He never saw the likes of stuff like this. We're going to show it to you next. Get this high-tech spyware before your neighbors do.
And as Martha Stewart's lawyers return to court today, we are learning new details about who's paying for some of her legal bills.
That's when DAYBREAK returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We scan a lot of information here on DAYBREAK.
One day we were cruising the Web and came across the most fascinating stuff. We could not believe these kinds of things were for sale -- a cell phone voice changer, an e-blaster that allows you to spy online.
All of these things are called spyware.
And here to show us more is Rob Bernstein, editor of "Sync" magazine.
Welcome back to DAYBREAK.
ROB BERNSTEIN, EDITOR, "SYNC" MAGAZINE: Thanks, Carol.
How are you doing?
COSTELLO: Some of this is pretty creepy stuff. BERNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, you can spy on anyone. It's consumer grade, so anyone can get their hands on these things. That's what's kind of creepy.
COSTELLO: And people really do buy this stuff?
BERNSTEIN: Yes. There's a site that we go to called spyville.com. It is very easy to purchase this stuff and it's not that expensive.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
OK, let's start with the bionic ears.
BERNSTEIN: Yes, the bionic ears. It's these two devices here. They're essentially directional mikes. And what you do is you put on the headphones, then you point this in the direction of someone that you might want to eavesdrop on. This has about a 30-yard range. This big guy here has about a 100-yard range.
So say you're at work and you see your coworker sort of whispering in the corner, put these on, turn it on and since it's a directional mike, it will pick up as if you're sitting right next to them. So pretty cool.
This one, obviously, you can't bring to work. It's a little big. Not very covert.
COSTELLO: True.
BERNSTEIN: But your neighbors across the street, just point it out the window, you see them whispering on their front lawn, you can pick up everything they're saying.
COSTELLO: I just don't want to know what people are saying about me. I learned that from working in news.
BERNSTEIN: Fair enough.
COSTELLO: Yes.
E-blaster.
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: What is that?
BERNSTEIN: This doesn't look like much. It's just software. But what's cool about it is if you put it on someone's computer, it allows you to access all their instant messages, all their chats, all their e-mails. It secretly installs on their computer and any time they send an e-mail, a blind carbon copy is sent to your e-mail account. So you can keep tabs on whatever they're saying, especially about you.
COSTELLO: You would think something like that would be illegal. BERNSTEIN: You would. I mean what they tell you to do is for a parent to put it on a kid's computer, so if the kid is doing naughty things online, you can keep tabs on what they're doing. If you own a computer, it's legal. So if you're a boss, you can put it on your coworker's computers.
Now, if you put it on your boss' computer, that's highly illegal and you're going to get yourself in trouble.
COSTELLO: It figures.
Doesn't that figure?
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: The voice changer for cell phone use.
BERNSTEIN: Yes, this is really neat. This little device here, the voice changer, they usually come with land lines. This is the first one that actually hooks into your cell phone. So it plugs right into this little headphone port here on your phone. You flip open the phone, you just turn it on. There's a little switch here. And you can choose from one to four different voices. There's like a robot voice. There's a duck voice. There's this really creepy little girl voice. There's this creepier old man voice.
So it's a lot of fun for pranking your friends or just if you need to disguise your voice.
COSTELLO: OK. Yes, we'll pretend it's only used for fun things.
BERNSTEIN: There you go.
COSTELLO: The last thing you're going to show us is the anti-spy device.
BERNSTEIN: Right.
This thing is called the Spy Finder. And it's, you know, people are worried about cameras watching them when they're in the shower or the locker room gym or the hotel room. If you're worried that someone's watching you, this device is really neat. I won't point it at the camera, but you'll see it has these LED lights that sort of flash. What you do is you just look through the viewfinder. It's a little red viewfinder. And you just comb a wall with it.
And if it comes across one of these little pinpoint cameras, because of their narrow optics, it reflects the light and it looks like a little star just shows up in your viewfinder and that's how you know that someone is spying on you.
COSTELLO: Fascinating.
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Now that would be useful. BERNSTEIN: It is incredibly useful.
COSTELLO: I would like that one, yes.
BERNSTEIN: And it works.
COSTELLO: Rob Bernstein, thanks for joining DAYBREAK.
BERNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: Still to come, some of the biggest sluggers in the game are waking up in Washington this morning. We'll ask a sports attorney what exactly these Congressional hearings on steroids expect to accomplish and whether the players will say anything at all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 17, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The search is on for a convicted sex offender. Police identify him as a person of interest in the search for a missing 9-year-old Florida girl.
She's done her time, but she still wants to clear her name. It is back to court today for Martha Stewart's lawyers.
And fantasy baseball players, get ready to make those dreams a reality.
It is Thursday, March 17.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
You're 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, baseball and steroids are in the spotlight on Capitol Hill today. A House committee is looking into the sports drug policy and already the two most influential members of the panel say baseball is behind in the count.
A memorial service is being held this afternoon in an Atlanta suburb for Fulton County Judge Rowland Barnes. Barnes is one of four people gunned down in a shooting spree that began in his courtroom last week.
She's already done her time. Now, Martha Stewart's appealing her conviction. Her lawyers will make their case today, but a ruling isn't expected for a couple of months. In the meantime, she's getting some money back for her legal bills. We'll have details for you live at the half hour.
And are you wearing your green? That's right, it is Saint Patrick's Day. You'll see parades and parties and shamrocks in a lot of places today. It's a holiday, even if you're not Irish.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
A little bit of green and some blue on the weather map today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: First, Congress asked them to talk. And then they sent subpoenas. And in about four hours, some big names in major league baseball will face questions on steroid use. Among those on the list, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco.
Let's head live to our Ed Henry in Washington.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, what can we expect first up when these hearings begin?
HENRY: Well, there are going to be several panels. The players actually are not until the third panel of witnesses. So this is going to go on for a while and I think the high drama really will be when the players come out and they're asked about how widespread steroid use is in Major League Baseball. And secondly, I think the members of Congress want to find out if baseball officials think they have a testing program in place that's working.
Other experts have come forward to say that it's very easy to get around these tests, for the players to, the drug tests, and I think they're going to want to find out how effective is this program.
COSTELLO: Well, I did find it interesting that Congress wrote a letter to Bud Selig and then it sent that letter to the media. I just found that interesting.
Why did they do that?
HENRY: Well, it's certainly getting a lot of media attention, clearly, because this is something that's going to grab a lot of headlines. And there have been a lot of allegations of grandstanding here and you're going to see a lot more of that today once the cameras go on.
Now, what the law makers say is they believe there's a public health crisis out there. There's a new government report out this week saying that over a million kids have tried steroids. A lot of these law makers believe that because these major league ball players are role models, the kids are trying steroids because they see it working for some of baseball's biggest stars.
COSTELLO: And most people like are with that part of the story. I wanted to ask you this, too. So when Mark McGwire sits in the hot seat, will he be asked specifically, "Did you take steroids?"
HENRY: Well, the law makers have been very careful not to give us an exact play book from what they're going to ask. But I bet that is going to come up because we've already gotten an early peek at some of the other players' opening statements. And, for example, Rafael Palmeiro, at the beginning of his statement, will say very clearly under oath that he has never used steroids. And he will emphasize, again, never. And I think that's going to beg the question: even if the law makers don't ask it at the beginning, it's going to beg the question for the other players to come clean on that very question.
Mark McGwire and others will be under oath. They're going to have to tell the truth. And if they're asked a tough question like that and they don't want to answer it, they might have to take the Fifth Amendment. That obviously is going to be a very difficult decision for them to make.
But Jose Canseco's lawyer has already said he will take the Fifth, probably, if he's asked certain questions about whether he took steroids, because he does not want to self-incriminate himself.
COSTELLO: Ed Henry live from Washington this morning.
Thank you.
Talk about drama, he scowled, then smiled and then he broke down sobbing. And why not? Actor Robert Blake is free to go on what he calls cowboying. He's going to party now. As the verdict of not guilty was read in Los Angeles, you could see the relief on Blake's face. Jurors said they just didn't buy the prosecution's story that Blake killed Bonny Lee Bakley nearly four years ago.
After the verdict, which took jurors more than a week to reach, Blake bent down and cut of his electronic monitoring ankle device and then handed it to his lawyer and then gave him a hug, you see.
Blake said he'd had other things to worry about besides the jury's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: I wasn't concentrating on the verdict. I was concentrating on my grandbaby being born healthy and strong. If that sounds crazy, people have always said I'm crazy. And that's all right, just so I ain't a fool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Blake added his defense had cost him a fortune and now he's looking for a job.
Harsh words in another California courtroom as the judge sentences Scott Peterson to death for murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner. Laci's father told Peterson he would "burn in hell" for what he'd done. And Laci's mother sobbed as she told Peterson, "We had to bury Laci without her arms to hold her baby and without her head."
The jurors in the case had no kind words for Peterson, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RICHELLE NICE, PETERSON TRIAL JUROR: He is a jerk. And I have one comment for Scott -- you look somebody in the face when they're talking to you.
MICHAEL BELMESSIERI: Guess what, Scotty?
NICE: San Quentin is your new home.
BELMESSIERI: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Scott Peterson was given a chance to speak during his sentencing, but he declined.
The search is still on for that person of interest and Jessica Lunsford is still missing. The 9-year-old disappeared from her bed in Homosassa Florida on February 23. This morning, police have a possible lead, that person of interest, a registered sex offender.
Sara Dorsey is live in Florida this morning.
It's been a day since police released the man's picture.
Any luck?
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No luck yet, Carol. Investigators still want to question 46-year-old John Couey. He is a convicted sex offender with an extensive rap sheet and he was living within eye-shot of the home where Jessica was last seen.
Couey's criminal record includes 24 arrests over three decades on charges ranging from burglary to indecent exposure. He also pleaded guilty to fondling a child in 1991.
The sheriff's office got word that Couey was heading to Savannah, Georgia. They tipped off police there and Couey was located at a Salvation Army shelter and questioned by officials. But he was allowed to go free because Savannah police had no jurisdiction, and now nobody can find him.
Couey is not being called a suspect, but authorities say his name has come up more than once in this investigation, and they just want to get a hold of him and talk to him. Plus, a few other interesting things. When he left town, he told some people that police would be looking for him. A family member also bought Couey that bus ticket to Savannah under a different name, on purpose, and his family members, when police came knocking on that door near the Lunsfords, they lied and said Couey had never been staying there.
So, Carol, as you can see, things are becoming more interesting here in this city.
COSTELLO: But do we know of any direct contact before Couey and the family, the Lunsfords? DORSEY: No. In fact, whenever the sheriff first came out saying he was going to be releasing a name, he said this man would fall into one of four circles, either family, social, school or church. And it looks like he doesn't fall into any of those. He was just a sex offender staying with a family member. The only real connection is the proximity to this house. But the Lunsford family says they have never seen this man before.
COSTELLO: Sara Dorsey live in Florida this morning.
Thank you.
Other stories across America this Thursday, the former caretaker of Rilya Wilson has now been charged with murdering the 4-year-old. You may remember, Rilya is the little girl who was missing for two years before Florida child welfare workers knew anything was wrong. Now investigators say Geralyn Graham, the woman who was supposed to take care of the girl, has confessed to killing her. Graham's attorney denies the charges.
The U.S. Congress is intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman. A state court has ordered Schiavo's breathing tube removed tomorrow afternoon. But the U.S. House has approved a Republican bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the case. The Senate will take up a different measure today.
And the Senate votes to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's a big victory for President Bush, who says it will make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. Critics say it'll damage one of the country's few remaining untouched wilderness areas and won't provide enough oil anyway.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, the latest in spyware available to you. See what your neighbors could be up to right now.
And Sales 'R Us -- a major announcement from the world of toy stores.
And as Martha Stewart heads into a courtroom today, hear the latest on who's picking up the tab for her legal bills. It isn't her.
Also ahead, what's your fantasy job? You know, there's a lot of negative news about baseball today, but we'll take time out to talk about a fun job opening for one fan of America's pastime.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Still to come, how well do you know baseball? What about your writing skills? We'll tell you about a high-profile job opening that you could win.
And feel like someone's watching you? If the answer is no, stick around to see the latest spyware available to just about anyone. We'll be back in one minute.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Baseball was in the House, the House of Representatives, that is. A Congressional committee will hear testimony today from execs and players about the use of steroids in major league baseball. The lineup includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
The FCC gets a new chairman today. His name is Kevin Martin. President Bush's pick is already serving as FCC commissioner. He replaces Michael Powell, who has already stepped down, and he's expected to crack down even further on broadcast indecency.
In money news, President Bush is calling on Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. The nomination must be approved by the board of the Bank. Initial reaction from Europe is cautious but supportive of Wolfowitz.
And in culture, oh, yes, country music is picking its favorite music videos. Newcomer Gretchen Wilson is among them. Her videos "When I Think About Cheating" and mega hit "Redneck Woman" are both up for CMT Video Awards.
And in sports, the office pools are set and the play starts today. It is round one of the NCAA basketball tournament. The country's number one team, Illinois, goes up against Cinderella hopeful, Fairleigh Dickinson -- Chad.
Quit laughing whenever I say that, Chad.
MYERS: It just could be -- it could be a little bit lopsided, Carol. But, you know what? That's why they play the game and that's why they call it the big dance, because...
COSTELLO: Illinois is favored by 26 1/2 points.
MYERS: You know, though, I have Wake Forest, Illinois, Kansas and Duke in my final four. So we'll see how that goes. So we'll see in a couple of weeks, probably, I think.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Jeffrey the Giraffe has a new boss this morning. After weeks of bidding, Toys 'R Us has been sold.
Chris Huntington has all the details for us.
Good morning.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you may like toys, but probably not as much as some of the most sophisticated investors on Wall Street. We're talking about Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. This is really the New York Yankees of super duper buyout firms on Wall Street putting together a group that includes Bain Capital and a big real estate firm named Vornado. These are not household names, but I'll explain why they're important in a sec.
$5.7 billion to buy Toys 'R Us, which includes the toy store chain and also Babies 'R Us. The story behind the sale is that the toy part of the business has really been struggling and the company wanted to try and just spin off the toy business and keep the baby business. Finally, they had to throw everything into the pot.
The deal has been put together. The reason some of these names are important is Vornado is a huge, huge real estate developer and many of the store locations, the toy store locations, are actually worth more for their underlying real estate value than the actual stores. So, hence you get a big real estate developer involved and you may see some of these Toys 'R Us stores go out of business and redeveloped into something else.
There are about 685 Toys 'R Us toy stores in the United States.
COSTELLO: Isn't Wal-Mart involved in some way?
HUNTINGTON: The big W -- you know, of course -- anybody who, frankly, lives in North America, knows what Wal-Mart offers and can do. And Wal-Mart is selling toys. And it's really pinching out Toys 'R Us. So that's the main reason that the toy business -- and, frankly, look for Wal-Mart to get into the baby business, too. I mean they can -- there's no reason they couldn't get into anything they want to.
But it's the toy business that was suffering, 685 toy stores in the U.S. Some of those may be flipped into something else.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
HUNTINGTON: The baby stores, for now -- a little more than 200 of them -- seem to be doing well, and that's probably what the company will focus on, is trying to keep those businesses going.
COSTELLO: Chris Huntington, many thanks to you.
HUNTINGTON: All right.
COSTELLO: When we come back, it is a fan's fantasy -- pick players, make deals and actually run a Major League ball club. Does it sound like the job for you? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity next.
And Sony tries to take a bite out of the Apple. Trust me, this isn't your big hair and legwarmers 1980s Walkman. We'll show you more when DAYBREAK continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You can take your fantasy baseball team to a whole new level and land in the front office. Yahoo! Sports is teaming up to offer one lucky fantasy baseball player the chance of a lifetime, a real life job with the San Francisco Giants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENCE M. BAER, COO, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: Well, you know what? We've had a partnership with Yahoo!, the Giants have, for several years. And we decided for the fantasy games, let's do the ultimate fantasy and allow a player, a lucky winner, to actually get a front office job with the San Francisco Giants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CASTLE ROCK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forget that, he's a ball player.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAER: The code name for this project, as we were working on it before we released it, was Project Costanza. But it had a little bit of that, and a little bit of that influence, too. But, you know, this person could actually, you know, after a year -- it's a one-year guaranteed employment -- this person could actually end up, you know, with a career in sports. Who knows?
What they do is they go to sports.yahoo.com. They register. You have to write an essay and we select 12 finalists. Everybody says well, you've got to know somebody to be in sports. Well, you don't have to know anybody, you just have to compete. You have to be one of the 12 finalists.
And then starting May 1, you compete in the fantasy league and your team, if you pick the team that wins, that prevails over the other 11, then you get to have a full-time job with the Giants.
You come on out to San Francisco. We'll pay you a salary. You get a signing bonus. And then you get to, you know, ply your trade and actually do real-life rotisserie. You come into our offices. We have boards that show all the players on all the various teams. And if you think you can come up with a good trade or a good signing, you can have a direct channel to the general manager.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Interesting, isn't it?
The winner of the front office job will be announced in October. Now, of course, we couldn't let the executive V.P. of Barry Bonds' team get away without asking him about the testimony going on today in Washington. As you know, in about four hours, a Congressional committee will hear testimony from execs and players about the use of steroids in major league baseball.
Baer says the Giants are taking a zero tolerance policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAER: Baseball has adopted a policy going forward. The policy has already demonstrated that it's effective. We've moved from 5 to 7 percent, to 1 to 2 percent positive testing. Any, if one player is -- tests positive, that's too many. That's not acceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Of course, all of those questions will be asked again in Congress. And, of course, CNN will follow those Congressional hearings all day.
As we've mentioned, the lineup to testify includes some heavy hitters -- Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds not on the list.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, forget James Bond. He never saw the likes of stuff like this. We're going to show it to you next. Get this high-tech spyware before your neighbors do.
And as Martha Stewart's lawyers return to court today, we are learning new details about who's paying for some of her legal bills.
That's when DAYBREAK returns.
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COSTELLO: We scan a lot of information here on DAYBREAK.
One day we were cruising the Web and came across the most fascinating stuff. We could not believe these kinds of things were for sale -- a cell phone voice changer, an e-blaster that allows you to spy online.
All of these things are called spyware.
And here to show us more is Rob Bernstein, editor of "Sync" magazine.
Welcome back to DAYBREAK.
ROB BERNSTEIN, EDITOR, "SYNC" MAGAZINE: Thanks, Carol.
How are you doing?
COSTELLO: Some of this is pretty creepy stuff. BERNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, you can spy on anyone. It's consumer grade, so anyone can get their hands on these things. That's what's kind of creepy.
COSTELLO: And people really do buy this stuff?
BERNSTEIN: Yes. There's a site that we go to called spyville.com. It is very easy to purchase this stuff and it's not that expensive.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
OK, let's start with the bionic ears.
BERNSTEIN: Yes, the bionic ears. It's these two devices here. They're essentially directional mikes. And what you do is you put on the headphones, then you point this in the direction of someone that you might want to eavesdrop on. This has about a 30-yard range. This big guy here has about a 100-yard range.
So say you're at work and you see your coworker sort of whispering in the corner, put these on, turn it on and since it's a directional mike, it will pick up as if you're sitting right next to them. So pretty cool.
This one, obviously, you can't bring to work. It's a little big. Not very covert.
COSTELLO: True.
BERNSTEIN: But your neighbors across the street, just point it out the window, you see them whispering on their front lawn, you can pick up everything they're saying.
COSTELLO: I just don't want to know what people are saying about me. I learned that from working in news.
BERNSTEIN: Fair enough.
COSTELLO: Yes.
E-blaster.
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: What is that?
BERNSTEIN: This doesn't look like much. It's just software. But what's cool about it is if you put it on someone's computer, it allows you to access all their instant messages, all their chats, all their e-mails. It secretly installs on their computer and any time they send an e-mail, a blind carbon copy is sent to your e-mail account. So you can keep tabs on whatever they're saying, especially about you.
COSTELLO: You would think something like that would be illegal. BERNSTEIN: You would. I mean what they tell you to do is for a parent to put it on a kid's computer, so if the kid is doing naughty things online, you can keep tabs on what they're doing. If you own a computer, it's legal. So if you're a boss, you can put it on your coworker's computers.
Now, if you put it on your boss' computer, that's highly illegal and you're going to get yourself in trouble.
COSTELLO: It figures.
Doesn't that figure?
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: The voice changer for cell phone use.
BERNSTEIN: Yes, this is really neat. This little device here, the voice changer, they usually come with land lines. This is the first one that actually hooks into your cell phone. So it plugs right into this little headphone port here on your phone. You flip open the phone, you just turn it on. There's a little switch here. And you can choose from one to four different voices. There's like a robot voice. There's a duck voice. There's this really creepy little girl voice. There's this creepier old man voice.
So it's a lot of fun for pranking your friends or just if you need to disguise your voice.
COSTELLO: OK. Yes, we'll pretend it's only used for fun things.
BERNSTEIN: There you go.
COSTELLO: The last thing you're going to show us is the anti-spy device.
BERNSTEIN: Right.
This thing is called the Spy Finder. And it's, you know, people are worried about cameras watching them when they're in the shower or the locker room gym or the hotel room. If you're worried that someone's watching you, this device is really neat. I won't point it at the camera, but you'll see it has these LED lights that sort of flash. What you do is you just look through the viewfinder. It's a little red viewfinder. And you just comb a wall with it.
And if it comes across one of these little pinpoint cameras, because of their narrow optics, it reflects the light and it looks like a little star just shows up in your viewfinder and that's how you know that someone is spying on you.
COSTELLO: Fascinating.
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Now that would be useful. BERNSTEIN: It is incredibly useful.
COSTELLO: I would like that one, yes.
BERNSTEIN: And it works.
COSTELLO: Rob Bernstein, thanks for joining DAYBREAK.
BERNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: Still to come, some of the biggest sluggers in the game are waking up in Washington this morning. We'll ask a sports attorney what exactly these Congressional hearings on steroids expect to accomplish and whether the players will say anything at all.
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